⎯⎯ 𝐚𝐮𝐠𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟒

" 𝕿his is a bad, bad idea".

Trevor glances sidelong at Jamie's sing-song tone, shrugging as he continues walking towards the small ballroom in the hotel where Orla and Millie's wedding will take place, which is also where the rehearsal brunch — yes, brunch — is due to begin in approximately ten minutes.

List of events that led up to this very moment?

Well, for starters Trevor picked Jamie up from the airport. A two hour road trip later, their car pulled into the quaint hotel based in the New York countryside.

They checked into their already booked rooms right beside each other and half an hour later, dressed up in their best casual-yet-not-so-casual summer attire and got into the elevator to make it to the rehearsal brunch in time.

Every time Jamie sees Trevor he tries to reiterate just how bad of an idea he thinks it is to casually spring this on Madeleine without so much as a hint at first but Trevor is nothing if not stubborn.

And stupid but that's a tale for another day.

"Names?", the woman manning the open doors of the ballroom asks expectantly as they approach her.

They brandish their invitations at her, "Jamie Drysdale and Trevor Zegras".

She hums, perusing her iPad before nodding in affirmation and letting them through but not without handing over a thin booklet.

The itinerary, of course.

"Bachelorette parties. 7 pm", Jamie informs a distracted Trevor.

"Huh?".

"Bachelorette parties", he repeats, "I know I'll be with Millie but where will you be?".

"Oh", Trevor frowns. He really hadn't thought of that.

Huh.

Surely, he'd be with Millie too? Or . . . . what if he's left out of either lists? What if he has to stay back tonight?

Dammit, that won't fare well for the plan.

"Uhm, excuse me", Trevor holds out a hand to a woman in a navy pantsuit whose vibes literally scream management aka the Wedding Planner.

She halts, raising a sharply manicured brow at him.

"I, uh, I wanted to know which bachelorette party I'm invited to?".

She narrows her eyes at him, pursing her lips as she considers the two of them.

"Okay. What's your name?".

"Trevor Zegras".

"And Jamie Drysdale", Jamie chimes in causing Trevor to scoff at him.

"I thought you knew where you had to go?".

Jamie shrugs, "I need to be sure".

"Alright, Zegras and Drysdale. You are both with Millicent Gray's wedding party and logged in for her bachelorette too. Is that clear?".

Trevor's head snaps to the Wedding Planner, eyes wide in surprise.

"So we're both attending Millie's bachlorette party? You're sure?".

The woman looks on, unamused.

"Yes".

"Oh, thank you", he flashes her a grin but she simply nods and walks away, leaving the both of them to stand there in shock for a second.

"Millie added you to her list. That's crazy".

Trevor's grin turns to his friend, throwing an arm around his shoulder and pulling him along to go find their seats, "Guess I'm not that hated, am I?".

"Interesting".

After consulting the seating chart and arguing more than once about the exact arrangement of tables, they finally find their seats getting ready to sit down when a hand tightly grabs hold of Trevor's arm and forces him to look back.

His face dissolves into a wide smile, quickly scanning her from head to toe and grinning even wider.

"You look gorgeous".

Her scowl deepens as she leans back to really examine him, still trying to figure out if she isn't hallucinating.

"What the hell are you doing here?", she demands, glaring up at him.

He shrugs with a faint smile, "I'm invited".

"Did you force Jamie to bring you as a plus one? Jamie", she turns her glitter coated eyes to a visibly nervous Jamie idling by his friend's side, "hi. So nice to see you. Did he manipulate you into this?".

"Uh—".

"I'm not here as a plus one. I got my own invite. See", Trevor hands her the invitation card, "I even RSVP'ed".

She stands stunned with the invite clutched between her pink nails.

"But the invites were sent in February", her voice comes out as a murmur, a slow realisation dawning upon her, gaze sharply flitting up to level Trevor with another glare.

"You didn't say a word about attending".

Trevor stuffs his hands in his pockets, "Thought you knew".

She purses her lips, eyebrows drawing together and Trevor takes another second to look at her and my god, how is she this beautiful? Her pink summer dress perfectly clings to every curve, the matching stilettos on her feet pushing her closer to Trevor's chin, gold hoops gently brush against the strands of her soft blonde hair held back in a messy yet graceful ponytail.

Her glossy pink lips tempt him to step forward, earn that familiar alluring look from her bright blue eyes, and lean down ever so slightly to just simply breathe her in, allow himself to feel lucky enough for her presence.

Feel lucky enough to be breathing the same air as her.

But he doesn't get a chance to do anything because the next moment she plasters a fake cheerful smile on her face and takes a few steps back from as if sensing the need coursing through his veins.

"Have a great time then".

Trevor finds himself swallowing a lump in his throat.

"Thanks".

And just like that, she averts her glance to Jamie and gives him a real smile, no matter how little.

"Let me know if you need anything".

Jamie nods returning her smile and another person joins them just as Madeleine is about to walk away.

"Who the fuck let you in?".

All of them turn to the brunette who has materialised by Madeleine's side bearing the same blue eyes that Trevor adores but the look they laden him with is of pure and utter contempt.

Madeleine sighs.

"He got an invite, Mills. He RSVP'ed too".

That glaring sapphire gaze cuts back to Madeleine, softening as it lands on her.

"But I didn't—oh", her face falls, nose scrunching up as she releases a groan.

"Orla. God, I'm sorry, Mads. Do you want me to—".

"No", Maddie cuts her off, sparing Trevor a glance, "It's fine. He'll behave, won't you?".

Trevor nods vigorously but Millie continues giving him a soured look.

"Hey, Millie. It's really beautiful here".

The brunette turns her attention to Jamie smiling at her in an attempt to break the ice.

She laughs quietly, "Thank you, Jamie. It's because of Orla that we found such an amazing planner. Just so you know, you were always welcome here".

Jamie's smile grows and after exchanging another round of thanks, both the sisters depart to go tend to their duties — Maddie making sure to throw a raised brow at Trevor as she leaves — and Trevor looks at his friend in annoyance.

"Seriously, why is everyone so nice to you?".

Jamie shrugs, pulling his chair out to sit down.

"Maybe because I'm not an idiot like you".

***
i've had this written up since wednesday but couldn't find the energy to edit it 😔