She closed the door and stood with her back to it. "My parents are going to be mad when they find out the reason you're here," Emily hissed, "so it better be a really good reason."

Why had he shown up here? He couldn't have picked a worse time! With only forty minutes until the wedding ceremony began, she didn't have much time to talk and didn't want to be distracted—especially not by River. She still was afraid of him changing her mind about the wedding, not realizing he'd already done so. She didn't want to get married to Jason.

But she wasn't about to tell River that, so she walked away from the door and had a hand on her hip while she waited for him to answer.

He didn't dare to move as he remained close to the door. "We need to talk," was all he said.

"We already have," she said. The ticking clock seemed to be engraved in her brain, making her aware of every passing second, so in an attempt to get her mind of things she started to clean her room.

"About something else," he said, and he watched her pick up stuff from the bed and organize items into neat stacks. Did he have to watch her? It made her self-conscious, and she didn't like it. She was in her wedding dress too, and didn't like it that he was the first one—besides Laurel—to see her like this. She'd wanted Jason to be the first, when she walked down the aisle, and she was in no way pleased River was here instead to steal her big moment.

"What's that on your wrist?" he asked her then, walking closer to her.

She glanced at her wrist although she knew what was on there. Unintentionally, she'd shown him the scars—her reminder of Those Three Years.

"Stay away," she said, and she scared herself with her sudden harsh tone. She hadn't had the time yet to put her silver bracelets on before River had come in. "It's none of your business—and if you don't have anything important to tell me, I want you to leave."

He'd started taking small steps, getting closer to her, but froze in place when those words left her lips. He was hesitant and seemed to think of something to say. "I know, Emily."

She stayed silent and tried to hide her panic by continuing to clean. He couldn't be talking about her kidnapping, right? It was the first thing that came to mind, but it was the last thing she wanted him to know. She liked talking to someone who didn't know, but she couldn't hide big secrets like these even if she tried really hard. Even now, a slight hesitation took over her stacking motions. How could he have found out?

There were a million ways in which he could've found out. Why was she pretending it was a secret? It was all over the internet! Although she wished it wasn't Those Three Years he was talking about, she had to be realistic. And if it wasn't, what was he talking about?

He cleared his throat when she didn't reply. "Or shall I say, Emily Abbington."

She stiffened at her emphasized name. He knew. He'd discovered the one thing she'd tried to hide from him because he was the only one in her life with whom she could talk normally because he didn't know.

All this time, she'd had her back towards him, but she turned around now. "So, you know," she said, her tone cold. "Congratulations."

He soon realized his mistake of letting her know this way. "Please, Emily, don't talk to me like that," he said, and he took a step closer. "Is it that bad, me knowing about it?" There was a quiver in his voice and he didn't seem as certain as before. She just sighed at her own sarcasm; he hadn't deserved this treatment. "We can still be friends, right? Despite all of this stuff going on." He held out his hand.

She hesitated. A friendship with River? It seemed impossible; her heart was racing faster than the world's fastest man now that he was standing in her room opposite her, and it wouldn't accept a simple friendship with this guy.

"I didn't know this was so important to you," River said. "I can try to forget it, if you want."

She chuckled. This was so silly. "You don't have to." Although she didn't like the moment he'd turned up or the reason why, it wasn't all his fault—she'd decided not to tell him about her horrifying past, while knowing secrets like these would not be kept forever.

"So... Friends?" He smiled again.

She didn't look him in the eyes. "Friends," she said, giving in. They'd always be friends, she knew, even if her heart was hoping otherwise.

Then, she turned her back to him again and continued to pick up lost items spread across the floor and bed. "But I really don't have the time to talk right now."

"I understand," he said, "and I don't want to know the full story or bring back all the memories." His tone spoke of concern and was so sweet that she had a hard time not falling into his arms. She wanted someone to hold right now—this whole wedding thing was so overwhelming. The expectations were bigger than the silver chandeliers and there were more people than the dollars she'd spent on her wedding dress—or rather, the money her mother had spent on her wedding dress. She just needed someone to talk to, and out of all the people here, River seemed to be the only one who wanted to listen.

"Then, why are you here?" she asked. Everything he wanted to know was on the internet anyway. She'd always hated that; no privacy, everyone knowing about your most traumatic event and asking about it constantly. The worst thing was they never asked her how she was feeling—they'd wanted to know what it was like being dragged into a van or being locked up for three years in a dark basement. Everyone assumed that, because she'd come out of that place alive, she was okay now—but she wasn't. She still feared the revival of her trauma, and no one understood. "At least you're safe now," they would say, "at least it's over now." Didn't they understand it could happen again? It was an ordinary day that had turned her life upside down, and many ordinary days were to come in which the same could happen.

"I..." River began, and she realized he didn't even know what he came here for. Did he just want the confirmation about her past and make sure it was real? "Why didn't you tell me?"

It was a question she hadn't expected, but it made her sigh. For two seconds, she didn't know how to answer him.

"'Why didn't you tell me?'" she repeated then. " Is that all you care about?" Her heart beat faster and she was enraged even though she told herself to keep calm. It was her wedding, she shouldn't be worried about these things—which was why she began hating the fact that River came here even more. "We knew each other for a day, that's not enough for me to tell you the story of my life. And why does it have to be about you?" Her hands were shaking and her voice was trembling but loud.

"I didn't mean it like that," he defended himself, and he talked more quietly in comparison to her. "That's not what I meant to say."

Her hands curled up into fists, and she pressed her nails into her skin until it hurt as a form of anger releasement. She reminded herself she shouldn't be mad at him. Many things today caused her to be angry, but he didn't deserve to have her mess dumped on him. "Tell me what you want to tell me then, or you can just leave," she said, pretending to be calm and composed.

"I-I just want to make sure you're okay," he said. "With what happened, and what is about to happen. The past and the wedding. Just... everything."

She then noticed his eyes were watery, as if he was about to cry. Was that her fault? She'd been too hard on him, hadn't she? He had been so sweet all this time and she just sent him away every time he came close. And even if she tried to be different, let this time be different, she knew it wouldn't. She couldn't stop the future from happening—stop the wedding from happening—and her only solution was to push River away, again and again, to protect her heart from breaking.

But it already had.

She burst out into tears and covered her face up with her hands. The sudden realization of everything happening overwhelmed her. Jason, River, her parents... No matter what she did, she would disappoint one of them.

She sat down on the linen of her bed, not caring anymore about the wrinkles it would cause on her dress, and let the emotions flow. Her sobs were loud and the tears streamed down her face like a waterfall.

"Hey, hey, hey," River said, and he hurried towards her and sat down on the bed next to her. "Hey, I didn't mean to make you cry."

She felt a sting in her chest. "You didn't," she said between sobs. "It's just me, and..." Her words were hard to understand, muffled by her sniffs and tears. "Everything's so messed up."

"Weddings aren't meant to be perfect," River said. He spoke quietly and the soft tone in his voice calmed her down.

"This didn't happen in the rehearsal though."

He just chuckled, but maintained a safe distance between himself and her. She sensed his hesitance.

"You can hug me, you know," she said.

He chuckled again but did as she said, because the only thing that had been holding him back was what her reaction could be. She laughed too while the tears kept streaming down her face, once again realizing what a mess she'd made. Crying in the arms of the one she loved on the day she was about to marry the guy she knew best. She couldn't have made it any more difficult.

* * *

Yes, we're back to two updates a week!