|31| • Like a Flame •

                                    

                                          
As we pulled up to the barn, we could see our friends and family waiting outside the building, welcoming us with applause and cheers. It was surreal somehow, and I knew Brian agreed. I leaned my head on his shoulder as the horses came to a stop, holding his hand tightly. "Ready?" He asked quietly, moving his thumb over the back of my hand.
                          
"Yes... let's do this," I told him, straightening up. I let Brian get off first, so he could prove to everyone that he was looking after me well, by helping me off the carriage. I managed not to trip over my dress, so we stood in front everyone, waiting for them to calm down again. Now I knew how Brian felt regularly with people applauding him everywhere he went.
                          
I knew Brian hadn't seen the barn fully decorated yet, and I was so curious what he thought of it. He had let me make most decisions regarding decoration and I was hoping that he liked it. Once our friends had quietened down again, we all went into the barn.
                          
"Henrie, it's beautiful," Brian said quietly, looking around amazed. It really was beautiful, but not overwhelmingly so. "It's perfect... this is what I wanted for us, you know?"
                          
"I know, that's why I chose this decoration." I looked at him, smiling, and kissed his cheek. It made me so happy that he liked what I had chosen for us.
                          
"I told you before, you have good taste," he smirked. 
                          
I chuckled and nudged his side. "I do, yes. We've established that. Come on... we're sitting over here," I told Brian, guiding him to our table. We were seated with Annie, Roger - who was Brian's best man, Dominique and our parents. I had wanted to seat my parents at another table, but then we would have had to do the same with Brian's parents. And that wouldn't have been okay. So... they were all seated with us. And we had the band and their partners at the next table
                          
"Tell me again, what's the plan now?" Brian asked me quietly as we sat down.
                          
He was adorable, he was so distacted by everything else that he couldn't remember what we were supposed to do. 
                          
But before I could tell him, Annie interrupted me as she sat beside me, whispering into my ear. "Did you have to invite her to the wedding?" She asked, glaringly obviously meaning Dominique who was sitting beside Roger, holding his hand.
                          
I had expected Annie to not be happy about Dominique because I knew that until she had come into Roger's life, Annie had been meeting up with him frequently. That had stopped after Roger met Dominique, and Annie had been very unhappy about that. I didn't blame her, but I had asked her to get herself together for one day. "Yes," I told her simply. "Because she's Roger's girlfriend and my friend. And yes, she does have to sit at this table, because she's his girlfriend. And she's nice, if you give her a chance."
                          
Annie sighed. "I won't do that."
                          
"Fine, but then please behave for today. You promised..."
                          
"Fine," Annie groaned, glaring at Dominique.
                          
Brian looked at me curiously, but I simply shook my head. "Don't ask," I mumbled, reaching for his hand.
                          
"Okay." He seemed amused, holding my hand tightly. "I asked you what's next, before Annie interrupted you."
                          
"Right, sorry, well we wait for everyone to sit and get settled, and then we'll dance.." I chuckled when I saw Brian's expression change before I continued. "Then we'll cut the cake before we let everyone else dance, and eventually there will be dinner."
                          
"Alright, we can manage that, my dear. After dinner, we'll be alone soon, right?" He asked, kissing my cheek.
                          
"Yes," I confirmed, smiling widely. "Don't worry about that, my dear."