Forgiven // l.h. // Book 2 in Bully Series

31. Come Rain or Come Shine

"I do." I couldn't keep the huge smile off my face as Katie said the words. Weddings were always the cutest things ever. Especially when the two getting married were as dorky and in love as she and her almost-husband were. The priest announced that they were officially married, and I clapped along with the rest of the guests, grinning as I watched Katie and her husband walk back down the aisle, hand-in hand.

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"Boo." I turned around, grinning as Luke came up to me. Katie and her husband had just left in their overly obnoxious 'just married' car.

"There you are." I said, letting him wrap an arm around my shoulder and pull me into his side. "We need to get to the reception hall. There are a few things that need to be set up." I added. Luke rolled his eyes, a smile playing on his lips.

"Always thinking about what needs to be done next, aren't you?" He teased lightly. I shrugged, pulling away from him and grabbing his wrist.

"Yes, and you're lucky I do. Because if I didn't, there wouldn't be a bottle of water in the car for when I have to ferry your drunk ass home tonight." Luke frowned slightly.

"You're not drinking?" He asked. I shrugged.

"Yes I am, but I'm not going to get drunk like you most likely will. Katie says Josh likes to play drinking games, so I'm sure you'll fit right in." I said, laughing as the two of us got into my car.

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I had been right; Luke got drunk. Not crazy, spill-beer-all-over-everyone drunk, but definitely enough to notice it. He was currently sitting at a table with the groomsmen, laughing and joking about something or other.

It was almost midnight, which is when the reception ended. The entire thing had been wonderful. The food was great, thanks to Katie's mom finding a wonderful caterer who definitely knew what she was doing. The cake was beautiful until Josh's nephew came up and swiped his finger right across the front of it. Everyone laughed at that, and Katie even allowed the three year old to help her shove a small piece of cake into Josh's mouth. He got a kick out of that one. Her first dances with her father and Josh were extremely adorable, both having wonderful songs that made every girl in the room 'aww'. Then the party started. Kids were sent home, and the bar opened. Immediately, Luke was whisked away from my side to join in the drinking games with the groomsmen, and I went with Katie and the other bridesmaids to the dance floor along with the rest of the family to dance.

"There's my wonderful girlfriend!" Luke practically shouted in my ear as he came up behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist. I shared a look with Katie, who had been dancing (rather horribly) across from me.

"Yep, here I am. Haven't actually gone anywhere, either." I quipped, stumbling forward when Luke suddenly leaned his full weight onto my back. "Whoa there." I laughed, struggling to turn around so I could hold him up. Clearly, he had gotten more drunk during the short, two-song time period since I last saw him.

"You're really beautiful, you know that?" He complimented, reaching up to touch the necklace I was wearing. I let out a laugh, glancing at Katie again before helping Luke over to an empty table. He plopped down onto the chair rather ungracefully, leaning back with a sigh. I pulled a chair up next to his, grinning as I watched him drop his head back to look at the ceiling.

"You are so gonna be hungover tomorrow." I giggled, sitting down in the chair. He looked over at me, lifting an eyebrow.

"I'm never hungover." He said it so seriously I couldn't help but let out a loud laugh. When I looked back over at him, he was giving me a goofy grin. "You have the best laugh." He said. I smiled at him. I liked drunk Luke. He was very nice, complimenting everything. 

"Thank you, Luke." I said sincerely. He gave me a close-lipped smile, blinking slowly.

"Anytime." He sighed, leaning over and resting his head on my shoulder. I tilted my head to lay on top of his, a small smile tilting my lips up. 

The two of us sat like that for a while, watching the events of the reception unfold. Neither of us said anything, save for the time when one of Josh's friends threw up into a trashcan and Luke said he was lucky I pulled him over to the table to sit because that would have been him if he kept drinking. Other than that, though, there was only silence between us. The DJ announced that there were only a few more songs, and I couldn't help but shift anxiously in my seat. As much as I didn't mind sitting here with Luke, I could do that anytime I wanted to. I didn't have very many opportunities to dance to DJ music.

"If you want to go dance, go." Luke said gently, lifting his head from my shoulder. He sounded a lot more sober than he had been only an hour ago. I turned, furrowing my brow as I looked at him.

"Are you sure?" I asked. "I can stay here, it's okay." Luke gave me a thankful smile, gesturing towards the dance floor, where Katie was.

"I'm okay here, Dae. Go have fun." He chuckled. I smiled, leaning forward to press a quick kiss to his lips.

"Be back in a bit." I said. I took about two steps before turning back around. "And you should probably drink some water just in case, Mr. 'I never get hangovers'." I quipped, winking.

About two songs into dancing, the DJ announced his last song. Of course, it was a slow song. I watched as couples sprung up from seemingly everywhere, sighing. Turning, I started back towards where I had left Luke. Might as well gather our things so we were prepared when it was actually time to leave.

"Where do you think you're going?" I turned in surprise, looking at Luke as he gave me a mock stern look. "I told you to go dance, and I meant it." He said, reaching a hand out towards me. I smiled at him, taking his hand and letting him lead me back towards the dance floor.

It was weird. Dancing with Luke just now, I realized this was the first time we had ever actually slow danced with each other. It was never something I thought about before, and I took a moment to pay attention to how it felt to be in his arms like this. His hands were on my back, his thumb rubbing against the material of my dress almost absentmindedly. We were only a few inches apart, and he was looking down at me, an amused smile on his lips.

"You're thinking awfully hard about something." He chuckled. I snapped out of my daze, focusing my gaze on him.

"We've never slow danced before." I said simply. That seemed to catch him off guard, and he frowned in thought. A moment later, he smiled again, looking into my eyes. But he didn't say anything, instead tightening his grip around me and pulling me closer. I let out a giggle, leaning my head against his chest as we swayed to the music. I heard Luke begin humming to the song as we danced.

"But I'm with you always," He sang softly, his voice sounding so different from the normally edgy tone he used in his own music. "Come rain or come shine."

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One. More. Chapter. Then the epilogue!

Okay, I'm sorry it took a month to post this. I somehow managed to get myself logged out of the site and literally could NOT figure out which email I used for the account (because I have like a million of them), let alone the password! Add that to holiday things, work shenanigans, and school issues, and here we are a month later! 

I hope you enjoyed this chapter! I'm not 100% happy with it, but it'll do. There's some cute moments at the end there, which are always great. =))

As always, your comments mean the world, even if I no longer have the ability to go through and look at them all (there's too many for me to look at!!). Love you to bits and I will see you ll next time!