The next three months before the wedding went by really fast. They hadn't heard anything from Keaton's Dad so that was a good sign. Everly's Mom had talked with her several times and was finally on board and being supportive, but her Dad still refused to even talk to her about the wedding. Every time she tried, they just ended up in a screaming match and hanging up on each other. It was sad because she used to be so close to her Dad before her and Brad broke up.
Over those three months Brad had started texting now and then to see how Everly was doing and he apologized for the way he reacted to the news about the wedding. He said he really missed their friendship and actually congratulated her on getting married and said he was happy for them. He also asked Keaton to start sparring and working out with him again. He slowly worked his way back into the friend zone with both of them, enough that Keaton actually suggested they should invite him to their wedding. She hesitantly agreed and was surprised when Brad accepted.
As the wedding got closer it felt like Everly and Brad were back to being old friends again, like how they were years ago before they started dating in high school, but she was taking things slow, setting clear boundaries and making sure Keaton was with them when they hung out. She never hung out with Brad alone and she let Keaton make the plans for them so he was in charge of how much or how little they saw Brad. She was surprised how close the two of them had gotten, but then again, Keaton made friends fast and usually kept them because he was fun and had a charisma and charm that drew people to him.
Cami was invited to be a bridesmaid and Monroe was the maid of honor. The other bridesmaids were Everly's cousins and Hannah, a friend from high school. Henry was Keaton's best man and Everett and a few of his other friends she had met in England were his other groomsmen. He had made the last minute decision to make Brad a groomsman too which had also surprised Everly, but she didn't argue.
A month before the wedding Keaton paid for Everly's Mom to fly out to New York for a couple days to help her make some final last minute wedding decisions, like picking out a China set for the reception, fresh flower bouquet arrangements, cake flavors and the most important thing, a dress. Everly picked a trendy little wedding dress boutique in downtown Manhattan and talked Monroe into tagging along with her and her Mom.
"Here try these on. I think this cut would look good on you," Monroe said, dropping four heavy dress garment bags into Everly's arms.
"Wait, add these three to the pile," her Mom said, throwing more on top.
Everly struggled to hoist them up and took them into the large dressing room, hanging them up and pulling the curtain closed.
She tried on several that just didn't feel special. They didn't wow her or make her excited. Then she walked around the shop browsing and a dress hanging on a mannequin on display in the boutique's window caught her eye. It was a floor length, very light pink dress with spaghetti straps and tulle that flowed out at the bottom and it had lots of diamonds and sparkles. It was absolutely perfect and she asked the clerk if she could try it on.
She was so excited to find out it was her size and when she came out of the dressing room every bride that was there trying on dresses gasped and Monroe and her Mom's eyes widened.
"That's so beautiful on you! I love it," her Mom smiled tearing up.
"I love it too," Everly said, stepping up onto the pedestal in front of the tri-fold mirror, turning and looking at her reflection. "Do you think it's bad that it's not white?" Everly asked them.
Both of them shook their heads.
"No it's absolutely perfect," Monroe said with a smile. "That dress looks like it was made for you."
"You're right. I love it. This is the one," Everly smiled.
***** Keaton's Point of View - The Day Before the Wedding *****
The day before the wedding, Keaton's friends arrived in New York City from London and his best man, Henry, was throwing him a huge bachelor party that night. No one knew how to throw a party like Henry.
Early that afternoon Keaton got a knock on his door and he opened it to see Henry standing there in a suit.
"Hey mate! You're a little early! How are you?" Keaton asked, opening the door so he could come in.
Henry walked past him and looked around at his room.
"I'm good mate. So ........ this is what an American college dorm room looks like? Interesting."
"It's no castle but it's home," Keaton laughed. "So what's up man?"
"I just wanted to come a little early and have a chat before everything got crazy. Are you busy?" Henry asked, still looking around at everything.
"No. This is fine. I'll make us some coffee. How's everything back in London?"
"Not bad. Can't complain. How's everything with your Dad? Has he come around yet?"
"No, I haven't heard from him. As far as I know he still doesn't know about the wedding being tomorrow."
Henry shook his head. "When he finds out you got married behind his back he's going to go mental."
"That's putting it mildly," Keaton laughed. "I'll probably tell him over the phone from a safe distance."
"Good idea," Henry laughed. "Hey, I just wanted to make sure you and I are still good?"
"We're good," Keaton nodded. "Everly's good with you too. It's all forgotten. Fresh slate and everything."
"Thanks mate," Henry said with an exhale, running a hand up through his short brown hair. "You're honestly my only real friend besides Cami. The others just hang out with me because I'm fun and have money. If I lost everything they'd be gone like that," he said, snapping his fingers.
Keaton nodded. "You know I'm not like that man. I'm here for good," he said, handing him a cup of coffee and patting him on the back, before sitting down.
"Hey, I heard a rumor and I was wondering if it's true?" Henry said, walking across the room and sitting on his couch too.
"What rumor?" Keaton asked.
"A little birdie told me that Everly's ex-boyfriend that she dated for four years and was practically engaged to, is going to be one of your groomsman? And apparently he's hot and some famous baseball player here in the States. Please tell me this isn't true?" he laughed.
Keaton laughed. "Let me guess. That little birdie is Cami?"
Henry nodded.
"Yeah it's actually true. Hearing you say it out loud makes it sound mental," Keaton laughed. "but honestly it's not that bad. I used to hate him but he's Everly's best friend since she was seven so I put up with him being around to keep her happy. Then he grew on me. He's actually not that bad and I trust her. If having him around makes her happy then I'm fine with it as long as he keeps his hands to himself and doesn't try to make a move on her. If he did, shit would go down."
"Shit mate," Henry said, shaking his head. "You're a braver man than I. No way I could have my fiance's ex in our wedding. Especially not an ex that's a good looking famous baseball player. You're either brave or stupid," he laughed. "But then again it is you we're talking about here. You've never had a problem keeping women. Getting rid of them, now that's another story."
Keaton rolled his eyes and laughed, taking a sip of his coffee. He did have some psycho exes that didn't take the break up very well.
"The bad part is Everly's family loves him and wanted her to marry him instead of me. Her Dad isn't even coming to the wedding to walk her down the aisle because he's so pissed about it."
"Damn," Henry said, shaking his head. "After Cami told me about him I looked him up on Youtube. There was a news report talking about how he's the greatest baseball player of this generation. You're up against the bloody Michael Jordan of baseball mate and you're just inviting him in."
Keaton just patted his shoulder and let out an exhale.
"Well luckily for me he banged her best friend, so I don't think she'd ever take him back in a million years. Even if he hadn't, I still wouldn't be worried. I know I love Everly and she loves me and we're meant to be together. No one will ever come between us. I have no doubts about that at all."
"For your sake I hope you're right," Henry told him.
They sat there in silence for a minute sipping their coffee before Henry finally said, "Well I'm here now and it's time to forget about all that bullshit and have some fun. This is your last night on earth as a free, single man. I hope you're ready to have the night of your life mate. People will be talking about this stag-do for years. We're talking legendary status."
"Do I even want to know?" Keaton laughed.
"Well even if you did, I'm not telling you a thing. You'll have to wait and see just like everyone else. Just be prepared for greatness. It's really unfair how epic this party's going to be because you'll never get to return the favor. I'll get married when hell freezes over."
"Oh come on Henry. Never say never. Maybe one day you'll meet that one special woman that changes your mind like I did."
"Ha! I doubt that VERY much," Henry shook his head and laughed.
Then there was a knock at the door and Keaton answered it.
Brad was on the other side and he was wearing a baseball cap like always and some faded old jeans and a t-shirt, carrying a six pack of beer and a huge bottle of vodka.
"Who's ready to get wasted?" he asked half-heartedly.
***** Brad's Point of View *****
Brad was trying to be a good, supportive friend to Everly by being a groomsman and going to the bachelor party. He knew it meant a lot to her for him to be there so he was doing his best to pretend that everything was okay.
The night of the bachelor party all of Keaton's friends from his old boarding school in England crowded into a huge party bus with a disco ball & DJ that would take them around town bar hopping. Before they took off, the Best Man Henry stood up to give a speech.
"May I have your attention please?" Henry asked, tapping the mic. "Thank you all for actually showing up to this event even after you found out I was the host. I know you must've had second thoughts," he laughed. The other guys started laughing and nodding their heads.
"I know my parties are famous ........ or infamous. I swear the story about the chicken and the nun aren't true! I don't care what my nan says," Henry said and the whole group laughed except Brad. It must be some sort of inside joke that he wasn't in on.
Henry put his arm around Keaton's neck and said, "Most of us have been best mates with this wanker since he came to Eaton back when we were all ten years old. He's like a brother. I probably know him better than he even knows himself," Henry laughed. "If you had asked me five years ago which one of our lot would get married first I SURE AS HELL wouldn't have guessed old Keaton!" he said loudly with a huge smile and the whole group started agreeing.
"This tosser right here though, he's not afraid of ANYTHING!" he shouted and the whole bus load of guys cheered and clapped. "Even being tied down to one bird for life. Good on you bruv. You're in love and you're happy and I'm happy for you. You deserve it. Cheers mate!" he said lifting a bottle and all the guys around him lifted their drinks and said, "Cheers" before taking a drink.
"NOW LET'S GET FUCKING HAMMERED!!!" Henry shouted, raising his bottle over his head and suddenly the lights turned off and the bus was filled with loud techno music with a deep, bumping bass and a disco ball attached to the ceiling started turning with colorful laser lights zooming around. It felt like they were in a club. There was a DJ booth in the corner of the bus and the DJ was dancing and talking into a microphone to hype the crowd up while the music played.
Keaton's friends were rowdy and loud and got busy getting drunk as hell right away. His friends kept on giving Keaton drinks and cheering for him to do shots. Even though Brad normally didn't drink, he decided he would make an exception tonight because alcohol was definitely needed to get through this.
One of the waitresses came over and Brad took a shot from her tray and tipped it back, feeling the burn down his throat. One of Keaton's friends cheered and patted Brad on the back, giving him a thumbs up with a smile. After he took two more shots, he realized he was starting to care a little less and he raised his arms in the air and let out a "Woo hoo!" as he started jumping up and down and dancing to the music.
At the first stop that the bus made, the doors opened and three drop dead gorgeous girls got on in very short skirts with belly tops that were low cut and showed their cleavage. They were carrying black lights, black light paint and glow stick necklaces and bracelets. The men all started screaming and cheering at the sight of the beautiful women.
The women started taking the black light paint around and drawing on the men's faces and the hottest of the three women walked up to Keaton and asked in a flirty voice, "Hey handsome. Will you take off your clothes so I can I put some paint on you?"
Brad was holding his breath, hoping Keaton would say yes because he knew Everly would be pissed about it. She used to get so mad when women hit on him.