The Best Man {h.s.}

31

Once Ben and Chloe share their practice 'first kiss', they walk past the rows of chairs, trying to match their feet to the beautiful melody coming from the piano. I step forward, feeling my heart in my throat as Harry gets closer to me, watching me carefully. I try to think about Chloe, and how mad she would be if I didn't get this right, which thankfully gets me to focus. I link my arm with Harry's, a surge of electricity suddenly flowing through my veins. It almost sends me backwards, making me stumble for a moment before using Harry for support. He grips my arm tight and helps me step away from the altar and back up the aisle to Ben and Chloe. He's gentle, yet firm in his grasp, trying to make sure I don't completely bust my ass in front of everyone. As difficult as this is to be around him, and as difficult as this is for me to admit, in this moment I'm thankful that he's here.

We practice a few more times, Chloe obviously not satisfied with the first round which the rest of the group thought went well. She stands in the back and makes sure each couple is evenly spaced until we all reach the back of the room, waiting in anticipation for here to tell us that we can get the hell out of here and go eat. With a simple nod of her head, we all cheer and start clapping before grabbing our things and heading for the door. I stay behind, seeing if my parents need help with anything before walking alone to the parking lot, pulling out my phone to enter the address of the restaurant into my GPS. I drive without music, my mind only focusing on how much I missed seeing him. He looked so good standing at the altar next to Ben, his hands in his pockets and his muscles still visible under his black, button down shirt. God, this is hard. He had become such a big part of my everyday routine so quickly, and cutting myself from him cold turkey is proving to be more difficult than I thought.

I pull up to Cinq, the restaurant Ben and Chloe decided on for their rehearsal dinner and step outside, handing the keys to the valet driver and rushing to the door when I hear thunder booming overhead. The restaurant is incredibly elegant, with dimly lit lanterns in the center of clean, white tables that cover the floor. I walk to the hostess desk, letting the girl know who I'm here for and she leads me to a separate room where the whole wedding party and a few of my family members are seated. I walk in awkwardly, knowing that Harry is already here without even having to see him.

"There she is!" Chloe exclaims, running over to me. She takes my arm and guides me over to the left side of the table, sitting me down next to where I'm guessing she's sitting. I take notice of the napkins designed beautifully on the plates. They look almost too pretty to touch, and they're also proving to be a stupid, but great distraction.

"Em," Ben calls out to me, pulling my eyes away from the damn napkins and forcing me to look up. "What do you want to drink?" He's standing by the bar on the far side of the room with an empty glass in his hand, raising an eyebrow at me.

"Oh, uh, whatever," I say, hopefully loud enough for him to hear. He nods and turns around to practice his bartending skill while I try to look back down at the napkins, only to be stopped when I see who is sitting directly across from me.

He looks away just as soon as our eyes connect, probably trying to not make it seem like he was staring at me. I look away too, pretending not to care even though I think everyone in this room can see right through me.

We get our food and everyone talks amongst each other, mostly discussing tomorrow and how exciting all of it is. I stay silent for the most part, pushing the food around my plate and trying my freaking hardest not to look across the table. It really is exciting though, knowing that my big sister has found someone that she wants to spend forever with, and the fact that that someone is Ben makes it even better. The brother I never had, the comic relief when my sister gets into one of her moods, and just an overall great person. Knowing that we get to officially welcome him into our family tomorrow makes me smile to myself, lifting my spirits slightly.