Chapter 27

“I look really good in pink,” I said to Brianna as I pulled a pink bridesmaids dress off of a rack to check it out.

“You also look really good in purple,” she replied. I rolled my eyes but smiled at her.

“Whatever you say, Mrs. Getzlaf.”

We continued looking at dresses and then through catalogs that contained even more options. She narrowed down her choices, but it was our third trip to a bridal store and she hadn’t even come close to picking what dresses she wanted the bridesmaids to wear. She also hadn’t tried on a single wedding dress.

“Is it time yet?” I asked as we made our way towards the front of the store. She stopped and sighed.

“I guess I have to do it sometime,” she groaned. Brianna had told me she had a serious fear of picking out a dress that just wasn’t right for her.

“So I’ve been thinking about the bridal shower and bachelorette party a little more,” I commented to her as we rooted through dresses. She had asked me to be the maid of honor and I accepted gladly.

“Lia, the wedding isn’t for another year. Taking things slow is kind of the point,” she shot over at me.

“Then why are we looking at dresses right now?” I shot back. She stuck her tongue out at me and continued to look. “Anyway, I was thinking about it when something hit me. You totally only asked me to be maid of honor to use my celebrity to get into all the nice places.”

“Would you shut up?” she said with a laugh. I pulled a hideous dress off of the rack and turned it for her to see.

“I think you need to try this on,” I told her, waving my hand at it like a game show girl.

“It’s horrible,” she replied, making a face.

“Exactly.” She laughed and took the dress out of my hands. She gave it another look before putting it on the rack.

When we had a couple of dresses pulled for her to try on, Brianna made her way into the dressing rooms. I sat in a chair, camera in hand, waiting for her to come out. Her mother couldn’t make it in to LA for a while so I agreed to take pictures of Brianna in any dresses to send to her.

“What do you think?” Brianna asked, walking out in the first dress.

The minute I saw her I felt my heart drop and tears fill my eyes. Suddenly, I wasn’t seeing Brianna, I was seeing myself. If I hadn’t left Corey I would be married by now. I would have done this already. I hadn’t realized how badly I’d wanted to marry him until this moment. Now all I felt was regret for leaving.

“Jesus, Amelia, what’s wrong?” Brianna asked rushing over to me. I pulled back from her.

“I’m sorry, I’m crying. My makeup. You can’t get anything on the dress,” I explained as I wiped tears off of my cheeks. I avoided answering her question as I stood up. She just looked at me with concern and confusion in her eyes.

“Is it that bad?” she asked looking down at herself.

“No, it’s beautiful. I just need some air.”

I turned and walked away from Brianna and out of the store. I leaned back against the building trying to fight the tears. It was no use since they fell anyway. Like a lot of little girls, I’d always dreamt of what my wedding would be like. I had an image of the dress, the ceremony, and the reception in my mind. It had always made me smile.

Now all I felt was pain. It was pain stemming from the fact that I could have had my dream day already. Instead I was trying to date the man I knew I wanted to spend my life with in the public eye, which just made things so much worse. It had been just over another month since Corey and I had gotten back together, and it was now public knowledge that we were dating.

I thought again of the ring he’d shown me that should be on my finger right now next to a wedding band. I thought about the dress I should have already worn and the flowers I should have already picked out. I thought about how my name should read Amelia Perry instead of Amelia Larson in the credits for the movies I’d done.

“Amelia, are you okay?” Brianna asked rushing out the door in her regular clothes. I wiped away the last of the tears and nodded, attempting to smile.

“I’m fine. It’s just some past stuff, that’s all. It’s over,” I told her.

“I didn’t even think. I’m so sorry. I should have remembered.” I could see from the look on her face that she understood what I was talking about.

“No, don’t worry about it. I think maybe I’m done looking at wedding stuff for today, but I’ll be fine, really,” I assured her. She put her arm around me and led me to her car.

“We need to get home anyway. We have a double date to get ready for,” she reminded me. I smiled when I remembered that we were meeting Corey and Ryan for dinner tonight. As upset as I was I knew that seeing him would make me feel better.










Corey threw out a string of curses as he stormed through his house searching for his wallet. Where the hell had he put it? He tore open drawers and pulled cushions off of furniture. He saw Ryan standing in the foyer tapping his foot impatiently. He knew they were running late because of this.

He moved into his room and pulled the pillows off the bed and the sheets back. No wallet. He cursed again as he moved to the dresser. He started to pull open drawers and dig through clothes. He finally hit something solid and smiled in relief. He pulled the object out and was about to shove it in his pocket when he realized it wasn’t his wallet.

He looked down at the box holding the engagement ring for Amelia. He had forgotten about the ring in the last month or so. When he and Amelia had gotten together he shoved it in the back of the drawer he hardly used so he wouldn’t see or think of it. He wanted a new beginning for them and didn’t want to think about their past.

He opened the box and looked at the ring again. It would look amazing on her he decided. Maybe he was just being stupid about the new beginning. Everything with them was the way it had been before. All feelings had come back immediately and he hadn’t really ever been happier. They were both living their dreams and were doing it together.

Maybe it was time to give this ring to her.

“I found it!” Ryan called to him. Corey snapped the box closed and shoved it back into the drawer before making his way to Ryan.

“Where did you find it?” he asked.

“The pocket of a pair of jeans in your laundry,” Ryan replied with an eye roll. How the hell had he not though of that? They made their way out to Corey’s car and drove to the restaurant.

“About time,” Brianna joked when they finally got to the table. He noticed Amelia and Brianna already had half empty wine glasses in front of them and cringed.

“I couldn’t find my wallet,” he apologized.

“Sounds about right,” Amelia replied. He shot her a look and she grinned at him. He leaned over and kissed her.

“You look beautiful,” he whispered. Her grin grew.

“Thank you. You’re looking pretty good yourself.”

“So, I don’t think I ever heard the story on how you two met,” Ryan said a bit later while looking at Amelia and Brianna. Corey hadn’t either.

“She took the poor stray in,” Amelia responded. Corey felt his stomach turn. He wasn’t sure he’d ever get used to hearing about the time when Amelia had left him.

“The poor girl was here alone with no job or friends. I felt bad for her,” Brianna continued.

“I saw an ad in the paper saying a girl was looking for a roommate. I went, we hit it off immediately and Brianna chose me. We’ve been inseparable ever since,” Amelia finished.

“I told her when she got famous some day she couldn’t forget me. And she didn’t. She put me to work.” Everyone laughed at that comment.

When dinner was over they split up. Ryan went with Brianna to her car while Amelia followed him to his. He reached for her hand and smiled when he felt her take hold. Hand holding may seem a bit juvenile, but he’d take any chance to touch Amelia. He looked over at her and smiled. She smiled back before stretching up to kiss him.

“Amelia! Corey! Over here!” they heard as a light flashed. He’d never get used to this.

“Hi!” Amelia called with a wave as more flashes went off.

He didn’t know how she could be nice to these parasites. He continued to walk next to her as she responded to questions with a smile on her face. He tried his hardest not to look annoyed but knew it was going to show. It always did. He found himself grateful that playoffs were starting in two days. He and Amelia wouldn’t be going out as much which meant he didn’t have to deal with paparazzi for a while. He couldn’t wait.