Chapter 44

"We should probably get a room, at a hotel near the palace." I offered. Zai agreed. The rooms at hotels are mainly little cottages, that are separate from each other but have to be rented in order to enter. Some of the cottages are suspended in the air and they all light up, resembling paper lanterns from the outside but a decent sized 1 bedroom apartment on the inside. We showed the wedding invitation to the receptionist and were given a pass to one of the rooms at a discounted rate. The pass teleports us directly inside the room we purchased. In the front on the floor was a hot tub with a barrier around it, keeping the steam from circling the whole room, the barrier looked like a translucent egg. All the furniture was white and the floors were tan but each wall was painted a different neon color, much like the home I grew up in. There were no windows or doors in order to give complete privacy.

"I... like this," Zai mumbled. I felt a twinge of excitement. Finally, something he approves of! His sharp eyes darted across the room then he approached me and held me against him. "Isn't it kind of exciting, how I'm not supposed to be here but here I am... on this planet, with you... about to f**k you on one of their beds." I jumped and pulled away from him, blushing immensely.

"No, Zai!" He pouted. "I still need to buy a dress and the rehearsal dinner is in 2 hours, we don't have time."

"I can be quick." He suggested.

"Don't lie to me!" I shouted, making him pout again.

"Fine... let's go dress shopping, you can show me around. Maybe I can meet more of your friends." I sure hope not. I powered up, which felt like finally getting to stretch after being stuck in a cramped space. Zai did it with me. It's been so long since I've seen him like this, and the last time I did... we weren't dress shopping. The flashbacks are making me hot. His hair was silver once again matching his eyes, which were shining. Even his lashes and eyebrows had changed color. He was beautiful in a different way than usual. We went around to the shopping area I was familiar with but most of the shops had closed or changed names. Eventually, I found a place where we could have our outfits ready before tomorrow. I picked a red dress, split into both sides up to the hip and decorated with gold embroidered flowers. And him in a matching red suit with a black shirt underneath that buttoned so high it covered his neck. The tailor took our measurements and told us to come back in 5 hours. So I went to a ready-made clothing store to buy a less fancy dress for dinner tonight. I barely managed to get done in time for the party. Thankfully, Zai teleported us to the location of the dinner, which saved us a lot of time. The restaurant wasn't as full as I imagined. It was a political wedding but it seemed only the heads of the Celestial families were invited and family. That made me even more uneasy about why I was here.

"Name please?" The host asked at the door.

"Snowe Stratus and this is my plus one," I answered. He led me to a table, surprisingly close to the main family, then walked away. Zai sat next to me and held my hand under the table. My heart was racing unsteadily when 2 people approached the table. Smoke and a girl, clinging to his arm, that I can only assume is his fiance. She and I had similar proportions and her hair was light grey, almost white, her eyes were mostly black with a silver crescent moon shape in both of them and her hair was cut into a bob that hung low in the front but arched perfectly towards the back, in a C-shape. Her skin was slightly lighter than mine but... I got the impression that we looked alike, I'm not crazy, right?

"You came." Smoke said, there was a look of relief on his face then he looked at Zai. Zai smiled at him but I could see tension building. Oh no! I just realized I never mentioned Smoke to Zai! Even when I recalled my time on Infaniya, Smoke was always left out because it felt awkward talking about my first crush to the love of my life. It shouldn't matter, we didn't even get to hang out much and I'm sure he only considered me a friend.

"Yeah... I wasn't sure if you were the one who invited me." I mumbled. Smoke and the girl on his arm separated and sat down.

"My fiance is the best friend of the groom so she's going to be busy... I thought we could catch up. This is Crescent by the way." Smoke said while pointing to her.

"Hi." She waved but seemed completely uninterested in me, bored even. 

"This is Snowe." Smoke stated while tapping her shoulder and looking at me, then she frowned and said,

"She's cute, you never told me she'd be cute." I blushed and got so hot that I wouldn't be shocked if I was steaming.

"I didn't think it mattered." He argued so she sighed and got up,

"It's nice to meet you, gotta go." As she strolled away.

"She has to sit at the main table," Smoke explained... "Who is this with you?" He asked, looking at Zai once again.

"Oh... this is Zaikel," I replied.

"I grew up on Earth, that's where I met Snowe," Zai said, finally getting into the conversation.

"Oh... so you're her boyfriend?" Smoke asked, this time turning his eyes to me.

"We're pretty much married." Smoke's face looked shocked, "It was love at first sight for me, didn't take me long to realize how much I needed her in my life." This is when Zai looked at me too and I looked away shyly.

"Nice to meet you... I'm Somke, her first boyfriend." Smoke confessed and I gasped. " I believe I was her first kiss too, right Snowe?"

"You never mentioned having a boyfriend before me," Zai noted, That's because we were only together for maybe 2 days with no confirmation of titles but before I could get it out, music started playing and the party commenced. This wedding was celebrating the union of Serco and a human he fell in love with on Earth called Akina. I could tell which guests were here for her because the energy surrounding them was very weak; there were 3 humans, 2 were relatives and 1 looked like she was a close friend. The friend got up and gave a loving speech for Akina, I tried to focus but Zai kept stroking my leg, making me forget the whole speech entirely. Once her speech was over, Crescent went on stage,

"Serco and I have been best friends since Primary school. He was always rough around the edges and abrasive, in fact, it seemed he just hated all people in existence. I was an exception as his friend, BUT he was hard to be around, even for ME at times, he can be a real asshole! Still... after he met his bride I noticed he had gotten less... cactuslike and became kind, I didn't realize it was her influence until I met her for myself then I couldn't deny that he needed her, they needed each other, and I..." She started to cry a little, "I'm just so happy that my best friend finally found someone who can open up that side of him, I am astounded and honored that I get to witness it!" Her speech was more heartfelt than I was expecting, and then she gracefully left the stage, which was impressive in her 6-inch stilettos. Smoke downplayed his part in this wedding, sure Crescent is the best friend, but he's the brother, shouldn't he have a bigger part? After the speeches concluded, we ate and drank. Smoke's fiance didn't rejoin our table so we chatted just the 3 of us.

"So... what did you guys do when you were dating?" Zai asked, I shot a glare at him but he sipped his elixir and continued with, "I've never been here before and I wanted to check out places Snowe liked to go, after the wedding." He clarified. Smoke's face scrunched slightly and said,

"We mainly hung out at a mutual friend's house... we planned to see a movie." 

"Snowe hates movies," Zai noted so I tensed up and interceded saying,

"I haven't always hated movies... and I really like action films and superhero movies." My comment made my husband frown, but Smoke smirked to himself. Did I say the wrong thing? "But... I never told you I hated movies... you really pay close attention to me Zai." My last statement caused him to relax, and then he kissed my cheek and started back eating. After chewing and swallowing Zai said,

"From both of your reactions, I can assume you weren't together long." I took a sip of my drink Smoke replied,

"What does it matter?"

"Oh... I guess it doesn't... it's just you said you were her first boyfriend while Snowe seemed to think I was her first, it's kinda funny, really. I mean how could you be her boyfriend if she wasn't even aware of it?" It got dead silent at the table after that, so I asked for another bottle of Elixir. A few minutes later the dinner ended, and the people who knew the couple hugged them. Zai and I were the first to leave. "Did you have a good time?" Zai asked, I was a bit tipsy but the breeze from outside sobered me up.

"Yeah... I was glad you were with me. Oh but! Don't be too mean to Smoke... he was really nice to me growing up!" The Elixir was making me slur my words and Zai held my waist to steady me before teleporting us into the hotel room.

"You... need to stop standing up for people who just want to sleep with you." He noted and I gasped.

"Smoke wasn't like that!" I argued.

"Oh... how long was he nice to you? The whole 10 years of school?" I thought and shook my head no,

"For... about a month before graduation." I was embarrassed to admit it,

"So... he was nice to you... because he wanted to sleep with you." I pouted.

"But he was nice to me and never forced anything on me!"

"That's normal Snowe... Not special." I started tearing up,

"No one else would talk to me until he and Ibij started to... and after he found out what happened to me, he... tortured the guy who raped me for 10 years straight." Zai's eyebrows rose,

"Wow, and he never even got to hit?... Okay, I'm impressed now." I punched his arm playfully and pouted.

"Why do you gotta be so vulgar!" Zai kissed me, on instinct I rubbed my tongue against his and held my breath, then panted when he pulled away. He licked his lips and said,

"I just like getting a reaction out of you... but... I guess he did care more about you than I thought..."

"Why do you think he invited me here? And... he picked up that I had fallen for someone else when I visited last time so, he kinda knew about you." I explained, shyly.

"Wow... All this new info is... pissing me off. I'll go get our clothes from the tailor, alone. I need a minute." Before I could protest he vanished. Is he mad because I met up with Smoke last time I was here and didn't say anything? We weren't even dating yet... but I'll apologize, I can't stand him being upset with me.