The reception of Cathelijn and Thies' wedding was at the same hotel Erik and Hanne along with many other guests were staying at. It was at the ballroom on lobby floor, big vases of white lillies standing on either side of the two doors leading into the room.
Nearly ten o'clock at night and everyone is present at the ballroom. Half of the guests are out on the dance floor attempting to slow dance while When I Was Your Man by Bruno Mars played. It seemed like almost everyone there—besides most family—came because of how lavish the reception was going to be.
As for the groom and bride, they weren't together at moment. Married, yes. Physically together, no.
They were on opposite ends of the room. Cathelijn was out and about gossiping with her fellow model friends with a half-drinken glass of wine in one hand while Thies was on the other side laughing amongst his teammates with a glass of beer. The two had both gotten into a argument out in the hallway in front of the room after she got mad at him for talking to Hanne.
But that didn't seem to bother any of the guests because everyone was too busy drinking and getting drunk.
Hanne was indeed a little bit tipsy she would admit, but not so much that she would be doing stupid things. She was sat down at a table, holding an empty glass of champagne as she laughed with a friend she hadn't kept up with in a few months. Not really a friend, since Hanne knew that she only started to talk to her because of her relationship with Erik.
The German boy sat next to Hanne, holding her hand as an empty glass of champagne sat on the table in front of him.
"And we never even paid the waiter after that!" the woman in front of them laughed. Hanne nodded and smiled weakly, just to show her discomfort to the woman. God, this so uncomfortable, she wanted to get up and leave with Erik right in the middle of her sentence. "Can you believe that?"
She nodded again, squeezing Erik's hand gently as a face of confusion grew on his face. He was probably trying to understand what the woman was saying since German and Dutch are closely related, only seeming to understand half of the entire thing. Maybe even less.
The both of them absolutely wanted to leave the reception right now. The new married couple were already fighting not even twelve hours into their marriage, Hanne's had a bit too much champagne, Erik's starting to get fuzzy by all thr Dutch being spoken around him, and everyone is bored to hell. Even Thies was having the worst night of his life, and he's thr groom God's sake. It seems that the only person not in a shit mood was Cathelijn, that was because she was busy smack-talking about people with her model friends.
"Have you seen the gigantic ice sculpture outside?" Hanne asked her new "friend". Really, there wasn't an ice sculpture or anything outside. She just needed something to get her away from them. "I heard it was enormous. Right, Erik?"
She nudged his arm, scaring him a little as he suddenly became aware of what was happening from all the music blaring out from the speakers. "Huh? Uh—ja."
The woman quickly stood up and ran her hand through her blonde hair, only making it look messier. Obviously, drunk as hell by now. "Really? I should see! Everyone must be there admiring it," she said, before taking off in the direction of the doors.
Finally that annoying woman went away, Hanne thought she was going to have to walk away herself.
She rested her head on Erik's shoulder, closing her eyes as hand stroked her cheek. "I'm so tired. I want to go back to Dortmund now."
"Your friend Catherina might not see us walk out," he suggested, totally botching Cathelijn's name on purpose. "We could just leave, you know."
"Ja, but I promised Thies that I would stay for his marriage to that blonde model. Now I'm starting to regret it.
It's like, ten at night, and we could have been sleeping or watching movies on the couch back in Dortmund!"
Erik nodded, his hand rubbing comforting patterns on her back. When she told him the story between her and Cathelijn and Thies, he actually asked her if she wanted to go. The answer she gave him wasn't actually a proper answer but more of an explanation. Long story short, Hanne would rather sit at the bottom of a swimming pool for ten minutes than be here.
The way how he's seen Hanne treat herself made himself feel sad. She was this beautiful person inside and out who was doing all these things for people who never once told her of their gratefulness. It was like she was the scapegoat of almost all of her friendships—her and Anneliese's friendship excluded.
"We could just leave and explore Amsterdam. I've never been to Amsterdam or even the Netherlands, so you can show me around even though you aren't from area," he told her. All he wanted was for Hanne to be happy, not unhappy in a dreadful environment. "The idea seems pretty great to me—"
"Goedeavond, Hanne."
The two of them looked up to find Thies, no longer with a bottle of beer in hand, sit in the empty seat in front of them. He had a sincere smile on his face, and no one knew if it was because of the alcohol or if he was pushing the limits and was about to do something incredibly stupid.
Erik looked at the Dutchman cautiously, aware of his and Hanne's history. There was probably an unlikely chance that any of them would get into a fight, but he still didn't want to take any chances.
Thies put his elbows on his thighs and leaned forward, looking at the carpeted floor before locking eyes with Hanne. "Look, I really appreciate you coming today. And even though things aren't going so well, it's nice of you to stay anyways. For me."
"Yes, staying for the reception where the bride and groom already had their first fight," she said. "Like shit this isn't going so well, Thies. You already made your wife mad."
He looked at her, furrowing his eyebrows because he knew that she had better things to do but came in attendance for him. "You're angry."
"Of course, I'm angry! I don't want to be in a wedding where I see one of my best friends marry this blonde, spoiled bitch!"
Everything they said was in Dutch, and Erik could only seem to understand at least half of it, but he knew that Thies had made Hanne terribly upset. He's never seen her this upset since he broke her camera, and that was nearly a month ago.
"If you were a good friend, maybe you wouldn't have invited me," she spat out.
The Dutchman looked somewhat hurt, rubbing his arm like he had received a punch. "One—Cathelijn did that, not me. And two—what is a wedding without the one of the most important people in my life?"
Honestly, Hanne doesn't even know why Thies is trying to hide what he's saying. And she doesn't even know why he's saying this in front of Erik. She knows where this is going, and it's not headed towards anything good.
If this keeps up, Thies may very well end up kissing Hanne while Erik's arms are around her.
"Did you even want the wedding? Marry her?" Words flew out of her mouth like they were breathing for air the last three years. "Because the last time we talked about this, you fucking hated her."
Now, this made Thies silent. He's never faced questions that questioned how real it was for him. It was always Cathelijn that answered those, sugar coating the reality. "I don't know. The last time we talked about this, I was in love with you."
In her mind, Hanne was quietly panicking. She knew very well that Thies had feelings for her, but she never thought that he would confess them right now! In front of her and her boyfriend!
Although Erik, well, he was getting there. His eyebrows were knitted together as he concentrated on mentally translating Dutch into German, raising concern when Hanne became silent.
And that's when he realized everything that was going on. He didn't need to translate word for word, he knew just by the simple words he heard.
"And I still am."
At that moment, Hanne and Erik individually didn't know what to feel. They were so in love with each other that sometimes everything around them didn't matter.
And yet, this shit had to be the only thing in the way of that.
Hanne was furious. She wanted to act like she was, lashing out at him to show her feelings, but she couldn't. For some reason, she just could not find the strength to curse at him and walk away angry.
There was a something in her chest reminding her of everything they did together as friends back then. Playing football, copying off each other's homework, making fun of those they despised, she saw those memories when she looked at Thies.
But there was another part keeping her torn from knowing what she actually wants. That part was in Dortmund, part of Erik, working as a photographer, everything that was her life now. She would do nothing to change it.
If she had a moment where she hated Thies the most, it would be now.
She was silent for a moment, staring down at the ground as every little thought ran through her head like she was going to die. Everything was already perfect, why did he have to ruin it?
"You're joking right?" That was all Hanne could say since her throat felt like it was being tightened into a ball of guilt. "Please tell me you're joking Thies."
But he could only nod as it was true.
The small smile quickly disappeared from his face. "You're pissed."
Hanne's eyes widened, and everything just got even more difficult. "Un-fucking-believable," she spat out. "You're already fucking married, and you're just now telling me this shit? For fucks sake, Thies, make up your fucking mind! Did you even want to marry that bitch of a wife you have? And if you were so in love with me four years ago, then why did you date her? I swear to God, Thies, sometimes you make the stupidest—"
"Hanne?" Erik interrupted, thank God. "Are you okay?"
Sitting off to side, the German boy was very much aware of what was happening in front of his very own eyes. His girlfriend's best friend confessing his feelings to her right in front of him, her boyfriend.
He will admit, Thies is much stupider than he was.
That wasn't a smart move to make at all, and if Erik were more confident, he would have taken himself and Hanne outside to be somewhere else. Anywhere else not this dreadful wedding reception of a married couple separated from each other within the first twelve hours. But he didn't want to be rude and leave so suddenly, he just sat there, listening to Thies carelessly tell Hanne that he loves her when he just got married less than six hours ago.
Hanne stared down at the ground, her eyelids wanting to close and sleep this day away like it never happened. "I want to go home."
He nodded and stood up, his arm wrapled around her shoulder as she pressed her head against the side of his chest. The girl under his embrace was so tired and homesick, all he could do is bring to somewhere close to home.
"Wait," Thies stood up as well his hand inches away from grabbing Hanne's arm. "Can we just—"
"I think it's best that you—"
"Guys!"
Oh no.
This was truly a moment where Hanne wished her mail, contaning the wedding invite, was delivered to the wrong door. Or not delivered at all.
Walking up to them with arm out as if she were expecting a hug from her husband was Cathelijn, no longer bitter with a glass of champagne on hand. She looked perfectly fine compared to how she did when she stormed away from an argument with Thies earlier. And despite it being ten at night, she looked refreshed, ready to take on the rest of the reception as if it were a new day.
But Hanne, she really wanted to run and hide in the elevator. This day in general has been the worst for her, and the last thing she wants to do is slap the bride.
Actually, that's the second to last thing. The very last thing she wants to do is leave and have Cathelijn totally botch her on social media.
She felt like she couldn't breathe when Cathelijn arrived and wrapped her armaround Thies like their little argument never even happened. Like he never confessed to having feelings for the short, brunette photorapher currently holding on to her boyfriend for dear life.
"So, are we having a great time here, guys? I know I am!" the blonde woman exclaimed, the words coming from her lips coated in sugar.
Thies intertwined their fingers together, his facial expression wincing as he did. "I was just talking to Hanne and Erik for the time being, Cathelijn. It's been five hours, maybe it's time to wrap things up."
"Wha-What do you mean? There are loads of people here still dancing and getting drunk, but Hanne can leave if she wants to. I mean, she's always done that, hasn't she?"
And when Hanne said she wanted to slap the blonde woman, she was serious.
"Let this be some advice to you, Erik," Cathelijn pointed at him with her finger, her face solemn and stern. "Your girlfriend Hanne will always, always, always leave. Maybe you haven't experienced that yet, but soon you will. Not to mention, she steals things. She snatches things that weren't always hers to begin with on the night you were supposed to feel beautiful and joyful. Do the right thing, and don't let her do that."
The Borussia Dortmund defender only blinked at the words of the bride. He never knew someone like her could hold such words and put them together like honey and toast.
He also didn't seem to agree with what the bride had said about Hanne. To him, she was the best thing to have ever happen to him, honestly.
Thies was completely shocked when those terrible words spilled from his wife's lips. They both knew that he was still loving this young photographer standing in front of him, and they both knew that only of them wanted this marriage. The other just went along with it.
Frankly, the story of Thies and Cathelijn Uiterwijk is a very pitiful one. You have a model who is used to getting what she wants but not having what was never hers taken away, and you also have the footballer still in love with his childhood best friend but married the model regardless. Both have no idea what they're doing. And they both are making very bad mistakes on their wedding night.
Maybe that's what makes them compatible with one another.
"Are you sure you aren't drunk, Cathelijn?" asked Hanne.
The now-irritated bride stood there, her arms crossed, no longer picking at the fabric of her dress. "Like hell I am, Hanne. I don't even know why you even bothered to show up you fucking piece of trash, why couldn't you have stayed in Germany?"
She just kept babbling and babbling about such useless things, that it actually started to get repetitive. Going on about how Hanne is a homewrecker to constant remarks on how nice the wedding was and how it was somehow ruined, Cathelijn wouldn't keep her mouth shut.
The only thing Hanne thinking about was why she decided that now is a good time to call her a slut and a whore. The blonde could have chosen a much better environment—like four years ago at school.
Okay, not the best suggestion, but still better.
As for Erik, who had been quiet for the most part of this, he was just as tired as Hanne was of all this drama. He was just here for a wedding, not an argument that's going to last for four years!
So that's when he had the brilliant idea of walking away from the newly wedded couple with his girlfriend.
He just walked away in the middle of Cathelijn's sentence, prompting her to pause and process in her head what was going on. Yes, maybe it was a little rude, but it was obviously ill-mannered of the married couple to be acting like this.
He walked them both out the doors and into the lobby of the hotel. The cool air of this night in Amsterdam wrapping around them like a blanket. It felt much better than being in that ballroom where the two people of desolation are.
And of course, they weren't alone. Guests of both the hotel and the wedding were all scattered around the white tiled lobby, either drunk or simply wanting to get to their hotel room.
They walked to the elevator, Erik's arm still protectively wrapped around Hanne. Before he could even oress the button, the doors opened and out came a sea of teenagers probably going out to a bar for the night. They stepped into the elevator alone, his finger pressing the buttons for the doors to close and the floor of their room.
Hanne has been silent since Cathelijn opened her mouth to spit out thise unpleasant words. Her lips were pressed together like she regretted saying something.
This was a perfectly acceptable reaction to having the bride of the wedding you're attending curse you out like you were the devil. The chocolate-haired Dutch girl felt attacked, she felt like she was slapped right across the face by words that probabky had no sentimental meaning to the bride. Well, it of course hurt much more than when she did slap her four years ago.
Erik kissed the top of her head. "Are you okay, prinzessin?"
She was okay. Just not mentally.
Hanne felt so much pressure in her chest she thought she was going to die in the elevator. And yet, she stood there under his arms like it wasn't seriously affecting her.
"There is so much pain," she said, pointing at her chest as her eyes kept their gaze out in front, "and I don't know what to do."
She buried the side of her face into Erik's chest, her hands gripping the material of his suit. The girl was such a mess inside, she was starting to look like one outside.
The only person who would know what to do, other than her brother and her parents, is Anneliese, and she was God knows where. Probably left the party early just to get away from this grim reception and go walk around the tourist streets of Amsterdam.
Erik rubbed her arm in circles, keeping her close. "It's okay. We'll go back to our room, and this day will be over. I promise."
When the elevator stopped at their floor, they stepped out, walking down the hall to their room where Erik had the card to unlock the door. They walked into their room not separating from each other. Hanne was still clinging on to the German boy, her hands not wanting to let go of him.
"Prinzessin," he spoke, getting her to at least at look up at him with big eyes, "look, she can't hurt you now. We're in our room, and even if she did come to so that, I'm right here, okay?" He kissed her lips before she separated from him, sitting down on the bed. "I'll be right—"
She kissed him again before he could even finish his sentence or even move. Her arms wrapped around his neck and pulled him into a deep, ardent kiss.
Erik did nothing to stop her, instead he kissed her back. His hand cupping her cheek while his other one on the bed to steady himself.
Her lips felt like heaven, and her kisses felt like the one thing Erik has ever wanted in his entire life. Every time her lips met with his, he felt in need for another, in need for more.
For some reason, she always had this affect on him. Just a simple kiss could make him want to never let go of her. She was so beautiful, so good to him, he thought no power existed before her.
When she pulled away, only to have their noses touch, she no longer had the hurt, blamed expression on her face. "I don't want to think about it," she whispered, placing a soft kiss on his cheek. "I don't want to think about it, I don't want to think about it. I just want you to kiss me like tomorrow was your last day on Earth." And the words meaning to come after would seem to drift off, but that didn't matter.
All that mattered was that they were alone, and they were kissing like there was no tomorrow.
Placing another kiss on his cheek, their lips reconnected, and Erik, with a newly invented confidence, took the opportunity to lay her down on the bed, his body hovering her as he placed soft and gentle kisses from her lips all the way down to her neck.
She gasped as she felt him suck at her skin, his hands roaming freely around her body, attempting to find the zipper to her dress. It was like she was helpless to the kisses he was giving her, spilling out his entire heart out for her. She just loved the way he kissed her, it's something she could grow weak to her knees for.
"You know," he mumbled in her neck, "you are so beautiful, so perfect... how could I have been so lucky?"
The moment he pulled her zipper down, that's when the night would truly begin for Hanne and Erik.