Bonus Chapter: Meeting Aqueela (Part 5)

Three years later...

Sarah's POV:

After Emma and Xavier sign documentation, we head over to the large garden just outside the church for photos. I take in the scenery, impressed with all the white flowers blossoming around the area – I wonder if it was done on purpose?

I see the gap and place a light hand on Em's back, careful not to disturb her. "Congratulations, Em. You're officially a wife now."

She surprises me when she turns around and embraces me tightly, unable to stop smiling. "Thank you for everything, Sarah! Today has been nothing short of perfection."

I hug her back and smile into her shoulder. "It's Xavier's money, Em," I remind her, not willing to take all the credit for such a stunning reception. "I just did some of the planning and tried to stay on top of it all."

The keyword here is 'tried'.

She pulls back and shakes her head at me. "You did more than that, Sarah; you know it and I know it."

I merely nod at her, not wanting to make a big deal out of it, before hugging Xavier next. "Congratulations, Xave."

He wraps an arm around me and grins, showing off all of his pearly whites. "Thank you, thank you, Sarah." He looks over at an emotionless Landon before shaking his head at me. "I wish your boyfriend was as nice as you."

"He's just processing," I assure him. "He'll come around to the idea of you two being married within the next decade or so."

Landon overhears us and scoffs at me, doubtful. "That's hopeful of you."

"Alright," someone chirps excitedly from behind us, "I don't have all day, guys! Places, everyone!"

Emma sees Aqueela with a camera and turns to me with raised brows, a questioning look on her face. I hold my hands up in surrender, "Don't look at me. I have as much information as you at this point."

Xavier chuckles nervously. "Em, babe, our original photographer had to leave about an hour ago. There was a family emergency. She's promised to refund us. But, I mean, I want wedding photos of our wedding day and so—"

"And so, I volunteered to save the day like the hero I am!" Aqueela chimes in for him.

Emma, like a creepy doll from a horror movie, slowly turns her head to glare at her husband. "Xave, you should have discussed this with me first," she says in a clipped tone, being short with him.

He shrugs innocently in response. "She, one-hundred percent, overheard and forced me," he confesses.

Landon, impressed and amused, starts to laugh at the situation before fist-bumping Aqueela. He always laughs at the most inappropriate of times.

However, Aqueela notices Em's look of disappointment and frowns sadly. "Listen, Karen, I can get my manager if you want," she immediately perks up and teases Emma, trying to lighten the atmosphere again.

Grey shrugs from behind Aqueela and sends Em a reassuring smile. "Pains me to admit it but she's actually pretty decent at photography."

Confused, Em does a double-take. "Really?" She trusts Grey's word.

Grey nods confidently. "Your pictures are going to be great."

Aqueela, delighted at hearing his words, wraps an arm around Grey's shoulders and also nods, mimicking his actions. "He's right; I'm practically an expert in my field."

Grey slaps Aqueela's arm off of him and steps away from her, trying to distance himself. "I wouldn't go that far, Lawson."

Em, now persuaded, shoots Aqueela a small smile. "Thank you for agreeing to do this for us."

Aqueela waves the matter off. "Always happy to help my friends."

I take one look at Aqueela and I can tell that she truly means every word from the bottom of her heart. It makes me really question whether Aqueela is at fault at all. How can she be? I can't see her just abandoning someone she cares about; it doesn't make sense to me.

I shake off my thoughts and take in the sight of Emma and Xavier together. I smile while watching Aqueela takes photos of the newlyweds.

Aqueela beckons me over and shows me some of the pictures that she's taken of them. "In all honesty, what do you think?" she asks me for my opinion. "I really don't want to screw this one up for them."

I glance through the beautifully taken photos. Each and every single one somehow captures the genuine love I see between Emma and Xavier. I meet Aqueela's gaze and smile. "Amazing," I say and show her a thumbs-up. "There's no way that they can't love these pics."

Aqueela smiles that uplifting smile of hers and it puts me at ease. "Thanks, Sarah."

"Of course," I reply.

Her gaze wavers over to Emma and Xavier snuggling up together under a tree and then to Grey and Landon who are chuckling together about something. "Ever think you and Lan could be here someday?"

I freeze up at her words and shift slightly. "What do you mean? Like married?"

She nods and smiles, content at the idea. "Yeah. Like married."

I shrug, already knowing the answer to her question. "I don't think so," I admit, my heart shattering a little bit again at the reminder.

Aqueela stares at me intently and I feel like she's seeing though me. "I saw you earlier. You had tears in your eyes when Emma and Lan walked down the aisle," she tells me gently. "It wasn't happy tears, was it?"

She's perceptive too.

I sigh tiredly. "I've been with him for three years now, Aqueela. If he were ever going to propose, he'd have done it by now." I pause, wondering why I'm even telling her any of this in the first place. I guess she and her comforting aura just somehow make it easy for me to open up and be vulnerable around her, especially because I know that there won't be any judgement coming my way. "Landon isn't too keen on marrying me."

"Oh, he is," she replies with absolute certainty in her voice.

I angle my head to the side, puzzled. "Why do you say that?"

She stifles a smile and shrugs while looking at someone behind me. "Call it a hunch. We'll talk again a few months."

I turn to see who she's looking at and I catch Lan's gaze. From out of the blue, he smiles at me in raw sincerity before he continues his conversation with Grey.

I don't know why but hearing Aqueela say that gives me hope. Maybe she's not wrong. Maybe I am.

I watch Aqueela watch everyone else, trying to figure her out. I watch her watch each of her friends and listen attentively to what they're saying. I watch her hum to herself while taking in the nature around her. I watch her smile at absolutely nothing. I watch her laugh at herself when she nearly trips over air. I watch it all. My only conclusion is that Aqueela is alive, and I mean really alive. She's living her best life. She's just...living, really living.

I hope and pray that Jay somehow finds his way back to her. From the little I've witnessed; they are two people who only deserve happiness.

"Okay, Lan and Sar," Aqueela claps, gaining our attention, "it's time to get you two in the photo with the temporarily 'happy newlyweds'."

I have to smile at her choice of words and Xavier has to frown before giving her a 'what's that supposed to mean' look.

"Grey, you're gonna have to get the heck out of my shot. You're running it," Aqueela jokes with him, and the two fall into another hilarious banter session while Landon and I take our places besides Emma and Xavier.

"We'd like to get our photos done," Em lectures Grey, pinning the blame on him.

Aqueela grins, satisfied. "Yeah, Grey. Beat it!"

Grey sends Emma a razor-sharp glare. "She started it."

"Yes, that may be true," Em agrees with him, "but you're not the one taking our photos."

Grey huffs and stands down. "Fine. I'll go find Benley."

Aqueela gets back into it and places us in new positions around the couple for each photo. We're just about done when, out of nowhere, Troy springs up between Xavier and Emma, forcing himself into the shot.

"Alright, guys, you've had your fun, now move over for me, the real star of this wedding," Troy insists despite this photoshoot having nothing to do with him. He starts by strutting toward the camera and breaking out into serval modeling poses. He squats a few times and kicks out a leg before doing many pirouettes.

I glance over at Landon. He's rubbing at his temple, his patience wearing thin. Xavier's grinning but his wife is not as amused by this as he is.

I decide to intervene, for Em's sake. "Hey, Troy..." I drawl slowly and hesitantly approach him, careful not to be kicked by his absurd dancing movements, "do you think that you can do this on your own time?" I ask while ducking under another one of his flying legs.

"Ssh, BroBarbie, trying to focus here!" he quietens me, pushing me out of the shot. He attempts a six-step and a then a split. He fails miserably and ends up hurting himself. "Aaah! I think I broke or sprained something valuable for sure!" he shouts, only half-way down to the ground.

"Can you get back up?" I ask him, concerned.

"Pain is just a level that we must surpass!" he screams at me, overly dramatic, trying to split his legs further apart so that he can force himself all the way down into a proper split. He starts to push down with all his weight, ready to seriously hurt himself – he didn't even stretch for this. "Pain is just a mindset!"

Xavier and Landon immediately start betting:

"Ten dollars says that he's going to break his legs," Landon challenges Xave.

"You're on," Xavier replies in nonchalance, up for it.

There's a loud clicking sound before Troy's legs split completely apart and he finally touches the ground in a real split. We all fall silent as his eyes begin to water. "See, everyone, easy! Be inspired by me!" he chokes out, clearly in agony. "If you block pain out, you can achieve anything! I made my legs bend the way I wanted them to and when my body didn't listen, I forced it to."

You're supposed to listen to your body, not the other way around.

Xavier shakes his head before nudging Em. "We're going to have to call the infirmary."

Troy, still trying to catch his breath, looks over to Aqueela. "I was amazing! Did you get all that, Squirt?"

"Oh shoot! Was I...was I supposed to..." Aqueela trails off and pulls a face at him, confused. "Did you actually want me to film that for you? The camera was off. Do you think that you can quickly do all of that again?"

I stifle a laugh when Troy loses it:

"I'll kill you, Aqueela!"

Troy attempts to stand up but fails miserably. He can't even get up an inch off of the ground or get out of the split position.

"Do you need help in getting up to kill me?" Aqueela asks him, a teasing smile on her lips. "I'll gladly help you. You can proceed in killing me straight after."

"He's stuck!" Landon joins in on the laughter – even Emma is snickering at this point.

"I'm not!" Troy hisses at Landon defensively. "I'm not an amateur!"

Landon shrugs, not believing him. "Okay, well, we're all going to go toast to the couple and eat cake. It's going to be a blast. But, before we go, we really need someone to take the spotlight and lead us all in dance. We took a vote and we all thought that you'd be great for the job. You want to join?"

We can all see the longing in Troy's eyes; they light up with exhilaration but then deflate in disappointment when he realizes the situation that he's stuck in. "I know you're desperate for me to be there—"

"Totally," Landon agrees with him.

"But I'm going to have to pass. I want to stay out here a bit longer and enjoy the nature around me," Troy tells us but his eyes are saying a completely different story. "I need some 'Troy time' to unwind."

Unwind from what? Does he even do anything?

"Are you sure?" Landon asks him in all seriousness, swallowing back a smile. "'Cause, I mean, if you're stuck, it's an easy fix. You just have to tell us that your split was a fail and then we can help you out of that position."

"I'm not stuck! I'm just in resting mode pose!" Troy argues with him, choosing to be stubborn beyond belief. "I'm in full control."

Landon shrugs again, continuing on with his sinister ploy. "Alright, bud, enjoy it out here. You might see some wildlife."

"What kind of wildlife?" Troy asks nervously.

"Bear season," Xavier adds, wanting to be a part of this mess.

Troy gulps but still doesn't ask any of us for help. His pride is astonishing.

"I'll get someone else to lead the dance," Landon tells him. "I heard the prize for the best dancing is some new Ralph Lauren fashion collection but I'll just give it to Grey or something."

"No!" Troy suddenly erupts in panic. "Not Grey! Anyone but him! He won't know how to appreciate the collection! He will just ruin it! He won't be able to pull it off! He won't even fit in it! He'll stretch everything! He has no style and he's soooo fat!"

Landon raises his brows at Troy and presses his lips into a thin line. "And you're sure you don't need any help?"

Troy pauses for a second as if thinking it through before shaking his head vigorously. "Nope. Just enjoying being outside in the freezing cold air with all the flowers that I'm allergic to and the potential bears lurking around."

"Sounds fun," Xavier chips in, taunting him. "I too wish I wasn't stuck like you in that position."

Troy grins in pride. "Well, we can't all be phenomenal like me."

"Definitely," Landon humors him, motioning to the position he's in, "you're definitely phenomenal alright." He then grins slowly. "Well, see ya later, bud," he bids him goodbye and we all begin walking away.

Landon has only taken about three steps when Troy begins yelling again:

"Wait, wait, wait! Help me! I am stuck! Help me!"

Landon spins around to face Troy, a condescending smirk on his face. "What's that?" He cups a hand to his hear. "I moved away. I'm too far now. I can't hear you anymore."

I'm dating a jerk.

Troy beckons Landon closer, truly believing that Landon can't hear him anymore because he took a few steps back. When Landon walks back over to him and crouches before him, he starts shouting again. "I said that I need your help! You were right! I'm stuck!"

"Oh, sorry, bud, the offer for us to help you expired about ten seconds ago," Landon replies, failing to hide his enjoyment – sadist. "You just missed the window." He gets up off of his haunches and turns around to face us again. "Enjoy the bears!" He waves a hand over his shoulder at Troy, uncaring. "And I'll enjoy the Ralph Lauren collection!"

A piercing scream deafens us before loud sobbing follows.

"Noooooooo! Don't do this to Ralph! Don't do this to me! You'll crinkle it! You'll crinkle all of it! You'll crinkle the entire collection!"

*~*~*~**~*~*~*

I glance around at the dancefloor while dancing with Landon – I only had to beg him about a billion times to dance with me. My eyes drift over to Xavier and Emma again and I smile at seeing Emma close her eyes and lay her head against Xave's chest.

Landon follows my gaze and cringes. "I'm never going to get used to seeing my sister with him." His eyes fall onto another couple – Dean and Lola. He cringes again. "Or that." Instead of dancing, Lola and Dean are making out in front of everyone as Dean always does with every girl that tags along with him to family events.

"Dean is truly one of the most shameless people I have ever met," I admit, unable to hold back a smile. Dean catches a lot of flack but he is very much loved.

Landon nods over to Aqueela and Max dancing in front of us. "You don't know them well enough yet."

I have Landon spin me around so that I can see. Another smile forms on my lips when I see Aqueela and Max dancing The Jitterbug together. They're cruising all over the place, bumping into people as they go, and the song isn't even upbeat. They're spinning each other around in circles and their feet seem to be moving at a million miles per hour and I have to admit, they're killing it. They switch to some type of swing dance and people stop dancing in order to clap and cheer them on.

Unfortunately, things take a turn for the worst when Max tries to flip Aqueela during the swing. She ends up accidentally kicking some lady in the face. Emma gasps and immediately runs up to the woman while Max and Aqueela continue to dance as if that didn't just happen.

"Case in point," Landon tells me as if he'd been predicting it.

Still, I end up laughing aloud when Aqueela twirls Max around before dramatically dipping him as their final pose, the song now drawing to a close.

"At least, they're having fun," I try to defend the two despite not knowing them well. My gaze drifts over to Xavier's aunt whose nose is now bleeding profusely. As much as I want to like these two, they're a bit reckless.

"They grow on you," Landon reassures me, sensing where my head is at. "They're like a fungus."

I smile up at him and hold his gaze of green. "Did they grow on you?"

He hesitates before dropping my hand to show me the small gap between his fingers. "Little bit."

I laugh; he totally loves them. "Sure, sure."

AJ holds up a rating for Max and Aqueela's dance, scoring them with a ten, one more point higher than what she gave to Xavier and Emma for their wedding dance. Aqueela and Max race to hug her in thanks, overjoyed with their 'achievement'. They're apparently going to regionals.

I arch an eyebrow at Landon. "Honestly, I don't what to make of all these new people."

He grins and shrugs before replying to me, "Welcome to the family, Sarah."