She Stole The Bride

19

Amelia's POV

Standing in front of the departure board at the airport, I tried to keep myself from bursting into tears. "Amelia, what are you—" Daniel walked over to me. He seemed confused. But also worried.

"What are you doing here?" I asked him.

"Miley told me that—she's worried about you." He reached for my hand. "I'm worried about you."

"You don't have to be," I mumbled. "Let's just go."

"Amelia, what's going on with you?" I looked into his kind eyes and felt every ounce of guilt rise to the centre of my heart.

"It's nothing. We're not supposed to see each other before—"

"Amelia, come on. You're crying in the airport because you didn't get a chance to see Sydney before she left? What's that about?"

"I'm crying?" I ran my fingers across my face, feeling the dampness on my fingertips. "I don't know what to tell you, Daniel, it's complicated." I stared aimlessly at a crowd, a shiver running through my body.

"Let's get you to bed." His frustration was evident in his demeanor. "Come on."

The car ride back to the hotel was filled with silence. I leaned my head against the window and glanced absentmindedly at the traffic beside us.

"I wish I knew," I finally said. I didn't look at him. Instead, I closed my eyes. And tried to remember the young girl I once called my best friend.

"Knew what?" The explanation he awaited was the last thing that I wanted to discuss.

"I've never told you this," I placed my hand over my forehead and inhaled a deep breath.

"You're really starting to worry me, Amelia. Just spit it out. Are you threatened by Sydney? Is that it? I already told you that you have no reason to be! She doesn't and has never wanted me. She's fucking gay, for fuck's sake."

Daniel frustratedly stepped on the gas. I panicked for a moment before he settled his anger and began to slow down. "Have I ever told you about camp?"

"Camp? What's anything have to do about you going to camp?"

I gritted my teeth. "Just listen, Daniel. This is hard for me to talk about."

"Fuck." He threw his head back. "I'm sorry. Please continue." His voice softened.

"I went to camp every year since I was eleven."

"I know. You loved camp. You've talked about it every now and then."

"Have I ever told you about Syd?" I wondered if he heard me. My voice was so low that I could barely hear myself.

"Yeah, Syd. Didn't he have some cute crush on you?"

"She did."

Daniel pulled over on the side of the road. He turned to me and I turned to him. "Syd is a girl?"

"Yeah."

He placed his forehead against the steering wheel. "Are you trying to tell me that you're gay? Cause this won't be the first time this news has been broken to me." His demeanor weakened.

"No, not that exactly. I—uh. We were sixteen when she tried to kiss me. And I wasn't gay," or so I thought, "I didn't go to camp the next year."

"Syd. Wait. Sydney once told me about—are you talking about Sydney?" His eyes widened, as realization hit him instantly. "What the fuck."

"I didn't recognize her. I'm sorry."

He tapped his forehead against the steering wheel. "So that's why she left? Because she had feelings for you over twenty years ago?"

"I guess." I couldn't tell him about what happened on the beach. I couldn't hurt him like that. "My mom recognized her and told me. I wanted to talk to her but—"

"How? How the hell did your mom know it was her?"

I rolled my shoulders back. That question lingered in my thoughts too. How did she?

"I don't know, Daniel. It came as a surprise to me too."

Daniel lifted his head and turned to me. "Look, let's get through tomorrow and then I'll take you to see her myself if I have to."

"Daniel, I—"

He narrowed his eyes. "Are you having second thoughts?" I swallowed the lump inside my throat. "It was a crush from twenty years ago. You and I are in love. I'm sure Sydney left because she wants us to be happy. That's what she does. When things get too complicated, she removes herself from the situation."

My eyes began to well up. It pained me not to tell him the whole truth. But a big part of the truth was that I did love him—very much. I couldn't let my doubts get in the way. Not when we were only a couple of hours away from our big day. I couldn't do that to him. I couldn't do that to all the people that travelled there to see me walk down that aisle.

I nodded hastily. "Let's get married. Then we'll deal with it. I want us all to be amicable," I told him.

"Don't worry so much. I love you." He pulled me in for a kiss. I held back all of my emotions as his lips touched mine. It felt normal. It felt exactly as it should. But something was missing. Something's always been missing in my life. And for the first time, I finally knew that it might have been her.