Page 93 of Hate You to Love You

Becca quickly sneaks towards him and places a microphone down.

‘I’ve lost count how many times Laney had to hear me practise for my gigs when we lived together,’ he continues while playing a few gentle strums.

Patrick wraps his arms and body around Laney, as the two of them start to sway.

‘I think I’ve heard your cover of “Catch My Disease” enough to last a lifetime,’ she says.

The crowd erupts into laughter. I join in. Even with this being her wedding, with so much having changed for our whole group, being here is a reminder of how much I love Jones, Sal, Laney and Patrick in spite of what’s become different in our lives.

‘Well, this one reminds me of how much sunshine you and Patrick radiate into our lives.’ Sal picks up the pace of his strums, before launching into a cover of ‘Amazing’ by Alex Lloyd. When the chorus hits, Patrick pulls Laney towards the middle of the courtyard to dance. It’s not long before others join them.

‘Care for a dance?’ I hear Mum ask from beside me.

‘I’d love to,’ I tell her.

We hold each other as we sway back and forth to the music. In a few short weeks, Mum is going to move away. The impending change is a little scary, but no matter what happens, we’ll have this memory, and hopefully many more to come. That’s what living is all about. As we dance, there are smiles. There is laughter. Even when I accidentally bump into Patrick’s parents, I feel happiness run through the party as smoothly as the champagne from the bottles.

For the next half an hour, Sal continues to play covers of Laney’s favourite songs, and the happy couple are swept up by the music.

As Sal finishes his performance, he puts the wedding playlist back on. ‘Forever Young’ by Alphaville begins to play as I scan the party for Jones, who I haven’t seen in a while.

‘I hope you know that I played that Missy Higgins song just for you,’ Sal tells me, sipping his champagne.

‘It had my seal of approval,’ I reply. ‘Have you seen Jones?’

Sal looks away nervously.

‘Sal?’

‘Do you need a drink? Have you tried the cake yet? I think I could go for another slice.’

Sal scurries away from me and joins the line for a slice of cake. I chuckle, although I’m a little baffled by his behaviour.

‘There’s still one more chorus to dance to,’ I hear someone say suddenly to my right.

I glance over and realise that it’s Jones. He’s no longer wearing his blazer, his shirt untucked and tie loose. ‘Where have you been?’

His lips rise into a cheeky smile. ‘Did you want to dance?’ he asks, ignoring my question.

‘What? With you?’ I laugh.

‘Actually, I think there’s someone else who’d like to dance with you.’ Jones nods towards the dance floor.

I follow his gaze and my eyes land on one person in the middle of the crowd.

Elliot.

He’s standing in a polished tuxedo, his hands in his pockets. My eyes fill with tears.

‘How… what… How is Elliot here?’

‘As soon as we saw the article, we reached out to him,’ Sal explains, appearing beside me. ‘We wanted him here for the wedding of course, but we also knew that you two deserved the chance to be with each other.’

Jones nods his head enthusiastically. ‘You’ve been looking for love when the one person who has always loved you still wants to be with you. So, we talked him into returning. At least just for the wedding to sort things out.’

‘Go talk to him,’ Jones nudges me playfully in the gut.

I cut through the dancing crowd, the music and excited chatter growing muffled when all I can do is focus in on Elliot. As I get closer to him, I take notice of the way his smile grows bit by bit. His eyes are locked on me. I’m struck by the way the fairy lights sparkle in the reflection of his eyes.