Author's Note:
So this is kind of a response fic to what what my lovely Valerie wrote a bit ago, and it's also part of the prompt that things30rocktaughtme gave me. This can still be a stand alone fic as well :)
Basically this is me just being angsty still about everything, but I gotta get these feels out somehow!
It's not everyday your best friend gets married, especially when you're best friend is Liz Lemon!
This was a good enough excuse for him to pour himself another drink for the night as a Tony Bennett Greatest Hits album played softly in his office.
He really wished that this whole thing wasn't making him feel… weird. His "You Wish Pal" plaque seemed to be glaring at him in the corner of his office as he laid back in his chair.
Things started to go really down hill during the impromptu reception Jack had decided to throw for the newlyweds at Rockefeller Plaza. Everyone was really excited to celebrate the small wedding. (Well, except for Jenna, who was mysteriously absent through everything wedding-related. He and Liz noticed this as the reception began, and quickly made a plan of attack in case she went psycho about Liz trying to "steal her thunder"). Jack convinced Tony to stick around for the reception part of the evening, so the whole affair was really actually turning out quite nice, at least for the guests that weren't Jack.
It hit him when he watched Liz and Criss dance, and it hit him very hard. They were terrible dancers, and even more so when they danced together, but he'd be lying if he said that they didn't fit great together. And that's when he realized how absolutely jealous of Criss he was.
How on Earth could he be jealous of Criss of all people? The man was a mess of a human in comparison to Jack.
But Criss got the girl in the end, didn't he?
Jack hated himself for realizing that he was in love with Liz after it was too late. He figured it out the moment she told him she was marrying Criss. Not that it hadn't been there before: the time they accidentally got married, the time that Liz had thought she was pregnant but it's a false pregnancy due to Mexican snack foods, the time they had kissed on national television, the time she was his emergency contact instead of his fiance. The kiss was probably the biggest moment for him, even if it was supposed to be completely awkward. But of course, at the time, he had been juggling two other women, and he had no time to try to figure out all of these feelings for his best friend.
So standing there and watching them dance was painful, even though Jack had just gotten to dance to one of his favorite songs with her just before. He downed the last bit of his scotch and decided that he better get out of there, fast.
He quickly made his way to the elevators that would lead to the privacy of his office, but he should've known better than to try to sneak away from Liz.
"Hey, Jack, where are you going?" Liz asked quietly, noticing that Jack seemed to be a bit off. He shrugged awkwardly, but he couldn't help but smile a little at how absolutely cute Lemon looked. At this point, parts of her hair were starting to fall out of her buns. Her cheeks were a tiny bit pink from the wine she'd been drinking since the reception had started. He even noticed that there was a very small amount of mascara that had smeared from what must have been some happy tears after the wedding had ended.
"I, uh, need to go clear my head or something. I'm not feeling too great, Lemon. I think I may have had too much to drink today," he partially lied. He really did have too much to drink and he did need to clear his head, but he didn't want her to know that he was leaving because of her on the biggest day of her life.
"Oh. I didn't even think it was possible for you to have too much to drink," she joked, and they both laughed awkwardly. "Well, um, I just really wanted to thank you again for everything-"
"Lemon, stop. I told you, it's not a problem. You know I'd do anything for you to be happy on your wedding day. Or any day really…" Liz blushed at his words, and he awkwardly scratched the back of his neck, really just wanting to hide in his office for the rest of the night. Possibly the rest of his life at this rate.
Suddenly Liz was hugging him. Well, more so squeezing him with all of her power. He figured she was trying to prove to him that she was good at hugging, too, so he played along and squeezed her back.
"See, you're not a bad hugger yourself, Lemon."
"Yeah, yeah, I know you're still better though, shut up. But really though I owe you big ti-"
"Lemon what did I just tell you? Stop thanking me it's not a big deal for me!"
"Yeah, I know, but it means so much to me and…" she trailed off and the next thing he knew she was returning the kiss on the cheek that he had given her earlier. But her kissing him was much different than his had been. Her hand was on his other cheek and it caressed it very, very softly and she lingered for a bit longer than he had.
When she pulled away, her cheeks were even more red.
"So, yeah, I hope you feel better soon, Jack. Maybe you can even come back to the party…"
"Yeah, uh, we'll see. Good luck with everything, Lemon."
"Thanks, Jack." Liz muttered quietly, and then with a little wave, she turned around and headed back to her brand new husband.
So now he was hiding in his office and wishing that he could just forget everything that had happened and that his feelings would just go away.
But, who's he kidding? It's not every day your best friend gets married to someone that's not you.