I rolled my eyes and bumped my shoulder against his.

The remainder of the reception was spent between the dance floor and the table where the cake was. Josh and I did everything from the running man to the sprinkler around Nicole in her beautiful cream wedding dress. The bitch knew better than to even think about putting on a white dress. I think she had a fear of getting struck by lightning if she did it, since God knows there wasn't any part of that girl that could've been considered even marginally virginal. Tristan stayed seated, moving between the table Calum's family sat at and ours on the occasion that I sat down to take a quick water break between songs.

"Having fun?" he asked coming up to me while I sat at the table for a moment.

I nodded and smiled because I was having a really good time. I was with the people I loved the most, besides my dad of course, and it was impossible to not soak in the abundance of joy and excitement that Nikki and Calum were radiating. "Are you?"

"Oh yeah, I'm having a blast sitting over there watching Cal's cousins drool over you," he chuckled.

I turned around to look in the direction where Calum's loud ass family was sitting and pretended to squint. "Was it the cute ones?"

Tristan laughed and pinched my ass. "Yeah, they're just your type. Kyle’s hitting forty and Stephen is close to your dad's age."

"Shut up," I snorted, turning back to face him.

He was grinning down at me for a moment before wrapping his arms around me, pulling me into him. I took a long and deep inhale against his chest, taking in the faint smell of his cologne. His nose brushed against the top of my hair, which was now a sweaty and more than likely, stinky mess. "You smell like oranges and salt."

"Salt has a smell?"

His answer was interrupted by the sudden stop in music through the hall. Calum and Nikki were standing in the middle of the floor, looking all too eager to get out of there and braid each other's privates together. "We're leaving!" Nicole announced, making her way toward the table where her dad and aunts were sitting. I pulled away from Tristan, squeezed his wrist, and then made my way over to Zoey and Josh who were waiting patiently to say their goodbyes to Nikki.

Zoey looped her arm through mine, resting her head on my shoulder. "I'm so happy that it makes me sad," she admitted.

Josh looked over at me from his spot on the other side of Zoey with wide eyes. We were both all too familiar with the random, senseless shit that came out of her mouth when she drank. Trading smirks with each other, we waited another two minutes before Nikki made her way to us while hiking up her dress. Nicole Jonasson, the Ball Buster of Seattle, was glass-eyed and beaming. It was kind of scary, like the calm before the storm, but I pushed the thought of my head.

"I'll call you guys as soon as I get back," she told us. They were leaving on a red-eye to Hawaii for their honeymoon.

We all nodded in synchronization, maybe doubting the strength in our voices as a whole but I'd never know for sure. "Have fun, I love you, Nik," I broke the silence, extending my arms out so that the giant of a woman could give me a hug. She squeezed me so tight my boobs started hurting and repeated my words to me.

I took in her face, and that of Zoey and Josh while they said bye in their own ways. Calum stood back, talking to Tristan, and smiling like he'd won the lottery or something. Our tight little circle had expanded and warped into a larger one so quickly it kind of took my breath away, but I knew it was life.

I knew better than anyone that life was unexpected and fast, and that you couldn't plan for anything. I mean, everything really did happen for a reason, even if it didn't make any sense. How different would our lives have been if Nikki hadn't of bribed some guy for passes to porn con all those months ago? We'd probably still be sitting on her couch talking about Calum’s gigantic dick and going out all the time. Happy but not to our fullest potential.