Stop My Valediction.

All of these walls are caving in and I can't stop my suffering.

They always said that he never deserved me to begin with, that I was just wasting my time with a lost soul, and that he would never love anyone, even me. Yea, thanks for that Jordan. Is that why I am holding up my wine glass in the air, my face aching from the fake smile that has been etched onto my face, my eyes darting to the concerned one’s of the one and only Vero. My heart thudded slowly against my chest with every breath I took, each one slowly killing me, my eyes tight with the tears that had been threatening to fall all night long.

“…and that’s why I love you so much.” I heard as I finally began to tune into Kris’s speech. He looked affectingly towards her. Her long golden locks perfect as always, going down her back, her large, bright green eyes vibrant and glowing. Her smile lit up the room as the words left his perfectly plump lips. His hair was slightly in his eye as she rose up, pushed it out of the way and kissed him softly on his lips. I closed my eyes tightly, a few tears slipping past my aching eye lids finally.

“Dem…Dem, you okay?” Max asked me as he shook my shoulder softly. I sighed before opening my eyes, my vision blurred as I looked up at him. I gave him a weak smile.

“I’m just so happy for both of them.” I told him with a nod of my head. I wiped my eyes and gave him a shame filled smile because I was crying but I was lying about why I was crying. Max gave me a soft concerned smile as he pulled me into his well built chest, pushing my head full of dark thick curls into it. He smelled of sandal wood and pepper. The scent was so strong that I began to fill dizzy, but I didn’t pull away, the feeling of nausea immediately making my tears stop. Max held me for a second longer before we heard someone clear their throat, we pulled away slowly and I looked up into the dark eyes of the man of the hour, Mr. Kristopher Letang himself.

“Hey…”He said somewhat awkwardly as he shoved his large hands into his black dress pants. He looked over to me and that’s when I noticed that Max had his arm across my shoulders in manner that seemed anything but friendly and my hand had reached up to lace his. I titled my head to the side and parted my lips.

“Hey, that was a beautiful speech, and you say you’re shy.” I told him with a soft smile.

“Have you been crying?” He asked me, completely disregarding my comment. He reached forward and then dropped his hand, seeing as Max began to wipe my semi dry tears that were still on my cheeks.

“Like I said, your speech was beautiful.” I breathed out. His eyes flashed with jealousy as I leaned in a bit closer to Max. See this; this is what I was talking about. Kris and I have been friends for so long. We had met at one of those downtown, hole in the wall carnivals. We had bonded over tossing rings on empty milk bottles and chili dogs that later gave us both food poisoning. He is my best friend and somewhere during our five year friendship, the lines between friend and lover blurred for me and sometimes I thought it was blurred for Kris too, but not anymore, not when he was about to be married to someone that wasn’t me.

“Thanks Dem, look can I talk-“ He was silenced as her well manicured hand slipped onto his shoulder. She pooped up on his right side, giving him a kiss on the cheek before turning to face Max and I. Her eyes lit up at how close Max and I where standing together.

“Oh well, well, well, what seems to be going on over here?” She asked as she raised her perfectly shaped dirty blonde eyebrow. An awkward laugh was shared between the four of us, only she didn’t know that it was awkward.

“Nothing.” Kris immediately snapped after the short laugh was over. She elbowed Kris softly in the ribs as she narrowed her eyes at him before she turned towards Max and I once again.

“Dem, girl, that dress is absolutely stunning. You have my male cousins around here asking me if those are real.” She said as she wiggled her eyebrows up and down.

“Of course they are real.” Kris muttered. Max began to cough loudly before we laughed awkwardly once again.

“Thanks, I’ll guess I have to keep an eye out to see if one of them catches my interest.” I told her in a somewhat hopeful tone. It’s not like I wanted to actually be with one of them, I was just trying to find someone distract me away from this sickening madness for the rest of the night.

“Actually, I think someone else here as already caught her interest.” Max piped up as I felt his strong arm encircle my waist. I watched as Kris’s jaw twitched and tightened as he looked down at Max’s arm before his dark eyes flashed to mine.

“I think I need a drink.” Kris muttered as he walked away quickly. She threw me a confused look before she apologized softly and went after Kris. I stayed frozen in my place for a moment before I looked up at Max and stomped on his foot. He backed away with a yelp and I threw the people’s who attention was caught by Max’s actions a charming smile before I grabbed Max by the collar of his shirt and dragged him out the doors and into the hallway where the bathrooms where.

“What the hell is wrong with you, why are you doing this?” I hissed at him, getting into his face, well in reality not in his face, seeing as I was only five foot three tops, but the four inch heels did wonders for us short people. Max snickered as he patted the top of my head.

“You’ve always been there for Kris; he knows you’re not going anywhere. We all know he doesn’t love that girl and that he really loves you but he is to damn stupid and stubborn to get past his stupid Kris like ways. So I’ve deiced to light a fire underneath his ass, it’s either you or her.” Max told me matter of a factly. I looked up to him with my large, shocked chocolate eyes.

“Are you fucking retard? Wait, let me answer that, yes, you are fucking retarded! What are you even talking about? We all know Kris loves her and not me! You are insane-“

“Kiss me.” Max stated in a low tone.

“What, no, what the fuck are you-“

“Okay, I warned you.” He said before he completely cut me off by pressing his lips to mine. Max grabbed my hips before he pushed me into the wall, sliding his tongue past my lips as he groaned a little. I fought a little at first before I just gave in, my pent up frustration and anger coming through as I began sucking the life out of Max’s face. We pulled apart seconds later though and Max pressed another soft kiss to my lips before resting his forehead against mine.

“Look to your left.” He whispered lightly. I opened my eyes and turned my head slightly. Kris stood there, froze in place for a second before his fist tightened. He shook his head once at us before he quickly whipped around and made his way back around the corner in one quick stride.

“See.” Max said before pressing another soft kiss on my lips. He backed away slowly and chuckled softly before he left me leaning up against the wall. I slide down, wrapped my arms around my knees and breathed in once before once again letting the tears fall.