Updated Dec 4, 2025 • ~10 min read
Savannah woke to sunlight streaming through the vineyard room windows and Barry’s arm draped over her waist.
For a moment—one perfect, crystalline moment—she just lay there. Taking inventory.
They were both fully clothed. Still in last night’s reception outfits, actually, though Barry had lost his tie somewhere and her shoes were kicked off at the foot of the bed.
They’d kissed last night.
Barry had told her he loved her.
She’d told him she loved him back.
And then they’d gone back to the reception and danced and celebrated and stolen kisses in quiet corners until the party finally ended around 2 AM.
They’d stumbled back to their room, exhausted and giddy and unable to stop touching each other. Had fallen into bed still talking, still kissing, until exhaustion finally won.
And now it was morning.
And everything was different.
Savannah’s heart was racing. This was real. This was actually happening. After ten years, she and Barry were—what? Together? Dating? In a relationship?
They hadn’t exactly defined it.
Barry stirred behind her, his arm tightening around her waist. His voice was rough with sleep when he spoke.
“You’re awake.”
“Yeah.”
“You’re thinking very loudly.”
Despite her nerves, Savannah smiled. “How do you know?”
“I can feel it. Your whole body is tense.” He pressed a kiss to her shoulder. “Talk to me.”
She rolled over to face him. His hair was a mess, pillow-creased face, eyes still half-closed. He looked beautiful.
“Is this real?” she asked softly.
Barry’s eyes opened fully then. “Very real.”
“And you meant it? Everything you said last night?”
“Every word.” He cupped her face gently. “I love you, Savannah. That hasn’t changed between midnight and morning.”
Relief flooded through her. “I love you too. I just—I’m still processing. Ten years of pretending to be just friends and now—”
“Now we don’t have to pretend anymore.”
She kissed him. Slow and sweet and morning-soft. When they pulled apart, Barry was smiling.
“I could get used to that,” he murmured.
“Kissing me?”
“Waking up with you. Kissing you. All of it.”
Savannah’s phone buzzed on the nightstand. Multiple texts lighting up the screen.
“Emery,” she said, glancing at the notifications. “She wants to know if we’re together and if she called it first. Also threatening to murder me if I don’t text back immediately with details.”
Barry laughed. “What are you going to tell her?”
“That depends. What are we, exactly?”
“What do you want us to be?”
Savannah considered. “I want—I want to try. For real. Not halfway, not almosts. I want to be with you.”
“Then that’s what we are.” Barry kissed her forehead. “Together. For real.”
“My boyfriend.”
“I’m your boyfriend. You’re my girlfriend.” He grinned. “After ten years of friendship, we’re finally dating. That’s going to take some getting used to.”
“Skylar’s going to be insufferable about this.”
“Oh, completely insufferable. She orchestrated this whole thing.”
“The shared room, the bouquet toss—”
“Definitely planned.” Barry stretched, wincing. “We should probably get up. Wedding day brunch starts in an hour. And we’re both still in yesterday’s clothes.”
Savannah looked down at her wrinkled dress. “Shower first?”
Something flickered in Barry’s expression. “Are you—that’s not an invitation, right? Because if we’re doing this for real, I want to do it right. Take you on dates. Court you properly.”
Her heart melted. “Court me?”
“I’ve waited ten years. I can wait a little longer to do this properly.” He climbed out of bed, offering his hand. “You shower first. I’ll order coffee from room service.”
“Vanilla latte, extra shot, light foam?”
“Obviously.”
Savannah grabbed her clothes and headed for the bathroom, her heart so full it ached. This was Barry—thoughtful, patient, wanting to do things right.
The shower was hot and perfect. She washed off yesterday’s makeup, changed into jeans and a soft burgundy sweater, tried to tame her hair into something presentable.
When she emerged, Barry had coffee waiting and was scrolling through his phone.
“Zane texted,” he announced. “Quote: ‘FINALLY. Everyone owes me money. I called you’d confess at the wedding.’ Apparently there was a betting pool.”
“Are you serious?”
“Completely serious. Roman, Skylar, Audrey, Emery, Thaddeus—everyone had bets on when we’d finally get together.”
“Thaddeus bet on us?”
“Your brother’s exact words, according to Zane: ‘Those idiots have been in love for years. This wedding will force their hand.'” Barry showed her the phone. “The group chat is exploding.”
Savannah grabbed her own phone. Sure enough, the wedding party group chat was chaos.
Emery: I KNEW IT
Audrey: Finally! I’ve been watching that slow burn for THREE YEARS
Skylar: You’re welcome btw. The shared room was genius
Roman: My wife the matchmaker
Zane: Everyone pay up. I won the bet
Thaddeus: About damn time you two stopped being cowards
“How did they all know?” Savannah asked, mortified.
“Apparently we weren’t subtle.” Barry was grinning. “According to this very long text from Audrey, we’ve been ‘obviously in love and oblivious about it’ since the day we met.”
“Ten years of not being subtle.”
“Ten years of everyone knowing except us.”
Savannah sank onto the bed, laughing. “This is mortifying.”
“This is perfect.” Barry joined her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. “Everyone’s happy for us. No drama, no complications—just our friends celebrating that we finally pulled our heads out of our asses.”
“Romantic.”
“I’ll be romantic later. Right now I’m just relieved.” He kissed her temple. “Your turn for the shower. We have twenty minutes to get to brunch.”
Twenty minutes later, they walked into the vineyard’s breakfast terrace hand-in-hand.
Everyone cheered.
Literally everyone. The entire wedding party—along with half the guests from last night—applauded as Barry and Savannah appeared.
Skylar was in the middle of the terrace, beaming like she’d personally orchestrated world peace.
“Ladies and gentlemen,” she announced, “I give you the couple I’ve been scheming to get together for three years!”
“Skylar,” Savannah hissed, mortified.
“Own it, babe! You’re dating Barry Dale! The man who’s been in love with you since forever!” Skylar hugged them both. “I’m so happy I could cry. Actually, I am crying. Don’t look at me.”
Roman came over, grinning. “Congratulations. Zane won the betting pool, by the way.”
“We heard,” Barry said drily.
Thaddeus appeared, pulling Savannah into a hug. “About time, sis.”
“You bet on us!”
“Of course I bet on you. You’ve been disgustingly in love with Barry for years. I was just waiting for one of you to be brave enough to admit it.” He turned to Barry. “Hurt her and I’ll destroy you.”
“Noted.”
“But I’m happy for you both. Genuinely.”
Emery was next, squealing and pulling Savannah aside. “Details. Now. Everything. Don’t leave anything out.”
“There’s not much to tell—”
“Savannah Mitchell, you’ve been in love with that man for a decade and you finally got together. There’s EVERYTHING to tell.”
Savannah found herself surrounded by bridesmaids, all demanding the story. She recounted last night—Xavier’s appearance, the conversation with Barry, the confession, the kiss.
“I knew the bouquet toss was fate,” Audrey said smugly. “You catching it and Barry catching the garter? That was the universe giving you a push.”
“That was Skylar rigging the toss.”
“Skylar AND the universe.”
Meanwhile, Barry was being interrogated by the groomsmen. Savannah could hear Zane giving him a hard time about “finally growing a spine” while Roman wanted to know if Barry had “practiced the speech or just winged it.”
Breakfast was eggs benedict and mimosas and happiness so thick Savannah could taste it.
She and Barry kept catching each other’s eyes across the table. Each time, he’d smile—this small, private smile that was just for her. And each time, her heart would do something complicated.
After breakfast, there was free time before wedding preparations began. Most people scattered—to the pool, to the spa, to explore the vineyard.
Barry tugged Savannah toward the gardens. They found a secluded bench overlooking the valley.
“Alone at last,” he said, pulling her close.
“We were alone in our room this morning.”
“Different kind of alone. This is the ‘I can finally kiss my girlfriend in daylight without an audience’ kind of alone.”
“Girlfriend,” Savannah repeated, testing the word. “That’s still surreal.”
“Good surreal or bad surreal?”
“The best surreal.” She kissed him, soft and lingering. “I still can’t believe this is real.”
“Believe it.” Barry’s hands settled on her waist. “This is real. You and me. Finally.”
They sat in comfortable silence for a while, watching the vineyard stretch out below them. Savannah’s head on Barry’s shoulder, his arm around her, everything feeling right in a way it never had before.
“Can I ask you something?” Barry said eventually.
“Anything.”
“Why didn’t you ever say anything? In ten years, you never—I thought you didn’t feel the same way.”
Savannah pulled back to look at him. “I was scared. You were my best friend. The most important person in my life. What if I told you and you didn’t feel the same? What if it ruined everything?”
“Same reason I never said anything.”
“We wasted a lot of time.”
“Maybe. Or maybe we needed that time. To grow up. To figure out who we are separately before we could be together.” Barry tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “I don’t regret our friendship, Sav. Those ten years made us who we are.”
“The ten years of almost.”
“Leading to this. To always.”
Savannah’s eyes stung with happy tears. “Always. That’s a big word.”
“I mean it. This isn’t a fling for me. This isn’t trying something out to see if it works. I’ve been in love with you for ten years. I know exactly what I want.”
“And what do you want?”
“Everything. All of you. Every day. For as long as you’ll have me.”
She kissed him then—deep and sure and full of ten years of pent-up longing.
When they finally pulled apart, Barry was smiling against her lips. “So that’s a yes?”
“That’s a definitely yes.”
A golf cart puttered up the path toward them. Skylar at the wheel, grinning like the Cheshire cat.
“Okay lovebirds, break it up! We have a wedding to finish! Hair and makeup in one hour!” She waved them toward the cart. “And yes, I’ve been looking for you. Come on!”
Barry groaned. “Do we have to?”
“Yes! It’s my wedding day and you two are part of the wedding party! Stop making out and get ready!”
Laughing, they climbed into the golf cart. Skylar drove them back toward the main building, chattering about the ceremony and reception and how perfect everything was going to be.
“You two are dancing together tonight,” she announced. “Not just the bouquet-garter dance. I mean really dancing. Romantic dancing. I want photos of you looking disgustingly in love.”
“We can do that,” Savannah said, catching Barry’s eye.
“Good. Because you’ve given me hope that love is real and I’m very emotional about it.”
Roman was waiting by the main entrance. “Found them making out in the gardens, didn’t you?”
“Obviously. They’re adorable.” Skylar hopped out of the cart. “Okay, Savannah—you go get beautiful for my wedding. Barry—you go do whatever groomsmen do. And tonight, we celebrate!”
As they separated to get ready, Barry caught Savannah’s hand. “Hey.”
“Hey yourself.”
“I love you.”
She grinned. “I love you too.”
“Just wanted to say it. In case I don’t get a chance later.”
“You’ll have a million chances. We have always, remember?”
“Always,” Barry agreed, kissing her one more time before heading toward the groomsmen’s suite.
Savannah watched him go, her heart so full she thought it might burst.
Ten years of friendship.
Ten years of almost.
And now—finally, wonderfully, terrifyingly—something real.
She just hoped she was brave enough to keep it.
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