It's Really Happening

Everyone was a bit worse for the wear the next morning. At the rate we were going, none of us were going to remember anything about the wedding.

I woke up earlier than both Tiffany and Eris, for once, and I glanced around the room as sunlight leaked in through the cracks in the window shades. Eris' grand idea was on the table in the corner: the remnants of a large pink cake shaped like a penis. Tiffany and I both burst into laughter when she unveiled it, and I was extremely thankful that neither tried to throw it at my face.

I slipped out of the room and headed down to the lobby for the free breakfast, where I ran into a few familiar faces. And sadly, all of them looked extremely worse for the wear.

"Good morning, Mr. Dawson." He grunted in response as he stared down into his coffee cup. I patted his shoulder and looked at Alex. "You look well-rested."

"Funny," Alex replied as he rubbed his eyes. "I didn't sleep."

"Oh? Did you bring home a stripper?"

"No!"

"Not for lack of trying," Dennis mumbled as he poked at his eggs. I snickered as I began to eat my own breakfast, keeping an eye on the door for more company.

On the fourth round of coffee, the rest of our troupe came wandering into the room in search of breakfast. Josh kissed me on the head as he passed by, while Tiffany slumped down in the chair next to me and laid her head on my shoulder.

"Hello my love. How are you feeling?"

"Dead. Mostly."

"Poor baby. Here, have some coffee." I nudged my cup over to her and she stared at it for a few moments.

"Meh, I want Tims. Stupid LA."

With the day and night before at the back of our minds, and a flight back to wine country ahead of us the next day, we all decided to take a break from our excessive drinking. Most of the day was spent wandering around the area near the hotel, or spent inside hotel rooms playing cards and talking.

Strangely, being normal and doing nothing was almost as fun as the constant partying we'd been doing. Spending time with Josh as a normal couple hanging out with our friends was a nice change of pace.

Of course, it wasn't going to last because there's only so much time you can spend in a hotel room before you become incredibly bored. That, and we were sick of the room service menu.

Luckily, there wasn't one among us without a web-enabled phone. Excluding Tiffany and her Canadian phone plan, that is. In any case, we were able to get a list of the restaurants in the surrounding area without too much trouble.

"And to think, a few years ago we would've been looking through a phonebook." Eris laughed.

"People still use phonebooks?" Jack asked.

"No," Eris replied flatly. "That's the point."

"Alright, that's it! Boys out!" Tiffany ordered, answered by groans and angry mumbling from the guys as they scrambled up off of our beds or from the floor.

"Meet in the lobby in twenty?" Josh asked on his way out the door. I smiled and nodded before giving him a quick kiss just before the door shut.

"What was that for?" I asked as I turned back around to face Eris and Tiffany, both of whom were now lying on one bed.

"Boys suck," Tiffany replied.

"But we like those boys!"

"Only when they're not being douchey." I blinked as I sat down on the opposite bed.

"Okay, I'm confused. Who's being a douche?" Eris and Tiffany looked at each other and when they looked back, both of them shrugged.

"I was tired of their faces. Does that make them douchey?" Tiffany asked.

"No," I replied. "And we're going to see them again in like fifteen minutes!"

"Yeah, but right now we aren't!" Eris replied. I rolled my eyes and flopped onto my back.

"You guys are weird."

The way that Eris and Tiffany were acting was unusual, even for them. I tried my best to put it out of my head because both Alex and Rian had been in the room before, so I assumed that might have had something to do with it.

But while we got ready for dinner, my mind floated back to a few hours earlier when Josh and I had left the room for a bit. I hadn't thought anything of it at the time, but there was something about the way that Jack looked at me when we came back that made me wonder.

I was starting to feel like telling Eris about my indiscretion with Jack was a mistake. I had felt so much better about it after finally sharing it with her, but at the same time I also felt like I had made another mistake. By letting someone else into my and Jack's secret, I had made it even more real.

The worst part was the look Jack gave me every time we were in the same room. It was almost like he knew I had finally told someone about it, and he was just waiting for it to come out in the open. Either that, or he was about to reach his breaking point.

Both Eris and Tiffany returned to normal (well, as normal as they can be) once we were reunited with the guys. I couldn't be sure if they were pretending or not, but when Josh extended his arm to me I put all of those thoughts out of my head. In just a few short days, we would be married and hopefully everything would be okay.

For the majority of the dinner, everything was okay. Everyone was laughing and having a good time, and for once, we weren't in danger of getting kicked out of a restaurant. Being that we had chosen a mildly upscale place to have dinner, it seemed as though everyone had decided to be on their best behavior.

Maybe it was the fact that most of us were wary of drinking too much due to the night before. Either way, it was a nice change to spend a night with all of our friends pretending we were all normal. As normal as normal can be in our lives, that is.

There were a few moments over the course of a few hours that I tried extremely hard not to notice, but did anyway. Just before we left the hotel, Jimmie nudged Jack and asked him why he was being so quiet, but Jack didn't answer. He simply shrugged it off and pretended like nothing was wrong.

And once, just after everyone ordered, Alex did the same thing. This time he asked why Jack wasn't making lewd comments about the other patrons and waitstaff, but the sentiment remained the same. Jack shook his head and brushed the comment off by saying he was just tired.

Eris caught my eye after he spoke, and even though I knew exactly what she was thinking, I turned my head and pretended not to notice. But a few minutes later, when Josh pulled me close to him and kissed my temple, I saw Jack do the same thing.

Eris, Tiffany and I excused ourselves from the table halfway through the dinner to go to the restroom, and for a short chat without the guys interrupting.

"You know, I never thought I'd enjoy a quiet dinner with these guys," Eris commented.

"I'm waiting for someone to break something," I replied.

"Yeah, or get into a fight!" Tiffany added with a laugh.

"Please don't jinx it." Eris shook her head. "The last thing we need is to have to pay for expensive things we can't afford."

"I'm with Eris." I sighed. "It's nice to know that we can all get through a meal without something going horribly wrong."

"Good practice for the wedding!" Tiffany smiled. Eris and I laughed, but then the conversation quickly turned serious. Next thing I knew, the both of them sat me down and stood before me with their arms crossed.

"Uhh, did I do something to upset you two?"

"Why is Jack acting like a kicked puppy dog?" Tiffany asked. I looked at Eris, who shrugged, and then I sighed.

"You don't remember?"

"Remember? Remember what?" Tiffany asked. Eris laughed.

"You were drunk. Of course you don't remember."

"Just tell me!"

"I slept with Jack!" As much as I tried to sound normal, that sentence came out very shrill and squeaky. Tiffany suddenly plopped down next to me and let out a sharp breath.

"Well. That explains a lot." Tiffany chuckled. "How was he?"

"Now is not the time, Couch!"

Unfortunately, my telling Tiffany (again) about my indiscretion only made the knot in my stomach grow tighter. Little did I know that there was a time bomb ticking under the table, and it was due to go off soon.

When the check was brought to the table, our waiter also brought a complimentary bottle of champagne. Apparently someone had informed him of Josh's and my upcoming wedding, and this was the restaurant's way of saying congratulations.

"To the happy couple!" Alex toasted.

"To Josh and Abby!" Dave cheered.

"To one hell of a wedding night!" Jimmie added as he nudged Josh with his elbow. The table cheered as Josh and I shared a kiss, and as we all went silent to take a sip of champagne, there was one small voice.

"You're in for a hell of a time," Jack muttered. Suddenly, everyone's eyes widened and turned to Jack. Unfortunately, I was halfway through a sip of champagne when he spoke, and it did not agree with me. As I sputtered and tried to recover, my eyes locked with Eris' and both of us had the same thought:

"Shit."

"What'd you say?" Josh asked.

"Nothing," Jack replied.

"No," Josh chuckled and my heart started racing because the sound that came out of Josh's mouth sounded like anything but humorous. "What did you say?"

"I just meant that…that-"

'What?" Josh snapped.

"He didn't mean anything, Josh!" Eris broke in, but it was no use.

"Shut up, Eris!'

"Hey, that's-" Zack tried to defend Eris, but he was interrupted by Josh suddenly standing up and knocking his chair over.

"I'm asking you, Jack, what the fuck did you say?"

"Josh," I begged as I stood up and put my hand on his arm, "He's drunk. Don't worry about it."

"No, I'm-" Josh stopped as he turned to look at me. I must've given something away because he immediately recoiled from my touch. "You know."

"What are you-" I was interrupted by Josh yelling "hey!" at Jack, who was currently trying to slip away. Before I knew it, both of them had run out of the restaurant. I hesitated for a split second before I grabbed my bag and followed them out.

Josh and Jack were standing in the middle of the parking lot arguing, and even though I knew I shouldn't, I tried to get them apart.

"You don't know what the fuck you're talking about!" Josh yelled.

"You're the one who's fucking clueless!" Jack yelled back.

"Stop it!" I screamed. "You two are friends!"

"Then why is he lying to my face?" Josh asked. "He's a fucking liar!"

"I'm the liar?" Jack laughed. "Why don't you ask your fiancée if you think I'm fucking lying!"

I froze in place as soon as the words left Jack's mouth, and that was the first moment that I realized everyone had followed us outside. Sharp intakes of breath were all I heard before Josh spoke to me.

"Is it true?"

"You don't understand-"

"Is. It. True?" I was trying so hard not to break down and start crying, but I couldn't hold it back any longer.

"Y-Yes." Josh closed his eyes for a moment before he started yelling again.

"How could you?! Why?!"

"What was I supposed to do?!" I cried. "You were too busy fucking around with Juliet!"

"I never-"

"Bullshit!" I continued, my voice cracking as I tried to stop crying. "I know she'd break us up if she could!" I turned around and started to walk away, leaving Jack in-between us.

"So you went off to fuck Jack instead of coming to me?!" Josh yelled at my back.

"She did come to you," Jack spat. "But she came for me."

Every single person who was watching, which had now grown from just our group to quite a few other restaurant patrons, knew that Jack's comment was the breaking point.

Josh lunged at Jack, ignoring the yells and cries from our friends. The two of them began throwing punches, and Zack and Dave ran towards them to try and split them up. Against my better judgment, I tried to get between them as well.

I was between the two for no more than thirty seconds before I fell to the ground, clutching the side of my face. As I looked up at the others, I saw the look in Josh's eyes change from fury to regret instantly.

"Abby? Abby!" I turned away from him, finding that Eris and Tiffany were already at my side to help me get up.

"D-Did he...?" I began softly, overcome with the thought that Josh could ever hit me. Tiffany nodded slowly as she and Eris helped me up. I looked at Eris, who was practically seething with rage as she looked at Josh.

"Do you want to go?" Tiffany asked softly, ignoring Josh's pleas for me to come to him. I nodded silently as I tugged my engagement ring off of my finger.

"Will you give this to my fiancé?" I asked Eris as I placed it in her hand. "And let him know I won't be marrying him?"

"Okay," Eris replied softly as she closed her hand around the ring. As Tiffany and I started walking away, the only thing I could hear was the sound of my entire world crashing down.