Page 35 of Harrison's Wedding

I cringe at him and nod. “Yeah, and that.”

“I’m really worried that they’re finally going to say or do something that tips Gabriel over the edge. It’s stressing me out. I’ve tried talking to Seb, but he shuts me down every time I mention it.” Hayden purses his lips and frowns at me.

“I honestly don’t know what to do. I kind of want to call a band meeting or something, but I don’t know if that would make it worse. Do we just let it go for now and see if it improves over time?”

“It’s been two months, Harrison. We’re meant to be recording an album together in October. Can we even make music together anymore?”

Fear floods my body at the thought. What if Seb and Gabriel can’t work together. What happens to the band? To our album?

I shake my head and point out, “No, they’ve always been able to set aside their differences to make music, at least. Seb’s also fine when Ariana isn’t around, so surely it will be okay?”

I’m not sure, though, and I add this to my mental concerns as the DJ switches the music again and announces that it’s time for the main course. I look around, but there’s no sign of Heather and Sebastian returning from wherever they went.

“Fuck, I’ll have to go find them,” I sigh.

Hayden nods. “Probably for the best.” He looks over at Gabriel and Ariana and says, “If they could be civil for the rest of the evening, at least, that would be nice.”

“Wouldn’t that be lovely?” I say and give him a chagrined smile as I stand up.

I walk out of the room and look around the lobby. There’s a hallway to the left that has several doors off it. The first is some kind of storeroom, and the next two are bathrooms, but both appear to be empty.

By the time I open the fourth door, I’m pretty fucking annoyed at them for choosing to do this in the middle of the engagement party. They’re standing facing one another in the middle of a small office with a desk at the side of the room, but both of them have turned their faces to look at me.

“There you guys are, they want us to order our main courses. What the fuck are you doing in here?” I growl at them.

“Sorry, honey, we were just talking. We’ll come now, Seb, are you coming?”

She turns to look at Sebastian, and he frowns at her for a second before his expression clears and he nods at her. Heather walks over to me with Sebastian following behind her. She slips her hand into mine as we walk in silence back to the main room for the party.

I force a smile onto my face as we enter the room, but I’m frustrated by the entire situation. Tonight should’ve been a happy occasion, but they’ve been preoccupied with their aggravation over Ariana.

We take our seats, and Gabriel greets me with a tight smile before murmuring, “Everything okay?”

I nod and tell him, “Yeah, they were just having a discussion.”

“Like the one they were having at Seb’s place, no doubt,” he grumbles. “I’m more than happy to have a discussion with them if that’s what they want.”

“Not tonight, please. I really am glad you guys came, though. It’s important that you’re here.”

The waiter arrives and starts asking people what they want for their mains. Gabriel glares at Heather and Seb for a few seconds before he sighs and nods at me.

“Sure. Ari keeps telling me to be patient and stay calm. It’s just annoying because I’m so happy, and they can’t just accept that.”

The waiter reaches me, and I give him my order. Gabriel does the same, and the guy moves on to Ariana.

I smile at Gabriel as Ariana finishes giving her order and turns to look at me as well.

“It’s good to see you both happy,” I say to them. “Whatever happened in the past is in the past.” I lower my voice a few decibels to say, “The sooner they accept that, the better.”

“I’m not owed anybody’s forgiveness, Harrison,” Ariana says solemnly. “I was wrong with what I did, and if they won’t forgive me, both Gabriel and I need to come to terms with that.”

Gabriel turns to look at her and says, “I know, sweetheart.” He kisses her quickly and turns to smile at me. “Tonight is a celebration, anyway. You and Heather are finally getting married.”

I grin the way I always do when I think about marrying my angel, and I pick up my glass as I say, “I’ll drink to that.”

The three of us take a sip of our drinks, and not long after, the meals are brought out for dinner. When everyone’s finished eating, the DJ invites Heather and me onto the dance floor to dance together.

There was never any question about what song we would use. The song the DJ’s playing is called “If I Were You.” I wrote it about Heather, and this has been ‘our’ song since the first night she heard it.

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