"Well, if it isn't Mr. Happy Go Lucky," Stephanie said, as Chris walked into the kitchen.

"Can you blame me?"

"No, I guess not. I'm just glad to see you happy," she said, as she took a sip of her coffee.

"Thanks for making coffee," he said, pouring himself a cup.

"Late night?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"You can say that," he told her as he sat down.

Chris and Jessica had been back together for about a week, and Chris was so happy. Everything was going pretty well. He and Jessica were now planning their wedding, something he had dreamed about for so long. His life was going great.

"I'm happy for you."

"Thanks Steph, you're the best."

"I know."

"I'm sure I've told you that often enough. So you coming out with me today?"

"I guess so, I don't have anything to do today."

"Nothing for the show?"

"Nope, I'm practically finished for it. I just have one thing left to do."

"What's that?"

"Figure out what dress I'm wearing."

"The most important part," he said, laughing.

"You know it. But I'm a lot more laid back with this show."

"I can tell, I haven't seen you barreling down the stairs asking for my opinion every five seconds."

"Ha ha."

"Christopher, this dog woke me up this morning," Jessica whined, coming into the kitchen, Dungy following her.

"He has a name Jessi, it's Dungy, and he was just being friendly."

"Yeah, well, he woke me up," she pouted, coming over to kiss Chris.

"Dungy, come over here baby," Stephanie said as the dog trotted over, "Now you should apologize."

Dungy walked over to Jessica, and licked her bare leg, which he did often to Chris and Stephanie. Jessica yelped as she felt him lick her. Stephanie and Chris just laughed, used to Dungy's somewhat crazy antics.

"That's gross," Jessica said, walking over to the sink and wiping her leg with a paper towel.

Stephanie rolled her eyes to herself. If she was honest, Jessica was definitely not how she had pictured her. She was way more stuck-up than she would of thought. Chris was so down-to-earth and easy going, very different from Jessica. But if Chris was happy she would hold her tongue.

"Jessi, are you going to come horse-back riding with Stephanie and I?"

"You're going horse-back riding?" she asked, her lips puckered.

"Yeah, and we're having lunch on the trail," Stephanie added.

"Eww, no, it's gross and dirty out there, I'll just stay here and watch some television. Gotta catch up on my soaps," she said, giggling.

"Ok, well, we're gonna head out, I'll see you later," Chris said, leaning over to kiss her.

Chris and Stephanie got up, Dungy following them outside. They walked over to the stable, and got their horses ready. Dungy went back up to the house, and lay down on the porch, watching as they took off.

They rode for a while in silence. As the day dragged on, they decided to stop for lunch. They settled on a little hill of rocks. They got their food stuff out, and started eating, just enjoying each other's company. They hadn't gotten a lot of time alone since Jessica had come back.

"This is nice," Chris commented.

"What? The view?"

"No, being with you. We haven't gotten to really see each other since Jessi came back."

"Yeah. But I'm glad that you're happy."

"Yeah," Chris said, his voice trailing off, as he stared off into the distance. Stephanie thought his tone sounded weird, but kept it to herself.

"So, have you set a date yet?"

"Yeah, two months, March 23."

"Have you made any plans?"

"Well, we're getting the preliminary stuff together. You know like where we want to hold it, who we should invite, stuff like that."

"Where are you having it?"

"Well, I wanted to have it here, but Jessi thinks that we should have it in a church."

"Great. I'm sure it'll be beautiful," she said, slightly annoyed that Jessica didn't seem to like where they lived.

"Yeah, it will be, it's like a dream come true you know. I never expected in a million years that I would get back with her. I thought it was a lost cause."

"Obviously, or you wouldn't have proposed to me."

"Yeah, you're right."

"Luckily we hadn't told anyone yet, then it could've gotten messy."

"Wow, you're right, that would be bad."

"So I guess we'll be the only ones who know that we were ever engaged...or even together."

"Yeah, it was good while it lasted, wasn't it Steph?" Chris said, smirking at her.

"It was."

They finished their lunches, and rode back home. They put the horses back in the stable, after caring for them. Chris walked into the house before Stephanie, and saw Jessica still sitting on the couch watching television.

"I'm going to start dinner Chris," Stephanie said.

"Ok, sounds good," he told her. They usually alternated who made meals.

Chris walked into the living room, and sat down next to Jessica. She scooted over, and leaned against him as they watched some show that Chris had never seen. Chris smiled at the closeness they were sharing, it felt so...safe.

He heard Stephanie walking around in the kitchen, and turned his head to look at her. She was chopping something, and she looked so into what she was doing. Chris smiled a little as he watched her cook. He thought about whenever Stephanie was in his arms, with her he always felt...content. He told himself it was just because they were such good friends. He wondered if she needed any help when he realized Jessica was talking to him.

"Christopher, what do you think about that?" he heard Jessica say to him, he took his eyes off Stephanie, and turned to Jessica.

"What did you say sweetie?"

"I said, what about having the wedding in Florida, like we always planned?"

"That sounds like a great idea," Chris conceded, though he thought a wedding here would be beautiful.

"Good, I'll call a wedding planner, and we'll try to book the place. I should start looking for a dress, and bridesmaids, I'll have to ask some of my girlfriends."

"What about Stephanie, you should ask her, she's my best friend."

"Oh sweetie, the bridesmaids are supposed to be MY friends, not yours. I'm sure she'll do just fine in the congregation," she said sweetly.

Chris just smiled and nodded his head, trying not to get angry.

**************

Stephanie's show was in progress, and much like the one she had had months ago, it was going quite well. Many of her pictures were selling, and she was getting a nice reputation for her photography. Her agent had informed her that her prints were in high demand.

She walked around wondering where Chris was. He and Jessica were coming to the show, Chris had said they would. Although, she wouldn't mind one bit if Jessica didn't show up at all. She had been getting on her nerves for the longest time.

Chris and Jessica walked into the show, a little bit late because Jessica had taken more than three hours to get ready. Chris had had to wait for her, as she made sure every strand of hair was in the right place.

"Christopher, I don't see why we had to come to this," she whined.

"Because Stephanie is my best friend, and I wanted to support her."

"I'm sure she can take care of herself. All this is, is a bunch of pictures."

"It's a type of art."

"Yeah, right, look at that picture, I mean, all it is, is a picture of a cactus, what's so great about that?"

"But look at the contrast between the light and the dark, and look at the shadow she captured, it's beautiful."

"Whatever you say, I'm going out to get a smoke."

"Since when do you smoke?"

"Since a while ago, I'll be back," she said, leaning up to kiss him on the cheek.

Chris sighed subconsciously as she left. She wasn't the same Jessica that he had fallen in love with. Either that, or he had changed, and she hadn't. He frowned and started to look for Stephanie. He passed a couple, and couldn't help but overhear their conversation.

"This picture is beautiful, you can really tell they're in love."

"I know, look at their eyes."

Chris turned to see what print they were talking about, and was surprised to see the picture of Stephanie and him on the porch. These people were talking about him and Stephanie. How absurd. He and Stephanie didn't love each other. He almost wanted to comment, but held his tongue. They were just very wrong.

He finally spotted Stephanie over by one of the windows. He made his way through the throngs of people, and came to stand behind her. He tapped her shoulder, and she jumped as she turned around. As soon as she saw him, she broke out into a grin, and threw her arms around him. Chris hugged her back tightly and felt that odd sense of contentment wash over him. This felt so right. He broke away quickly.

"There you are, I've been looking everywhere for you," she said.

"Sorry, Jessica took a while to get ready."

"Oh. Where is she?"

"She's smoking outside, shows and stuff aren't her style."

"Oh, that's too bad, but I'm glad you're here. The show is going wonderfully."

"I can see that."

"Christopher, can you get me a wine?" Jessica asked, coming up to them.

"Sure," he said walking away.

"I'm glad you could make it," Stephanie said, trying to make conversation.

"Thanks, nice whatever you have going here."

"It's a show, for my work," she explained.

"Yeah, nice pictures," Jessica said, looking down at her polished fingers.

"Here you go Jessi," Chris said, handing Jessica a glass of wine, "I got you one too Steph."

"Thanks Chris," she said smiling. Chris smiled back warmly, and locked eyes with Stephanie for a long moment. He loved looking in her eyes.

"Thank you Christopher," Jessica told him, leaning up to kiss him, "Why don't you show me some of the pictures?"

Chris broke eye contact with Stephanie, "Ok. I'll talk to you later Steph."

"Yeah, see you later."

Chris and Jessica walked off, Jessica talking about something wedding related again. Chris looked back at Stephanie, but she had already turned around to talk to someone or another. She really looked beautiful tonight. He shook his head and tried to turn his thoughts to Jessica, but found it difficult.

He couldn't stop thinking about what that couple had said about that photograph.