Page 17 of Versions Of Us

I don’t know what surprises me more. The fact that he’s memorised my schedule or him offering to make me breakfast. It’s usually me that does the cooking, or we make a trip to the Haven.

Henley has always been the outgoing one of the group.

The louder one.

The rule-breaker.

The drummer of the band.

Whenever there’s a party, you can count on him being the guy handing out the beer. Sure, he has his quiet moments, the ones that usually come after one of our ridiculous arguments. But for the most part, he’s the guy that does his best to make everybody laugh.

EJ is the sensible one and Henley, the wild one.

That’s just how it is.

But tonight, he doesn’t seem himself. He’s being extra attentive, which I won’t complain about, but as well as that he seems oddly quiet, detached… settled.

“Are you okay?” I ask him.

He nods once, then his hand moves up to my face, his thumb brushing over my bottom lip. “I love you, you know?”

I can’t help the smile that spreads across my face or the heat that warms me from the inside. “I know. I love you too.”

He suddenly pulls his gaze away from mine, releasing me from his embrace. “I better go and see if they need any help in the kitchen.”

“Okay.”

I feel my eyebrows knit together, not because I disapprove but because I’m taken aback by this new-found sense of responsibility. In the eight years that I’ve known him, he’s never been the one behind the scenes of a party and I feel like I’m witnessing the transformation of a boy into a man.

I wander over to a table where Carla now sits and pull out a chair to join her.

“Kristen! Well don’t you look gorgeous as always,” she exclaims, gesturing to the black long-sleeved mini dress that adorns my frame.

“You’re looking pretty hot there yourself, boss lady,” I say with a wink.

Carla and I have worked together for so long, we’re more like friends than employer and employee. As much as I sometimes loathe my early morning starts at the Haven, not to mention washing dishes and dirty floors, I know I’m going to miss the time spent there when I leave it one day.

A bright pink cocktail is placed down on the table in front of me and I turn at the sound of Henley’s voice.

“Hey Carla. Can I get you a drink?”

“Sure. That would be lovely, Alex. I’ll take one of those.” She points to the rosy liquid in front of me, garnished with pineapple and a maraschino cherry.

Henley nods and once he’s drifted back to the bar, Carla’s eyebrows shoot up. “That’s a real gentleman you’ve got yourself there.”

“He’s being weird though, right?” I say, my eyes following Henley as he disappears behind the bar.

“If by weird you mean that he’s serving party guests fancy cocktails instead of doing a keg stand on top of the bar, then yes. But give him time. The night is still young.”

I suppress a laugh at her depiction of my crazy, wild turned considerate, hospitable boyfriend. “You’re probably right.”

But as the night progressed, Henley didn’t jump on top of a keg or do a beer bong or any other outrageous Henley-type act. In fact, he barely let a drop of alcohol touch his lips all night.

After dinner was served, Steve and Maggie delighted the crowd with a heart-warming speech, welcoming Liv into the family and embarrassing EJ with stories of his youth.

With a lot of persuasion from both EJ’s parents and Liv, they were able to coax EJ up onto the stage to perform an acoustic version of his latest single. He protested when Liv begged him to play one more song, but his pleas were no match for her sad puppy dog eyes. He ended up playing an extra two songs and promising to perform a special song written just for her on their wedding day.

I catch myself gushing at the two of them as Liv laces her arms around EJ’s neck. He smiles at her like she’s the only one in the room and I feel their contentment like an ache in my bones.

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