Page 31 of Harrison's Wedding

I take Heather’s hand in mine as we walk through the doors into the room filled with guests, and everyone cheers at our entrance. Making our way through The Gauntlet took longer than normal because Fashion Week is just over two weeks away and the media were hassling Heather for information, which almost made us late for our own party.

All of our guests are wearing either black or white outfits, and all of the decorations are in the same theme as well. Heather told me with pride a week ago that the venue had even managed to find black plates and cutlery for tonight, and I’ll admit that the place looks good. Heather’s done an excellent job organizing this.

There are twenty round tables towards the outside edges of the room to create a dance floor in the middle, all with white tablecloths and centerpieces of black candles, which are carved with intricate floral patterns.

Some of the guests are already dancing, and I see Hayden dancing with Heather’s hair stylist. As we make our way toward our table, I spot Sebastian dancing with Heather’s cousin, Nikki.

“Congratulations, guys,” April Conway says to us as we pass her table.

She’s a friend of ours who’s signed to the same record label, and she sang a duet with Gabriel on our last album.

“Thanks, April,” Heather grins at her and leans down to wrap her spare arm around April’s shoulders for a hug while still holding my hand.

I do the same and give April a hug before thanking her as well. We move through the room, greeting a few other guests in a similar fashion before we reach the table with our parents and grandparents. They congratulate us, and we thank them before we finally reach our table.

There are five people sitting at this table. There are also five empty seats. We make our way around the table, greeting the guests that are there, starting with Hayden’s sister, Vanessa.

“Vanessa, I’m so glad you could come! Alex is at home with the kids, I guess?” Heather says.

“Yup, Mama needs a night out,” she laughs. “Congratulations, guys.”

“Thanks, Ness,” I say with a smile on my face, giving her a hug before I turn to Heather’s sister-in-law, who’s sitting next to Vanessa.

Chloe is heavily pregnant, and as Heather greets her with a hug, she says, “Congratulations, Heather!” Heather moves aside, and I hug Chloe as well before she says, “I’m so sorry I missed your birthday, Harrison.”

“Not a problem, Chloe. I completely understood,” I smile at her.

“I was bummed I couldn’t come; Jake told me it was awesome. I’m so sad I missed the proposal, too!”

I feel a glow of pride, remembering the moment that Heather said yes, and I nod at Chloe. “Yeah, it was, but you’re doing an important job growing my niece or nephew. I’ll have plenty more birthdays for you to celebrate with me.”

She smiles and nods as I move on to Heather’s brother. “Hi, Jake, thanks for coming.”

“Thanks for inviting us. Only nine months and my sister will be your problem for the rest of your life.” He winks at me.

I laugh and say, “She’s the best kind of problem, in my opinion.”

“Aww, so sweet, Harrison,” Chloe says from next to me.

“Thanks,” I say, and move on with Heather to the last two people at the table.

Ariana is sitting next to Jake, and Gabriel is sitting next to my empty seat. I’ve seen them on multiple occasions, but this is the first time that Heather’s seen them since we were all at Sebastian’s.

Even Sebastian has seen them, which has been awkward because he refuses to talk to Ariana. It caused issues when we were organizing the seating arrangements for this evening. Heather refused for either herself or Sebastian to be seated next to Ariana, but there was no question that the couple had to be at our table.

Heather gives the two of them a tight smile and says, “Hello Gabriel and Ariana, I’m glad you two could come.”

Gabriel frowns at Heather and opens his mouth to speak, but Ariana says quickly, “Thank you for inviting us, Heather. We’re happy to be here to celebrate with you. Aren’t we, Gabriel?”

She turns to look at Gabriel as she says it, and he turns his frown to her for a second before it disappears. His entire body relaxes, and the tension that had been emanating from him a moment ago is suddenly gone.

“Yes, of course, we are,” he says, and smiles at us both.

I’m relieved that whatever kind of argument might have occurred between Heather and Gabriel seems to have been averted by Ariana.

“Well, we’re stoked that you guys came.” I smile back at Gabriel before leaning down to hug Ariana, grateful for her apparent ability to calm Gabriel down.

We take our seats and talk with our guests. Ariana seems to have been introduced to the rest of the table already, but I notice that she’s quiet and not saying too much. I look at Heather, and though she’s talking to Vanessa and Chloe in a pleasant voice, I can see the tension in her.

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