Bekka's Note: At the bottom! :)

Wedding Dress

It's Midnight, Cinderella

Lydia groaned at the buzzing doorbell. She had been in the bathroom, preparing herself for a long and relaxing shower.

The week had passed by rather quickly. Most of their time had been spent together with the Becketts and her family. Nathan would usually spend the afternoon golfing with her father and Mr. Beckett, while she would go shopping with Mrs. Beckett and Lottie's mom. At the end of the day, they would all meet up and eat dinner together. For the past couple of days, a slew of family friends had visited for dinner, all eager to see the newlyweds.

It was exhausting at times, especially having to sustain her side of the "we're really in love" married couple act. There had been several times when it was impossible for Lydia to refrain herself from kicking Nathan under the table or from shooting him an icy glare. As always, he found the whole thing amusing. She was almost relieved that she would be back at "school" after this weekend and finally away from the omnipresent eyes of her enthusiastic family members.

Lydia opened the door and recoiled with a start, frightened by the dark figure that stood slumped in front of the entryway.

"Lottie?" Lydia asked hesitantly. She flicked on the light and stepped into the hallway, now recognizing her stepsister's wavy locks. Lottie's head was stooped and she teetered slightly in her black high heels. Her pale fingers were grasped around a rectangular, lavender clutch.

Before Lydia had a chance to ask her what she was doing, Lottie stumbled and collapsed limply into Lydia's arms. Lydia let out a small grunt as she struggled under her weight. The thick aroma of alcohol and perfume tickled her nose as she unpinned herself from her sister's body. She stood up and brushed herself off, reluctantly returning her eyes to Lottie.

She was sprawled out like a cadaver from a murder scene. Her halter top revealed her bare back and shoulders. Her pink, ruffle skirt was hiked up, scantily covering her thighs. It was a Friday night, and not even midnight. Yet here was Cinderella, back from her partying, coarsely dressed and drunk. Oh how she wished the world would know her true form.

Unfortunately, bringing Lottie home wasn't an option. Lydia didn't have a car and Nathan was out with some old high school friends and wouldn't be back any time soon. She also didn't want to have to call her parents at this time of night.

Letting her spend the night seemed to be a more reasonable alternative. However, Lydia didn't want to have to stay up and take care of her careless, drunken sister. This hadn't been the first time Lottie had sought her out while she was intoxicated. And things usually got messy. But more importantly, if Lottie took the couch, Nathan would have to sleep in her - their room. Nathan didn't have a chance to order a spare bed like they had originally planned, and Lydia rather preferred their separate sleeping arrangements.

Lydia shook her head in awe. Even without being conscious, Lottie was making her life complicated.

It was tempting to just leave her out here in the hallway. In light of all of all her past crimes, letting her sleep out in the hallway was a fairly gentle punishment. The floor was even carpeted.

Still, Lydia's conscience tugged at her heart.

"Fine," Lydia consented out loud. "But this is the last time I'm ever doing anything for you again," she muttered under her breath.

Lydia sighed to herself and then crouched down, slinging one of Lottie's flaccid arms over her shoulder. Lydia moved the rest of her sister's body onto her back, securing her arms around Lottie's bare legs. She stood up with a stagger, but managed to regain her balance.

Lydia maneuvered her way precariously through the apartment, holding onto various parts of furniture to make sure that she wouldn't topple over. When she reached the couch, she lowered herself and Lottie landed with a soft thud. Lydia let out a small breath of fatigue, turning to Lottie's sleeping figure.

Lottie's soft hair fell about her rosy cheeks and her charcoal eyelids were in sharp contrast to her fair skin. She looked like a delicate china doll, though the devil on the inside.

Lydia walked to her bedroom and opened the doors to the closet, tugging a fleece blanket down from the top shelf. She was about to exit the room, when she noticed something glimmering on her night stand. She frowned and placed the blanket on the floor, shifting slowly towards her bed.

It was a necklace with a small apple pendant. The apple was round and silver, while its stem and single leaf were studded with tiny diamond gems. The necklace dangled from the jutting light switch of the lamp. Lydia lightly hoisted the lampshade and extracted the necklace. She was unsure of how long it had been hanging there. She would have completely missed it if she hadn't noticed it in the hallway light.

She looked down and saw the lamp was sitting on the edge of a piece of folded paper. Lydia positioned the necklace over her wrist and carefully lifted up the lamp, placing it in the groove of her hip. With one hand, she supported the lamp. With the other, she shook the letter open and read.

Lyd,

I'm sorry I wasn't there to cheer you on.

I've been a real jerk to you and until that night on the soccer field, I didn't know what sort of damage I had done. I missed you like crazy while I was in Germany, but I didn't write or answer your calls because…. I thought I was actually starting to like you. I got scared.

It's a lame explanation, I know. I've always been such an idiot. And I know this doesn't even come close to a decent apology, but I hope you'll forgive me someday.

Have a good day.

Love,

Nate

P.S. The apple, it means something, but I want to explain it to you in person.

Lydia stepped back dazedly, as if she had been slapped. Her fingers were suddenly clammy. She quickly set the lamp down, thinking she would drop it.

It had been several days since the night of her accidental confession. Nathan hadn't said a word about it all week so she assumed that the whole incident had been forgotten and was thankful.

But this letter.

It was so unexpected. Lydia had always known Nathan to be playful and teasing, one who never took anything seriously. Even this past week, Nathan had been his usual flirty self and had never hinted to being this honest and sincere. His words had been so earnest, paralyzing still. This wasn't like Nathan Beckett.

Sorry I wasn't there to cheer you on…I missed you like crazy…I thought I was actually starting to like you….Love, Nate.

The words ran together in her head.

SorryIwasn'ttheretocheeryouon Imissedyoulikecrazy IthoughtIwasactually startingtolikeyou LoveNate

Backwards, even.

NateLove youliketostarting actuallywasIthoughtI crazylikeyoumissedI onyoucheertotherewasn'tIsorry

Why did he write all those things?

Lydia shook her head, trying to scatter her thoughts. She placed the small, apple charm in her palm. She held her hand over the bed and let the necklace slither off onto her pillow. She didn't want to think about it.

Lydia turned and picked up the blanket from the floor. She entered the living room where Lottie slept soundly on the couch. As Lydia unfolded the blanket and draped it over Lottie's body.

Sorry I wasn't there to cheer you on.

I missed you like crazy.

I thought I was actually starting to like you.

Love.

The muffled sound of a ringtone sang brokenly through the air. Lydia looked over to kitchen counter, where she had tossed Lottie's purse earlier. She walked over and unfastened the clasp to the bag, grateful for a distraction.

She flipped it open and pressed the green button.

"Hello?" Lydia answered warily.

"Hi, is this Lottie? It's Grady," a male voice answered on the other end.

"No," Lydia replied belatedly, recovering from her surprise. For some reason, she fought say the next words. "This is Lydia."

"Oh." There was a pause. "I dropped Lottie off and I just wanted to make sure that she got into her apartment okay. I was afraid that she gave me the wrong directions to her house or something since she was so out of it."

Oh the irony.

"Yeah." Lydia forced a small laugh and glared back at Lottie. Why Lottie had given Grady her apartment address instead of their home address was beyond her.

"Well, I'm glad she's okay," Grady continued. There was silence again. "Um, Lottie left her jacket in my car. I'm still in the neighborhood so I'll swing by and bring it up to you," he offered.

Lydia panicked. No one outside of her family knew about her marriage and she wanted to quell the news as much as possible. If he came up to the apartment she would have to invite him in and he would see the massive, framed wedding photo of her and Nathan hanging on their living room wall. No way was that going to happen.

"Uh, you know what, I'll come down and meet you," Lydia replied hastily. "There's a small playground in front of the apartment. I'll meet you there."

Lydia shoved Lottie's phone back in her bag and let out a sigh of relief. Lydia walked into the bedroom and pulled a light jacket out of the closet. She passed by the pillow where Nathan's necklace lay, still coiled up. It glinted in the hallway light again. She picked it up, quickly laced it around her neck, and headed out the door before she had a chance to change her mind.

OOO

"Thanks for bringing Lottie home and bringing this over too," Lydia said, accepting Lottie's cream colored jacket.

"No problem," Grady said with a warm smile. He wore a graphic t-shirt and his hands were shoved in the pockets of his baggy jeans. He tossed the strands of light brown hair away from his eyes.

They stood beside the swings as they lightly conversed. Lydia looked down at her feet, avoiding his gaze. Just as she was about to say her farewell, he spoke again.

"So, what's his name?" he asked suddenly.

Lydia froze. She tried to hide the astonishment from her face.

"I'm sorry?" Lydia faltered slightly, wondering how he could have possibly known that she was married if -

"The guy who gave you that necklace," he clarified good-naturedly. He grinned, yet, he looked a little nervous.

"Oh, this," Lydia said, fingering the apple. She had almost forgotten she was wearing it. She uneasily let out a small laugh, her worry somewhat alleviated. "It was a gift from – uh – my –my cousin." Lydia nodded her head quickly, praying that he wouldn't ask any more questions.

"You know, I should probably get back. Thanks Grady," Lydia said hurriedly, turning to walk towards the entrance of the apartment complex.

"Have dinner with me sometime?" Grady called out to her.

Lydia halted in her tracks. She turned to look at his lively, but hopeful face. His eyes were dancing.

"Sure," Lydia responded without thinking. As she walked up the stairs to her apartment, she mentally hit herself in the head.

She wondered why her common sense and rationale had decided to bail on her at that moment. That wasn't the only thing. For some reason these days, she also had a hard time taming her tongue.

Lydia walked up to her apartment door and leaned her back against it, deep in thought.

And what about Nathan? What would she say to him about the necklace and his letter? She hadn't been ready for an apology or an explanation. She didn't want to face him yet.

As Lydia pulled out her keys from her pocket, her attention fell to the floor. She let herself into her apartment, wishing that she could have left Lottie out here in the hallway after all.

Bekka's Note: Hi everyone! I'm so sorry for the long update! I haven't given up on this story, but it's definitely been more than a month since I updated. Yikes! It was really hard for me to get this chapter out for some reason so it's not that great...

I just want to thank everyone so much for reading and reviewing! I really appreciate it and I love you guys. I was so excited and happy with my seven reviews. :) I'm going to be honest, once school starts again, my updates will take a little longer. You could check out my other story, Time, Please Stop, but that probably won't be updated any faster. For those of you reading Time, Please Stop, there will be an update soon in the next couple of weeks! :)

Credits to Garth Brooks for the title!

Please leave a review! I'd love to know what you think of my story and where it's going. And plus, I bet you're just dying to correct some of my awful grammar! ;)