Was It Always Us?

𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝙵𝚕𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙱𝚛𝚊𝚍'𝚜 𝙱𝚘𝚠 𝚃𝚒𝚎

This is really happening. 

"Could you keep watch on Emerson for a second?"
Lily brings her over to me, her erratic red hair dancing to the tune of the wind. Melancholy grey clouds settle above the sky, draping the ground in their shadow. Emerson grabs my hand tightly, smiling up at me. I scrunch up my nose and make silly faces as she begins to laugh. I tilt my head ever so slightly, smiling with pride and gratitude. She smiles back, grinning widely. 

"Hey, Atlas!"
A voice all too familiar comes from behind me, and I turn to look at Josh, coming towards me.

"You ready to go?" I ask. Josh had to pack some stuff as well, for his stay at Brad's. But like I expected him to, he just stuffed everything he saw into a duffel bag. 

"Yup. Can't wait to stay over at Theo's."
"Well, Lily's just making last-minute checks and then we'll be off."
"Well, I kinda wanted to talk to you about something."
"What?"
Josh uncomfortably scratched his neck and looked down at his feet.

"I have somewhere to be."
"What do you mean?" I'm getting confused.

"I mean...okay, look. There is this girl I really like, and we're supposed to meet up for coffee today. So..."
I raise an eyebrow, amused. 

"A girl, huh?" I say, as nonchalantly as possible. "I guess you can go, as long as Brad knows what you're up to and you don't get too ahead of yourself."
"That depends on circumstances I know nothing about." And with a comical wink, he heads back into the house, leaving the door ajar. I notice Emerson was quiet all this time, and when I turned to look at her, I saw her looking up to me with wondering eyes.

"Won't Josh be co-coming with us?" she asked.

"I told you honey, he can't. But we'll see him soon. Could you help me put this into the car?" I replied, handing her a small backpack with snacks and drinks. She nods and rushes to the car, just as I see Lily emerge with Josh, locking the door behind her, and looking at me happily as she inhales a deep breath.

Josh says something to her, and she smiles even wider, making her way to the car and giving me a small peck on the cheek as she places her suitcase and a small bag into the trunk. I help her close it and we all - me, Lily, Josh and Emerson - sit inside. I began to drive and Lily intertwined our fingers, holding my hand, just like she used to on those rides to school. 

"I can't believe we made it this far." I say quietly.

"Neither can I. But we're here and that's all that matters."

I hear someone clear his throat and I know it's Josh.

"Ahem. You two do realize I'm still here?"

"Stop." I say, a bit mortified. 

I hear Lily laugh, and I try to glance at them both, but my attention is on the road. I hear the rustling of wrappers, so I assume Josh or Emmy have opened the snacks. We'll be going directly to Paris through a nonstop flight. It's supposed to take around 7 hours, so we'll probably sleep through the most of it. Brad and Theo are gonna pick up Josh at Bib's. Alyssa and Marshall are gonna be there as well. I don't know about Ryle, though. My restaurant was the most convenient, and everyone decided to come there to say the goodbyes. I know Ryle isn't too happy over the idea of coming there, but we've warmed up a bit to each other. We're at least civil with each other, and Ryle even came to congratulate us at the wedding. Even if we may never become more than just acquaintances, it's better than being sworn enemies, always at each other's throats. 

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"I'm gonna miss you so much!"

Alyssa was hugging Lily as tight as she could, while Marshall held Emmy and Rylee in his arms. Ryle hadn't come. At least, not yet. 

"Hey, Brad?" I said, heading over to him.

"Yeah?"

"Aren't you gonna say goodbye to your friend?"
Brad smirked and hugged me, slightly ruffling my hair.

Brad was one of my first friends after I permanently decided to move into Boston. He came up for a job interview at my old café, and we instantly became friends. Darin, actually, met me at a bar. One day when I was really disturbed and depressed, I decided to wing it and go to a bar for a drink or two. There, I met Darin, and we bonded while ordering beer after beer. In the end, I was so drunk the man had to drop me off and lead me to my house. We'd exchanged numbers before that, so the next day I thanked him and so we began texting. We met up every now and then, before he lost his job at a grocery shop. I offered him a place at my restaurant, and I was surprised that he cooked really well. So, I took him in, where he also met Brad, and then...

Here we are. 

"Anyway, I got a little something for you."

The look on Brad's face as he lead me into the restaurant had me raising my eyebrows. As soon as we entered the kitchen, Brad grabbed a box from the table and knelt down on one knee.

"Oh, Atlas, will you bestow me the honor of wearing this really charming bow tie?"

I began laughing heartily as he opened the box and revealed a colourful bow tie with rainbow polka dots and a red and purple jinglebell hanging.

"Seriously?" I said amidst the laughter.

"Hey, I was almost going to buy a wig too. Be grateful with what you have. And yeah, I forgot to mention, you have to wear it on your honeymoon."
"I'd rather die."

Brad grabbed a knife from one of the counters and waved it at me.

"Then so be it."

And he mimicked plunging the knife into me as I began wailing my arms.

"You happy?"
"More than happy. But I'm serious. You gotta wear it. And send me a pic for proof."

I groaned. "Fine, but only this once, 'cause I'm in a good mood.

And as we stepped out, Brad said, pointing to wear Lily was standing.

"And whose fault might that be?"

Author's Note:

I am so sorry for not uploading for this long. My exams are going on right now, so I barely find time to write. Not only that, but I'd been suffering from severe writer's block regarding this story. Or maybe it's just procrastination. Anyway, thank you to everyone who's still with me after this and I promise I'll try my absolute best to ensure timely updates on this story. 

Oh, and also, how did you like the new cover? I just updated it some time ago. The previous one just didn't give that  vibe and the first one I'd used was being used by many others too. So I downloaded a lot of pictures and set them up like that. Do tell me how you like it in the comments. And if you like this story, be sure to upvote too!

~Ophelia