A/N: This is my submission for the _ShortStory_ profile's Summer Anthology.  The word count is 2415 :)

----------

Whoever said your wedding should be the most enjoyable day of your life had clearly never been a bride.

Memorable? Yes. Crazy? Definitely. But enjoyable didn't quite sum up Anna's experience so far.

In the beginning, it had been fairly smooth sailing. Ever the perfectionist, Anna had thrown herself headfirst into the planning, fuelled by her desire to ensure each and every detail was just as she envisioned it.

But that was then.

Fast forward six months, and the cracks had begun to show. In those final weeks leading up to the big day, Anna had lost count of the times she'd been jolted abruptly from slumber, brow slick with sweat as she agonised over whether the traditional fruitcake had been the right decision, or whether the table decorations she had chosen would appear tacky.

Somehow, though, she had made it to the day of the wedding itself – the supposed "most enjoyable day of her life".

And it could have been – except everything was currently falling apart.

Standing on the lush, sloping lawn of the country manor inside which she had just become Mrs Simmonds, Anna gazed blearily at the mass of elegantly-clad guests milling about sipping champagne, clutching the train of her lacy dress as she fought back tears.

To the average guest, there would appear to be nothing amiss. The buffet had just been laid under one of several gazebos – Anna had not wanted to take chances with the unreliable British summer weather – and a number of people had already gravitated towards the food. The assembled guests' voices mingled together, creating a low hum of background noise punctuated by the occasional tinkling laugh or clink of a glass. Everyone looked relaxed; some posing for pictures against the perfect backdrop of the beautifully-landscaped gardens, whilst other conversed merrily.

Anna felt as if she was viewing the scene from within a tiny bubble; one with a limited supply of oxygen. Blind to the relaxed merriment of the guests around her, all Anna could see was the pain in the eyes of the man she had just tied herself to for the rest of her life.

"Can't you talk to her?"

Jason's voice was laced with irritation, his eyes darting anxiously around the assembled crowd of family and friends. Anna's gaze followed his, before coming to rest upon the single scene disrupting the otherwise tranquil environment.

Lounging beside the marble fountain which stood as the centrepiece of the manor's grounds, Anna's younger sister could be seen pouting and huffing in what she no doubt thought was a long-suffering way. Although well out of earshot, Anna could tell from her parents' pleading expressions that they were desperately attempting to reason with Jess – and from the frequent exasperated gesticulations and shakes of the head, it was clearly not going well.

One might think from this description that Jess was a child of about eight years old – not, as was actually the case, a twenty-year-old woman. Known to pout, sulk and whine when she didn't get her way, Jess had never quite matured into adulthood. She also had a penchant for creating drama and disruption, highlighted by the fact that she had now completed two first years at different universities, before dropping out at the end of each. Now living back home with her parents, with little sign of attempting to forge a career for herself, it seemed she would be remaining in her childhood home for quite some time yet.

For Anna's parents, expecting a quiet road towards retirement, it had been rather a shock to have Jess return. It wasn't that they were unhappy to have their youngest daughter home again; it was just that Jess was hard work.

This, Anna knew, was the whole reasoning behind her parents' insistence that she make Jess her maid of honour.

"It will give her something to focus on," her mother had wheedled. "She needs to gain some sense of responsibility."

Anna had initially refused. It was her day, after all - why would she willingly hand Jess an opportunity to single-handedly destroy it?

But her parents had been insistent, leaving Anna with no choice but to agree.

And now look where it had got them.

"She'll listen to you," Jason was pleading. "She always listens to you."

Jess was now leaning over the fountain to run her hand through the gushing water, splashing both herself and her parents in the process.

"Yes, she does," replied Anna, through gritted teeth, "but I shouldn't have to be the one to deal with her outbursts; not today. Don't you think I've had to deal with enough? She already broke the hair straighteners this morning trying to use them on wet hair – not to mention how she 'accidentally' dropped the train of my dress as we were walking down the aisle so that I nearly fell over."

"Oh, God," muttered Jason. "But..."

Splash!

Whipping her head in the direction of the sound, Anna realised with a sinking heart that Jess had disappeared from view.

No, though Anna desperately, knowing her pleas were futile. Please, no!

Moments later, Anna's worst fears were confirmed. With much spluttering and further splashing, a sopping wet Jess appeared over the top of the fountain's edge, pushing a tangled mass of blonde curls out of her face as she adjusted the bodice of her ruined dress.

Something about this display awakened a sense of fury deep within Anna. Perhaps it was the way the guests' heads swung in unison in the direction of the commotion, before gasping with horror at the sight of the drowned rat which had replaced the maid of honour. Or perhaps it was the fact that, yet again, Jess had somehow succeeded in stealing the spotlight on the one day that was supposed to be about Anna.

Whatever the cause, she felt something snap inside her.

"Right," snapped Anna, hauling her dress up around her ankles as she began marching across the manicured lawn towards her family.

"Come on – we're going for a walk," she announced, taking Jess by the arm and beginning a brisk march off towards a secluded corner of the gardens.

"What d'you think you're doing?" screeched Jess. "Get off me!"

Anna ignored her, not trusting herself to speak until they had rounded the corner of the manor house, out of sight of any prying eyes.

They found themselves in the little rose garden where several of the wedding pictures had been taken. Finding it hard to believe she had been posing happily amongst the petals only half an hour previously, Anna plonked her sister down on the little loveseat swing, before taking the vacant space beside her.

Anna heaved a sigh, taking a moment to calm herself – but moments later she found herself in motion once more, as Jess began violently scuffing the floor with her sandaled feet, causing the swing to sway in a jerky motion.

In an instant, Anna found herself transported back to the summers of their childhood. There was a swing just like this one in her parents' back garden, where she had often loved to sit curled up with a good book on a warm summer's day. How many times had she been interrupted by the appearance of her sister, hopping up beside her and beginning to swing wildly so that the words on the page blurred?

And here she was now – still just as childish, ten years on.

"Aren't you getting a little tired of this?" asked Anna suddenly.

Jess pouted, twirling a matted blonde curl around her finger.

"Of what?"

Anna fought back a sigh of irritation.

"This!" she cried, gesturing towards her sister's ruined dress. "All this drama. I'm certainly exhausted of having to deal with it, and I know Mum and Dad are both at their wits' end."

"It was an accident," protested Jess sulkily. "It's not like I tried to fall."

"Don't give me that," scoffed Anna. "I know full well that you couldn't rest until you had succeeded in capturing all the attention – even today, which is supposed to be my day. God, you can't even cope with not being the centre of attention for a single minute, can you?"

Jess opened her mouth to reply; no doubt with some sort of whingy retort and crocodile tears. Anna rolled her eyes – but in the next moment, she found herself taken completely by surprise, as Jess burst into a wave of hysterical, snot-inducing, definitely-not-fake sobs.

"It was just too much," she wailed, between violent hiccups. "I can't cope anymore!"

Startled by how vulnerable Jess looked, Anna struggled for words.

"Jess?" she murmured, extending an uncertain arm around her sister's waist in what she hoped was a comforting motion. It was so weird to think how rarely they had actually been this close in recent years. They had often been together, of course – in the same room, at the same time – but Anna began to realise how each had unconsciously kept their distance from the other, passing fleetingly by like blossoms in the wind.

"What is it?" asked Anna, breathing in the familiar musky smell of Jess' perfume. How many times had she loudly complained down the hallway that Jess was attempting to gas them out with her excessive spritzing each morning before school?

Those days seemed like an age ago; as if they had been different people back then.

"It's nothing – just something stupid," mumbled Jess, the scuffing of her foot increasing in frequency.

Anna bit back her irritation at the continuous motion.

"No, come on – I want to know what's bothering you."

Jess turned her tear-streaked face up towards Anna's, eyes wide.

"Do you really not know?" she whispered.

Anna frowned, feeling as if this was some sort of quiz in which she was required to provide the correct answer.

"I know you won't believe me – but I honestly didn't mean to screw things up for you today. I never mean to – not really. Today, though, it was just too much for me."

"Too much? Jess, what do you mean?"

"All this. Your perfectly planned, elegant wedding, to the man of your dreams."

Anna shook her head, trying and failing to understand.

"Don't you see?" cried Jess. "It's everything I ever wanted! You have it all, Anna: a first-class degree from a top university; an amazing career in the City; and now, a perfect husband.

"Meanwhile, I've failed not once, but twice at completing so much as the first year at university; I'm currently living with my parents for probably the entirety of my twenties; and I'm so pathetic I couldn't even manage to get a date for my sister's wedding.

"I've spent my whole life having that same old phrase drummed into me: 'Why can't you be more like Anna?'. Well I'll tell you why: because I'm not you, and I never will be. I'll never even come close, so what's the point in trying?"

"Jess..."

Anna's voice trailed off helplessly.

What could she even begin to say? Words didn't quite cut it, somehow. They felt so bland; so empty and devoid of the sincerity she so desperately wished to convey when she told Jess how sorry she was.

Jess, who had been watching her sister's expression with interest, eventually broke the silence.

"You really had no idea, did you?"

Anna cringed under the weight of self-loathing.

"How; how can I be such a completely self-absorbed person that I didn't even notice what was happening?" she cried suddenly. "I never even – whenever someone told you to be more like me, I never considered how that would feel for you. And I don't know what that says about me, except that I'm a terrible sister."

"You were always the favourite," muttered Jess. "I didn't blame you, at the beginning – you never asked for it. But I guess over the years, it got to the point that whatever I did, you'd already done it first, and better – so eventually I decided there wasn't much point trying."

"I am so sorry, Jess," choked Anna, swallowing past the vast lump in her throat. "If there was any way I could take it back, or somehow make it better for you, I swear I would do it in an instant."

A weak smile crept across Jess' face; a genuine one, not like the usual fake expression Anna was used to seeing in her sister's Instagram selfies.

"It's okay," mumbled Jess. "I feel a lot better just getting it off my chest."

"Still," insisted Anna, "if there's one thing I want to put right, it's this idea that my life is somehow perfect – because I can tell you right now, it is not.

"Yes, I made it through uni – but there were so many late nights spent at the library, I ended up sacrificing the friendships I'd made for the sake of my grades. My job is satisfying, yes – but the hours are hellish, and sometimes I feel like the pressure is slowly crushing me.

"And Jason? Obviously, I love him – but we have all the normal couple rows about stupid things like whose turn it is to empty the bin, or wash the dishes.

"I'm just a person, Jess – not this ethereal being you seem to have conjured me up to be. And you are your own person. You're bubbly and carefree in a way I could never be; I've always envied how easy-going you are. You have an amazing talent for design, too – I never understood why you went to study business at uni instead of graphic design. I just wish you could see in yourself what I do, which is a witty, lively and creative person who deserves to be recognised for her own merits."

Jess was silently sobbing by the time Anna finished speaking – and Anna realised that there were tears trickling down her own face too.

There were no more words between them for a while; there was nothing which needed to be said. The sisters sat frozen in time, oblivious to the wedding party taking place just around the corner. Here, in their own, secluded corner of the world, they were free to watch the rose petals rustling gently in the breeze.

For so long they had drifted apart, like blossoms in the wind.

But some bonds, no matter how fragile, cannot be broken. However far apart they might drift, they were, and always would be, petals of the same flower - and that was a bond for life.