Tony’s POV

When I woke up I saw that Noortje was already sitting at the end of the bed. She probably hadn’t slept at all after I had to wake her up from a nightmare. I knew something was wrong, and I knew I had to talk to her about it. Hopefully she wouldn’t brush it off again. I was really worried about her, but I couldn’t help, not as long as she didn’t want it. Often names would be shouted during her nightmare, Yes, I had heard my name being shouted before, which concerned me even more. What was I doing that terrified her so much? Was she terrified of me? Did I actually do something wrong? Maybe this was going to be the end of our relationship… I would do anything to fix it.

“Morning,” I said in my morning voice, which I knew she loved.

She turned around a smiled at me, “Morning.” God, did I love that smile. It lit up my entire world, like nothing would be able to go wrong. But then again, why would anything go wrong if you have the most perfect girl in the world?

She slowly crawled up to me and gently placed her lips on mine. I let my hand hold her neck and go up into her hair. We pulled away, resting our foreheads and noses against each other. I looked into her eyes which reminded me of forests full of life; blossoming and evergreen trees creating the largest maze in the world. But they weren’t as full of life as they used to be. The trees were dying one by one. If somebody wasn’t going to save them they would all become extinct in no time.

“Are you ok?” I murmured.

“Yeah, why wouldn’t I be?” She moved back a bit more, clearly surprised.

“Your dad and stuff…”

“He just said some things that got to me. I’m fine though. It wasn’t true… It can’t be true.”

I took her hand in mine reassuringly and rubbed my thumbs over her knuckles. Her hands were smaller than mine and softer, but they had the same calluses. My tattooed broad, tanned hands were a contrast to her pale, delicate fingers. But it was perfect, I wouldn’t have it any other way. This redheaded girl was my future.

“What about the nightmares?” I dared to ask.

“Hmm…” She thought, “I’m going to take a shower.”

With that she left me, avoiding the question once again. How was I going to get her to talk to me? She always told me everything, this shouldn’t have been a problem! Maybe she didn’t trust me anymore. Maybe she didn’t want to tell me everything anymore, because I was her boyfriend now. It would really be a shame if that were true. I’ve always liked the friendship we had: being able to tell each other everything, no matter how embarrassing it was.

But now wasn’t the time to think about the negative. There was a wedding to go to, and for some reason I was the best man. I honestly didn’t understand why Ewout had chosen me. He had only known me for a day. Sure, I did help him ‘save’ his sister, but he also helped me. There was nothing else we really shared. But I wasn’t going to complain. I just hope that I won’t mess up the whole wedding.

I sighed and got out of bed before walking over to my suitcase. There was literally nothing in it except for a t-shirt, everything I needed for today, and a toothbrush and toothpaste. I guess that’s why Noortje and I only brought one piece of hand baggage each. We were leaving first thing tomorrow, so why would we bring tonnes of suitcases? I took out the carefully folded suit, happy that it didn’t wrinkle and that the folds weren’t visible. I put it on and looked at myself in the mirror. I looked at lot fancier than I normally would do, but I only had a black pair of converse to wear, so I was still myself. Somebody knocked on the door and I turned around to find Ewout standing there completely dressed up already. It might sound like it was really soon for him to be getting dressed, but I woke up pretty late, leaving us with only 2 hours before we had to be at the church.

“You look good,” He handed me a pink piece of fabric, “Here’s your tie.”

“Thanks,” I took it from him and wrapped it around my neck.

“You know, it’s still not too late to change,” I warned.

“Tony, no. I want you to be my best man. I know we’ve haven’t known each other for long, but I know you a lot better than you think I do. You know, I still have contact with my sister, she might or might not have told me things about you.”

“Oh god. I must sound like a complete asshole.”

Ewout chuckled and sat on the bed, “No, only good things… Really good things. She really does love you. When she still used to live here she basically had the ‘perfect’ life. You know, the boyfriend who worked at a well known company, making enough money for her to not have to work, but also still being the fun loving boyfriend every girl wants. A nice house. Parents were pretty happy with her, of course not as happy as they were with Annika, though. It was more like they could deal with her. But she didn’t like it, so she moved. She actually seems happy now, like she could imagine spending the rest of her life like what it is now.”

I stood there flabbergasted, I never knew this about her, “Is that why she moved?”

“Yes and no. It wasn’t the only reason, but I don’t know what set it off. She was pretty upset about something when she came to me for help. I’m just happy she’s happy with her life now, and you seem to be a big part of it.”

I was about to reply when Noortje came back into the room. The dress she was wearing looked amazing on her. It hugged her curves perfectly and was long, but still showed off her amazing legs. I never thought I would have seen her wear heels like the ones she was wearing. They were extremely high, and I knew how much she hated that. I couldn’t take my eyes of her.

‘Thank god. You’re wearing pink as well,” Noortje sighed out in relief.

I gasped, “You look amazing.”

I slowly staggered over to her and took a close look. The bags underneath her eyes were gone, but I knew they were still there underneath the layers of makeup. The eyemakeup she was wearing brought back some life to her eyes, the green popping out in sparks. Her hair had been curled, so in was no longer in it natural waves, but rather in soft flowing twists.

“You really look amazing,” I whispered to her again.

“Thank you,” She mouthed back.

I carefully kissed her lips, not wanting to ruin the work she had spent on her makeup and hair. It was a rare occurrence for her to spend time on stuff like this. Maybe she had been doing it more often than before, but I was still mesmerized whenever she looked like this.

“I’m going to go find Ties,” She announced, “We’re going to go to the church. I’ll see you guys there.”

She turned and exited the room, leaving me with Ewout, who was still sitting on the bed. I turned to him with wide eyes.

“Holy shit!” I whisper-shouted.

“I know, she really does look beautiful,” Ewout grinned.

“Am I just dreaming that’s she’s my girlfriend? Because I can’t imagine someone like her wanting to be with me.”

“She really is,” He stood up and put a hand on my shoulder, gripping it firmly, “She must have really appreciated how you reacted, not every guy did that to her.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, you actually looked at her like she was a princess. Last time she wore a dress similar to that was Junior Prom. Her date just shrugged her off and didn’t give a fuck. He just wanted a date; she was his last resort.”

“Oh wow, that’s terrible. I would never do anything like that to her.”

“You better not,” he threatened, “anyway, we should be going.”

I agreed, but quickly ran back to get Noortje’s white converse shoes, I knew she was going to want to be able to change her shoes later on.

----

Noortje’s POV

Surprisingly nothing went wrong during the wedding. I would have thought Annika would have tried to trip me, because I actually got to be next to the grooms and she didn’t, but for some reason I never got the feeling that she was trying to ruin it. Of course she did give me evil glares, but I was used to that. Ties had walked up to the altar first. Apparently he and Ewout had decided who was going to go first by watching the notebook and seeing who would cry first. Ties clearly lost.

The reception was held at a beautiful venue. Circular tables were scattered around the room, white tablecloths flowing neatly off them. A dance floor was placed in the middle, large enough for almost all the guests to dance on at the same time. The small decorations and flowers were all a soft pink like my dress and Tony’s tie. I would never have expected these colors to look so amazing. Ties had probably chosen them, knowing that Ewout would have never thought about choosing pink. But he loved Ties enough to make him happy, colors wouldn’t affect their relationship.

The parents had just given their speeches and it was now Tony’s turn. I knew how nervous he was about public speaking, so I have him a reassuring hand squeeze before telling him it was ok to keep it short and to look at me if he wanted to. He gave me a nervous smile and got up on the stage.

“Ok, so I haven’t known you guys for long,” Tony started, “but I know I want a relationship like yours. You seem so comfortable around each other, like you know everything about the other person, yet you love each other no matter what. There’s so many relationships that don’t have that. When I first met Ties he kissed Noortje, but called himself gay. I was so confused, but then I saw Ewout, and it immediately all made sense. Ewout and I shared something quite important. If it wasn’t for you, well you know, I shouldn’t have to remind you. So, I wish you guys all the best and a long marriage!”

People laughed at some of the things he said and clapped when he finished. Tony seemed pretty proud of himself, this was probably the most he had ever said in front of such a large crowd. But now it was my turn, and it would have been a lie if I said I wasn’t as nervous as Tony was. I knew a few of the people. They hadn’t seen me for 7 years, and I was afraid of how they would react.

But I began despite my nerves, “So, I’ve known you guys a lot longer. Ewout, your my brother, so I regret to tell you I’ve known you all my life, and Ties you will always be one of my bestest friends, no matter what.” Ties grinned at me and wiped away a tear. He was most likely thinking about the time I had left, he was pretty upset about it. I gave him a reassuring smile and continued, “My brother and best friend, you might ask yourself how they ended up together, and frankly, I don’t know. I do remember when I found out though. No, they didn’t sit me down and tell me, nor did I find out from anybody else. It was my own eyes that told me. I came home from school and walked into Ewout’s bedroom without knocking, ‘cause that’s what we did, we had nothing to hide. But apparently he did. At that time I already knew what team Ewout and Ties rooted for, but I did not know they were going for each other. So, I opened the door and I saw them making out on the bed. Naturally I screamed and they started telling me it wasn’t what it seemed like, but it was obvious that this wasn’t the first time they had done it. Even though I had screamed, I honestly didn’t care. I loved them both, so why couldn’t they love each other? So, I want you to keep that as a reminder, no matter what other people think, you will always love each other.”

You might ask yourself why I was only speaking English and not Dutch, even though all the people, except Tony, knew Dutch. Well, it was pretty simple. My English was a lot better than my Dutch since it was the only language around me for 7 years. I also just simply didn’t like Dutch, it reminded me too much of the bad times in my lifes. Plus, everybody here also knew English, so why not take advantage of that?

Some guest had come up to me to tell me how amazing my speech was. I didn’t think it was that amazing, I only recalled a memory, I didn’t say anything inspirational. But if they wanted to waste their time on telling me that, I honestly didn’t care. The couple also had their first dance, and now everybody was up on the dance floor. I, of course, was dancing with Tony, when a slow song came on. I wrapped my arms around his neck while his hands went down to my waist. We swayed along with the beat, making sure we weren’t bumping into any other couples. I buried my face into the crook of his neck causing Tony to place his head against mine.

“I love you,” He whispered so only I could hear.

I breathed in his scent and raised my head so our temples were resting against each other. I wanted nothing more than to kiss him, so I pulled away instead. He gave me a confused look that showed some flashes of hurt, but they soon disappeared when I took hold of his hand and pulled him along with me. I took him to a place that looked like a corridor, but it wasn’t far away from the party. Nobody would see us here unless they actually decided to enter this place.

Tony gave me a goofy grin, “What are you doing?”

“I wanted to kiss you,” I confessed, “but there’s too many people out there. It’s bound to somehow get on the internet, and I don’t know about you, but I don’t want the fans to know about us. It will only pull us apart if they did. Everywhere we would go me would be asked about it: Interviews, venues, signings. I only want this to be with you.”

“I love you so much,” Tony grabbed my face and kissed me as passionately as he could.

I pulled him closer and let my lips go in sync with his. My fingers tangled in his hair and he pushed me against the wall. The kiss felt different, not because the atmosphere was different, but because I was actually just a bit taller than him. With my hand that was first holding onto his shoulder, I took off my shoes.

“That’s better,” I mumbled against his lips.

“Much,” He muttered back before connecting our lips again.

I heard shuffling at the end of the corridor and I opened my eyes to see a flash going off. The person disappeared, but I saw their brown hair. I knew exactly who it was.

I pushed Tony away, “Fuck.”

“What’s wrong?” He obviously didn’t know what happened and seemed upset by my sudden action.

“Fuck.”

“Noortje?”

I took a hold of the shoes and ran off without saying anything to Tony. He was probably so confused. All I was worried about was the person who took the photo. I did not trust them at all. Following the person took me outside. There was too much adrenaline inside of me to feel the cold. There was no way I was going to let her win this one. They stopped in front of me.
“Please don’t, Annika,” I begged.

“Hmm, what?” She said innocently.

“You know what I mean!”

“Nee, eigenlijk niet.” (No, actually I don’t)

“Annika. Please. Nobody can know. Please don’t.”

“Ooh, je bedoeld de foto. I dacht het niet.” (Ooh, you mean the photo. I don’t think so.)

“It will be the end of my relationship, my whole life.”

“Exactly,” She smirked and took her phone out, tapping some buttons, “Now all I have to do is hit post.”

“Annika, I’m begging you. If it’s not for me, do it for Tony. I know you don’t know him, but he doesn’t deserve this.”

“What’s going on here?” A male voice said from behind me.

I turned around to find Ewout standing at the door. He glared at Annika, but as soon as he saw me is eyes widened.

“You look like shit,” Ewout walked up to me, “What’s going on?”

I raised my hand to my cheek only to pull it back and see black all over my fingers. Great. I had been crying without knowing. My makeup was completely smudged and I probably did look like shit, just like Ewout said. But I ignored him, I had to make sure Annika wouldn’t post it.

“Please don’t do it,” I said, my voice croaking and giving up at the end.

Annika tapped her screen, “Oops, too late.”

I stared at her in silence. Did she actually just do that? She wouldn’t, right? I mean, who am I kidding, it’s Annika for godsake, of course she would do it. Annika seemed surprised, yet satisfied, with my reaction. But I wasn’t.

“Fuck you!” I screamed as loud as I could and threw one of my shoes as her. I didn’t watch it hit her, but I knew she wasn’t able to avoid it. All I did was rush past Ewout and into the bathroom.

I really looked terrible. My reflection in the mirror had black lines running down her cheeks and shadows are her eyes. There’s was no saving it. I started dabbing away the smudged makeup when I heard the door open. Before it was fully opened, I jumped into a stall. The footsteps sounded male. What were they here for me? I was terrified, was my dad here to make me feel worse?

“Noortje, I know you’re in here,” No, it was Ewout.

I stayed quiet, I didn’t want to talk right now. Annika probably made up a lame excuse making it seem like I was the bad guy.

“Annika’s forming a black eye.”

“I don’t fucking care. She’s given me enough of the years,” I burst out.

“I know, that’s not why I’m here. I don’t know what happened, but will you please come out so we can talk.”

“No, I look terrible and I’m ruining your wedding. Go out and have fun. Once again I’m ruining everything. Why can’t you be like the others and hate and ignore me? You should be out there with Ties and your friends, not in a bathroom with your pathetic sister. I don’t want to make this worse. Mom and dad will find out what happened and I’ll wreck your wedding… I- I just want to go home,” Tears were streaming down my face again.

“Ok…” my shoe was slid under the door to me, “Just tell me what happened.”

I decided to answer his question indirectly, “I don’t care if she talks shit about me, but if she’s going to get Tony involved, I will not let it go.”

I heard Ewout sigh, he knew what I meant, “Ties and I will be waiting in the corridor to say good-bye, ok? We’re staying at a hotel, so you won’t see us anymore.”

“Ok.”

I waited till I heard Ewout leave the bathroom before I dared to go out of my stall. Tony was leaning against the sinks, holding my normal shoes in one of his hands. I took them and thanked him. He had at least thought about me wanting to change shoes while I was stupid enough to forget. I turned to the mirror and grabbed a paper towel so I could finish the job I had started on my face.

“How much did you-” I started.

“Hear? Everything. I came in here with Ewout. He found me in a confused state and told me what he had found,” Tony interrupted.

“Oh.”

“You shouldn’t have to protect me.”

“I know. I was just trying to protect our relationship. She did the one thing I was trying to avoid.”

Tony turned me around so I face facing him and picked me up before putting me down on the counter. He tried my tears and took the paper towel to remove the rest of my makeup. I let him do it, not feeling up to anything by myself. He helped me back on my feet after he had finished and kept holding my hand while I was saying my goodbyes to Ties and Ewout. I apologized profusely and promised I would see them again soon. I wasn’t going to let them remind me leaving as a mess again. Ewout handed me a key to their house and told me to keep it so that I could always come visit whenever I was close to home.

As Tony and I were walking to the taxi Ties had ordered for us, he asked me if I was ok.

“I don’t know,” I whispered.

I honestly didn’t know. Everything seemed to be going wrong. I managed to screw up everything around me: A new life inside of me, my relationship, and my brothers wedding. There was no point anymore.

Notes

Oh shit. What's going to happen to Noortje's and Tony's relationship now that Annika posted the photo of them kissing? Will Tony ever find out what Noortje's nightmares are about? And what about how Noortje is feeling?

- DSN