We step outside, the cool night air brushing against my flushed skin. The parking lot is quieter, starkly contrasting the noise and celebration inside. Gabe leans against a stone pillar, his hands in his pockets, and I can't help but study him. His posture, his expression, and the lack of the scruff still left him with a rugged look.
It's like he's the Gabriel I married. But I didn't, I remind myself. Not yet, I added it as a side note to remind myself of my new reality.
"So," I start, folding my arms against the chill and wondering why we came to the lot instead of the seating area. Or anywhere else inside the building. Maybe it was just me because that kiss was so heated and now this exposed air is frigid. "You told us you weren't coming."
His brows furrow. "I never said that."
"You did," I argue lightly.
He cuts me off with a shake of his head. "I didn't know. My parents didn't tell me. They probably thought it'd be... awkward."
Awkward. The word hangs between us, loaded with so much unsaid. I give him a wry smile. No matter the circumstance, I'd want to see Gabriel. "Well, awkward or not, I'm glad you came."
He studies me for a moment before speaking. "When I found out, it was because mom was searching for a suitable gift and I marked the calendar, April twenty-first, and called my boss."
His little joke about calling his boss for the day off warms me a bit and I smile. "Thank you."
We fall into a comfortable silence for a moment, and he removes his jacket, placing it across my shoulders then he speaks again. "So, no date?"
I laugh softly. "No. He's on tour but we broke up." Not even a real breakup, just a conversation between Jeremy and me.
He nods, his gaze steady. "Same here. No date, nothing serious enough to bring to a family wedding."
Two emotions grip me. One at the mention of family? He considered my family, his family. And two- nothing serious enough. This translates to he is seeing someone just not seriously. Yet, he kissed me. In front of all to see. At my sister's wedding. My parents were there.
Our eyes meet, and for a moment, it feels like old times. But it's not. We've both grown, changed. The years have shaped us into different people, and yet, standing here, it's hard to ignore the pull between us.
I take a step closer, crossing my arms and welcoming the jacket's warmth. "You're different," I say softly.
"So are you," he replies.
I tilt my head, a small smile tugging at my lips. "Still missing the beard, though."
He chuckles. "Good to know. I'll regrow it, then."
For a moment, it feels like everything and nothing has changed. We're two people standing in the cold, trying to navigate a history that refuses to stay buried. And as the night stretches on, I can't help but wonder if maybe, just maybe, we're meant to find our way back to each other.
He catches me looking and raises an eyebrow. "What?" he asks, his voice low and amused as he reaches out and caresses my cheek with the back of his hand, and something thaws inside me.
"Nothing," I lie, turning back to the view of the lake but his hand remains against my cheek. Blowing out a deep breath, the weight in my chest begs to be released. I'm jealous that he is seeing someone. And I want to ask him if he meant what he said back at the small-town cafe.
Someone calls from the side of us and we both turn in that direction, yet Gabe's hand is still against my cheek- only instead of the back of his knuckles as before, to now only his thumb. The rest of his fingers are at the back of my head. The man mumbles and uses his hand to shade his eyes to peer better at us then he mumbles some more. He staggers... he's intoxicated. Highly. He does seem familiar to me but then he drops his hand and goes back to the direction in which he came and becoming unimportant once more.
Gabriel and I both know people will soon be coming this way to their vehicles but...
"No," he presses, dropping his warm touch from me to grip his jacket to turn me slightly to face him squarely. "You were looking at me like you've got something to say."
I exhale slowly, my heart thudding in my chest. "I was just thinking… you're not the same Gabe I knew." This is a good opening, right? It's loud on my mind now- his saying or admitting he loved and wanted me as his wife. Did he mean it or was that just pent-up emotions?
He's quiet for a moment, then murmurs, "Neither are you, Meg." He reaches out, his fingers brushing against my hand and he nudges me towards a nearby bench. The touch is so simple, yet it sends a shiver through me. My eyes sting with unshed tears as we both sit ourselves down. "Why didn't you choose me? Back then, when it mattered most."
Cassandra again. I never looked her up since Gabriel told me that her husband did not appreciate their friendship and that there was only friendship between them. Okay once I did but that was only to point at her face and cackle like a manic to gloat that I won and Gabriel was mine and not hers.
Yes, I was in my apartment alone when I pointed at the laptop screen. But that was it. Just her profile photo. In the back of my mind now, I am wondering if he advised her about her husband like I had suggested. I mean, it does not bother me but it does you know. Not that I care for his life- I don't- honestly, I do not but I am selfish a bit when it comes to Gabriel. If the husband dies then the friendship between Gabe and her will resume.
That's... worrisome.
Instead of losing his mind about drenching up history, his hand closes over mine, warm and firm. "Because I was a fool. I didn't understand what I had until it was too late. And by the time I realized… you were gone."
"Gabe-" While I had forgiven him- I still didn't think I forgot. I cannot do the whole forgive-and-forget thing. He left me and our child for her and her children.
"No, let me finish." He leans closer, his gaze locking onto mine, one hand on my lap. "I've spent years trying to figure out where I went wrong, trying to understand why I couldn't let you go-"
He couldn't let me go?
"-even when I thought I should. And then I saw you again, and it hit me. I never stopped loving you, Meg."
The words hit me like a wave, knocking the air out of my lungs. "But Cassandra-"
"Cassandra was never you," he interrupts. "Not even close. I cared about her, sure, but I was never really in love with her. Not the way I was with you."