Discover Top Posts Tagged with #nate mack

Author: Nat / @idontgiveaflyinggrayson69

Relationship: Nathan MacKinnon x Fem!OC

Summary: Nate never meant to ruin Rory’s wedding, it’s just that he couldn’t stand to see her marry someone that wasn’t him.

Word Count: 16k+

Warnings: Alcohol.

Comments: I wrote this for @toplinetommy for @antoineroussel ’s summer fic exchange! Alex, I hope you like it! I’ve always wanted to write this storyline and I’m really happy to finally have that chance! The story took on a life of its own and ended up being about 6k longer than I expected, but I’m so happy with the way it turned out and I hope you like it, too! Demi, thank you for being incredible and organizing this! This was the first time I ever participated in an exchange and I’ll definitely do it again!

(c) nat g. 2021 // do not repost, do not claim as your own

Every time Rory’s name flashed across his screen, Nate was quick to pick up. It didn’t matter if he was busy or out with the boys or if the call had woken him from his pre-game nap, he’d always pick up when she called.

So, of course when her name came across the screen that night, it only had to ring out once before he answered it. “Hey,” he said, and even if she was four thousand kilometres away, she knew he was smiling.

“Hi,” she replied. “What’s up?”

“Nothing really,” he told her. “Just finished dinner. What about you?” It was a little unusual for her to be calling so late considering it was already 11PM in Nova Scotia, so he figured something had to be up for her to call him.

“Just got home actually,” she told him and he could hear the smile on her face.

“A little late for you, no?” He asked with a chuckle.

Rory was quiet for a moment and she looked down at her hand. Nate was her best friend but she was still nervous to tell him. “It was a good night, Nate,” she told him, making him sit up a little straighter on the couch as he furrowed his brows.

“What’s going on, Rory?” He asked, and she said three little words that changed everything.

“I’m engaged, Nate.” Nate was so quiet Rory thought the call had been disconnected and pulled the phone back from her ear, but sure enough, the timer kept on ticking. “Nate?” She asked.

He took a deep breath, forcing the air into his lungs. “Wow,” he said, his voice sticking to his tongue so he cleared his throat. “That’s—that’s wow. Good for you. I’m happy for you.” Every word was a lie, but he was her best friend and he needed to act like it.

“Thank you,” she smiled, still taking in how the ring looked and felt on her hand. “I’m really happy.” All he ever wanted was for her to be happy. Still, it was hard to see her happy with someone else.

“I’m glad,” he forced out before listening to her explain how he proposed—the dinner, the ring (she sent a picture afterwards), and everything he said. Nate got a full, incredibly detailed, run down that had his heart breaking with every word. He forced all his feelings back so he could be the supportive best friend, but it was incredibly difficult and he couldn’t wait for the call to be over.

Finally, after almost an hour, she told him she had to go, her voice light with a laugh and Nate’s stomach twisted knowing she was hanging up to be with him, but he forced out a ‘good night’ and waited until he heard the call end.

Nothing felt real as Nate let his phone drop to his lap.

Rory was engaged.

The only woman he had ever truly loved was engaged to someone else, and every hope and dream and fantasy he had that they were somehow going to find their way back to each other shattered like glass as the world came crashing down around him, and there was nothing he could do to stop it.

He first met Rory, or Aurora as he first met her, in ninth grade English. They first became friends when the teacher paired them together for a book report. He had no idea how much she’d mean to him when they first pressed their desks together to divide the workload, but eleven years later and she was the single most important person in his life. He’d never say it out loud, but even though she was with someone else, his world still started and ended with her.

After book report was finished, they kept talking and they became really good friends, even if they couldn’t hang out much outside of school because of his hockey schedule. Things got a little easier in the summer and she and Nate grew really close, and, seemingly, everyone but her picked up on the raging crush he had on her. Or maybe he wasn’t as subtle as he thought because she asked him to the tenth grade winter semi-formal (Nate thanked every God he could think of because it didn’t clash with his hockey schedule) and he said yes. They went as friends, awkward fifteen year olds who didn’t know how to dance or be in a relationship, but they left as more.

Aurora and Nate were the annoyingly perfect high school sweethearts that everyone dreamed to be. She arranged their eleventh and twelfth grade schedules so they could be in the same classes, and she went to every Mooseheads’ home game in his jersey, which was still shoved in the back of her closet. They were even named prom King and Queen, which he didn’t care about, but she did and he’d do anything to make her happy. She even went with him to New Jersey when the Avs drafted him first overall in 2013.

But everything changed when he got drafted.

Rory committed to Dalhousie University in Halifax and Nate had media and training and training camp and pre-season and then real NHL games. All on the other side of the continent.

The first year was hard on both of them, and on their relationship.

The second was even worse.

The Avs weren’t good and Nate had a huge drop in production and he was in a bad place mentally, and Aurora was overwhelmed with full time school and working and they just didn’t have the time or energy to keep up a long distance relationship.

People always said that the love found in high school didn’t last, but that didn’t make it hurt less.

Aurora loved Nate, was in love with Nate, and with every ounce of her being thought that they were going to be together forever. And then, suddenly, he was slipping away. There was no greater pain that watching the one you love slip right through your fingers, and given how rough a time Nate was having in Denver, Rory knew he needed a friend more than a girlfriend and she pulled the plug on their relationship to give him that.

It hurt a lot not being able to love him the way she wanted, but he needed a friend, and she’d rather have him as a friend than not at all.

Getting over Nate was the hardest thing she ever did, and if she never really did, no one had to know. Deep in her heart, Aurora knew that Nate was her person, they just didn’t have the right time. And it killed her. She spent years thinking about all the what ifs and maybes and they ate her alive as she laid in bed. But, they were friends now. Best friends. And she was just happy to have him in her life.

If Nate was being honest, he always thought that they would find their way back to each other. He had hook ups, a few flings and girlfriends, but nothing ever lasted long because they weren’t her.

And then she met James.

James gave her everything he couldn’t. He was in the same city with a set schedule and didn’t travel for work, and he had all the time and resources to give her the life and attention she deserved. Unlike every relationship he had since they broke up, Rory and James were real and serious. Nate still held onto hope that they’d get back together, but it all went out the door when she told him she got engaged to James.

The only woman he had ever truly loved, the only woman he wanted to love, was going to marry someone else.

Nate didn’t know how long he sat there, in his living room, the silence deafening as he wrapped his head around the fact that he lost the only person he could ever love.

They were never going to find their way back to each other. They were never going to fall in love harder than before. They were never going to spend the rest of their lives together.

It was beyond hard for Nate to comprehend and even if he had a game the next day, he still got up and poured himself a stiff drink to swallow his feelings back. And that drink quickly became four as he tried to drown the feelings he had.

He’d skipped optional practice. He just couldn’t feel every wrecked emotion he currently felt. So, yeah, he threw drinks back like candy until his step stumbled and he passed out face first into the pillows.

And the next night, Nate had one of the worst games in a longtime. The Avs lost 6-2 and Nate was a -4 with no points, and two minor penalties and a fight. Everyone could tell that something was up, but Nate refused to say what. In the weeks that followed finding out Rory was going to get married to someone else, Nate played his worst hockey since Bednar took over as coach.

Devastated and heartbroken weren’t strong enough words to describe how he felt.

If he and Rory spoke less following her engagement, either she didn’t notice because she was too caught up in the engagement bliss, or she didn’t care. Either way, it hurt.

The boys were really worried about Nate. They had never seen him like this before and it worried them. But every time they brought it up, he brushed it off. They let it go in the beginning, but whatever was bothering him clearly wasn’t getting better and his play was affecting the team, and they were his friends and they cared about him. But, he still brushed them off. Sometimes unkindly.

“You’re coming out with us, tonight,” Gabe told him after practice.

“I don’t really feel like it, but thanks,” Nate replied without looking up.

“It wasn’t a question,” Gabe said in his captain voice. Whatever was bothering him had gone on long enough and it couldn’t continue to impact the team the way it was. So, yeah, maybe Gabe was planning an intervention.

“Fine,” Nate sighed, not having the energy to fight him. He didn’t have the energy to do anything but hockey these days, and even that he couldn’t do well.

He had no right to be as devastated as he was. It had been more than five years since they broke up and he never made any moves to try to fix what happened, but still, he couldn’t do anything besides nurse his broken heart.

Gabe picked him up on the way to the bar and seeing the way he and Met interacted only hurt him more. He wanted all of that with Aurora and she wanted it—was going to have it—with James.

Gabe and Mel made their way over to the tables as soon as they got there, but Nate went to the bar to order a beer and a couple of shot to drown his sorrows.

And Nate kept drinking. The whole night he just kept ordering more drinks. He couldn’t help it. Seeing how happy his teammates were, how in love they were, it twisted the knife he couldn’t pull out, no matter how hard he tried (not that he tried very hard). And the only thing he could do was drink the pain away.

Not that it was working.

“We need to find you someone so you’re not so lonely,” Mikko said when he found Nate picking at the label of hid beer bottle. It was an off hand comment, it didn’t mean much. But Nate was too drunk to bite his tongue.

“The only girl I want just got engaged, so don’t hold your breath,” he mumbled, the pieces clicking together for those around him. All these weeks of misery and anger and all his horrible play… It was because of her. Aurora. The table softened around him and it only irritated him further.

“Fuck, Nate,” Gabe said but Nate dismissively waved his hand.

“Don’t, okay? I don’t need your pity.”

“We aren’t pitying you,” Josty stepped in.

“Feels like you are,” he said defensively. “Oh, poor Nate who’s still in love with his best friend who’s also his ex and also about to be a married woman. Poor Nate who’s only good at hockey but can’t do that either because he’s too busy being heartbroken over Rory,” Nate vented, his voice steadily getting louder.

He got help for his anger early into his NHL career, but it still wasn’t enough to keep her. Wasn’t enough to help him now. The boys were used to his eruptions on the ice, some would say it made him a better hockey player, but this didn’t make him better. It made him worse.

“Nate,” Gabe said softly.

“I know,” he shook his head before getting up and pulling his wallet out, dropping a couple bills on the table for whoever was going to end up with the bill. “I’ll figure it out and try to stop sucking at hockey, but I’m going home now.” He didn’t wait for a reply as he walked out of the var to call an Uber.

It was only a moment before EJ came out to check on him, and he knew if Tyson was still here, it would have been him and it made everything hurt more. “I can’t do anymore right now,” Nate sighed, running his hand over his face. “So whatever you want to say, don’t.”

“Okay,” EJ nodded and held his hands up as he stepped closer. “But we’re all here for you, you know that right?” He was quiet for a moment, “and honestly? We could all use the Dogg back, so if you could find him and return him, that would be great.”

Nate laughed, a real laugh, which hadn’t done in days, and nodded. “I’ll try my best, okay?” He said as his Uber pulled up. EJ nodded and let Nate slip into the car.

It felt good to get some of his feelings out, and the alcohol made him warm enough that, even if just for a few moments, he was content. But then he got home and saw a string of texts from her and everything came rushing back.

It felt like grief. That was the only way he could describe it. He was grieving what they were and everything they could have been.

Nate didn’t text Rory back. Instead, he poured himself another drink and gave Tyson a call, glad he was at least in the same timezone still and that the Oilers weren’t playing that night either. Though, if they had played, he was sure it wouldn’t have stopped him. And, bless Tyson’s heart, he picked up on the third ring and listened to his drunken rambles and did his best to offer advice, including telling Nate to drink some water, until Nate was ready to put himself to bed.

When he woke up the next morning with a pounding headache, he knew he deserved it.

But as much as he wanted to continue wallowing in his heartbreak, he knew it was unfair to his teammates. So, every ounce of anguish, regret, and frustration, he funnelled it into hockey. He became the Nathan MacKinnon the hockey world loved and he was the hottest player in the final stretch before the playoffs. And if it came at the cost of dodging Rory’s calls and texts, well, at least the team and fans were happy.

They secured the third spot in the Central, and played the Wild. They won in six.

And he started talking to Rory again. But every time she mentioned James or the wedding, he let the line go dead. He couldn’t. He just couldn’t.

It hurt her. A lot.

Nate was her best friend, her ‘move the ends of the Earth for them’ person, and he distanced himself from her, seemingly out of nowhere. She knew he had a rough regular season, but it hurt to have him take it out on her. And then it was playoffs and she knew he was always the most stressed during the playoffs, but he was tearing it up again and she didn’t think she deserved the long periods of silence or the short calls and even shorter texts.

The Avs were eliminated in seven the next round and the pain didn’t come close to what he felt knowing Rory was getting married.

Nate was torn between staying in Denver and going home. On one hand, Denver reminded him of everything he failed at. But, on the other hand, the thought of seeing Rory with a ring on her finger killed him.

But she kept talking about the wedding and how much she missed him and wanted him there with her and as much as it was going to kill him seeing her in a pretty white dress, he called her to tell her he booked his ticket home.

The plane ride, layover included, felt like it dragged on forever, but it also went by way too quickly. And he ordered a couple little bottles of wine on both planes to soothe his heart, but no one had to know.

His parents picked him up from the airport and he soaked his mom’s love in as he ignored how, for the first time, he didn’t want to see Rory. She was his best friend. Even when they were together, she was his best friend. It was just… She was also every ounce of his regret.

When he didn’t rush to see her after months apart, his mother knew something was up, and it didn’t take a genius to figure out what. As much as Nate pretended otherwise, he wore his heart on his sleeve.

They may have broken up years ago, but she knew he never stopped loving her. She could see it in his eyes every time he looked at her, and in the softness of his voice when he said her name.

If his mom was being honest, she always found it fitting that her name was Aurora because she truly was his sun. And now his sun was trapped behind a never ending storm since she was marrying someone else.

Nate managed to ignore her for three days before she showed up at his parents’ door wanting to see him and his mom let her in.

“Nathan MacKinnon, you’ve been home for how many days and I haven’t gotten my hug because?” Rory asked, putting her hands on her hips as she blocked his view of the TV while he sat on the couch, but she couldn’t hide her smile as she looked at him. Even rumpled and scruffy and clearly nursing a broken heart, he was her Nate.

Nate looked up at her, and somehow she was more beautiful then when he left.

She had cut her curls to rest at her shoulders and her skin was deep gold. But what really caught his attention was the rock on her finger. He knew the ring was huge from the pictures, but it looked bigger seeing it in person, even if he couldn’t help but think it wasn’t really her taste. But what did he know, she wasn’t marrying him, so maybe James did know her better.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered with a smile. “Jet lag and playoffs really kicked my ass. I am getting older, you know.”

He made a point of groaning as he stood, making Rory shake her head before she walked into his embrace and pressed her face into his chest. He still smelt like home. And she still fit perfectly in his arms. Nate melted into the hug, pulling her closer as he breathed in the familiar scent of her shampoo. For just a moment, Nate could pretend everything was as it should be.

But then she pulled back and reality came crashing down all over again.

They settled on the couch and she showed him the ring and Nate did his best to swallow his feelings back as he complimented her on it, even if it wasn’t anything like what he wanted to get her. He’d never tell anyone, but he spent hours over the years looking at different rings and he always pictured a pear stone with a halo and more diamonds around a single band. This ring was square with a double halo and a band that split into two to hold the corners of the stone. It was expensive and flashy, and not like Rory at all. But Nate kept that all to himself as they caught up. Apparently, Nate had missed a lot while he was busy distancing himself, and, honestly? It felt really nice to talk with her like that, curled up on the couch together.

It almost felt like high school.

Minus every time he saw James, especially every time he saw James kiss Rory, those first few weeks at home were really nice. For the first time since last summer, his body could rest and heal, and every lingering bruise and ache went away with her smile.

He soaked up every second with her, never truly accepting that he was truly and irreversibly losing her. The size of the ring made it impossible to ignore, but he tried. And every day he hoped she’d wake up and realize he was the one for her. Not James.

But that day never came.

And as the calendar turned to June, Nate barely saw her as she turned her attention towards planning the wedding, having set the date for late August, which Nate didn’t totally understand. Rory loved weddings, she loved weddings so much she was a wedding photographer. She had been planning her wedding since she was four, so why was he rushing her into it and not giving her time to plan the wedding of her dreams? Would it really be so bad to wait until the next summer?

But every time Nate brought it up, she told him she was happy so he let it go, even if it killed him to see her so stressed out about something that was supposed to make her happy.

They might have been in the same city, but he could have been in Denver with how little he saw her. But, luckily, Sid was back home so he had somewhere to go, and someone to talk to if he wanted to. But Nate didn’t want to talk. Nate was never good with being honest to himself about his feelings, much less telling someone else how he felt.

And if he was ever going to break down and start confessing his feelings, he didn’t want it to be to Sidney Crosby. Even if he was one of his closest friends.

So, he worked out instead. A lot.

Whether it was doing sprints up his boat launch or one on one battles on the ice, Nate was always looking for something to do, the ache in his muscles a welcomed distraction to the ache in his heart. And he was able to hide it behind a frustration of three consecutive second round exits.

Sid, like everyone else in his life, was worried about him, but Nate was shutting him out, too. So, the only thing he could do was be there with him so Nate knew he wasn’t alone, and it was going to have to be enough. And if Nate ever wanted to talk, he’d be there.

Still, the breakdown caught Sid by surprise.

Nate showed up at his door at seven in the morning wanting to pull his car up the road since Sid’s road was smoother than his, and it was intense, even for them. Sid really wasn’t a fan of the idea, but he helped loop the chains around the tires after Nate got the car in the right place and put it in neutral and he stayed to spot Nate.

Nate managed to pull the car a few metres before dropping to his knees with a gasp, making Sid rush over to him, afraid he had hurt himself. But before he could even ask ‘what hurts?’ Nate said, “Aurora’s getting married.” Sid’s shoulders relaxed as he slumped back onto his haunches but Nate continued, “Rory’s getting married and she wants me to be a groomsman.”

“I’m sorry,” Sid said after a moment.

“It sucks,” Nate breathed. “And it hurts. It really fucking hurts.”

Sid was quiet for a long moment before asking, “did you ever tell her you still have feelings for her?”

“No, I—I didn’t want to lose her. Having her as a friend is better than not having her at all,” Nate told him.

“And now?” Sid pushed.

Nate shook his head, “I can’t. I can’t lose her, Sid. But I can’t ruin her happiness.” Sid nodded but didn’t say anything else as he helped Nate take the chains off himself before helping him to his feet and helping take the chains off the tires.

“I think you should tell her,” Sid said as Nate got back into his car. “This is clearly weighing on you and, who knows, maybe she loves you back. The wedding is in a few months, so you don’t have a lot of time, and I think you both deserve the truth.”

“I can’t,” Nate told him.

Sid nodded, “just think about it.”

Nate nodded and Sid let the subject drop as Nate backed his car into Sid’s driveway before coming in for breakfast, but he didn’t stay long. When he got back home, he was back at doing sprints up his boat launch just to feel something different.

Nate tried not think about what Sid said, but his mind kept drifting there.

He thought about Rory deciding she didn’t want to marry James. Rory wanting to give them another chance and him telling her he wanted that too. Rory calling off the wedding to be with him. Rory being in his arms. Kissing Rory again. He couldn’t stop thinking about her. But every sliver of time they had together between all the wedding planning, Nate swallowed it all back.

Her eyes shined and she had a bright, contagious smile and freckles like constellations, and he couldn’t.

She was happy and he couldn’t take that from her.

Even if it cost him his.

--

Nate thought Rory telling him she was engaged was the worst feeling he could have experienced. He was wrong. It was seeing her in a wedding dress.

His feelings aside, it was a big deal and she needed her best friend. And, if nothing else, it would mean time together. Even if it felt like a thousand papercuts on his hear, he’d never turn that down.

He was there with her mom and a few of her bridesmaids and he hated every moment he sat on that couch surrounded by all the white dresses. And he hated seeing the way Rory’s face lit up as she browsed the racks. But most of all, he hated how beautiful she looked in a wedding dress.

The white was a beautiful contrast against her warm, golden brown skin and Nate’s breath caught in his throat and he sat up straighter as she came out and stepped onto the peddle stool. He caught her smile through in the mirror and any intact part of his heart shattered completely.

The dress was beautiful, the satin clung to her body, accentuating her curves and the straps plunged into a deep V on her chest,

She looked absolutely beautiful.

“So, what do we think?” She asked as she turned around and Nate couldn’t stop running his eyes over her. He knew the girls were complimenting her and telling her everything they loved about the dress, but he stayed deathly quiet, unable to bring himself to say anything as he looked at her. “Nate?” She asked, pulling him from his trance.

“Huh?” He asked, snapping his eyes up to hers.

“What do you think?” She asked with a soft smile.

I love it. I hate it. I don’t want you marrying him. I want you to marry me. He shook his head to clear his thoughts. “You look beautiful,” he told her.

“Thank you,” she whispered before looking to her consultant, Kerri. “I’m thinking something with more texture, but maybe a similar neckline if possible?” The girls nodded and Kerri told her she had something in mind so they made their way back to the dressing room.

They were gone for about fifteen minutes before she came out in a blush a-line with straps a plunge V neckline and textured flowers over the bust and down the skirt. “I love the texture and the flowers, but I’m not a fan of the colour or the thin straps,” Rory said, turning to face the group.

Nate could see where she was coming from. The white looked better against her darker skin than the blush. But the flowers, the soft, romantic look of it all, it was very Rory. It made Nate both love and hate it. But when she asked, he gave her his honest opinion. “I liked the first one better,” he said, forcing a smile.

Rory nodded and the others agreed that this was not the dress so she went back to the dressing room to try something else.

Rory tried a few other dresses. A tulle off-shoulder a-line, a lace strapless mermaid for her maid of honour, a high neck with sleeves for her mother, a no back deep plunge with the flower detail she was looking for. The last one was close, but none of them were quite right.

Kerri pulled a few dresses above her budget because they were exactly what Rory was describing to her and she wanted to at least offer them to her, even if she decided to not try them on. Of course she wanted to, but she didn’t think it was a good idea because she couldn’t afford them, but as she looked through the dresses… One of them was everything she had envisioned and it broke her heart, but she had to try it on.

And she loved it.

She loved the soft tulle and the silhouette of the a-line that wasn’t quite as full as the others, and of course the beautiful floral detail that ran from the bust down the skirt and train. She loved the sweetheart neckline and the off-shoulder straps. She loved how the off-white looked against her skin.

It was everything she wanted, but nothing she could have.

Rory took several long moments looking at herself in the mirror, running her fingers over the flowers, debating whether she should even show them since she knew she couldn’t have it. But she loved the dress too much to not show them. Kerri asked if she wanted a veil, but she shook her head. She didn’t need to twist the knife that this was the dress.

The group was quiet as she walked out and she didn’t bother facing the mirror, choosing instead to look at her group, her eyes immediately settling on Nate.

Nate didn’t know what to say. Being there and seeing her in wedding dresses was hard enough, but this dress… He had seen the Northern Lights—the AuroraBorealis—a few times, but they paled in comparison to her in that dress. Nate struggled to take air into his lungs, it was so clearly Rory and it fit her so well and she couldn’t stop smiling and, for a brief moment, he could see her walking down the aisle to him.

Even he knew it. This was it. This was the dress.

The look on Nate’s face told her everything she needed to know and she let her eyes drop back to the dress, unable to hold his gaze.

“That’s your dress,” her mom told her.

“It’s over budget. By a lot,” Rory replied with a little shrug.

Nate couldn’t remember blinking as he looked at her in that beautifully perfect dress. He could barely hear the conversation around him. The only think he could focus on was Aurora. He didn’t know he was speaking until he said it. “I’ll pay for it,” he said, making Rory meet his eyes and he shook his head as he sat up a little straighter. “That’s your dress, Rory,” he told her. “I want you to be happy and I can make that happen, so whatever the extra costs are, I’ll cover them.”

Rory’s bottom lip trembled as she held back tears. “I can’t ask you to do that,” she whispered, unable to make her voice any louder.

“You’re not,” Nate said, shaking his head. “I’m offering.” It killed him to see her marry someone else, but it hurt him more to see her unhappy. “Consider it my wedding gift, okay?” Rory brought her hand up to wipe her tears away before they fell and she nodded.

“Do you want to see it with a veil?” Kerri asked and Rory nodded so she slipped away to find a matching veil. The minutes felt like hours but Kerri came back with a veil that had similar flowers on the train and Rory ducked down so she could put it in.

It took everything in Nate to not stand up and walk out seeing her like that.

“Are you sure?” She asked, looking to Nate and he nodded. He impulse bought a penthouse when Tyson was traded. Spending a grand or two to make the love of his life happy was easy.

“Okay,” Rory smiled, turning to Kerri. “This is my dress.” The group around them clapped, but Rory didn’t join them and Nate couldn’t find it in himself to either.

When the clapping died down, Rory stepped off the peddle stool and walked over the couch and held her hand out to Nate. He didn’t want to, but he let her pull him to his feet and she hugged him as tightly as she could and Nate had to look up at the white ceiling to stop himself from breaking. “Thank you,” she told him, her voice muffled against his shoulder. He didn’t trust his voice so he rubbed her back as he nodded.

He took a deep breath when she pulled back and he looked down at the dress, looking at the details he couldn’t see while she was on the peddle stool and he forced a smile as he shook his head. “You look beautiful,” he told her.

“Thank you,” she smiled, giving his arm a squeeze.

The rest of the appointment was a blur as she had her measurements taken and the rushed order placed and he promised to e-transfer whatever went over budge, though he ended sending the entire dress amount. Aurora was the love of his life as much as she was his best friend, and Nate knew he couldn’t be that for her the way she needed for her wedding, so, the least he could do was buy her wedding dress.

Nate told himself it made up for it.

--

The days blurred together.

Nate saw Rory less and less as the wedding got closer and closer, and he went back to working out to the point of exhaustion because anything was better than what was going to happen with Aurora.

He went for his suit fitting and all the boys couldn’t stop talking because they were all best friends but he was Rory’s friend, not James’. So he got fitted for his suite and didn’t say anything else.

And the calendar became August and instead of focusing on on-ice drills, he was focused on her, and, somehow, he was invited to her bachelorette party. He was a millionaire and he couldn’t think of a better way to spend his money than on drinks at her bachelorette party. Enough drinks and it would be enough to quiet every thought and regret he had.

By the time he collapsed in his bed that night, he could barely remember his own name, let alone how much he loved Rory and how much it hurt that her wedding was right around the corner.

The hangover the next day, however, reminded him of both.

August went by way too quickly. The sun rose and fell, the Nova Scotia rain came down hard and quick, and before he knew it, it was the night before the wedding.

He didn’t sleep. No matter how hard he tried, he didn’t sleep. He tossed and turned for hours and when he did fall asleep, it was only into a nightmare about losing Rory. He woke up drenched in sweat only to fall asleep and wake up again just as sweaty. His worst nightmare was becoming a reality.

And then his alarm went off and it was time to start the worst day of his life.

Honestly, most of the morning was a blur to Nate. He got up, got dressed in some casual clothes to have breakfast with the groomsmen. He had a shower after breakfast and then he was getting dressed for the wedding.

Every smile he gave for the camera was forced and it took everything in him to not hit up the hotel bar. He needed a drink. He needed several drinks. But he couldn’t ruin her big day, so he had to hold himself back until it was all over and she and James were—

He couldn’t finish the thought. Once he was back in his room, he could drink as much as he needed and could cry as hard as he would without anyone judging him.

Nate knew pain. He knew how badly losing hurt, he knew the pain of a game seven overtime loss, he knew the pain of having his best friend traded to a different team, and he was never able to heal his broken heart when Rory broke up with him. But absolutely none of it compared to this.

Maybe it was foolish, but he really did think that he and Rory were endgame. Maybe she was his first love, but she was supposed to be his last. Even if it took years, they were supposed to find their way back to each other. And now that timer was ticking down to zero. In just a few quick hours, his every hope and dream would be washed away.

Nate never processed the time passing. Everything happened around him, but it never clicked until he was walking down the aisle with a bridesmaid on his arm.

He was lightheaded as he took his place on James’ side and he struggled to take air into his lungs as he looked over the rows of people. It felt like he had only blinked and everyone was standing as the music changed and Rory appeared at the end of the aisle.

Time stood still as he looked at her and, for just a moment, everything melted away and she was walking to him.

He saw their life together as she walked down the aisle.

He heard the cheers as they had their first kiss as husband and wife. He felt her body against his as they danced, even if he was shit at it. He pictured their honeymoon on the beach. He could see her smile as they moved into their forever home in Nova Scotia. He could feel the nerves and excitement when she found out they were expecting their first child. He saw a perfect, chubby baby boy in her arms as she rocked in a glider in the nursery.

He saw everything he could ever want.

And then she got closer and James stepped forwards to take her hand and reality hit him with a truck and he had to take half a step back to steady himself.

It felt like an elephant was sitting on his chest and he couldn’t breathe. The officiant started a speech about true love but he couldn’t focus on a single word, all he could hear was the blood pounding in his ears ticking down the seconds until he lost her forever.

The first time he kissed Rory, it was awkward and messy, but he knew he wanted to do it again, and it didn’t take him long to figure out that he wanted to kiss her every day for the rest of his life. But he wasn’t going to be the one that got to.

James was.

I can’t do this, Nate thought to himself, pressing the palms of his shaking hands into his thighs. He couldn’t be here, couldn’t stand a few feet away while she promised to spend the rest of her life with someone else. The officiant hesitated, glancing at Nate out of the corner of her eye and Rory’s smile faltered just a smidge at the sound of his voice, not that he realized he said it out loud.

He was never planning on ruining her wedding, he never wanted to ruin it. She’d never forgive him for leaving and ruining her wedding, but he couldn’t be here. He couldn’t. He took half a step back as he shook his head, more eyes moving from the bride and groom to him.

He didn’t know he was doing it until it was already done.

Instead of stepping back, he stepped forwards and off the altar. He didn’t hear the gasp from her mother because all he could focus on was Aurora.

His heart was pounding in his chest, but the words clawed at his throat. He never wanted to tell her because he couldn’t ruin what they had, but seeing her in her wedding dress, ready to commit herself to someone else, Nate realized either way he was going to lose her, so he had to say it.

“I still love you,” he told her and the silent venue came alive with a gasp. “I never stopped loving you.”

Aurora’s eyes widened and her breath stuck to her throat in shock. Standing up at someone’s wedding was something that happened in TV shows or romcoms, it didn’t happen in real life. It wasn’t supposed to happen in real life. Yet, there he was, her best friend, telling her he still loved her.

Getting over Nate was the hardest thing she never did. Rory spent years nursing her broken heart and wondering if breaking up was the right thing, or just her pulling the plug when it got hard.

No matter how hard she tried, she could never stop loving Nate. No matter how much time passed, she loved him all the same. He was her rock, her person, her best friend, and the love of her life. He was her right person at the wrong time, that she was certain.

She loved James, loved him enough to want to spend the rest of her life with him. But he wasn’t Nate. She couldn’t love him the way she loved Nate, and he couldn’t make her feel the things Nate made her feel. And now, on her wedding day, the day she had been dreaming about for as long as she could remember, he was confessing he still loved her.

Nate still loved her.

All these years later and he still loved her.

“I have shit timing, I know,” he said awkwardly. “But I can’t stand back and watch you get married, not while I’m still in love with you, because, Rory, I never stopped loving you. I love everything about you, even the things I don’t like, I love. I’m sorry for fucking up the most important day of your life, and I’m sorry for fucking us up all those years ago. Letting you go is the biggest regret of my life and I will spend the rest of my life wishing I fought harder for you. I don’t know what I’m doing, but I’m hoping, God I’m hoping, that you love me back.” He paused, taking a shaky breath as he held her eyes. “Do you?”

Rory didn’t blink as she looked at him, half convinced that if she blinked, Nate would be gone. “Aurora?” James said slowly, but it didn’t process. The only thing she processed was that Nate still loved her.

“I’m sorry,” she breathed, shaking her head as she pulled her hands back from his. The crowd’s gasp was deafening and Nate didn’t felt lightheaded as he stepped towards her, not entirely convinced he wasn’t hallucinating.

It happened so quickly, one moment Rory was looking into James’ confused, heartbroken eyes, the next she was running down the aisle with Nate’s hand in hers.

As soon as they hit the parking lot, Nate pulled the keys from his pocket to unlock his car. He hated letting go of her hand, but he had to as they approached his car and he watched her get into the passenger’s seat before going around to the driver’s side.

“Oh my god,” Rory smiled as they did their seatbelts up and Nate put the car into drive. He started towards the parking lot exit and everything hit her.

She ran out of her own wedding.

She just left James at the altar.

“Oh my god. Oh my fucking god,” she said, her eyes widening as she tightened her grip on her seatbelt.

“Rory?” Nate asked, glancing over at her, his stomach dropping at how unsure she looked. “Are you—are you okay?”

“No, I’m not fucking okay! I just left him at the altar. Oh my god, I left him at the altar, I’m a terrible person,” she rushed out, her chest feeling tight and she tried not to hyperventilate.

All the relief Nate felt when they ran down the aisle together melted into fear as he reached over to touch her arm. “Do you want to go back?” He asked slowly, hoping she said no.

Rory forced a deep breath into her lungs and looked over at him. It’s Nate. Nate picked her. And she picked him. “I need you to drive,” she told him firmly. “Drive far away from here.”

“Okay. I can do that,” Nate nodded, spending up as he turned out of the parking lot and headed towards the 102 out of Halifax.

The car was quiet at first, both of them still processing what exactly they just did, but the longer they drove, heading north through the province, the more Rory settled down and she pulled the veil from her head and bunched it off before tossing it into the backseat. When she looked over at Nate, he was gripping the steering wheel with white knuckles.

“Nathan?” She whispered, making him glance over at her. “I never stopped loving you. And I never wanted us to break up in the first place, I only did it because I thought it would be better for us.”

He relaxed a bit and reached over to give her hand a squeeze. “Let’s find somewhere to stay before you say anything else because I am holding on by a thread right now and I do not want to run us off the road, okay?”

Rory laughed softly and squeezed his hand. “Yeah, that’s fair,” she nodded.

Nate smiled and spared another glance her way. “For the record, I love you, too. But you already know that,” he smiled. He spent years wanting to tell her that and now he could.

They drove for another couple hours before Nate pulled off the highway in Fredericton, New Brunswick. He could have kept driving, but they were a province away, so he figured it was far enough.

“This looks promising,” he said as he pulled into the Delta Hotels parking lot. It would be better than the Comfort Inn, that’s for sure, and they even had a restaurant, which was important. Rory agreed and Nate parked the car. He took a deep breath and turned the car off before looking over at her. Not a wedding, not time, not distance; for the first time in a long time, there was nothing stopping them.

She was the most amazing and beautiful woman he had ever met and she loved him back.

“Let’s go inside and get a room,” he whispered and when she nodded, they got out of the car. Her dress dragged on the concrete, her hair was frizzy, and her make up was smudged, but she didn’t care and she held her hand out for Nate to take as they walked into the hotel.

Nate reached into his pocket to pull out his wallet as they walked up to the check-in desk. “Do you, uh, have any empty rooms?” He asked the receptionist.

“Yes, we do,” she smiled, looking them over. “A king, I assume?”

Nate glanced over at Rory. “Do you have any suites?” He asked.

The receptionist types a few things into the computer and nodded, “we have a deluxe suite available. It has a separate living and sleeping, and a jacuzzi tub in the bathroom.”

He nodded. “Perfect, we’ll take it,” he said, handing his card over to her.

“How many nights, sir?” She asked, taking his head.

“Oh jeez,” Nate shook his head with a sigh. “Three? No, maybe five? Yeah, five, I guess. We might check out before then though.”

“Okie dokie,” she nodded, typing everything into her computer before handing his card back to him along with two room keys. “Room 802, and it also comes with complimentary breakfast from 7 to 10AM.” She paused. “Is the weather expected to turn? Did they cancel your flight?”

“What?” Nate asked, furrowing his brows, but Rory laughed.

“No, I ran out of my wedding. Left my fiancé at the altar for my best friend,” she explained, laughing harder at the receptionist’s shocked expression. She took the room keys from Nate and hooked her arm around his. “Thank you, have a nice night,” she said and guided him towards the elevators.

She pressed the button and it only took a moment before it dinged and the doors opened. She was careful to make sure none of her dress got caught in the doors and the ride up to the eighth floor was quiet except for the elevator music. It was a little tense, but neither of them mentioned it.

Rory took the lead as she looked at the directory and headed down the hall to their room and she unlocked the door and stepped in. Nate followed her in and closed the door behind him, and suddenly they were all alone again.

The room was quiet as Rory sat down on the couch before laughing. “Is this real? Did we really just do that?”

Nate shrugged off his suit jacket and tossed it over the back of the chair before sitting down next to her and taking her hand in his. “It’s real,” he reassured her. Rory smiled and squeezed his hand. All these years and heartbreaks later, they were finally here, together. And there was nowhere she’d rather be.

She let her gaze fall to her left hand and she pulled back from Nate to wiggle the engagement ring off her finger and sat it on the coffee table in from of them. The sound echoed in the silent room and she let out a deep breath it seemed she had been holding since James got down on one knee at the restaurant. “Much better,” she whispered before turning to face Nate.

She cupped his cheek and leaned in to kiss him. Her lips brushed his before she pressed them completely against his. The kiss was hesitant and slow, but also familiar. Something they had done thousands of times before. It only took a moment for Nate to melt into it and he brought his hand up to brush her hair aside so he could cup her jaw and kiss her deeper, pouring every pent of emotion he had for her all these years into it.

She smiled when she broke the kiss and rested her forehead against his, both of them soaking the moment in before Rory leaned back with a laugh.

“Why are you laughing?” He asked, but laughed with her because her laugh was contagious.

“Because it’s my wedding day and I was supposed to be married to James and now I’m in a hotel in New Brunswick with you and nothing but my wedding dress. It’s funny,” she explained, still laughing.

Nate laughed harder, shaking his head at how ridiculous it was. People always described him as the opposite of a romantic but he stood up at his best friend’s wedding and she chose him. “Yeah, it is pretty funny,” he agreed. “But, as crazy as these last few hours have been, I’m glad I’m here with you.”

Rory’s smile softened and she leaned in to kiss him again. “Me too,” she whispered when she pulled back. Her eyes searched his and she shook her head ever so slightly. “I am so incredibly in love with you, Nathan MacKinnon.”

Nate’s lips twitched up and he ran his thumb over the arch of her cheek. “I love you, too,” he whispered. “So much that it hurts sometimes.”

Her chest felt warm and tight at the same time and she rested her head against his shoulder. All this time, they could have been together. All this time and it took her wedding day for one of them to do something.

She took several long moments to just soak it in, that she was really in New Brunswick with Nate, and he did the same, half tempted to pinch himself to see if he was really awake or if this was all a dream and he would wake up and have to restart the day.

But he didn’t. it was real. She was real. They were real.

Eventually, Rory pulled back. “I need to shower,” she whispered. “Get all the product out of my hair and all the make up off my face. And I really don’t want to be in this dress anymore.” Nate nodded in understanding and Rory pushed herself off the couch, walking over to the closet to grab one of the robes that were hung up there. It wasn’t exactly ideal, but it would have to do. She draped it over the back of the chair before stepping in front of Nate and turning her back to him. “Can you unzip me?” She asked.

“Uh, yeah, yeah of course,” he nodded, scootching to the edge of the couch before reaching up to her zipper. It came down smoothly, exposing more of her perfectly golden skin and Nate held his breath, trying his best to not let his eyes wander. “You’re good,” he whispered before clearing his throat as he finished undoing the zipper.

“Thank you,” she smiled, holding the dress tightly against her chest as she looked over her shoulder at him.

“No problem,” he told her. “I’ll order room service while you shower, yeah?”

“Sounds good,” she replied and he watched as she grabbed the robe and walked into the bathroom and heard the door lock behind her.

In the bathroom, Rory put the toilet seat down and let her dress fall to the floor before piling it up on the toilet and putting the robe on the vanity. She took her time pulling the few pins that were in her hair out and putting them on the vanity before collecting all the complimentary toiletries and moving them into the shower and turned it on.

She took her time in the shower, letting the hot water run over her body as she tried to scrub the day away. But the longer she was in the shower, the more real everything became.

Her love for him wasn’t enough for it to work out the first time, why would the second time be any different? She left James at the altar, embarrassing him in front of all their friends and family. She embarrassed herself in front of all her friends and family. How was she supposed to face any of them? How was she supposed to show her face in town? What did people think of her?

Her stomach turned as she thought about it and suddenly the hot water felt too hot as she got lightheaded and she turned the shower off before slowly sitting down and trying to force air into her lungs.

She made the right decision, right?

Right?

She had to.

There was no going back, she had to have made the right decision.

Slowly, the lightheadedness went away and she was able to stand up and get out of the shower. She grabbed a towel to dry off before slipping the robe on and tying it protectively around her waist. She grabbed her dress a little roughly before opening the door.

“The room service should be here soon,” Nate said when Rory stepped out of the bathroom.

“Okay,” Rory nodded and got a hanger down from the closet to hang her dress up before sitting down next to Nate who had undone a couple buttons on his shirt and rolled his sleeves up.

“Are you okay?” He asked when she wouldn’t look at him and she gave him an ambiguous shrug that had him reaching over to take her hand. “What’s wrong?” He asked slowly, half scared of anything she could say.

“It’s just,” she started with a sigh. “What are we doing, Nate? I just left the man I was ready to spend the rest of my life with, and for what? To date you again when you’re going back to Denver? That’s what broke us up in the first time. I—” she put her head in her hands. “Fuck, what did we do?”

Nate was quiet for a long moment before he swallowed. “I don’t want to date you again,” he whispered and Rory’s heart dropped to her stomach.

“What?” She asked breathlessly, not believing he had just said that. He gave her a whole speech at her wedding and she left everything for him and he didn’t want to date?

“I don’t want to date you again,” Nate repeated. “We did that already and not a day goes by that I don’t think about you and how much I love you and how much I want to be with you. I knew years ago that you were the only person I wanted to be with. So, no, I don’t want to date you again, Aurora. I want the whole damn thing. I want to marry you.”

Rory took a deep breath as she looked at him, not sure what to think let alone say.

Nate swallowed and licked his lips before sliding off the couch onto his knee. “I’m serious here, Rory. I want to marry you. Yesterday, today, tomorrow, ten years from now, I want to be with you. I don’t know what happens next, I don’t and I’m sorry for that, but I don’t care as long as we’re together, so let’s get married.”

Six hours ago she was getting married to James and now Nate was down on one knee in front of her in a hotel room a province away proposing to her. Any sane person would have said no or at least want time to think about it and where their head was after everything. But the only word clawing at her throat was—

“Yes,” she breathed. “Yes, I’ll marry you.”

Nate smiled and she reached out to cup his cheeks and pulled him in for a kiss, kissing him as deeply as she could, needing him to know how much she loved him, how much she needed him. But Nate kissed her back just as deeply.

They only pulled back because of the knock at the door. “Room service!”

Rory laughed deep in her chest as she leaned into Nate, resting her head on his shoulder and Nate laughed with her before kissing the side of her head and getting up to answer the door. He stepped aside to let the waiter wheel a cart filled with silver platter covers into the room.

They both gave him awkward smiles and Nate thanked him as he left before he closed the door behind him and shook his head. “Well, I can honestly tell you that I never thought the day I proposed to you would be interrupted by room service,” he laughed and Rory laughed with him before walking over to the cart to see what he ordered. There were a lot of plates, so she didn’t really know what to expect.

“You ordered a lot,” she commented and lifted the first cover to see fettuccini alfredo.

“I didn’t know what you were in the mood for, so I ordered anything I thought you’d like,” he replied, ducking his head. Rory’s heart fluttered at the gesture and lifted more covers. She found spinach dip, French fries, a burger, fried fish, and a chicken caesar wrap.

“It all looks really good,” she told him and picked up a fry. Yeah, she deserved it after everything that happened today. She grabbed another fry before her eyes drifted to the bottle of wine on the cart and she grabbed it to read the label.

“I ordered a bottle of pinot grigio—” Nate started, but she cut him off.

“My favourite,” she smiled and Nate nodded.

“I know. I ordered it because it was, and I honestly thought we could both use it, but I think I’m going to call down and order a couple bottles of champagne to celebrate our engagement. What do you think?” He asked and Rory walked over to him and looped her arms around his shoulders before pushing herself up to kiss him again.

“I think champagne is a great idea,” she told him before stepping back to the cart and putting the covers over every dish that wasn’t the fries before picking the fries up and plopping down on the couch. Nate shook his head with an endeared smile before walking over to the phone to order three bottles of champagne. They weren’t going to drink it all tonight, probably, but he’d hate to bother them again.

Nate stole a couple fries from her plate while he waited for the champagne to arrive, not that it took long, and Rory laughed as he struggled to pop the cork.

“Let me,” she offered, putting the near empty plate of fries back on the cart before taking the bottle from him. She struggled too, but managed to pop the cork without breaking it or the bottle, and she called it a win as Nate held the glasses out to her to fill before she put the bottle down on the cart and took one of the glasses from him.

“To us,” Nate smiled, holding his glass out.

Rory’s smile widened and she clicked her glass against his. “To us,” she echoed. “And to our future together.”

Nate clicked his glass against hers before taking a sip of the champagne. “Not bad,” he shrugged before throwing the rest of the glass back and pouring himself another, making Rory laugh. All these later and he was still the Nate she fell in love with in high school. Rory took a sip and had to agree that it was actually pretty good.

“So, what are you going to eat?” Nate asked. Personally, he was eyeing up the burger, but he’d have whatever Rory didn’t want.

Rory took another sip of the champagne as she looked over the cart with a hum. “I think I’ll have the fettuccini and some spinach dip,” she told him, picking up one of the two appetizer plates on the cart before lifting the cover on the spinach dip. She put a few baked pita pieces on her plate before scooping some spinach dip onto each of them and sitting down on the couch. “What about you?” She asked.

“I think I will also have some spinach dip, and then that burger, if you’re okay with it,” he replied and Rory nodded.

“It’s all yours.”

Nate gave her thigh a squeeze before getting up and lifting the cover on the burger and picked the plate up. He put a few pieces of baked pita and spinach dip on his plate along with what was left of the fries and sat down next to her.

Maybe they were exhausted and hungry over the day’s events, but the food was actually pretty good. Between them, they had a good portion of the spinach dip, and, with help from Nate, they ate all the fettuccini. And that was on top of Nate clearing his own plate and all the fries they had earlier.

And it also didn’t take them long to finish the first bottle of champagne so Rory opened a second.

Between it and Nate, Aurora felt warm in a way she hadn’t in years

She felt light and happy and free and she couldn’t stop smiling as she looked at Nate, but it was okay because Nate couldn’t stop smiling either.

Neither of them paid the clock any mind as they, for the first time in years, enjoyed the moment for what it was: each other.

But Nate could start to see Rory’s eyes droop and he put the rest of the food away in the minifridge before asking if she wanted to go to bed.

“That might be a good idea,” she replied with a laugh, letting her eyes close for a moment before looking up at him. The champagne was hitting her a lot harder than him.

“Okay,” Nate smiled and held his hand out to her, leading her into the bedroom part of the suite. “Let’s go to bed.”

Nate left Rory to fuss with the bed sheets while he brushed his teeth with the complimentary toothbrush and toothpaste and went pee before coming out of the bathroom. Rory was sitting on the edge of the bed waiting for him, the tie of her robe a little looser then he remembered as she looked at him and he couldn’t exactly hide the way his eyes dip down to her chest before meeting hers.

He took a deep breath through his nose as he came around the bed and started to undo the buttons on his shirt. “Is it okay for me to just wear my boxers?” Nate asked and Rory laughed before biting her lip.

“Not like we have better options,” she replied.

Nate nodded and started undoing his shirt. “You can have my shirt if you want. Or you can stay in the robe. Or you could wear nothing at all,” he told her, hoping she’d take the bait. “Nothing. I haven’t seen before.”

“Nice try,” she shook her head and took his shirt after he shrugged it off. “But I will take your shirt to sleep in, thank you. “The only thing I have on is a pair of very skimpy white lace panties, and we are not there yet.”

“We’re getting married, I think we are,” Nate laughed, leaning in to kiss her again. Rory smiled into the kiss, putting the shirt down so she could pull him closer before pushing him back.

“Not yet,” she told him, patting his chest before getting up with his shirt in hand to go to the bathroom to change. As soon as the door close behind her, she pulled at the tie of the robe and hung it up on the hook before pulling Nate’s dress shirt on. It was worn and wrinkled, making it feel softer against her skin, and his cologne clung to the collar of the shirt, making her smile as she did up the buttons, leaving the top few undone for comfort. The shirt didn’t come too long on her, but it covered everything it had to.

Usually, she had a whole bedtime routine, but she settled for brushing her teeth and going pee. When she came out of the bathroom, Nate had stripped down to his underwear and was resting back against the headboard. He didn’t hide the way he ran his eyes over her body and Rory rolled her eyes, but couldn’t help but blush. “I like you in my clothes,” he told her.

“As much as I like wearing them, we need to go shopping tomorrow,” she told him and he nodded.

“Yeah, that’s probably a good idea,” he agreed and Rory crawled up the bed and settled against his chest. Nate smiled to himself and kissed the top of her head, his chest warm in a way that wasn’t from the champagne.

He let her stay like that for another moment before gently tapping her shoulder so she’d lift her head. “Let’s get under the covers,” he told her and she nodded, pulling away from him so they could get comfortable under the covers, get all the pillows in the right place and turn the light off, but as soon as Nate was comfortable, she pressed herself into his arms. Nate smiled into the dark room and pulled her closer. “I love you so much,” he whispered and somehow, Rory snuggled closer.

“I love you, too, Nate,” she whispered before pressing a soft kiss to his chest. Between him and the champagne in her system, it didn’t take long for her to fall asleep, and Nate wasn’t far behind her.

It was the best sleep she had had in years.

--

They woke up exactly how they fall asleep: wrapped in each other.

Nate woke up first, used to getting up early for hockey, but he did his best to stay still as to not wake Rory. And that worked for half an hour at most. Nate was a lot of things, but still wasn’t one of them.

“Good morning,” Rory said when she woke up, lifting her head to look up at him with a smile.

“Good morning,” Nate echoed, his voice thick with sleep and Rory couldn’t help but find it attractive.

All these years, she hadn’t truly let herself realize how much she missed this, missed Nate, but now that she was back in his arms, there was nowhere she would rather be. She let her eyes drop to his lips before she pushed herself up to press a chaste kiss to his lips and Nate brought his hand up to cup her cheek.

He truly would be the happiest man on earth if he got to wake up next to her every day for the rest of his life.

Rory pulled back with a smile and gave his chest a pat before slowly getting up to go to the bathroom. When she came out, Nate took her place, and then they got ready for breakfast. Honestly, Rory was tempted to ask Nate to just order them some room service for breakfast, but it was stupid to paid for it when a complimentary breakfast came with the room, even if he was millionaire. So, after making Nate turn around, she shrugged his shirt off and took her dress from the hanger and went into the bathroom to get dressed.

It was weird and awkward putting her wedding gown back on, but she didn’t have another option. “Are you good?” She asked Nate through the door.

“Yeah, you can come out,” he replied, so she held her dress to her chest and walked back out.

Nate looked up at the sound of the door opening and Rory gave him a smile as she turned around to him her back. “Can you zip me up?” She asked.

Of course Nate nodded. “Yeah, right,” he said, finishing buttoning his shirt before zipping her up.

“Thanks,” she whispered and turned back to face him. “You know, it’s going to be awkward getting breakfast and going shopping dressed like us, in all our wedding attire.”

Nate took a deep breath before shrugging. “I know,” he sighed. “But luckily Fredericton doesn’t have a large population so unless someone posts something, it doesn’t matter.”

“True,” Rory agreed, stepping closer to him and looping her arms around his neck.

“And, you look beautiful,” he told her before kissing her. God, she was never going to be tired of the way he kissed her.

“Thank you,” she whispered when she pulled back and she let him guide her out of the hotel room and down for breakfast.

Luckily, there weren’t all that many people so they didn’t get a crazy amount of judgemental looks as they went through the buffet.

Rory made herself a tea with milk and sugar and grabbed a glass of orange juice, bringing it over to their table before going back to toast herself a bagel, grab some fruit, and a yogurt. She grabbed a few packets of butter before making her way back to the table. And, well, Nate piled his plate high with bacon and eggs. Maybe it wasn’t diet plan approved, but he didn’t care.

They took their time enjoying breakfast together, and Rory was only a little concerned about the amount of bacon Nate ate, but she didn’t say anything.

After breakfast, they didn’t bother heading back up to their room. It wasn’t like they had anything up there. Instead, they made their way out to the car so they could go shopping.

Once they were in the car, Nate reached over Rory to open the glove box and pull out the charger he was so thankful he put in there and plugged his phone in, not that he bothered to wait for it to charge before pulling out of the parking lot. Fredericton wasn’t that big, how hard could it be to find the mall?

The mall wasn’t even that far from the hotel, but it did take them almost half an hour to find it. Still, Rory was thankful to be there and she couldn’t wait to get out of her dress. They got more than a handful of weird looks as they walked through the mall, most of them directed at her, but they did their best to ignore them as they shopped.

She didn’t need much, neither did Nate, just enough for a few days, a week at most.

They hit up a few stores. They each bought a pair of pants and a few shirts. Nate bought a pack of socks and underwear, and Rory hit up LaSenza for a bra and a few pairs of panties. After their shopping was complete, they headed to the restrooms. There wasn’t a line so they took turns in the family restroom changing into street clothes.

Nate wore a simple pair of jeans and a black t-shirt, and Rory put on a mint t-shirt along with the leggings she grabbed. They felt a lot better than her wedding dress and she took the extra bags in her hand and folded the dress over her arm before exiting the washroom.

“Let me take your bags?” Nate offered and when Rory nodded, he took her bags, freeing her hands to carry her dress as they started towards the exit. Despite the small size of the town, the mall was a fair size. Still, it didn’t take them all that long to make it to the parking lot.

“While we’re here, why don’t we look at rings?” Nate asked as they approached the car.

“We’re not in any kind of rush, we don’t have to,” she replied and opened one of the backseat doors after he unlocked the car. He followed suit and they put the bags of the clothing they bought along with their wedding clothes into the back seat.

“I know. But I love you and I want other people to know I love you and I don’t know. You’re right, we have time. If you don’t want to, we can just go have lunch somewhere,” he shrugged.

Rory wasn’t in a rush to put another ring on her finger, but Nate’s words pulled at her and she nodded. She liked the idea of being able to look down and see something that reminded her of Nate, something that he gave her. “If they don’t have anything, they don’t have anything, but maybe they do,” she told him.

Nate instantly smiled and nodded. He locked the car and she held her hand out to him to take. Nate’s smile softened as he took her hand and they walked back into the mall.

“You can get whatever ring you like, okay? I don’t care how much it costs as long as you like it,” he told her as they approached the first jewelry store. There were a few in the mall, so there were options, but if Rory didn’t find something she absolutely loved, then they would wait. Maybe there would be something better in Denver.

She nodded and gave his hand a squeeze before walking into the store. The last time she was in a jewellery store, she was picking out wedding bands with James.

“Hi, can I help you? Is there anything specific you’re looking for?” A clerk asked, but Rory shook her head with a friendly smile.

“No; thank you, though. We’re just browsing. We’ll be sure to let you know if anything catches my eye, okay?”

“Absolutely,” the clerk smiled and turned back to something behind the counter.

Rory took her time looking over the rings, but none of them were her style. There were a lot of yellow gold rings, and big, flashy rings, rings with square diamonds or halos or thick bands. None of them were really her style, and, honestly, a lot of them reminded her of the ring James gave her. At best, there was an oval ring set in a band of diamonds, but the size of the oval stone seemed too small for the band.

“Anything?” Nate asked, but Rory shook her head. “Okay, let’s try the next place.”

Besides a beautiful diamond wedding band, she didn’t find anything at the next store either. She almost suggesting getting the wedding band and having that as an engagement or promise ring. She had done the traditional engagement and had the big ring, she didn’t need to do that again. But Nate wanted to do it that way, and she wasn’t going to tell him otherwise.

“I have an idea,” she told him as they approached the third store, Spicer Cole, a New Brunswick jewellery company.

“That’s never a good thing,” Nate chuckled.

Rory rolled her eyes with an endearing smile. “I want you to pick out the ring you would pick for me if we had done this the traditional way,” she told him. “And if they don’t have the perfect ring, pick the closest and describe to me the rest.”

Nate took a deep, nervous breath and opened his mouth to argue but Rory gave him a pointed look and he nodded and let go of her hand as he looked down at the first case. Not wanting to crowd him, Rory walked to the other side of the store and started looking at the rings and she had to admit that they had the best selection so far. A lot of their rings were unique, with diamonds that weren’t circular or square.

Unlike the other stores, there were more than a couple rings that caught her eye, a few timeless oval rings and a few vintage inspired rings, though she stayed away from the square ones. They were beautiful, but they reminded her of James and she didn’t want that for her new ring.

“Aurora?” Nate called over several minutes later, making her lift her head and look over at him. A clerk was helping him and while she couldn’t make it out, she could see that they had pulled a ring from the display and it was sitting on the counter. “This is what I always pictured getting for you,” he whispered when she walked over.

The ring was still in its little black box, but she melted she saw it.

It was a pear stone with simple single halo and a single band set in diamonds. “It’s beautiful,” she told him, her voice breathy. “May I?” She asked the clerk and he nodded. Rory gently pulled the ring from the box tilting it back and forth to see how the stones caught the light.

“The main stone is 2.2 carats, and the ring is a size six,” he told her and Rory smiled to herself, so glad that the ring was her size so they wouldn’t have to order one in.

She slid the ring on and, sure enough, it fit perfectly.

It was weird having another ring on her finger, but she loved the way this one looked and felt. More than that, she loved that Nate knew exactly what ring to get.

She spent so much time trying to get over him and find someone else and have someone else know and love her, and all along, it was Nate.

It had always been Nate.

“I love it,” she said, looking up at Nate. “I absolutely love it.”

“Yeah?” Nate smiled and she nodded before looking back down at it. She didn’t want to take it off. “Love it enough to want to get it?” He asked.

Rory’s smile widened and she looked back up at him with a nod. “I do. This it… This is it,” she told him.

This time Nate’s smile widened and he wrapped his arm around her, pulling her closer so he could kiss her temple. “Okay, then let’s get it.”

She hugged him back, smiling against his chest before he let her go and she gently pulled the ring off her finger and she put it back in the box for the clerk.

All things considered, it didn’t take all that long for the clerk to ring them up and complete the transaction, even if Rory cringed at the ring cost. It was twelve grand before taxes and nearly fourteen grand afterward, but Nate didn’t bat an eyelash as he pulled his credit card out to buy it. After the transaction was complete, the clerk put the ring into a little bag and Nate let Rory take it. They both thanked him for his help before Nate took her hand and they walked out of the store.

“Thank you,” she said, looking over at him.

“You’re thanking me for buying you an engagement ring?” Nate chuckled and Rory shrugged before leaning into him, letting him wrap his arm around her shoulders.

“I guess,” she told him. “And I guess, thank you for knowing me so well and thank you for loving me.”

“Babe,” he said, stopping so he could look at her. “You don’t ever have to thank me for that, okay? I love you and I want to spend the rest of my life with you.”

Rory nodded and pushed herself up to kiss him. “I love you, too, Nate.”

Nate smiled and pressed another quick kiss to her lips before pulling back. “Come on, let’s go have lunch,” he said before leading her out to the car.

Once they were in the car, Nate reached into the bag to take the box out. He smiled as he opened it and turned it around to face Rory. “Will you do the honour or making me the happiest man on Earth and marry me?” He asked, making Rory laugh.

“Yes, I will,” she smiled and Nate took the ring out of the box and slid it onto her finger. She took a moment to admire it before she reached over the consul to kiss him. Nate brought his hands up to her cheeks and deepened the kiss, pulling her closer before he broke the kiss.

“I love you so much,” he whispered with a smile and Rory leaned into his hand.

“I love you, too,” she replied before leaning back to kiss the palm of his hand and slumping back against her seat. She glanced back down at the ring on her finger before looking at him, not that Nate ever looked away. If he could, he’d never pull his eyes away from her. She blushed at the way he looked at her and brushed her hair back behind her ears. “Where should we grab lunch?”

“I honestly have no idea,” he replied. “I just figured we’d drive around until we found a restaurant.”

Rory nodded with a hum, “sounds good to me.”

“Okay, cool,” he nodded and they put their seatbelts on before he started the car and started out of the parking lot while Rory used his phone to see what places were good in the area.

It didn’t take them long to find Isaac’s Way which had a lot of amazing reviews, so Nate turned into the parking lot and parked the car. He held his hand out to Rory when they got out of the car and she took it as they walked inside.

They both ended up getting burgers and fries and some potato skins for an appetizer, and it was really good.

“So this was like our first date in five years, eh?” Nate asked after he paid their bill.

Rory couldn’t help but laugh. “Yeah, I guess you’re right.”

“Not bad for a first date, eh?” He asked and Rory reached across the table to cover his hand.

“Best first date I’ve ever been on,” she told him honestly.

“Me too,” he agreed with a smile.

Slowly, they went back to his car and Nate took his phone back to look something up before starting off in a direction away from the hotel. Rory gave him a confused expression, but he just smiled before pulling into a bakery parking lot so they could get some desert.

They left the bakery with a whole box of pastries, but her smile was worth it.

They ended up staying in Fredericton the full five nights Nate booked them for.

They spent their time in their suite and walking through the city or just sitting by the water. The whole time they were there, they reconnected in a way Rory didn’t know they could.

She loved Nate; never stopped loving Nate. But, she fell for him all over again the whole time they were in Fredericton. They were away from their lives and responsibilities, in a perfect bubble of them, and she didn’t want to leave it.

She loved getting to wake up in his arms and having breakfast together and having lunch together at a new restaurant, usually on the patio, whether it was good or bad. She loved their uninterrupted afternoons together where she was able to let herself love him in ways she hadn’t let herself since high school. She loved having dinner with him and splitting a bottle of wine, regardless of whether it was a place he found in the city or just room service. And, most of all, she loved getting to kiss him goodnight and telling him that she loved him before going to sleep in his arms.

He was everything she had ever wanted, and deep in her heart, she always knew that.

But, their perfect bubble couldn’t last forever.

Their time in New Brunswick went by way too quickly and before either of them new it, it was their last night there. As usual, they split a bottle of wine with dinner and if Rory held him a little tighter that night, he didn’t say anything.

Neither of them wanted to leave their perfect little bubble, but they had to go home and face the consequences of their actions eventually.

The next morning, they had their complimentary breakfast before packing up their very small amount of things and checking out. Still, Cole Harbour wasn’t all that far from Fredericton, so they stuck around for lunch before getting on the road.

It was an anxious drive home, and it was dark out by the time they got into Cole Harbour and Rory suggested going to his parents and then facing hers tomorrow. She wasn’t exactly looking forwards to facing her mother. And neither was Nate, so he agreed, hoping that his parents would be a little more accepting about what they did.

Both their chests were tight as they pulled into his parents’ driveway. After putting the car in park and turning the engine off, he looked over at her with a nervous smile. “Like ripping off a band aid, right?” He asked.

“A life altering band aid, maybe,” she whispered, taking his hand in hers and giving it a squeeze.

“Yeah,” he sighed, looking over at the house. “Let’s just get this over with. And hope they let us sleep in the same bed now that we’re getting married.”

“I highly doubt your mother will let that happen under her roof, but, yeah, hopefully,” she smiled. Being able to sleep in the same bed as Nate, curled up on his chest or having him pressed against her back, it wasn’t something she wanted to stop. She missed it all these years later.

The corner of his lips twitched up and he gently cupped her cheek before kissing her softly. When he pulled back, they both got out of the car, and he took her hand as they walked up to the door, using his key to unlock the door. “Mom?” He called through the house and Rory closed the door behind her.

“Nathan?” It only took a moment for his mom to appear, his dad hot on her heels, the two of them probably having been in the den. “We’ve been worried sick, as have your parents, Aurora,” she said as she hugged Nate before hugging Rory as well.

“We’re okay,” he reassured her. “We’re better than okay.” He gestured over to the living room couch, “let’s sit down, yeah?”

“Right, of course, no need to talk in the entry,” she agreed and led the way over to the living room and his dad took his place in his favourite chair. Nate and Rory toed their shoes off before making their way over to the love couch and Rory pressed her thigh against his after they sat down, needing his touch to calm her. “What the hell happened?” She asked them.

“Uh,” Nate started, looking over at Rory. “We’ve been in New Brunswick trying to figure everything out. And we’ve decided to get married.” At his word, Rory covered Nate’s hand with hers so they could see the ring.

His mother took a deep breath in and opened and closed her mouth, unsure of what to say. Of course she knew that Nate still loved her, though she couldn’t say she ever thought he’d stand up at her wedding, much less that she would run off with him, even if she had her suspicions that she never truly got over her son. And, really, she always thought they’d get married some day. But that didn’t mean she wasn’t surprised.

“Congratulations?” She asked, shaking her head a bit to clear her thoughts. She took another deep breath before giving them a smile. “I think it’s going to take some time for this to process, but I’m so happy for you both. Can I see the ring?”

“Yeah, of course,” Rory smiled and gave Nate’s hand another squeeze before walking over the couch and sitting down next to her and holding her hand out so she could see the ring.

“Oh, that’s beautiful,” she smiled, gently taking Rory’s hand to get a better look. “Did you pick this out?”

“No,” Rory laughed, looking over at Nate. “Nate did actually. Isn’t it perfect?”

“It is,” she said, the corner of her lip twitching up. Maybe no one else saw it, but she knew deep down that her son care and could be the romantic no one took him for. “It’s absolutely perfect.”

Nate ducked his head and Rory gave him a smile before looking back at his mother and her ring. It was beyond fast, but she was happy. He always made her happy.

They took another moment to look at the ring and process that they were back together and going to get married before his mother took a deep breath in through her nose. “Are you two hungry?” She asked. New Brunswick as at least a fair drive away and it was late. They had to have miss dinner.

Nate couldn’t nod fast enough. “Starving actually,” he told her, which made her roll her eyes.

“There’s leftovers in the fridge, feel free to have them,” she said. “I made chicken breast and veggies for dinner, and there might still be a burger or two in there, and who knows what else.”

“Thanks, Ma,” he said, pushing himself up from the couch. He gave her a quick kiss on the cheek before wandering into the kitchen in search of dinner.

“Did you think this through?” She asked, turning to Rory who had an endeared look on her face as she watched Nate in the next room over.

“No,” she said honestly and looked back over at her. “But I know I love him and I hope that’s enough.”

She reached over to squeeze Rory’s thigh, “it always is, don’t worry.” Rory smiled at her words and nodded before getting up and following Nate into the kitchen to get some dinner.

His parents watched how easy they worked around each other and the soft, fond look in their son’s eyes when he looked at her.

After they finished dinner and put their plates in the dishwasher, Nate started yawning. Maybe it was still early, but driving really took it out of him. “I think I’m going to hit the hay,” he said. “I need a full night of sleep before I face your parents, no offence,” he told Rory before kissing her forehead.

“None taken,” she laughed. “I completely agree. And I think I’ll join you.”

“You know where the guest room is,” his mom said with a smile, making Nate roll his eyes.

“Mom, I think it’s okay for my fiancée to sleep in the same bed as me,” he told her, making his dad laugh.

“Only if you keep the door open,” she told him.

“Mom! We’re twenty-five!” He replied, though he couldn’t hide his blush at what his mother was insinuating.

“Just let them have their fun,” his dad jumped in with a wink, which only made Nate blush harder and Rory tried to hide her blush under a laugh.

“I’m not dealing with this,” Nate shook his head and pressed his hand to the small of Rory’s back. “Let’s go to bed.” Rory laughed harder, but she let him guide her up the stairs. They took turns in the bathroom and Nate gave her an old shirt to wear, a worn Mooseheads shirt that she couldn’t help but smile about.

Nate’s double was definitely a lot tighter than the king they shared at the hotel, but Rory liked the way he felt pressed against her. Even if it came at the risk of maybe falling off the bed if she moved because he took up the whole bed.

And it was so nice to wake up the next wrapped in his arms before getting up and Nate’s mom making pancakes while she talked about how happy she was that they got back together.

They might have been Nate’s family, but they were hers, too. And she loved them.

Unfortunately, Rory’s parents didn’t take the news as well as Nate’s parents, but after they ranted their feelings out, they were happy for them because all they ever wanted was for their daughter to be happy, and Nate could make that happen.

The remaining few weeks of summer, Rory spent between Nate’s place, her parents’ and Nate’s parents’, trying to avoid James and any of his friends and family, and she had her friends go to their apartment to get her things.

“What happens when I have to go back to Denver?” He asked her one night as they laid in bed.

She took a deep breath and shifted to look at him. “I go with you,” she told him.

It was hard before. But they weren’t kids anymore. Rory wasn’t in school anymore and she could do her job anywhere, not to mention the Rockies would make for beautiful wedding pictures and a lot of destination winter weddings, which could mean year-round work, and even if she couldn’t get a real foothold in the market at first, Nate’s contract could support her and he had a house there.

Nate had a real future and life in Denver, and she wanted it. She wanted him. Whether that was in Cole Harbour or Denver, she didn’t care.

As long as she had him, she was happy.

People always say that no love hurts more than the first because it’s the first time you experience all the joy and wonder of love, but also the first time you feel the absolute anguish of heartbreak.

Nate and Rory were their each other’s first love, each other’s first everything. When the fell in love in high school, neither of them truly understood what it meant. They weren’t supposed to last, at least that was what everyone said. But a decade later, they only loved each other more, and they fell in love a little more every day.

The first year in Denver was trying, but instead of pushing them apart, it pulled them closer, and Rory had never loved Nate harder than she did now.

They took their time planning the wedding and got married the next July surrounded by only their closest friends and family, and neither of them could stop smiling.

They came a long way from the kids who met over a book report in nineth grade English, and they had hit more than a couple bumps along the way, but they made their way back to each other, just like they were supposed to.

Fin

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