“He obviously doesn’t care about you. Why else would he be hiding it?”
Why would he want to hide what he has with you?Geoff’s words from Bounce come back to me and my airway constricts.
“He must be having some kind of early mid-life crisis,” Mel continues, sneering.
All the air has been sucked out of the room. My lungs feel tight. I dig my nails into my palms, trying to stay in control of my breathing. “Mel—”
“He’s certainly not about to divorce Dena and settle down withThe Little Mermaid.” Mel laughs viciously, gesturing to me. It takes me a second to realize she’s talking about my hair, and I shrink down, all the words I want to say dying on my tongue.
“Mel, just leave it,” Dena says, but Mel ignores her as she closes the gap between us.
“You’ll be gone soon and Luke will forget all about you.”
She points a finger, jabbing me hard in the chest. I stumble backwards into the corner and lose my balance, grabbing the wall to steady myself. Suddenly, I’m back in high school being cornered in the bathroom as the walls close in. My vision blurs and the room swims around me. I trip over my feet, turning down the corridor blindly, all sense of direction gone.
Oh God. This can’t be happening.
I’m vaguely aware of Mel and Dena leaving, but I can’t move. My chest feels like it’s being crushed and I can’t breathe—I try to suck in air but I can’t. I’m drowning.
Not again. No.
Sweat glazes my skin and I gasp—I gasp but I can’t get any air, there’s no air, and I lose my balance, I’m falling—
Strong arms wrap around me and pull me upright. I can hear a voice but I can’t make out the words. I’m gasping for air and shaking—
“Breathe, Harriet, just breathe.”
It’s Luke, I realize through the fog. I try to take a breath but I’m still trembling, still gasping, my hands in fists gripping his shirt as I fight for breath. He strokes my hair, holding me, trying to soothe me.
“Breathe. Just breathe, baby. It’s okay, I’m here, just breathe.”
Somehow, I manage to rasp in the tiniest amount of air as Luke anchors me, keeping me safe in the middle of this raging storm.
“There you go. Just breathe. I’m here, baby.”
I get another breath in, then another, and calm begins to ebb through me as the scattered pieces of myself come back together. I’m still shaking and when I raise a hand to my face, it’s wet with tears.
Luke wipes my cheeks and strokes my hair, and I’m so spent I sag against him as my pulse slows in my veins. He holds me close, and I can hear his heart jackhammering through his shirt.
When I finally feel steady enough to pull back, his face is etched with concern. “Are you okay?”
I nod, loosening my grip in his shirt.
“Was that a panic attack?”
“Yes.” My voice cracks as I stare down at my quivering hands, suddenly feeling more vulnerable than I ever have. I might have shared my awful past with him, but that was on my own terms. I never wanted him to actuallyseeme like this, at my absolute worst. Shame washes through me and another tear slides down my cheek.
But Luke just gathers me into his arms, rubbing gentle circles on my back, holding me tight. “Hey, it’s okay, baby. It’s okay,” he whispers again. And in that moment, I know without a doubt that he loves me, and that everything will be okay.
* * *
When I get backto the table, I’m still wobbly but I’m okay. Myles is shooting me worried looks, and I can’t look at Mel, but I’m sure she knows she got to me. I missed Alex and Michael’s first dance, and when Dena comes over to our table to ask Luke to dance, I know he has to go along with it. But he spends the entire song having a heated conversation with her, and while I don’t catch any of it, I feel vindicated because I know he’s standing up for me. And I’m more certain than ever that he and I will find a way to make things work. Mel knows nothing.
After their dance, Dena stalks off to the bathroom and Luke comes back over to the table, taking a seat beside me. He leans closer, keeping his voice quiet. “Dena told me what happened in the corridor. I’m sorry. Mel is…” He rubs the back of his neck. “She’s really nasty. I never understood why Mike married her.”
I fiddle with the napkin on the table in front of me, staying quiet.
“Don’t let the muggles get you down,” he says, trying to lighten the mood. But he knows it’s not working, and sighs. “Look, I just have to get through today, okay? I just need this wedding to be over, then…” he trails off, his desperate eyes scanning my face.
