AN: Hey guys! Sorry this took so long and what a shocker, I'm gonna use the school excuse again. I hope you like this new chapter! Love you guys!
Cassidy rolls her eyes. "Don't invite her, you've never even met her."
"But she's my second cousin."
"So! If you want a small guest list, you have to be harsh."
I invited Cassidy over to help me with the wedding guest list. Darcy has hockey game after hockey game to coach, so I have to do most of the wedding planning. Darcy feels super guilty about that, but I have the mother daughter book club girls to help me out. For this job, Cassidy is helping me because if it were up to me, I would invite everyone. Becca would probably be the best option but she's on her honeymoon with Theo.
I sigh, "Fine, let's move on to Darcy's family."
"Well, that's a hard one since Emma invited a lot of people, but I don't think you need to invite all of them. You can only fit so much in that barn."
I chose to have the ceremony at Half Moon Farm. My parents just built a big new barn, but since it's new, they haven't put the animals or stalls in it yet. I talked to them and they said it would be perfect because the wedding is in winter so we can't have it outside. The reception will be there too, so after the ceremony my parents will bring the guests in the house for an appetizer while we set up the tables and dance floor.
"I'll talk to Emma about that."
Cassidy puts a question mark next to that column. "Now, what about friends. So, we know the bridal party is Emma, me, Becca, Megan, and Savannah. And then there's Kyle, Tristan, Simon, Stewart, and Theo. What other friends do you want to invite as guests?"
"Definetly Frankie, Adele, and Sophie. Darcy is gonna want to invite Nate, Blake, and Ryan. And then we need to invite all of our parents, and Gigi."
Cassidy puts the clipboard in her bag. "Okay, I gotta go meet Tristan at the rink, but I can work on the seating chart if you want."
"Oh my god that would be great Cassidy thank you!" I give her a hug and then she leaves.
I get up and head to the kitchen. I take a sip of my coffee and then start grading the tests on the counter. An hour goes by and I finally get a call from Darcy.
"Hi."
"Hey Jess."
"Are you leaving soon?" Alcott high's hockey team went to this super hard tournament in Pittsburgh today. There is almost no chance of them even making it past the first round.
"Actually, we won, so I can't come home tonight."
"I thought you said you guys were getting crushed."
"Yeah but we made a huge comeback in the second period."
I tighten the grip on my coffee mug. "You could've told me."
"I didn't know we were going to make a comeback."
"You knew a whole period ago!"
"I'm sorry I don't text you a play-by-play of the entire game!"
"That's not what I want! I just want to be able to see my fiancé once in a while. Instead I'm stuck planning our wedding!"
"We work in the same school!"
"SO! That doesn't mean I see you! You teach during my lunch now, and then after school you have hockey!"
"What do you want me to do about it!"
"You have an assistant coach! Make him coach at least one practice!"
"We'll when I am home, all you care about is planning the wedding!"
"Because I have to do it by myself! Don't you get it! You haven't offered to do ANYTHING!" I pound my fist on the table and watch as my mug fly's through the air. Hot coffee spills all over me, and I hear the mug shatter on the ground.
I put my head on the counter and cry. Loud sobs escape my throat. I press hang up and slam my phone down on the counter. I ignore call after call and text after text from Darcy, until the dwindle to nothing. My leg stings and through my tear blurred vision I see blood dripping down my leg. I pull out a piece of glass and wince as a shock of pain goes through me. This makes me cry harder and when the doorbell rings I don't think and just yell "Go away!"
Emma looks angry as she stands in the doorway. Her eyes widen when she sees me and comes running over.
"Oh my god Jess! What happened?!" I just shake my head and keep crying. She bites her tongue to keep from crying. It's like we're connected, if she cries, I cry and the other way around.
She rushes upstairs to get the medical kit I keep in the bathroom. Don't ask why I have one, I just do. I gasp as she pours rubbing alcohol on my leg. She looks up at me apologetic, and then starts plucking the pieces of shattered mug out of leg.
"This is all Darcy's fault!" I yell out of nowhere. Emma gives me a worried look.
"Isn't he at that tournament." She asks. I ball up my fists and nod.
"Did you guys get in a fight?" She looks surprised. Darcy and I never get in full blown fights. We get in arguments here and there but not crying and screaming fights. Emma is always jealous of that. Stewart and her get in fights all the time. I keep telling her its not healthy to cry because of your husband all the time, but she doesn't think so.
"Yeah. Because Darcy told me he was going to this tournament, but he said…." I tell her the story, and she listens carefully. She usually picks a side, but I don't mind since almost every time it's in my favor. I guess BFBB kind of has something to do with that too. Best-Friends-Before-Brothers. She finishes wrapping my leg with the bandage, and then she grabs a box of tissues and I wipe my eyes. I grab the broom and dustpan and clean the shattered pieces of mug on the floor. Emma put the phone in my hand and gives me an encouraging nod. "Call him."
I take a deep breath and press number 1 on speed dial.
"Jess! What happened! I heard a bang and then a splatter and then a crash and then sobbing and then you hung up and wouldn't answer me and –"
"I'm fine, it was just an accident."
"God Jess I was so worried." He hesitates. "Was it my fault?"
"Not really, I just got mad and then my mug spilled and broke."
"And the crying?" I don't answer. He groans. "I'm so sorry Jess. I can rent a car and come home if-"
"No." I reply. Darcy took the bus with the players to the tournament. "Just come right home when it's over."
"Are you sure you don't want me to-?"
"Yeah, I'm sure."
He takes a breath. "I love you Jess."
"I love you too." I hang up and sigh.
1 day later.
"Crap!" I pause the episode of The Office and run to the kitchen where my grilled cheese is burning. I turn off the skillet, pull my oven mitt on and dump the charred black sandwich into the trash. Darcy is usually the one that cooks. You'd think that since cooking is a science, I'd be good at it, but obviously not. I grab a bag of chips from the pantry, stand at the counter and eat them straight out of the bag. I turn on some music and start singing. Like three songs later, I feel a tug on my braid and jump. I hear chuckling, turn around and shove Darcy in the chest. "You almost gave me a heart attack!"
He keeps laughing and I turn back around and keep eating my chips. I feel him at my back tugging my hair tie out and undoing my braid. I close my eyes and lean into him.
"Did you try cooking again?" He asks. I look over and see that the trash can is still open, my burnt catastrophe on display.
"Yeah. It didn't work out too well." He laughs and brushes his fingers through my hair letting it loose down my back. My hair goes halfway down my back, which I never noticed because it's always in a braid.
He breathes in sharply and I turn around to see what's wrong. I follow his gaze to my leg with the bandage wrapped all around it.
"Jess, what happened." His tone lost all it's happiness and his eyes are panicked.
"Um… funny story… remember when I…uh dropped my mug... yeah well the shattered pieces kind of went into my leg."
"Jess, I…"
I bite my lip, don't cry, don't cry, don't cry. Obviously, that doesn't work, and tears escape one after the other until it turns into the hiccup-y cry where your throat hurts and it's a struggle to breath. Darcy looks like he just got punched in the stomach. I think it physically hurts him to see me cry. It's weird but that's the only way I can explain it. I hug him, which isn't the best idea because I make his shirt all wet. He doesn't care and hugs me back real tight.
He whispers, "I love you, and I'm so sorry-."
I wipe my tears away. "The first part of that sentence was great. Try again."
He laughs. "I love you, but for real I'm so –"
"Shush! You get one last try."
He smirks. "I love you."
"That's more like it."