My Bestfriend's Wedding.

[MBW]- Chapter 5.

"Man, that was epic. There were videos but none of them showed the girl. I should've known from all that sass and that—." Ethan winked and I gently slapped his torso knowing he was going down the wrong route.

Stacey was an enigma. She had decided to spread around a rumor that Danny was a girl. He had feminine features but what he wanted to identify as was none of her business. He must have done something to piss her off. So, in the spur of the moment, I merely pecked his lips to shut her up.

"What does she even do now? Do they offer degrees in slut?" Ethan asked and I laughed again. My mother would have probably gotten a seizure if she saw me laughing like a maniac.

It's not ladylike, Charlotte. Compose yourself. I could hear her reprimanding voice in my head.

I snapped out of it and saw Taylor and Ethan talking joyfully about what Stacey was up to now. I couldn't believe that Stacey Woods was the reason that would break the tension.

"Wait, didn't she fail the first semester at Brown?" I questioned. I had heard it from one of the girls when we still used to hang out with people from high school.

"She dropped out according to her facebook. Holy fu—" Ethan cut himself and shoved his face in front of Taylor.

I rolled my eyes when he dramatically moved to show me but my jaw dropped to the floor when I saw his phone.

Stacey Woods had a baby. A kid. Who was probably two considering the time stamp. I shuddered just thinking about her raising a child. She probably paid thousands to some nanny but still, it was her kid. Wow.

"Whose was it?" Taylor asked, still not recovered from the shock.

It wasn't like it was unexpected but it felt like yesterday that we were all sixteen and being babies ourselves.

Ethan shrugged, "Never really associated myself with her. He probably left her judging by all the solo pictures."

"She was practically glued to your side, Ethan. You guys were like conjoined twins." I said, humorlessly.

They were the on again off again fuck buddies of the school. Stacey was always glued to his arm but he was only interested in what she had to offer sexually.

"Oh, please, babydoll. I never liked her. I was her second choice once she figured that Aiden was taken and that Vanessa would cut her head in half if she tried anything on him."

From the corner of my eye, I saw Taylor cringe slightly at Ethan's nickname for me but I decided not to justify anything.

We sat there for nearly another hour reminiscing about high school and stupid things we had witnessed in college and on the upper east side of New York City!

Mine and Ethan's recollections were very limited since we were always too busy insulting each other. I always thought we were like fire and water— we don't go well together at all. Even the new found friendship kept me on edge. We were somehow pretty similar and that was why we were so incompatible.

On our way back to the hotel, to the people that didn't know the context of the conversation probably thought we were shit faced drunk. I was trouble walking in a straight line (courtesy the Pinot Noir and my heels) while the two other men were struggling to control their laughter.

Even though Ethan and Taylor still seemed to act hostile by themselves, they were well behaved when I was placed in the middle. And for the duration of the wedding, that was enough for me.

When they started to make fun of one of our annoying math teachers, I lost my shit. I had to lean on Ethan's arm to look at least a little sane. The laughter was impossible to hide, however.

We were in the lobby and I was still trying to recover with my hand resting on Ethan, who didn't seem to mind or even notice it. Although, Taylor did and he eyed it carefully before a grim expression settled on his face.

I felt my laughter fade away at the look. It was obvious he wasn't too happy with our friendship but we couldn't keep hating each other forever. Especially given the fact that we also shared a room now.

"Well, I gotta go. Bye, Charlotte," Taylor said and hugged me.

"See you soon, you baboon," I said, suddenly remembering the stupid greeting we had caught on years ago.

"Later, alligator." He grinned in response and nodded towards Ethan before leaving to get on the elevator that led to his side of the hotel.

"Baboon? Alligator?" Ethan asked, amusement swimming in his eyes as we waited for our elevator.

I laughed, still a little giddy, and nudged his side

"Shut up, you pig."

He gave me a stupid look.

"That doesn't even rhyme, sweetheart. Why don't I get endearing names?"

I shook my head.

"Since when is calling someone a baboon or an alligator endearing? I'm pretty sure that's ruder than calling someone a pig. Pigs can be cute, sometimes."

He smiled triumphantly and looped his arms around my shoulders as we walked to our room.

"So you think I'm cute? Sometimes at least?"

I wriggled out of his grasp.

"Don't do that."

We entered and I automatically fell on the couch taking my heels off.

He smiled triumphantly at that and looped his arm around my shoulders as we walked towards our room.

"You were just fine holding onto me before. Oh, and loverboy didn't seem to appreciate that gesture, by the way."

I scowled at him before throwing the cushion on the couch at him but he caught it with his stupid good reflexes.

I walked to our ensuite needing to change and get ready to go to bed. It had been a long day.

My mind wandered to James and hoped he found somewhere to stay and find a way to sort things out with his wife. The fact that he cheated was horrible but he was still so in love with her that I hoped they stood some kind of chance. It was the rare optimistic part of me hoping.

He had given me more wisdom and advice during a five-minute drive than my parents had in my entire life. Fate did have a really odd way of working things out. A bad situation had turned into something good and as much I refused to admit out loud, Ethan was a decent friend and it was much better being in each other's good graces than being enemies.

The optimistic part of me had suddenly been clouded with my pessimism. Because, it was only a matter of time until one of us blew it.

_____