We reach the restrooms. I grab Darren again. “You didn’t let me finish—”

Joseph steps out of the men’s room.

Darren slams him up against the wall. “Don’t come near her ever again.”

“Chill, man,” Joseph replies. “Trust me, I won’t.”

I try to wrestle his hold off Joseph. “Darren! Leave it! It’s not worth it.”

Darren’s lips are pressed into a grim line, but he releases Joseph and allows me to pull him away.

Joseph straightens his bowtie and mutters, “Who’d want your nasty ho anyway?”

Turning around, Darren lands a right hook to the side of Joseph’s head.

A trio of women who have just emerged from the ladies’ room scream.

“Go get help!” I tell one of them as Joseph rushes Darren.

The men fall to the sand. Joseph returns the punch. Running over, I yank on his collar to try to pull him off. It doesn’t work, so I take off one of my shoes and start hitting him over the head with it. Darren rolls away and gets back onto his feet. At first, Joseph tries to protect his head, but when I pause, he elbows me across the mouth. I stumble back. My whole head rings. I taste blood.

A woman screams again.

Darren lands a jab at Joseph’s face. Blood spews from his nose. Two waiters from the restaurant arrive. One of them puts himself, arms spread, between Darren and Joseph.

“Stop or we’ll call the police,” the other one says.

More people arrive, including two men from security and the restaurant manager. Seeing that I’m bleeding, he calls for the medical staff and orders one of the waiters to get a napkin.

Darren is at my side, holding up my face to the moonlight. “Let me see.”

I don’t think I’ve lost any teeth. The blood is coming from my lip.

More guests from the wedding arrive, including Sharon and Cheryl. The waiter hands me a cloth napkin, which I hold against my lip. I panic for a second about the jewelry but the necklace and earrings are still on me.

A nurse arrives and exams me and Joseph, while one of the security guards interviews bystanders about what happened.

“The son of a bitch broke my nose!” Joseph barks at the nurse, then glares over at Darren.

Darren balls his hand into a fist. “I’m not done with you.”

“Yes, you are,” says Sharon.

“You’ll need to go to the local urgent care clinic to get a few stitches,” the nurse says to me after assessing my lip.

After the nurse gives me and Joseph ice packs for our wounds, the security guards ask questions of the three of us. I reveal what happened between me and Joseph and can see Darren’s color rising again. I’m asked if I want to press charges.

“If he doesn’t press charges against Darren, then no,” I answer.

The resort staff looks relieved.

“What do you mean you’re not pressing charges?” Darren demands.

“I don’t want anyone sitting in jail,” I respond. “I’m sure that’s not how Andrea and Preston want to end their wedding night.”