A DEADLY NUPTIAL

40.

"What? No. Why would I be crying?"

"I don't know you tell me."

"I wasn't crying." I said crossing my arms as a cool breeze blew through the night.

"Sure, you don't have to tell me. Here," he took off his jacket placing it over my shoulders.

"Thanks," I said snuggling into his delicious cologne scent.

"No problem. So listen about what happened earlier... I think we should tell Josephine after the honeymoon that we're not actually dating. If we told her today it would break her heart.

"Fine, but after she comes back this "relationship" is over. I don't want to be associated with you and be another one of your bimbos you use."

"What are you talking about?"

"You know what I mean Casper. I don't want to be in one of gossip magazines being the 20 something girl you've been with this month." I said sitting on the bench again not standing my feet anymore.

"Lily, I don't know where you got the idea that I use girls."

"Really? Then who was the girl you were with 3 months ago, the day after the ball?" I asked demanding to know.

His look of confusion was overtaken by one of realization.

"You read the magazine where I was seen with one of my exes coming out of a club didn't you?"

I looked at the ground. Feeling his presence as he sat next to me.

"Lily, is that why you were silent the whole way here? Were you... jealous?" He asked.

"What? Me, jealous? No way," I answered standing up. "I would never be jealous of one of those bimbos."

"Really?" He asked standing up as well, grabbing my hips and pulling me towards him. His face inches away from mine.

"Yes," I said a little out of breath.

"Then say it again."

I found it hard to concentrate with his tempting lips a few inches from mine. I licked them nervously.

"Say it." He commanded his cool breath in my face.

"I'm not-"

His lips claimed mine mid-sentence.

My body reacted no longer feeling cold whatsoever. He removed my jacket from my shoulders throwing it on the bench with one hand as the other wrapped around my waist pulling me closer. His lips parted mine our tongues dancing causing me to moan in response. I stepped away embarrassed by my reaction. I had never done that before. I covered my mouth feeling my cheeks flushed from embarrassment and from the heat of the moment.

"Why do you do this?" I asked my voice above a whisper but knowing he could hear me.

"Because I care about you," he said grabbing my upper arms.

I looked up at him, "You're lying."

"No, I'm not. Ever since that night I realized I like you... a lot." He let go of me and went to stand by the fountain with his back to me.

"That's also a lie. If you really liked me you wouldn't have been with that blonde bimbo the day after the ball."

I left him not wanting to hear his pathetic response. As I headed back to the ball I saw someone I hadn't seen in years.

"Henry, what are you doing here?"

"The same thing as you," my college friend said pulling me into a hug.

"Why didn't you tell me you were coming? We could have been on the same plane." I said still in an embrace. Henry was my best friend from Harvard well basically my only friend. He was a nerd like me, but he was wealthy so nobody made fun of him like they did of me.

"I had business to take care of," he responded his attention focused on something behind me.

"What are you looking at?" I asked turning around to find Casper glaring daggers at us from the bar.

"Did you come with him?"

"I did unfortunately."

"I thought you were avoiding him?"

"I was trying but that doesn't really work when Josephine is a mutual friend."

"I see what you mean. How about we make him really jealous?"

"How?"

"Let's dance," he said smiling playfully giving me a wink.

The dj had taken over playing some hip hop songs that can really get you moving. I personally loved dancing that is alone in my room with no one watching, but since I trusted Henry I let myself go. I grinded against his hips letting him put his hands on my hips pulling me closer to his body. He pulled my hair free from the up do let the waves flow freely. I pulled my hair to the side laughing wildly. Who knew Henry had some dance moves as well? The song ended unfortunately too soon, but I was already sweating beads.

"Who knew you had the moves Lily?" Henry said playfully.

"I could say the same about you." I looked beyond him where I was receiving judging looks from my friends especially Josephine. s**t. I forgot I was dating Mr. Daggers.

"Listen I have to go talk to Josephinesee you after the break." He gave me a hug lifting me up like a child. I was probably light as a feather as he towered over me by a foot.

"Call me."

"I will. Now go find some pretty lady." I said swatting his butt before heading towards Josephine and the rest of the group.

"Hey guys what's up?" I said nonchalantly taking a plate of cake from the cake table.

"Girl who knew you had those moves," Mike said from his seat. Alexa hit the back of his head. "What? I'm just saying."

"I've always had them."

"What about Henry?" Josephine said arms crossed and poker face in place.

"I know Henry,Josephine. He's a good friend from college for your information."

"That doesn't give you a good reason to practically have s*x with him on the dance floor while your boyfriend is drinking his ass of at the bar."

"Casper's not the jealous type." I said trying to come up with an excuse.

"Not true, Casper is one of the most jealous guys you'll meet," Alexa butted in.

"I'll go talk to him," I sighed. My plan did not work.

I walked to the bar and ordered a margarita sitting down on the bar stool. I thanked the waiter who had set the drink in front of me. I cleared my throat hoping to get his attention. He appeared to be ignoring me a he kept looking at his drink.

"So listen, Josephine's pissed at me, so we need to pretend to make up or she's going to kill me."

"Why should we? I mean it's clearly visible you're into Henry Brandenburg."

I scoffed, "He's my best friend."

"I wasn't aware that's how best friends danced these days. I don't recall ever dancing like that with Josephine."

I sighed, "I wanted to make you jealous ok?" I was losing my temper fast. "If you don't want to make up fine. We can go over there and tell Josephine this is all a lie."

"Don't." He sighed as well taking my hands and turning me to face him, "let's just make up or whatever. I don't want Josephine upset."

"Thanks."

"It's nothing, and what you said earlier isn't true. I went out to the club to find someone to help me forget about you. I wanted to get your kiss out of my mind. I wanted to forget you. I happened to run into Haley, one of my exes. We happened to be leaving at the same time when the paparazzi spotted us. Nothing ever happened between me and Haley."

"Did you forget about me with another woman then?" I asked trying to calm this pain that was choking me inside.

He shook his head, "It's impossible to get you out of my head."

I looked into his blue eyes feeling happiness wash over with a hint of blush also.

"I'd say the same thing," I admitted.

He leaned his face closer.

"But," I said placing a finger against his lips, "I want to go slow. I've never been in a relationship like you."

He took my hand that was placed on his lips and kissed it.

"Alright."

Lily's POV

I waited patiently in Josephineand Dark's house for the door bell to ring. As they were on their honeymoon in Italy I helped take care of the twins before I had to go back go school. The door bell final rang through the empty house echoing in the emptiness.

"Bye Sophie!" I called.

"Take care dear!"

"I will!" I responded practically skipping to the door in my leather boots that I had matched with a green dress. It wasn't anything revealing or too short. I wanted to keep it modest for our first date.

I opened the door finding those blue eyes lighting up.

"Hey," I said feeling shy as he gave me a once over making me feel self conscious.

"You look beautiful like always," he said holding out his arm for me to loop mine through.

I laughed, "Thanks. As you can see I chose no heels."

"I noticed. I think that's probably best. Not that you don't look good in heels." He added at the end. He opened my door like a gentleman shutting it once I was in.

"So where are we going?" I asked once he had gotten buckled in, in the driver's seat.

"I thought we could go see a movie then grab some dinner."

"Sounds good. Any movie in particular ?"

He shrugged, "You can choose."

"Really!? We have to go see Despicable Me 2!"

"Are you crazy? We're not little kids!"

I pouted in my seat looking out the window.

"If you really want to go see it, I guess we can."

"No," I shook my head, "you're right. We're not little kids. You can decide." I said playing with my ring.

The rest of the car was awkward and tense. We finally arrived at the movie theaters which earned a sigh of relief from me. I got out of the car before Casper could reach my door. We walked in silence to the theaters. We reached the counter to buy our tickets.

"Two for Despicable Me 2."

I looked up at Casper who winked at me.

We headed inside handing an employee our movie tickets.

"To your right number 6."

"Thanks," we said.

"Do you want anything?" Casper asked.

"No I'm fine. You can get something if you want."

"It's ok I'm good to go."

We headed to the crowded room full of elementary school aged kids with their parents, a few high schoolers, and a couple adults. We were able to find seats at the very top. As the lights dimmed signaling the movie previews about to start I whispered in Casper's ear.

"It was really nice of you choosing this movie." I kissed his cheek then focused my attention on the screen hoping the darkness would hide my blush.

The movie was hilarious and adorable. Halfway through Casper pulled a move. He did the classic arm around the shoulders which I didn't mind. I leaned my head against his shoulder inhaling his manly cologne that I loved. I loved the feeling of his deep chuckle that vibrated throughout his chest.

After the movie we went to a fancy little Italian restaurant across the street. We talked for what seemed hours, but clearly wasn't. The drive home was silent, but it wasn't the awkward silence we usually had. It was a nice silence. He parked in front of Josephine's house walking me to the front door. I rummaged through my bag looking for the keys. Finally clasping the cool tiny metal object in my hands I began to say goodbye.

"Today was great. I had a lot of fun."

"I'm glad you enjoyed yourself."

"Yeah....so I'll see you later?" I asked hesitantly.

He smiled grabbing my waist and pulling my body towards him making my heart thump loudly in my chest.

"I'll call you," he responded.

I looked into his eyes noticing how they were concentrated on my lips. I bit my lips not sure if I wanted to kiss him or not. I leaned in closer our lips almost meeting...and bam! Kissed him on the cheek. He looked disappointed as he pouted his lips. I laughed.

"I'll be waiting for your call." I unlocked the door and gave him a last smile before going into the dark house. I smiled like a crazy teenager before going off to my room. Tonight had been amazing.

And that's how our first date turned into months of dating. It was now May, and I was finally graduating from Harvard! Casper had graduated last year in business and now I was graduating in journalism. Although I was graduating from one of Harvard's other campuses that had not stopped Casper from visiting me every weekend. He had even surprised me once in the library where I worked by delivering flowers. My parents had yet to meet him, and I was not planning on it anytime soon. I had met Casper's parents at his birthday party in December. His father hated m for some reason, but his mother was the sweetest woman I had ever met.

* * *

Graduation

I walked out into the crowd after the ceremony had finally finished. I looked for my parents but they weren't anywhere to be found.

"Lily!"

I turned around at the sound of my name. Casper was standing a few feet away with a bouquet of flowers in his hands. He had the biggest smile. I could see pride gleaming which made my stomach churn in happiness. I ran to him or at least tried to in my heels jumping into his arms as he twirled me around.

"You came!" I exclaimed.

"Of course I did. Why wouldn't I?" he said peering down at my face. He handed me the flowers."These are from my mom."

I stared at them. "Oh...they're lovely. I'll have to tell her thanks the next time I see her." I had been certain they were from him. I guess not.

"Don't worry I have a surprise for you," he said giving me a wink.

"You know I hate surprises with a passion," I pouted.

"I can think of other things that have to do with passion," he teased.

I felt myself turn bright red.

"Can we go now?"

"Of course."

He took my hand leading me out. The atmosphere in the car was silent. Usually we'd have small talk, but I was not in the mood. It had irked me that my parents hadn't bothered to show up. I knew I shouldn't have expected them to come, but a small part of me had still hoped.

"Lily."

"Hmm?" I looked to see Casper staring at me from the corner of his eye.

"You've been zoning out. You usually don't do that unless you're upset."

A small smile formed on my lips. It was sweet how well he knew me.

I sighed, "It's nothing."

"You're lying."

"I'm not lying. I'm just avoiding the topic." I said hoping he would back off.

He sighed in return knowing I wasn't going to talk.

After a while he pulled over handing me a black bandana.

"What's this?" I asked.

"Put it on."

"I don't like where this is going."

"You will, trust me. Just put it on."

"Fine," I sighed.

After I had put it on he continued to drive until we stopped a while later. He opened my door helping me out of the car. He stood by my side grabbing onto me by my waist.

"Ok watch out for the steps."

"Casper, you know I'm clumsy without a bandana."

"So true," he chuckled. "Fine, up you go," he lifted me over his shoulder.

"Casper!" I shreiked. I heard a door open and close. Casper set me down holding my shoulders and turning me around. I felt the bandana come loose and "Surprise!" everyone yelled.

I held my hand against my chest. I was truly shocked to see all my friends with party hats and a huge banner saying "Congrats Lily!" in Casper's apartment. This is where he stayed while he was in college, but he was going to move out. Josephine crushed me in a hug yelling in my ear, "Congrats!"

After hugging everyone the party began. Drinks were passed around, tables were full of party food, and there was even a dj blaring out music. After midnight everyone decided it would be best to go home. Casper shut the door to the last guest. I continued to pick up and throw away all the cups, plates, streamers, party hats, and popped balloons. Hands formed around my waist as I began to wash dishes.

"Lily, it's your graduation day. You don't have to be cleaning it's past midnight."

"Well somebody's gotta do it," I protested.

"Yeah, the maids are paid to do it."

I frowned. Maids. Everytime he brought up maids, cooks, butlers, assistants I couldn't help but think how different our worlds were. Of course he didn't have to even bother thinking of cleaning up, he always had someone to do it for him. I on the other hand grew up with no maids, cooks, butlers, or assistants. I had to help around the house and grew accustomed to cleaning up after myself. I turned off the sink and dried my hands. I didn't want to have an argument.

"I should get going," I said looking into his eyes briefly before looking away. "I had a great time, it was an amazing surprise." I hugged him giving him a kiss on the cheek before pulling out of his arms and dashing to the living room. I grabbed my clutch from the couch trying to hurry out of here, but of course Casper was blocking the door.

"Casper, I really need to get home. I'll talk to you tomorrow."

"Not so fast, you're acting different."

"I'm perfectly fine." I said looking down at my hands.

"That's bullshit Lily."

My head popped up at his swearing. He hardly ever swore.

"What do you want me to tell you?"

"The truth."

I closed my eyes then opened them, "You want the truth? Well here it goes," I threw my clutch back down on the sofa trying to be strong. "You and I come from two distinct worlds that I don't think our relationship could ever work. You never had to lift a finger to be where you are now, but I did. I had to work my ass off to even get through high school and college and to be someone in this world. But you didn't. You were born into a life with no worries."

"So this is about money again."

"You see? That's why I didn't want to bring this up because I knew it would turn into another argument where you promise me that money will never be a problem for me because you're always going to be there. I don't want to have to depend on you Casper." I froze at my last remark.

He shook his head, "So you don't need me is what you're saying."

"That's not what I meant."

"It sure sounds like you meant it."

"What I meant is that I want to be able to take care of myself and be independent. It's not like we're married or even engaged, so you shouldn't be promising things like that anyway."

He stood shocked with his hands in his pockets as he looked at the ground. Seeing he didn't have anything else I grabbed my clutch once more and headed for the door. As I walked past him his left hand shot out like lightning and grabbed my arm forcing me to stop. He didn't look at me, but looked up with his head held high.

"When you know exactly what you want I expect you to inform me." His voice was so formal and stern. I nodded not able to find my voice. I left feeling empty and hurt. The argument had been my fault like always. My pride had always gotten in the way.