I had been in the bathroom for a good five minutes, but no matter how much I willed for the tears to stop, they didn't. It was as if the more I held them in, the harder they surged through.

With another splash of water to my eyes, I exited the bathroom and walked back to my seat. I couldn't get over how much this hurt, how much I hurt for him. I didn't know if I would be able to get over this pain. At least with my friends' death, Elliot had been there. He had comforted me and consoled me as I mourned for them. He had been there for me during the grief, and it got to a point where the pain of their loss slowly ebbed away. But he wasn't here to comfort me anymore.

I didn't find it fair that the world continued without my friends, but it did, and I remembered Elliot had told me not to allow my world to stop just because they weren't in it anymore. But he was still alive, and he wasn't in my world anymore. My best friends had been stolen from my world, but he walked away from it.

With the little strength I had, I took a deep, calming breath, willing myself to stay composed. I wasn't going to break down in a plane. I focused my attention on the window, watching as the workers finished loading up the last of the suitcases when I noticed someone in a rumpled-up suit walking around all the planes as if in search of something.

My heart lurched when I realised that person was Elliot.

What the heck was he doing there?!

I willed oxygen into my lungs, taking one breath at a time as surprise, pain, relief and several other emotions swarmed through me at the sight of him. Could he possibly be looking for me? No, no that couldn't be. But if he wasn't here for me, then what was he here for? He was supposed to be at his wedding, saying his vows and tying the knot with Jess. And yet, he was at an airport, flailing his arms around as he squinted his eyes trying to look through the windows of the planes.

He was here for me.

I undid my seatbelt and rushed out of my seat, ignoring the protests of the flight assistants as I ran out of the aeroplane. I ignored the looks of everyone as I sprinted through the terminal and tried to figure out how to get outside to where the planes were. Eventually, I found the way and was near breathless when I spotted Elliot.

He was shouting my name, even as he was being led away by a guard.

"Elliot!" I called after him, and his head whipped around, spotting me.

"Zara!" I could see the shock in his eyes and hear the relief in his voice. He shoved off the guard and sprinted toward me, enveloping me in his arms. "Oh Zara, I'm so sorry. I'm so, so sorry."

"Elliot," I whispered his name, relishing in his warmth, his touch, his comfort.

He held me tighter as if he was afraid that I would disappear if he let me go. But I wasn't going anywhere. Because was here for me. But how...?

I pulled back enough to look at him. And then the realisation hit me.

"You left your wedding?" I gasped.

He nodded and then smiled sheepishly, "I realised that the only woman I want to see walking down the aisle is you."

Another swarm of emotions hit me, but the love I felt for this man was the strongest of them all.

"I'm so sorry, Zara," he continued. "I'm sorry for being a coward and hurting you. I should have told you how I felt as soon as I realised that I loved you. I—"

"Wait..." I cut him off, blinking as I played back his words in my mind. "You love me?"

He brought his hands up and cupped my face, "I do love you."

"Since when?"

"Can I be honest with you?" He asked, and I nodded. "I started falling in love with you the first time we met at the beach. I felt guilty about it, about the way you made my heart beat in ways Jess never could, the way you made me nervous the way Jess never could, the way you made me happy the way Jess never could. But I knew I couldn't do anything about those feelings because I was engaged to someone else, so I let you go. And on the drive back home, the reason I called you out was because I missed you," he recalled, chuckling to himself.

"You calling me out saved my life," I told him. "If you hadn't, I would have been in the car when the truck collided and..."

"I know," he said, gently rubbing the pad of his thumb across my cheek. I leaned into his touch. "I know. But you're here, and that's all that matters. Anyway, when I saw you on the ground, bleeding, something inside me broke, and it was then that I realised I was in love with you, and I didn't want you to go. And then when I found out I had to take you home with me, I told myself that I would get over whatever I was feeling, but the feelings only grew stronger. And the more time I spent with you, I realised that I had never been in love until I met you."

It took me a second to get my heart under control, and when I finally found my voice, I asked, "What about Jess?"

"I care about Jess, I do. But that's all it was, nothing more. What I feel for her is nothing compared to what I feel for you."

"Wow," I croaked, clearing my throat. "You know, you could have told me this yesterday at the bridal shower. It would have saved you a lot of trouble."

He chuckled softly, and the sight of his smile did funny things to my heart, but then his expression softened and he continued.

"I thought I had lost you, you know, and I was so scared," his voice cracked, breaking something in me. "I regret making you feel unwanted when in truth, all I wanted was you. I wanted you so much, Zara, so much. But I thought that, because I was engaged, I couldn't do anything about my feelings. But when I saw Jess walking down the aisle, all I could think of was you. All I could think of was you, Zara. And I realised that if I went through with the wedding I would never be happy. I would probably be as depressed as they got," he chuckled softly, but it was a sad sound. "There's no happiness in my life if you aren't in it, Zara. And I want you in it, forever and ever and ever."

A gurgled sound escaped my throat and Elliot wiped the tears that streaked down my cheeks. "Well good, because I'm not going anywhere. I'll be with you forever and ever and ever. Are you sure you want to be stuck with me?"

He brought his thumb down to my lips and outlined my bottom lip. "I wouldn't dream of being stuck with anyone else."

And then his face bent down slowly as he closed the distance between us. It was almost like a dream, one that ended with his lips on mine. My entire body tingled and my heart beat wildly in my chest. His lips were warm and soft and they felt so good against mine.

We both ended up smiling so wide that we had to pull back. Elliot's gaze met mine, "You have no idea how long I wanted to do that."

"You have no idea how long I wanted you to do that."

His grin widened and he looked at me for a long moment before leaning down again. His kiss was firm and gentle at first, making me feel alive and loved, but then his lips parted mine and everything in me intensified. I was aware of the way his hand snaked around my waist, pulling me closer to him. I leaned closer to him, melting against his strong, warm body as his lips moved against mine. He whispered my name between kisses, and I almost came undone, unable to get enough of this. But then reality came crashing down.

The guard who had been leading Elliot away cleared his throat, disturbing the moment.

"Sorry to interrupt, but—" the guard started but then caught himself. "Wait, no, I'm not sorry! You two aren't supposed to be here in the first place, I don't know why I said that," he shook his head. "You both need to leave now."

"Sorry," Elliot said, clearing his throat to get rid of the raspiness in his voice. He kept his arm around my waist as we walked towards the building and placed a kiss on my temple as we entered.

I could get used to this.