The Wedding Of The Year 2: Bridesmaid Mania

Chapter 5

When we get back to the flat, Corey goes into the kitchen while I head to bathroom. I have a quick shower and put on some joggers and a t-shirt of Corey's I've nicked. He really doesn't mind unless it's one that he loves to wear.

The kitchen smells of some food that Corey's cooked. Sophia forced him to learn at least five recipes over the summer. He's leaning over the stove stirring a pot of something. I try to look but he stands in front of me and turns around.

His face is mock annoyed. I try to give him my best innocent face. "You should know better," He sighs. His hands rest on waist. He kisses me quickly. "How you feeling? Does anything still hurt?" One hand moves to feel where I got kicked. in the ribs. He slowly moves the top up to see if it's bruised.

I place my hand on his to stop him from seeing, "I'm fine. Nothing hurts. Why don't you focus on cooking, and I'll set the table?" I move out his grasp and give him a chaste kiss before heading to the cupboards. I quickly set the table and give him the plates he'll need to dish up.

It isn't long before we're sitting down for a meal. Corey's face is tight and his brows furrowed. I know he's thinking about something and it's concerning him. Unfortunately, I don't pry as I really don't want to push him after the day we had. His eyes lift to meet mine.

"How bad is the bruise, shortcake? That's the only reason you wouldn't let me look at it. You think I'll get angry," Corey asks breaking the silence.

"I don't think you'll get angry. I know you somehow feel responsible and guilty even though it wasn't your fault at all. I won't let you beat yourself up by looking at a reminder," I reach over and place my free hand on his. "I promise you I'm perfectly fine. So please don't worry or feel guilty."

He turns his hand and gives mine a squeeze. "Thanks shortcake. I needed that. You also can't feel guilty. I know you do. Jonah's actions are his own. Nobody can stop him but him. Him turning on us has nothing to do with you."

I give a small smile in return. We talk about our classes and mundane stuff for the rest of our meal. I clean up while Corey goes into the living room and puts the tv on. "You want to watch a movie shortcake?" he yells through.

I can't help the smile on my face. I dry my hands and go into the room, "sure but know I'll be doing work while we watch it." His face turns into an adorable pout. "Don't make that face. You know how I get with work."

He leans his head back and groans. I shake my head and sit down next to him. He doesn't move to pull me closer. I know what he's thinking though. The second I snuggle in, I'm not moving. So, I grab my bag and put it next me. I lean in and as expected his arms cage me to him.

He looks at me in triumph and I just smirk back at him. When he plays the movie, I pull my bag closer and pull out my work. "How the fuck did you pull that out of thin air?" He says trying to grab my stuff.

I nudge him with a laugh, "I grabbed it when I sat down. You were too busy sulking to notice." He shakes his head but decides to leave me to it, focusing on the movie he picked.

I only get part of the way through when there's a knock at the front door. Corey manages to hold back his groan and loosens his arm around me. I get up to go to the door while Corey pauses the film, turning so he can watch me answer the door.

I open it and get the shock of my life. "What are you doing here?" I ask a bit harshly. I can hear Corey get up. They don't answer. "What are you doing here?" I ask again but a bit dropping my voice down an octave.

Corey reaches me and looks at the door. He's relaxed posture is gone, and he's now tense and on the defensive. "I got a phone call saying you got attacked at university. I had to see if you were ok," one of them answers.

I roll my eyes and look up at Corey, who's already looking down at me. He is leaving this up to me. I turn to our visitors with a straight face. "As you can see, I'm perfectly fine. I'm actually a lot better now, then when all I dealt with is accusations and demoralising." I snap.

"Clara, we're not here to start anything. We still love and care about you. That phone call worried us to no end," The other one answers. "We know you feel wronged by us. We just want to put that behind us and move on."

"I was wronged by you. You are meant to defend me not go with the snobs of the family. You're my parents for fucks sake. I wasn't going to confess to something I clearly didn't do. Despite all those who were actually there and involved telling you otherwise," I shout. I can feel the angry tears form and I blink them away furiously. They don't even look a bit remorseful. "How can I move on from that?" I whisper out.

They look at each other. Mom goes to speak but then stops. Corey holds me tighter, "I know you got worried. A simple phone call would have sufficed. Clara isn't ready to talk to you guys yet, mom told you this already. Maybe you should put yourselves in her shoes and try to understand what she feels before trying to put it behind us."

Dad turns angry, "don't tell us what to do Corey."

"No dad. He has every right. You're at our place. Disrupting us. He is only doing what's best for me," I yell at him.

Mom, ever the mediator, grabs dads arm pulling him back a little. "We are willing to try when you are, Clara. We thought you'd be ok with seeing us, but I guess we were wrong. Please call us when you're ready. Come on Dylan, lets head home." Mom escorts dad back to their car and it isn't until the car is out of sight that Corey shuts the door.

He looks down at me with deep concern on his face as he wipes a tear, which had decided to fall, from my cheek. I feel more fall and I wrap my arms around his waist. He holds me tighter and starts to stroke my hair. I feel him pick me up and we somehow get to our room.

I sit on the bed, sobbing into him. I have no idea how long we sit there with him comforting me. When I finally get composure, I don't move from his warm arms. We just stay there with him holding me tightly and me snuggled into him.

"How about we head into the living room, finish the movie with some popcorn and ice-cream?" Corey asks me.

I smile at him. This is the only time I will be able to mix popcorn and ice-cream and he won't complain. We get up and I grab the blanket from the chair to wrap around us while Corey is getting the popcorn and ice-cream. He comes in and hands the ice-cream to me. We snuggle on the settee and Corey resumes the movie. At least I can count on him whenever I need him.