| Epilogue |

~ Banks Woods ~

I hide a laugh behind my hand as Theo, Xander and Lance look heavenward, trying their hardest to mask their tears.

Holly has the entire ballroom's attention with her gorgeous white dress and long fluttery veil. There are actual diamonds on glittering on her dress that has too many layers that I'm surprised she even managed to get in that thing. Her face looks angelic with her makeup and the veil over it. Her arm is encased tightly within her father's, who looks like he's about to burst into tears too.

Standing at the altar, Castle keeps swallowing, tightly holding his wrist in front of him as he keeps his eyes on Holly the entire time. Tears shine in his eyes, but he holds it together better than his best men. He chose all of his friends as his Best Men while Holly chose her best friend named Riley.

Kaylee giggles beside me, nudging my arm with her elbow. I look back at Lance to see him wiping his eyes. Even Xander, the cold bastard, has his jaw in a tight line, his eyes on the ceiling rather than on the bride or groom. Theo is grinning despite already shedding a few tears.

"I never thought I'd see any of them cry," I whisper to Kaylee, and she nods.

When they reach the altar, Elias, Holly's father, swallows a few times before he nods at Castle and claps him on the back before placing her hand in his.

Holly grins at Castle while he gives her a smile of his own, though it looks wobbly. He rolls his lips back into his mouth.

The priest says his thing and the couple say their vows. When they say "I do" and kiss, the entire hall erupts into cheers, claps and screams. Kaylee and I are jumping and cheering, our dresses swishing against our legs.

Lance, Theo and Xander jump on Castle, attacking him with hugs and slaps.

Holly hugs her friend, Riley, and her parents who are definitely crying despite the huge excited grin on Holly's face.

Castle is still being abused—probably because he's the first to make their "hardcore" friends cry in public. Xander has him locked in a headlock, while Lance and Theo throw punches to his torso.

"Those boys need someone to tell them that it's alright for them to show a few tears." Kaylee laughs.

On the men's side, Caleb and Liam are on their feet and clapping, grinning.

When Castle finally escapes his friends' clutches and Holly escapes her parents, both of them hold hands and make their way towards the exit of the hall and towards where the actual party is. We all throw flowers on their way, shouting our congratulations and wishes.

I must admit, this wedding was something like I've never seen before. Pink flowers cover the entire area with pink balloons decorating the ceiling. Holly's cheerleading friends are all dressed spectacularly in glittering and shining dresses. There are bouquets of lotus flowers decorating the walls and I think I even spot Castle's dog running around and in between people. 

As the guests mingle, Kaylee and I find Caleb and Liam and we make our way towards the Best Men.

"What a show of resilience," I comment once we reach.

"What do you mean?" Lance asks.

"What happened to 'why would we cry? We're boys, we don't cry no matter who's getting married.'" Caleb waggles his eyebrows at them.

All of them rub the back of their necks.

"I don't know what you're talking about. Something went in my eye and it was itching like crazy." Theo says, rubbing his eyes.

"I know, right? Man, I think it was the angle we were standing in. Even Castle's eye was itching." Lance nods.

"My eye was itching too," Xander says.

I roll my eyes. "You guys are full of shit."

"It's your best friend's wedding! Don't be shy, let all those tears out!" Kaylee throws her hands up.

"It's just that," Theo starts. "We know how long Holly and Castle have known each other and what all they went through. So seeing them like that, finally together and happy and smiling and glowing—" His voice chokes as his bottom lip trembles. "It's just so very...sad and happy and exciting." Another sheen of tears covers his eyes as his voice turns up a pitch. He quickly wipes under his eyes.

"Yeah, man. Remember what Castle said last night to us?" Lance asks.

Suddenly, all of them jam their hands on their faces, rubbing their eyes as if some virus is crawling into them.

"What? What did Castle say?" Caleb asks.

"He said..." Theo isn't able to continue, his voice turning up a pitch again. He clears his throat, speaking in a much manlier tone now. "He said that he..." There comes the pitchy voice again.

"It's okay, guys. You'll still have your Castle." I reassure them, patting Lance's shoulder. "He's still going to be coming back to the restaurant."

"But he won't be the same!" Theo still has the heels of his palm jammed into his eyes. "He'll be married and he'll be...well, he's married now!"

Kaylee laughs while I sigh.

"How about you guys stop being emotional for now and focus on enjoying the party? You guys can cry after going back home."

"We're not crying." They say at the same time.

"Uh-huh. Sure. Fine, then scratch that tichy eye when you're back home. Let's party now!" Kaylee hollers.  

It takes a while but Lance, Theo and Xander finally stop tearing up and all the guests are allowed to enter the party hall.

There's music, fireworks, fog machines, games, competitions and all sorts of things that seem to go on forever and fast at the same time. This is the liviest wedding I've ever been to and the joy is so contagious that no one seems to run out of energy.

Theo, Lance, and Xander play a game of 'Who knows Castle the best?' and I'm surprised by how competitive they are over that they actually start hitting each other for every question and smothering each other's mouths to answer first.

Holly and her cheerleading friends do a routine dance with their pompoms and confetti that has the entire crowd on their feet. Then there's also a game of tug of war which went horribly by the way, because someone decided it was a good idea to do it near one of the food catering tables.  

After all the dancing, eating and drinking, I excuse myself from dancing with Kaylee to go to the bathroom. It's hard to pee with the long dark blue dress I'm wearing but somehow I manage without wetting the dress. Standing in front of the mirror, I adjust the cups of the dress so that it's sitting properly on my breasts before fixing my hair and walking out.

I barely make it two steps before a hand grabs my wrist and yanks me back.

A yelp escapes my lips and I look up to curse the person but stop when my gaze meets lively blue eyes.

"Did I tell you how gorgeous you looked tonight?" Lance asks me, his arm coming around my waist.

"Not here." I place my hands on his chest, pushing him away.

"Then come with me." He tugs my hand.

"No, not here at all, idiot." I scold him. "It's your best friend's wedding for God's sake. Let's go back to celebrating with them."

"They can manage fifteen minutes without us." Saying that he drags me away to some secluded area behind a pillar.

Before I can open my mouth to scold him again, his lips claim mine in a fierce kiss, silencing my words. He nips at my bottom lip, his tongue chasing mine.

"I'm not kidding when I said how gorgeous you look tonight. I'm barely able to keep myself contained."

"You don't look bad yourself." I breathe out, feeling the soft and silky material of his emerald suit that makes his bright features stand out.

He goes back to kissing me, his hands caressing my waist. I run my fingers through the short hairs at his nape, feeling pleasure pool between my thighs at his addictive taste. I open my mouth to further to deepen the kiss, but then Lance pulls his head back with a frown on his face.

"What if Castle isn't the same anymore?"

Not this again.

I groan, throwing my head back in resignation. "God, Lance. He got fucking married. He didn't go to war and come back!"

"I know, but marriage is a big deal, you know? You never know what will happen to a person."

I give him an incredulous look, furrowing my eyebrows. "Do all men think the same?"

"I'm just worried about my friend."

"Oh God, if you and your friends keep acting this way then I don't want to attend a wedding ever again."

"What way?"

"As if Castle is being demonized and captured for centuries in a secluded tower."

"Damn." A warm smile appears on his face. "How do you know that's exactly how I'm feeling?"

I sigh. "Because I love you so much that I think we share the same brain and feelings," I mutter.

"And I love you too." Saying that he leans in to kiss me one more time.

Closing my eyes in satisfaction, I wait for his lips to meet mine. Only they never do.

"Do you think Castle is going to forget about me and the others now that he's married?"

I open my eyes in frustration only to see the dead serious look on his face.

"No, Lance." I cup his face, my thumb stroking his cheekbone. "He'd never forget you guys. He'll be back in the restaurant in no time. Nothing's changed just because he's married. Relax, okay? All your other friends are going to get married someday soon, so you need to stop overthinking your friendship with them. You four are inseparable."

He nods, determination on his face. "Yeah, you're right. Just because he has a ring on his finger, doesn't mean he's different. Theo and Xander are going to be married too. I don't know how the fuck it will happen, but it will and I have to accept that."

I nod. "Good. Yes."

A smile appears on his face as he looks down at me. "When are we getting married?"

A tiny blush covers my cheeks. I've always thought about it since Holly and Castle sent us the wedding invite. I know the relationship me and Lance have is unbreakable and with how serious it is, sometimes I feel like we're already married.

Somedays when he sleeps over at my apartment and I wake up to him trying to cook in the kitchen, and some days when I wake up over at his place and find myself all snuggled into his side. Then the mornings we start together by showering, brushing and having breakfast. The domestic feeling got so familiar that nothing we did seemed foreign.

No matter how serious Lance and I are though, I'm not ready to get married. Not until I make sure that Caleb has a secure future and he learns how to survive without me. He's getting pretty good. With the therapy sessions and finally managing to be Liam's boyfriend. Also, the fact that he finally has a job at a mechanic workshop.

He needs to complete his last year in high school and at least half of his first year in university, before I feel like I can take any steps further with my life too.

Sometimes I feel bitter that Caleb gets to go to post-secondary, while I never got the chance to, but soon I realize that those feelings are irrational since I'm doing way better than I would've if I had started university.

"We'll talk about this later." I pat his shoulder. "Don't want you to start the waterworks again."

He furrows his eyebrows. "I told you it was an itch in my eyes. I didn't cry."

"Uh-huh. Sure."

Realizing, we won't get anywhere behind this pillar with Lance dwelling on his best friend's marriage, I nudge him aside and walk back to the party hall. He follows after me explaining how he has this rare disease that makes his eyes randomly itch and makes it seem like he's crying.

I roll my eyes, heading towards the banquet table, hoping to find something to eat with how hungry all the dancing and wedding games made me.

My eyes snag on an entire tray of chicken pastry rolls. My mouth waters at the sight of it and damn if I don't want to eat all of it.

Lance catches my look and nudges me to the table. "It's fine. You can eat. I saw Caleb heading outside with Liam."

"Are you sure?" I scour the area to make sure.

He nods. "Yup. Those kids probably need some quiet time from this music and crowd. Go ahead, I'll keep watch."

I nod in gratitude before walking towards the tray and picking up a roll. The cheesy sauce with the soft chicken makes me groan in the back of my throat.

"This is so good." I scrunch my eyes in delight before picking another one and stuffing it in my mouth.

"I think I passed on this rare disease to Theo and Xander, that's why their eyes were itching too." Lance continues beside me. "It's serious, Banks. I would never cry over a wedding."

I nod, letting him explain how much of a "man" he is to show some tears. He's perfectly fine when sometimes he lets his emotions loose and cries in front of me, but this time, the entire hall saw him cry, that's why he's whining about it now. 

I'm still listening to him rant, rolling my eyes when his theories about his "rare disease" get too creative. That's when I hear a sudden gasp from behind.

My eyes pop open and miraculously, even Lance shuts up. Our backs turn rigid as we slowly turn around to see none other than my brother who's gaping at us with betrayal in his eyes. He eyes the chicken roll in my hand, before flicking his gaze back up to me.

"We're not vegetarian...?"

- THE END -

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Anddd that concludes our story!! Took me ten months to write this but we're finally done and I can successfully say that I've written another book this year!

Words: 2,387

Date of publishing: 15th July 2024