After Cress finished talking, there was a long silence.

Cress pondered the small velvet box she had kept buried deep within her suitcase until tonight.

Julian must have been devastated when she had told him that she would need some time to think but had accepted it silently. He still wanted her to have the ring while she pondered her answer to his proposal.

"That sounds like cold feet to me."

"I don't have cold feet." It wasn't like she didn't want to be with Julian. Cress didn't even quite know why she hadn't just said yes. Everything would have been so easy. Instead it was very awkward back home. Another reason why coming to L.A. had been a welcome escape. She had told Julian that the timing wasn't right with her being away for so long, but that she would give him an answer once she came back.

Once she arrived in Los Angeles, it had been easy to throw herself into planning Kai and Cinder's wedding. That way she wouldn't have to think about the answer she had to give once she returned home.

It would have to be yes of course, but she would feel better if she had any kind of vision for their wedding by then.

"No?" Thorne's voice was soft. "Then you're stringing him along."

Cress wanted to defend herself passionately but she didn't have energy for more than a tired shake of her head. "I'm not. I just ..."

"You just don't have an idea for your dream wedding? Don't you think that's a silly reason not to get engaged?"

"You don't even believe in marriage," she pointed out.

He wasn't fazed. "That's different. And this whole thing doesn't have anything to do with me. It's about you. and you do believe in marriage and that's what counts."

"You don't understand."

"That you don't have a mind-blowing, earth-shattering and universe-shaking idea for your wedding which is why you don't want to have a wedding at all?" He looked at her pointedly. "You're right, I don't understand. Why is it so important?"

"You said you saw the appeal of my weddings. You voted for mine over yours when Kai and Cinder had to pick one. It's not just about the wedding, it's about how you are as a couple. It's about everything that makes you want to spend the rest of your lives together. It's what I do for my clients, giving them more than they could dream of. Even if they don't have many ideas, I promise them a unique wedding. Because I can see what makes them unique. If I can't do that for myself and Julian ... I don't know but it feels wrong."

Thorne lowered his head as if to acknowledge her point. "I guess that makes sense." He shrugged. "More or less. I mean, nevermind what other people think but I think I get it. The only thing worse than a wedding planner who doesn't care about weddings"-he pointed to himself with a winning smile-"is one that plans a crap wedding for herself." Unhelpfully, he pointed to her.

"I wouldn't say worse ..."

He waved her objection away. "Okay, so you didn't say yes. You came here to plan another wedding and really pulls all the punches with that one, then what? Go back and see if some great idea came to you while you were here? I mean why would you think that once you go back you can say "yes"?"

Cress's cheeks reddened. "I have to!"

Thorne raised an eyebrow. "You have to?" He shook his head. "Listen, it sounds like you're putting a lot of pressure on yourself." Picking up the wine bottle, he poured the rest of it into her glass. Cress let him. "You need to relax, free your mind a little. I'm sure you'll get an idea." He smiled encouragingly at her before taking a sip from his own glass.

"What if I don't?"

There was a long silence and Cress realized that Thorne had no idea how to respond. That didn't bode well.

"I don't know, Cress. But you will, I'm sure. If it's the right guy, you'll get the right idea. Maybe do some of your soul-searching tricks. You totally convinced me with those." He winked at her. "It will all work out."

"It's not a trick. I wish there was one." Cress sighed and decided that she might as well share her last secret too. "You know when Kai asked me to come here and told me that you would be here too to organize their wedding..." she trailed off, taking another gulp of her wine.

Realization dawned on Thorne's face. "Nooo way! You thought I would help you with your wedding?!" He nudged her shoulder with his, grinning from ear to ear. "You thought that I, topnotch event planner that I am, would be the answer to all your problems. I'm flattered."

She rolled her eyes as she moved a little away from him. "Not to all my problems. But... I read your articles, your interviews. I saw the amazing wedding arrangements and what you said about the brides and..." Her face was on fire and she regretted her words.

"You know you wouldn't have been able to afford me," he said matter-of-factly, but with humour etched to his face. He seemed unbelievably pleased by that development.

Cress smiled weakly up at him. "Not even with a friend's discount?"

His eyes softened at that. "Not quite, no. I'm very expensive."

"So I heard." She shook her head. "I didn't want to consult you. I just thought I could learn from you. See how you approach weddings and well, learn something that would help me."

When she looked up at him, he still had that soft smile playing on his lips but the humor was gone. He considered her a few seconds before he spoke, his words chosen carefully. "I might have been quite a disappointment to you then."

Cress thought back to their first few hours together, the crashing realization that Thorne the wedding planner she admired so much had been nothing more than a well-planned image he presented to the world. It seemed ages ago and while his attitude towards weddings hadn't changed, he was a far-cry from a dissapointment.

She shook her head and then, shyly, reached out for his hand. "Meeting you wasn't quite what I imagined but I wouldn't trade it for anything. You've become a great friend."

Thorne opened his mouth as if to say something closed it again and after a few seconds, he squeezed her hand before letting go. "You're not so bad yourself," he murmured, flexing his hand. He took a huge gulp of wine that left his glass empty. "I'm still sorry I'm not who you wanted me to be. I wish I could help you with your wedding arrangements. And those aren't words I throw around lightly, Cress."

Knowing his stance towards wedding planning, she had to chuckle. "I know. But thanks."

"For what?"

"For listening. It was good to talk about it. Back home I don't have anyone to talk about this problem and here I don't know anyone except Kai and I don't want him to worry about me so shortly before his wedding."

"My pleasure. That's what friends are for, right?" Thorne said lightly.

Cress must have imagined the disappointment in his tone.

A/N: Now where to go from here? ;) Tbh, I knew PEA was going to be a slow-burn story but now I'm surprising myself by how slow. But I feel the characters picked the pace, not me. So, blame them. :P Many thanks to kiminicricket for betareading. Please review.