*Flashback*
Nyah opened her eyes to the sunlight streaming into the room. Her head was pounding badly, but that was the least of her worries. Glancing at the person next to her on the bed, she smiled. Ted.
He was still sleeping soundly. Nyah lay her head back on the pillow and wiped the tear that had been rolling down her cheek. She made a mental note of adding a quote to her notebook.
Nyah had a notebook filled with quotes. The quotes were usually inspired on how she felt every morning she woke up. They were sad quotes, and they kept getting sadder.
Nyah felt Ted begin to stir beside her. It was probably the sunlight in his eyes. She was wearing one of Ted's much-too-big-for-her t-shirts and cutoff jean shorts. Smiling at the fact that he changed her last night, she threw her legs over the edge of the bed and sat up. He opened his eyes abruptly but Nyah didn't look at him.
She walked to her table and opened the notebook she made him promise never to look in. Somehow, he'd kept that promise, even though there were many times where he could just look without her noticing.
Anyway, Nyah opened the notebook and grabbed the pen always next to it. Biting her lip, she began to write. "The weirdest thing happened the other morning... I woke up with tears in my eyes... and one rolling down my cheek... and I knew I must have been dreaming of you again".
She put the pen down, closed the notebook, and straightened up.
"What do you write in there every single day, Nyah?"
Nyah glanced over her shoulder at Ted. She shrugged and opened the door to her closet.
"Quotes," she replied simply.
"And that's why I can't see it?"
She grabbed a white towel and glanced back at Ted, though she still said nothing. Instead, she started walking toward the bathroom, already slipping the tee over her head. She entered the bathroom and closed the door.
Ted, on the other hand, stared at the notebook. It was easy. All he had to do was walk over to it, open it, and begin reading. There was just one thing holding him back. Nyah. He'd promised her he wouldn't read it.
Sighing, he sat up. He was still wearing the jeans and tee from last night. He'd come back exhausted, and only changed Nyah. He didn't have any more energy for himself.
Ted ran his hand through his hair and stood up.
The day before, Ted and Nyah had gone to a club, partying with friends. Nyah had ended up taking one shot too many. She hadn't wanted to leave when be insisted. But, he knew it was better to fight her than watch her end up as some guy's one night stand.
So, he'd forced her back to her- their hotel room. Currently, they were in Tampa, Florida, Ted's future residence. Nyah was a well-known wedding planner. So, some rich lady wanted Nyah to plan her wedding and Nyah had been forced to agree.
Ted, well... He tagged along because he knew it was time he was leaving. He had already made it into WWE's developmental facility. Soon enough, when the wedding would be over, Ted would have to stay in Florida for FCW. But Ted wasn't too worried... Nyah knew he wanted to follow in his father's footsteps and become a wrestler in WWE.
Ted was jarred out of his thoughts by the ringing of a cell phone. He grabbed his phone and answered the call quickly.
"Dude... How is Nyah?"
He recognized Cody's voice immediately. How could he not?
"She's taking a shower. She's fine. Why?" Ted replied.
"She's taking a... shower? Dude, what did you do to her? And what do you mean what? Don't you remember what happened?" Cody was basically screaming in his ear. Ted sighed.
"Yes, she's taking a shower. I did nothing to her. I mean, what? What does what usually mean? And, no, I don't remember too much from last night."
"Well, one answer leads to every question I have just asked," Cody told him.
"And that answer would be?"
"Dude, you kissed Nyah last night."
*End Flashback*
Both of them remembered that day, but neither of them recalled that night. They'd both been told what had happened. But they just couldn't believe it themselves. Nyah Blanch Cervantes and Theodore Marvin DiBiase insisted that they were only best friends.
Only best friends. Best friends since they were five-year-olds. Nyah could pretty much remember every nice thing he'd done for her. But she seemed to have erased from her memory anything bad he'd happened to have done, whether intentionally or not.
Back in the present, Nyah woke up. Tears were in her eyes once more and one rolled down her cheek. She had only one thought. Ted.
Nyah sighed before she got up. It was one week. One week before Ted's wedding. With Maryse Oullet. And the worst part? She was planning it.
Ted and Maryse had gone directly to her. She was their closest friend, well-known, and the best option. Obviously, she couldn't say no. Not to Ted, anyway.
The following day, Nyah woke up, feeling worst, if possible. She couldn't believe herself and her luck. She wished she were another person. A person who could object to the wedding. A person who didn't have to suffer watching this.
As she went to sleep, she added something in her Quote notebook. "April 17, 2011..." followed by her quote of the day.
Her life couldn't get any worse, could it? She was proved wrong.
The following day, after waking up, she was called by Cody Runnels, best man, also her other best friend. Of course, neither best friend knew of such a thing that she hid.
Reluctantly, Nyah agreed to meet Cody at Starbucks. She was sure it was something about the wedding. Everything seemed to be about the wedding nowadays. So, she took her planner's notebook and... not being able to leave it behind, her quote notebook.
"Hey, Cody," Nyah greeted, sitting at the booth with Cody, her notebooks under one arm with her cell, and her Strawberries and Cremé Frappuccino in the other.
"Hey," Cody responded, helping her with the notebooks. He placed them on the table as Nyah sat down.
"Thanks," she sighed, sipping her Frappuccino.
"How's life?" Cody said. Nyah let out a sarcastic laugh.
"Oh, no. It's going great. I don't have to worry about the bride being indecisive at all! She wanted purple decorations. I got them. Oh, no. She's not indecisive at all! She just wants pink decorations now," she responded. She sounded a bit paranoid but Cody thought he should understand. Truthfully, Maryse was a bit indecisive.
"Calm down, Ny. You sound like you're on the verge of tears," Cody said, placing his hand on her forearm. Nyah only sighed and bowed her head. Her straight brown hair covered her face as she studied the table. "Nyah, is something wrong?"
Nyah slowly brought her striking green orbs to look at Cody. She shook her head.
"No. Maryse is just stressing me, is all. I know I need to be focused on the big day, though."
The rest of the conversation went by smoothly. Until Cody started talking about a new girl he'd met at a bar. At this point, Nyah lost interest. So, she opened her notebooks.
Placing her Quotes on top of her planner's, she started doodling at the top of the page. Unconsciously, she had started trying to draw a perfect heart. And, Cody stopped talking when he noticed this, though Nyah didn't. She only finished the truly-near perfect heart and started writing in a name. Ted.
"Nyah," Cody said softly. Apparently, Nyah was still daydreaming because she didn't look up. "Nyah."
Nyah was jarred from her thoughts. She looked up to see a look of sympathy from Cody. She was a bit confused, in reality. Until he glanced down at the notebook. She looked down and was surprised at what she found.
She didn't say anything. She only looked.
"Can I see?" Cody asked gently, grabbing the corner of the notebook. Nyah place her hand on his. But reluctantly, she nodded her head. Cody took the notebook and turned to the first page.
He truly felt sorry for Nyah. For so long, she hid it. For so long, she'd suffered. And now, she had to suffer a bigger pain as she watched the man of her dreams marry a model.
Nyah couldn't recall much more from that day. According to Cody, she'd burst into tears and he'd accompanied her home. Then, she confessed everything. Nyah couldn't remember this because she fell asleep and woke up until the next day.
And with a heartbreaking feeling, she realized it was 19 of April. Four more days to Teddy's wedding.
The rest of the days were hectic. She recalled them as a blur, nothing more. Until the night of the 22nd, where she was able to lay down and think. She was on the brink of insanity.
Her depression was worsening. It was painful to smile even. And the pitiful looks from Cody, she thought if she received one more, she would snap. Yet, the smiles from Ted. He was all smiles.
And this thought brought her to her quote of the day. Sighing, she walked over to her notebook, named the date, and wrote the quote. She sipped from the glass of wine in her hand before she placed it on a table and headed toward the bed.
When Nyah woke up the following morning, she couldn't get up. She lay in bed, crying for a good twenty minutes before she regained control. She couldn't help herself. The love of her life was now beneath her reach, he was gone.
She knew she had to get up, though.
So, that's why, as much as it hurt her, she got up, took her shower, and pulled on the beige strapless dress. As much as it hurt her, she braided some locks of her hair and left the others straight. Painfully, she applied her lip gloss, her sparkling silver eyeshadow, her eyeliner, and her blush. She placed a green butterfly clip in her hair, the one Ted gave her for her 11th birthday. Sighing, she slipped on her silver 4-inch Ed Hardy pumps and prepared for a day in hell.
The bride wasn't too nervous or worried about how she looked. She'd been a model (figures). Nothing could ruin her day.
But it was a different story with Ted and Cody. For some strange reason, Cody had wanted to see Ted at Nyah's house. Since they all had spare keys, Ted entered and called out.
"Cody?"
"Up here!" Cody yelled back. Ted sighed and headed up the stairs, most probable, into Nyah's room. Sure enough, that's where Ted found his best friend.
"What are you doing here?"
"Theodore, come here. I want you to sit down and read this," Cody ordered, handing him the silver notebook. Ted only looked down at it in his hands.
"But, I promised Nyah I would never-"
"Forget what you promised her. What has she promised you before?" Cody said.
"Uhmm... She wouldn't lie to me?"
"Exactly. Now, read it. You're breaking a promise, but she has broke one for too long," Cody replied. Sighing, Ted hesitantly opened the notebook. "Imma go get a soda."
Ted didn't say anything as he started to read.
April 1, 1996 - "Promises are meant to be broken."
Ted had no idea what that meant but he continued reading. He read until he got to a certain date.
August 18, 2004 - "Life is hell sometimes."
That was when they supposedly kissed at the club, according to Cody and some other friends. The 19th of April was when he woke up with her and asked about the notebook.
August 19, 2004 - "The weirdest thing happened the other morning... I woke up with tears in my eyes... and one rolling down my cheek... and I knew I must have been dreaming of you again."
Ted was pretty sure he could feel tears prick his eyes. Everything in this notebook, he knew, was about him. Nyah couldn't be this upset over one guy from her past. It had to be the one person who'd always been with her. Himself.
Despite everything Ted felt, he continued reading until he reached 6 days before the wedding.
April 17, 2011 - "I'd like to believe that I'll wake up one morning and not miss him anymore. I'll finally believe that when he broke my heart it was for a reason, one I just don't understand yet, but when I do I'll know that he messed up and not me."
Boy, he messed up. But he continued to read.
April 19, 2011 - "I don't want to cry over you because I finally realized that it won't get me anywhere and it won't make you care."
April 20, 2011 - "Why am I afraid to lose you... when you're not even mine?"
April 21, 2011 - "The times we were happy together are worth the times I cry alone."
April 22, 2011 - "When I see you smile and know that it is not for me, that is when I will miss you the most."
Now, Ted felt beyond terrible. He felt so guilty, so cruel, so cold. How could he have not seen this?
With Nyah, the bride was ready. Cody had texted her saying they were on their way to the church. Everything was set.
And all the while whispering orders, she watched as the man she was in love with married a model. Married someone who wasn't her. Someone else.
Everything went perfectly, or so the bride kept exclaiming. Nyah could only nod and receive the many hugs Maryse gave her. They were at the reception now.
As soon as she could, Nyah walked over to the loneliest corner she could find. She didn't feel good, she felt like vomiting. And the glances Cody kept throwing her weren't helping her at all.
She sat down on a chair and doubled over, her arms pressing into her stomach slightly. She truly felt like puking and that was not normal for her.
"Are you okay?"
Nyah's head snapped up. She couldn't believe her luck. Was she just destined to be miserable? Did Fate hate her?
"Hi, Ted," Nyah managed out weakly. Ted offered his hand and Nyah took it, smiling weakly. She stood up and Ted started guiding her to the dance floor. "Wait. Ted-"
"C'mon, you still owe me a dance..."
Everything had been going as Nyah planned. She wanted to lay as low as possible. She wanted to go by unnoticed. And then she wanted to bolt out of there. Never ever look back.
She knew she would look back on this day. She would look back on this day a lot, with a broken heart. Then, she would remember what it was like to be in love. Until the feeling was replaced by heartbreak.
"Are you feeling alright?" Ted whispered in her ear, making her come back to reality. Nyah only sighed.
"What do you think."
"No offense, but you don't look like you're taking this very well..." Ted responded. Nyah was silent for a full minute. What did he mean by that?
"What are you saying?" she muttered.
"Nyah, I read the notebook."
Nyah's heart stopped. It just stopped beating, as her mind stopped working. She froze. She couldn't make out any words, she couldn't move.
He knew.
Immediately, her gaze turned to find Cody. Cody Runnels.
"Nyah?"
She looked back at Ted. Her heart started beating again, her mind started to work, her nervous system sent messages. She only closed her eyes and gulped as Ted resumed the dance.
"Why?" she whispered, resting her head on his chest now. She was weak. She was surprised she could even move her feet. She felt faint, like she was about to collapse. And Ted noticed this.
"Nyah, are you okay?"
"Yeah. I'm- I'm fine," she gasped in response. In fact, she was not okay. She knew she was about to tear up.
"Nyah, you know I love you, right?"
They both stopped dancing this time. Nyah removed her head from Ted's chest and looked up at him. Tears were clouding her vision and she felt one slide down her cheek.
"I love you, too."
Then, she turned and ran, heading toward the exit. As she reached the outside, she was hit with the cool night air. She looked up at the stars as she walked.
Another tear followed the first, but she would not let more spill. Not here, not now. Not when it was too late.