I was slipping my heels on after a long, draining process of getting ready. I wore the blue dress. A shrilling scream literally echoed throughout the hallway.

"What the fuck?" I mumbled to myself, grabbing my heels in my hand and running to the door, opening it and looking down the hall. Zoey was leaning against the wall in front of Madeline's room.

"Emma, get over here!" Zoey yelled.

"What the fuck is going on?" I said under my breath, still not moving.

Zoey speed walked over to me and she was closing to losing all her patience I'm guessing with Madeline.

"What?" I asked in confusion.

"The zipper on her dress is broken, we need your help. She is freaking out way more than necessary, help me or I swear to god I am going to kill her," she said slowly.

"But-" I opened my mouth to tell her that I still have to finish getting ready myself but she grabbed my arm and began pulling me. I stumbled a little, trying to grab the key so I didn't lock myself out but she was moving too fast.

"Hey, Nick," she waved at him.

I turned around and he was also watching the scene unfold in the hallway. My eyes met his and neither of us said anything or let our expressions falter. We just kept our faces blank and void of any emotion. He had a button-up on with none of the buttons closed. He was getting dressed.

I turned around and continued walking with Zoey until we got to her room. I set my heels down and looked at Madeline who was panicking.

"Madeline shut the fuck up," Zoey groaned.

"Fuck's sake," I resisted an eye roll and grabbed the zipper, holding the fabric together and pulling it up smoothly. "There, it's not rocket science," I rolled my eyes before sitting down on the edge of her bed and pulling my heels on. "Can I go?" I asked while standing.

"Yeah, sorry to bother you," Zoey said while working on Madeline's final touches.

"It's okay," I waved my hand dismissively before opening the door and walking over to my room. I reached for the handle and pressed it down but nope. I had locked myself out. "No, no, no, no, no, come on," I groaned, resting my head on the door. "I swear to god, I-" I began cursing while heading to the elevator but the click of a door stopped me.

"I grabbed it when you left," he said while clearing his throat.

I turned around and took my key from his hands. "Thanks," I mumbled before rushing inside and closing the door behind me. This dinner is going to suck.

"No, thank you," I smiled at the waiter that went around passing appetizers. We were all standing around and mingling with people while I sat at the bar by myself.

"Hey," Liam came and sat next to me.

"Hey," I gave him a small smile.

"You okay? You seem a little off," he said hesitantly.

"I'm fine, I'm just a little tired," I lied.

"Oh, did you go out today?" he asked in confusion.

"Nope, but I'm still tired," I chuckled. He nodded while letting out a laugh. "Liam," I cleared my throat, "You're bringing Rachel to the wedding as your plus one, aren't you?" I asked knowingly.

"Yeah," he nodded slowly, "I'm sorry, I know you two don't get along but I think she's a great girl, Emma. She's nice, I like her."

Rachel and nice are two words that can't be used in the same sentence but I guess she's different with him.

"That's great, Liam. If you two get along then I'm happy for you," I smiled at him. I meant what I said. I just have to get along with it and move past it. There's nothing I can do about it. "Have you told her that you like her?" I questioned.

"No, not yet," he shook his head, "I know you guys don't trust her but I do," he shrugged.

"That's okay, you two have a different relationship," I shrugged back. He nodded before his mom called him over and he left. "Can I get vodka and coke, please?" I turned to the bartender. He raised his eyebrows at me and I rolled my eyes. "Come on." He shrugged before making and then serving me my drink. "Thank you," I smiled while sipping it.

"You're drinking?" Landon came and sat beside me.

"Yup," I replied.

"How come you're not with Nick?" he questioned.

"How come you're not with Zo?" I asked.

He pointed to Madeline who was getting some pictures taken with Zoey. "They were looking for you," he said.

"Well, I'm right here," I shrugged.

"So where's Nick?" he asked.

"Didn't he tell you?" I asked in confusion. I know I haven't told Zoey yet but that's because I don't want to stress her out while her sister is getting married.

"Tell me what?" he looked at me with confusion.

"We broke up if you can even call it that since we weren't dating," I shrugged nonchalantly like it was nothing.

"Wait, you what?" his eyes widened.

"We aren't talking, we're done," I answered.

"Why? What happened?" he interrogated.

"He asked me to be his girlfriend," I replied.

"I don't see the problem," he mumbled.

"I said no," I huffed.

"Why did you say no?" he pressed further.

"Because I'm not ready to be his girlfriend right now," I sighed, finishing my drink and asked for another one.

"And?" he asked.

"And he refused to wait, which I don't blame him for, I wouldn't want to make him wait and waste his time," I shrugged while downing the drink.

"You might wanna slow down on the alcohol, Emma," he said, watching me as I got another one.

"I can drink all I want tonight, Landon. All I want," I was already slurring.

"I'm gonna go get Nick," he mumbled under his breath while getting up.

"No, don't!" I exclaimed.

He looked at me in confusion so I downed my drink and grabbed his hand, pulling him with me for the photos.

"Hey," I grinned at Zo.

"Hey, we were looking for you," she looked at me cautiously.

"Let's take some pictures, come on Landon!"

-----

"Emma, stop. Can you at least act sober?" Zoey asked while pulling me into the bathroom.

"I am sober, I'm not drunk, just a little tipsy," I mumbled, sitting on the couch in the rather large bathroom.

"Right, well sober up," she huffed while sitting beside me. We stayed there and she made me chug water constantly till I was close to sober and that took a while.

"So why are you drinking so much tonight?" she asked with a sigh.

"Nick and I are done, we're over," I mumbled while leaning my head back. I explained everything to her, shutting up when Nick's mom walked in.

"Oh dear, Emma, Matt has been looking for you," she laughed while walking in.

"I'll be with him right away," I smiled while getting up and heading out, finding Nick's dad. "You called, Mr. Heartwell?" I asked.

"That's Matt to you, young lady. Can I treat you to a dance?" he asked.

I let out a laugh, "Of course," I smiled while placing my hand in his. Everyone was dancing and I was scanning the room but Nick was nowhere to be found.

"Have you seen Nick?" he asked.

"No, I haven't seen him tonight," I replied while looking around.

"Clearly, something has gone wrong, yes?" he questioned.

"If you will," I sighed.

"And what is that?" he questioned with a sigh.

"To put it blatantly, he asked me to be his girlfriend and I said no," I sighed while falling into step with him. Nick's dad is honestly a great dancer, now I know where Nick gets it from.

"May I know why?" he asked.

"I'm not ready, and he's not willing to wait. Which is completely understandable, he shouldn't have to wait for someone to choose him, it's not fair," I said, my voice softening as the words fell out.

"But he should wait for someone he loves, right?" he questioned.

I stuttered, not knowing what to say. "I suppose," I shrugged. All this talk and thoughts of Nick have sobered me up.

While we were dancing in silence, our eyes landed at the entrance of the room, making us halt.

"Oh no," I mumbled while watching Nick stumble in.

He was a wrecked mess, to say the least. His hair was all over the place, his eyes were bloodshot red, and his tie was hanging loosely around his neck, not to mention, he was stumbling not walking.

"I suggest you ignore him, he needs to learn," Matt suggested.

"I can't just ignore him when he's looking like that," I mumbled while staring at him.

His eyes instantly found mine.

"Or when he's looking at me like that," I sighed, excusing myself and going to him.

Just looking at him, and him looking like that killed me.

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