"I love weddings."

"Yeah, you might've mentioned that once or twice."

Gillian leaned against Cal's arm where they sat. "I love seeing people express their feelings of love. Especially when they're young."

"Is that because they're still naïve enough to believe marriage is glamorous and foreva really does mean foreva?"

"Cal," Gillian told him off lightly. The couple in front of them turned slightly to glance over their shoulder. Gillian gave them a small smile. Then she looked around the outdoor setting. It was a sunny day but not overly warm and she clung onto Cal mostly for some body warmth; she only had a shawl to protect her shoulders and bare arms. But she also clung because on a subconscious level she was afraid to let go of him in case he went away. When she consciously caught herself doing it she backed off. The last thing she wanted to do now was smother him and feed into that clingy teenage girl image. She knew better. It had been a month since that very scary conversation where Cal had tried to break up with her and she was still learning to trust him again, herself again, 'them' again. Trust was a matter of faith, or so Cal said, so she was learning to have faith again. The more time that went by, the better, because she also knew time was a healer.

They were seated on white chairs on the grass. A trellis arch was set up at the head of the aisle. White flowers of varying types were threaded in between the slats of the wood. There weren't many guests in attendance and it was hard to tell who were family and who were friends. Gillian recognised one of the young women in the front row as a sibling. It was a simple gathering but still a beautiful setting.

"Because they're excited about spending the rest of their lives with each other and there's all that possibility," Gillian mused to Cal in a low voice.

"Mmph," Cal answered. There was a long pause. "Was that a subtle hint?" He turned to see her expression.

"What?" Gillian laughed lightly, turning towards him, her blue eyes flashing in amusement. "No that was not a hint of any kind," she answered quickly. Then she sighed contentedly and hugged herself a little more against his shoulder. "You look nice by the way."

"So do you, by the way," Cal echoed. He could feel her soft breasts pressed against his arm. He gave Gillian an appreciative cheeky grin; she returned a smile. "I like goin' to these kinds of things with you."

Gillian looked surprised. "Are you serious?"

Cal gave her a smirk but didn't get to answer because the music started up, signalling the bride was ready to start walking down the aisle.

PJ

"When do you think they're going to cut the cake?" Gillian asked, leaning against the table. She was wearing a yellow dress that clasped around her neck so that her back and shoulders were bare. Two strips of material covered her breasts before the rest of the dress formed at her waist. Her light brown hair was curled lightly and her make-up was light. She didn't need it anyway. She looked amazing. She always did. Cal was wearing a black suit and tie. It was the suit he kept for particularly nice occasions. The way Gillian leaned against the table forced her cleavage to accentuate. Cal had spent a lot of time already that evening staring at her chest. Gillian had already caught him twice. They were currently sitting alone, the rest of their table, which were work colleagues, were either dancing, getting more food or were up and socialising around the room.

Cal watched Gillian amused. "Is that the only reason you came here today? For the cake?"

Gillian gave him an unimpressed expression and ignored the comment. "I thought Ria looked beautiful."

"Yeah she was all right," Cal conceded reluctantly.

"You're such a cynic. She looked beautiful, this place is beautiful and today was beautiful."

Cal watched her carefully for a moment as she glanced around the high wooden ceilings of the banquet hall. He didn't really give a damn about their surroundings. Any evening with Gillian was a nice one. And as for her brushing off the marriage comment, he wasn't quite convinced. "Do you wanna dance?"

Gillian's blue eyes flashed in delight. "You? Dance? Are you feeling ok?" She pressed the back of her hand against his forehead.

Cal shifted out of her touch. "Do you wanna dance or not?"

"I would love to dance," Gillian got to her feet. She held out a hand to Cal. He took it as he got to his feet too. They moved to the dance floor and Cal pulled on Gillian's hand so she moved closer into his embrace. She was wearing very high heels, which meant she was slightly taller than Cal was at that moment. She smiled as he put his hand on her waist. Gillian continued to glance around the room as they moved. She smiled familiarly at people they knew. Cal watched Gillian only. It had been almost two months now since they had got back together and while things had been going slowly, it was starting to feel as though they were back on track. But that sense of amazement had not left Cal. He still marvelled at the fact that she was with him and had no intention of going anywhere. And these public events fuelled that feeling, because he saw the admiring expressions on the men around them. It was very nice to know that she was there with him. And willingly.

"Mind if I cut in?"

Cal turned to Loker. He watched the taller, younger man, but before he could answer Gillian gave him a smile. "Sure." She gave Cal's hand a squeeze and stepped away from him. "You should go talk to Ria."

"And say what?"

"Tell her congratulations," Gillian instructed. She reached out to put her hands on Loker, dismissing Cal. He turned to find his protégé. She was dancing with a man in a dark suit. He crossed the room.

"Can I cut in?" He asked. He caught relief of Ria's face; the man she was dancing with looked annoyed.

"Cal this is Karl's best man, Edward."

"Nice to meet you," Cal offered a hand. Edward offered the same polite comment and shook his hand firmly. Cal turned to Ria. It felt strange to put his hand in hers, the other near her rib cage, not as low as he would dare with Gillian. "Best wishes by the way."

"Oh thank you," Ria looked impressed.

"You look nice," Cal offered.

Ria laughed. "Kinda strange coming out of your mouth."

Cal ignored the comment. "You're not a fan of the best man?"

"He gets handsy when he's been drinking."

Cal nodded to show he understood. They danced silently for a moment. Ria watched his expression too carefully and he felt himself reflectively closing off. "When are you goin' on your honeymoon?" He dutifully made small talk.

"Two weeks."

"Why the wait?"

Ria looked surprised and then offended. "Are you seriously asking me that?"

Cal read her face, sensing a hint of hostility. But he was confused. "And why should I not be askin' you that?"

"Because I asked you for the time off after the wedding to go away, and you never got back to me, so we lost the seats for the flight," her voice was tight with irritation. "I had to go and ask Gillian for the following fortnight."

Cal had no recollection of that conversation at all. He was drawing a complete blank and that was a little disturbing to realise. "When was this?" He asked neutrally. Maybe he had had some sort of drinking episode he had no recollection of... but when had he had an excuse to get drunk in the last few months?

"Six months ago," Ria answered after taking a moment to think back.

Six months ago.

Right in the middle of the time he and Gillian had been apart. Not so surprisingly, he didn't remember much from that time aside from being miserable. Ria watched the thoughts pass across Cal's face, no matter how hard he tried to hide them and she realised too about the time frame. Her expression became contrite. "I'm sorry."

"Don't worry about it luv," Cal responded. The song ended and they stepped apart again. "Gill wants to know when you're cuttin' the cake."

"Tell her soon," Ria responded with a smile. "Thanks for the dance."

"Yeah," Cal agreed with a slight smile. He would never admit it, well maybe only to Gillian, but he liked Ria, he liked having her around, even if he had to envy her natural talent at his carefully developed and hard learnt science.

Karl arrived at his new wife's side. "Cal, good to see you again."

"Yeah, you too, congratulations," Cal offered along with his hand. They shook and then Cal took his leave, heading back across the dance floor. Gillian was just saying goodbye to Loker and was turning, searching the crowd. "Lookin' for me?" Cal asked in her ear.

She spun quickly towards him, startled. She gave him a smile. "It's always safer to keep tabs on you in social situations."

Cal feigned offence. "I've been well behaved."

"Yes I know," Gillian retorted lightly. "I'm very proud."

"Now, now. Don't patronise me."

A slower song started so Cal offered her his arms again for another dance. Gillian stepped close to him. He placed his left hand in hers, his other arm he wrapped around her back, forcing her closer, making sure their bodies were touching. "Seein' as our last dance was cut short."

"I'd rather have this one," Gillian murmured in response.

"Ria told me they're doin' the cake soon." Gillian's face lit up. Cal smiled. She was easily pleased. They moved together for a few moments while Cal thought that this was easy, being with her, just like this.

Gillian's expression suddenly got serious. "I've been thinking about something I want to talk to you about."

"What's that luv?" Cal started studying her expression.

"Don't do that."

"I can't help it."

Gillian sighed; yes he could. She re-gathered herself and continued. "About the house."

"What about it? You wanna sell it?"

"No," Gillian quickly responded. Cal could see that was the truth. "No, I was thinking about you moving back in. Sometime though, no pressure. Just maybe sometime after you think about it."

Cal studied her eyes: excitement and hope, but there was also a nervous furrow of her eyebrows that belied apprehension. He tilted his head to study her better. "Are you askin' me to move in with you?"

"Well it's your house too."

"Not since I moved out." Cal gave her a raised eyebrow expression that said 'don't you agree?'

"I might be paying the mortgage but your name is still on the paperwork," Gillian countered.

"Yeah I guess we neva sorted that out."

Gillian took her time to watch him and he gave her an impassive expression. It had become a habit lately. "Cal, I know we're not back to where we left off or anything and I don't expect everything to just go back to normal. It'll take time for that, or maybe it never will be how it was exactly. But I want you to know, that I'm serious about you and me. I want you to move back in sometime. If you want to. When you're ready."

Now she was being much clearer. And Cal felt the need to run from the room as fast as he could. It felt like too much, too soon. Being together was nice and simple; why did she have to complicate it with conversations about their relationship?

"Would you undastand that I'm not quite ready just yet?"

Gillian watched him for a second. "Yeah I would. I'm not expecting you to move in tomorrow."

That was the truth. She wasn't offended. Cal felt relieved but he was careful not to let that show on his face. "What if I wanted to move in tomorrow?"

"You'd be welcome."

"But I'm not."

"That's still ok."

"All right."

"Are you being contrary on purpose?"

"Ladies and Gentlemen, Karl and Ria are about to cut the cake."

PJ

Gillian heard the front door open and then slam shut. She checked her watch. Cal said he was only going to be gone an hour. It had only been fifteen minutes. "Cal?" She got up and went to the hallway where she found Emily removing her coat. Gillian could tell from her body language she was upset but she saw the young woman's eyes were red and her cheeks tear streaked when she turned around. "Emily, what's wrong?" Gillian asked concerned.

"Is Dad here?"

"No he went out," Gillian approached and suddenly felt out of place opting to stay behind in his home while he went to do errands.

"Good, cos I really don't want to face him right now."

"Honey what happened?" Gillian placed a hand tenderly on her shoulder; her first instinct was to comfort.

Emily started crying again. "Rick broke up with me."

"What?" Gillian asked surprised. She took Emily by the shoulders with both hands and directed her gently to the living room and a seat on the couch. "What happened? Why did he end it?"

"He said it's about college."

"College?" Gillian asked confused. "But I thought you got in to Harvard? Cal told me."

"Yeah I did but Rick didn't."

'Oh.'

"And he says now that it's going to be too hard with us being in different cities."

"Has he decided where to attend?"

Emily shook her head, "not yet."

Gillian didn't know what to say. She stroked Emily's hair. "Sweetie, I'm sorry."

"What happened with you and Dad? When you got back together? I mean, you talked him into it right? You changed his mind."

"Oh, honey," Gillian shook her head. "That was completely different." And not entirely true. And so much more complicated.

"Why is that different? You make Dad happy, he makes you happy, you love each other, it made sense for you to get back together."

"Yes it did," Gillian had to concede. "But…"

"So maybe I'll talk to Rick. I don't have to go to Harvard."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Gillian tried to cut Emily off, sounding very much like the teenager's father. If Cal heard this conversation he would have a fit. "No sweetie, sometimes with love, you have to walk away to let it come back to you."

"Like you came back to Dad."

"Yeah, like that."

"You think Rick will come back to me?"

Gillian looked into the wide, expectant brown eyes of the younger woman. She was desperate and hopeful and very upset. Gillian had no doubt she loved Rick and from what she'd seen from Rick's expressions he loved Emily too. She also knew that no matter what she said right now, Emily wasn't really listening, she was running on emotion and that would create poor logic. "I know Rick loves you very much," Gillian responded.

Emily nodded. "He'll change his mind." She sounded convinced.

"Does your Mom know you're here?"

Emily shook her head.

"Why don't you call her and let her know? You're always welcome to stay; I don't have to tell you that." Not that it was her house to make those decisions in.

"I might stay for a bit and go home later."

"Sure," Gillian agreed. She watched Emily get up, walk by her, and to the phone on the end of the kitchen bench. Gillian was perplexed. She was friends with Emily and that meant certain things, but she didn't know how to handle the situation. This was something for her father or her mother to deal with. In the meantime, she could make hot chocolate and try to change the subject. Maybe when Emily had calmed down a little they could have a more constructive conversation. For Gillian to make a proper assessment she needed more information. What were Rick's words exactly? And how did he look when he said them?

PJ

"Is she ok?"

"Yeah she's crashed out."

"So she's going to stay?"

"Probably," Cal slouched on the couch next to Gillian. She turned her head to look at him. "If that's all right?"

"It's your house."

"I just meant, it kinda changes our plans."

"Emily's more important than our plans."

Cal gave her a mildly pleased expression. "Thanks luv, for talkin' to her."

"I really didn't do anything."

"Well you looked afta her in my absence and I appreciate that."

"What did you say to her?"

"I just talked about her future and how she can't base her life around a boy."

"I'm sure that went down well."

Cal gave a cynical smile. "Yeah like a lead balloon. She'll be all right eventually."

"You know, she uses 'us' as an example."

He raised an eyebrow. "In what way?"

"About us being apart and then getting back together. She thinks it will happen for her too."

Cal looked thoughtful. "Well I neva thought I'd say it but I think, Gill, you're a bad influence on my daughta."

Gillian wasn't sure whether to laugh or be offended. "Shut up Cal."

He grinned in response.