Right Place, Wrong Time

64. The Lucky One

Morning arrived, and with it the day of the wedding. Joey tapped on the bathroom door; Lauren pressed her fingertips to it.

"My parents are waiting in the lobby, but there's no rush," he said.

"Okay," she replied.

She turned to the mirror, running her fingers through her hair to shake out the curls. She'd actually been ready for the last ten minutes, but she'd been fretting about how she looked, nervous about being with Joey's extended family the whole day. She'd stalled as long as she could though, so, slowly, she turned the door handle and walked out of the bathroom.

Joey, sat on the end of the bed, looked up from his phone, his face immediately spreading into an awed smile.

"Wow, baby," he said, standing up but coming no closer, just gazing at her.

"The dress is okay?"

"Okay," he muttered, with a little shake of his head. He walked over to her and rested his hands on her hips. "You look beautiful. Yellow looks good on you."

She smiled up at him, and he leaned down to kiss her.

"Not going to scandalise your parents?" she murmured, smiling.

"It's perfect," he said.

She sat down to put her shoes on. When she looked up, he was smiling gently at her.

"Are you okay?" he asked. "You look terrified."

He really could read her too easily. "I'm okay."

"I'll be with you the whole time," he reassured her.

She looked hard at him. "You have to promise."

He smiled. "I promise."

"I know what you're like."

"What am I like?"

"You have to talk to everyone."

"But you'll be right there with me. I've got you."

She smiled, took a breath, then took his hand.

They walked to the elevator, Lauren's heels tapping on the floor as they entered. The doors opened to the lobby, taking them out to Joey's parents. Bob's eyebrows lifted, and Denise gasped and clapped her hands together.

"Lauren! Look at you."

"You look beautiful," Bob smiled.

She glanced up at Joey, who was beaming proudly at her.

"Thanks," she said, smiling bashfully.

The four of them took a car to the ceremony, Lauren seated between Joey and Denise, not leaving space for her to feel out of place. Right through to the reception, Joey kept his promise, spending the entire night by her side.

What that did mean was that he made a lot of introductions. Congratulations to the couple, greetings to family he only saw at events like this, old friends who had last seen him in diapers; all of these people were introduced to Lauren, always in the proudest voice. Overwhelming as it was, they were all so nice to her, and it was easy to see what had helped shape Joey into the man he was. The revolving door of people meant there wasn't even much chance for questions, not that Lauren thought they'd be judged on the length of their relationship. If anything, it was the opposite.

"I love weddings," Joey's aunt said beside them, as they watched the couple cut the cake. She turned to Joey, nudging him with a teasing smile. "Will it be you next?"

Lauren's heart leapt to her throat, no idea what he would say. She knew he wanted to get married; he knew she didn't. It wasn't something they'd talked about since, wasn't something she'd even thought about, she'd been so caught up in how good, how right their relationship felt. But was it really a perfect match if they didn't want the same future? What if he came to his senses and realised this wasn't what he wanted? The meal they'd just eaten felt a lot less settled in her stomach.