"I can't believe you just said that." Liz spun around and stared at him, mouth agape, her skirts swirling around her as she turned.

"Why? Why is that so hard to believe?"

"Because! Because you're my best friend. I've known you my entire life. I know you better than anyone! Or at least I thought I did until about ten seconds ago when you said that… that thing and flipped my entire world upside down!"

"That thing?" Sam looked around as he realized their voices were rising and someone might hear them. He grabbed her hand and pulled her into a small room off the hallway. "You can't even repeat what I said? You can't acknowledge it?"

"No, I can't. Because it's not true. It's insane. You don’t. You can't!"

"Why not?" He threw his hands in the air in exasperation.

"Because you can't! Because if you do then everything I’ve ever known, everything I’ve ever thought about us, was a lie. And I just can’t believe that."

"That’s not true," Sam ran a hand through his hair and turned away. He stared out the window at the parking lot, watching the guests arriving, and wondering how much time he had before they would come looking for her. He turned back to face her.

"Lizzie, our friendship has meant the world to me. It wasn’t a lie and you know that. But that doesn’t change how I feel."

Liz swallowed convulsively and took a deep shaky breath. "It's my wedding day, Sam. You're my man of honor for Christ’s sake." Liz winced at her own hastily spoken words, remembering too late where they were.

"I know and the timing is not ideal-"

Liz scoffed.

"But any moment past this one would have been too late. I couldn't let you walk down that aisle without having all the facts. And the fact is that I'm in love with you. I’m sorry if that freaks you out. I’m sorry if it’s not what you want to hear or when you want to hear it, but it’s the truth, and I’m not sorry I feel it. I’m just sorry I’ve been too chickenshit to admit it all these years."

Liz bit her lip, knowing she was stalling. She knew what this meant. She knew what she had to do. There was no point in delaying the inevitable.