*buzz* *buzz* *buzz*
His stomach flipped when he saw who was calling. It never got easier to see her name there, no matter how many years passed. He sighed as he contemplated what to do. She was almost definitely calling about the wedding, most likely wondering why he hadn't RSVP'd yet. They were basically family which meant he should definitely go. He had to support her on the most important day of her life, right? But he wasn't sure he could keep the contents of his stomach down when she kissed the groom. The groom who was decidedly not him.
*buzz* *buzz* *bu-*
"Hello?" He tried to shoot for nonchalance, but he had never been that cool, especially when it came to her. There was something about her that made him feel like he was constantly on the verge of losing it. The voice that came through was strong but still a little unsure "Hey, I thought I was going to miss you…" God, he wished he hadn't answered. He had been so successful in trying to separate himself from her. They had known each other since they were fourteen, thrown together at every opportunity, and now that they were twenty-four he was finally getting that space he had always wanted (and secretly hated every second of). With one phone call it all got flushed down the metaphorical toilet. "Sorry, I didn't have my phone on me. I had to find it." was a weak excuse but she would never know. After all, he had always been better at reading her than she was him.
"Oh, jeez. It seems like I always have the worst timing. I just wanted to know if you're planning on coming back to London for my wedding? I know it's been a while, but we would both love to see you." We would both. Wasn't that just the icing on this piece of shit cake? Out of the roughly three billion men she could've chosen, she was apparently destined to be with his best friend. He must've murdered someone in his past life.
Also, why had he ever thought he could get out of this? It was their wedding for crying out loud. These two people who he loved more than anything in the world had found happiness with each other and he couldn't stand it. The whole damn thing made him want to rip his hair out. It looked like he would be screwing himself over in the next life as well.
"I don't know, Case. I would love to be there" lie "but I might have something else going on that day." Even though she hadn't said a word he could feel her disappointment in the dead air. How could she keep doing this to him? It had been at least three years since they had seen each other but he was just as wrapped around her finger as he had been then. Picturing her wide blue eyes filling with tears, he internally sighed as he realized he wouldn't be able to break her heart this one final time. It would only be his own heart shattering over and over as he continued to subject himself to her torture.
"Would you look at that. I guess I don't have other plans." The squeal that left her body could've woken the dead. "Yay! Me and Derek have both missed you so much, Sam. He hasn't said anything about it to me, but you know how he is when it comes to talking about his feelings." Sam could feel her roll her eyes even though they were hundreds of miles apart. "I'm honestly a little surprised that I didn't have to propose to him. Anyway, I can't wait to see you! I'm just so excited that we're all going to be together again."
Honestly, he was a little excited too. He missed both his best friend and ex-girlfriend a hell of a lot, even though it felt like swallowing broken glass when he saw them together.
There was a loud shriek from Casey's end and he could hear peals of Derek's laughter in the background. "Der-ek! I've got to go, Sam. I'll talk to you soon, okay? Bye." With that she was back out of his life (at least until the wedding) and he was left all alone, once again.
Note: Hey, guys! As you can tell I took a little liberty in changing Sam's character. I don't think he would be pining for Casey, but I needed him that way in order for the story to work. Sorry if this isn't that great, I'm still a little rough. Until next time…