Until I Met You

chapter thirty-three

Hazel

It's 1:00 a.m. by the time I arrive at my old home. I'm in a bad mood. I started this wedding planning thinking it would be fun and not too stressful, but I was wrong. Even with Nova's help, it's been extremely stressful. Tonight, Greyson and I ended up getting into an argument over a portion of the seating arrangements and I stormed out of the house to save the least bit of my dignity. With nowhere else to go, I came here.

When I step inside the house, the walls of the hallway are dark, save for the thin stream of light coming from the kitchen. Closing the door behind me, I kick off my shoes and head there. I'm surprised to see that Julia and Easton are still awake, but Warren and Nova are nowhere to be seen. With the days they've had off, the four of them have been pulling late nights together. Last time I was here, they were halfway through a heated game of Monopoly.

To avoid any questions, I paste a smile on my face. They're both standing in the kitchen, drinking glasses of water. Easton's also doing what Easton does best: eating.

"Hi, guys," I say, taking a seat at the breakfast bar. "What are you doing up so late? Where are Warren and Nova? I thought you all went to that downtown pub."

"Hey, Haze," East replies through a mouthful. "We did, but Julia and I left the other two behind to go see a movie. After that, we went for a walk along the beach."

"Wait," I say. "So are the other two still at the pub, then?" My older sibling instincts instantly pick up on the problem here. The two of them are going to need a ride home. And judging by how late it is, I'm sure Nova's already sick of what my brother is like when he's drunk. On top of that, I don't think she knows the address if she were to call a taxi.

"I'd assume so – the two of them were very involved in a game of pool when we left. It didn't look like they wanted it to end anytime soon," Julia replies.

"What time did you two leave?" I ask.

The two of them exchange a glance, and then Easton speaks. "About nine o'clock or so."

My mouth drops open and I jump down from the stool. "And the two of you never thought to go pick them up when you were finished?"

"Jesus, Haze," Easton says. "Calm down. Maybe Nova called a cab and they're upstairs sleeping. Don't freak out until you know the facts."

I sigh and reach up to rub my temples. Easton's right. I'm being overdramatic. Part of what contributes to my reaction is the remnants of unsolved drama between Greyson and I, but the other part is overtiredness. Although I'm looking forward to the happiest day of my life, I can't wait for the planning part to be over. I want just the day to come so I can relax and have fun and be married to the man I love.

"Yes, okay," I say. "You're right. Look, you two keep doing whatever you do at one o'clock in the morning, okay? I'm going to sleep on the pull-out couch in Mom's office. I'll check to see if Warren and Nova made it home or not. If they didn't, I'll go pick them up. If they did, well, you know where I'll be."

East gives me a thoughtful glance, like he knows something is wrong with me. All I do is shake my head. The boy doesn't need any drama. Our circus, our monkeys – Greyson and I will patch up our disagreement by tomorrow afternoon and everything will be okay.

"Okay," he says. "Night, Haze."

I don't respond to him. I'm just too tired.

As I walk up the stairs, I silently pray that my brother and Nova are here so I don't have to drive back into town to pick them up from the pub. The last thing I want to deal with is my loud-mouthed brother drooling over Nova. Sometimes he stares at her so much I find it pathetic. If he likes her that much, he should just talk to her. She may have walls, but the girl is a real sweetheart.

Stopping outside their bedroom door, I lightly knock, waiting for a few seconds. When I don't hear anything on the other side, I quietly open the door to take a peek. There's the possibility the two of them could be asleep by now. I just need to make sure that's the case.

But what I see is far from what I was expecting.

The first thing that throws me off is the smell – it smells like rose petals and an old whisky distillery. Then I see the clothes on the floor, the carelessly left behind shoes, someone's iPhone and someone's wallet. The glint of foil reflects the moonlight streaming through the window.

My hand flies up to my mouth when I see the bed. The sheets are tangled around their bodies, both wrapped in each other's arms. Their chests rise and fall in a relaxed, content way. They've been home for a while now, I'm guessing.

While I like the idea of them finally embracing their feelings for each other, my heart breaks at the sight.

I've wanted them to get together since the moment I met Nova, but this is not the way I wanted it to happen. Both of them are going to regret this in the morning. When Warren wakes up, he's going to beat himself up. And Nova? Poor Nova. She's going to feel like a terrible person for betraying the only boy she's ever loved.

If there were a way I could prevent them from waking up like this, I would go through with it. But there's nothing I can do – nothing to prevent the rift that's going to be between them within the next ten hours.

I close the door as softly as possible. I step back into the dimly lit hallway and start heading for the stairs. Any tiredness I was experiencing earlier has dissipated because of this shocking event.

After seeing the two of them get closer over the past month, I know my brother wouldn't purposely get Nova drunk in order to sleep with her. But I also know that Nova doesn't drink much.

I think back to everything Nova's been doing for me, and then take back the thoughts I had earlier. Yes, she doesn't drink much, but maybe I've been putting too much pressure on her about helping plan the wedding and she needed a way to relax. The very thought cripples me. If I had a hand in this...

"So?" Easton asks as soon as I'm back in the kitchen. "Are they home?"

I simply look at him and grimly nod my head. I'm suddenly wishing that they hadn't been home. I'm wishing that Nova would call me and tell me to come to pick her and a drunk Warren up from the pub.

"And?"

"How drunk were they when you left?" I ask carefully.

Easton frowns. "Warren was almost there, but Nova was fine. Why?"

I sit down at the breakfast bar and drop my face into my hands. "They slept together," I whisper.

To my right, Julia gasps. To my left, Easton chokes on the water he was sipping.

"What?" they both ask in disbelief.

I nod.

"No," Julia says. "That can't be right. Nova would never sleep with another guy. Especially someone like Warren. Not after..." She trails off and looks at me. I nod my head to show her I understand. She knows the story of Carter just like I do. She knows what Nova is going to do to herself tomorrow. How she's going to feel.

"Shit," Easton says. "Shit."

"What?" Julia asks.

"This is all my fault," he replies. "If I hadn't been hounding Nova about her never drinking and allowing herself to become drunk, this wouldn't have happened."

"East," Julia says, "this is not your fault. They made the decisions that led to this. Not you."

Easton and I exchange a look. Julia's words hold nothing but the truth. No one else can decide what two young lovers do when they're having a good time.

But one thing is for certain: We're going to have one helluva mess to clean up tomorrow morning.