Watch the video for Pops' speech!

When I walked into the guest bedroom minutes later I found Marco sitting at the edge of the small bed, his head down and his shoes thrown into the corner. His hands were gripping the bed sheets around him in a death grip.

I quietly closed the door to give us some privacy and when I turned around Marco said, "You haven't forgiven me have you?"
His voice was so broken, so miserable that it tore my heart up inside.

Letting out a heavy sigh I walked over to the bed, sat down on the opposite side of him so our backs were facing each other and I kicked off my feet. I don't know why it helped me calm down so much but it did so I also unclasped my bra and pulled through the sleeve of my shirt. I honestly felt like I was in heaven.

That was until Marco spoke up again with, "Eliza? Do you hate me?"

I collapsed back on the bed, taking comfort in its comfort. With my eyes closed I responded with, "I could never hate you."

"But you are mad at me," he asked, like a child asking his parents if Santa really was real. It was a question he needed to ask but didn't necessarily want the answer to.

"I don't want to say that I am," I admitted.

"I thought everything was fine between us. You were acting completely normal at dinner. What changed?"

"I was only doing that so Aria wouldn't stab my eyes out with her fork. I could tell that she thought there was something going on between Xander and I so I had to disprove her belief."

I heard a sound coming from Marco, something not quite manly.

With a broken voice he said, "I'm sorry Eliza. You have to know that."

Nearly a minute passed by in silence. I didn't want to talk about it, I didn't want to hear about it, but I had to know.
"Why did you do it?"

Marco didn't respond for quite some time but eventually he did. "I was trying to move on from you."

"You wanted revenge," I said coldly. "You said so yourself yesterday."

Marco sighed. "Yes, I did."

I had to squeeze my eyes shut to keep the tears from spilling loose. "How could you," I asked, brokenheartedly.

"How could I," he asked dubiously. "You left me Eliza! You ran away with nothing but a damn note saying you were sorry with no other explanation! I fucking fell in love with you and you broke my heart! You knew you did and you still ran!"

Shocked I sat up and turned to look at him. "So you don't forgive me for that night?"

"No," he growled. "I do forgive you for what happened between my brother and you. But I don't forgive you for you running like a coward! You should have told me!"

"I'm not running anymore," I shouted back. Marco had refused to look at me this entire time, his eyes trained on the wall in front of him. "You dated my sister for two fucking years Marco and I haven't ran!
Anyone else would have if they were in my position because it's a very understanding situation but I haven't yet! You know why," I shouted angrily. "Because I love you Marco! I love you so much that I'm forcing myself to stay here and work things out with you so we can have a future! Don't call me a fuckîng coward when you're no better than I am," I seethed. "You intentionally slept with Riley to get back at me."

Marco spun around to face me. "I never slept with her," he said confused.

"Wait what," I asked, confused myself. "You dated her for two years and you never slept with her?"

"How could I," he asked astonished. "I was still in love with you and she loved my brother. Every time it went even close to that we were wasted off our asses and had to stop before either of us threw up. Because we were with someone we didn't love, not because we drank a lot."

"How far did it go," I asked quietly, scared of the answer.

"Only making out," he said and I could see the honesty in his eyes. He was telling the truth.

"Two years," I asked suspiciously. "Two years and you never did more than make out?"

"We were both trying to move on from our loved ones. But when you love someone you never stop loving them. The most romantic thing we did was go to gala's together but then we would go to our separate homes after that."

"Separate homes? You mean you guys never actually slept in the same bed as each other," I asked hopeful.

He shook his head. "Like I said, it was mostly a business relationship I suppose. She was dating me to one: make Xander jealous, two: try to get over him, and three: make Quinton happy. We both knew what we meant to each other and that was nothing."

"Nothing," I squealed. "So you never fell in love with each other?"

"Ew," he yelled, jumping up from the bed and scrunching up his face. "Love Riley? That's like loving a wasp nest!"

I laughed a little as he came to sit down next me. He took my hand in his and gave me lopsided grin. "I love you Eliza. It's only ever been you."

I smiled back at him and leaned in close to kiss him. When I was close enough, our lips brushing against each other's, I whispered, "No sex for two years though."

"Whoa," he said, jumping back up again, holding his hands out. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Let's calm down alright? We have to think this through okay? No need to make rash decisions that may or may not kill me."
I giggled, happy to see the Marco I loved so much come back to me.

"Fine," I groaned, "but you do have to do something if you want to be able to push all of our past mistakes behind us and for scaring the crap out of me."

"Anything for that," he pleaded. He got down on both knees and crawled towards me until he was kneeling between my legs, both of his hands on my waist.

"I get to choose what you wear tomorrow at the wedding."

Marco's smile instantly vanished. "Why do I have a bad feeling about this?"

"Say yes," I cooed to him, leaning forward to kiss him. "Or else."

He groaned but none the less agreed to it. "Only for you."

...

The wedding the next day was so beautiful and so emotional. The whole Stavros clan was there, including Victoria who I sat next to during the ceremony. Aria was looking radiant with a simple white silk gown that flowed on the ground around her and her hair was curled and pinned to the side.

As much as I wanted to watch her walk down the aisle my eyes were trained on Xander and I couldn't get them off. He looked completely and utterly in love as he watched his bride walk down the aisle of the transformed barn. I could tell that he was looking at his entire world in that moment and he knew it too. For the first time ever I saw tears spring to his eyes.

By the time Pop's was done giving away Aria and done with giving a heartfelt speech everyone was crying. Victoria was blabbering like a baby beside me.

Xander spoke his vows which only made her cry harder.

"Aria," he said loudly, looking deeply into her eyes. "There are seven billion people in this world. That's at least half a billion people that would be a suitable partner for me. But out of all those people I chose you. I chose the girl that isn't afraid to speak her mind, I choose the girl that makes me want to relive my whole life just so I can meet you at beginning, I choose the girl that I would take a bullet for, I choose the girl that hates that I blackmail her," he said, making her giggle. "I choose my soul mate. But I've come to the realization lately that a soul mate isn't someone who completes you. It's the person you will fight for the rest of your life. It isn't the person who makes butterflies erupt in your stomach; it's the person who makes you want to do silly things just so you can hear them laugh. It isn't the person whose touch makes you come alive; it's the person whose touch you have engraved into your mind for safe keeping. It isn't the heart you want to win, it's the heart you want to keep safe no matter the costs.

"To have a soul mate is to have a mission; to hold on to them, cherish them, love them, fight for them, and never let them go. And Aria Hester, my mission has just begun and will never end, even after my final breath because you are my soul mate and my love for you will never die."

Aria couldn't seem to help herself and kissed Xander right then and there.

"Can't you wait five damn minutes," Pop's shouted angrily, although only joking.

Aria and Lily shared a laugh, being a few of the only people to understand his humor.

Lily was attending the wedding. She was sitting two chairs down from me, on the other side of Marco and next to her mother.

Supposedly Aria and her had talked last night and got a few things figured out like I hoped. It wasn't much but it was at least a start.

The wedding finished with Xander picking Aria up and carrying her out of the barn with her hanging over his shoulder. She was laughing too hard to protest.

Unfortunately for Marco during the reception outside his cousins decided to take a family picture for them all to share. He dragged his feet over to the area where they were all waving for him to join them. I tagged along, sharing giggles with everyone around us.

We tried to take a good picture, one where at least someone wasn't laughing at Marco's outfit but it was hard. By the eleventh picture he said, "Just take the damn picture."

"Aw, is Mariana mad," Rocco said amusedly, snapping a secret picture of his cousin.

"Hey I saw that," Marco shouted, reaching for the phone.

Rocco was quick to move away, shouting, "Already uploaded to Instagram!"

"I just uploaded mine to Twitter," another one of his cousins said, laughing at his screen.

Marco shouted angrily before stomping over to a nearby table. Luckily he didn't have to wear heels otherwise I was sure he would have broken his ankle by now by how much stomping he was doing.

"Seriously Eliza," Victoria said as she came up to my side. "Where did you find that outfit of his?"

"Oh it's one of mine. I'm a belly dancer so I had an extra outfit thrown in my suitcase that Marco accidently had thrown in there. But after this I do think I need to buy a new one. He's stretching it out."

Victoria laughed loudly, clapping her hands like a seal in front of her. "Oh that's great. I love what you did with the makeup by the way."

"Oh that was Pop's idea actually. He did it all."

"And I'm damn proud of it," he spoke up, passing by us suddenly.

We both shared a laugh and agreed that Pops was a one of a kind soul. Aria was lucky to have him.

For the rest of the night we sit around under the blossom trees that are littered with lanterns, laughing and sharing stories. For the first time in a long I'm truly happy. I have no worries about the future and no regrets about the past. I'm just excited for what the future might bring for me.

But before the night is over and it seems that my life is finally dying down on the excitement it starts right up with a single phone call.

Marco excuses himself from the table when his phone rings. I keep my focus on the good people around me, not noticing the big news that Marco had just received. I only divert my attention when I see Marco pull his father to the side as well, gesturing to his phone. My eyes stay on them as they talk seriously, keeping their heads down and away from everyone else.

When Leo stands up straight and looks at Marco with a face of complete shock that morphs into a mega-watt grin I can't help but be curious as to what's going on.

As I leave the group myself to head over to them I have to keep reminding myself that there are no more secrets between Marco and I anymore. Whatever is going on, he has to tell me. Besides, it doesn't look to bad.
"Marco," I call him once I get close enough. "What's going on here?"

Leo shares a secret smile with his son before pulling him into a giant hug and saying loud enough for me to hear, "I'm so happy for you son. I know you'll do great things with it." Leo lets go of Marco and while he passes me he kisses me on the forehead like he always used to.

With Marco and I alone now the silence between us is uncomfortable, especially with the creepy grin that he can't get rid of.

"Are you going to tell me or are you going to keep looking like the Joker? If so I'm leaving."

Marco's smile widens and before I know what's going on he's pulling me into a hug and spinning me around. I squeal and hold onto him tighter, careful not to fall off and indulging in his embrace.

When he sets me down he places both hands on my shoulders and brightly says, "Do you remember that meeting I was supposed to have the other day with Quinton and the people who turned out to be our competitors?"

"Of course I do."

"Well you know that it was because they wanted to buy the island in Greece I inherited when my Dad tried tying me down after you left. But why the hell would they be concerned about a small island like that? It couldn't fit anything on it, that's why I never used it."

"I'm confused Marco," I confessed. "Why is this all important?"

If possible Marco's smile grew even wider. "Because it turns out that there is a whole oil reservoir below that island! Somehow they found out about it before I did and wanted to steal it from me. It's worth millions Eliza, maybe more!"
"Oh my gosh," I gasped, throwing my hands to my mouth. "That is a lot of money Marco. But... don't you have enough money?"

Marco simply laughed and wrapped his arms around my waist. "Mia regina, you are right but I don't want that money just to have. I'm going to invest it in all the shelters I wanted to build! Think of how many I can get up by the end of the year! This is what I needed Eliza, it's finally all come together."

"Marco," I squealed, finally realizing the importance of this news. I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him down for a kiss. Pulling away I said, "This is perfect! But I can't believe that my father was trying to take that away from you."

Marco sighed disappointedly but still kept a smile. "There are three things that are infinite: the universe and the greed of men."

"What's the third one," I asked confused.

"My love for you."

Marco leaned down to kiss me and from that point on everything went uphill, despite the numerous amount of bumps we would have to face years down the line.

But still, we made it through.

...
Only a couple more chapters left!
Can you guess what's going to happen next?
And if you want to hear what Pops would have said than watch the video! It's worth it!

**next update: Next Monday probably**