Things Aren't Always What They Seem

***A few months earlier***

"Hey, Jon, can you, uh, can you help me out with something?" Pat asked awkwardly before Jon had escaped out of the building from practice.

"What's up?" he turned and looked at him, gear in hand.

"I, um," he burst out into an uncomfortable laugher. "I can't believe I'm having a hard time asking this."

"Well make it quick Kane. I got plans with Rose." Pat smirked upon hearing Jon's plans. What Jon didn't know was that Pat also had plans with Rose much later in the night-- after she spent time with Jon.

"Okay, can you help me pick out..." He stopped and took a deep breath as if to hit the reset button. "I'm thinking about proposing to Charlotte."

Jon's eyes widened and he nearly dropped what was in his hands. "You...you what?" he asked emphatically and completely caught off guard. "You want to propose to Charlotte?"

"Yeah, why are you so shocked?"

"I, um, wow. I just didn't think you two were that serious," Jon said still visibly shaken.

"We've been together...what, closing in on two years now," Patrick said defensively and kind of pissed at Jon's reaction.

"Yeah but..." Jon wanted to keep going but he chose to keep his mouth shut. "What do you need my help with?" he asked more hurried.

"You know her better than anyone. I was hoping you could help me pick out the ring."

Jon pursed his lips and let out a defeated sigh. "I guess. Yeah."

"Great, I was hoping to go over the weekend. Can you find some time to go with me?" Pat's tone was very confident and dismissive to Jon's obvious objections.

"I guess so," Jon repeated for the second time in less than thirty seconds. "Sure."

"Thanks man," Pat said cocky as hell knowing he'd recruited Jon's help. "Appreciate it."

"Yeah," Jon said quietly as Pat walked away. "No problem."

***

Later that night Pat was in bed with Rose who had been acting weird. He could tell something was wrong by the fact that she only wanted to go for one round when usually she was game for two or three.

"What's up with you?" He glared at her side-eyed as he turned his back to her and casually went to get up and go get himself a beer.

"Nothing." Her icy tone was conflicting to her answer.

"Ooookay," he said not wanting to get into whatever it was. He had to deal with the talking portion of a relationship with Charlotte. He didn't have any interest in engaging in that with Rose.

"Jon said you're proposing...?" her question came out as a statement, but one that he was meant to finish.

Rose couldn't see as Pat rolled his eyes and let his head fall back. He turned around and looked at her. "Jon told ya about that, huh?"

Rose rolled her eyes and let out a sigh. "Yeah, he did. And to be honest he seemed to have some pretty strong opinions about the whole thing."

A cocky smirk spread across his face as he sat down next to Rose on the bed. "I'm not surprised. He's never really latched onto the idea of me and Charlotte."

"Well considering what's been going on between the two of us, can't say I blame him. Though it is pretty annoying my boyfriend has more opinions about your future with Charlotte than he does about our own future."

"You want a future with him?" Pat lifted his head and looked up at her.

"I don't know what I want to tell you the truth. I just was a little shocked when Jon told me your plans."

"You jealous?"

"I don't think so," Rose said unconvincingly. "I don't know how I feel about it. I guess it's just...hypocritical. We've been fooling around for a few months and during that time you decide that it's best to propose to your girlfriend?"

"Charlotte...." Pat's head dropped again. "She deserves better than what I've given her. She at least deserves this."

"Hey, if you want to propose to her out of guilt, then that's your call," she said condescendingly with a shrug. "I just don't want my boyfriend picking out someone else's ring since I know I won't be getting one any time soon."

"Just because I'm going to buy a ring doesn't mean this," he waived his finger back and forth between the two of them. "Has to end."

"I hope not. I said it before and I'll say it again Kane-- it's a shame she got to you first."

"Hey," he flashed her a charming smile. "Don't you think you should be saying that to Jon?"

"He'd never cheat. As close as he is with Charlotte, I don't have to worry. He's much better than me." A smile spread across her face as she leaned in and kissed him.

"Yeah, I know the feeling," he said into her lips as he pushed her back on the bed.

***Present Day***

"What are you doing next weekend?" Pat asked Rose as they sat entangled on her couch watching a movie.

"I have to go to that wedding with Jon. Remember? His cousin is getting married. We'll be gone Saturday morning until Sunday evening," she said with a fake pout.

"Don't go," Pat said calmly.

Rose let out a laugh as she turned her head to look up at him. "I have to go. I already promised him I would."

"I have a better idea." Pat was proud of himself and it came across very clear by his tone of voice and blatant disregard for Rose's commitment to Jon.

"What's this idea?"

"Go away with me. I'll rent a cabin or a hotel or anything. You and me can spend the entire weekend together. Tell good ol' Jonny boy that you have to go away -- that you got a modeling gig that came up that you can't get out of."

Rose's cheeks hurt from smiling so hard. "I would love to Pat, but I can't do that to him this late in the game."

"Tell him to ask Char to go with him. She'll end up going, she knows his family anyway. So it's not awkward for you and he has a good time and we get to go away. Everyone wins."

"Okay..." Rose said as she mulled it over. "Yeah, okay," she said more confidently. "You think we can get away with this?"

"Only one way to find out," he answered with a wink.

"You're okay with this? I mean, you'd do that to Charlotte?" Rose asked still a little unsure, and Pat knew what she meant-- they'd never crossed that line before.

Pat flickered his eyes away from Rose before looking at her and actually showed a morsel of conviction. "Look, we're going to have to end this eventually, might as well live it up while we can."

Truth was, Pat had been thinking about his future and situation with Rose for a little bit now. He knew he had to end it eventually, and he was starting to feel worse and worse about what he'd been putting Charlotte through, though his actions didn't compliment those feelings. He knew deep down Charlotte didn't deserve this, but he couldn't bring himself to flat out end it with Rose. He didn't like the way he was beginning to feel inside about it, but he ignored those convictions as much as he could. He figured what Charlotte didn't know couldn't hurt her.

"Okay," Rose agreed with a nod. "I'll talk to him tomorrow about it. You make the plans and I'll go wherever you want to go."

***

"Jon are you coming?" Charlotte asked impatiently over the phone as she tapped her foot on her floor.

"I'm coming, I'm coming. I'll be right there, don't get your panties in a twist."

"Well I'm standing here by myself like a jackass. I'm too excited to have patience."

"Char," Jon laughed knowing it didn't matter whether she was excited or not-- she never had patience. "I'll be there in like a minute. Calm yourself."

"Okay!" she squealed. "I'll be waiting. Just tell them you're here to meet me when you walk in. Don't be long Jon."

Jon hung up and took a deep breath. He had promised her that he would go wedding dress shopping with her and, to be honest, it was killing him. He would have do anything to get out of it but he wouldn't break his promise. He pulled up in front of the bridal shop and took a moment to mentally prep himself after parking his car. When he walked in the door he was immediately greeted by a bunch of smiling women. "I'm looking for..." he started but he was politely shushed.

"I know," an elderly woman with glasses interrupted with a grin. "She's in the back. She's been waiting for you. We've been expecting you."

"Thanks," he flashed a quick smile and followed the elderly lady to the back where Charlotte was getting into her first dress.

"Char," Jon yelled when he walked in the back.

"Jon!" she yelled back excitedly. "You're here?"

"Yeah, I'm here. Just come out whenever you're ready," he said less than enthusiastically as he sat down in a comfortable chair and the elderly employee handed him a glass of champagne.

"Okay, good. I'm just finishing up this dress. I'll be out in a second. Promise me you won't laugh even if you hate it."

"I won't laugh." He was more uptight than normal, but he convinced himself it was because he was in the middle of a bridal salon-- a place he had no place being-- doing a girl's job.

"Okay, I'm coming out now." He heard Charlotte's voice bellow from where she was before he heard her steps coming towards him. When he lifted his head up and saw her for the first time he totally lost his breath.

Her cheeks were flushed a slight shade of pink and a huge smile was spread across her face. He knew her well enough to tell she was a little uncomfortable and embarrassed but excited all the same. Her white dress was strapless and the best way he could sum it up-- big. She looked classy and gorgeous and even though her long hair was tossed up into a messy bun he had to remind himself to not only breathe but collect his heart from out of his stomach.

"What do you think?" she asked as she looked at him.

Jon swallowed hard and took a second to collect himself before answering. "Wow," he barely breathed out as he placed the champagne down on the little table next to him out of fear he'd drop it.

"You think so?" She asked as she stood in front of the mirror admiring the first dress she had picked out.

"Yeah," he choked out unable to take his eyes off her.

Charlotte spun around and looked at him with a playful look on her face. "What's wrong with you?"

"Nothing," he shrugged as he cleared his throat. "But the dress is beautiful Char. You look amazing, really. Good choice if you go with it," he said as nonchalantly as possible.

"I know you Jon. You were short on the phone. What's wrong?"

Jon quickly rolled his eyes and stood up as he released a deep breath and rubbed the back of his neck. "Rose bailed on me this morning for Brian's wedding. She said she got a modeling gig and she'll be gone for a few days. So, I'm stranded."

Charlotte looked at him sympathetically. "She bailed on you?"

"Yep, Rose has been...I don't know. For a while now..." he trailed off not knowing the words to say regarding the situation. He didn't want to get into how unhappy he was with Rose, how unhappy he'd been for a long time. He couldn't tell Charlotte the reason he was with her for as long as he had been was because he needed her; Rose was his crutch to deal with the fact that not only did Charlotte not love him, she loved his friend. He sighed as he walked over to her by the huge mirror. "Looks like I'm dateless," he said lightheartedly with a cute little grin.

"No," she shook her head and smiled at him. "You're not dateless. I'll go with you."

"You will?" he looked at her with a wrinkled brow, "Pat won't mind? It's not just a few hours remember, it's all day Saturday- we won't get home til sometime Sunday."

"Please," Charlotte said not even a little concerned. "Knowing him he'd probably want me to go with you. Don't even sweat it. We'll have fun. I promise."

Jon smiled down at her as he stood there in front of her in that beautiful wedding dress. "One condition," he said baiting her.

"What's this? I bail you out of going to this wedding and I get a condition?" she threw back playfully.

"You wear this." he nodded to the wedding gown.

Charlotte laughed and turned back to look in the mirror but instead of looking at her reflection she looked at Jon. "I probably won't wear this because Brian's fiancee might murder me, but I'll dress appropriately," she promised with a content smile.

Jon's gaze met hers through that mirror and he felt like his feelings were as transparent as that damn thing in that moment. He was standing so close to her in that dress and he'd be lying if he said he'd never pictured standing next to her in a wedding dress before. "I trust you."

"Well, how do we feel about this one?" the elderly lady came over and asked, making Jon and Charlotte both jump a little, as she looked back and forth between the two of them with a knowing smile.

"It's very beautiful," Charlotte gushed to the employee. "I'm not sure what I want to do though, yet."

"Sweetie, do you love the gown?" she asked Charlotte knowing full well the answer.

"I do," Charlotte couldn't wipe the grin off her face.

"And you," she turned her attention to Jon. "Do you like it?"

Jon looked at Charlotte, "Yeah, I do. Char you look gorgeous."

"Well, then it's settled. Though I must say," the kind woman said as she looked at both of them, "In all my years here I'm not sure I ever helped a bride with her groom present."

"Oh! No!" Charlotte and Jon both burst out nervously. "No," Charlotte shook her head. "He's not...we're not...he's just my friend."

"Oh," the woman grinned. "My apologies. I could have sworn that you two were together. That makes sense then. Well, let me know if I can do anything," she said before adjusting her glasses and turning to leave Jon and Charlotte alone again.

"Can you imagine?" Charlotte turned to Jon, her cheeks reddened this time.

"Yeah, she thought we were..." Jon trailed off. He looked down into her eyes and thought about what it'd be like to just kiss her, to pull her to him, to grab her hand, but he swallowed and shook those thoughts from his mind. "Pat's gonna love this when he sees you in it."

Charlotte swallowed and looked down at the ground before lifting her head and looking back into Jon's eyes. "Yeah, so, what's the deal with Brian's wedding?" she asked casually as she stepped away from the mirrors and started to head back to where her clothes were.

"Don't worry about that now," Jon shook his head. "Just do what you're gonna do here and we'll talk about that later."

"Oh I'm going to get dressed," she pointed behind her. "I'm not really in the mood to keep trying on dresses. I'm sure this isn't your favorite thing to do. Plus, you heard the woman. I love this dress."

"So you're going to get it?"

"I don't know," she answered simply. "I have time to decide what I want to do."