Prince in the City [Harry Styles AU]

Chapter 12

Chapter 12

City Girl's POV:

When your best friend is about to lose her mind, you have to do everything you possibly can to make sure it doesn't come to that. So when Zoe called me, freaking the hell out because she realized she only had a few short months to plan her wedding, I told her to come over so we could start the planning right away. Of course, before she came over, I had gone out and bought every bridal magazine I could get my hands on; stocking up on all things wedding dresses, cakes, venues, flowers—the whole nine years.

Sabine and Willow were busy, but Peyton had arrived shortly before Zoe did, her own arms full of magazines she had picked up. Now, it was six-thirty on a Wednesday evening and I had gotten home from work less than an hour ago. Normally, I'd have taken a shower and would be in sweats eating dinner while binge watching something on Netflix, but if Zoe was having a bridal emergency, all of that could surely wait.

"Roses are too basic," Zoe stated, flipping through a magazine of flower selections as she sat on the floor, magazine resting on the coffee table. "I'm thinking peonies."

"Peonies are pretty," Peyton nodded in agreement, a magazine in her own lap as she sat on the loveseat, occasionally sipping from the can of Diet Coke she had snatched from my fridge. She hadn't looked up when she spoke, too focused on the dresses she was looking at pictures of.

"Okay, here," I grunted, taking my laptop and putting it on top of the magazine Zoe had been looking at, "you need to look for venues. A church and then some place for the reception."

Nodding, Zoe began typing on my laptop, just as Peyton spoke up. "If Vera's mom is a wedding planner, why are we doing all of this? Wasn't Zara gonna help you?"

Zoe sighed, shoulders slumping as I glanced at her. "She is, but I wanna have some of all this shit together before I go to her. I don't wanna be completely unprepared, y'know?"

I snorted, leaning forward from where I sat on the couch to grab for some magazine on dresses. "You know she wouldn't care, right? She does this for a living."

The bride-to-be rolled her brown eyes, giving me a look as she responded, "Yeah, but I love your mom and wanna make life at least a little bit easier for her. Sue me!"

Merely shaking my head and letting out a chuckle, I relaxed on the couch and flipped through pages filled with pictures of different types of wedding gowns by different designers. Mama was more than happy to help with Zoe's wedding, with the bride and groom insisting on paying full price, yet my mother had insisted even more on giving them the family discount. She couldn't exactly do it for free so that was the next best thing.

"How many people do you guys plan on inviting?" Peyton questioned, lifting her head to look at Zoe.

"Carlos has a big family, so I don't know the exact headcount from his side," Zoe sighed, left elbow propped on the table as she leaned her left cheek on her hand while her other worked the laptop. "I won't be surprised if it's a total of two hundred people altogether."

I let out a whistle, eyebrows raising as I mused, "That's a lot of food to order."

My best friend shot me a glare. "Yes, I'm aware, thanks," she snapped before huffing and going back to scrolling, meanwhile I just smothered down a laugh.

A few minutes later, when Peyton went to use the bathroom, Zoe caught my attention by hissing out a, "Psst!" Shooting her a look with an unimpressed eyebrow, she continued in a whisper, "How're things with you and the prince? I didn't wanna mention him in front of Peyton in case you didn't want anyone else to know."