Kriti and Karan dancing  in their own little world above.

eonian

(adj.) continuing forever

They had moved in together over the past few weeks, testing out married life. Given that Kiara had rented her house before working on The Enlightenment with no intention to continue living in America, it was decided that Chris' house was the best option. Both of them cherished every second of living together. He adored how she expressed her love with something as simple as brewing her special masala chai* every morning or preparing his favourite snack of pesto scrambled eggs whenever he neglected to take care of himself.

Though they had just about two months before the wedding, there were so many things to arrange from guest lists to decorations. Kiara could feel the tell-tale signs of an anxiety attack working up her throat but suppressed the urge to curl up and drown in her misery. Chris was going to be her husband, for God's sake. Somehow it felt like such a natural progression and that was what scared her the most. Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale. Those were the only two words running through her mind as she waited for the inevitable panic to settle. From the moment she met him, it seemed like a foregone conclusion that he would be her forever.

Kiara couldn't stop looking at her ring. It was becoming a problem as she struggled to get through the table read without glancing at it every few seconds. The thing was just so damn beautiful and obnoxiously massive that she was tied between admiring it and fearing she'd be mugged. She couldn't wait to be Chris' wife.

Catching her lose focus for the hundredth time today, Cillian smiled patiently, "Yes, you're getting married. We all can't believe it."

Rolling her eyes at his dry humour, she huffed, "Oh, shut up. Let me have this moment."

"Well, you've had a moment. And then a few hundred more."

"Not really, I'm still having a moment."

"Oh, okay. I guess we should all wait then."

"Ugh, your annoying."

Suddenly the phone rang, startling Kiara and Cillian as she peered over to read 'Hero' on the caller ID. Smiling to herself at the nickname, she ignored the hooting and wolf-whistles from her colleagues and picked up immediately.

Effortlessly easing her tension, Chris drawled, "How's my fiancé doing?"

Fiancé. Damn, Chris had only called Kiara that a handful of times and it still sounded foreign in his mouth. Though she knew he loved her, she couldn't, for the life of her, figure out why. She shared no physical features with the numerous model-like women populating the film industry, had little to offer in terms of family and was most definitely far from easy. And still he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her.

Unable to control her grin, she giggled, "Still madly in love with you and trying to concentrate on work."

He chuckled, "That's what I like to hear, trouble."

Frowning at the hushed tone he spoke in, she probed, "What are you up to?"

She could hear the smile in his voice as he murmured, "Turn around, trouble."

Remaining silent for a few beats, Kiara whipped around to find Chris stood behind her with his arms spread out and a cheesy smile plastered across his face. She squealed and ran up to him, nuzzling into his warm embrace as he laughed in delight. Holding her at arm's length, he tried to slow his galloping heart as she tugged him closer and pressed their lips together in a searing kiss. Holding his breath in anticipation, she unintentionally calmed him as she coaxed his body to relax. 

Running a hand over his chest, right where his heart sat, she nipped at his lower lip as he gasped, opening his mouth to her. She took that opportunity to slip her tongue into his mouth as they fought for dominance, entangled in a fiery push and pull.

Bringing his hands to her face, he kissed her with equal passion but she pulled away before the situation heated any further, "What are you doing here?"

Pecking her forehead, he whined, "I just barely escaped a full on interrogation from the girls. I swear to God, I've never been more scared in my life."

"What?"

"If you find me dead in a ditch, Diana did it. Miya probably helped too."

Laughing at the fear her best friends managed to instil in her fiancé, Kiara interlaced their fingers and dragged Chris over to her dressing room. Though they had yet to announce their engagement publicly, by this time next week wedding invitations would've been despatched and the entire world would eventually catch on. She exhaled a shaky breath. It was in moments like these that she wished her mother was here.

He grimaced, immediately noticing the shift in her mood and pulling her down with him as they settled in her dressing room couch, "Talk to me, trouble."

She brushed away his concern, "It's nothing, I promise."

Shooting an unimpressed look, Chris waited patiently for Kiara to explain. He knew her mind like the back of his hand and understood that it wasn't the idea of love or marriage that worried her, but rather how greatly they influenced one another.

Her voice wavered, "I remember waking up one morning and finding Appa crying his eyes out. So I thought maybe I should give him a hug, you know? Ask if he was okay."

Pecking her forehead gently, he let her reflect, "But he shut the door. Fathers always have to be strong so maybe he was embarrassed. He was always this powerful force that stood proudly behind us but Mumma's death shattered him."

His heart broke for her as she sniffled, "What was once warm comfort became a cold fortress. He grew relentless and brutal. Never let the world hurt him again so decided he would do the hurting instead."

She snuggled into his side, "She left us this without anything to hold on to but I tried to be their pillar. I-I tried. I really, really tried!"

Hugging her impossibly close, he rocked side to side with her, "I know you did, baby. I know."

She looked up at him with so much despair that he felt something inside him fracture, "Things don't always end in happily ever after. That's why I was so scared to love– scared of what loving you would do to me and worse, to you."

Empty. For a moment Chris' mind went blank as he fell into nothingness, heart stilling at Kiara's words. She loved him– that much he knew, but now she seemed to be rethinking the entire concept of marriage and he didn't know if his poor battered heart could take any more.

Realising how her words sounded, she quickly backtracked and cupped his cheeks, "Hey. No, no, no! I definitely want to marry you. I just need to make sure you want to marry me."

Relief flooded through his veins, his entire body deflating as he smiled wanly, "Of course I do!"

"You sure you wouldn't rather just save yourself the headache?"

"Death is a part of life but it's completely natural to be afraid of it. I loved you knowing all your fears and vulnerabilities, it's not going to change anything."

This man. This beautiful, sweet, thoughtful man. Chris never failed to make Kiara's heart soar around him. He only ever thought of her but she hadn't realised how much of a toll it took on his mental health. God, she loved him with all her soul.

Over the next month, Kiara stretched herself thin between script rehearsals and wedding planning as filming begun around the same time she was in the process of finalising the wedding venue and decorations. The girls had already arrived yesterday but the first thing they did was arrange a time for wedding dress shopping, roping Carly into joining as they managed to rent out an entire store for the day for privacy. That was how Kiara found herself stood in an elegant little boutique as she readied herself for the inevitable chaos to come.

Walking into the dressing room to try on the first dress, Kiara indecisively ran her hand along the ruffled material of the chiffon daffodil yellow empire-styled gown before carefully slipping the dress on. Begrudgingly stepping onto the catwalk, she groaned as the girls unanimously laughed at the reveal. Posing obnoxiously, she flicked her leg out and lifted the bottom of her dress seductively as Alia politely took a sip of her champagne to stifle her giggles while Diana, Carly and Miya remained unbothered about hiding their obvious mirth at the outfit.

Sobering up, Kiara whined, "The problem with this dress is that I feel like Chris would actually like it."

Carly could barely hold in her laughter as she spluttered, "Oh my God, he would!"

Diana chipped in as the shop assistant not-so-subtly glared at the girls, "It's the end of your social life and sex life wrapped up in an ugly yellow bow."

Rolling her eyes, Kiara huffed, "I swear this is exactly what I wore to my Holy Communion."

Going back to the drawing board, Kiara stripped out of the previous dress into a peach A-line styled lace gown and frowned at her reflection in the mirror. While the dress seemed as horrendously ill-suited as the previous one, she still strutted out onto the catwalk and spun for her entourage as they covered their mouths in shock.

Trying to soften the blow, Alia mumbled, "That's not too bad–"

Immediately cutting her off, Diana exclaimed, "Are you fucking with me?," turning to face Kiara, she elaborated; "Remember those mini cocktail sausages in the Tesco freezer aisle?"

Filling in the blanks herself, Kiara nodded once and spun right back around, "Hint taken!"

Eyeing the last few dresses on the hanger, Kiara snickered at the ivory sequinned chiffon gown with a cape overlay and immediately predicted their reactions. Sauntering out and flapping her arms to display the cape effect, she bent over in fits of giggles at the stunned silence before everyone was practically sprawled on the floor in tears.

Alia struggled for breath as she wondered, "What's the cape for?"

Snapping her fingers, Carly joked, "Yes! Go off, bedazzled Pope Francis!"

With a tone of finality, Miya declared, "It's a firm no from us."

The minute Kiara saw the second last wedding dress to try, she chortled at the sheer audacity of its design. Tugging on the dress, the restrictive nude bejewelled bodysuit fit like a glove while the attached skirt fanned out around her and left little to imagination as she sashayed down the catwalk. The girls stared, gobsmacked that there were brides somewhere consciously choosing to wear this dress on their wedding day.

Putting a finger to her chin in mock-confusion, Diana asked, "Have you been rifling around in my closet again?"

They all laughed as Miya shrugged indifferently and complimented, "If anyone could pull this off, it's you."

Kiara snorted, "It's giving Miley Cyrus 'Bangerz' era."

Wiping away tears of laughter, Carly quipped, "This was the aftermath of my prom."

Ignoring everyone's greetings, Karan rushed into the shop carrying a garment bag just in time to save the day as he thrust it to Kiara hands wordlessly and shoved her into the dressing room. Still reeling from the fact that he had flown over from Hong Kong just to design her wedding dress, she hung the bag on one of the dress hooks and unzipped it. She nearly cried at the sight of the dress it encased. Her brother, the beautiful soul that he was, had personally designed a wedding dress fit for a princess. 

All those questions regarding different stitching styles and dresses over the past week had led her to assume he was working on his latest collection of designs. Having always shared his sketches, she was confused as to why he created such mystery around them this time but all his secrecy made sense now. She sucked in a deep breath as she saw the gown and immediately decided it was her favourite one. 

Everyone's jaws dropped the minute Kiara walked out in the lily-white silk gown, complete with a column silhouette, sculpted sweetheart neckline and plunging cut-out back. Twirling as her bridesmaids admired the gown, she instantly knew it was the one. Karan walked over and gently fitted the long lace tulle veil as she gasped at the intricate gold embroidery he added around the edges.

Holding back tears, he nervously rubbed the back of his neck, "So... what do you think?"

She faltered, looking at him with wide eyes, "It's stunning. How long did it take to make this dress?"

"About nine hundred and eighty two hours, give or take."

Gaping at Karan as he nonchalantly shrugged and scurried off to grab something he forgot, Kiara could barely take her eyes off the beautiful wedding dress. Returning with a pair of delicate full length lace bridal gloves, he gently slipped them onto her and stepped back as her eyes welled up with tears at all the love she was receiving.

He eyed the thigh-high slit on her dress, "High slit, just like you said."

Raising a brow, Diana curtly retorted, "All the better for quickie access."

Scrunching her nose in distaste, Carly groaned, "That's my brother you're talking about."

"Eh, we all know he's doing it. Might as well just accept it."

Wanting to respect both their cultures without creating a separation, Kiara and Chris decided on combining their customs into one big wedding spanning over three days. However, that was about all she knew before their families took over the logistics. Her only involvement being choosing colour schemes and the wedding dress. She would catch snippets of Samuel's conversations as he educated the Evans family on various traditions, making them repeatedly rehearse their roles to perfection before the wedding.

Samuel, being the picky flier that he was, had arranged for both the Mathew and Evans wedding entourages to fly together to India on his private jet. That meant sitting through over fifteen hours of chaos. Arguing over last minute changes, their parents spoke in hushed voices while the bridesmaids and groomsmen shot glares at one another. Given that they were Chris and Kiara's closest friends, here's to hoping the next few hours were enough for some much needed bonding. 

The only two people that seemed to be getting along were Karan and Kriti as they huddled in the corner whispering and giggling but that wasn't saying much, considering that they were dating. Needing to escape the pandemonium, Kiara slipped away as Chris wordlessly followed. Finding seats in a secluded space near the back of the jet, she leaned against his shoulder as they settled into a comfortable silence.

By the end of the flight, Diana found herself multiple groomsmen to flirt with as Alia charmed the remaining while Miya, of course, spent the entire time working. Kiara just thanked her lucky stars that both parties were finally getting along. Too tired to walk around, Chris ended up having to lug around their suitcases with her sat on top of them as she swung her legs back and forth happily. It didn't hurt that she had a perfect view of his back as each movement caused his muscles to flex deliciously. Yeah, she knew the first thing they were doing when they got to their hotel room.

He huffed a laugh, snapping her out of her lustful haze, "That can't be comfortable."

Sending him an impish look, she winked, "If it gets too difficult, I can always ride you."

Samuel called out from behind them, "Father still in the vicinity."

To which Kriti sarcastically responded, "Father should get that arthritis checked out if he isn't fast enough to make it out of the vicinity."

Located at the Bolgatty Palace in Kerala, it was truly an enchanting environment to hold their wedding as the parents took charge and allocated everyone to their rooms. Set on lush gardens sprawled across acres of land, the palace perched on an exotic island and overlooked the vast Kerala backwaters. Reaching a few days before the wedding celebrations begun meant Kiara had more than enough time to visit her mother's grave. With a few moments to spare before setting out for their trip, she and Chris spent the morning exploring the palace grounds as they familiarised with the layout.

Since their wedding was to be a more intimate celebration, there was plenty of room to house the guests. Samuel had somehow managed to keep the entire event private, meaning any digital trails, online presence or rumours regarding their wedding was immediately quashed. Kabir, of course, was working alongside him as they formed some sort of wonder boys team. Both men were assassins when it came to maintaining secrecy, sniping threats before any damage was incurred.

The drive over to Aluva had taken a little over half an hour as the couple finally arrived at the Mathew family cemetery. Stepping out on shaky legs, Kiara tried to absorb some of Chris' infinite strength as they approached. A giant oak tree loomed over the hill with bushes of flowers ranging from roses to delphiniums surrounding it. Sat in the centre of the garden was a headstone reading, 'In loving memory of Sheeba Mathew'. Judging by the single sunflower left on the gravestone, it was clear that her father had recently visited but Karan, on the other hand, refused to visit the grave so it was no surprise that her brother steered clear of this area. The flower was a reminder of Samuel's nickname for her mother, an homage to her sunshine smile.

Lifting her face to look at the sky, she smiled as tears streamed down her face, "I'm getting married, Mumma."

Chris held his breath, feeling as if he were intruding on a sacred moment as she continued, "Then again, you probably already know. You're watching over me, aren't you?"

The garden went eerily quiet as she spoke, "Remember what you told me? That one day I would find someone who loved me completely. Without conditions, without reason and without restraint. We'd have a bond where words weren't needed. Well, it's just like you said... I found him."

As if in response, the tree leaves swayed with the breeze and a delphinium delicately fluttered in the wind towards Chris. He caught the blue flower and looked to Kiara with wide eyes as she reached a hand for him. Letting out a shuttering sob, she crumpled against him as they went down together but he refused to let her go. It was a bittersweet moment­– both happy that she shared this moment with him but sad that she couldn't speak to her mother. Tucking the flower gently into his pocket, he scooped her up in his arms and bundled her into the car.

Walking back to the gravestone, she watched as he knelt down and murmured, "I just wanted to thank you for giving me the greatest gift by letting me experience this kind of love. I am eternally grateful you brought her into this world. I promise to always take care of her."

Kissing his fingers and bringing them to touch the headstone, Chris returned to the car and buckled Kiara in. The damned tease made sure his fingers grazed the tops of her thighs as he did so, warm breath teasing her collarbones as he leaned over to fiddle with her seatbelt before silently driving back. Not once did he let go of her hand.

Trailing back to the main entrance as Chris parked their car, Kiara yelped when a blast of sound blared from behind her and turned to find the source. Dressed in a vibrant saree, Kriti danced towards Karan as he stood stoically with his arms crossed but faint traces of a smile lifted the corners of his mouth. When she started to shimmy away, he quickly tugged her back into his chest and before long, joined in with his own painfully spastic dancing– of which she probably found adorably silly. Watching the couple so in love that they barely noticed their surroundings, a smile graced Kiara's lips as she wondered if this was how she and Chris appeared.

*Masala chai: a South Indian tea enriched with ginger and cardamom

Ugh, I'm so single it hurts. Also, don't forget to vote and comment! Thank youuuuu <3