He Looked Back

by Hollandaise, Melissa

  “It looks great,” she gushes. “So great, oh my God. I’m so excited, oh my God.”

  I chuckle at how she continues to repeat the words “oh my God,” about six more times as we watch the guys work on getting the second tent up.

  “Two more days, Sarah,” I say, smiling at her as she claps her hands giddily.

  “Holy shit, I can’t believe this.” The smile doesn’t leave her face as we supervise the tent-building for a while longer.

  Before I know it, I’m sitting in the second row at the ceremony, Courtney at my side. She’s my plus-one for the wedding, and my support. Weddings are a sore spot for me, now.

  I wear a light purple dress, the material satiny and slick, the cut of the dress strapless. I felt it was appropriate to wear, since it’s a summer wedding and the material isn’t too suffocating. I managed to curl my hair slightly today, and I let Courtney do my makeup. I look the most presentable I have in months.

  The wedding hasn’t started yet, although it begins in about a minute. I see the minister at the front, standing quietly. A white arch with pink flowers is at the front, with pink flowers lining the aisle as well. The area is beautiful, Sarah did an amazing job.

  “You okay?” Courtney asks from next to me.

  I nod, folding my hands in my lap.

  The violins begin to play and everyone sits up in their seats.

  All the groomsmen walk down the aisle, along with the bridesmaids. I catch sight of Ethan, William, George, and Ed; I lock eyes with George and we smile at each other. Ethan winks at me, and I try not to laugh. Rachel, Lana, and Abigail are Sarah’s bridesmaids. They look so nice in their pale green dresses, and the groomsmen all look so good in their suits.

  Finally, Oliver makes his way down, grinning widely. He looks so happy, I can’t help but smile.

  Everyone stands as Sarah and her father appear at the door of the tent. She looks so beautiful, her dress lacey and bright white. She’s practically glowing with happiness as she steps down the aisle. Oliver looks so lovestruck as he looks at her, his lips parting.

  I watch as her father hands her off to Oliver, who offers her his arm. She gladly takes it, smiling up at him.

  “You may be seated,” the minister says.

  I slide back into my seat, letting out a breath.

  “She looks so pretty,” Courtney says quietly and I nod in agreement.

  The minister begins to speak and I tune him out slightly. It’s a warm day, but not too hot. I’m glad it’s not blazingly warm, I wouldn’t want to sweat in this dress.

  Someone behind me kicks my seat. I shrug it off, thinking it must be a small child and focus on what the minister is saying. Sarah and Oliver don’t take their eyes off each other, and it’s beautifully touching.

  The kicking behind me doesn’t cease and it begins to bug me. I don’t want to make any noise, however, so I try to ignore it.

  “Sarah and Oliver, I believe you have prepared vows.”

  Oliver reaches into his jacket for a piece of paper and Sarah is handed hers from Lana. Oliver is first and I listen closely to the words he’s saying.

  The person behind me kicks the chair again, and I finally turn around to tell them to quit, my annoyance level skyrocketing.

  “Excuse me, could you—”

  I stop when I meet vivid green eyes, eyes that have only been in my dreams. Eyes that can change from light to dark in seconds, eyes that I’ve yearned to see another time. Eyes that I fell in love with. My gaze moves to the flawless skin and dark hair falling in curls, pink lips in a small smirk, torso adorned in a suit, a tie knotted around the neck.

  I part my lips, shock taking over my body.

  I try to inhale, but I break into a fit of coughs, turning around quickly.

  A few people turn to look at me as Oliver continues to talk, and I put up a hand in apology as I try to cease my coughs. Courtney whispers to me asking if I’m okay, and I cover my mouth with my hand in response, nodding slightly.

  I try to cough quietly, my throat still tickling as my mind tries to process what’s happening as I lean back in my seat.

  And then I hear a deep voice in my ear, speaking words that make me want to laugh and cry at the same time.

  “You know, I’d appreciate it if you kept the noise level down.”

  Chapter Seventy Five

  The words leave his lips and my heart swells, all the pain I’ve felt in these past months being soothed by the sweet sound of his rough voice. I shut my eyes briefly, biting my lip to keep from smiling like an idiot.

  Oliver is still speaking and I feel bad for tuning him out, but all I can think about is Dylan is here, he’s behind me and he’s breathing.

  Courtney is oblivious to the entire thing happening. She has tears in her eyes from Oliver’s words, but as far as I know she hasn’t seen that Dylan is sitting directly behind us.

  Oliver finishes speaking and Sarah begins her vows, a wide smile spreading across her face.

  My leg bounces up and down impatiently. I am in complete shock.

  Maybe I imagined it?

  I turn and peek over my shoulder again, just to be sure.

  He’s already looking at me when I lock eyes with him, the same smirk on his face. He runs his tongue over his lips, blinking at me. His dimples carve into his cheeks just like I remember, and I swear to God, he winks at me. Winks.

  “Shit,” I breathe, whirling back around.

  “What?” Courtney whispers.

  “Nothing,” I hiss.

  I try to pay attention to the wedding after that, I really try, but I just can’t. I don’t even blame myself, really. Dylan is sitting behind me, with that stupid smirk on his face.

  God damn it, Dylan.

  Finally, Sarah wraps up her vows and the rings are exchanged. I smile widely when the two kiss, Sarah’s arms thrown around Oliver’s neck as everyone claps and cheers.

  Courtney and I stand as they walk back down the aisle and out of the tent.

  The ceremony began at six at night, a bit unusual but still nice. I think it was because they wanted to see the sunset in Central Park, a beautiful sight.

  “Reception’s next, right?” Courtney asks.

  I nod, my eyes following Dylan as everyone files out of the tent to the next one. He walks with George and Ethan, hands in his pockets.

  “Are you okay?” Courtney inquires as we follow the crowd.

  “No,” I admit. “Not at all.”

  “Why? What’s wrong?”

  I pull her arm to get her to stop walking and point at Dylan.

  She squints. “Is that...oh my God...”

  “He was behind us, oh my—”

  “Katie, he’s—”

  “—Alive I’m going to shit myself—”

  “I’m surprised you haven’t shit yourself—”

  “Oh my God—”

  “Well, go talk to him!”

  “What? What do I say? Jesus!”

  “Give him a big kiss right on the mouth—”

  “No, he has a hell of a lot of explaining to do, I’m not just going to—”“Shit, he’s looking over at us, he’s looking at you!”

  “Courtney, oh my—”

  We’re out of the tent by now, crossing the small patch of grass separating one tent from the other. My heart is beating so fast I’m barely able to keep up with it as we watch Dylan enter the other tent.

  “If this is a day-mare, I’m going to lose my shit,” I mutter.

  “What the fuck is a day-mare?”

  I stifle a laugh at my use of a made up word as we enter the reception tent. The tent is so nicely decorated, the color scheme white and light blue. A dance floor is set up in the middle of the room, with a DJ already playing music. Tables are set up around the main floor, and I catch sight of a photobooth off to the side.

  “We have to do the photobooth later!” I say to Courtney. My spirits have been considerably lifted, just knowing that Dylan isn’t dead and gone.

  We sit at ou
r assigned seats, and I’m disappointed to see that Dylan is seated across the room. I brush it off and try to listen to what Courtney is saying, but it proves difficult. I look at my lap and nod along to her talking, trying my hardest to look interested.

  “The reception starts at seven forty five, ri—”

  Someone sits beside me and I turn to move my sweater from off the table and start.

  Dylan smirks again from the seat next to me, placing the placard with his name on it in front of him.

  “Evening,” he greets me, a smug smile on his face.

  “I-I thought you were seated over there,” I stammer.

  “Jesus, five months apart and that’s the first thing you say to me?”I blush, taking a breath and looking at my lap.

  “Come on, I’m teasing.” He nudges my knee with his and fire rockets through my body.

  “What about the person that’s supposed to sit there?”

  “They can find a new seat, how about that?”

  His quick wit is back, and I’ve missed it so much.

  “You know you have a shit ton of explaining to do,” I say.

  He furrows his brow and opens his mouth to reply when someone speaks into the microphone.

  “Good evening!” George says from the stage where the DJ is. He smiles his infectious grin out at the crowd. “Looks like everyone’s just about ready to get started, so let’s go ahead and welcome Mr. and Mrs. Oliver Roberts!”Everyone cheers as Oliver and Sarah walk into the tent, grinning widely. They walk to the middle of the dance floor where a slow song begins to play and they begin their first dance.

  Dylan taps his foot to the beat next to me, and I just can’t get my mind away from him. I have so many questions, and I crave so many answers.

  “I don’t know what you mean by explaining,” Dylan whispers from next to me as Oliver dips Sarah and she laughs. “Didn’t you get the package?”“You sent it?”

  “Yeah, didn’t you read it?”

  “The return address was scratched out.”

  “No, I mean—”

  Someone from across the table shushes Dylan and he turns to glare at them. I stifle a laugh.

  The dance ends soon enough and Oliver announces that the buffet line is open, and people will go up by tables to get their food to avoid crowding.

  Our table is luckily the fourth to go, and Courtney walks next to me up to the buffet.

  “Holy shit,” she whispers and I nod.

  “This can’t be real,” I whisper back as I’m handed a plate of chicken.

  “Want me to pinch you?”

  “No, I—”

  “I’ll pinch you anyway.”

  “Ow! Courtney!”

  She laughs as we finish getting our food.

  We sit back at our table and Dylan and I do not converse through the entire meal. I honestly don’t know what to say, where to start, really.

  The party commences after we eat, and I venture off to say hello to my old friends.

  William, Ethan and George tackle me in bear hugs and Abigail apologizes profusely for not getting back to my calls. I’m surprised to find that even Leah has made an appearance.

  “Katie, it’s been hell without you,” she gushes. “Dylan’s been an irritable dick, but at least we got through some of our problems.”“Really?”

  “Yeah. I kept apologizing, and he said he wanted to let it go.”

  “Leah, that’s great!” We hug again.

  I want to ask all of these people what happened after the night of the party, but we’re at a wedding now, and I don’t want to dampen the mood. After all, there is an open bar.

  Sarah comes up to us and gives us all hugs.

  “You look so amazing,” I tell her and she hugs me again. I’m glad to see her so happy on this day with the person she loves.

  I’m glad to see these people again, they’re great friends despite what happened December the twentieth. I just hope Dylan has a fucking great reason behind why he didn’t so much as call me, letting me know he wasn’t dead and gone.

  I introduce Courtney to everyone as my sister, and she, Leah and Abigail hit it off really well. Apparently, Courtney was a huge fan of the soap opera Abigail was on, and gushes about how the show hasn’t been the same without her.

  I order myself a drink at the open bar, tapping my fingernails on the bar as I wait for it.

  “Apple martini, yes?”

  I turn to face Dylan, who smiles at me, leaning on the bar beside me.

  “Yes,” I answer.

  “Remember when we last went to a bar together?”

  Visions of Jeremy’s angry face after we bothered him flash through my mind and I smile, nodding as I’m slid my drink.

  “I remember when he hit on me,” I say slyly, taking a sip of my drink.

  “Fucking dick. You were obviously with someone.”

  “That was before we were together, though.”

  “Still would’ve punched him.”

  I laugh lightly, looking down.

  Dylan’s expression shifts as he looks at me. “Do you want to take a walk?”I look back up. “Where?”

  “Through the park.”

  “Why?”

  “We have some talking to do, don’t you think?”

  He’s right, but we’re at a wedding now, and I just want to enjoy the party.

  “I don’t...”

  Dylan exhales. “Please walk with me.”

  I chew on my lip, finally nodding.

  He nods too, and I turn and follow him out of the tent, hoping Sarah and Oliver don’t notice. I catch sight of them talking to who I assume are Oliver’s parents and know they won’t mind.

  The air is warm, and my heels click on the paved path we walk on. I love Central Park at night, especially when it’s nice and warm out.

  “Lovely night,” Dylan comments.

  “I can’t believe you’re alive.” The words spill from me.

  Dylan lets out a laugh, sticking his hands in his pockets. “Thanks.”

  “No, I mean—”

  “I know what you mean, Katie, I’m just teasing.”

  Hearing him call me ‘Katie’ makes my heart melt.

  I suddenly feel like crying again. Here he is, after all these months, and I’ve barely touched him or even really looked at him. Why am I like this?

  Shock. I’m in shock.