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Chapter 24

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"Bree! Wake up! I'm getting married in like... Six hours!" Briley screeched from the bathroom. Bree opened her eyes just enough to see the whole house was lit up by sunlight. Of course her sister had to open every window in the house. Bree pulled her phone out of her pocket to check the time.

Eight o clock. Perfect.

Bree sat up straight and looked around to see Briley had turned the apartment into a wedding prep room. She laughed to herself as she stood up. She had her dress at her own apartment.

"Bri, I have to go back to my apartment! I left my dress at home. I'll be back in half an hour!" Bree yelled as she left. She could head Briley shuffling after her. Bree smiled slightly at the thought of her sister tripping over he own feet trying to run after her.

"Breel" Briley yelled as she threw herself out the door wearing only a robe and slippers. Her hair was sticking up off of one side but perfectly straight on the other. Bree laughed at her sister as she stomped down the hall towards her.

"What?" Bree asked innocently. Briley glared back at her.

"Get back here quickly. We only have a little bit before the wedding." Briley ordered. Bree nodded.

"I know, I'll be back before you know it." Bree finished before she waved to her sister and turned the corner. She walked calmly down the stairs to the parking lot. As she walked to her car, she saw someone standing next to it. She frowned and quickened her pace to the car.

"Hey?" Bree called as she approached her vehicle. The mystery man turned to reveal her favorite acquaintance.

"Hello to you, too. How's my best friend's ex girlfriend today?" He asked slyly as he leaned against her car. Bree shook her head.

"I'm fine. How are you?" Bree asked Adam sarcastically. Adam smiled slightly before he took on a more serious tone.

"The conference is today." Adam stated simply. Bree nodded as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"Yeah, and my sisters wedding is today." Bree added.

"And... The church is right next door to-"

"To the location of the conference? It's like you and Briley are in cahoots." Bree finished for him. He laughed to himself before he took a step forward.

"I don't think this whole 'break thing' is a good idea." Adam started. Bree knew there was an ulterior motive for him to come. He wouldn't just come to say hi to her at her sister's apartment, at eight in the morning, for no good reason.

"I think it is. Chase doesn't trust me, and until he does, we won't be seeing each other." Bree replied.

"No. But Chase will never trust you if you don't keep trying. He will never see how you really are, if he never gets to know you. Did you two even know each other that well before?" Adam wondered aloud. Bree scoffed. Of course her and Chase knew each other better than Adam thought... Did they?

"We totally know each other." Bree hissed back at Adam. Adam's eyebrows rose in amusement.

"What's his favorite color?" Adam asked. Bree glared back up at her taller friend.

"How cliché is that?" Bree countered. Adam smiled.

"You can't answer it can you?" Adam finished with a smirk.

"Not a chance." Bree said, finally giving in.

"Okay, look. You have to at least try with Chase. I think he's already starting to miss you." Adam said. Bree shook her head.

"He has to come around. I've already given in twice." Bree said, hinting at the many times she had gone running back to Davenport Industries.

"But you've also left three times. You've given up three times when Chase started to think things were getting rough. You two have to work through that stuff, not run away from it." Adam explained. Bree sighed and nodded. He was right. Adam was somehow wiser than both Bree and Chase combined. She knew that they would eventually have to face this, she had just hoped she would be able to get through the wedding before all of this went down.

"What time is the conference?" Bree asked. Adam smiled happily.

"Two thirty." Adam replied before he stood up straight and walked over to his car.

"You know the wedding starts at two, right?" Bree yelled back. Adam laughed.

"You'll figure something out." Adam called as he got into his car. Bree rolled her eyes and got into her own car before driving down the road to her apartment.

She had never though she would be a bridesmaid in a wedding, let alone be the maid of honor. Then again, she had also never thought her relationship status would be that hard to figure out, either. She and Chase had never really been dubbed an official couple. They had never actually gone on a date come to think of it. Something had gotten in the way. They had attempted to get to know each other, but that had failed as well. All in all, Bree had no idea her life was this complicated.

Bree parked her car outside of the apartment building before she walked up the two flights of stairs to her apartment. She slid the key in and opened the door to see the abandoned apartment she had missed. Bree sighed and set her things down on the table as she started the search for her dress. She knew she had set it down in her room somewhere, but she had yet to discover where it was. Bree could only hear the clicks of her heels as she walked down the hall and into her room. She smiled as she spotted her dress neatly laid out on her bed. Just as pink as it was a few days before. Bree walked over and picked up the said dress carefully, knowing if she wrinkled it even a bit, Briley would kill her. She shuttered at the thought of the mad bride back at the other apartment. After today, everything would hopefully go back to normal... Or as normal as it could be. She made her way out the door and down to the parking lot where her car awaited her return. Bree set the dress down next to her and checked the time to see she had ten minutes to get back to Briley's. She began the short drive back to her sister's place. Bree stopped as the light right before her sister's street turned red. She sighed and sat back. She looked from side to side, only to see on her right, was the one and only, Chase Davenport. Bree slummed down in her seat and waited impatiently for the light to flick back to green. Chase stared straight ahead until the light turned. He sped off in the direction of the church. Bree let out the breath she had been holding and turned into Briley's apartment complex. That was close. Too close.

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"Dad, I didn't think you would come." Chase greeted as his father rolled through the double doors of the large conference room. The conference started at two thirty. Only five and a half hours from now.

"Chase, would I seriously miss my own conference?" Donald countered. Chase rolled his eyes and turned to see Leo had taken one of the headsets.

"Leo, you are not in char-"

"Actually, I put him in charge." Donald interrupted. Chase whirled around to face his father. He had put too much effort into his to let his father take over.

"Dad, I put this conference together. I will pick who is in charge." Chase stated simply. Donald shrugged and rolled over to the stage to talk with one of the workers who had come to help set up. Chase stood back in amazement. He had never given up before. He had always put up a fight. Chase knew that in terms of rank, he came second, while his father took first and ran with it. None of this made sense. He started to make his way to his father when Tasha swiftly grabbed his arm.

"What?" Chase asked as he faced his step mother.

"Just take it. I know that it's weird actually having a say for once, but this is just as much your company as it is his. Why don't you just worry about the conference and not about your father's inability to let you have an opinion?" Tasha suggested before she walked away with Leo following her close behind. Chase sighed and looked around. He had gotten here half an hour ago and almost everything was in place. He knew there were still a few finishing touches but everything looked okay. There were at least two hundred chairs set up throughout the room while the stage was set up to the left. It took up about a third of the room. They had set up a ramp so Donald was able to get on and off stage without too much trouble. Chase glanced over at the door as his bet friend came walking through.

"Where have you been?" Chase asked as Adam came over. He shrugged.

"Nowhere important. Can I do anything?" Adam asked, trying to get out of his friends question.

"Not really. We had practically everything in place. But seriously, where were you? I called twice because we needed help lifting the stage over." Chase explained. He knew Adam was hiding something. Adam sighed and threw his head back before answering.

"I woke up late. Gosh, mom. Settle down. The conference will be over in a little bit and then we can probably go crash the wedding next door." Adam hinted slyly. Chase frowned in confusion.

"Why would we crash the wedding?" Chase asked sarcastically. Adam groaned.

"For the fun of it. By the end everyone is drunk anyway, no one will even notice we showed up. Now if you'll excuse me, I see a father Davenport that needs help to the stage." Adam said with a smile before he waltzed over to Chase's father and helped him onto the stage. Chase closed his eyes, trying to stay calm. So much had happened the past few days, he was barely able to handle it. Why on earth would Adam come up with the idea of crashing a wedding anyhow? Chase walked into the empty room where everything had been stored up until this point. There was a door leading to the back where Chase had seen a bench earlier. He nodded to himself as he mentally decided to take a break. It seemed as if no one needed his assistance, anyway.

Chase opened the door and propped it open with a rock as he sat down on the bench. He glanced across the way to see there was, indeed, wedding planning happening. He shook his head. Something told him that there was another reason for Adam and he to crash a wedding... other than the alcohol. There were girls getting out of a car out front, all holding bright yellow dresses. He had only been to his father's and Leo's weddings before, but those were both well planned. Another car pulled up out front. The driver got out and slammed the door before she opened the back and carefully pulled out a plastic wrapped dress. It looked quite large from where Chase was sitting, so of course he came to the conclusion that the bride had arrived. He was close enough that he could hear her yell to the girl in the passengers side, who was apparently very reluctant to get out.

"Bree! Come on!" She yelled. Chase stiffened at the use of her name. Bree had asked him to this wedding. Bree got out of the car slowly, holding the pink dress she had sent a picture of to Chase just days ago. Chase felt himself smile as she walked along with her sister around the church and to the back where tents were set up for preparation. Bree glanced over at Chase as she walked. Chase smiled brightly at they caught each others glance. She waved slightly before she was pulled into the tent for hair and make up. Chase closed his eyes and sat back on the bench as he let the image of her replay in his head. Pink was her color.

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