A gasp escapes me as I am pulled into the darkness. Once I find Gus's brown eyes in the dim lighting I whack him in the shoulder, "You just scared the hell outta me!"

"Sorry, but I wanted to talk to ya...without anyone around," he says with a glance behind me. He pushes the library door shut and his thumb locks the handle. I remember Ryan is in my head but I can't tell Gus about it without infuriating Ryan. He wouldn't be too pleased with me blabbing about our friend Rory to loud mouth Gus. Hopefully whatever he tells me is fine for Ryan to hear.

"What's up Gus? I have been trying to reach you for weeks and you refuse to talk to me," I say harshly but he just nods while closing his eyes. When he snaps them back open he looks to me and says, "I know, I know. I just had to figure my brain out alright? I needed to hate ya for a minute but then I 'memered that I also need ya too." He lets out a long exhale and I want to reach out and pull him into a hug. I try to remember my boundaries so I keep my arms pinned to my sides.

"Well, how the hell are you? From what I have seen you now live with a crazy woman," I say and add a light laugh at the end in case he doesn't appreciate me calling his fiancé crazy.

He shakes his head and instinctively reaches for one of his curls that are currently gelled down to the top of his head. He looks back to me and says, "Sawyer, my world has gone all topsy turvy. I love A.B. I do, you know I do but she's gone turned into a completely different person. She don't want me, she wants my last name and that's it!"

"That's not true Gus. She loves you," I answer, once again resisting my instinct to reach out to him.

"I think she loves what I can give her. A part of me wonders if she planned this whole thing out," he says with another shake of his head.

"You can't think that Gus. Annabeth was a bit hesitant to date you at first because you were such a good friend. If all she wanted was to marry into a founding family she would have snatched you up in high school."

"I'd like to believe that my sweets, but she's gone mad. She is looking at all them fancy houses near the Samuel's to buy once the baby comes and she's applyin' to all the hoity-toit clubs too. She damn near bit her fingernails off waitin' for the D.A whatever to write her back. And this weddin? Does she even know that I am the groom? She asked if she could get hundreds of butterflies to release as we walk back down the aisle thing after we're married. Butterflies Sawyer. Why in the hell would I want them insect things to be flappin' about all over me?" He says with an absurd expression. A part of me wants to laugh but the other part of me is genuinely concerned.

"Have you talked to her about all this?" I ask him and he nods, "Oh I mentioned the credit card bill after she went and picked out her dress- with you by the way."

"Hey, I didn't think she was lookin' to spend that kind of money. That receipt gave me a minor heart attack too," I tell him. What's funny is she acted like Gus gave her an unlimited budget for her dress. That the sky was the limit when it came to their wedding.

"Yeah well, when I mentioned it to her she flew off the handle. Went bat shit crazy sayin' that it was the dress of her dreams and how dare I make her feel bad for gettin' it. That I am a penny pincher that hoards cash instead of providing for her. You know how that makes me feel?" He says while pointing to his chest. I follow his finger and notice the pearl buttons on his shirt. I finally run my eyes over his tuxedo and realize he's wearing coat tails and French cuffs.

"Oh don't even get me started on this frilly thing," he says coldly and I can tell Gus is really at a loss. He wouldn't have dragged me, someone he hasn't spoken to in weeks, into a dark room away from free beer and steak appetizers if he wasn't genuinely perplexed.

I let out a long pent-up breath before saying, "I have noticed a change in her too Gus. She doesn't care about the winery at all and when she actually shows up to work she spends the day wedding planning. I've noticed her outfits keep getting more and more expensive and she thinks less and less about swiping your card for things. But when I ask her about it she says you tell her it's okay. That you gave her permission to spend your fortune."

He shakes his head, "It's my family's fortune, I never gave her permission to spend it all I just set her up with a card for wedding stuff and baby stuff. I just didn't know we was gonna have a million-dollar wedding until I started seein' the bills. I can't imagine what's gonna happen when she starts buyin' baby stuff! And do you know what my mom thinks when she sees Annabeth throwin' money all over the place?"

I think to Mrs. Blackwood, the most humble and understated wealthy woman I know and cringe at the thought of her seeing Annabeth like this. I look back to Gus and reply, "Why doesn't your mom talk to her? She won't get flippant and entitled with her. Maybe she can set a budget for the wedding or suggest another housing area? She respects your mother she might listen to her."

"Annabeth would be mortified if my mother mentioned money," Gus answers but his tone suggests that he thinks it may be the right thing. I decide to ignore my instincts and reach out to grab his hand. I smile to him and say, "Your mother will be tactful about it. I think it's good y'all have boundaries before the nuptials."

"Well if we can't find boundaries I'm afraid there won't be a weddin'. I'll always provide for my child but if Annabeth thinks she can just drain my family's hard earned fortune, I might have to draw up a prenup."

I squeeze his hand, "If you can't talk to her let Mrs. Blackwood try. If you decide to go the prenup route ask your parents to present it to her. She won't get upset if your parents are setting boundaries, it is their money." He nods to me and unexpectedly he throws his hands around me and pulls me into a giant bear hug. He rests his cheek against the top of my head and I stay nestled against his warm chest until he pulls away. He looks to me and says, "I've missed you my sweets. I'm sorry I was an asshole."

I let out a laugh and shake my head, "I've missed you too buddy."

His face quickly scrunches up as he says, "Oh yeah? Where is your pretty boy? I ain't seen him here." I quickly think to Ryan in my ear and keep my expletive to myself.

"Ah, he's working. Which reminds me, I gotta go. I was on my way to talk to someone about the winery so I should really get back to the party," I lie even though I am tempted to swipe a bottle of wine from the caterers and stay locked up in here with Gus. I am about to turn back toward the door when he reaches out to me again, "Wait, before you go I wanna give you your Christmas present."

I'm stunned that he has something for me with him and I reply back, "I don't have your gift yet though."

He shakes his head, "I wasn't sure when I was gonna see ya but I made ya somethin'." He reaches into the inside pocket of his jacket and pulls out a small rectangular box, one that looks like it would hold a lipstick. He hands it to me and I look at the metallic green box before prying the lid off. Nestled inside is a small, colorful glass-blown wine stopper with a cork attached at the end. I glance back up to Gus and ask, "You made this?" He nods and then says, "Annabeth made me go to this dumb glass shop to look at wine glasses and they teach ya how to do some glass blowin'. So while she went off and bought the store I had a guy help me make this lil thing. The thought of wine made me think of you so I thought it was perfect."

I look to the swirl of colors shaped into a delicate glass spiral and my heart squeezes at the thought of Gus making this. I choke down the frog in my throat and look back to him, "It's beautiful thank you." He smiles at his work of art and I push the small lid back on the box. It fits perfectly in my small clutch purse and after I snap it shut Gus says, "Let's go out the other door so that way no one thinks we were up to no good in here."

I nod in agreement and we cross the large library over to the main set of double doors. He pulls the left door open and we quickly dip into the empty hallway unnoticed. When we spill into the dining room I squeeze Gus's hand before leaving him to go find Aurora. I am walking right up to her when Ryan says, "I hope the next conversation I hear is between you and Ro."

I roll my eyes at his snappiness and can't help that two people have ambushed me this evening- and he's had to listen to both! I do however feel better after talking to Gus since I have been missing him like crazy. I worry about his and Annabeth's relationship now but am glad I gave him a line of communication if he needs it.

I keep my eyes down as I beeline it over to Aurora in hopes of avoiding any more conversations with guests. I glance up when I am steps away from her and her eyes light up when she sees me.

"There you are!" She says with a smile and she looks to the two women whom I recognize from the D.A.R and adds, "Sawyer, I'm sure you know Maybelle and Grace." I smile politely to the two older women but shudder at her addressing them by their first names. That's a no-no with our elders here in Hollis and I'm sure my mother went over that with her at some point during her lessons this week. I shake off the faux-pas and reply, "Nice to see you, Mrs. Watson and Mrs. Lansbury. I was hoping to snag Lola here to introduce her to a fine young man I thought she might like so if you'll excuse us." They smile and wink to me as they say their goodbyes and we hurry off.

"Where the hell have you been? You know I don't actually need to mingle with every single D.A.R member tonight," she snaps and I roll my eyes as I drag her towards the bar.

"I got caught up okay? I do know half the people here so it's not like I can just ignore everyone in the room," I snap back. Suddenly Austin is in our ears, "Theo and Rory just ordered drinks from the bar in the main sitting room. It's go time ladies."

Aurora and I both look to each other and she replies, "Alright. Let's do this."