Disclaimer: I do not own Wizards of Waverly Place. No profit is being made from releasing this fictional story.

Author's Note: Yay! Another chapter! Very short so I'm posting this sooner that I usually would.

Let's read on!

A Familiar Pattern 28

By genielou

Andy was not stupid. No. Far from it. Years of dealing with dangerous sea creatures and eager fishermen had earned him his fair shares of scars and sense of street smarts. So when his fiancée, a woman that he has known for over six years, started becoming distracted, distant, and almost always absent, he couldn't help but take great notice.

It wasn't as if she wasn't like that before. Despite her usually soft demeanor, Harper was a go-getter. She always dedicated more than she was capable of offering to all of her projects; a feat that Andy always admired, and that was why he never questioned her busy schedule. But in the past, she had always tried to balance her schedule with his to ensure that they were able to spend some time together. Lately, she had not even bothered. She hadn't tried. The first few times, Andy thought that she had just forgotten. But after fifteen more times, Andy decided that it was becoming far too consistent to be coincidental.

He could hardly be blamed when he became suspicious. He became weary of her endless list of excuses, of her constant absences, and of her lack of awareness to his presence. So after days of debating, Andy finally decided to investigate, which is what led Andy to stand in the office area of Harper's warehouse studio in the middle of a Saturday afternoon.

Normally, Andy wouldn't even think of setting foot in the warehouse without Harper's knowledge and permission. He was very careful with maintaining their boundaries, making sure that she never felt pressured or suffocated around him. Most of Harper's secret endeavors seem to be based in the studio though so Andy decided to start there. His eyes scanned his surroundings, looking for any slight clues as to what the mortal had been up to. The usual clutter filled his view: tables full of sewing tools, scissors, and fabric; mannequins half-dressed with in-progress creations; and drawings propped on easels, filled with corrections, doodles, and cursive scrawls.

She's been busy, he confirmed. He released a sigh of relief as he finally diminished the theory that she had been lying whenever she dismissed him for work-related things. He shook his head lightly in reprieve—ashamed that he had doubted her—and was on his way out when something caught his eye.

The table filled with untouched gifts… the one that he paid close attention to every time he visited… has been renewed with newer, fresher gifts. Not strange at first glance as he could easily assume that the gifts had resumed again, but this time, the gifts were more—arranged?

Andy's mind raced a mile a minute as he took in every detail of what he was seeing. Previously, that table would just be a complete mess. Whatever gift Harper received, she would simply discard onto the table, not caring if a cup or two would topple over and spill onto the other boxes of chocolates. Now, the flowers seem to be arranged by color… yellow sunflowers were grouped with white daisies and pale chrysanthemums; blue dandelions were set right next to a single violet gumamela; and a potted batch of azaleas was sitting beside a vase of… Are those roses? He narrowed his eyes as he approached what looked to be the freshest of all the flowers on the table.

Roses.

Red roses, to be precise.

He squinted as he quickly counted the fully-bloomed atrocities, still bunched in a red ribbon despite the white, porcelain vase that held it.

"Twelve," Andy gritted through his teeth. "Exactly one dozen roses."

Suddenly, other little things around the office became alarmingly out of place in his eyes. The boxes of chocolates that used to pile up without being touched were now in various trash cans around the room, all of which have been opened and emptied. There was an open box on her desk and half of its contents were gone. Numerous disposable coffee cups were on various tables and stools, most of which bared an insignia that he was not familiar with. He knew of all the coffee shops nearby, long ago familiarizing himself when he found her to be addicted to the stuff. None of the cups that now littered the room resembled what he usually provided for her. Which bodes the question: where had she been getting her coffee from, and how?

One cup in particular caught his eye. It was bright red and sitting obnoxiously on her desk, near the monitor of her computer. Frowning, he walked towards it and picked it up. It was weighty, half-full, and looked to be almost abandoned. And it wasn't coffee.

Andy's frown deepened as he eyed the straw sticking out from the plastic lid. He lifted the lid slightly and leaned his nose into it. With a slow sniff, he determined that it smelled like… watermelon? Not necessarily watermelon, but watermelon-like. It smelled overwhelmingly sweet, leading him to belief that the flavor was merely artificial. Still, it was strange that anything but water or coffee would be in this office at all. And by the shade of the lipstick that stained the tip of the straw, Andy was very sure that Harper was the one who had been drinking it.

Weird, he thought.

And then, he saw it. If it weren't for his sharp eyes, he wouldn't have caught it. Yet, there it was, a very tiny, white triangle sticking out from underneath the black keyboard. He slowly lifted the device, careful not to bother too much of the other gadgets that it was connected to (Harper has a knack for being essentially organized with her mess and that's why he never tried to clean for her). The white triangle grew into a whole, turning out to be a picture… or, pictures. He pulled it out, and upon closer look, saw that it was a strip taken from a photo booth. Exactly five, squared photographs grinned up at him, and he couldn't help the widening of his eyes as he took it all in.

There, in five 2-inch by 2-inch squares were five different smiles and expressions from the same two faces; one of whom he was engaged to marry to, and the other of whom he was quite familiar with.

It took great restraint for Andy to not crumple the photograph in his hands. His arm shook slightly in anger, not willing to believe what he was seeing.

The evidence piled up and it was unmistakable. The unfamiliar coffee cups… the gifts that laid untouched, and now suddenly overruled the space that she worked in… her absence, her lack of attention… the slight skip in her step despite the evident fatigue in her posture… lately, she had been smiling more, and Andy just took it as a sign of success in her current endeavors, her career; an advancement, maybe? A new design completed? But no, it was none of those. Her good mood, and the way she would unexpectedly space out over a memory that Andy assumed that he was a part of… was actually because of him. Him! How he had suddenly entered her life again, Andy wasn't sure, but he was definitely NOT happy about it.

His glare intensified as his eyes seemed to burn a hole on the picture. Five squares of him and her, with faces squished together and grinning like carefree children; it was too much for Andy to handle. He had thought that she preferred not to dwell in her past, but it looked like he was wrong. Her past had evidently caught up with her and she seemed to be enjoying herself too.

How long had it been going on? Andy thought back to how long ago the very first set of flowers and chocolates were dropped off precariously in front of Harper's studio doorstep. That was over six months ago. Had this been going on since then? Maybe even longer than that? He couldn't even fathom the idea of it being years without his knowledge. He felt stupid and ignorant for not seeing the signs before. Her studio was as it always was; he just never paid attention to the details…

The photograph crinkled under his tight grip. Anger coursed through him as he burned the five images into his mind, memorizing every detail of it, and letting it feed the betrayal that he felt. Nevermind the sorrow that took a backseat, it was the betrayal that he was most offended by. He had been waiting for her to set a date for their wedding, and every time he pried, she would always give him an excuse. There was always an excuse.

"The dress is not ready yet."

"I'm still deciding between two different venues to hold the reception."

"Maybe we should do it next season. It's too cold right now."

The reasons for not proceeding was endless, and now he learns that this—THIS—was the real reason that she had kept postponing their wedding plans.

Was she having second thoughts? Because of him?Throughout the duration of his life, no one had even made a fool of him, and he'd be damned if he lets a Wizard—a Wizard!— break that streak.

His reverie is interrupted when heard the squeak of the front gates. A few seconds later, Harper came walking through the studio doors in haste. She had a stack of papers held firmly under one arm while her other hand held firmly onto a large cup of coffee and the strap of her purse.

"Oh! Hey, sweetie!" She greeted, not even noticing that he was holding the strip of photograph in his hand. She went straight to one of her work areas and dumped her load on the mahogany countertop. She shuffled through them quickly before turning to another table to shuffle through another stack of papers. "You wouldn't believe that day that I've had. I had so much planned for today but because one of the accountants from the California chain apparently entered a wrong number—of course- I had to sit through a two-hour video feed while they tried to figure out exactly where the mistake came from. I swear, if I wasn't so nice, I'd fire that guy. He set me way back from my schedule."

Andy tried hard to control his emotions. His eyes followed her movements carefully. "And what exactly did you plan on doing today?" he asked with a surprisingly steady voice.

"Well, I just finished three new designs and I was going to call up my production director in Paris to set up an appointment for a meeting next week. I'm really psyched about this new line and I want to try to get it launched as soon as possible. I already have a few ideas for the corresponding accessories. Can you imagine what a new release would do? I have a feeling that this could be the break that I need to penetrate the German market," she rambled on as her hands kept busy with things around the study. She hadn't even noticed the stern gaze that Andy was giving her.

"Anything for our wedding? If I remember correctly, you mentioned something about cake tasting a few weeks ago," he inquired softly, his eyebrows furrowing slightly as the pain of betrayal tried to arise from him.

"Oh yeah, that, well," she dismissed with a wave of her hand, still not looking at him, "I haven't quite scheduled it yet. I'm still not sure if I want to hire a big name or a local. I'll decide that later- maybe after I secure this launch."

Andy nodded his head slowly. He was mildly amazed with himself for maintaining a calm exterior, despite the warzone of emotions going through inside of him. His lips firmed into a straight line before he spoke again, all the while allowing his eyes to strain intensely on the images in his hands. His voice was so soft that he almost didn't recognize what came out of his mouth. "I'm taking over the wedding arrangements."

This immediately stopped Harper on her tracks. She stood stiffly in place as her fingers loosened on a stack of papers that she was skimming through. They fluttered to the floor, some floating momentarily in the air before scattering to the ground.

Her brows furrowed. When she turned, mouth slightly open to protest, her eyes widened and her throat abruptly dried. The pupils of her eyes swayed as she tried to make sense of what she was seeing: her current fiancé, standing by her desk, holding what she knew to be evidence of her recent adventures with her past love affair. Her mind raced as she tried to think of what to say, but all she could come out with was, "Wh—what?"

"I'm taking over the wedding arrangements," he repeated, his voice was steady and calm; unruffled as he finally let the now wrinkled photograph go. It fell with a whispered flop on top of the keyboard. "You've been so busy lately. I think it'd be best if I take some of the load off of your shoulders. So I'm taking over the wedding arrangements."

Her brain seems to finally catch up with her as her eyes followed the movement of his hands; firstly brushing his fingers against the desk before falling to his sides. "Andy," she started, a hint of pleading in her tone. "It's not what you think. I can explain—"

"There's nothing to explain," he interrupted her. He walked around the desk and approached her in long strides, all the while looking at her as if his stare was keeping her physically stable in his present reality. He placed his hands on her shoulders, and noticed with slight grimace how she stiffened and gulped. "I love you. I want to be with you. And I want to marry you. We've been arranging this wedding for what feels like forever; and I believe that it is because you are tiredly unavailable for many of the required arrangements." He scoffed in his mind before regaining his composure and continuing. "I'll be taking over from here on out. Feel free to go about your usual. But leave the wedding to me."

Her mouth opened and closed a few times, unsure of what to say. Finally, she took her time gathering enough saliva into her throat and asked, "Do y—How would- I mean, we haven't even set a date yet. There's no hurry. If you just let me take care of a few more things, then I'll be free to concentrate on the wedding stuff."

Andy shook his head slowly. "No. I'm taking over," he said with finality. Then, with an even more determined look in his eyes, "Two weeks. I'm setting the date to two weeks from now."

"What?" she exclaimed, her eyes widened again. "Andy, please, can we talk about this?"

The reaction only worked against her as Andy's expression looked to harden from her. He was about to say more, maybe to start accusing her, but the sound of barking suddenly filled the air.

"Who let the dogs out? Woof! Woof woof!"

He frowned as his eyes searched for the source of the ridiculous song, taking note of the fact that Harper had changed her ringtone without his knowledge. He eyed the purse that Harper abandoned on one of her work tables, looked at her, and then finally released her to walk quickly towards the bag. He picked it up roughly, rummaged through its contents a few moments before finally clasping his hands around a cell phone. His eyes narrowed and his face turned red upon seeing the displayed picture on the screen that indicated who was calling. Time seemed to stop and Harper felt like her heart would jump out of her chest as she watched Andy activate her phone.

"Harper! Great! I'm glad I caught you!" the voice on the other end immediately rattled on cheerfully, not even letting Andy answer. "Listen, I'm neck-deep in paperwork at the moment. The council unexpectedly dropped by and demanded a whole week's worth of reports to be submitted by tomorrow morning so I'm proofreading like crazy. Is it okay if we postpone coffee tonight? Just for a few hours, I promise. Oh, and I can flash you here. That diner around the corner from the SubStation—remember? Phil's Diner? They have good pie and today feels like a pie kind of day."

Andy's lips pressed together into a firm line.

"Harper?"

He took a huge breath before answering. "Consider your date cancelled. Harper will be busy tonight."

And without another word, Andy disconnected the line. He dropped the phone onto the desk carelessly before facing her again. "Collect the contacts that you've gathered for the wedding, and everything else that you've started so far. I'll be back later to take them."

If she had anything else to say on the matter, he didn't hear it. He just walked out and slammed the door behind him.