We arrived back at the reception hall and I heard Hayden slam the door behind me. I rolled my eyes.
"Trouble in paradise?" Sebastian laughed once he saw us. He and Hayden had begun to get along throughout the day of set-up, but Sebastian wasn't going to miss an opportunity to tease either of us.
"Shut it," Hayden demanded from a distance as he joined him to move tables. I tried to hide my smile. If only Hayden realized how much he was overreacting...
He was pissed that I invited Dastan to the wedding and kept questioning me as to why, but the only lie I could come up with was that Jeremy wanted him there. It was true, but that's not entirely why I asked him.
Sebastian would be there. Kylie would be there. Kenneth would be there. Hayden would be there. Nik would be there. Dastan would be there. And most likely Mickie would be there.
All the people involved with the Proliator or any hope to be involved with the Proliator would be there. If something happens—like it's bound to do in a busy city on a Friday night before a major holiday break—one of them will have to leave. Whoever that is, is the Proliator.
Unless I'm going crazy and the Proliator just happens to be a distant cousin of the Vegas, meaning my invites were useless and will result in a brawl including all of them. Shit.
"Angie," Jem addressed from across the room.
"Yeah?"
"Can I tell you something?" he asked. I looked at him, concerned. What was this about? He nodded his head and we stepped into the hall.
"What's wrong?"
"I'm not ready for tomorrow," he said. I pulled him into a hug.
"Just because Veronica's marrying Dad, doesn't mean that it's going to change anything—"
He pulled away from me.
"I'm not sad about Veronica and Dad. Please. She's a cool mom," he informed as if offended that I assumed he had some sort of conflicting emotions. Then what the heck did he need to talk about that was making him squirm with nervousness? I stared at him impatiently. "I...is Vega coming tomorrow?"
"Yes..."
"Oh okay. That's good," he said, walking away from me. I grabbed his arm.
"Why are you asking about Dastan?" I asked with a frown.
"Because we're friends and I need his help," he answered, beginning to walk away from me. I stopped him.
"What help could he possibly offer that I can't?" I inquired, feeling jealousy for the love of my brother.
"A lot of things," he answered, sizing me up as if I was the crazy one.
"Wait, why—how are you even friends with him?" I asked. I knew that he always admired Dastan for some reason, but how could this friendship be serious?
"I go to Sarah's house a lot and he's always there," he shrugged.
"Why would he be...?" Oh right. Sarah is Mickie's sister...and it wouldn't surprise me if Dastan was always over there. "Oh."
"Yeah. He's really smart when he comes to this stuff, but Sarah thinks he's dumb," he continued.
"Why does she say that?" I asked, curiously.
"Because every time Dastan comes over, Mickie starts—"
"We need to go," Hayden interrupted.
"Where do we need to go?" I asked, straining the word as he did and hoping he wasn't serious about something. I assumed he would smile as if having some childlike play outside of the reception hall, but he did not.
"Anywhere but here," he answered. Suddenly, I heard glass smashing and I ran into the room to see Sebastian standing on the stage by the broken window, his fists clenched. I quickly ran over to him and grabbed his arm.
"What's wrong?" I asked him. He jerked out of my grip and looked frantic.
"Get away from me," he hissed. What? "Take Jem, call Vega, and leave here."
"But Sebastian, I don't know what's—"
"GO!"
Hayden tugged at my arm, but I wanted to know why my brother looked like he was about to murder someone.
"Why are we leaving?" Jem asked as Hayden now pulled us out.
"I'll tell you later," Hayden hissed. Oh but when I ask, I don't get anything, not even a short explanation? Great. I stopped walking. Hayden looked back at me as Jem continued to walk.
"I'm not leaving until Sebastian is alright. What happened back there that made him like that?" I asked, crossing my arms and standing my ground.
"I can't tell you," he said, sadness filling his eyes.
"But he needs...someone," I reasoned. Veronica and Dad had left. He had no one but caterers setting up the food-less stations left and I was sure that they wouldn't attempt to calm him. "I can't just leave him there with absolutely no one; especially when no one but you seems to know why he's acting that way when—"
"Did you hear me? I said—even he said—to leave it alone, goddamnit!" Hayden yelled at me with an actual demand in his tone. I walked past him to grab Jem who stood at Hayden's bike, but then pulled him away, towards the other direction. If he was going to act like an ass, then I'll treat him the way that he deserves. I think he received that from the look I gave him because I wasn't going to tolerate him talking to me like that.
I stormed off with Jem at tow and he didn't even question it or follow me.
***
"Hey Jem, I'm here. What's wrong?" I heard Dastan approach us. We were at the nearest park—which wasn't very far away from the chapel. Jem was sitting on the side of the small pond, but I was curled up against a remote bench, looking away from them.
I was just...confused. I didn't know what was wrong with Sebastian, and even though Hayden acted as if he was protecting Sebastian—or maybe me--every time he yelled at me, it made me cold and just downright sad. No one should feel like that, let alone stemming from their partner. I didn't care how he would apologize because I didn't receive the messages. Since I had to take Dastan's number from Hayden's phone earlier, I called him to tell him where we were before turning off my phone. It was like instinct. I didn't even think about it before I did it.
"I don't know..." Jem had started to explain, but I tuned it out and closed my eyes. "...and then Hayden yelled at Angie and we came here and then..."
I felt a presence in front of me as I tried to nap and forget, despite the cool November weather. I opened my eyes and Dastan was sitting in front of me with his legs crossed.
"Come here," he whispered with a nod of his head. I shook my head as my arm covered the lower part of my face, since I rested on the cool, metal arm of the bench. At my denial, he got on his knees and positioned himself right in front of the rail and laced his arms like mine. His face was inches away. "I know you don't want to tell me what happened...more so because you don't know."
He got that right, at least. Well done, Jem.
"So then let's forget about it," he said, tapping the railing and then standing up. He lightly moved my stretched out legs and sat down, placing them on his lap. I nicely removed them altogether and sat correctly, while still looking away. "You don't deserve it."
I didn't know what he meant.
"You don't deserve not knowing what's going on with this world and people and...your brother," he clarified. "Even more, you don't deserve Hayden to treat you like that."
I looked over at him.
"You should be with him when you feel like he's going to be genuine," I remembered Dastan telling me.
"You lied," I accused at him. "You said he would be genuine when I waited for him, but no he...he..."
I was planning for him to interrupt me before I said any bad word about my boyfriend regardless of its truth. But Dastan sat there, looking at me innocently for once, letting me tell my whole piece. He even gave me an encouraging nod to continue. I looked down sadly.
"He...makes me feel so fine and happy at times and then the first time he yells at me, it's like three steps back," I expressed to someone for the first time. Suddenly, Dastan's hand found a way into my pocket to pull out my phone. He turned it on and I questioned him. Moments later, he was showing me the screen with almost twenty messages--all apologies from Hayden.
"There. He's sorry," Dastan stated. He didn't try to get me to break up with Hayden. He didn't try to convince me to stay. He was just sitting there, showing me my phone.
"It's not about him being sorry," I said. Dastan stood up thoughtfully and ran a hand down his face. "It's about him not knowing how to control himself, even when stuff has nothing to do with him and everything to do with me."
Dastan was now pacing back and forth stressfully. I had no idea why, but then he abruptly stopped his pacing and kneeled before me.
"I don't know what to tell you," he said with chocolate eyes. I nearly choked on air.
"You're supposed to...tell me what you think. You have opinions—whether they're in my favor or not—and you share them whether anyone wants you to or not. I doubt that I can rant to you about your ex-best friend without you having some ingenious retort and advice. You're Dastan Vega! You always have something to say."
"I'm not Dastan Vega...not around you, anyways," he said. What? He grabbed my wrist and pulled me up to stand with him now. "I'm not 'Vega' to you. Nor am I some hotshot 'Dastan Vega'. From day one, I've just been Dastan to you. You're the only one that calls me that because you're the only one I treat the way I treat you. So sorry if I want to be the Dastan that we both know you prefer because it's a better version of me. That version is tell me to just listen right now."
The Dastan I preferred would be in a mask and cape by now. But I didn't know if that Dastan was even a possibility at this point. I just wanted to know why he was saying this to me.
He looked down at me, just passing my gaze.
"I'm tired of going behind your back and making your life hell," he admitted. His eyes connected with mine. "The first time we met you called me selfish and I was already interested in you. As I got to know you, I liked you more and more. But I have this thing that forbids me to even show you courtesy, no matter how much I want to. I just had too many dark parts and complications to get you caught up with that I never wanted. But, right now, I'm through with that. I need to tell you the truth."
I don't know if I was shocked that he actually liked me or anxious about what he was about to tell me.