Tara Ahuja's Golden Rules

26: Husband & Wife

Ezra and I stood at a secluded corner, where no one could really see us. I guess we had a thing for being at secluded areas at joyous functions. I couldn't help but think back to the carnival, we reunited it.

Ezra looked pretty much the same. His build had also gotten a little more muscular, and some of his facial features seemed more mature. His hair was a bit longer, as well. Something kind of peculiar to note was that, Ezra's once lively green eyes seemed dull. They looked lifeless, and I wasn't sure why. This was supposed to be the happiest day of his life.

Ezra's green eyes melted into mine, as he softly said, "You came."

I smiled at his sentiment; it was sweet to see him so excited that I came. It made this all worth it. "Of course I came, Ezra, how could I not?" I said.

He took a step closer to me, and smiled, as he reached for my hands. He took ahold of both my hands and gripped them, almost as if we were getting married. I felt myself getting a bit confused, but I didn't snatch my hands away or anything; maybe this was just Ezra being a little touchy.

"I've never stopped thinking about you, Tara," he admitted in a dark voice. He licked his lips and placed his forehead on mine, making us unnaturally close.

I disconnected our foreheads, but let him still hold my hands, "Uh, what?" I asked.

Ezra shook his head, and I noticed his eyes getting watery. "You meant everything to me, Tara and you still do, I- all the feelings just rushed back to me, as soon as I saw you. It's you, it's always been you, it could never be someone else."

My heart was pounding against my chest right now. No, why was he saying all this. Why did I agree to come out here? What was I supposed to say to him.

I took a breath, wait, no, this could just be because of his nerves or something, right? I'm sure there was this initial shock of seeing me after all these years, and that's what he was actually feeling. That could've also explained the little moment I had with Varun.

Ezra looked at me as if he were waiting for my response. I didn't say anything.

"You must feel something too because you came," he said, convincingly.

Shit, was he right? Did I feel something, and was that the feeling that urged me to come to his wedding? I shook my head rapidly. No, no it wasn't. Ezra was just gaslighting me right now.

"I just came here to support my friend, Ezra, that's you," I clarified.

Ezra's lips parted in sadness, and then he began rapidly shaking his head. "No, No, Tara please. Let's try our relationship over again at least one more time. If you take me back, hell I'll cancel this whole wedding, I don't care."

My eyes were practically bulging out of my head, "Are you crazy, Ezra? No!" I exclaimed.

What was wrong with him? After I left, he perfectly built a relationship with a new girl to the point where he was even ready to marry her. Now, all of the sudden he wanted to throw that all away? And, because of me? A girl he hadn't seen in a decade. Why was he so easily able to throw away his life like that? How could he even think about doing that himself? How could he even think about doing that to his fiancé?

"Think about it, Tara," Ezra started, "I'm giving you a chance to fulfill our happy ending. Think about all the memories we had, all the love that we shared. You're throwing it all away, now. I'm giving you a chance to give our relationship one last try and really love each other for the rest of our lives. We are mature now, we could make it work. "

My mind slightly faltered for a second because I actually considered it. It would be a happy ending to a relationship—but what the actual hell— no, I wasn't even going to ponder about it.

"Are you crazy?" I exclaimed, Ezra jolted back. "Your family is waiting for you right outside. Your bride is waiting for you to marry her. How could you do this?

Ezra blinked a couple of times and stared at the ground. He didn't say anything. A couple of moments later, he finally spoke, "But... Tara,"

"No, Ezra!" I yelled. I didn't wanna hear any more of his bullshit. He was acting insane. He wasn't acting like Ezra.

I looked over to my side, and noticed Varun cautiously walking in front of me, "Is everything alright?" he asked.

He took in the scene between Ezra and I. Ezra looked completely distraught, and I looked entirely angry. He probably also heard me yell a couple of seconds ago.

"Yeah," I said, "Let's just go."

Ezra gave a nasty scoff, "So, that's why..." Ezra spat nastily. Ezra tried to take a step closer to me, but Varun protectively stood in front of him.

Ezra gave Varun a nasty scowl. Varun slightly had an upper hand on him because of his height. Ezra's glare shot back at me, and he said, "Blast from the past, you still like him."

I felt my cheeks flushing red. Whether I did or did not was none of Ezra's concern. The fact that he even said that in front of Varun was incredibly embarrassing.

"Stop it, Ezra, you're way out of line," I demanded.

He shook his head drastically, "Fuck you, I was never good enough for you," he said, trying to take a step closer.

Varun pressed down on his shoulder with his large hand, urging Ezra back, "Calm the fuck down," Varun warned.

Ezra scoffed again, "Fuck you both. You two deserve each other, nothing but soul-sucking life ruiners," he spat.

I swallowed hard, and looked down. Ezra brushed past Varun, and went back towards the guests. It was difficult seeing someone who you had such a prominent history with insult you like that.

"Are you alright?" Varun asked. He always seemed to be asking me that question.

"Yeah, we should get back to the wedding, right?" I asked.

Varun had a puzzled expression, "You want to go back?" he asked.

Yeah, I realized that it sounded a bit ridiculous. We just had a big fight with the groom and I was ready to happily go watch their marriage.

It just seemed like the right thing to do. I didn't want people asking why we left early, or for Ezra to be put in an awkward position. All we have to do is just watch this little ceremony and it would be over with without causing any potential drama.

Even though a part of me also didn't want to admit it, since Ezra just said some nasty things to me, I wanted to see him get married. Not only because it felt like the right thing to do as a friend, but maybe that would be some kind of "forever closure" I needed.

"Okay..." Varun said, hesitantly.

***

"And, do you Ezra Ashton take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife?" the officiant asked.

Ezra took one last glance at the audience, and met eyes with me. I stared at him empathetically, and gave a subtle nod.

"Uh, yes, I do," Ezra stammered.

The officiant's smile beamed; it matched the bride's happy demeanor "Then, by the power vested in me, I pronounce you two husband and wife," he said.

The guests stood up quickly and began clapping. Varun and I did the same. The "happily" married couple ran out of the ceremony hand-in-hand. Varun looked over at me, giving me a skeptical look, but I just brushed it off.

I smiled watching the couple. I wish you, Ezra Ashton, all the happiness in the world. Thanks for being such a big part of mine for a while. I let you go, now.