What We Could Never Be (gxg)

Part 32- Present Day

I was half asleep when Brianna kissed me on the cheek in the morning and said she was going to shower.
But I was fully awakened when I heard Savannah's voice yell out in surprise, "Brianna! What are you doing here?"
"I'm sure Blake will tell you." I heard Brianna say back, and then she darted back into my room, in her towel.
I sat up in my bed. "I had no clue she was going to be home this early. I am so sorry."
Brianna laughed, "She looks like she saw a ghost. I feel bad."
"We should go tell her what's going on." I said, "I'm going to put on pants."
Brianna took her towel off to get changed and I just sat there admiring her body. Damn. If she became mine again, I was lucky.
Savannah was in the kitchen, eating some avocado toast. She had off from work today. I looked at the clock- it was 9:30.
Brianna and I walked in, both in shorts and t-shirts. My hair was down a a bit messy, hers was wet.
Savannah looked at us, "So, what's going on?"
Brianna and I looked at each other. "Um, I left my wedding."
Savannah's eyes widened. "Holy fuck. So you left your own wedding and came here?"
"That's...exactly what I did." Brianna looked at me and raised her eyebrows.
"You two are destined to be, aren't you?" Savannah chucked and shook her head, "I want the full details later. But I'll give you some space for now."
Savannah sauntered out of the kitchen with her plate in hand.
"Let me make you breakfast." I said to Brianna.
"Let me help you. I didn't even realize how hungry I was, I haven't eaten in about 24 hours."
Brianna and I tried to decide what to make- and then we couldn't think of anything so we settled on cereal. We both were never cooks.
"Cinnamon toast crunch, your favorite." I said, she poured some almond milk into her bowl.
"You know it." She smiled, and bumped me playfully with her hip.
We sat down at the kitchen table together, light pouring through from the windows.
"I think Savannah is right." Brianna commented, "I believe we are destined to be together."
"Why did you propose to Sydney?" I asked Brianna, a bit abruptly. The times we hung out when she was still engaged, we had talked, but not in detail about a lot. I wanted details. About her engagement, why she wasn't in the Army- everything.
Brianna bit her bottom lip, in thought. "When I was with Sydney, it was the first time I had felt something since we broke up. It was passionate and I ignored certain red flags about her, like how controlling she was. I liked that she was all about me. I honestly didn't quite think it through when I proposed to her. I thought it was the closest thing I was going to find to how I felt with you."
"It must've been the shock of a lifetime when you saw me. I know it was for me when I saw you."
"I literally could not believe my fucking eyes. I thought they were lying to me. Literally everything- and I mean everything that I felt for you came rushing back." Brianna looked at me.
"Same here. I thought I moved past how strongly I felt about you. I mean, I thought you were in the Army by now. I was so surprised."
"Obviously I didn't join the Army." Brianna said, "Blake, after we broke up I was in an extremely bad place. I quit my job. I stopped working out- I gained about 30 pounds. I wasn't motivated to do a damn thing. I didn't know how to live. My mom was super concerned, without me knowing she enrolled me in the Physical Therapy Assistant program at the community college. She told me that if after a semester I hated it, I could choose something else to do. But I wound up loving it. Realized the Army wasn't even what I wanted. School helped me get back on my feet, funny enough."
Of course Maureen did that for her. Always so helpful. "Did your mom....And Vivian...did they hate me?" I asked. I almost didn't want to know the answer.
Brianna shook her head, "Not at all. Honestly, mom was very understanding. She just really missed you. Still does. Same with my grandmother. They do know we work at the same place. But they don't know I left my wedding because of you."
"I can't wait to see them again. If you want me to, of course."
Brianna put her hand on mine. "They will be thrilled to see you."
I took a deep breath before I asked what else I wanted to know, "So...before Sydney. Did you date anyone else?"
"There was this one girl, Jackie, in my program at school. This was close to a year after we broke up. We dated for a couple months, but I realized I wasn't really ready to open up my heart again." She looked at me like she didn't want to know the answer, "What about you?"
"I didn't date anyone. I don't count Ellen as dating. I only slept with one person besides her."
"Who?" Brianna asked me.
"Savannah's cousin, Alyx. Just once. Look, I know we don't need to discuss that." I said.
"It's okay. I slept with Jackie, Sydney, and then one other girl, Megan, right before I met Sydney. Looks like we both haven't done too much." She said and then chuckled, "Remember that girl from the gym that you were always suspicious about, Stephanie?"
"How could I forget?" I laughed.
"Literally two days after she found out we broke up she tried to get with me. Cheat on her boyfriend, everything. I of course denied it, but I couldn't help but think how you were right about her." Brianna said, and then surprisingly I saw tears spring to her eyes. "I thought about you literally every single day, Blake. Even before I saw you in person, when I was with Sydney- I just thought about you like crazy. I hated how we left things off. I wanted to talk to you. I just figured you moved on. That you were done with me."
"I'd be lying if I said you weren't on my mind constantly. I figured you moved on too though. It was just so hard to bring myself to reach out. But I'm just so fucking grateful to be here with you right now, Brianna." I looked into her pretty brown eyes, "I could never be done with you."
Brianna stood up, leaned across the small kitchen table, and held my face in her hands. Then she kissed me. "I've missed you so much." She said.
And in that moment I realized my life had felt completely empty without her. It was like my heart started beating again. I wasn't going to lose this, I wasn't going to lose her again.
The next week and a half was a blur, but I also felt more excited and content with life than I had in years.
Casey told me at work that when the wedding was called off, no real information was given. The guests were just asked to leave. But she said deep down she knew why- because Brianna couldn't go through with the wedding. And I told her she was right.
Brianna and I hadn't defined ourselves, but we were absolutely acting like we were together. Texting, spending time together, hooking up- I knew we both wanted to take things "slow"- even though it didn't feel slow. I mean she had just ran away from her own wedding. I didn't want to pressure her to be my girlfriend again just yet.
Two days before Thanksgiving, I was at her apartment. We had ordered in sushi and were making cookies. Sydney had moved out the night of the wedding- packed all of her things. Luckily, the apartment was under Brianna's name. She had started renting it a year ago, and Sydney had moved in. She explained to me she just wouldn't be able to save the money now that Sydney was giving her for rent.
"Small price to pay to actually be happy." She said, and gave me a kiss.
"I hope it's not too much though." I smiled at her. We were sitting on her couch. She had Miles, her cat,  in her lap.
"500 dollars." Brianna said, "I know it sounds like a lot. But I do make pretty good money. I'm grateful my mom pushed me to do Physical Therapy Assistant."
"You seem to be amazing at it." I said.
"I try." Brianna winked at me, "So...are you doing anything on Thanksgiving?"
Savannah had told me I could eat with her family. My mom and I had been talking a bit more- I had been updating her on Brianna, but she told me she wasn't doing anything this year for Thanksgiving. "I was going to eat with Savannah and her family. Why do you ask?"
"I want you to come eat with me and my family." Brianna said.
"Are you sure, Brianna? Does your mom even know about us?"
"No, I haven't told her. I haven't really spoken to anyone since the wedding. Well, failed wedding. But I am telling you, she is going to be thrilled to see you. And it'll all come together for her." Brianna reassured me.
I nodded. "Okay, I'll come with you."
Brianna grinned and gave me a kiss, "I'm so glad."