goodnight, stranger

twelve

key

olly
ash
winnie
alayna

•••

Olly's mother didn't even appear to be the tiniest bit nervous on her big day, and Olly was honestly a little bit upset.

Of course, he was glad that she wasn't letting her worries get in the way of her excitement. This was her day, and she deserved to be as carefree as she had ever been. But how could she be so confident about such an event? She was even cooler about her wedding day than Olly was about meeting who was probably his favorite person for the first time. He was almost envious of her.

"Are you in the wedding?" Ash had asked on the ride to the venue, peering at Olly curiously. "I never thought to ask. Are you a part of the wedding party?"

Olly had shaken his head and explained that originally, it had been a given that he would be in his mom's wedding. But then Max had been struggling to cut down the number of men that he wanted to be his groomsmen, and Olly had decided that he would opt himself out to make things easier for Max.

Max and Mom had both protested at first, telling him that he didn't have to drop out, but Olly knew he would probably enjoy watching the wedding from the pews anyway. He couldn't quite bring himself to cry up in front of all of the guests; better for him to do it quietly among the others.

Eventually, the two of them had accepted it, and Max had managed to narrow the number of groomsmen substantially while still getting to keep at least one more of his close friends.

Now, Olly was glad he wasn't part of the party. It seemed like everyone was rushing around trying to get things ready before guests started arriving. Of course, Olly had arrived early to help with odd jobs, but at least he didn't have any assigned roles.

Olly wrapped his mother up in a hug, doing his absolute best not to ruin her hair and her dress. She definitely looked stunning, her gown skimming the floor and leaving a train of graceful white fabric behind her. Her hair was pinned up in intricate curls that Olly would probably never be able to wrap his mind around the logistics of.

"You look so beautiful," he whispered, and she laughed softly.

"You look handsome." She set a hand on his shoulder and pulled back, examining him for a moment. "That suit was a good choice for sure."

"I'm glad you think so since you were literally the one to pick it out." Olly raised an eyebrow, and she laughed again, her voice squeaky.

Maybe she was a little nervous.

Winnie stepped forward to give his mother a hug, and then she pulled away to face their group. "Who are your friends?" she asked, examining Ash and Alayna closely. Olly could feel the heat rising in his cheeks. Oh, God. He had to play this cool or his mother would never let him live this down.

"This is my girlfriend, Alayna," Winnie said, smiling and threading her fingers through Alayna's. His mom's eyebrows shot up.

"I didn't know you were in a relationship!" she exclaimed. She was probably almost offended that Winnie hadn't bothered to tell her. At this point, Winnie was her child as much as Olly was.

Winnie just shrugged and smiled, resting her head on Alayna's shoulder. "We've only been on a few dates, but I think it's going well." Alayna nodded in agreement, smiling softly down at Winnie, and Olly's breath caught in his throat. The way that Alayna and Winnie were already so comfortable with each other was so... raw. He could see it in the way they were relaxing under each other's touch, the way Winnie closed her eyes and nestled closer into Alayna, tilting her head up to whisper something into Alayna's ear that made her giggle. It had been a while since he'd seen Winnie so open and vulnerable with someone other than himself. It was weird, but in a good way. It was crazy that they were already like this after a week.