Finally, they arrived at the wedding venue. Stuart was shocked at the sudden change in Berry's attitude. From being the cold faced man who did not bother to look at him throughout the ride, to a bubbling man who just wanted to enjoy his youth.
Berry was chatting, dancing, even without music and jumping from one end to another. He knew everyone who attended the wedding. Left with no choice, Stuart had to follow him around because he did not want to get lost and also because he did not want to get dragged into a conversation with people he knew nothing about. He could already see the curious gazes directed at him and he cursed himself for not coming out with a face mask or something else that could hide his face from everyone.
Finally, Berry stopped at the very front of the altar, where everyone's eyes were fixed on the bride and groom. At this point, Stuart could not follow him further and just stood at the other side, trying his best to make himself as invisible as he could. All his efforts were rendered useless because all eyes were on him the best he stopped walking behind Berry. Some bold ones were even approaching him.
For the first time since he knew Berry, Stuart wanted him to be somewhere close. He had a feeling that Berry's presence would be able to ward these people off.
Soon, the wedding, everything was over. They were late in the first place so they inky spent minutes there. Stuart thought that he would finally attain peace when he saw Berry striding towards him, hopefully, to take him home. He exhaled in relief when the people around him began to leave gradually until the only people there were both of them.
"Are we leaving?" Stuart asked in a tight voice. He felt really uncomfortable talking to Berry since Berry has always been the one to say something then he would choose to comment or ignore him.
A smile rose on Berry's lips, "No, I still have to talk to the bride". As if on cue, an angry voice sounded behind them and a bouquet came flying towards them. Stuart could swear that whoever threw it aimed at Berry but because of Berry's fast reflexes, it hit Stuart on the face.
"Berry Yates!" The person howled, "How dare you come late to my wedding!!!" Stuart turned around and saw the angry bride heading towards them. Her wedding gown was bunched up in her hand while her other hand was reaching for something on her head and it didn't take long for a ridiculously big hairpin to come flying towards them.
At the speed it moved, Stuart was sure that he would die on the spot if that thing hit him in the face. A bouquet was one thing but that hairpin…
Lucky for him, Berry caught it before it could reach either of them and ran forward to hug the angry bride. He could hear Berry laughing heartily as he tried to coax the bride.
"I am so sorry! I wanted to show up earlier but I got busy with something and it was really important!" Just to prove his point, Berry emphasised important
"... That could have waited till after my wedding…" the bride sniffed and wiped off her tears before it could ruin her makeup. Berry hugged her once again and apologized repeatedly as he rubbed her back.
"Stop crying, will you? You will look like a monster if you ruin your makeup and your husband will file for a divorce immediately!"
Berry's remark resulted in a round of hearty laughter from both of them. Even Stuart could not stop the smile that appeared on his face.
"Fine!" She sneered, "But you still have to tell me what kept you so busy, busy enough to come late to your ex-girlfriend's wedding". Both of them laughed at what she said even Stuart was surprised. He thought only Berry called her his ex-girlfriend.
Berry leaned closer to the bride and whispered something in her ear. Stuart saw her eyes widen for a second before going back to its normal size then he felt her eyes on him. For some reason, his heart began to pound uncontrollably. It is impossible that Berry told her about him, right?
His condition worsened when he saw her eyeing him up and down. She wasn't even trying to hide the fact that she was looking straight at him without a care in the world. Then she started walking and stopped when she was right in front of him.
"Stuart, right?" She asked and stretched her hand out for a handshake, "I am Amelia, Berry's best friend". Even though he felt uncomfortable, Stuart still took her hand as he felt it would be too heartless to ignore her when she was smiling at him like that. Now that he is seeing her up close, Amelia was very beautiful, with wavy blonde hair and light make-up on her face. He could understand why Berry thought he was in love with her, anyone would be…
"So, you are Berry's boyfriend?" Stuart began coughing violently when he heard that question. He knew that they were talking about him but hearing a straightforward question from her was the last thing he expected.
Seeing him cough, Berry ran over and began to rub his back gently. "I asked you to help me convince him, not kill him!" He scolded Amelia who only snorted.
"Why should I try to convince him? No one gets to reject you! If you want him, then he has no choice but to be yours!"
Any other time, Stuart would have praised someone like Amelia for being a supportive best friend but now that he was in the middle of all these, he wanted to disappear.
And he did just that. When Berry and Amelia were arguing, he quietly slipped away from them without getting noticed only to bump into some idiot who wasn't watching where he was going.
Or was it the other way around?
"Watch where you are going!" He snapped at the man angrily but the man only pointed at his eyes before shaking his head gently.
"Sorry. I can't see?" The man pointed at his eyes again and Stuart felt terrible, "Oh! Sorry about that". He apologized genuinely but the man just waved his hand while shaking his head.
"Hey, Aspen!" Berry's cherry voice sounded from behind him and Stuart was surprised when the supposed blind man raised his hand and waved at Berry. That was not what shocked him though, what shocked him was that the man went around him like every normal person with working eyes and began to walk to Berry.
In his daze, he turned around and kept staring at the man who was now hugging Berry and Amelia. He didn't even realize when the trio turned to look at him and Berry beckoned him to come closer with his hand.
Again, he would have refused, but that would just be rude and unnecessary. He walked to them and they met halfway.
Berry spoke, "This is my friend, Aspen, you two have already met"
Stuart nodded. At least he tried to nod. He just kept staring at the Aspen guy, wondering if he was really blind or not… "Wait a minute… Aspen? Like a tree?!!" The surprise on his face could not be masked and he gaped at Aspen in shock.
Aspen just spared him a glance while Amelia and Berry laughed. This was not the first time someone was surprised by his name. If they thought Berry's name was weird because he was named after a fruit, then Aspen's was worse because he was named after a tree. Among the three of them, only Amelia had a normal name. She was originally named after a flower (Camellia) but she tried to be a bit different from her friends.
"Is this the guy who kissed you yesterday?"