harlow and carter arrived at elton and ginger's engagement party forty minutes late. the traffic between harlow and carter's apartment to elton and ginger's house was heavy, and it didn't help that harlow basically forced her boyfriend to take around two hundred pictures of her before they even left.
so by the time they had even got into the neighbourhood, they were thirty minutes late. but the block was basically full of vehicles, so it took another ten minutes to find somewhere harlow could park her jeep.
"i forgot to ask, but d'ya think you're drinking?" harlow asked her boyfriend as she unbuckled her seat belt.
"i don't think so, i work the early shift tomorrow," he replied with his hand hovering over the door handle. "why?"
harlow opened the door and hopped out of the vehicle, straightening her dress and then grabbing her purse from the back seat. "was just wondering if we needed to call an uber back, is all. if you do drink, we could get the jeep tomorrow."
"alright,"
what a domestic conversation, was all harlow could think.
as she rounded the corner of the jeep to meet carter who was standing on the sidewalk, she peered down the road to elton's house. even though they were at least fifty feet away from the house, harlow caught a glimpse of a familiar side profile.
she knew that he was, at a minimum, invited to the party, though she couldn't help but hope that something was going to come up and he wouldn't make it. it seems that luck wasn't on harlow's side, though, because there stood colby, dressed casually with a lit cigarette placed between his lips.
the panic began to set in then because she still hadn't managed to tell carter that colby was going to be at elton's. she'd like to think that it entirely slipped her mind, but she knew deep down that she was simply just avoiding the discussion to spare her own feelings.
but with colby a mere fifty feet away, harlow had to tell carter now. she was left with no choice.
"lovie," harlow began as sweetly as she could, "i forgot to tell you something."
carter's blue eyes met her's with concern, "okay," he replied hesitantly, cautious likely because of the combination of harlow's loving tone and the pet name.
"please don't be upset with me, i meant to mention it to you but i forgot until just now,"
carter couldn't help but laugh at his girlfriend, simply because he could never be upset with her. he had learned that early on in their relationship. to reassure her, he wrapped an arm around harlow, bringing her to his chest and placing a kiss on her temple. "what's up, harls?" he asked, words mumbled into her temple where his lips were still placed.
harlow snuggled further into carter's chest, loving the affectionate act. "well elton asked colby to be one of his groomsmen, which means that he'll be at the party today," she paused, distracted by carter's warmth. "actually, he's outside currently. the one smoking."
harlow winced in anticipation of carter's response, glancing up at the beautiful boy holding her. he was watching her with his eyes all crinkled, making harlow's heart melt. "alright,"
in an attempt to snuggle closer, harlow placed her chin on carter's chest, so she was looking directly up at him. "you're not mad at me?"
carter chuckled a bit, then shook his head. "never mad at you, sunshine."
she couldn't help but pout in response, "stop being all cute and shit,"
"what do you want me to say? there's no reason for me to be upset over it. i know that elton is best friends with your ex, so it's to be expected. it doesn't fall on you."
harlow watched her boyfriend in awe. she was always so amazed by his capability to be understanding and level-headed. "i love you so much,"
"love you more," he replied while rocking him and harlow back on forth, peppering more kisses on her face until she swatted him away. "better now?"
"one more wouldn't hurt,"
carter laughed, but obliged with a final kiss before grabbing her hand tightly. "alright greedy, are we ready now?"
when harlow spun around, colby wasn't standing in the front yard. harlow hoped dearly that he had left early instead of going back inside, but she knew deep down that it was pretty unlikely.
harlow and carter walked hand-in-hand towards elton's house, letting themselves in through the gate leading to the backyard where the guests were. elton's backyard was entirely transformed from the last time she had been over to the couple's house.
there were long wooden tables and chairs set up in long rows with beautiful floral arrangements placed strategically throughout. closer to the house itself, there was another long table, split in half with various alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages. there was even a candy station, with bowls of different candy and bags to create your own snack.
people were walking around and chatting to one another, and harlow didn't recognize half of them, meaning they were probably a lot of ginger's friends and family. she did manage to locate her group of friends, who were laughing loudly before they all cheersed their glasses together in some kind of toast.
harlow walked slightly ahead of carter, but still kept his hand in hers until her eyes landed on her brother in the mass of people roaming the yard.
"would you grab me a drink while i go say hi to e quickly?" harlow asked, turning towards the brown-haired boy. "maybe a whole bottle, actually,"
carter rolled his eyes jokingly, "we haven't even been here a minute and you already need a drink?" harlow lifted her hand to swat him, but carter raised both of his in the air in defence, stopping her motion, "kidding, just kidding. i shall get the queen her champagne. is there anything else your highness requires?"
harlow tried her best to give an unimpressed look, but couldn't help but crack a smile. "i hate you sometimes." she mumbled as she scanned the yard once more to find her friends. "i'll be right back. the girls are just over there, so if you wanna go with them i'll meet you in a few," she stated, pointing to where devyn, katrina, sam, and tara stood.
harlow pressed a quick kiss to carter's lips before heading off to greet her brother and soon-to-be sister-in-law.
ginger looked beautiful, but it was more than just the clothes that she was wearing and how her hair and makeup looked. it was cheesy, but she looked like she was literally glowing from the inside out. her happiness radiated every time she smiled, and harlow couldn't help but wonder if one day she'd experience the love that her brother and ginger found. she could only hope she'd be so lucky to find that person.
"hi, e," harlow greeted her brother, as he pulled her in for a hug, "look at you! you've actually dressed up for the occasion!" harlow proclaimed as she stepped back to admire her brother in an outfit that wasn't gym shorts and a t-shirt.
elton laughed loudly, "ginger wouldn't let me wear my hat. i understood the shorts and t-shirt, but i feel naked without my hat."
harlow shook her head at her brother before greeting ginger with a warm hug, "hi sis," she said with a smile, "you look fucking fantastic,"
"god i love hearing you call me sis," ginger admitted, clearly slightly tipsy from the champagne. "we're gonna be sisters, harls!"
harlow couldn't help but laugh at her intoxicated friend. "finally a sister," harlow began jokingly, "elton doesn't like to do the sisterly things with me anyway,"
elton pouted from beside ginger, "only because the sisterly things you like to do involve eating all my ice cream and crying while watching the same three movies,"
"well i think it's kinda fuckin' psychopathic that you don't cry when you watch the vow, so there," harlow spoke while ginger nodded along in agreement, "ok but i wasn't supposed to be roasting you, i came over here to congratulate you. so congrats and shit."
"that was so sentimental," elton replied, sarcasm thick in his voice.
harlow rolled her eyes at her brother, "okay, i congratulated you the minute after you proposed. let's not forget i was there," harlow gestured around the backyard, "also this looks so grown-up. i like it."
"if elton would've had his way we'd probably have a mechanical bull in the corner. thankfully he loves me enough to let me have control over this,"
"ok, but a mechanical bull could've slapped," harlow joked, making elton instantly light up. "anyways, i'm gonna go chug the bottle of champagne that carter definitely didn't sneak away from the table. i'll probably be back when i'm significantly drunker," harlow bid her goodbyes, walking backwards while she spoke before turning around before she could see elton's disapproving look.
her friends were still stood around the same table, now with carter by their side. tara was the first to spot harlow walking over to their spot, immediately holding up the bottle of champagne that carter had snuck away from the beverage table. "the party finally arrived!" tara exclaimed, stumbling towards harlow and wrapping her arms around the girl.
harlow placed her arms around her small friend to steady her, "did you forget your alcohol tolerance levels again?" she joked as she sneakily snagged the bottle from her hand.
tara furrowed her brows in annoyance, "what? you're supposed to be the fun one. drink with me harls." she pleaded, clasping her hands together for the full effect.
"you don't have to beg her to drink, t," katrina inserted, "she already told me how excited she was for free alcohol,"
harlow lifted the champagne bottle to her lips, not bothering with trying to locate a glass. after all, she was likely only sharing the bottle with tara. after taking a long, exaggerated drink, harlow passed the bottle to tara. "you really can't pass up free alcohol,"
tara followed harlow's lead in taking a long drink from the bottle before speaking, "you just fuckin' get me,"
harlow laughed before stealing the bottle back, "where's jakey? i feel like i haven't seen him in forever,"
before tara could answer her question, devyn cut in. harlow couldn't make out exactly what devyn had mumbled to katrina and sam, but based on her facial expression, the way that sam immediately hushed her, and how quickly katrina had elbowed her, harlow got the gist.
she had been avoiding hanging out at tara's apartment because she had recently moved in with jake. with jake usually came colby, and harlow tried her best to avoid situations where he might be. that also meant she avoided hanging out at katrina's apartment as well. it basically left harlow only ever seeing her friends when they came to her house or devyn's or if they went out somewhere together.
harlow also knew that devyn was still annoyed with her after their conversation at lunch a few days before, so when it came down to figuring out what she had mumbled, it was likely something about harlow and colby. knowing that only irked harlow more, because devyn was openly making those comments in front of carter as well.
but if carter knew what was going on, he didn't let on.
there was a quick moment of silence before tara seemed to come back to reality, "he's inside somewhere with a friend,"
harlow wasn't stupid. a friend meant colby. but at least tara had the decency to respect harlow's wishes of not bringing him up, especially when her boyfriend was around.
- - -
the day progressed rather quickly, cups beginning to stack up on the table they had claimed in the backyard. harlow made sure she paced herself though, knowing that once friends of elton and ginger started in with the speeches she'd have to join in as well. sister of the groom and all.
her speech was half-written and mostly made up on the spot, but it seemed to go off without a hitch. the champagne gave her the confidence to actually stand up in front of elton and ginger's guests and rattle off about how proud of elton she was and how happy she was to have ginger in their family.
after the speeches, though, harlow matched tara's pace and became increasingly drunker. from there, the hours blurred together and soon enough the guests were beginning to file out.
harlow and tara were once again at the beverage table, mixing themselves each a drink as katrina approached them. "we're going to devyn's, are you guys coming?"
tara quickly raised her drink and downed the liquid, before tossing the empty cup in the trash beside the table. "obviously,"
harlow pursed her lips in thought, "maybe. let me find carter,"
tara pouted at harlow's answer, "aw c'mon harley. i need my partner in crime!"
harlow pretended to think it over to get a reaction out of harlow, but the truth is, she missed being with her full group of friends like this and she wasn't ready to let the night end at elton's engagement party. "fine. just let me find carter first though. i don't know if he's gonna wanna come with or not,"
she grabbed the full drink she had mixed and set out to find carter. with a quick sweep of the backyard, harlow entered the house, assuming he was helping ginger tidy up after the party since he was sober as a rock.
ginger was there, stuffing empty cups into a trash bag, but carter wasn't the one helping her as she had assumed. instead of seeing her boyfriend holding the garbage bag, she saw colby.
harlow had been actively avoiding colby all night, and was actually successful until then. she had somehow managed to be inside when he was out, or be in the front yard for a cig while he was with her friends. but now they were in the same room, for the first time in months, and harlow couldn't help just looking at him.
she'd never admit it, but he looked good. he was wearing a pair of printed pants with a simple t-shirt tucked in. from what harlow remembered about the boy, it was very much still him. he, at least on the outside, had changed that much.
not even ten seconds passed before colby turned to look at harlow, and when their eyes met, the room suddenly felt twenty degrees hotter.
his eyes were unreadable, but suddenly they were harlow's favourite book. with a million thoughts racing through her mind, she couldn't help but wonder what he was thinking. even just one thought was enough.
it felt like an eternity had passed with the two of them not saying a word before ginger turned around to see what colby was looking at. harlow could feel ginger's eyes on her, but now that she had made eye contact with colby, she was finding it hard to look away from his piercing blue eyes.
she probably looked ridiculous, standing there with her mouth opening and closing and her phone held so tightly in her hand that it actually hurt.
ginger could obviously pick up on harlow's stress, so she broke the silence between the three, explaining that carter had just left to pull the jeep up in front of the house.
"oh, okay. thanks ging," harlow barely breathed out. it felt like she was floating, one feet in front of the other as she led herself to the front door and away from her ex-boyfriend. she managed to place the full drink on a table near the front door before she exited the house.
i'm just really drunk, harlow thought to herself as she stood in the front yard, waiting for carter to pull up. super fuckin' drunk.
before she had more time to sit and overthink the non-interaction between her and colby, carter pulled up in the jeep. "you ready, drunkypoo?" he asked in an incredibly lovey voice.
harlow giggled, then clasped her hands behind her back. "actually, everyone's goin' over to dev's. do you wanna go?"
carter got out of the vehicle and crossed over to harlow, giving her a quick kiss before speaking. "i probably shouldn't, because knowing you, you'll beg me to stay with you until three in the morning," he wrapped his arms around harlow, rubbing her arms in a soothing way, "and knowing me i'll stay because i'm so fuckin' whipped. plus, i work early tomorrow. but i can drive you over and pick you up later tonight. i'll leave my ringer on,"
harlow pouted at his response, which only elicited more kisses from the boy. "you're so responsible. god i love you,"
"love you too," he replied, "does anyone want a ride over with us? we can squish them in if they want," he offered, which only made harlow swoon more.
realistically, he was doing nothing out of the ordinary. but in her drunken state, she was that much more amazed by anything carter did. even by just seeing his face, the non-interaction with colby was long forgotten.
harlow went back to find her friends, managing to round up tara, katrina, sam, and devyn. jake was insistent on staying back, and harlow knew why, so she didn't push it.
she walked a fine line when it came to her friends, because at the end of the day, they were also colby's friends.
on the drive over to devyn's, harlow couldn't help but think about how it felt like a divorced parent dynamic between her and colby and their friend group. he got their friends on certain days, and then they came back to her when they were done with him.
perhaps it was because of harlow's drunken state that she didn't realize that if devyn had invited harlow, she had invited colby as well. after all, the children of divorced parents hardly ever choose one parent over the other, and devyn sure as hell was not going to pick between colby and harlow.
THOUGHTS
i tried to make this longer
to make up for the long wait!
not a lot going on between colby
and harlow just yet, but just you
wait! also, let me know what you
think is gonna happen when
harlow sees colby at devyn's!!
all the love,
d