《FLASHBACK》

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●ARIA POV●

"I'm going to marry you one day ," he says to me .

I tilt my head to the side , "when?" I ask him playfully .

He just smiles , "when the time is right."

《PRESENT》

I had a vision of a memory that was so vivid in my mind . It came back when I felt my body spark up as soon as our lips touched. It erased all that time we spent apart and when I opened my eyes , I couldn't hold back my feelings anymore .

"It's always been you," he says to me tenderly , "I wish we were alone but I don't care who knows."

I close my eyes and inhale his scent, "I knew . I feel the same exact way."

His lips closed in on mine again and we shared the most passionate kiss I have ever experienced. His arms holding me firmly while my fingers tangle up in his hair. We didn't need oxygen, we needed each other . My heart was so full I thought it might burst.

When we parted we saw in our periphery the shocked look on many faces . We hadn't accounted for how this may seem to everyone , we just didn't think . Delilah's mouth was open , Henry's jaw was on the floor and the girls eyes were about to pop out of their heads.

Rachel and Florence had mixed reactions, one was amused and the other was confused. Then I looked at Dylan and finally my eyes landed on Alex. Alex looked devastated , as if his heart was just ripped out. And a pang of guilt hit me .

"What's the meaning of this?" Rachel demanded .

Warren turned to her and covered my body with his , "what it looks like . Two people who have always been destined to be together. Besides, not everything is what it seemed in the beginning and you may want to get that clarified with Alex, seeing as Florence looks like she already knew," I peeked over him and saw her smiling .

Before I can say or defend myself , I felt a pair of delicate hands pull me away from Warren . I spin around and see a rather angry Delilah , "start talking, NOW!" I couldn't quite look her in the eye because I felt bad for keeping this secret from her.

We walked away from the crowd on the dancefloor until it was just the two of us, in the corner of the VIP section . She had scared away the remaining guests so we can talk.

"Are you drunk?" She asked me as if the scene sobered the alcohol out of her system.

"Tipsy, maybe close to drunk. But I know exactly what happened out there," I answer

"You're with Alex!" She says with disappointment.

I need to tell her the truth , she might be even angrier at me but I have to tell her , "We were never a couple . He pretended to be my boyfriend for this wedding."

The anger disappeared and was replaced with worry , "but why did you lie?"

"I couldn't face Dylan . And then the whole fiance thing, I was mortified . So Sonja came up with this ridiculous plan," I start to tell her.

She holds up her hand to stop me, "wait, Sonja knew??!" I should've just said it was my plan .

But there's no stopping now that the truth is finally coming out, "yes, but I was against it at first. Didn't think it would work."

She sighs , "You should have just told me . I am the bride afterall . I would've told Dylan no date. Nobody likes that woman . You didn't have to go through all of this."

"I know," I consider telling her about my one night with Alex but thought otherwise, "I wouldn't have reconnected with them , with Warren had I not agreed to this foolish plan."

"You're in love with him, aren't you?" She asked me.

The word love . When I used to hear that word I thought of a future with a loving husband and kids . I thought of Dylan . But now , I can only see Warren's face . The intensity is so much greater than anything I had associated with that word before . "Very."

"When did this happen?" She asked me .

I look over at Warren who is now having a heated discussion with Alex , while Dylan is standing in the sidelines , "This is going to sound cheesy but my heart immediately recognized Warren the night I had dinner with Alex's family."

"I had a strange feeling when I was alone with him that first night . And then he grew to be my friend and my protector . I knew that this was more than infatuation and tonight, that kiss," I touch my lips , "only confirmed what my heart has been saying to me all along. I know everything happened so fast..."

"But when you know , you know," she finished my sentence and smiled at me , "But Ar, is this really you talking or is this the alcohol?"

What's the difference?

♡♡♡

●WARREN POV●

That kiss was something else . Even the many times I kissed Penny, I never once felt even a fraction of what Aria made me feel. When we parted lips and saw the look in her eye, I knew she felt the same . Her sister grabbed her and dragged her to the corner of the VIP room and I was being hauled away by Alex.

"What the hell was that?!" He says with fisted hands by his side.

"I couldn't hold back anymore . I'm sorry Alex, I'm sorry that I couldn't help but fall in love with her," I say to him looking him straight in the eyes.

"So you swoop in , was that your plan all along?" He accuses me . His voice laced with anger , "she's drunk Warren! You kissed my girl while she was intoxicated!"

I pushed him back , "she's not YOURS and you know it . You knew it the first night you brought her to the house to 'reunite' us ."

"That was MY mistake . I shouldn't have," he seethed.

"Mistakes? How about you taking off to see Penny without even thinking about Aria ? Especially after the night you two had? She felt stupid ," I spit out at him.

I'm tired of his attitude, I tried to be the bigger person . I stepped back when I thought he and Aria were a real thing . I didn't come after him when I found out about Penny. But I'm drawing the line , "you will not disrespect me little brother. You've done enough damage . And before you can accuse me of payback for Penny, this isn't. "

"So what? You're in love with her?" He said in disbelief.

"Yes. And I've been wanting to protect her all this time . YOU were supposed to but failed, didn't you?"

"I made one mistake," he was pushing in closer to me until we were both toe to toe.

"I'm not fighting you Alex, I won't get pulled into your theatrics. It might have worked on other women but Aria is not like them . She is not Penny ," I say to him .

His eyes went wild at my comment , "I know she's not Penny . Aria is more woman than anyone I've ever known . I love her , I'm IN LOVE with her you prick."

Like a sledge hammer that last comment took me by surprise . He was also in love with her . And he's right , she is slightly or more than slightly inebriated and I took advantage .

"Wait, you're the guy who was at Aria's apartment that other night," Dylan finally said with recognition , "who are you?"

"I'm the man who's always known that Aria is a special person . She is someone that deserves unconditional love and to be treated with nothing but happiness," I say to him , glancing over at Aria .

She and Delilah had just finished talking and began to walk in our direction . I stepped away from the growing tension of this three manned group , "they're coming back," I say . Alex and Dylan both eased on the deadly looks and smiled brightly towards Delilah and Aria.

"Everything okay?" Delilah asked while raising a brow at us . Indicating she wanted the pissing contest to end . I immediately felt bad for contributing on ruining her special evening .

"Yeah, we were just discussing some things but everything is okay now," Alex says with an apologetic tone .

"Sorry about the drama," I added to which she raised her hand.

"Take my sister home, Warren. She had a lot to drink and she might feel more comfortable in her own apartment. Here are her keys," she said while throwing them at me , "take care of her, okay?"

I nod at Delilah and glanced over at Alex. He had the look of fury as we all realize that Delilah knows the truth about Alex and her relationship. I'm curious to know what they said about me and hopefully she'd be up to maybe revealing a little bit of that .

Sonja began to speak up , "I can help you take her home-"

But Delilah cut her off , "-no , let Warren do that."

My watch was indicating that it was closer to 1 am by now and we all made a decision to end the night and part ways . As we all spilled to the cool night's air outside , I noticed a black SUV sitting in front of the entrance . It couldn't be.

Trip stepped out of the vehicle and looked between myself and Aria . Then his eyes traveled to Delilah and Henry . If we weren't enough of a surprise , this might have put Delilah overboard. Before he can manage to say anything Delilah had rushed over to Trip.

"Trip? What are you doing here?!" She sounded more pissed than happy .

"Aria asked me to come. I didn't want to to inside because I didn't want people to get the wrong idea , so I waited until you guys were out," he explains.

She blinks a few times and then slaps him in the face , causing a few gasps from the group and crowd around us. He held his heated cheek and rubbed it , "okay , I deserve that. For what it's worth, Aria isn't mad at me ."

"It's because she can't remember what happened!" She screams.

"It was 20 years ago . I'm sorry. She knows I am , I made amends and have been working hard on becoming a better person," he says to her.

"I almost lost my baby sister because of you . I was torn . You were my bestfriend and I couldn't understand for the life of me why you did that!" She was now crying as Trip pulled her in for a hug .

"I'm sorry, I thought I was helping her . I didn't know she would sink so fast . But she's okay now ," he says in a soft voice . He looks over to Henry, or to whom he presumed was Henry

"I'm here to say congratulations to you two and nothing more," he says with a genuine smile .

"I missed you , you bum. This is my fiance Henry, Henry this is my childhood bestfriend , Trip," they both shook hands .

Trip looked at Aria and placed his hands on either side of her shoulders , "You look spent! Thank you for inviting me , Ar."

She looked up at him and lunged in for a hug , "thank you for coming . Maybe now we can all properly be together in one room without my sister wanting to murder you," she says with a toothy grin.

"Maybe," he says reciprocating her grin.

"Hi!" A squeaky Sonja says, getting the attention of Trip , "I'm Sonja, Aria's bestfriend."

As if the wind was taken out of him , he stood there in shock for a moment before giving her the world famous Trip smile. I didn't bother to stick around to see what happens as I usher Aria to my car.

"Where are we going?" She asked me as I buckled her in .

"Home."