The Wedding Project 💍

'Behind Blue Eyes' - The Groomsman (@Anony10298)

Alex downed another glass of fine whiskey as he watched Callum. He still looked impossibly perfect. Of course he did, it was his bloody wedding after all. To the person he loved, on top of that, which was obviously not Alex since he was sitting at the groom's side, nodding along and smiling whenever it looked like Ocean had delivered the punchline of the joke.

Alex clenched his jaw and took another swig from his glass and pulled a face. Whatever fancy, expensive shit they had made was not as strong as he wanted it to be. Nothing felt strong enough after the party. Speaking of, Callum didn't look like he was hungover.

Sometimes it seemed like he was forever at his best. Which was the only thing that calmed Alex down. Because he knew that only a few others had the privilege of seeing Callum with his imperfections and he, Alex, was one of them. Although even the imperfections were perfect.

Maybe he was a little too determined, some would say, too ambitious. But that wouldn't be right. Alex, personally, was of the opinion that having a clear goal in one's mind was an admirable trait to have. There was no such thing as too much determination. The only problem was that Callum had lost that trait in a few weeks.

And there lay Alex's misery.

His smart, charming, ambitious friend had gone and fallen in love with a girl. Alex's very own cousin, at that. And he was getting married. This was all a bit too much, in Alex's humble opinion. Not that it mattered anyway. His feelings never mattered.

If it had, he wouldn't be barely scraping by. Paying the debt which wasn't his, giving away joy he didn't have. Callum, his best mate, was getting married to his cousin and he couldn't crack a genuine smile if he tried.

Because Callum wasn't his best mate. He was something much, much more precious to him and Alex hated watching him slip from his hands. Not that he ever was in it, but this...this wedding, it was final. That was it. This was the end.

Alex swore under his breath as he felt his eyes and nose prickle.

This isn't the right time. This isn't the right time at all, he thought, quickly downing another glass of expensive whiskey and intentionally choking on it. At least now he had an excuse for his watery eyes.

He grabbed some tissues and wiped his mouth and hands, murmuring a sorry to no one in particular.

~*~*~*~*~*~

He had excused himself and went to the bathroom to get a grip on himself before joining the ceremony. Alex had to remind himself multiple times what he was here for: to have a good time.

He was at a destination wedding of an ultra rich couple. Living in a fancy hotel with fancy food, he had to have a good time. Not doing that would be such a waste. He could go and sulk once he reached home.

Yes. That was right. The mission was to enjoy every penny they threw into this lavish wedding ceremony

The thought calmed him for a while in that ridiculously large bathroom, but it all came crashing back again when he sat down among other groomsmen for the ceremony. Strangely though, instead of feeling sad he felt anger. Intense hatred for Anna surged through him as wherever he looked all he saw was her. The cheesy decor, the colour scheme, none of it matched Callum's personality.

Callum was strong, fiery, adamant, ambitious, but the flowers and the colours were soft and cool. He didn't want to--couldn't--imagine how stifling it all must be for Callum. He was dealing with all this nonsense for a girl he hadn't known long enough. The changes in him were so sudden, so wrong.

Did Anna not realize what she was doing to Callum? Or maybe she didn't love him enough to care. For all he knew, maybe she was having a power trip from doing this to Callum.

With each passing moment, Alex knew he was slipping deeper into the abyss of hatred and finding it very hard to shake the feeling off. And part of him didn't want to.

A part of him knew that no matter what, he didn't stand a chance. Because if it wasn't Anna, then it would be someone else and he would still hate the girl. He knew it was wrong but it was incredibly satisfying to pin all the blame on her, someone he didn't know nor care about one bit.

So it was a good thing that the commotion stopped his train of hatred. Alex looked up to see what the racket was about and was...surprised, to put it lightly.

He saw a girl walking towards him. Nothing strange about that, of course she would sit at the groom's side. That was normal. No, what stood out about her was her dress. It clashed horribly with the wedding scheme.

Black dress, no sleeves and a skirt that would make the older people clutch their pearls. And if he remembered correctly, that girl was Callum's sister Mia.

Here was a girl who was doing what he didn't have the guts to do: she was boldly breaking all the stupid rules of Anna's wedding and not giving a damn. He sure was enjoying every moment of this spectacle

Alex grinned. His mission seemed like a piece of cake now

~*~*~*~*~*~

"...What we will be witnessing today is a promise. A promise that none of the two will have to continue on their path through life alone. They were both raised by good parents..."

Alex snorted when the vicar said that. There was so much he disagreed in this line alone. For starters, this "promise", he was sure, would break soon enough. He was sure of it. And if, by some miracle, it didn't then that would mean Callum would have to deal with Anna's nonsense for the rest of his life.

Because Callum's parents were indeed good, as the vicar had said. They had raised their children right, he could see that. Callum was Callum, utter perfection. And Mia and Molly showed great potential too, based on what he witnessed earlier in the day. Mia clearly had a strong personality, just like her brother used to have. He was glad there was at least someone sane here other than him.

On the other hand were Anna's parents. While Alex didn't know them personally, they couldn't have done a good job of parenting as Anna obviously didn't turn out good. She was foolish with money (that wasn't hers in the first place) and impractical. Other than a rich family background and a conventionally pretty face, she hadn't achieved anything by herself. Nothing like Callum, who was the most down-to-earth, hardworking person Alex knew.

Keyword being "was".

Alex looked everywhere but at the bride and groom, trying to shut out all the voices. He knew they were speaking their vows now and tried to shut it out.

He still heard Callum say "I do" with no hesitancy whatsoever.

He bowed his head and stared at his shoes when they kissed. His eyes were shut, jaws clenched and he was trying to drown out the cheers of the people and that stupid pain in his chest.