You're not surprised to find that the Fairmont ballroom is swathed in the bride's favourite colour. Atop each guest table is a centrepiece of blush garden roses paired with coral peonies, as well as matching table napkins held together by strings of white pearls.

You feel as if you have been transported into a fairy tale. The decorations are undeniably beautiful, but still, there is something missing. You keep securitizing the scene, hoping to find a hint of the groom.

In your teenage fantasies, every detail of this day was a combination of both your personalities. Your envisioned floral arrangements consisted of orange lilies - a mixture of your favourite type of flower and the colour he preferred since childhood. You even toyed with the idea that the wedding cake would be topped with a male and female frog. But you remind yourself that today is not your day and that the decorated ballroom is evidence of the selfless love he offers.

You and your friends are seated in the middle of the ballroom. You take a seat on a transparent chair with a pink cushion next to your place card. Kiba and Shino sit to your left, and you peek at the place card to your right – Rock Lee. You think that he is the perfect seatmate; for if there is anyone who understands your current predicament, it's this man. He may have pursued the bride for just as long as you admired the groom.

A strong hand taps on your shoulder, and you turn around, finding the second most important man in your life standing there.

"Neji nii-san," you greet your older cousin and he stoops to your level to give you a quick hug.

"I didn't think you would attend. Are you okay?" You see him inspecting your face for signs of tears, "You know you don't have to be here."

You narrow your eyes at him, and he lowers his voice so that the conversation remains private, "We can leave right now."

You sigh lowly, frustrated that he still treats you like a porcelain doll. It was your decision to attend, and you're ready to see it through until the end. You don't know why you're so determined, but this is your choice.

"I'm fine," you reassure him and then smile. "You're one of the groomsmen. How would it look if you ran away?"

Neji nods his head in agreement, but tells you, "Yeah, but your happiness is more important." He then murmurs, "I am only here to support him, you know how I feel about…"

You shake your head, not wanting him to finish that sentence because now is not the time and place for negativity.

He easily catches on, and his words cease. At the same moment, an excited voice greets him, "Neji Hyuga!"

Lee turns around to address someone not visible at your vantage point, "Babe, this is my long-time rival and best friend."

Neji straightens up, just in time for Rock Lee to smother him in a bear hug. "You look the same as always, Neji," Lee appraises him like a mother hen proud of her chicks, then motions for a woman to come forward. "This is my girlfriend, Anami."

A lean, tall, pretty brunette with green eyes shakes your cousin's hand, "Nice to meet you."

She then introduces herself to you and your friends. Based on the colour of her eyes and body shape, you surmise Lee has a particular type. Even if she slightly resembles the bride, you're happy to believe that Lee has moved on, for there is hope for you as well.

Lee's eyes scan the hall. "Where is Tenten?"

"How should I know?" your cousin gruffly returns.

Both you and Lee shake your head in disappointment at your cousin's refusal to publicly acknowledge the relationship with his former classmate.

"She had a family emergency," you answer. You and Tenten have grown closer throughout the years. But you don't know if she is genuinely trying to be your friend, or if she is using you to secure her relationship.

Your cousin and Lee catch up a bit and you mostly tune out their conversation. Upon the announcement that the bride and groom have arrived, your cousin excuses himself to head back to the front of the hall to join the wedding party.

You're still not ready to see them together, but you force yourself to bear witness to their grand entrance. The groom delicately kisses his bride's left palm. She blushes and pulls it away, electing to hold hands as they enter.

In merriment, the groom skips down the aisle to the beat of the music. The bride smiles warmly at her guests.

When the couple is a few tables away, you once again marvel at how well the groom fills out the suit. Your heart flutters as they near closer, but you tear your eyes away from him out of respect. That's when you notice guilty emerald eyes looking your way. As soon as you return the gaze, she quickly looks to the other side of the room and grabs on tighter to her groom's hand.

You're not dense or naïve as people believe you to be. You understood the meaning behind that look. You saw the guilt in her eyes for taking something that you've always wanted. But you hold no malice towards her, because all is fair in love, and his heart never belonged to you.

You hate these looks sent your way. Behind the guilt or discomfort, there is also pity. It makes you feel less of a person; how you used to feel in your childhood when you constantly sought your father's approval.

Most of the night goes by in a haze. You hardly pay attention to the first dance; you don't listen to the maid of honour's speech. But you do tune in to the best man's toast as you remember your cousin helping Shikamaru to come up with something other than the groom loving the bride just as much as he loves ramen.

You're proud the final speech morphed into acknowledgement of the groom's unrelenting drive and passion for love.

After this, the bride dances with her parents, while the groom watches in the background. It hurts to know that he doesn't have any relatives to be at his side. A black pair of perceptive eyes come to mind, and you frown knowing that the owner isn't at the front of the hall with the groom.

The party is in full swing after this. Lee and his girlfriend are the first to hit the dancefloor. When the bridesmaids join in, Kiba downs his drink and joins the gaiety.

It's down to just you and Shino at your table. He scoots over to you. Covering a yawn, he tells you, "I think I'm going to head out soon".

You know he's not fond of parties, so this doesn't come as a surprise.

He continues, "I got a room upstairs, want to head up with me? Or I can call you a cab."

You shake your head. "I'm staying at my family's cottage. I think I should wait on Neji. Seems like Lee is on a mission to get him drunk."

You and Shino both glance in Neji's direction to see Lee dragging Neji over to the open bar. You giggle at this sight, and Shino shakes his head.

When Shino leaves, you're the only person at your table. To avoid being dragged onto the dancefloor, you pretend that you're busy on your phone. In truth, you don't have anyone else but your sister to message, and she hasn't responded to any of your earlier messages. She's probably purposefully ignoring you so that you can interact with the wedding guests.

An older gentleman saunters your way asking for a dance, "A pretty young lady shouldn't be all alone on such a joyful night. Care to join me on the dancefloor?"

You don't want to be rude to reject his kind, innocent offer, but the groom and the bride are currently on the dancefloor. There is no way your feet will allow you to brave that distance. You make up an excuse that you'll be there shortly, and you're just waiting on a friend to return.

He nods his head and tells you he hopes you save him a dance.

His invitation is followed by a very aggressive and loud demand by Kiba. He's pulling you off your feet, and in panic, you tell him you need to use the washroom, but you'll meet him on the dancefloor.

You hurry out the entrance and take the clay-tiled path that leads to the back of the hotel. You near the outdoor pool, from here you can see the interior of the hall through large French doors.

Not wanting to risk the chance of someone spotting you from inside, you keep walking until you reach a narrow, pebbled pathway. You've visited this hotel on numerous occasions for family events, so you know exactly where you are headed, even with only the faint hint of the moonlight to guide you.

Long before you begin to remove your silver heels, you hear the crash of water against a shoreline. Heels held in your right hand, you lift the hem of your floor-length gown with your left, and waddle over to a large, rectangular rock on the far end of the lake, opposite a wooded area.

You notice a green bottle of Moët next to the rock, but you ignore it, hoping it's been abandoned by its owner.

Climbing onto the rock, you breathe in the fresh, crisp air. Water always had a soothing effect on you. You're partially tempted to strip and go for a swim. From this vantage point, the water seems calm. You're a good swimmer and confident in your abilities.

But would you be able to explain why you're drenched when you return to the hotel?

"You're in my spot," a deep voice announces.

The unexpected presence, causes you to jerk forward and slide off the rock. Thankfully, you're able to land on your feet. Embarrassed, you gaze up at the intruder, immediately recognizing him, "Sasuke".

There is a hint of a smirk on his face as he retrieves the bottle of alcohol from the ground. He turns to leave, but you stop him, "You can have it."

He turns to you with an arched eyebrow, and you quickly explain, "The spot, I mean." You gesture toward the rock, "You were here first."

He nods his head and walks towards you and the rock. "It's large enough for two."

The rock is only about four feet high, so it's easy for him to hop on. You on the other hand, now aware that another person is in your presence, try to daintily climb the rock without exposing yourself.

Chuckling at your clumsy attempts, he offers you his hand and pulls you onto the rock. Once you're both seated, he moves a respectful distance away from you.

You both stare out into the distance for several minutes.

You shift your body towards his to ask, "Why aren't you his best man?" The question comes out more accusatory than you intended, than it should.

He doesn't answer you.

You watch him remove the foil and wire cage around the bottle of champagne, and with a little effort, he pops the cork off.

He offers the opened bottle to you first, and you decline by shaking your head. Shrugging his shoulders, he brings the bottle to his lips.

You're not a very brave person, but in this moment, you're willing to confront him, even though you know you have no real right to, "You're his family."

He laughs and recites the groom's childhood term of endearment, "Brother from another mother."

You nod your head. "So, why aren't you there to support him?"

He takes another drink directly from the bottle, then tells you, "It wouldn't have been appropriate… or fair."

That's not the response you were looking for, you wanted him to give you a poor excuse, something along the lines of being busy and not having the time. For him to openly address the elephant in the room, leaves you without a response.

Finally, you say, "It's still good that you're here."

He offers you the bottle of champagne, and this time you accept it.

The bottle feels light in your hand, and it takes a while for the peach-fragrant liquid to reach your lips. You can tell that the bottle is nearly empty, but you leave a few sips for him.

He retrieves it from you and downs the rest. After the bottle is empty, he drops it onto the sand. By his somewhat brash actions, you guess that he's either tipsy or drunk. Probably the latter since he drank an entire bottle of champagne mostly on his own.

"I didn't plan on coming. But he's my best friend," he explains. "My only friend."

Under the dewy light of the moon, you can see a tinge of sadness in his eyes.

"Don't look at me like that, Hyuga." He's facing you now, with an irritated look in his eyes.

"Like what?"

"You're pitying me."

You shake your head, "No. I'm not. I understand." You hope he believes you.

His eyes are still intently watching you, when he tells you, "You would have been a better match, you know."

You lift your legs that were dangling off the rock and hug them tightly into your chest.

It angers you that he can speak so freely about your unanswered feelings. It's not fair of him to tell you this, it doesn't help you in any way.

You turn towards him. You hurdle your anger and pain on him, "You're doing the same thing you accused me of."

"It's not pity. Just stating facts."

Breath ragged, you give into your morbid curiosity, "Why?"

He gracefully hops down from the rock, "You actually care about him."

You can hear the revulsion in his response.

He picks up the empty bottle and discarded foil wrapper, "I need a refill. Wanna join me?" He extends his hand and with hesitation you accept it. What do you have to lose by accepting his companionship for the night?


This is going to be a very short story. Honestly, it's just a distraction from writing my other stories. I don't know why I'm procrastinating so much.