Brooke frowned and nodded.“Of course, Darling. Anything.”
“Are you my girlfriend for real now?” she looked so delicate with that question, braced for the answer.
Brooke’s frown quickly shifted into a shy smile. She nodded.“I hope I am. If you’ll have me.”
Anna pulled her into a passionate kiss. They let themselves lose track of time, lost in their own moment. In the back of her mind, Brooke realized that meant their anniversary would match Nate and Mel’s and that she could probably negotiate a different day out of Anna, maybe the day that they began this whole thing, the day that Brooke should have asked her out for real instead of to fake date her. But that was a problem for another day. Right now, Brooke wanted to kiss her girlfriend.
When they made it back into the tent, the party was still going strong. Martin and Jasmine were still dancing. Nate and Mel were taking a break and eating some of the desserts. That was perfect, they could stay until they cut the cake. That was the last wedding tradition that Brooke thought that Nate and Mel might subscribe to.
“We should go congratulate Nate and Mel,” Anna murmured in Brooke's ear. Brooke just nodded and followed, happily holding Anna’s hand as Anna led them in the direction of her brother and sister-in-law.
Mel and Anna were all happy squeals. Nate picked Brooke up in a massive hug and spun her around.
“I’m so proud of you, little brother,” Brooke said when Nate finally sat her down.
Nate leaned back and started to laugh.“You know that you’re covered in Anna’s lipstick right now, right?”
Brooke shrugged.“I think it’s a bit inevitable at this point. I should just lean into it.”
He threw his head back with a laugh.“I’m so fucking happy right now.” He hugged Anna next, lifting and spinning her. When he sat her down they were both lost in a fit of giggles.“I’m so glad you two came!” He was practically bouncing with joy.
“You’re going to be at the bon voyage brunch tomorrow, right?” Mel asked.
Brooke looked at Anna and they both nodded.“That’s the plan, yeah. Our flight out isn’t until tomorrow evening. So we should have plenty of time to eat some brunch then head back to your place to gather our things.”
“Yay!” Mel practically yelled as she pulled Brooke in for a hug.
Brooke wondered if the two of them were incredibly drunk or just high off of their excitement for the night. Either way, she thought that all of them could do a round of water.“I’m going to be right back, okay?” She quickly weaved her way back into the food tent and snagged four water bottles.
She managed to avoid running into her mother or father along the way, keeping her eyes peeled for their potential interception. While she was slightly curious to see if her father really would talk to her mother and she wondered if her mother ever would attempt to apologize, she really didn’t want to deal with that tonight. She wanted to dance a few more times with her girlfriend and with Nate and Mel and then she wanted to get out of there to spend her night alone with Anna.
When she made it back, Nate was taking photos of Mel and Anna.“What uhh, what did I miss?” Brooke asked as she made it back with her hands filled with water bottles.
“Mel gets very sentimental when she’s this drunk,” Nate said, never once pausing the photo shoot.
“I see.” Brooke looked down at the water bottles.“Glad I got these, then.”
“Holy fuck, B. You’re a life saver.” Mel said as she snagged one of the bottles.
Brooke passed them out to Nate and Anna as well. Brooke was only slightly buzzed. If she hadn’t thrown back that gin and tonic that Anna had brought her when she had been upset earlier, she probably wouldn’t be at all, but as it was, she could do with some water herself.
Anna kissed her cheek in between large gulps of water.“Do you want to dance some more?” Anna asked after another big drink.
Absolutely, she did. Brooke nodded happily and chugged the rest of her bottle. She would more than happily cozy up to Anna on the dance floor for a few more songs before their long ride home.
“We’re going to go dance,” Anna yelled over the music to Nate and Mel.
They were seemingly very much on board with that idea because they followed Brooke and Anna back out to the dance floor. Brooke instantly felt better at her lack of club dance skills because if she thought that she was a bad dancer, that made Nate a horrible dancer, but he didn't seem concerned by that fact at all. Neither did Mel. They were out there being ridiculous and having a great time. She and Anna matched their energy, their dancing less sensual and more silly. Pretty soon Jasmine and Martin joined them, their dancing equally as goofy and carefree and Brooke laughed so hard she thought her rib might crack.
A little over an hour later, Brooke and Anna ducked into the back seat of Clarence’s car. He had lifted the divider between them, probably afraid of what they might do in the back seat of his car, but Brooke and Anna both buckled themselves into their respective seats, letting the tension and the energy surge between them. No one could interrupt them tonight. No one else was coming home. Nate and Mel were staying there at the castle. The anticipation all but sizzled between them.
Anna reached over and grabbed Brooke's hand, flipping it face up on the seat in between them. She danced her fingertips over the pads of Brooke's palms and down the length of her long fingers, all while staring out the window.
“Did you have a good time?” Brooke asked, her voice lower than she had intended.
Anna nodded, and dared to glance at her.“I had a wonderful time.” A small, nervous smile crept across her lips.“I love you,” she whispered.
Brooke’s hand closed around Anna’s and she lifted it to her lips, placing the smallest of kisses to the back of Anna’s knuckles.“I love you, too.”
