KJ's POV
I sit outside the airport in the pick up line. Seven years ago we first met. One year ago I proposed. Eight months ago we bought our first home.
And in less than forty eight hours I'll be marrying her, the love of my life.
Alayna Grace Sinclair.
My phone rings and I answer it without checking the called ID. I already know it's her, "Hi, Baby."
"I miss you," Layne says for the hundredth time today.
"I know, Baby," I respond for the hundredth time as well.
"You don't sound like it," her voice is soft.
I raise my voice to a higher octave, "Of course I miss you. So so much."
"I hate you," she detects my sarcasm, "I haven't seen you in three days! And this is how you treat me?"
"We live together," I remind her, "You've seen me every morning the last ten months."
"Okay," she pauses, "But I haven't seen you though."
"What--"
"Let me make myself clearer," she cuts me off, "I haven't seen you naked in three days. I haven't touched you. I haven't kissed you. I miss f---"
"OKAY!" I cut her off, "I get it. I get it."
"Is my baby embarrassed?" she teases, "Am I making you hot?"
"Shut up," I mumble. In preparation for our wedding, Layne and I had agreed to stop sleeping with each other for the week leading up to it. I'm handling it, but I can see the affect it's having on Layne.
"You have two days left," I remind her, "Calm down."
"Fuck that," she says loudly, causing me to jump, "I want to stay ready for you."
"Layne," I warn her. I swallow, my mouth dry. I'm not as stressed as Layne. But I'm still stressed. After all, my fiancee is beautiful.
"What? Am I getting to you?" she taunts me, "You're picturing me naked right?"
"I wasn't but now I am," I can't help but reply honestly. For a moment I forget that I'm in my truck and let her voice carry me away.
"Are you?" she lowers her voice to a sultry tone, "What are you thinking about? My soft titties... My sweet lips... My tattoo... You know how you like to kiss it?"
There's a thud on my car window and I jump, pulled from my trance like state. Fuck.
I turn to see Nat's face pressed against the glass, "Biiiittttcchhh!"
"I have to go, Baby. Love you," I hang up and get out the car, a light breeze cooling off my hot skin.
"Biiiittttcchhh!" I greet my best friend of damn near two decades with open arms. Nat hugs me, patting me on the back.
"Look at you," she pulls away, holding me at arms length, "About to be married and shit."
I take in my best friend. She'd shaved her head entirely, her dark waves replaced with a bleached low-cut.
I grab her bags I toss them into my truckbed while she gets comfortable inside.
"Are you ready?" I get back in, putting the car in drive, while she plays with the stereo.
"God no," I laugh, "I'm a mess."
Layne and I's year together had flown by. It was a mess and we fought but somehow we'd made it, and now the day is around the corner.
"Which one of you is wearing the dress?" Nat asks.
"Neither," I explain, "We're both wearing the same thing."
"How gay of you two," she replies, "What are you wearing?"
"White button ups and ripped jeans," I answer, "And yeah. I know that's gay too."
Layne and I had put less focus on the actual wedding itself and more on our marriage. After the house, neither of us really have much money, so we are getting married outside by Dru, who got ordained at the last minute for us.
I pull up to our house and get out, Nat following me in. After about eight months, our place actually looked good. I show her to my office which doubled as the guest room. She tosses her bag onto the daybed located inside and turns back to me, "So where is the lucky lady? Y'all aren't doing that twenty four hours thing are you?"
"Not technically," I start to answer.
"I couldn't handle a day without her," Layne enters on cue, wrapping her arms around me from behind. She offers a hand to Nat, "Next to meet you. Again."
Nat takes her hand, placing a kiss on it, "A pleasure."
"Cut that shit out,"I slap at their hands, "She's mine."
"No you cut it out," she raises herself onto her tip toes, kissing next to my ear, "Green doesn't look good on you baby."
I feel my face heat and Nat chuckles, "If I wanted your girl, fam, I would've took her back in high school."
She pats me on the shoulder and exits the room. I go to follow her only Layne stops me, still wrapped around me.
"Let me go," I whisper, trying to pull away. She pushes me against the wall, resting her hands on my shoulders.
"Are you still thinking about our talk?" She breathes, her breath tickling my ear, "I am."
"Alayna Grace Sinclair," I pull out her government name and she lets me go.
"You know I love messing with you," she kisses me, "Just as much as I love you."
"Are y'all done being nasty yet?" Nat peers back into the room, "I'm hungry."
Layne kisses me one more time before stepping away from me, "How do you feel about Indian?"
The two of them exit the room together and I take a minute to calm down before following them out.
"I'd love to join you guys, but I only stopped by to piss off KJ," Layne finishes, grabbing her overnight duffle, "But I want you two to have fun. I'll see you both tomorrow."
She makes her way over to me, giving me one last kiss, before leaving.
I turn back to Nat. "So food?"
Nat and I end up at a small resturant, a plate of curry and a basket of naan in front of us.
Both of us dig in, indulging in the flavorful food. I loved Nat for a number of reasons, but one of them was the ability for us to be silent together. Beck was cool to be around, but he needed conversation in order to feel like we'd truly spent anytime together.
Nat didn't care.
She rinses down on last spicy bite with water, watching me over her glass.
"What?" I feel suddenly uncomfortable.
"I remember when you first started bringing her around," she says, "She was infatuated with you and your slow ass couldn't see it. It was almost painful to watch, really."
"Nat this is my neighbor, Layne. Layne, this is my lover Nat."
I remember as well. Every pass she made. Every kiss she stole. It led us here.
"I was sort of stupid back then," I pause, "I'm still stupid now, actually."
"At least you know," she smirks, her pierced lip curling upward.
"I'm a little smarter," I back track, "I'm locking it down."
"Only because she's stupid enough to let you," she takes another bite from her food, "Do you have your vows ready?"
"I thought I could wing it," I shrug. She chokes on her food, "Wing it? This isn't a high school paper. You can't wing it."
"Why not?"
"Your vows set the tone of the rest of your marriage!" she says, "You think you're gonna know what to say but you won't. Do you want your vows to be you awkwardly trying to collect your thoughts for ten minutes?"
"I want it to be genuine," I shrug, "What can I say?"
"It's official. You're a dumbass," she shakes her head, "You know what we're doing after lunch right?"
"Writing my vows?"
"Writing your vows, bitch," she slams her hand on the table dramatically.
"Fine," I relent, realizing I have no other choice, "But we have to make a stop first."
***
The doorbell rings and I continue to try and get my anxious hands to work toward a common goal of tying my tie. Fuck.
My hands sweat as I tie, tie, re-tie, and untie my tie. Fuck. Fuck.
The ringing turns to knocking and I yell into the emptiness of the house for Nat, before remembering she stepped out.
I let the tie hang sloppily from my neck before grabbing the door.
"Hey," I jump, surprised to see my older brother, Karry.
He steps in, brushing past me, "Need some help?"
"KJ!" my nephew, Andrew, runs in, jumping into my arms, Saide behind them all.
I close the door, leaving it unlocked. We walk back to my room so I can continue my struggle to get dressed, "I didn't think you guys would come."
"Probably because you didn't invite us," I lower Andrew to the ground and he takes the tie, fixing it for me.
"Look----" I start to apologize but he stops me.
"It's okay," he adjusts my collar for me, "Layne called us. Be lucky you're with someone who knows you better than you know yourself, hm?"
He finishes and then pulls me into a hug. "I'm happy for you. We all are."
"How are you explaining all of this to him?" I ask, my gaze drifting to Andrew, now six.
"We'll give you guys a moment," Saide grabs Andrew and they head back into the living room.
We both take a seat on the bed.
"You want to know what he thinks about this?" he asks, "Well, I told him that we were coming to St. Louis for KJ's wedding to Layne. His response? He's happy you can be happy now. Simple."
The corner of my mouth tugs upward, "He knows Layne is a woman?"
"You guys were over for Christmas," Karry pushes me, "Yes. He doesn't care. None of us care."
I take a deep breath, "I know. I'm sorry."
"Stop apologizing for being in love," he says, "So, are both of you the bride or....?"
"Obviously," I roll my eyes.
"Well you're wearing a tie so I had to check," it's my turn to hit him. He laughs, "I'm sorry. So you're both doing all the somethings or what not?"
"Yeah," I pull out my pocketwatch, given to me by him long ago, "Something old," I flip my wrist, revealing my newest tattoo of a small cherry blossom, "Something new," I tug at my tie, "Something blue. And, um, I don't have anything---"
"Borrowed? Yeah I hoped so," He reaches in his pocket. "Something borrowed."
He hands me his dogtags, and I turn the smooth metal around in my hands, "Seriously?"
"Yeah," he takes them back, handing them around my neck, tucking them into my shirt, "Now you're all set."
There's a knock on the door and I call, "It's open."
The door opens, revealing a tall, familiar figure. His hair has grown out into a lighter shade.
"Vinson?"
"Baby Gi---" he clears his throat, "I mean KJ."
Karry shows his way out and I stand, "Did Layne invite you, too?"
"Um... Less of an invite and more of a 'I need to rub it in your face' type of thing," he shrugs, "Hug?"
I stand and embrace him. This year had changed so many things, but he still feels the same.
"So you're about to be locked in. Chain-gang style," he teases.
"It's a real loss to the market," I joke, "I'm glad you're here."
"I'm glad that in the middle of all that gloating, Layne thought to invite me."
The door opens and Nat appears, "It's time."