The Way We Were

Same Day

After my shower, I picked out sundress from the closet as I dried my hair with the towel. I took off my robe and slipped on the dress. I sat down on the edge of the bed and slid my feet into a pair of sandals. I took my hairbrush and ran it through my hair, catching a kink or a knot every here and then. After I checked myself in the mirror, I braced myself to go back downstairs and outside.

As I opened the rooms door, I already heard the laughs of Betty-Ann and Lily. I clenched my teeth as I proceeded to go downstairs. Caleb and Garrett were also with them, laughing and being chummy towards each other.

"Audrey! There you are! Garrett and I were just reminiscing on some old times." Caleb laughed, his arm was around Garrett's shoulders.

"That's nice." I half-smiled, coming down the stairs.

"It's been a long time Lily, it's so nice to see you." Betty hugged Lily.

"I know, being back here brings back so many memories." Lily smiled. "And I'm sure Audrey will make some fond ones too." She turned around and smirked at me.

I raised my brow at her. "Many." I walked past her and the others. "Are my brothers still outside?" I asked Caleb.

"Yup."

So I left out the door and walked out to the lawn where my family and friends were.

"Awkward." Daniel sang. I laughed and punched his arm as I went and sat down on a chair.

"I had no idea they were dating." I shook my head. "Caleb invited her behind my back."

"Well, you are inviting Brian and Ryan...so..." Nikolas shrugged his shoulders and smirked.

"That's different. Brian and I are friends now. That's something we've never had, we've only had a romantic relationship, but we've never had a friendship. And Ryan, well, everyone loves him but...I don't even know if he's coming..." I looked away.

"You know, I'm not even gonna get into this. It's not my problem." Nik laughed, raising his hands.

"Good! I don't need anyone telling me what's right and wrong." I sighed, leaning back into the beach chair.

"I hope this isn't going to be awkward this evening." Chanel bit her lip.

"I'm not sure I understand fully what's going on, why is there talk of awkwardness and who is Lily?" Edie looked up at me from sitting on the grass.

"Oh, where do I start?" I gave a short laugh.

"Lily was Caleb's fiancee a while ago, and she believes that Audrey broke them up and stole Caleb from her. Which didn't happen because Caleb and Audrey didn't hook up till two months ago. So now Lily has a death wish for Audrey." Daniel smirked, he looked at himself in a mirror fixing his hair.

"That isn't good." Edie smiled sheepishly, shrugging her shoulders.

"No, it isn't." I looked up at the clouds.



It was seven o'clock and we had all gotten ready to leave for our party this evening. We had just planned a casual and low-key get-together at a bar and restaurant in the city. I rode with Nikolas, Daniel, and their wives in the Land Rover, Rosalie, Mauro and Sophie went in the Mercedes-Benz, and Caleb went with his brothers, the few groomsmen, and of course, Lily.

It was a half hour drive in town, and when we arrived we entered the restaurant in couples.

"Reservations for Versace." I smiled, informing the host as to who we were.

"Ah, of course. We have reserved our private lounge area for your party. If you'd follow me." He said. So we followed him to the back, and as we were passing other people and as they watched us, I noticed a certain someone sitting at the bar. I saw him in the mirror.

I stopped in my tracks, Chanel walked into me as everyone else stopped to see what was the matter.

"What?" Caleb laughed.

"It's Ryan." I smiled. I walked past him and made a bee-line to where he was, but before I could even say anything, I immediately noticed his arms around the waist of another woman.

"Ryan." I softly spoke.

He looked up in the mirror and gave a soft smile. He turned around, as did the woman to whom I recognized as Eva.

"Hello Audrey." He stood up.

"What are you doing here?" I smiled.

"Well you did invite me to your wedding, right? I thought I'd come a little early, so Eva and I could see Nashville." He smiled back. I looked beside him at her, she smiled and soon stood up.

"Congratulations! Ryan has told me so much about you, I feel as though I already know you." She smiled, hugging me. "Let me see your ring!"

"It's lovely to meet you Eva." I lightly laughed, showing her my ring. It was a square Tiffany Novo ring.

"Oh that's gorgeous, oh this must be so exciting for you." She smiled.

"It is." I looked to Ryan, "So, are you and Miss Mendes a couple now? Have my predictions come true?" Though it was killing me, I faked a smile and teased him as I would normally do.

"Yeah, we've been dating for about a little over a month now." He smiled, he wrapped his arm around her.

"That's great." I lightly laughed.

Caleb came up from behind me and kissed my cheek. "Hey Ryan, it's been a while, how are you?" He held out his hand.

Shaking Caleb's hand, Ryan smiled, "I'm great. We thought we'd come a week early to see Nashville. This is Eva by the way, my girlfriend."

The twist of the knife. I swallowed hard.

"Nice to meet you. Finally you have a girlfriend." Caleb laughed. Ryan and Eva joined him.

"So when did you get here?" Caleb asked.

"Yesterday morning, we're staying at a hotel here." Ryan replied.

"Well hey, we're actually having our engagement party right now, do you wanna join us?" Caleb asked.

"Are you sure? We don't want to impose." He smirked.

"No, c'mon, there's plenty of room." Caleb turned us and led Ryan and Eva to the lounge room. As we entered the room, I took a seat at the end of the table and Caleb took a seat at the other end. Daniel offered to take a seat elsewhere so Ryan and Eva could sit together.

"Shall we order some wine?" Daniel smiled, looking around.

"Not for me, I'm not into that fancy stuff. I'll just have a beer, Guinness if you've got it." Nathan laughed, telling the waiter.

"Same here." Jared laughed, and soon Caleb, Matthew, and Nacho requested the same.

Rosalie cleared her throat, "And the rest of us will have wine."

"Would you happen to have Saxum red wine?" Daniel leaned back, asking the waiter. The waiter replied with a 'yes'.

Daniel clapped his hands and looked back at us, "Oh you must try this, I heard from a friend that this wine was very rich and had a dark berry flavour to it. I tried it and I'm hooked! It's absolutely divine."

Caleb and his brothers started laughing.

"Well it is." Daniel lightly laughed, lightly touching his hair.

"So Ryan, what have you been up to lately?" Nikolas asked, sitting across from him.

"Not much, just taking a break from filming. That's about it." He smiled, laughing to himself.

"So, you and Eva, huh?" Rosalie grinned, "How did you two get together?"

Eva smiled and kissed his cheek, "Oh it was the sweetest thing, we've been working together, but one day after filming he said to me, 'I've been working with you for a month now and it's taken me a this long to work up the nerve to ask you out,' and then he just asked me out! He took me to his place and cooked dinner for the both of us and it was from there that we continued seeing each other." She kissed him again.

He smiled and nodded, his eyes caught my own. I half-smiled and then looked away as the waiter brought us our drinks. I took my glass and took a sip.

"Oh, Dan this is good, you certainly know your wine." I smiled.

"So how are the wedding plans coming along?" Ryan asked, looking at me then at Caleb.

"They're hectic, stressful, exciting, and the most fun I've had in a long time." I lightly laughed.

"They're coming along just fine, we've been killing each other to get them done, but we're almost there. Just six more days." Caleb smiled, looking across the table at me. I smiled back.

"Six more days." I repeated. I turned my eyes down, but soon turned them up again only to again be caught by Ryan's. He smiled that smile that made my heart race.



After a dinner filled with good company, bad jokes, too much drinking, and ex-boyfriends, I decided to take a break and go outside for some fresh air. As I stood outside, leaning against the building, I dug through my bag and found my Marlboro Lights and lighter. I soon lit up a cigarette and took a long drag.

Blowing out the smoke, feeling almost a sense of relief, I sighed. I recently took up smoking again, an old habit of my teenage years. I guess old habits die hard. Nikolas makes fun of me, he says that I smoke like a chimney and drink like a fish. I guess he was right.

I looked out at all the lights of the city and people across the street laughing. Closing my eyes I could here cars speeding and honking of horns in the streets, arguing couples, and a barking dog.

I heard footsteps approaching and quickly I opened my eyes and saw Ryan coming closer.

"Are you okay?" He asked.

I nodded and gave a half-smile, "Yeah, I'm good."

He held out his hand, signalling for my cigarette.

"Audrey, I hope this isn't bad of me to be here." He said, after inhaling the smoke from the cigarette.

"Of course not, I almost thought you wouldn't come." I looked up at him. "I thought you'd be upset with me...since Daniel's wedding."

"I'm not. That's kind of also why I came before the wedding. I need to talk to you." He turned and looked down at me, his blue eyes staring into mine.

"What about?" I softly spoke.

He turned his eyes down for a moment and then looked back at me as he cleared his throat. "Audrey, I think you-"

Before he could even finish, Caleb came out of the restaurant. "Audrey, c'mon, you're missing all the fun!" He laughed as he wrapped his arms around me and kissed my cheek.

"In a moment, I was just talking with Ryan." I smiled.

"No it's okay, you go ahead. I'm just gonna finish off this smoke." He half-smiled.

"Are you sure?" I asked, not wanting to go back in.

"Yeah go on, another time." He smiled.

Caleb patted Ryan's shoulder, "Hey, how 'bout you and Eva come over tomorrow to the Ranch. Everyday we're having a little something going on, and tomorrow is a barbecue. Give Audrey a call and she'll give you the directions."

"That sounds good, thank you." Ryan nodded.

"Cool. C'mon Audrey, let's go." Caleb grinned, pulling me along.

I quickly looked back and saw Ryan leaning against the building as I did. I just sighed and followed.