Book 2: Chapter 67

**Chapter 67**

The air was still filled to the brim with tension as Cyrus had left the scene. Farah, over the situation, summed up what was happening this weekend before storming off herself. It was the rehearsal dinner with everyone in the bridal party in attendance. Nobody seemed to care about that starting back up the bickering. It was great that everyone was so passionate about this, but it wasn't something to argue over. They shouldn't have been in the middle of it in the first place.

Since they were, there was no use swaying their opinions to one side or the other. My biggest concern was Jay as he stood there not moving a muscle. He looked like he was still processing what Farah said. Those two were like brothers. Seeing them throw their relationship away over me wasn't fun to witness. They were both beating themselves up while throwing shots at the other. Nothing good is going to come out of them hating each other.

Walking over to him, my hand rests on his back to gain his attention. His eyes looked down at me forcing a smile on his face. I can see that he was upset about what happened but he was putting on a brave face. We were in front of everyone else so I'm guessing he didn't want them to see him sweat. Especially those that were frowning upon us.

The bottom line is Jay was missing his friend and couldn't admit it for whatever reason. No one could fault him for it. This was only natural after losing someone who used to be close to you. They grew up together. They knew the ins and outs of each other like no other. It pained me to see them this way. So angry.

"Jay, are you okay?" I rub his back gently.

His shoulders shrugs. "Yeah...I'm good," he turns to me. "I just hate how they were talking about you."

I smile still remembering how he defended me. "As hot as that was there's something more going on here." I express concern.

He sighed and looked at me with a worried look on his face. It showed me that I'm right on the matter. The situation with Cyrus is eating him up more than he was letting on. There was no need for him to hide it from me though. If there was any way I could help him, I wanted to. They were friends before our relationship even existed. It was understandable to be having seconds thoughts.

Jay grabbed my hands looking at me with a soft smile on his face. The pained look in his eyes hurt me to see. He was so strong all the time that it always crushed me when he was vulnerable like this. There were so many layers to Jay that no other person possessed. Everything about him was earnest and true. How I ever lucked out gaining his attention is beyond me. There were other people he could have his eye on and he chose me.

"You want the truth?" He asked ignoring everyone else around us. They were still bickering.

I nod. "You know I do," I say with a slight squeeze of his hands.

He sighed again. "I miss my friend," he admits. "Obviously, I've gained new ones but none of them even compare to the relationship Cyrus and I had. He was like my brother. The only family I had when my father decided to leave me."

I can hear him getting choked up as he spoke to me. Their relationship was like no other. The way they used to speak about each other, you can tell there was a love that couldn't be replaced. It sucks that now their relationship has turned into this pile of junk that neither were willing to fix. Instead, resorting to violence to get their points across. When in reality, that wasn't solving anything. There had to be a way to make Cyrus forgive him.

In the meantime, I continued to listen to Jay trying to find answers of my own. Their behavior towards each other was devastating to watch. Especially knowing what they were like before. Jay was his best man for crying out loud! Farah was right and I knew they could figure this out somehow.

Jay ran his fingers through his hair before looking back down at me. His blue eyes filled with water but he wouldn't let the tears fall. "I don't regret my decision to be with you, A." He sighs. "I guess I was being too optimistic that he'd understand why."

Smiling, my hand raises to caress his cheek lovingly. "Oh Jay, I'm so sorry," I apologize. "This is all my fault."

His head shook rapidly. "Don't you even start," he smirked. "Honestly, it's just as much my fault. Even more so because I knew and yet I still couldn't control falling for you."

"It's not like I gave you much of a choice, did I?" I give him a smirk of my own.

He smiles back wrapping me in his arms. I take in his scent appreciating the affection giving to me. Despite missing Cyrus, we were always going to be as strong as ever. Our friendship was fun, the short while it lasted. Everything about us was natural in a way that can't be compared to anyone else. Which is why it was important to have Cyrus forgive him. It's not like we set out to betray him. We tried so hard to fight off those feelings but ultimately it was harder than one might think.

Regardless, the end goal was to get Cyrus to see what we were doing didn't have any malicious intent behind it. They both clearly missed each other and though their relationship may not ever be the same, they could at least not spend the rest of their lives hating each other. That wasn't going to get them anywhere and instead cause more pain than it's worth.

Before we could figure that out, everyone seemingly calmed down. The eyes I felt on us made me a little uncomfortable. We were so immersed in our conversation that I forgot they would be looking. It's not like we had anything to hide anymore. Everyone already knew and probably did before it was ever announced to Cyrus. Fortunately, they were able to keep their mouths shut until we were ready to tell him. Even then, it took some tragic event to get to that point. Now, the division amongst us was causing problems as well. How were we supposed to get along this weekend if everyone wasn't on the same page?

"This is exactly why Cyrus is pissed at you," Rob spoke first.

My eyes rolled in annoyance. "Look, it's great that everyone is passionate about their stances, but as far as us the three of us go, your opinions aren't needed."

Jenna laughed sarcastically. "Why? Because some of the opinions don't agree with you being a cheater?"

"You have to be dating someone to cheat on them and last I checked, Cyrus and I weren't together." I snapped back at her. "Shouldn't you be checking on your fiancé?"

Her cheeks turned red as she realized Cyrus ran off before running off herself to find him. She wasn't about to come for me when she left her fiancé to wallow in his own thoughts. She stayed here to argue with everyone else about me when she should have been checking on Cyrus. That's the first thing I would've done if we were still on the same page. Of course, she'd rather see everyone harp on me because that was her favorite thing to do herself.

With her out of the picture, it was easier to at least come to common ground. We still had one more important event to get through before the wedding. Showing up to the rehearsal dinner divided would only cause more unnecessary drama that I'm sure Jenna's parents, along with Cyrus's, wouldn't agree with. We were all adults, and it was time to start acting like it.

"Honestly, none of it matters." Ashton said. "We're all going to have to get along for this dinner, so we need to be on our best behavior."

Ocean agreed. "Exactly. Who cares whose dating who. Jenna got what she wanted and so did Autumn. Let's leave it at that."

Everyone decided to settle their murmuring thanks to our peacemakers. Though I wouldn't agree with what Ocean said. Did I get what I want? Partially, I mean Jay is who I wanted, but I wanted Cyrus too. In a perfect world I'd be able to have them both by my side just like before with them still being close friends. Unfortunately, Cyrus wasn't open to the idea of an open relationship, and I couldn't blame him. However, this is far from how I wanted things to go. These two wouldn't be fighting and Cyrus would have forgiven Jay by now.

Alas, there wasn't anything more for me to say as we started to head our separate ways. I was going to hang out with the girls for a bit today before heading back home. My main purpose for staying here was to see if I'm able to convince Cyrus to at least be kind to Jay. That was the least they could both do after such events. It'll be a task and a half to get him to agree but it'll be worth it, so they aren't fighting each other every two seconds. Cyrus was such a stubborn mule. It may be impossible to change his perspective.