The Wedding Invitation

°♡°

I stare down at my half-empty glass of whisky, pressing my lips into a thin line. 

I don't have to look up to see my friend, Vinny gawking at me with his elbow resting on the bar counter and his chin in his hand. And I most definitely don't need to look at him to know that he's aching to say what I know he wants to say.

"Before you say –" I start. 

"I told you so." He cut me off.

"Damnit, Vinny." I exhale a sigh, finally meeting his smug gaze. He definitely looks satisfied after saying those words even though it's not the first time he said them.

"Urie, look at this." He slides the card towards me. "If it looks like a wedding invitation, smells like a wedding invitation and has the words 'Wedding Invitation' printed in cursive along with two wedding rings printed on the front page, then what the fuck is it – a wedding invitation. And it looks to me that your fuck buddy is marrying someone else, meaning that your little situationship was bound to end – again."

"It wasn't a situationship." I protest.

"It wasn't a relationship either, dawg." Vinny reminds me. "Hell, at this point it was a whole entanglement because you two were at it with each other while she was going on and off with Stefan. I'm surprised you're surprised you didn't see this coming."

"Well, at least I got laid more than he ever did."

"Fuck outta here with that bullshit, Urie. Don't act like you didn't come here to bemoan to me once again why Toni is back with her boyfriend – now fiancé."

".... that was uncalled for."

"I give tough love, brutha. That's how much I care about you."

"You're an asshole." I roll my eyes.

Vinny isn't exactly a bad friend. Matter of fact, he's been one of my closest friends ever since college. He's good company despite his sarcastic nature and a good listener who gives the best advice when he can.

However, the drawback is that his qualities as a good friend come with the price of being an unfiltered prick and he's very much unapologetic about it. And the sad thing is, he's mostly right about a lot of things whether you like it or not.

As I said before, he's a good friend. I just don't always appreciate his snarky remarks and rubbing my problems in my face especially after warning and advising against it beforehand. But I put up with him just as he puts up with me.

"It's just..." I pause briefly and sigh. "I don't understand. I thought our relationship was going somewhere."

"Situationship." He corrected me, with a strong emphasis on the word.

I throw him a glare that says, 'You're not helping asshole.'

"I'm just reminding you that whatever you had with Toni was never genuine at all. Worse of all, you two didn't even put a label with it and technically she and Stefan never broke up." He tells me.

"They were on a break."

"Taking a break from a relationship doesn't mean break up just as separation doesn't mean divorce, Urie." He reasons. "She and Stefan temporarily put their relationship on hold so they could get their shit in order and not end up killing each other. And hooking up with you was by far the worst coping mechanism ever."

The short silence is filled with indistinct chatter and soft music playing in the background of the bar.

"So, what now?" he asks, breaking the silence.

"Toni wants me to come to the wedding," I tell him.

He gawks at me incredulously. "And you're thinking of going?"

"She wants me there."

"Yeah, no. You can return this invite and kindly and respectfully tell her to go fuck herself."

"She wants my support, Vinny."

"Translation: she wants you to rub it in your face that she's marrying another man while exchanging vows and rings, making you way more miserable than you already are."

I look down at my glass, swirling the ice around in my empty glass as I press my lips into a thinner line, unable to find the words to say.

"Urie, listen to me." I feel his hard gaze on me. "This on and off situationship with Toni has been going on for two years already and it's become an endless cycle you seem to be having a hard time breaking out of just because you want to play knight in shining armour.

"And no offence, as much as I want you to vent and let out what you feel, this Toni thing is starting to become a headache I can't even deal with because no matter how many times I keep telling you to leave it alone, you still do it and we're back to square one and you start giving her excuses."

"You don't know what goes on between her and Stefan the way I do, Vinny."

"Yes, I don't know what goes on between those two because I don't care what happens in their relationship, it ain't my business to know and I am under no obligation to try to fix let alone be involved." He tells me. "I know you care about her, and I know you've been in love with her for the longest time, but you ain't got no chance, man. This invite she gave you is confirmation of that, and I don't want to see you hurting over her again."

"I know," I answer, looking at him and offering him a smile that doesn't reach my eyes. "Thanks, man."

Vinny returns the smile before fishing out his phone to check the time. "Ah shit!" he cusses. "Sorry, Urie. But I may need to cut our meeting short and book it. I have a shit ton of assignments to grade."

"But tomorrow is a weekend." I furrow my eyebrows.

"Yeah, no. My weekends are strictly to keep me away from work at all costs until Monday comes. I'd rather pull an all-nighter than waste my precious weekend on work, broski." He says lidding his eyes.

I chuckle. "Good luck with that. I'll see you at work on Monday then."

"Make sure you don't get drunk, you son of a bitch."

"No promises."