AGE NINETEEN
Whoever invented the thing about not being allowed to see your bride before the wedding is a fucking idiot. If I could find him somewhere, he’d be finished.
But hey. Not seeing Elsa beforehand means there will be a surprise element, and I’m here for that. Mostly.
“Can’t you get one thing fucking straight?” I glare at the bowtie in the mirror and then at the fucker sitting behind me who’s reading from a book as if this were an everyday occurrence. “Choosing you as the best man is the worst decision I’ve ever made.”
Cole turns a page. At least he looks presentable in his tux with the neat bowtie and the elegant shoes. “No one said anything about fixing ties. Besides, you didn’t choose me. You’re stuck with me, King.”
“I did choose you.” I completely remove the bowtie and start from scratch.
“If I remember correctly, Xan said he’d have Ronan as his best man, and Ronan said he’d reciprocate because he doesn’t like us most days and wouldn’t allow either of us to ruin his wedding day. So you, being an arsehole, wouldn’t have picked either of them, knowing they wouldn’t reciprocate. Since your cousin hurt his leg, he wouldn’t be able to stand for a long time. That makes you stuck with me. You’re welcome, by the way.”
“Fuck you, Nash.” I yank off the bowtie again because it’s still wrong. “You’ll be stuck with me in your wedding, too. You better be prepared for what I’ll do then.”
“I’m more than prepared. After all, all this is happening for a purpose.” Nash tilts his book to the side to watch me through the mirror. “Wait a second. Are you nervous?”
“Piss off.”
A Cheshire cat grin appears on his lips as he abandons his book on the red velvet chair and stands up to join me by the mirror, watching me intently as if he’s a cat who found a fish. “You are, aren’t you?”
“Are you going to be useful anytime soon?”
His grin widens. “Not until you admit you’re nervous. Aww, should I have been a good best man and got you a hooker last night?”
“If you had done that, I’d be getting Queens a male stripper on her wedding night.” I grin back, and his falls as he flips me off.
He heads back to the chair. “Looks like you don’t need help, after all. You can have a wedding without the bowtie.”
“Nash…” I warn.
He stops midway and throws me a glance over his shoulder. “Do you admit it?”
“I’m not nervous.”
“Yeah, right.”
“I’m not. I’m just…” I release a long breath. “I can’t believe this is happening. My mind keeps sending these signals that something will go wrong, like back when we were eight or afterwards, when she didn’t remember me.”
“Or maybe she’ll one day wake up and realise she deserves better than you.”
“You fucking —” I’m about to punch him in the face but stop myself because I can’t have my best man with a bloodied nose.
“Relax.” He smiles a little. “I was speaking from my point of view. That’s what I think Silver will do every day. It’s not a fun feeling.”
I exhale deeply. “At all.”
We remain in awkward silence for a few seconds. Neither Cole nor I are good with directing feelings to the outside. We’re inward people and I think that’s why we gravitated towards each other in the first place.
He takes the bowtie from my fingers and straps it around my throat, aiming his attention on it. “Elsa chose you when she could’ve gone with someone different.”
“If you don’t stop saying shit like that, you’re going to get punched, and fuck having no best man.”
He chuckles. “Just saying. My point is, she chose you and she knows exactly what she’s in for. If she still hasn’t given up on you yet, I say it’s for the long haul.”
“Long haul?”
“As long as you make it, King.”
He finishes off and steps back to stare at his handiwork. “There. Done.”
The door flies open and in comes Ronan, holding Xander’s shoulder as they laugh about something while stuffing their faces with appetisers.
As soon as they see us, Ronan barges between me and Nash, holding an imaginary microphone. “Yo, King. How does it feel to be getting married?”
“Nervous.” Nash smirks and I flip him off while smoothing my jacket.
“I’ve got to admit, I thought I would be the first one to get married.” Xander pouts. “But I guess my father is stricter than Jonathan King.”
“Jonathan is strict.” Cole retrieves his book. “Aiden just doesn’t give a fuck.”
“Okay, Aiden wins in the wedding department.” Astor points a finger at himself. “But my Teal and I got engaged first. We’ll get married before you know it, so try to beat us, Xan.”
“Oh, you’re on.” Xander hits his shoulder playfully and the latter returns it.
They start one of their bickering sessions before I turn around and ask, “Have you seen Elsa?”
“Fuck yeah. She was my fiancée first, remember?”
“And my girlfriend.” Xan grins.
I’m about to jam their faces into the wall when they burst out laughing and mocking me while Nash smirks in the background like the little bitch he is.
The door opens again before I can ask them how she looks. Not that I should. I want to see how she is for myself.
Levi hobbles in, leaning on his crutch. He had a small injury during a game, but he needs to rest for a bit before he can resume practice. Despite the crutch, he appears his best in a tux and with his blond hair styled.
“Looking good, little Cousin.” He approaches me and squeezes my shoulder in a hug, then releases me. “Ready to join the marriage train?”
Not really. This isn’t about marriage for me. It’s about being with Elsa for as long as possible. It’s about the life we’ll have together and the memories we’ll make in the future. It’s about becoming one.
Am I ready for that?
I smile in the mirror.
Abso-fucking-lutely.
Half an hour later, I’m standing in front of the aisle in Ethan’s house. That’s where Elsa wanted the wedding, and Jonathan wasn’t the least bit pleased about it, but he’ll live. This day isn’t about him, it’s about her.
Cole is on his best behaviour at my right, which has to do with the girl who’s sitting a few rows across from us with her parents. Silver smiles at him but quickly averts her gaze because they’re still at the stage where their relationship is a secret.
Teal is hanging on to Ronan’s arm as he whispers things in her ear, then grins like an idiot. Xan is sitting with Knox in the front row and sulking like an abandoned kid because Kimberly is standing opposite me as the maid of honour.
I’m focused on anyone but myself because my impatience is getting the better of me.
Just when I’m about to send Cole to look for Elsa, the music changes. I straighten as Ethan appears with the most beautiful creature I’ve ever seen.
It’s like a recurrence of those times when she first found me in that basement — when her eyes met mine, and she told me she’d save me.
She did in more ways than one.
Now, she’s doing it again.
Her full white dress outlines her soft curves and its hem sweeps the floor. She didn’t pull up her hair like I expected her to. Instead, the blonde strands are intertwined with flowers as they fall to the sides of her face. She has no veil, and her expression is bright, soft, and so alive, I want to run there and place my ear to her chest in order to listen to her heartbeat.
When her electric blue eyes meet mine, the world stops moving for a second.
It’s only the two of us, like when we were eight and she told me she’d marry me. When she made me promise her the same.
We’re both making that promise a reality, and because of that, today is another beginning of our lives together.
Elsa’s lips pull in a smile and I smile back.
She’s always been mine, when we were eight and when I reunited with her again at sixteen and when I finally got her at eighteen.
I was lucky to find her and I’ll spend the rest of my life making her feel like the queen she has always been.
Now and forever.
