Perfect Match (51 page)

“You’re staying here with us, son of a bitch!” I said and came to hug him and he just pushed me away and I fell on the floor. “I’m gonna…”

“Matt, you’re making a show now,” Ben said and crossed his arms like he was watching a TV show then came and pulled his hand to help me out. “Stop being a baby, Richard. She’s not your girl, she was mine. Matt dated her. So what? They’re just bitches.”

“Don’t-you-dare-call-Monica-a-bitch!” Rick said and grabbed Ben’s collar.

“Chill, dude, chill,” I said and started laughing. “Let’s have a mosquito for breakfast… And chill… And hang around, okay?”

“A
mojito
!” Ben yelled and laughed. “We might even make
The Hangover
reality!” Ben said and I laughed. “C’mon, Rick, don’t be a bitch. I forgave Matt for dating Monica, I understood. Just get over… it. And Emma is a big girl, she can handle herself. I think she’s…” he started laughing and he kept it going like that for a few minutes, while I was just looking around for a toilet. “She’s? Emma’s amazing.”

“I know, man,” I said with a big grin. “She’s just so…”

“Amazing!” Ben completed my sentence and I nodded. “So, dear Dick… Listen to this, Matt… How does that sound?” he asked laughing.

“Gay!” I said and Ben started laughing and I could swear I noticed a smile on Rick’s face.

“Let’s get drunk?” Rick suggested and Ben went over and hugged him, but I think that was just because he couldn’t stand on his feet anymore. “I still can’t stand you, Matt douche bag Nicholls.”

“Sure. Let’s go find a bathroom. And then buy some burgers. Tequila burgers. Have you ever tried a shaowrma?”

“Stop impersonating Stark, Nicholls, you’re not that good,” Rick said and grabbed my arm and Ben’s to help us walk.

*

“Could you be any louder?” I asked Rick as he slammed the door after we entered the house.

“Shh!” Rick said and turned around and dropped his backpack on the floor making another noise. I started laughing out loud and soon Rick laughed too. “I think it’s good to have you here, Nicholls, even if I hate you to death.”

“Yeah, you hook up with Monica and you’ll stop hating me,” I said as I carefully moved towards the couch.

Before reaching the couch, Rick stumbled on the coffee table and fell on the floor with a big bump. I couldn’t stop myself and I started laughing so hard I fell on the floor too and I had to hold my stomach with my hands because it ached so hard from drinking, laughing, drinking… Yeah, that was pretty much what Rick, Ben and I did the whole weekend.

“What the hell it’s happening here?” Emma asked as she appeared in the living room and turned on the light and Rick and I put our hands in front of our eyes cause the light hurt us like we were vampires. “Matt? What are you doing here?”

“Funny story,” I started and Rick started laughing again remembering how Ben started explaining my presence in New York with that line too. “Rick found me in… New York?” I said and started laughing.

“So you decided to be as immature as you guys could get and come here at 3 AM and wake me up because it’s just fun?” she asked and crossed her arms over her chest.

“Yes, it’s fun!” Rick said and laughed. “I love you, Emma!”

“Shut the fuck up, dude, you don’t love my Emma.”

“She’s my sister, you douche bag!”

“No she’s not!” I argued and Emma sighed. “You’re not his sister, right?” I asked her and she ran her hand through her hair.

“Rick, it’s time for you to go to… bed,” Emma said and I turned and looked at Rick who was now completely asleep half on the floor and half on the couch. I laughed and Emma shook her head. “Okay, let’s get you to bed, Mr. Immature,” she said and helped me get up. “I missed you, by the way.”

“Oh, me too. But you see, you were right, New York was so
fun
!” I said as I walked towards her bedroom. “And I’ve missed Ben so much and now we had a blast… And Rick was there too, and it was completely awesome. It wasn’t as much fun as it was when you were there, but… It’s still New York.”

“I know, baby,” she said with a nod. “I’m glad you finally got the chance to make things right with Ben. And Rick,” she added with a giggle. “Instead I’ve been here stuck with Monica who at first blamed me for not telling her in the first place, and then she asked me if it would be a good idea to pay attention to Rick and I said no, cause he’s my brother and I’d hate that, cause it’s Monica, but it’s
my
brother and I love Rick and I don’t think she’s right for him and… Am I a bitch? Because he loves her and I shouldn’t interfere…”

“Emma, baby… I love you. But I’m drunk,” I said and laughed. “Do you really think I’m capable of giving you any good advice?” she looked and me and she shook her head and smiled.

“Yes, but still you’re never able of giving me any good advice… So…”

“Ha ha, funny as always,” I stated and she laughed and leaned towards me and kissed me. “If you could only… realize how much I love you,” I whispered as I softly laid on her bed and pulled her closer to me.

“I do realize, Matthew,” Emma replied as she grabbed my hand. “But I don’t think it’s necessary for you to get really drunk to tell me that.

“I know… But I had a great weekend, Ems,” I said and started to play with her long, brown hair. “I think your brother stopped hating me a little… And it’s good.”

“Yes. And you should get some sleep and stop waking me up at 3 AM because you two can’t take care of yourselves,” she said and smiled. “By the way, Gabrielle and Jensen are getting married, did you know that?”

“No, I didn’t. That’s awesome! We’re gonna go to Jensen’s wedding. You sure didn’t think so when we watched
Supernatural
together and you fangirled about Dean and Castiel. And I should be able to take care of myself, I know. But where’s the fun in that?” I asked and she giggled as she rested her head on my chest and threw an arm around me. And staying there like that I couldn’t picture what else I could wish for.

Chapter 36

The Wedding

~*~
E
mma
W
est ~*~

I was with Monica to buy her wedding dress and everything seemed wrong. I knew I had told her about Matt, but the previous events seemed to have vanished. Matt was acting the way he did before the Christmas party, Alex was starting to stop hating Matt, and now they were spending a lot of time together and Monica was dragging me everywhere to set it all for the wedding.

She looked serene in the Vera Wang store, touching the texture of different wedding dresses and picturing herself in one. But why? Why would she drag me to a wedding dress store and why would she be so peaceful about it?

“Wait, Monica,” I said as I grabbed her elbow and turned her to look at me. “What are we doing here?” I asked and everything seemed so crowded and senseless.

“We’re shopping for the wedding dress, of course,” Monica asked and laughed as she returned to look at the models.

“Yeah, but why?” I insisted placing myself in front of her with my hands on my hips.

“Because I can’t marry Matt in jeans and a t-shirt?” she asked and laughed.

Marry… Matt? Why would she… Oh. No, wait. Why would Monica think she’s still marrying Matt? She is definitely not marrying my boyfriend, we’re dating now and everyone knows about it. Except Rick perhaps, but since they have been a weekend together in New York, with Ben, I think he knows.

“But… how? I mean, why? How come? You didn’t… you can’t!”

“Emma, could you be coherent for once?” Monica laughed and flipped her golden hair off her shoulder.

“I wish I could just…”

*

“Matt and Monica are getting married!” I yelled, and Gabrielle looked at me, and then shrugged.

What is the matter with everyone? A few days ago, Matt and I were dating, and now what? No, wait, she can’t! He can’t!

I felt too many emotions, too many sensations, most of them fear, and weakness, and helplessness. I wanted to cry, but something was wrong and I couldn’t. I just wanted to talk to Matt, but instead I was in Gabrielle’s living room without knowing when I got here, how things turned out with Monica’s wedding dress, or Matt, and Gabrielle was so careless about what was happening.

“Are you listening to me, Gabrielle?” I asked, and I felt my throat hoarse and I couldn’t raise my voice. “They’re getting married, and I love him… And he loves me, why is he marrying her?”

“I don’t care,” Gabrielle said as she turned her back on me.

“How can you not care?” I asked desperately and grabbed her elbow.

“Look, you don’t give a damn about me, you were happy for what happened to me in high school, Emma! You’re so selfish thinking everything is about you. Matt loves Monica, and Monica is so happy with Matt, why don’t you respect that?”

“I was happy first with Matt…” I whispered.

“Well, you kind of lost your shot, right?” Gabrielle shrugged again.

*

I was sitting in my room, it was dark and everything was weird. Different. Impossible. Tears were falling down my cheeks and I felt something heavy on my chest, and I couldn’t do anything about it. I was hopeless. I couldn’t stop crying, and I had no idea what I should do.

Before Christmas I was finally okay with the idea of Matt marrying Monica, I had Alex and thought I’ve gotten over all this, but it was so untrue! What was I supposed to do or say to make it all disappear?

It was impossible to understand what Matt did, he was supposed to be with me, he wasn’t like that, he couldn’t do that, Matt loved me as much as I loved him. That was obvious, and everyone knew it. But what was happening to Gabrielle? She always supported me with Matt, and she knew how much I suffered when he dated Monica, and now she was just a careless bitch, calling me selfish! Oh, of course, she married Jensen Ackles a few weeks ago, and everything now was changing, because she didn’t spend as much time with me anymore. But that didn’t give her the right to act like that!

I’ve always been there for Gabrielle, and she was there for me, how could everything fall apart in a few hours?

I looked at the framed picture with Matt and me from Prom, taking it in my hands and touching his face with my fingertips, as the tears streamed down my face. He couldn’t do that, he wasn’t like that no matter what everyone thought.

*

“Matt and Monica are getting married,” I whispered and Rick didn’t even look up at me.

He was sitting on the floor on his bedroom, his back resting on a side of his bed, and his head in his hands. I couldn’t understand how Rick could be this affected by this, I mean, it hurt me because Matt and I were on and off again, and we’ve had all those moments, everything with him, but Monica never gave Rick a chance or a second glance, while he was so crazy about her. I wanted him to find someone great, but not Monica.

“What should I do about it?”

“Shut the fuck up!” Rick yelled at me, and he turned to give me a glare. “Get out.”

“Rick, wait, what’s-“

“Get out!” he yelled again. “What the hell do you want? You couldn’t do anything about it before, what you’ll do now except annoy me? Go away, Emma, I’m not in the mood.”

*

“Look, I know I should’ve said something earlier… But… I can’t do this anymore,” I started and Monica turned to look at me, still holding her wedding dress pressed to her chest.

I don’t remember Monica buying the dress earlier, but it was unbelievable. My heart sunk just when I looked at it, it suited her perfectly, and beautiful, and Monica had a big smile on her face.

The gown was long, very white, like a corset on the upper part with two transparent cloth straps, with a generous V-shaped cleavage that definitely showed her generous chest, and under it were a line of big shining sequins. The bottom part of the dress fell into cascades, some parts longer, some shorter, making a really big circle around her. At the waistline it had a two inch satin belt that really emphasized her small waist.

“What happened?” she asked and sat on the closest chair.

“I know I should’ve said something a while ago… But I didn’t, and now I can’t… I can’t do this anymore, and you have the right to know…”

“God, Emma, start talking!” Monica said with excitement.

“Matt and I dated… just… before you two started dating,” I said and looked away. I couldn’t bear to look at her and see disappointment, or betrayal in her eyes. “Actually, we were kind of dating when you two started dating. And… I tried not to… I tried to be okay with it, ‘cause you love him and I think… I mean, he loves you back, but I can’t. I can’t accept the fact that you are marrying Matt, considering I never stopped loving him. And at this point I’m pretty sure I will never stop loving Matt.”

“What?”

“I’m sorry, Monica, I really… But you broke up at Christmas, and he told me...”

“Wait, what?” she asked with an ironic laugh. “No, we didn’t, Emma, remember he gave me the ring on Christmas?” she said and showed me her big engagement ring.

“No, you guys had a fight on Christmas and…”

“Emma, you’re delusional,” Monica said softly to me, and placed her hand on my shoulder, but in her eyes you could read the worry.

“I love Matt, Monica.”

“How can you say this to me? Two days before my wedding? I mean, what do you expect? It was over a year ago, what do you want? Do you want me to stop all of this cause you suddenly realized you’re in love with
my
fiancé?”

“No, I thought you…”

“Oh, so okay, you both kept this a secret for a long time and you never
thought
of telling me and now, as a really nice girl you
thought
I should know?”

“I can’t… I’m sorry.”

“You’re being stupid, Emma!” she shouted with a harsh tone, throwing her wedding dress on the couch and running a hand through her hair. “What do you want me to do? Feel bad because I didn’t know you guys were dating? Because God knows how much I wanted you to date back then! Do you want me to stop the wedding because now you’re sure you’re in love with
my
Matt? Tell me, Emma, what would you want?!”