Purposefully Accidental

Chapter Sixteen

"Can you calm down, please?" I plead, keeping my hands firm on my brother's forearms as I try to readjust his boutonnière.

Tony nods frantically, head bobbing up and down. "I'm calm. I'm so calm."

"Please, before you give yourself a seizure," I mutter, only half-joking. I don't want him to work himself out into an anxiety-induced episode. Especially not on his wedding day.

At that, he stills himself, finally finding my eyes. His brown eyes visibly soften, noticing the worry in mine. "Sorry. Sorry. I'm feeling fine, I am. Took my meds. Haven't had coffee in at least a week. I even meditated in the morning."

I squeeze his arms once more before letting go. "Everything's going to be fine. Don't stress about it, okay?"

He takes a breath and closes his eyes. "It needs to be more than just fine. It needs to be perfect. I'm marrying the love of my life. I can't not stress about it. You don't get it. You will when it's your wedding you're stressing about."

I roll my eyes at him before looking away to face the mirror, studying my own dress and making sure my makeup is still intact. I'm wearing a pale blue layered dress. It's long-sleeved, to account for the colder weather. My hair, slightly longer now, is kept loose, curls flowing just over my shoulders. I've been listening to Tony worrying about today ever since I came home yesterday afternoon, and he's only getting worse as time passes.

Tilting my head from side-to-side and watching the way my carefully styled curls bounce, I wonder out loud, "What if I'm never having a wedding party."

From the mirror, I watch as my brother's face scrunches up in confusion. "What? So you're just gonna elope with some dude? No celebration of your fateful union?"

"Maybe I'm never getting married! Have you ever considered that?"

That's what finally stops Tony's pacing. "No, wait, hold on, what do you mean you're never getting married? I thought you were getting back together with Jonah?"

I look up at Tony's face, the frown on his forehead tightening in concern. Great. I forgot that the last time I was home, my family saw Jonah pick me up for a date. And now we haven't been talking in weeks, ever since he ghosted me and wished me happy birthday minutes before my birthday ended.

I shake my head. "No, it was—I got it all wrong. It was never like that. It's whatever."

"No, it's not whatever," my brother says softly. I can't tell if he's trying to hold back from saying I told you so. Maybe he's way too kind for that. "So he's not coming to my wedding today?"

I lift a shoulder weakly in a shrug. "No. I mean, I don't know. He didn't say anything. Like, we haven't talked, so I assume that he's not coming. But I asked Freddie to come with me."

His voice slightly rises. "That punk?"

I punch him lightly on the shoulder. "You've never even met him! He's cool."

He grunts. "No funny business with him, right? I've seen his Instagram pictures. He hangs around with all those pretentious rich kids. It's icky."

"Tony, no, he's not like that. He just goes to all those rich people events because his dad makes him. Something about building a public image before he inherits that billion-dollar mega empire. Or whatever."

"I thought he goes to your school specifically because he's trying to avoid that situation?" he asks curiously. At least he no longer looks like he's about to have a meltdown.

"I don't know, okay! I don't get rich people business. But he's not like that when he's around our friends. Sometimes I don't even remember that he owns a collection of wristwatches that's worth our entire house. Each." He shakes his head at me, but I cut him off. "Anyway! You're feeling fine, right? We gotta head to the venue in half an hour. I need to check in with the catering, but I won't leave you alone if you're still gonna keep freaking out."