It was late, he should have been sleeping, but after seeing Gemma for the first time in half a decade his brain couldn't slow down, he couldn't stop remembering. So instead of enjoying the comforts of Trace's living room couch, Justin had made camp in the laundry room, turning it into a makeshift dark room. Going to the campaign party at the Hyatt Regency in Sacramento hadn't been Justin's idea of a good time on a Friday night, but he had promised Trace that he would take pictures of the event, in exchange for being able to crash on his couch. Trace worked for a local Sacramento newspaper and having Justin photograph the event had saved both time and money, as well as allowed Justin a chance to scout for potential clients.

The quiet sloshing of the liquid pulled Justin's attention back to his photos, the picture was nearly done. As he stopped agitating the solution, the waves of developer calmed allowing him to see the photo clearly. It was of the stage and the crowd, the backs of heads and profiles of faces, but there was one face in the crowd that stood out immediately. Gemma and her sister stood in the corner of the photo, barely making it into the frame. Gemma was leaning to the left, craning her neck to listen closely to whatever Holly had been saying.

Justin slipped the photo into the stop and chuckled. Holly was certainly an interesting girl, and almost the complete opposite of Gemma. But as soon as Justin laid eyes on Holly as she tapped on his shoulder he knew who she was. If a random bystander were to look at Gemma and Holly next to each other it wouldn't be surprising if they believed them to be nothing more than good friends, but Justin knew better. Holly's eyes may have been brown instead of blue like Gemma's, but the arch of their eyebrows and the curl of their lashes were identical. Gemma may be a shade paler than Holly, but Justin had seen pictures and knew they both freckled across their noses after a day of too much sun. Luckily, he had been able to control his expression as she held her hand out for him to shake. He feigned polite interest as she explained who she was and preceded to strike up a conversation. Nothing about the exchange really grabbed his attention until she asked him a question he had been asked many times before, but never had he dreamed he would hear it from her.

----

"So, Justin, what brings you to this party?" Holly asked with a smile that could have been a clone of Gemma's.

Justin pulled his camera that had been resting over his shoulder forward. "My friend Trace is in charge of covering the campaign for the newspaper and he's decided that in order for me to sleep on his couch payment-free I've got to photograph it."

"Oh, so you're a photographer?" Holly questioned as she bounced on her heels reached for his camera.

He twisted so she couldn't reach it, "Yeah, freelance. Mostly, I shoot weddings, though."

Holly clasped her hands together at her chest, "Weddings!" She exclaimed, "How long are you going to be in the area?"

Deciding Holly was no longer a threat to his camera he turned back to fully face her, "I'm not really sure yet," he started, rubbing the back of his neck absentmindedly, "I was sort of hoping to find some clients while I'm here. Trace suggested I start to expand a little from New York."

"That is absolutely," Holly paused long enough for a huge grin to spread across her face, "Perfect!" She stated, suddenly serious. "My sister, Gemma, is getting married and we haven't found a wedding photographer yet! Being Maid of Honor is such a tough job! You have no idea how much stress is off my back now. All because of you!"

Justin's brain had stopped comprehending at the word 'married'. Married. To whom he wanted to ask. When? Why? Who was he? Was he good enough for her?

Holly's cool hand on his forearm drew his attention away from his panicked thoughts, "This is so great Justin, I'm sure you're fantastic, I can just tell." She stopped to give him a quick smile and fluttered her eyelashes. "Gemma will be ecstatic! Here, give me your number and I'll call you with her availability and you guys can meet and discuss everything! Oh my god, she's going to love you!"

On autopilot Justin recited his number and watched dumbly as she programed the digits into her phone, sealing his fate.

"Fabulous!" Holly declared. "Well, it was so wonderful meeting you, Justin, but I should go find my sister and tell her the good news."

Still hazy, Justin nodded and gave a slight smile as Holly walked off and promptly disappeared into the crowd. Not five minutes after Holly left, and two minutes after a girl named Breanna approached him, Justin spotted Gemma. She left the hallway leading to the bathrooms, looking frantically from left to right, clearly attempting to make her escape.

Does she know I'm here? Justin wondered as a bitter pang shot through him at the look on her face. Was she really that disappointed to see him? Did she think he did this on purpose? Did she think he knew she'd be here? As abruptly as his disappointment in the news of her engagement came it dissipated, only to be replaced by a feeling that, in retrospect, Justin found a little unnerving. He was suddenly irritated, irritated that she was so concerned with being in his presence that she decided to try and avoid him completely, and irritated at his own reaction when hearing about her engagement. It had been five years, surely that was enough time to heal whatever wounds she had left him with.

Acting purely on instinct, Justin did what he had been longing to do the moment Holly touched his shoulder.

"Gems!"

----

Justin sighed and pulled the newly cropped photo out of the fix. The memory of the last time he had seen Gemma, before this evening, had been replaying in his head since leaving the party. The last time they had been together had been in Napa, a place they had only visited twice, once in the beginning and once in the end. The first time they went had been his idea and completely on a whim. They had been dating for about a month and were in her dorm room on a Tuesday in late September. Gemma had been complaining about how much she was tired of school, even though it had just started.

Justin hopped off her bed, "Pack an overnight bag and meet me outside in fifteen minutes."

Gemma sat up on her elbows, observing him gathering his things but not speaking until Justin was halfway out the door, "Do I need warm clothes?"

"Bring a sweater." Was all Justin said before shutting the door behind him.

Justin recalled the two-hour drive from the Stanford campus to Napa. During the first hour it had been a little awkward, alternating between fiddling with the radio, genuine conversation, and silence. He held her hand in his lap and she told him he had a good singing voice when a Coldplay song came on the radio.

When they left the campus Justin hadn't been sure where they were headed, but when the exit for I-5 came into view a plan formed in his head. So he drove north, following the highway signs and enjoying the weight and warmth of Gemma's hand against his thigh.

Gemma lifted her hand from his leg and held her stomach in an attempt to hide the sound of a growl.

Justin glanced at the clock in his car, it was a little past seven, and they had only been driving for about an hour. "Do you want to stop somewhere to eat or just wait until we get where we're going?"

Gemma hummed softly in thought and sat up to face him, pressing her left shoulder into the back of the seat. "I don't know, how long are we going to be driving?"

"Just another hour, about." Justin said as he took a quick look at Gemma as she pulled her legs onto the seat and tucked them under her body.

"Oh, well, then I think I can wait." Gemma answered, giving Justin a brief smile before focusing her attention on his CD collection.

"Gemma, if you're hungry we can stop and eat. I'm not in a hurry and you shouldn't be, either."

She shuffled through his CDs, most of them haphazardly tossed into his glove compartment, and didn't answer until the sounds of John Mayer's Room For Squares filled the car.

"No, no, no." She smiled up at him again. "I'm fine, I can wait. Really." She added.

"Okay." Justin accepted with a shrug. "But, you know, if you want something, it's okay to say so. You didn't even ask if I was hungry."

Gemma laughed. "Alright, I'll keep that in mind." She paused and glanced out the window at the highway sign alerting drivers to a random diner open at the next exit. "Well, are you hungry?"

Justin flipped on his right blinker and flashed her a grin as he headed for the first exit ramp he saw. "I happen to be starving."

By the time they got to Napa it was well past dinnertime and around thirty miles out of town it became blatantly obvious where they were headed. There were rolling hills in all directions, and even in the semi-darkness the seemingly endless rows of grapes at each vineyard were staggering.

"You know," Gemma started, her head turned away from Justin as she watched the rows of grapes speed by. "I've lived in California my entire life, and I've never been here."

"A Napa Valley virgin!" Justin exclaimed with a chuckle. "It's beautiful this time of year, all the crops are getting harvested, the food will never taste fresher than it does now."

It had started to lightly rain, more of a mist than anything, making the street lights glow as Justin switched the windshield wipers on.

Gemma continued to stare out the window. "But I'm glad my first time here is with you."

Justin didn't take his eyes off the road but reached over and let his hand slide down the back of Gemma's head, following the strands of her brown hair past her neck and over her shoulder.  He played with the ends idly, humming softly, to himself more than anyone, and after a few minutes pulled into a well-lit parking lot.

"We're here." He declared as his hand dropped her hair and pressed the release button on her seatbelt for her.

They got out of the car and stood in front of a large, blue, Victorian era house. It seemed pretty busy, most of the windows were glowing with the lights turned on inside. Justin could still see people passing from window to window downstairs and the blue light of televisions upstairs flipping from channel to channel.

"Where is here?" Gemma asked.

"A bed and breakfast." Justin responded before taking her hand and leading her inside.

----

Their first trip to Napa had set the tone for most of their relationship: calm, romantic, and shockingly refreshing. Justin was just twenty-three when they started dating and if he was honest, even in the beginning he knew it could be the start of something unlike any relationship he had ever been in before. He never would have imagined, after that first trip to Napa, that they would have ended up the way they had.

Justin stood up from his place on the linoleum floor, his knees popping loudly as he raised his arms above his head to stretch. Two knocks sounded and Trace's muffled voice filtered through the closed laundry room door.

 "Justin, you in there? Can I come in?"

Stepping over the plastic containers of different solutions Justin flipped on the normal lights and opened the door for Trace to come inside. As he entered Trace pulled the lined sheet of notebook paper off the door, "'Do not enter'? Really, Justin, how old are you?"

Justin yanked the paper out of Trace's hand and crumpled it into a ball. "If you wanted to fuck up the pictures for your article, I could have left it off. They're finished by the way. The negatives are on the dryer." He waved vaguely behind him before walking into the hallway.

Trace shook his head as the laundry room door slammed behind Justin, wondering what had gotten his friend in such a bad mood.  He stepped forward. The photos were hanging from string, fastened on with clothespins. Leftover fix dripped onto sheets of newspaper draped casually across the top of his washer and dryer. Trace stepped closer to examine each photo starting with the most recently developed. They were good, nice use of contrast, interesting composition, and leading lines which made the eye fall exactly where Justin wanted them to. They were really good. Trace wasnÕt a photographer, but working for a newspaper had given him the opportunity to see more than enough subpar photography sent in by aspiring photographers trying to catch a break. He moved along, noting which ones would be appropriate for the article, and by the time he reached the final row Trace had almost forgotten Justin was angry. Almost. The third to last photo Trace saw had been cropped.  Instead of the entire crowd around the stage, it was just two girls, each looking remarkably similar but different all at the same time. The shorter of the two was leaning towards the other in conference, her auburn hair laying down her back, a smirk on her lips but her eyes on the stage. The taller girl was clearly older, listening, to whom Trace assumed was her sister, more out of obligation than actual interest. Her expression struck a chord of familiarity within in him, causing him to lean closer to the photo.  But it was more than her expression that caught TraceÕs eye. It was her long, straight, brown hair, the slope of her nose, the glint off her finger folded across her arms. Immediately, Trace understood. Quickly, he hopped over the photo chemicals, opened the laundry room door, and went to look for Justin.

He found his childhood friend sitting at the kitchen table, rolling an empty water bottle back and forth between his outstretched hands.

Trace cleared his throat. "Your photography has gotten really good, you know."

Justin's eyes didn't leave the water bottle when he asked. "Did you know she was going to be there?"

Trace took a breath and pulled out the chair next to Justin's, its legs grating loudly against the wood floor. "You really think I'd force you to come and take pictures at an event I knew Gemma Porter would be attending?"

"I don't know, would you?" Justin countered.

"No, J, I wouldn't! Jesus. What's wrong with you?"

Justin sighed and started to pick at the wrapper on the water bottle. "Gem's engaged, Trace."

When Trace made no sound of surprise or disbelief Justin looked up. "But you knew that though, didn't you?" He replied bitterly, sensing the reason behind the other man's silence.

"Yeah, I did." Trace confessed.

"Why didn't you call to let me know?"

"Justin, you haven't talked about Gemma in almost five years, why am I expected to tell you anything about her? And why do you even care?" Trace questioned.

He twisted off the cap and crushed the now paperless bottle in his hand. "I don't care." Justin pouted.

"Okay." Trace agreed, his voice void of emotion. "You don't care."

Their conversation seemed finished, but Trace knew better than to get up to leave, there was more coming, he was sure.

"Hey Trace?" Justin started picking at his cuticles. "Do you know the guy's name?"

Trace ran his palm down the front of his face and scratched at the stubble forming underneath his chin. "Yeah, I know his name."

A beat passed. "Well, what is it?" Justin demanded.

"I thought you didn't care." Trace countered.

"I don't." Justin insisted, stubbornly.

Trace chuckled. "Sure."

"Come on, Trace." Justin pleaded. "What's his name?"

"His name's Peter Anderson." Trace replied.

"What does he do?"

"I don't know." Trace groaned. "I think he works with Robert Porter."

"He works with Gemma's dad? Gemma's dad." Justin muttered.

Trace nodded his head. "But that's all I know, J. I honestly haven't talked to her since before you left. The only reason I knew she was even engaged was because we printed a little engagement announcement in the paper."

"Mmm." Justin murmured. "You know I ran into her sister last night, Holly?"

"No shit?" Trace asked with an interested chuckle.

Justin nodded. "And guess what she said?"

Trace groaned. "I can only imagine, but I doubt it was anything good."

"No." Justin shook his head. "Well, first she was flirting with me, which was all kinds of wrong, asked me what I did for a living, even tried to introduce me to her sister, but when she turned around Gemma was gone."

"Thank God." Trace grimaced but motioned for him to continue.

"She told me about her sister's engagement after that." Justin gave a bitter laugh, "This is the best part, Trace. Then she asked me if I could take Gemma's wedding photos."

"Fuck that! You're not taking her photos! You told Holly that, right? What was your excuse?" Trace questioned.

"Nah, man. Holly's going to call me later today to set up an appointment to meet with Gemma to look through my portfolio and talk about pricing and stuff." Justin answered.

"J, you cannot take Gemma's wedding photos. That is too fucked up. That's sick. You can't do it, dude. Plus, you're meeting with Gemma? Just the two of you? Looking at wedding photos?!" Trace exclaimed.

Justin sighed. "Chill, man. I'm sure Pat or whatever his name is will be there, it's his wedding too."

Trace shook his head. "No, he won't be. Peter spends a little over half the year in DC. It'll just be you and Gemma."

"Whatever, man." Justin shrugged, nonchalantly. "It's just another job for me, I'm going to bring my portfolio, we'll talk about which package she wants, where they're planning on having it, whatever."

"I'm sure you'd love to ask her what package she's interested in." Trace joked.

Justin punched his arm and stood up from the table. "Shut the fuck up, Trace. I don't even care."

"Okay, man. Whatever you say." Trace replied.

"I don't care, Trace." Justin argued. "It's just a job."

"I know, dude, so you say."

"It's four in the morning. I'm going to bed."

Justin pushed in his chair and threw away his crushed water bottle before exiting the kitchen, flipping off the light, and leaving Trace in the dark.

Once in the living room Justin pulled the heavy quilt off the back of the couch and up to his chin. He kicked the armrest at his feet restlessly, this was, without a doubt, going to give him a horrible neck ache in the morning. Suddenly, Justin's phone vibrated against the wooden coffee table next to him causing him to jump as he reached to muffle the sound. It was an email from a potential client he met while shooting his last wedding in New York before flying back out to California.

Was as he really going to meet with Gemma? Alone? To talk about her wedding? Justin sighed. He wasn't prepared for this. He came back to California with one definite goal in mind: to expand his clientele and get his name out on the West Coast. Visiting his mom and catching up with Trace were just perks. But running into Gemma? That had been a brief concern that was dismissed as quickly as it came. And to be meeting up with her within the next few days? Never in his wildest dreams.

If she says yes to the meeting, anyway. His mind pestered. It had been a concern as soon as Holly walked away with his number to find her sister. What if she doesn't want to see me?

It's just another job. Clients have said no before, and they'll say no again. It's just another job. Justin thought before putting his phone on silent and tossing it to the floor.