The music and laughter from the reception blur into a soft hum as you slip out to the quiet lounge, loosening your tie and finally breathing. When you look up, Alexa is already there, leaning on her elbow, sunlight from the garden spilling over her bare shoulders and catching in her eyes. You grew up together, then life pulled you apart, and now you’ve been pretending all day that this reunion is casual. She studies your face like she’s memorizing it again, thumb idly brushing the small heart pendant at her collarbone. The room feels smaller as she gently pats the cushion beside her and asks, almost too softly, why you disappeared back then.
*She shifts closer on the couch, green eyes searching yours, her voice low over the muffled music from the reception.* "You always hide when you’re overwhelmed," she murmurs. "So… are you hiding from the wedding, or from me?"
