It was about 3 in the morning when a few people began to leave. It was still a packed house, and before the night was declared over, Cam decided to make a speech. He slurred here and there, but it made perfect sense to all of us since we were all just as wasted as he was. His words were jumbled and Nicole couldn't help but snicker at his struggle beside him.

It was all fun and games until the second Cam dropped to one knee in front of Nicole and brought out a black, velvet box. In that moment, I sobered up completely, my mouth dropping. "Oh no." I whispered to myself, but enough for Steven to hear me.

"What?" He whispered back, his eye not being taken off of the scene in front of us.

Everyone had smiles on their faces that were slowly fading as Nicole took longer and longer to answer the question she was just asked-- like I knew she would. She shook her head slowly and then ran up the stairs in there house. Cam's face fell and his gaze was now facing the tiled floor beneath him. I hurriedly ran after my best friend in this desperate time of need and snuck into her room, closing and locking it behind me.

She was sitting on her bed, her black mascara now running down slowly and smudged. She couldn't blink, she just stared at the wall in front of her in silence. "Nic, you okay?" I asked quietly, approaching her as slowly as possible.

"You think that's why he was acting weird all month?" She said in almost a whisper.

I sat on the bed beside her, rubbing her back, hoping it would provide a sense of calmness to her. "I don't know, maybe. I mean, it makes sense."

She nodded slowly, taking in whatever silence I could provide. "I just feel like this is out of nowhere. He knows I love him. I'm just freaked out, I guess."

"It's not a commitment thing because you've been with Cam for seven years." It was true. They've been more than committed to each other since we were all in college. He always wanted to marry her, he told me. He told her. But Nicole wasn't like your normal girls. She never wanted to get married. Marriage freaked her out. Her mom and dad got a divorce when Nic was seven, and they married other people a few years down the line, only for them to get divorced again and remarried. Her mom and dad have been married 3 times a piece. Marriage freaks her out because it's this indication of 'til death do us part. But she sees it as a lie. She doesn't believe in it. She didn't even believe in love until Cameron came along and swept her off of her feet. I knew the second he dropped down on one knee that she was going to freak out.

And she did.

"Bonnie, why did he do this? Why would he put pressure on a relationship that had none? Why?" She asked me as we heard the noise downstairs grow silent as everyone probably had left the awkwardness.

"Maybe he felt like his was something you wanted?" I tried, but I honestly had no explanation.

"He knows I never wanted to get married."

"Ever? Like you wouldn't ever want to get married?"

She looked straight at me, "No, I mean. I don't know. I don't think so. Why does a piece of paper have to signify love?"

I sat there stumped as she asked a truly honestly question. She was right. A ring or marriage license doesn't mean anything. Cam and Nicole have been together for seven, almost eight, years and have the most loving relationship out of anyone I know. Even my parents.

I didn't know how to respond, but I think just me sitting there with her was enough for her to know I was standing with her on this one.

---

Instead of staying the night, a suddenly sober Steven and I drove back to my place-- instead of his because we had Nicole with us. Her and Cam decided they needed some time apart and she needed to think. Nic felt bad for ruining mine and Steven's little spend-the-week situation, but neither of us cared. He knew she was there with me whenever I needed her, and I was going to return the favor.

We had arrived back at my place at 5:15 in the morning on the dot. Nicole and I took her stuff to the guest room and she went to bed. I laid with her for a while and then waited until she fell asleep before I joined Steven back in my room.

He was quietly looking through his phone when I climbed into bed at an official time of 6 AM. I cuddled up to him and he wrapped his arm around me, scratching my head gently. "What a night." He murmured. "Is she okay?"

"I don't know. She's freaked out because you know how much she never wanted to get married. Marriage freaks her out. And Cam knows that, yet he proposed anyway. The second he got on one knee I just knew it wasn't gonna go well."

"I feel kinda responsible."

I looked up at him, confused. "What do you mean?"

"Cam had told me he was gonna propose tonight. He asked me if tonight was good enough and I said that it was." He had a guilty look on his face.

"Baby, you're not responsible. Cam knows Nic has issues with that sorta thing."

"I know but I feel bad. They both looked so devastated."

"The fact that this might be the end of an era makes me so sad. It's Nic and Cam! I feel like it's literally always been. I've known her two years longer than they've been together."

It was strange. The only man that Nicole has ever really known is Cam. I understood where she was coming from, seeing as how it's been her fear for as long as I known her. But, this wasn't just anyone that was wanting to spend the rest of their life with her; it was Cam. It was different.

"You know, the only reason I never proposed to you was because by the time it was the end of our relationship, I was more than positive you would've said no."

I looked over to him, suddenly not feeling sleepy anymore and stayed quiet. His eyes were gazing toward my wall and he tagged circling my back with his fingers.

"I don't know. I don't think I was ready, too. I was obviously delusional on how great our relationship was. I didn't realize you were that unhappy and I was that much of an asshole until it was over. I'm glad I didn't propose. It would've destroyed us. It wouldn't have lead me back to you."

"The idea of spending the rest of your life with someone is kinda scary." I admitted softly.

"I completely agree." He agreed, surprising me a little. Back then, I think we would've jumped onto something we weren't ready for or that we wanted.

Maybe I was like Nicole after all. Maybe I was terrified of being with another person for fucking ever. It didn't matter who, and I think that might be the problem.

---

After all three of us woke up at 2 PM, we went to get some brunch and then Nicole and I separated from Steven as he had some errands to run; some lawyer errands. We walked around here and there and window shopped. She was doing better after some sleep but nonetheless all she could think about was Cam. I felt awful and like a terrible friend because I didn't know how to help this situation. Best friends are always there to make those issues easier on the one going through them; but this wasn't the exception. Her hair was a mess and she wasn't dolled up like she usually was and she actually wore a pair of jobs be sweatpants out in public and that's how I knew she was distraught.

"He hasn't even tried to call me. Oh my god Bonnie, he's probably so embarrassed and never wants to speak to me again." You could tell her mind was moving a mile a minute because her facial expression just looked uneasy.

"Nic, he's probably still sleeping or cleaning up or something." I lied. Cam had text me while we were eating asking if Nicole was with me.

Cam: Bon, is Nic with you?

Me: Yeah, she spent the night.

Cam: Is she okay?

Me: Do you want me to sugar coat it or give it to you straight?

Cam: Straight.

Me: She's devastated. She feels awful.

Cam: I'm not mad at her. I just keep going back and forth. How could I do that? I know she doesn't want marriage? I just figured, I don't know, that this was the way to show someone you want to spend the rest of your life with them and that you need them and that you love them more than anything on the planet.

Me: Usually. But, Nic isn't usual. She's unusual.

Cam: I know. I should've known though. I should've kept that shit to myself. I'm such a jackass.

Me: Are you gonna talk to her? And no, you're not.

Cam: Yeah. I just need to clear my head and figure out of what I'm gonna say. I can't lose her, Bonnie.

"You two are gonna be fine. I promise." I finally said, knowing that this little situation was temporary.

She was calming down and thinking to herself. A whole ten minutes of silence passed us as we continued walking in and out of stores. Nicole stayed silent as she gazed behind me, staring into space. "I think I'm gonna marry him."

My hand stopped where it was, holding onto a sweater from the hanger, "What?"

"I think I'm gonna marry him." She said again, making it clear to me that she either stopped caring suddenly about her fears, her was just giving in.

"And you would be perfectly okay with that? You would be fine being with one person for the rest of your life?" I was asking these questions to make it clear to her that this is what marriage was. "You're fine sharing a bank account and signing a piece of paper to signify that you are Cam's wife and he is your husband?"

She chewed on her bottom lip, her lips a berry color, and nodded slowly. "I think so. That was the plan anyway, right? To grow old with Cam?"

I smirked a little, "You know he would be okay just spending his life with you- no papers necessary, right?"

She nodded, "I know. But what's the difference? Cam and I aren't my parents. We were made for one another and I whole heartedly believe that."

"You wanna go back home tonight?"

"Yeah," Her dirty blonde head was nodding furiously. "I do."

"Alright, let's get you home." I smiled, feeling relieved. Nicole and Cam honestly were made for one another. I've never seen two people more obsessed with each other and committed. I think she just freaked out, she was caught off guard. But she was always going to find her way back to him, she always did.

---

"I can't wait for you to see my place. I think it looks different from the last time you saw it." Steven said giddily as he stroked my hand with his thumb when he was driving from my house to his. We decided to go on and continue our week at his place, which was bigger than mine was.

"I'm gonna enter Steven's bachelor pad. Oooh." My eyes widened, making him chuckle.

We pulled up in the driveway to the beautiful stone-walled house in Bel-Air. Steven was a Bel-Air, kid. Even though we grew up a mere five miles away from each other, he grew up around more well-known families than I did. He grew up near Tori Spelling and Nicole Richie and went to the same school as they did.

Steven had my our bags and led the way into his house. We walked into the beautifully decorated entryway and I gazed up at the high ceilings. I always loved high ceilings. "Damn, it does look different." I said, surprised by how much had changed. It doesn't look like a frat house anymore.

"Come here." He said with a smile, looking at me as I was looking around quietly. I don't know why I felt like I had to be careful here, but everything looked so in place and where he wanted it and as much as I wanted to touch everything like a kid in a toy store, I couldn't. I walked to where he was and he showed me around before leading me up the stairs.

There was a hallway leading to multiple rooms, a restroom, and then finally, the master bedroom which was always Steven's. We settled in his room, and he ordered a pizza, and I'm not sure why but it felt normal. It felt like we hadn't missed a beat.

"Bonnie, I wanted to ask you something."

"What's up?" I asked, plopping onto the bed and resting my head on his chest.

"Your dad is sending me to New York for a few days and I wanted to know if you wanted to come with me?"

The last time I was in New York, I was with Mike, and it was perfect. Steven had a place in New York also, that used to be his parents until they let him have it; only thing was he had to pay for it and that was a fortune. Last time I heard about his place in NYC, he was thinking about selling it. That's what he told my dad at least.

I nodded, smiling. "Of course. What do you have to do out there?"

"Well, I don't know if your dad told you that he's thinking about having a second firm there, but he wants me to check places out. Expanding to New York could be huge for the firm."

"He mentioned something like that. But anyway, I think we should go. I'm in." I smiled, grazing my fingers over his perfectly structured jawline.

"I'll make it special for you, I promise." He kissed my lips softly, making me smile.


MIKE POV

"Alright bro, it's gonna be the biggest show of this tour. NYC! You ready?" Vic shouted, his arm thrown up as we were all in our practice space.

"Fuck yeah." A grin plastered across my face as I twiddled my drumsticks in my hands. "Let's fuckin' go!"

Notes