Without Hesitation

Chapter 5

The next morning, Elle woke up feeling unrested and rolled over to look at the clock. It was only nine in the morning, yet she could hear the bustle of the excited crew outside of her door. How the hell was everyone up and moving, sounding so joyous and ready to take on the world out there? Everyone besides the parents were recovering from a night of drinking. Elle had barely even drunk anything, and she felt like she had been hit by a truck. She guessed that the anticipation of the rehearsal dinner was enough to shake their hangovers, but Elle wasn't quite on that level of excitement.

She showered, and gave some brief good mornings to Morgan, Adrian, and the parents before excusing herself back to her room. She put on a sweatshirt, some Nike shorts, and some fuzzy socks. She was going to have to be in a tight dress or suit for the next couple of days, so might as well be as cozy as she can be. Elle was brushing out her damp hair when she heard a soft knock on the door.

"Hey, it's Avery, can I come in?" a soft voice said through the door.

Elle didn't take the time to check herself in the mirror; she knew that she wasn't going to like what she saw, so she chose the path of ignorance. She walked to the door and opened it gently. Elle was immediately taken aback by Avery's radiance, and Avery was taken aback as well. From what, Elle couldn't tell. But it took Avery a second to compose herself and offer an anxious smile.

"Hey," Elle said while turning back and sitting on the bed. Avery slowly made her way to the small office chair adjacent to the bed and sat down.

"Hey." Avery nervously looked around the room before her eyes landed on her hands fidgeting in her lap. "I wanted to talk about last night."

Elle pursed her lips. "Sure, what's up?"

"Well, I'm sorry about what happened."

Elle looked at her puzzled. "Wait, what do you mean?"

"I shouldn't have run off like that. That was rude to both you and Morgan, and I'm sorry."

"You don't need to apologize for that, I should be apologizing to you." Elle strained her neck down, trying to catch Avery's eye. It worked and Avery finally looked up. "I shouldn't have taken credit for the part of the night you planned. That was wrong of me. I guess I was upset that you came up with a better idea than me."

Avery stared at her for just enough time to make the silence palpable. "Thank you for saying that, that means a lot. But I didn't have the most altruistic intentions when offering to help you with the bachelorette party anyways."

"What do you mean?"

"I guess I was hoping that I could prove to Morgan that even though she hates me now, that I still knew her well and made a good friend. Which probably proves Morgan's feelings about me right. That was entirely self-serving." Avery looked down at her hands again, sadness and frustration radiating from her. "You proved that you are the one that should be by her side, by putting Morgan's wants above your own. You gave her the party she wanted."

Elle scooted to the edge of the bed, getting closer to Avery. "Yeah, but I still took credit for an idea that wasn't mine. I try so hard to be the friend that Morgan wants that I threw you under the bus for it. And that wasn't right either."

Avery's head shot up. "What do you mean try so hard to be the friend that Morgan wants? She adores you. You don't have to try at all."

Elle flushed and looked away. She wanted to believe that, but it's hard at times, being friends with someone like Morgan, who just radiates confidence and life. The silence lingered for a few more seconds.

"I was sure that you were going to rat me out when we got to Oaks Park."

Avery gave a sad chuckle. "Honestly? I really thought about it. I left the restaurant to beat you all there to have the tickets in hand and tell everyone. But once we drove by the river next to Oaks Park, I asked the Uber driver to drop me off early so I could walk around and cool off a bit. It allowed me to think straighter." Avery looked at Elle with such sincerity that it made her heart race. "Plus, I didn't want to make things more tense between us. I don't know what happened, but I feel like we went from friendly, maybe even a bit flirty, to you not liking me. And I didn't know why, and I didn't like it. So, I didn't want to make it worse."