I'm infuriated at life. Like always.

"Oh my god!" I throw my hands in the air, giving up.

A deep chuckle hits my ear, making me turn around to see Evan standing by the doorway. His face is stretched with amusement as he stares at me. I do the only thing that I can actually do, glare at him.

"You look ridiculous." He comments, pointing at the white dress I am wearing.

"Asshole." I mutter under my breath, struggling to zip up the damn thing.

He rolls his eyes, getting off the doorway to make his way to me. "Turn around."

Without protesting, I do as he says. I suck in a deep breath when his hands meet the zip — no, not from his touch, that's ridiculous, but to tuck in my stomach to fit in the shit.

"Can't breathe." I manage to croak out as soon as he zips it up.

Before he can recover from his laughing, I see two people entering the room. Both immediately pause — Jordan lets out a very similar laugh like Evan's and Breanna just cocks her head to side and stares at me.

"How old is that thing again?"

"Three years?" Evan guesses after he stops laughing but he's still very much amused by my appearance.

"Why are you wearing that?" Jordan asks, taking his eyes up and down my body. "I can see your underwear lining."

"And too much boobs." Breanna feels important to point that out, for some reason.

"All of you, get out!" I point towards the door, understanding that this was indeed a ridiculous idea to actually try this on.

I look at myself in the mirror and sure enough my lining of my underwear is visible. The dress is sleeveless, so my cleavage is literally bursting out of it. My hair are shorter now, falling a little below my shoulder with blonde ombre that I just got done yesterday. It's a sad sight to stare at myself like this.

My friends obviously didn't listen to me when I told them to get out. Instead, they've somehow made themselves comfortable in the bedroom. Jordan, like always, has found himself in my underwear drawer which earns him a glare.

He pulls out a thong and wiggles his eyebrows, "I see you've upgraded."

"Jordie, if you don't step away from there in two seconds, I will kill you." I warn him and he just lets out a loud laugh.

"What's with the new hair?" Breanna asks, sitting on the edge of my bed.

"I like it." Evan winks at me, leaning against the headboard.

He's not wrong, the hair looks pretty fine-ish, but I have no idea why I felt the need to do something so impulsive. Well, I kind of know why. I wanted to be in control of something about my life, so I took it out on my hair.

"Where are your kids?" I ask, deviating the topic away from me as I look at Breanna and Jordan.

"My folks are babysitting her." Jordan answers.

"What about Matt?" I look at Breanna.

"He's with Paula downstairs, trying to figure out how to draw perfect portraits."

"From Paula?" Evan chuckles. "Has anyone ever seen that woman draw a straight line?"

"I agree. She can't draw to save her life." I shake my head. "Perhaps, I can draw better than her."

"Like hell you can!" Evan scoffs at me. "Remember when you tried to make me sit still to draw me shirtless?"

"Who came up to me and said 'An, draw me like one of your french girls.'?" I mock him, earning snickers from both Breanna and Jordan.

"A guy can't joke around you, can he?" He shakes his head at me with amusement clear in his voice. "Where's your shitty brother?"

I scowl at his choice of words, like always. "Is there ever going to be a day you're going to get along with him?"

"With whom?" Asks the man of the hour, entering the bedroom to give us all company.

His eyes meet mine and then focus on my clothes. I look at the way he gives a varied look to Breanna and Jordan but then his eyes land on Evan, and they share a similar look before laughing out loud.

"Assholes! Both of you!" I pick up my hairbrush to throw it at Will.

"Have you looked at yourself?" He snickers, sitting down on the bed by Breanna's side.

I turn to see my reflection once again, letting out a frustrated huff. I shake my head at the pathetic feeling that sets down in the pit of my stomach as I look at four of my closest confidants sprawled in my childhood bedroom.

"You still haven't told us why you're wearing that." Jordan points out, taking a seat on the chair by the desk.

"C'mon, guys!" Breanna glares at the three of them. "Don't make her say it."

"Oh." Will sits up a little straighter, like the realisation dawns upon him as he looks at me again.

"Yeah, oh. Idiot." Evan throws him a dirty look before turning towards me, his eyes reflecting empathy. "You look beautiful, An."

I give him a small smile because even though I look like a clown, he's saying those words to comfort me. It's weird to see these grown-up idiots in this place after almost a year together. My heart almost feels full at the sight, almost.

"Stop sucking up to her." Will elbows him and Evan lets out a low grunt, throwing a glare in his direction.

"I'm not. Bri, you with me on this?" Evan looks at her and she nods, beaming at me.

"If we can ignore all this." She points to my cleavage. "You look beauts."

"Even with it, you look pretty hot." Jordan chimes in.

At this point, they're all just trying to make me feel better. Over the years, my bond with each one of them has just grown. Our priorities have shifted as our families have developed, but somehow, we've all been able to come back to our roots to connect.

"Thanks, guys! But I think it's time to donate this one," I say with finality in my voice.

"Has he ever seen it?" Jordan asks, and I shake my head.

"I didn't want to jinx it." I shrug, trying not let my emotions be evident.

My friends and brother offer me a pity look except Evan. He seems a little pissed-off, but in a sad way. If it were just the two of us, I would've asked him but I know in return I would've just received a shrug. He has started doing that a lot lately.

When I hear familiar footsteps approaching the door, my ears perk up as I look behind me. He's wearing a perfect lop-sided smile on his face as he leans against the doorframe. But it disappears almost immediately when he looks at me.

"Fuck." He curses under his breath but I see the way his eyes linger on my body before coming up to my face.

He looks confused, but mostly perplexed. He's wearing his classic leather jacket and a black t-shirt underneath with washed jeans. His eyes momentarily shift to the rest of the people in the bedroom and I hear Jordan chuckle lightly.

"What is that?" Chris points to the dress and I bite on my lower lip to contemplate the answer.

"It's a wedding dress, you idiot." William shakes his head at him.

"This?" Chris's eyes meet mine and I nod, reluctantly. "Jesus fuck."

"That's my cue to leave." Evan gets up, avoiding looking at the two of us.

"Mine too!" William follows behind him but looks between the two of us. "You're both idiots, in case no one has given the heads up lately."

Breanna gets up too, winking at me and Jordan stares between the two of us as he approaches the door. He smirks at his best friend before speaking up.

"Try to keep it down, for all of ours sake." His amusement only causes my blush to erupt.

After all of them have left, Chris steps inside the bedroom and closes the door behind him. I know that look, I'm so familiar with it that my body practically jumps out to meet his in anticipation.

"What are you doing here?" I ask, trying to stay rooted to the floor instead of running in his arms.

I feel the need to cover myself up, but he has seen me in more ridiculous clothes than this. He shakes his head, as if trying to snap himself out of a trance as he concentrates on my face.

"Finished the work early, and you weren't back at home." He whispers, crossing the distance to stand in front of me. His fingers come to my neck as he moves it down to my cleavage. "Where have you been hiding this?"

"Right here." I manage to speak out, my face probably flushed red because of how deep my breathing has turned with our proximity.

"You look so fucking beautiful." He whispers, his eyes meeting mine.

"What are you talking about, Jay?" I laugh, turning around to see myself in the mirror. "This is hideous and it doesn't even fit me anymore."

He looks at my reflection from behind me. I've gained weight in past three years, and let's just say I'm still trying to make my peace with it. He brushes my hair aside before kissing the nape of my neck.

"It does, you look better this way." He assures me, like always.

I pout at him dramatically, "Bri said it's too much boobs and Jordan pointed out the underwear lining."

"When has this ever been a bad thing?" He smirks, turning me around to face him as his lips move from my neck down to my cleavage line. I hold in a breath when his hands go down to the hem of the dress and he pull it up from the floor. "We can fix that lining in a second."

His hands land on the waistband of my underwear before he pulls it down and I lean up to kiss him.

Just like that, every pathetic feeling I had resolves almost instantly as his lips move against mine in perfect sync. A feeling of relief sets in my body as his hands hold my curves perfectly.

His moan hits my ear the same time I let out his name. He parts away a little, his hands going behind my back to the zip. His fingertips against my skin brings my body to life.

"As much as I love this on you, it really has to go." He mumbles against my lips.

I crane my neck a little to give him a look. "Or it can stay on."

"Holy shit, Claire!" He chuckles incredulously, realising what I'm implying. "No, we aren't having sex with you in a wedding dress, today's not the day for that."

"Party pooper." I scowl mockingly before kissing him.

"Let's just try to keep it down, yeah?" He whispers and I nod, biting on my lower lip as I grin at him.

"We can try."

He just shakes his head at me in amusement before unzipping the dress completely. We get lost in each other's breathing as we try to embrace every touch, every kiss, every moan for the next while.

It leaves me in awe sometimes how perfectly in sync we've fallen with each other. So many years, and I know every part of his body better than my own. The most surprising thing is how loudly my heart still seems to beat when we're together.

The warmth he provides me, that's unmatchable to any other comfort I could ever have in my entire life. His lips are pressed against mine as he lets out a shaky breath with my name on the tip of his tongue.

I smile at him, my fingers grazing his face as I admire how handsome he is. It's unreal how someone like him is with someone like me.

"When did you buy it?" He asks, and I avert my eyes away at his question.

A strong deep flush takes over me as he lies down by my side on the bed, his fingers tracing my lower lip. I don't want to answer him, it's way too embarrassing to actually admit it. I shake my head but he just scowls at me.

"C'mon, Claire. Tell me. I know it's been here for a while, but I just don't know when you bought it." He insists and I let out a sigh, meeting his grey eyes.

"Promise not to laugh?" I ask and he nods. "A day after you proposed."

He doesn't laugh, instead his face pulls into such a huge grin as he continues to stare at me. "Really?"

I nod feebly, "It's stupid."

"It's not." He promises. "That's how eager I am about getting married to you too."

"It's been three years, Jay." I whisper, my heart feeling a little heavy as I turn to stare up at the ceiling.

I didn't buy the dress at an expensive store, in fact, it wasn't even my final choice. I was so excited about the proposal and the idea of a wedding that I just rushed to the first store I could think of with Breanna and Paula the next day.

It's not even that dress that you look at and just know that this is what you want to walk down the aisle in. It's just a wedding dress. That's all that mattered to an excited Adrianna who couldn't believe that Christopher Jay Jones actually wants to marry her.

But deep down, I knew we were going to wait. He was still settling down in his career, and so was I. We were living apart at that time, and long distance had been such a bitch. So, we took our sweet time.

After he got his law degree, we moved to Austin, got an apartment and he started practicing while I got myself a stable job. That was three years ago.

"Baby, what's wrong?" He asks with a worried tone as he leans up with the support of his elbow, looking down at me.

Neither of us has brought it up, mostly because both of us have been content in our relationship. It has grown so much over the years, so fucking much. We're still idiots, I mean, I don't expect to change even when we have wrinkles and white hair.

I take in a deep breath, realising that even though Breanna was right, I didn't want to say it in front of my friends, I need to say it aloud to him. He, out of all people in the world, needs to know.

"Jay?" I look at him, swallowing a little as he continues to stare at me, waiting for me to speak up.

Fuck. Okay. Let's do this, Adrianna! You can say it out aloud.

"I want to get married, like yesterday!"

His eyes widen at my words but there's a lot of surprise beneath them, along with few other emotions I'm finding hard to detect because od how nervous I feel.

When he doesn't respond, I start to sit up a little, speaking up again. "I know you're still settling around this new branch of your Dad's company here, but—"

He doesn't let me complete. I'm interrupted with his lips on mine and I let out an immediate moan at how rushed the kiss is. He pulls apart with an astonished look as he rests his forehead against me.

"What was that for?" I whisper, and he shakes his head.

"I've been waiting to hear those words since three years now." His voice is low, and that along with his words make the familiar heat rise in my stomach.

"What?" My voice is laced with surprise.

"I want to marry you so badly, Claire. I just didn't think you were ready, and I didn't want to create a huge deal about it so I never brought it up!" He explains and I blink at him in utter shock.

"I thought you weren't ready, you ass!" I swat at his shoulder, making him laugh as he pulls me closer. "God, Jay! I thought I would freak you out."

"What? With the prospect of having you as mine forever?" He raises an eyebrow.

"But the company—"

"Shush. We're both settled down in our careers, baby. It doesn't get better than this. Dad's business is going to grow here and I'm going to look after it but with you along my side, just like right now." He sounds like he has it all planned out, there's not a hint of worry or doubt across his face as he talks about it.

He isn't wrong though. We're both settled down, this is the best it can get. He's working as a lawyer but has also extended his Dad's work from New York back to our hometown. He doesn't say it, but it's because I got a job here. It unexpectedly happened a year ago, the Editor position was more like a luck I was testing, but I got it.

I missed my home. I missed Sawyer, Jordan and Penny, I missed Breanna, and my godson Matt. I even missed Lukey-boy who's working as an accountant at a local company. But mostly, I missed my father. So incredibly much.

And it pays incredibly well. In the last three years, we both saved up in Austin, so when I got a job in Highland Park, we started looking for a house. Not an apartment, a house. We have our own home. It's not much, but it's ours.

"I love you, so much," I tell him, my heart feeling overwhelmed.

"I love you." He kisses me again. "We should save a date."

I grin at him, picking up my phone from the side-table. Chris and I scroll through the dates when I speak up. "Next month?"

"Mm, how about the last weekend of it?"

"Evan's game." I remind him and he narrows his eyes at me but just shakes his head. "Stop being petty, Jay."

"I didn't even say a word."

"You don't need to."

"Well, it's not my mistake he's in love with my fiancée."

"It's been ten years!" I laugh, shaking my head at the prospect of his words. "You're crazy."

Evan isn't in love with me. He has had a few flings, and he hasn't dated anyone but that doesn't mean he's in love with me. I don't think he ever was. He just liked the idea of being in love with me because of how strongly I felt for him years back.

It's surreal how far I've come from there.

"We should make sure everyone's in town." I speak up as I slide out of the bed to pull out clothes to wear.

He pouts at me as I dress up. "I don't wanna go downstairs."

"Yes, you do. We need to tell my father, and yours. And my mother, and William's probably going to give you shit for this."

He shakes his head with a smirk on his face. "He can fuck off."

"Let's go!" I have to practically drag him to get dressed and leave the bed.

Once we both look presentable enough, me in one of the hoodies and shorts, and Chris in the clothes he wore here, we go downstairs. Paula, Breanna and Matt are sitting on the dining table with lots of colours spread across it.

"That looks fancy." Chris grins at Matt who's drawing a tree and a sun. "Good job, buddy!"

"Thanks, Chris! Do you wanna draw?" The kid babbles up and he shakes his head.

"Maybe later?" He suggests and Matt nods excitedly. They both get along extremely well, much like Penny and him. Chris is surprisingly amazing with kids.

"Ahh, you two, again!" William scrunches up his nose as he sits sprawled on the couch. "Had fun?"

"More than you can imagine!" Chris chuckles, aware that he's getting on the guy's nerves.

My eyes land on Evan as I grin at him. "Why are you sitting there like a grumpy?"

"He has to leave day after tomorrow." Paula pipes in, coming to stand by the couch.

"What, why?" I scowl at him as Chris pulls me by his side, taking a seat on the love seat.

"Some practice season is starting up." Evan waves it off, typing away on his phone before glancing at me. "You looked better in the dress."

"I agree!" Jordan comes in with a bowl of nachos in his hands, taking a seat by William's side. "We all need a better life, we're chilling here like high school kids."

"Hey, I was forced to come here." William scowls at him before throwing me a dirty glare.

"Because you wouldn't stop moping over that girl. It's been a month, Will." I shake my head at him.

He started dating a girl a year back and he didn't take the breakup well. He told me he was visiting Mom today, so I dragged him here to hang out with us. I was hoping to provide him a nice distraction since I knew Evan was home too, a break away from the basketball. Apparently not.

I texted Breanna and Jordan to come over too, and left a text to Chris to tell him about my whereabouts after I left early from work.

"Still hung up on her?" Evan taunts him.

"You're one to talk." Will scoffs, making both Evan and I scowl at him.