Until the End of Time

November 9th, 2009

With the months that had passed, it seemed as if I was ready now more than ever. Danielle had called me, not asking, but informing me that'd we have to meet for lunch to discuss some wedding plans. Despite what I wanted to text back, the only thing I could force myself to compose was a simple Okay.

"Madison?" My Mother called, knocking softly on the door to my bedroom.

"Come in," I murmured, smoothing down the only floral dress I owned. Besides being a dress, it really wasn't all that bad. The colors were pink and baby blue, and it came just above my knees. (So no, it wasn't an "old lady" dress.)

She opened and shut the door softly behind her, placing a comforting hand on my shoulder and squeezing slightly. "I know how hard this is for you, honey."

I strained a smile, shaking my head. "It's fine, Mom. I'm alright, I promise."

She sighed softly, sitting down on my bed. "Madison, I'm proud of you for handling this so maturely because I can tell you that if I were in your shoes, I'd kill the girl."

I laughed, sitting down beside her. "Come on..she isn't that horrible."

"She makes Sandra look like a saint, honey."

I laughed loudly, resting my head on her shoulder before agreeing. Sandra was Carmen's old best friend, but she never held any interest for me. In fact, she was jealous of how close Carmen and I were so she did everything in her power to tear us apart. Ultimately, it failed and Carmen chose me over her. Obviously.

"How's Carmen doing?" I asked, unable to keep a smile from off of my face.

"She's still ranting to your father about how much of a bitch Danielle is."

"You'd think she'd give it a rest."

"Baby girl, Carmen never gives things a rest."

"This is true."

Without another word, I made my way downstairs to see Carmen sitting on the couch, flipping through channels with a bag of mint and creme oreos. I rolled my eyes with a smirk, sitting next to her and popping one into my mouth.

"Hey Car, expecting someone?"

"Why would I be?" She asked with a nervous chuckle, stopping on USA.

"Carmen, why didn't you tell me you had a date with Joe?" I asked loudly, earning a smile from both of my parents.

"Shut up!" She hissed, her cheeks turning a bright red instantly. "It isn't a date!"

"Awe, someone's got a little date with Joey!"

"Don't you have somewhere to be?" She asked annoyed, breathing out a loud sigh.

"Danielle's supposed to be here soon."

"Good, tell me when she gets here so I can leave."

"Carmen, you promised to be nice."

"I promised no such thing."

"Yeah, you did!"

The doorbell rang, and Carmen practically jumped over me and the couch to answer the door. "I'll get it!"

The door swung open to reveal a nervous-looking Joe, but the cocky smirked that inhabited his lips was still present. He stepped inside, wrapping his arms around Carmen and pressing a soft kiss on her cheek before realizing we were all watching.

"Oh..hey you guys. How's it goin'?" He asked, leaving one arm wrapped around her waist.

"Wouldn't you like to know, Jonas?" I teased, pressing my lips to his cheek before smirking at the two of them.

"How long have you been together, Joe?"

"Uh..we're not-," Carmen started before Joe stupidly interrupted.

"Babe, it's fine. We've been together a week, Madison."

Carmen slapped a hand to her forehead, and I smirked, opening the door as I heard a honk. "Thank you, Joseph! See you two later! Bye Mom, Dad!"

I shut the door, and walked up to Danielle's car, opening the door and slipping in. Glasses were placed atop of her head, and music played faintly in the background.

"Hey gorgeous," She greeted, pulling out of our driveway and pulling onto the road.

"Hi..beautiful?" I said in confusion.

She laughed a little too loudly, but stayed rather pleasant. "Madison, Kevin adores you so that means that we need to be close. You get that, right? It helps that I actually like you, too, so it doesn't feel like I'm being punished."

"Huh," I muttered, thinking this over. She wasn't that bad, but the previous sentence still proved she was a bitch.

The rest of the car ride was silent, but once we pulled up to a charming outdoor cafe somewhere in Hollywood, the chatter started again. We were seated at a table in no time, which might have been because she had reservations, but I wasn't complaining.

She took a sip of her water before looking at me. "So I was thinking about somewhere exotic."

"For what?" I asked, caught completely off guard.

"The wedding, Madison. What else?"

"Oh, right. Sorry."

At the word wedding, I felt a little pang of sadness and guilt from within me, but I couldn't let her see or even suspect that I had feelings for her fiance.

"So what do you think?" She asked, leaning forward with a smile.

"I think that..it's a great idea, but I found something even better."

"Oh?" She asked, seemingly annoyed now, leaning back in her seat.

"It's the Oheka Castle in Long Island. I mean, Kevin's always talked about how you're his princess and the two of you meeting was like something out of a fairytale."

I slid a few papers I'd printed off of the internet towards her, and I let a fake smile spread across my lips. She looked through them quickly, the smile on her face growing larger by the second. She stood up quickly, hugging me tightly.

"Madison, thank you so much! It looks beautiful! Kevin will absolutely love it, and we have to get married here!"

"No problem," I said quietly, patting her back softly.

She pulled away, and dug into her purse. "Oh! I almost forgot! You're going to be in the wedding, Madison! I mean, it's the least I can do for you, right? We've set a date as well."

"Oh?" I asked, the smile fading from my lips.

"December 19th, 2009.