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Fran

"How about in a month?" Dylan asked, pouring himself another glass of wine. Kono snapped her head towards him.

One minute they were talking about his job, about surfing, about New York weather and then he dropped this bomb. Was he already planning their future and she had not been aware?

"What?"

"The wedding. How about if we marry within a month."

"A… month?"

"If that's too soon, then we can always…"

"No, that's okay."

She figured the sooner they marry, the sooner she could put everything behind her.

"Are you sure?"

"I am," she said, smiling at him.

"Great. A month it is."

"A month?" Chin spoke, dumbfounded.

"Yep."

"Isn't that too soon?"

"Why? I mean Dylan and I have been together for year now. There's no reason for us to wait any longer."

Her cousin stared at her with narrowed eyes. She saw the doubt written on his face, the hesitation and how unsure she was about her decision. She hated how well he knew her.

"Stop looking at me like that, Chin," she snapped. "I know what I'm doing."

"Are you really?" he asked, she shook her head, "because it does look to me like your running from something."

"I'm not. I already thought this through and it seems like the right choice."

"What's the right choice?" Danny interfered, standing beside her.

"I'm getting married in a month."

"A month?" he frowned, "isn't that too soon?"

"No," she snapped back at him. "Can you guys be happy that I AM happy? Even for a minute…"

"I am happy for you Kono, don't get me wrong. Personally, I think that you're rushing things. Like, why don't you take a few more days to think about this…"

"I already did. Just like I told Chin, I already thought this through," she explained. "I'm getting married in a month. Period."

"This has nothing to do with..."

"No," she stopped Danny before he could say something else. "So stop."

"Fine. If you say so."

She walked away, not looking back; she could feel Danny and Chin's eyes on her the entire time. Still, she didn't look back. The last thing she needed was her cousin questioning about what Danny was about to say, which was obviously something related to Steve and her feelings for him.

Somehow Kono knew something odd was going on. First Dylan had called at least 3 times to ask her what time she was coming home, which was weird since she had told him she wasn't sure until the paperwork was finished. Then Danny made some lame excuse as usual and left early. Sure, maybe that had nothing to do with her but Danny usually never lied to her, and he was giving her strange looks so she thought maybe it did had something to do with her after all.

Later, when she was walking out of her car, the feeling of oddness had multiplied at least four times. There were two unfamiliar cars parked just outside her house, and she could also hear the music coming from inside. Dylan was not alone at all.

Was he having a party without telling her?

She put the key on the door and seconds later she could hear the 'shh she's coming' from inside. There were people, as in more than one, with her boyfriend. She had a bad feeling about this…

The door opened and she had to double back at the loud yell of 'SURPRISE'. Arms immediately wrapped around her waist, Dylan pulling her into a tight hug.

She wasn't wrong about the people.

Her mother was there, Chin, a few other friends she hadn't seen in months. Danny waved at her from the crowd. He had the 'I'm sorry' look on his face. He knew she didn't like surprises at all and now she hated them with passion.

"What's this?" she asked with fake smile on her face because she clearly sensed what it was about.

"It's our engagement party," Dylan said, unlike her he looked truly happy. "I know you were having a hard time even telling people about it, so I decided to make this so now everyone knows."

He had invited her mother of all people. And she was really planning on inviting her for lunch and to talk about the wedding. She did not want her to find out about it like this, with everyone watching. She looked happy though with big, wide smile on her face.

"Wow, this is…" she was at a loss for words. She didn't want to offend him by telling him how much she hated parties in general, so she went along with a huge, fake smile once again. "Great."

"Wait, I have one more surprise for you," Dylan spoke, turning around to the crowd. She was searching among the faces for Steve, thinking he might be there to celebrate with her. Though she knew to him there was nothing to celebrate.

Then a familiar face surfaced among the crowd - her best friend Maggie.

Kono never felt so relieved and happy to see her. She hugged her and a sudden rush of sadness came to her. She had missed her terribly.

"I thought you wouldn't be back for a couple of weeks," Kono told her.

"Yeah, I told my boss I had an emergency and he sent me back," she smiled at her friend. "Besides, I wouldn't miss your engagement party for anything in the world."

She looked around her, though everyone had smiles on their faces and looked somewhat happy, she had failed to feel that way a long time ago. She had to be honest with herself, if she hadn't called off this forsaken relationship it was just because Dylan was a great man, not because she was completely head over heels. Her heart belonged to someone else, she was clear about that.

She had disappeared in the kitchen shortly after. She took several glasses of water, to calm herself down, watching her face a few times, but the weirdness of it all had settled in. She could definitely not continue with the fake smiles any longer.

"Sup?"

"God Maggie you scared me…"

"What on earth are you doing here?" her friend asked, Kono shrugged, sitting on the kitchen counter.

"I needed a break."

"From your awesome engagement party?"

She knew her friend was trying to cheer her up, but her mind and heart were elsewhere and no matter how many jokes or tales she told her, she just couldn't smile any more.

"He tried real hard, didn't he?" Kono whispered and Maggie nodded.

"I think that's sweet. He really cares about you."

"Yeah, he does."

"It is sad Steve didn't make it though."

She snapped her head towards her friends at the mention of his name.

"I talked to Danny and he said he was too busy with paperwork," Maggie continued. "If you ask me I think that's the worst excuse in the world."

"Maybe it's not an excuse, maybe he was really busy."

"Or maybe he just didn't want to come because he's secretly crazy about you AND didn't want to see you celebrating your engagement to another guy."

Maggie was going to freak out, probably from happiness because she had been right all along, or from madness. Either way she needed to share this with someone.

"About that…" she swallowed hard; Maggie frowned at her friends discomfort. "Steve told me he had feelings for me, a few days before Dylan proposed. He actually said he loved me, which is weird because I thought it was only me…"

"He said he loved you and you're still marrying Dylan?" Maggie asked confused. "Why?"

"Because… God, because it has been a year Maggie. Steve wasted a whole year and now, just when I met someone wonderful, he realizes he loves me? No. I can't just leave Dylan like that after all he has done for me."

"But you love Steve. You have loved him for so long."

"Yes. But I loved Dylan too, and I won't. I can't break his heart like this…"

Her friend hugged her, making small circles on her back. Kono felt all the burden of the last days on her shoulders. She cried for the last couple of days, for Steve, for Dylan, for all the decisions she has made. She cried because there was nothing left to be done.

"God, you're in a freaking mess," Maggie whispered.

She couldn't agree more.

TBC