༺ It Was All Yellow ༻

     Megara knew three things; one being that Savannah had clearly stolen one of her letters to Lip and slipped it in his locker, two being that Lip reciprocated those feelings for Megara, and three being that Ricky was about to have an opinion about it.  When did Ricky ever not have an opinion when it came to her love life?

     Was she a bad person if she wished that he would be disappointed?  That maybe he'd feel just as badly as she did without her presence in his life?  Was she kidding herself by hoping that she had some sort of power over him?  Was there even a universe where she and Ricky could remain friends?

     But before she could even have a moment to worry about all that, she had a wedding to attend.

     If you had told nine-year-old Megara that she'd get to stand next to her mom and dad in a room together again, she'd have thought you were giving her false hope.  Now, staring at the two who were barely conversing as they waited on Rosetta, she was wondering how the hell her parents ever ended up together in the first place.  It was so damn obvious how different they were, and while she was lucky that she was now living comfortably, it still gave her the chills while looking at them.

     Her father had barely said any words, and her mom certainly wasn't helping — really giving Wallows a run for their money with their "language of averted eyes" lyric.  Megara cleared her throat, hoping they'd get the hint, but her father barely looked at her.  So much for being the man of the house.  "Rose, are you ready yet?" Megara called out, gladly taking her eyes off her awkward parents to call out for her sister.

     "Almost!"

     Mr. Montez rolled his arm over so he could glance at the time on the watch on his wrist.  A crease formed in between his eyebrows as he said, "we need to get going soon, or else even Tia Carmen will beat us to the venue."

     Mrs. — scratch that.  Miss Daisy Fuentes sighed, reminiscent of the stepmother from The Parent Trap, at his comment.  She was dressed in a white pantsuit with gold jewelry like a thin chain around her neck and a thicker watch on her wrist.  She looked stunning, as she usually did, and saw exactly why her father was so drawn to her in the first place.  But she still thought silver jewelry suited her better than gold.  A large white hat cast shadows on her face and over her shoulders, and in some angles, across the ground when she moved, which was a lot.  She had a small white bucket bag dangling from one of her forearms as she crossed her arms over her chest, indeed filled with unnecessary stuff she planned on sneaking into the wedding later today.  Megara could see why she was starting to look impatient, it was eight in the morning and while she was fully dressed, her two daughters were struggling to make it to Mr. Montez's car in one piece.  And while Megara thought she was on somewhat of a good schedule, she could tell her younger sister was struggling with the change of pace for today.

     "Hey, um, why don't you guys go on, Rosetta and I can meet you there," Megara suggested, opening up her crossbody bag to reach her hand in and shimmy around her own mess for her keys.  Her fingernails had been painted with a glittery white french tip, which didn't really match the bridesmaid dress, but luckily her cousin Charlene couldn't care less.  Megara was messy sometimes, but she could pull through with a good look when it really mattered.  

     She'd have to change in a few hours, but she was still dressed to impress (who that was, she supposed it would vary).  When she and Ricky took the mini-trip to Colorado months before to get the bridesmaid's dresses, she'd worn a soft and fuzzy yellow long-sleeve with black yoga pants over her Uggs.  Today, she wore that same outfit, with a different pair of yoga pants, which were dark blue with pockets on the side, her phone sticking out of one of them.  Her hair lay in a loose braid down her back, still semi-damp from her shower over an hour ago.  In her free hand, she was carrying a square caboodle, complete with undereye depuffing patches she was sure to use in the next hour for herself.

     As it was, she promised she'd help the girls with their last-minute touch-ups right before the wedding.  Thankfully, Charlene had sprung for a relaxed afternoon wedding, but that still didn't calm anybody's nerves.

     "Are you sure?" her dad asked.  Megara wasn't sure if he was worried for her or for himself.  The idea of riding in a car alone with his ex-wife was sure to be intimidating, and a part of him was counting on having Megara there for support.  Both emotional and physical, since he knew Megara's mother was sure to start some sort of argument with him.

     Megara nodded as her hands clutched around the cold keychains she stacked on her car key ring so she'd be able to find them easier.  "Yeah, you guys go ahead, I'm sure we'll be right behind you," she said, looking back and forth to her parents.  It seemed her mom was feeling a similar way that her dad was, but she was also known to be the most impatient one of their family (not that it was really one anymore), so she was dying to get the day over with.  "I'll text Ricky now, but if you see him will you ask him to wait by the entrance for me?  It's just that sometimes he gets distracted and I don't want him to get lost or forget stuff."

     When Matthew glanced over at Daisy, she shrugged.  "Sure, bueno," she said with a sigh as she turned to Megara.  "Okay then, we'll see you there."

     Megara watched as her mom turned on her heel and left for the front door.  Her dad, Matthew, apologetically smiled at Megara as he stepped closer to her and caressed her head with his warm hand, pressing a quick kiss to her temple.  "Drive safely, la miel," he said before turning to follow after her mom.

     "I will," Megara muttered to herself as she watched them go.  When the front door closed shut (she could tell by the way the heavy wood slammed) she took a deep breath.  Today was going to be a long day.

     Ricky's eyes widened as Megara stepped into the room, swinging her caboodle by its steel handle as she walked, the brightness from her sweater radiating off her.

     March wasn't super special to him, but it brought the best kind of weather in his opinion.  The trees were starting to regain their color outside, and the sun was spotted more often than not.  After spring break, school usually flew by and it would be summer before he knew it.  He could visibly see the cool breeze that swept into Megara's hair and kept her cheeks flushed pink, and it was then he realized he hoped time would not go by so fast when they returned to school.  It wasn't just the sweater that was bright, it was her.

     "Haven't you worn this before?" Ricky slightly startled her as he jumped down off the barstool he'd been sitting at and made his way over to her.  Cousin Charlene and her husband-to-be had opted for a cozy yet comfy cabin lodge for the indoor wedding because Charlene had always wanted to do something more on the indoor barn sort of trend, but they never found an outdoor venue that they liked until someone had recommended this spot.  Ricky had been sitting in the lobby, the bartender taking pity on him and offering him free Shirley Temple while he waited.

     "As my queen Lizzie McGuire once said, I may be an outfit repeater but at least I'm not an outfit remember-er," Megara said with a smile as she walked through the large glass doors, Rosetta right behind her.  It was then he realized the girls were also carrying small plastic cups with Starbucks logos printed on them.  Rosetta had about half a lemonade in hers while Megara's coffee was nearly finished.

     "Oh, I remember it.  I remember it down to the knockoff Uggs," Ricky stated.

     "Confession time... these are real Uggs.  I swore I wouldn't give in to TikTok, but what can I say if I'm easily influenced sometimes," Megara shook her head, disappointed in herself.  

     Ricky flashed that stupid smile of his at her as he rocked on his feet.  "Bummer."

     "Yeah..." Megara agreed.  "Um, Bowen, you remember my baby sister?" she stepped aside, catching Rosetta's attention.

     Ricky nodded.  "I do but I think the question is, does she remember me?  I think she was really young when I used to come over."

     "Be that as it may, it's hard to forget the boy who made her childhood a living nightmare," Rosetta quipped.  "She also talked about you the whole way here."

     Megara's jaw dropped open as Ricky turned to her expectantly.  "Oh, you were talking about me?"

     "Only that we're doing the school musical together again," Megara defended.  When Ricky looked like he didn't believe her, she continued.  "I was trying to tell her about my life at school, you know, the group and everything."

     "Uh-huh..." he slid his tongue in his cheek.  He blinked a couple of times rapidly before returning his attention back to Rosetta so as not to make her feel like she wasn't included.  "How have you been?  How's school?"

     Rosetta kindly smiled, and he saw how similar she was to her older sister, punching him right through the gut as he remembered what Megara was like in middle school.  Not that they were friends or anything, but he would see her trotting around the hallways all the time.  He didn't know much about her life at that time, but he was sure eighth grade was around the time when she started hanging out with Rita and KC more, thus finding herself a little group as he'd done with Big Red and Nini.

     There was also this time she was part of the Beauty and the Beast musical, which he was sure was way different than the one they were going to put on now in the spring.  He'd run into her when she was getting ready for dress rehearsal, and accidentally ripped the dress in the process, but he'd never gone to the show.  All this time he had regretted not going to the show.  They were on two different paths, two people as different as Venus and Mars.

     "I'm alright, school's horrible, but we have a cat now!" Rosetta said.

     "A cat?  Mom never wanted us to have pets, I thought she was allergic," Megara said, a crease deepening between her perfectly trimmed eyebrows.

     Rosetta shook her head.  "No, she's not, she just thought we were irresponsible as kids I guess."

     Either that hit her gut hard, or the double espresso latte with sweet cream cold foam was starting to sink in, so Megara just let it roll off her shoulders.  "Hmm, well, she's been making me lock away Pumpkin so she doesn't bark at her, which really sucks," she clicked her tongue as she looked Ricky in the eye.  "I mean, we barely got Pumpkin like two years ago, she's still a puppy."

     Ricky placed a hand over his heart.  "Ah, they grow up so fast."

     Rosetta laughed as Megara shook her head with a smile.  "Pumpkin is so cute.  I wish we got a dog instead.  The cat just lays around all day, and never wants to play with me," Rosetta explained sadly.

     Megara hung her arm around her shoulders loosely, which were some of the closest contacts the sisters had in weeks.  "Yup, cats are like that, sorry," Megara said as Ricky nodded.

     "At least you guys have pets," Ricky reminded them.  "I'm not allowed any at all since I tried microwaving that lizard when I was a kid."

     Rosetta's eyes lit up.  "Oh my God, I remember that!  Megara tackled you and held you in a chokehold until you let it go, but then it ran through the house and my mom spilled the spaghetti sauce she was making, but it got away, it ran back outside!" she giggled, the first time Megara had really seen her open up since she got to her house.  "I forgot all about that."

     Ricky and Megara nodded as they listened to Rosetta.  "Yeah, well I didn't.  I was banned from Casa de la Montez for nearly a month," Ricky pouted.

     "Hey, your Spanish is getting a lot better," Megara nudged him with her elbow as he tried to hide the fact that he was starting to blush.

     "Mom would still ban him from your house if she could," Rosetta quipped, reminding Ricky just how much she was like her older sister.  " A modern-day Romeo and Juliet, I must say."

     Megara shook her head before glancing down at the watch on her wrist, reminding her that they were on precious time.  "Gosh, shit, fuck," she muttered.  "I so would love if we could just spend the rest of the day doing this, but we gotta go get ready in the brides' suite.  See you later?"

     Ricky nodded.  "I'll be with your cousins and their baby Richard."  When Megara looked at him expectantly, he tilted his head and elaborated.  "I told them I'd help with the baby while they set up the presents or something like that, I'm not sure."

     "You, help with the baby?" Megara questioned.

     "Why not, he's cute and he doesn't cry when I hold him," Ricky shrugged.

     "He doesn't?" she asked.  He simply shook his head.  "Huh.  Well, good for you and the other Richard.  You don't need to get your suit?"

     Ricky shrugged.  "It takes guys a little less long to get ready, I think."

     It was quiet for a moment as Megara tilted her head, thinking over everything that could possibly go wrong for the day.  "Ricky, please don't wear Throb."

     Ricky wickedly grinned as Rosetta asked, "what's Throb?"

     "That's a story for another time, come on," she motioned towards the elevator to the left as Ricky watched them go.  "Bowen, I'm serious!" she yelled as she practically broke into a sprint across the room.

     Oftentimes, Megara did not believe that she was beautiful.  This was not one of those times.

     She'd been blessed with the quickness of a cheetah today, whipping through her sister's makeup and then her own before starting on hair, and before she knew it, the other girls in the room were asking for help with their own sets.  The dresses she had to pick up in Colorado made the drive (plus the car crash and stay at the inn with Ricky) worth it as she saw how happy the young woman's faces were lighting up over the looks.   Each bridesmaid was set with a slightly different dress shape than the next, which Megara appreciated.  She doubted she'd ever marry, but if she did decide to one day, she knew the different dress style was something she wanted to do.

     Pale yellow adorned each woman, with a bonus sheer fabric layered on top which you couldn't really see unless you were standing incredibly close.  One of the other ladies got to wear a dress that was floor length with one shoulder that wrapped around the torso perfectly, and Megara wished Charlene would have stuck her with something as elegant.  But then she remembered her height, plus her clumsiness, and she figured it was probably for the best.

     The dress made for Megara was something entirely else.  It was off-the-shoulder, and the sleeves that curved around her beauty marks were also made to be sheer.  The torso fit her like a corset, and it glided across the ground as she walked.  The only thing that made it separate from a wedding dress was the fact that it was yellow, and had a classy bow on her lower back which really made her look straight out of a fairytale.  Her own hair was curled in tight spirals, and she'd pulled back half of it, twisting the curls around each other so they flowed down her back.  The chosen flowers for the wedding included baby's breath, so she had tucked a few in between the twists.  If the dress did not look so formal, she'd have looked as if she'd just run through a flower field.

     "It's a chignon," Charlene said as she waved a phone in front of Megara's face.

     "Do you mean... chingona?" the younger girl asked, clearly more than a little confused.  The style itself looked simple to her, and could probably do it in a few minutes, but she'd never heard of the name chignon before in her life.

     Charlene sighed.  "No, it's really called a chignon."

     Megara shrugged.  "Whatever you say," she started twisting her cousin's hair around, standing directly behind her in the chair facing the mirror.  Of course, they'd been renting out a fancy suite for this, but even though they were using a hotel, the bride and groom decided to take an official honeymoon in the summertime to someplace warm.  At one point, the door had been opened to reveal some of the groomsmen hanging out in the hallway outside.  Some of Charlene's friends came over and talked with her as Megara worked, and others gathered amongst themselves.  Sometimes the laughter rose higher, and Megara caught herself hoping that she'd still be friends with the girls she knew as she got older.

     "Megara, this is stunning," Charlene sat wide-eyed as Megara finished her hair with a couple of touch-ups.  "You really need to go into cosmetology or something."

     "Cosmetology?" 

     Megara felt a shock run through her as that particular voice stunned her, flipping her gaze over to her left.  "Oh, mom, you scared me," she placed a hand over her heart.

     "Don't be so dramatic," her mom said quickly, her cutthroat tone shocking everyone in the room.  "I was here the whole time," she sauntered over to the other desks as she saw Rosetta sitting next to her Starbucks cup, nearly empty.  "Oh, you stopped for a drink on the way here I see?"

     Megara felt her cheeks get hot.  "I didn't think about getting anyone else one, since the hotel has an open bar."

     "Mom, I asked her to get me some," Rosetta chimed in, looking up from her phone.  She grabbed her cup, swirling the remaining juice around.  "See, it's just lemonade."

     "What's the harm, it's the wedding day and it's not like she can have champagne or anything else?" Megara asked, stepping away from the chair and towards the desk where her mom and Rosetta were.  Her mom had gone pretty far as to make a scene since she had arrived in Salt Lake, but this was just getting to be too much.

     "Oh, I see," her mom nodded.  "I wasn't aware you knew what was best for my daughter."

     Megara's mouth fell open, but thankfully nothing came out.  She was worried that if she did begin speaking, she'd say something she could never take back.  Sure, this was her mother, and she was trying her best to adjust to her sudden reappearance in her life (no matter how long it lasted), but she was really trying her patience.  Her daughter?  If Rosetta was her daughter, then where did that leave her?

     Thankfully, Megara was already done with everyone's hair and makeup.  "I can't do this right now," Megara said quietly.  She didn't wait around for an answer, taking the opportunity to hike her dress skirt up and leave, trotting through the widely opened doorway.

     Ricky had been standing around with her cousins, conversing about the latest drama happening in her family, and whatever else came to mind when he saw a flash of yellow run past the group and down the hallway.  Someone mentioned how it looked like Megara, and then he realized it most likely was Megara, so then there was Ricky running after her... again.

     "Megara?" he questioned as loudly as he could without drawing attention to themselves, even though nobody else was around when he saw her slowing down another hallway.  Lost in thought, no doubt.

     He was not prepared to see her when she turned around, making the mistake of thinking nothing she ever did could not affect him.  It was bad enough that she was the prettiest girl at East High every single day, but this was a wedding, she was dressed to make an impression.

     She stared right at him as he took note of every single detail from her dress, to her flushed cheeks, to the glimmer across her shoulders.  Her shoulders.  He'd kissed those shoulders before, albeit in a move to make Nini jealous at the time, but he'd still pressed his lips to them all the same.  Now thinking about it, he felt shameful for never kissing her on the lips, which was the one place he felt like he wanted to the most.  It was logically the place of reason for a first kiss, which they miraculously hadn't indulged in yet due to a rule for no PDA on Megara's side of the contract.  Which was stupid, because Megara deserved to be kissed.

     "Ricky?  Are you okay?" she finally brought herself to ask.

     Ricky gulped, forcing himself to look her in the eye.  "Yeah, um... you look like Belle."

     It took a moment, but Megara's face softened.  He was dressed in his tuxedo, but everything else about him remained the same.  "I..."

     She started to say something, but something flashed in her eyes and she seemingly didn't care for speaking any longer.  An elevator let off and people suddenly flooded the hallway they occupied.  She moved her lips as if muttering something to herself, but Ricky didn't hear a thing escape past them.  She turned over to scan the area, settling on a door titled "Conference Room", and rushed towards it, pushing her way inside.

     "Wait, Meg!" Ricky called out as he ran after her, which wasn't too hard since she was wearing heels and he wasn't.  "Megara," he repeated as the door closed behind him.

     He watched as she paced around the room, clutching her chest as she took deep breaths in and out.  "I'm sorry," she apologized.

     Ricky tilted his head, confused.  "Sorry for what?"

     "I'm sorry," Megara shook her head, clutching for a necklace that wasn't around her neck.  She just kept repeating herself in motions and in words.

     Ricky approached her with caution.  "Hey, hey, it's all right, it's all okay," he said.  "Please stop and breathe."

     There was something so vulnerable about his actually asking her that made her stop and think about it.  What was she doing?  Today wasn't about her.  Today wasn't about her mother.  It shouldn't have been about anyone but the bride and groom, her cousin to be married in less than an hour or so.  In the grand scheme of things, her anxiety was hardly a speck of dust.  She took another long, drawn-out breath as she watched him, even though he wasn't doing anything but looking at her.  "Okay, okay, I'm trying."

     "That's good," Ricky nearly cooed.  "I'll go see if I can find you some water or something," he turned on his heel and made for the door.

     "Oh, it's fine, Ricky, you don't have to—" Megara began cutting him off only to realize Ricky was yanking on the door handle, but nothing was happening.  The knob wasn't twisting and releasing the lock.  They were stuck inside.  "What the hell..."

     Ricky shook his head, still staring down at the knob in his hand.  "I don't know, I don't know, I swear I didn't—"

     Megara brought her hands to her hair, pushing on her temples as she started panicking again.  "Oh no, oh no, no, no.  This cannot be happening again."

     Ricky quickly turned to look at her.  "Again?"

     Megara squeezed her eyes shut.  "It's a long story.  Just... I don't know, I... The last time this happened, I was locked in a closet with Lip for like an hour and we had to wait for Howie to set us free.  I don't think I can do that again.  Not today."

     "You were locked in a closet with Lip?" Ricky questioned.

     "Really, Bowen?  Now is not the time," Megara said.

     "Oh, actually, it's a perfect time," Ricky patted his hands against his legs as he faked enthusiasm while facing her.  He leaned against the wall behind him, to the left of the door.  Besides the walls that made it an actual room, the front wall was mostly made out of glass.  Ricky motioned to it.  "Somebody will walk by eventually and see us."

     Megara couldn't help but be angry at him.  It was amazing, really, the way he could cause her emotions to flip from hot to cold within seconds.  She stuck her tongue in her cheek, but she was still burning to say what was really on her mind.  "I know you're my fake boyfriend and all, but you could stand to be a little less nosey.  I mean, seriously, Bowen.  I didn't ask any questions when you were stringing me along to make Nini bat her eyelashes at you like you literally had me at your disposal and somehow it feels like nothing has changed."

     "Screw you, Meg," Ricky scoffed.

     Megara grinned.  The audacity he had on him.  "You wouldn't be so lucky."

     "I guess being locked in a room with you would be the only way to get close to you though, so props to Lip for figuring that one out before I could," Ricky retorted.

     "And here I thought you were hiding your jealousy so well," Megara cooed.  "And while you're at it, stop looking at me like I've grown a second head.  You know I'm right.  I can still see you vying for other girls' attention and soaking it all up.  I didn't think you liked blonde girls, but you don't mind it when Lily looks at you.  If you didn't want my honesty, then you shouldn't have picked a fight with me.  Not then, not today, not ever."

     "One minute you're falling apart and I'm trying to be there for you as a friend, and the next you're pushing me away," Ricky countered.  "I mean, God, Megara.  I thought after everything we'd been through you—"

     "You just told me that no one could get close to me unless they were physically forced to, Bowen," she began raising her voice.  "Who cares about me and what I do in my free time?"

     "I do," Ricky said quickly, standing up and walking over towards her while still leaving room between them.  "I care about you and I care about what you're doing with Lip.  Sue me for trying to watch your back."

     "What you're doing isn't watching my back.  Grow a pair and get more confident in yourself.  When did you start letting other people walk all over you?"

     "When you came back into my life," Ricky said sharply.

     Megara's eyes widened as she pointed her finger at her chest.  "Ah, so it's all my fault now?  Is that what you're saying?"

     "Well, it's not like things have gotten easier since we started hanging out again."

     "May I remind you whose idea Operation Heart Stealer was?"

     That got him to be quiet for a moment.  When he opened his mouth to speak again, Megara could already tell she was going to wish she never had said anything.  "You think I let people walk all over me, but you turned into the person who pushes around other people and only uses them for yourself.  When you're done with them, you push them to the side or they leave you.  I am the only person who didn't let you, I'm the only one who has stayed."

     Immediately, Megara was shaking her head, arguing with his ideology.  Ricky sighed as she began voicing her opinion.  "I never asked you to do that, so you can just go ahead and leave too whenever you want."

     "No, I can't!" Ricky finally snapped.  Megara had seen him yell plenty of times, but this time she swore she could actually hear his voice break.  "No, I can't, because I'm stuck here in this room with you!"

     Megara wasn't sure how long she stood there.  It must have been at least a couple of minutes, but it felt like hours.  "I'm confused," she finally said, quietly.

     "On what?"

     "You say you care about me, but then you leave me alone for days.  You say the only way to get close to me is to be physically locked in a room with me, but then you want out.  You said you wanted to get Nini back, but you continued to fake date me even after you realized you were better off as friends.  You try to help me get a boyfriend, but then you disapprove of him.  I do not know what you really think of me."

     Ricky took a long drawn-out sigh.  "The truth is yes, I care about you.  But I cannot pretend like you do not aggravate me."

     "Not any more than you aggravate me."

     Ricky tilted his head.  "See, that is our problem.  We are still in competition with each other."

     Megara looked at the ground and tried her best to not look at Ricky even though he was far more interesting than the carpet was.  "I'm only going to say this once..." she muttered.  "But I'm sorry."

     "For what?"

     "For starters, agreeing to be your pretend girlfriend," she raised her gaze.

     Ricky shrugged, eyes flickering across the room, as uninteresting as it was.  "There were some good times."

     "I'm sorry that your mom made you come to my house so much."

     "It's a cool house."

     "I'm sorry that you ever met me..." Megara could barely make out the last of her words before sobs took over and she was letting herself go in front of him, and in less than a second she was frantically crying.

     "Woah, woah now," her sudden change in emotions caught him off guard, but he managed to grab her attention.  She was sinking to the floor and trying to push him away when he extended his arms out to her, but he just tried harder to grab a hold of her.  "Megara, Megara, listen."

     "No," she started crying, squirming in his arms.  It hurt him to hold her when she was like that, and it hurt more to see her going through it.

     "Megara, listen, listen to me," he put a hand as softly as he could behind her hair so as to not mess it up.  And then, he let her cry.  And he could feel her sinking into him too.

     "Of course, she only acts this way with me.  Rosetta says she's been a saint all these years.  What did I ever do to get her so upset?!"

     It took Megara a while to get herself calmed down, but when she finally did, she could not stop talking Ricky's head off.  Ricky nodded.  "It hurts when we flee to our moms hoping that they will help us, and in reality, they often make the comfort worse."

     Megara turned to face him.  "Since when did you start making sense?"

     "Since you decided to be the crazy one," he stated blankly while licking his tongue across his lips.

     "Oh my god," she groaned as she patted her corset for pockets that weren't there.  "Ricky, I don't have my phone."

    "I think I have mine," he said, stretching to reach into his back pocket to check.  "Let me just Google the hotel and maybe I can find a number for the front desk."

     After a couple of minutes of Ricky's slow phone and a short conversation, it was announced to her that they would send somebody down to find them but it might take a while because they didn't know which room they were in so they recommended that they sit down by the glass windows and hang tight.

     "Can you talk to me?  Keep me busy?" Megara asked.  "I don't wanna think about the wedding."

     "Sure," Ricky nodded, extending an arm over her shoulders.  "What do you wanna hear about?"

     "Tell me about the time I was Belle.  You remember it better than I do."

     And so he did.

     "I'm pretty sure we need to get this hemmed," Rita said to Megara.

     "I was just on my way to get your opinion," Megara tugged at the long dress in her hands. "I wanted to make sure I wasn't the one who sees how huge this ballgown is on me."

     Megara ignored the echoing footsteps in the hallway, turning her undivided attention to Rita.  "But Tanya broke her index finger so she can't sow, and Kourtney was out sick today with the flu. I'm pretty sure if this dress doesn't fit by tomorrow Carlos will have a meltdown."

     "Oh, why didn't you just say so?" Rita asked with a wicked smile.

     In a flash, Ricky had been speeding down the hallway, stepping over himself, and then Megara too.  He tumbled over her pretty quickly.  When he finally rose to his feet and saw that she was okay, he was able to deduce what was going on merely by the dress.

     With eyebrows raised, Ricky said, "Oh, you got the part of Belle! That's like..."

     "Lame?" Megara finished for him, knowing Ricky wasn't a big fan of musicals as she remembered how he told her he thought they were cheesy and unnecessary most of the time.

     "Perfect for you," he finished. "Princess Belle, that's the perfect role for you."

     Megara didn't know what that meant, but she was pretty sure he was trying to compliment her. "Thanks, Ricky."

     He smiled softly. "No problem. I'm sorry, again."

     "What are you in such a hurry for anyways, Richard?" Rita asked, reminding him of her presence.

     "Well, Margarita," he retorted. "My mom's picking me up and taking me out to eat. It's gonna be just the two of us."

     Rita rolled her eyes. "How fun," Megara turned to Ricky with a smile, which he returned. "Now go."

     "But—"

     "We have it handled," Megara pointed at the piece of ripped fabric in Rita's hand, referring to his mistake. "Go have fun with your mom."

     He grinned from ear to ear. "Thanks, Meg! I owe you one!"

     By the time they were rescued from the room, Megara felt like she was a little kid again.  Especially with the way she had crumbled in front of Ricky, asking him to support her.

     We saved so much money by having Megara help us out," Charlene beamed.  "And trust, your time will be compensated for."

     "Thank you," Megara said honestly.  "Right now, I just want to go home," she added as Ricky looped his arm through hers.  Tension still lay in the air from their fight earlier in the day, but as long as nothing else sparked the discussion again, Megara didn't care to bring it up anymore.  She had enough fighting for a lifetime.

     Her dad nodded.  "Yeah, it's about that time.  Listen, your mom said she was going to get a hotel and your sister agreed to go with her.  I'll go get the car and bring it around if you wanna get your things, I'll meet you out front."

     "Perfect," Megara whispered.

     When she and Ricky were done grabbing their belongings, mostly just his jacket and her caboodle and things of the like, she stood with her arms raised and stretched out like a child.  "Come on, the carriage is this way," Ricky said as he patted her manicured hand, leading her in the direction of her dad's large Range Rover, which was parked near the entrance as promised.

     The ride home in the backseat was quiet and serene, but nice.  Especially after the long day, they'd had.  Ricky swore that Megara had fallen asleep with her head on the car window, but when he nudged her to see if she was sleeping, she'd just changed her position so she could sleep on his shoulder instead.  Ricky froze up.  The last time she'd slept on him was when they were forced to share that bed in Colorado.  But now, seeing the dress on her, he'd realized the sacrifice was well worth it.

     "Oh my god, Megara Montez has unicorn slippers," he said when the three of them walked into the house, his eyes trained on the shoe rack Megara had tidied in the entrance.

     "Say that again out loud and I might have to commit a murder," Megara said to him.

     Indifferent to their bickering, Mr. Montez left his keys on the hook and shrugged his jacket off.  "Stay as long as she'll allow, Ricky.  I'm going to bed."

     Ricky nodded.  "Okay, thanks for everything, Mr. Montez.  Goodnight."

     "Yeah, buenos noches papi," Megara blew him a kiss as they split up in different directions throughout the house.  "Help yourself with whatever, my room is kinda messy if you go in there, but I gotta go to the restroom," Megara said as she shifted in the long dress down the hallway.  "Cold air makes me need to pee," Megara muttered to herself.

     She tried to play it off cool, but peeing in that dress was not glamorous at all.  She knew she had spent a lot of time in the bathroom, but she would be damned if she'd be judged for that in her own house.

     When she was finally done, she headed to the living room thinking that Ricky would've settled for some leftovers and an episode of South Park.  Sure, they'd just eaten at the wedding, but dancing took up a lot of energy and that was all they had been doing after the ceremony.  All in all, her plan worked magnificently.  Bringing Ricky got her family off her back, and by dancing all night, she avoided everyone with ease.  Besides, Ricky was the kind of kid who always ate.

     But he wasn't in the living room, and not a peep could be made from anywhere else in the room, except for Pumpkin sleeping soundly in her bed in the corner by the TV.

     "Bowen?" she called out quietly as she walked back to her room.  She knew boys didn't necessarily care about the mess — Ricky's room surely hadn't been cleaned since 2009 — but she was still surprised he'd chosen to hang out there instead.  Maybe out of privacy and respect for her dad sleeping on the other side of the house.

     The curly-haired boy was sitting on the side of her bed, shoes touching the ground and thankfully not stepping on any clothes.  He smelled nice still, despite glistening in sweat from earlier.  She could smell him even before she entered the room.

     Megara's heart dropped to her stomach as she watched Ricky's doe eyes scan across a wrinkled piece of paper in his hands.  With the open hat box tossed on her bed, she quickly deduced what it was, and she suddenly wished she had burned them all when she had the chance.

Bowen —

If you ever find this, and I really hope you never do, pretend you didn't.  I seriously, seriously mean it.  No one can know about this, especially Nini.  I don't know what she would do if she found out that I wrote you this.

It's not that I have the hots for you, Ricky Bowen, I certainly don't.  I just kinda sorta like the way you play with your curls when you're concentrating really hard on something like your homework, or when you're playing your guitar on your front porch and I'm walking my dog Pumpkin and you insist on making me stop so you can pet her.  You can bribe her with all the dog treats in the world but she still loves me more.

If I knew I was going to like you this much, I would've stayed away from you when I fell that day in the cafeteria and you grabbed me and helped me up.  I would've stayed away when you ran into me that day I was trying on the gown from the Beauty and the Beast production for the first time and almost ripped it in half when you stepped on the fabric touching the floor.  I would've looked the other way when you said you were sorry, that you would help me fix the piece you tore off since you were in a hurry to meet your mom that day after school.

But instead, I let you in, I listened to you talk about your mom and your favorite bands and your stupid shoes and when your mom came back I occupied myself with writing and reading but no matter how many love stories I indulged myself in, they always reminded me of you.

Sometimes I imagine what it would've been like if I told you I liked you before Nini did. The sad thing is, I thought you felt the same way about me as I did you. Maybe I misunderstood all of the times you walked me home after I went skating and all the times you helped bandage all of my scrapes and cuts. I guess I was wrong to take your kindness for affection, the kindness you showed me when I used to get bullied by Amelia Hanes and told her to stop. The kindness you showed me when my mom forgot to buy groceries or give me lunch money so you'd share your food with me. I would like to imagine myself lying next to you and playing with your curls or the drawstrings of your hoodie. But I stood by and watched you fall for Nini instead.

When you're not around, it's really weird. I miss you. I think that's why I always walk Pumpkin by your house because we don't talk a lot. I like that you can talk to me, though. I like that you trust me.

I didn't plan on liking you this much. I didn't want to let you in. But we don't choose who we like. I can only hope this will pass. You're dumb but I guess if you weren't the way you were, I wouldn't like you.  And I do, Bowen.  I like you a lot.

xo, M.M.

     "Ricky..." Megara started slowly.  "I wrote those such a long time ago.  Matter of fact, it's not even a big deal."

     At that point, Ricky had been re-reading the same letter over and over after burning through the others she wrote for him.  He had wanted to read the others, but she'd written the most for him.

     "Not a big deal?" Ricky questioned.  Megara hated when he looked at her like he was crazy.  He tilted his head, allowing wrinkles and creases to form around his eyebrows as he furrowed them madly at her.  "Are you being serious right now?"

     She decided then that Ricky Bowen looked a lot prettier when he was at ease, doing something like baking (which he was getting really good at) or playing his guitar (she was still waiting on his album), or playing video games.  Now he just looked like a different person to her, at least at the moment, when he was heated with her.

     When she didn't answer, he kept going.  "You said you wrote this a long time ago but Pumpkin is still a puppy and she's in your letter.  And you asked me to tell you about the time you were Belle, but you wrote about that in your letter too."

     It was getting hard to breathe in her suffocating room.  "Well, um, maybe it's just a comforting memory for me."

     This seemed to twist Ricky around even more.  "What are we even doing this for?  Why are we still doing this?"

     "For you!" Megara exclaimed as quietly as she could.  "You're the one who suggested the fake dating in the first place."

     "That was before I knew—"

     "Chose your next words wisely, Bowen," Megara stepped closer to him, locking his gaze with her dark eyes.  "As far as I'm concerned, I never wrote those."

     "But I am holding them right here!" he flapped the paper in his hands.

     It was true.  He got her.  He had her right in the center of his palm.  She was absolutely busted, bare ass naked to him.  He knew everything.  Maybe not everything, but close to it.  She had two choices, the way she saw it.  One; look it right in the eye and confront her feelings for him, no matter how embarrassing or old, and face the consequences.  Two; act like it was nothing and brush it off.  He would get over himself eventually.

     She chose the second one.

     Megara cleared her throat.  "Just pretend you never saw them, Bowen.  Go home.  We can break up now.  We all got what we wanted."

     Ricky batted his eyelids and Megara could see he was holding back something.  Maybe tears, but she couldn't see him crying over her.  "Oh yeah, and what was that?"

     Megara knew without delivering a final blow, that he wouldn't leave her alone.  And she'd already caused him enough pain and misery for a lifetime.  He could be better off without her.  He would be.

     "I got Lip."

     Ricky's jaw fell open, but he forced himself to close it right back up.  That was it, there was no arguing that.  Operation Heart Stealer was over for good this time.  That much was obvious when they could barely spend a day together without fighting.  So he grabbed his jacket and ran for the door, and even though he still had her letter in his hand, Megara stepped aside so he could go.  She watched as he left, even standing by the window in her living room to watch him leave.  But only when she saw the furious boy leave her sight, did she finally let her own tears fall to the floor.

me when i give you domestic micky and then have to rip them away 💔👁💧👄💧👁