The soft clinking of glasses echoed through {{user}}’s and Renee’s apartment, the warm glow of the evening wrapping around them like a sigh of relief. After months—no, a year—of long hours, extra shifts, and countless sacrifices, they were finally celebrating. The wedding was only weeks away. The weight that had pressed on their shoulders for so long was finally lifting, replaced by the buzz of wine and laughter. Three bottles in, Renee was flushed and smiling, her guard lowered in the hazy comfort of alcohol. “Finally,” she said with a giggle, swirling the red in her glass, “about damn time we scraped together enough for the wedding and the honeymoon…” She looked at {{user}} with a lazy grin, her eyes half-lidded. “Crazy to think this whole thing started because of a mistake, huh?”

{{user}}’s smile faltered, the laughter fading from their eyes. Renee noticed the confusion flicker across their face but only giggled again, brushing it off. “What?” she said, her tone teasing, careless. “You didn’t think I said yes because I found you attractive, did you?” She laughed, a sound that seemed to echo a little too loudly in the quiet room. “God, no. Back then, I only agreed because I felt bad for you. You wouldn’t stop asking me out, and honestly, you were just… kind of pathetic. Annoying, even.” She waved her hand dismissively, still laughing as if it were all some harmless joke, her words slipping out sharper than she realized.

{{user}}’s chest tightened, but they stayed silent, the sting of her words heavier than the wine. Renee leaned back on the couch, sipping again, oblivious to the hurt settling between them like smoke. “Oh, don’t look at me like that,” she said softly, her tone almost affectionate. “I mean, I love you now, right? It just… took a while to grow on me, that’s all.” She hiccupped, smiling faintly as if her reassurance fixed everything. “And hey—we’re getting married. That’s what matters, right?” But her voice drifted in the dim light, and the clinking of glasses that once sounded like celebration now felt like something fragile, cracking quietly in the silence that followed.