~ Chapter 33: "In our hearts". ~

        Our alarm clock woke us up at eight after only five hours of sleep. Or actually, even less than that since Damon had woken up with a lot of pain in the middle of the night and I had held his hand and passed a wet towel on his forehead until it would pass, still half-asleep.

We drove to the airport and waited for Seth and Jenny to come. I was really excited to see them, it felt like a while since we hadn’t talked and I had so much to say! I knew that the focus would be on our wedding right now, which was great, but I also needed to talk to Jenny about Damon getting sicker each day.

We saw them arrive with two luggage each and we waved our arms so that they would spot us in the middle of the crowd of people. Jenny saw us and they ran toward us before pulling us into hugs.

“I missed you!! You’re so tan!” Jenny exclaimed while hugging me. “How are you?”

“I’m great. I’m so glad you and Seth are here!”

I hugged my brother too then we both took one suitcase and went out of the airport.

“This is my first time here but it looked awesome on the Internet.” Seth said when we stepped outside.

“It’s amazing, you’ll see.”

We told them about every activity we’d been doing and every place we had visited while driving to the hotel. They were super excited and happy to be here and their joy was contagious, it made me forget all about Damon being in pain almost once every day.

We parked the car in the parking lot of the hotel then got out. Seth walked ahead with Damon, I think they were talking about football or something, and Jenny pulled me by the arm, sign that she needed to talk to me alone for a minute.

“I can’t believe you decided to get married! What got into your head?” Jenny asked, all smiley.

“I don’t know, I was thinking that I didn’t want to have any regrets, you know, of things I should have done with Damon while we still could and then I realized that I wanted us to get married because I know he’s the One, as cheesy as it may sound, and I just… wanted us to have that. Even if it won’t be legally recognized or anything.”

“I’m happy that you’re happy.”

I smiled.

“So… I gotta tell you something too.” Jenny started, biting her upper lip.

“Okay… Should I be scared?”

“No, don’t be silly. But I gotta warn you. Please don’t scream or hit someone.”

“Ok, now I’m officially scared.”

“Well I’m just going to say it then. Seth and I have started dating. We’re officially bf and gf.”

“Seth my brother and you?”

“Of course Seth your brother! Why would I use such a dramatic tone otherwise?”

“I don’t know! Ok. This is… a little weird but it’s fine. If you guys are happy then I’m happy too.”

“Yay!!” She jumped in my arms and hugged me. “I was afraid you were going to be mad or something.”

“I’m not, it’s just… weird. Please don’t do… unchristian things when I’m around.”

She laughed. “Promise. That would be weird for all of us so we’ll keep our sexual activities to ourselves when you’re around.”

“Oh and please don’t tell me about your sexual activities!”

She was really enjoying this, I could tell by her playful smile.

“Ok, fine, mother Theresa! I won’t talk about it with you.”

“Thank you.”

We realized we should probably join the guys. We kept talking about the wedding while going upstairs to the room I had booked for them that was not far away from ours. Silly me, I had booked one that had two beds but I guess they would arrange it to make one.

I went in Jenny’s room with her and she opened her suitcase, searching for her bathing suit.

“So… Since I’m the best best friend ever, I brought you a dress for you to get married in.” Jenny said, bending to get her clothes.

“Really?”

“Yeah. And it’s wonderful. You’re going to love it.”

“Can I see it?”

“Ok. But close your eyes first until I reach it, I want to do like in those big movies.”

I laughed. “Sure, whatever you want.”

I closed my eyes and heard her go through her stuff and throwing stuff on the bed or on the floor. How many things had she taken with her?! Finally, ten minutes later, she exclaimed.

“I got it! And it’s still perfect, not a wrinkle. It’s not a wedding dress cause I thought maybe it wouldn’t quite fit on the beach and frankly, I couldn’t have bought one in a day without your exact size and everything but it’s still perfect.”

“I appreciate the thought anyway.”

“Ok, open your eyes and be wowed.”

So I did. Jenny was holding a strapless white dress in her hands.

“Wow…” I breathed.

“Come on, try it on!” She urged.

I undressed and passed it on me, then headed to the big mirror to see the result. It was wonderful. It hug my figure perfectly, the tissue was fluid and light so that I wouldn’t be too hot on the beach, it had little lace motives on the top part, which was separated from the lower part by an elastic white band and then the tissue fell lightly, with two longer parts on both sides. It was falling until the middle of my thighs, so it wasn’t too short or too long. I fell in love with it the second I wore it.

“Oh my god Jenny, I don’t know what to say… This dress is so perfect!”

“I know, right! I knew it would look awesome on you. It’s not very fit for a bride in normal times but I thought it’d be exactly the right dress for the occasion.”

“It is, thank you so much.”

I hugged her again then turned around to look at the back of the dress.

“So, how is Damon doing?” Jenny asked, sitting on the bed.

After putting my normal clothes back on to be sure I wouldn’t wrinkle the dress or that Damon would see it before our “sort-of wedding”, I went to sit next to her and crossed my legs.

“It depends. Sometimes he’s doing perfectly fine and then the pain will just show up unannounced and make him suffer for quite a while.”

“It sucks.”

“Yeah…”

“Do you want to talk about it or should we just celebrate the fact that you’re kinda getting married?”

I smiled. “I can’t believe this is happening.”

“Me neither. But I’m glad you invited us cause I would have been very pissed if you had celebrated it without me.”

“I never would have!”

Jenny laughed and we heard a knock at the door. After we screamed “It’s open!”, Damon and Seth came inside, already in their bathing suits.

“Come on, let’s go to the beach, we didn’t come all this way to stay in a hotel room!” Seth pressed us.

Jenny and I changed into our bathing suits and we headed to the beach. We spent the day tanning, swimming in the sea and eating ice creams on the hot sand. It was really hot so we had to go in the ocean to be refreshed every thirty minutes or so. Damon didn’t have any “crisis” (that’s what I called the moments he was suddenly in pain), which was great. Jenny and Seth kissed a few times but I didn’t mind that much. They were actually pretty cute together. And if Damon and I were allowed to kiss, it was only fair that they were too.

Damon and I headed back to the hotel at five. Seth and Jenny stayed there to prepare everything for the “wedding”. I couldn’t believe that we would actually do this. But it made me incredibly happy when I thought about it.

“I’ll see you tonight.” Damon said before kissing me.

I smiled and went in Jenny and Seth’s room to prepare. I had to take a shower, do my hair and makeup before nine. I had a lot of time but I wanted to take my time. I put on music with my phone and took a long shower.

After that, I let my hair dry on its own and I applied nail polish on my hand and feet. We decided we wouldn’t wear any shoes because the “wedding” was on the beach, so I wanted at least to have some nail polish on or something.

Jenny came back to help me do my makeup. She was really good at it and it gave a really natural but classy result. We then took care of my hair that we tied in a messy but super glamorous bun with curly strands. I loved it and I had to admit I had never looked that good.

“Time for the dress!” Jenny clapped her hands excitedly while I undressed from my pajamas to put on the beautiful white dress.

It gave an even more beautiful result with my tanned skin. I turned around to face Jenny and she put her hand on her mouth.

“Oh my god Leah you’re… you look…”

I saw some tears in her eyes, which made me want to cry too.

“Stop tearing up you will ruin our makeup!” Jenny exclaimed, laughing and wiping a tear. “I’m so happy for you Leah, you’re the prettiest bride in all history.”

“Thank you Jenny.” I pulled her in a hug. “You’re the best best friend in all history.”

“I know, I know.” She smiled.

We heard someone knocking at the door so Jenny went to see who it was by the peephole.

“It’s Seth.” She said while opening the door. “Hey!”

They kissed and I cleared my throat to warn them I was still here. Seth broke their kiss and looked at me before opening his eyes and mouth wide.

“Leah! You look so beautiful!” He exclaimed.

“Thanks.”

“Wow, seriously, can I send a picture to mum and dad?”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea, I haven’t really told them about this whole wedding thing yet.”

“Oh. Ok. Well, I’ll snap a picture anyway in case they want to see you in that dress once you tell them.”

I posed then insisted to take a picture with Jenny and Seth. We checked that everything was in place then Seth left with Damon for the beach. I waited a few minutes then left too with Jenny. We headed out of the hotel and I looked around me, amazed that no one seemed to notice that I was (sort of) getting married today. They were passing me by, continuing their day like it was just another random one.

We crossed the street then took off our shoes to walk in the sand. It was still hot and as soft as flour under our feet. I looked around and spotted an alley made with flowers on both sides of it to demark it.

“I’m going to walk first and then it’ll be your turn.” Jenny said.

“Ok.”

We hugged and I watched her walk down the sort of improvised aisle. She was beautiful and confident and I couldn’t wait to attend her wedding. I walked a little closed to the aisle. They hadn’t noticed I was there yet.

Seth was standing at the fake alter, all dressed up in a tux, but barefoot, his toes ducked in the sand, which was pretty funny. Right next to him stood Jenny, wearing the sexiest dress and looking even hotter than usually. She wasn’t wearing shoes either but didn’t seem to care. I think her focus was more on Seth right now. And then, there was Damon. I didn’t even know if I should have sighed of joy, or just cry of happiness. He was standing at Seth’s right, wearing the most amazing and sexy suit I had ever seen, his hair still a little wet and his eyes shining with the sunlight. Jenny put the wedding music with her phone and I couldn’t help but smile while I walked down the sort of alley made of sand that Jenny and Seth had traced. Ok, it wasn’t a real wedding, we were on the beach and none of us were even wearing shoes but it didn’t matter. Because I was here with my best friend, my brother and more importantly the love of my life. I couldn’t have dreamt of a more perfect wedding.

I arrived next to Damon and noticed that we were both kind of tearing up. I laughed a little and he did too.

“You look…” He started.

“You look … too.” I replied, laughing.

“Seriously, I couldn’t have pictured a most perfect wedding.”

I took his hand and Seth cleared his voice before starting talking.

“So, since none of you are religious, I won’t be giving you any speech about God watching over you or that kind of thing they usually do at weddings. Instead, I think it’s more important to concentrate on the first thing that makes a wedding : love. I think we all agree, even though we’re only four-“ We laughed. “- that it’s clear you two love each other. You guys are what makes a couple a couple. If that makes any sense. You’re kind of my OTP for sure.”

Damon frowned.

“My one true pairing. The perfect couple I totally ship together.” Seth explained. “Anyway, you guys are perfect together and even though it’s not a real wedding legally, I would tend to think that it’s still a real one because you guys love each other and you’re committing to each other, which is the basic of marriage.”

Damon and I looked at each other, almost tearing up again.

“So, since I totally suck at giving speeches, I think it’d be best if we moved on to vows. Or whatever you guys want to say to each other.” Seth declared.

Neither of us had prepared any speech but I knew I didn’t need one. I spoke first.

“Damon… What can I say? I don’t think words can express how much I love you. You’re the love of my life. You’re the greatest person I’ve ever met, sorry Jenny, and you make me so happy. Except when you leave.”

He smiled.

“I just… I don’t think any speech will allow me to express how I’m feeling and how happy I am right now. I just want you to know that I love you and that it doesn’t matter at all that this wedding isn’t legally official because it is real in my heart and it always will be. I love you with every part of my being.”

We were yet again tearing up and we smiled to each other, emotional.

“So, my turn I guess.” Damon said, wiping a tear away from his eye while laughing a little. He looked me right in the eyes. “Like you said, I don’t think any speech can translate what I’m feeling right now. I guess you wouldn’t say I’m the luckiest person in the world, considering my… condition. But right now, I just feel so… lucky. I’m lucky that I found you, I’m lucky that you had the… strength to continue seeing me and I’m so damn lucky that you shared the same feelings I did. I just thank the universe that you love me too. Because I don’t know what I’d do without you. You’re my everything, as cheesy as it may sound. You’re the force that helps me keeping going on. You’re the one that makes me laugh, you’re the one that brightens my day, even though sometimes it’s filled with pain, you’re always there for me to cheer me up. You’re the greatest girl in the universe, and I couldn’t have dreamt of a better wedding. I love you Leah Clark. Always and forever. I won’t stop loving you. Ever. And you have to know that. I love you more than words can express. I love you even more than chocolate.”

I laughed. I remembered the day we had talked about our parents and my brother, we were just six I think and I had told Damon I loved my family more than chocolate, which had made him laugh. I couldn’t believe he remembered that too.

“Anyway… I guess those three words sum it up.” Damon concluded. “I love you.”

“Alright.” Seth cleared his voice. “Then let’s proceed to the .. how do they call it? Exchange of rings?”

We laughed.

“Oh wait, I actually printed the thing up on the Internet.” He got a piece of paper out of his pocket and started reading. “Do you, Damon Hollins, take Leah Clark, to be your lawfully wedded wife, or actually just your wife in your heart-“ He corrected. “- to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, or for worse, for richer, or for poorer, in sickness, and in health? With respect for her integrity and faith in your union, do you promise to unfailingly seek out the best you can in her, loving her every day, in every way, until the end of your forever? If so, please answer: I do.”

Damon looked at me right in the eyes before answering “I do.” And my heart skipped a beat. Then he put his hand in his pocket and got a ring out of it. The ring from the treasure we had buried as kids.

“Oh my god Damon!”

“I figured it would only be appropriate, you know, since it said This is the ring Leah will wear when we’ll get older and have kids. I know we’ll never have kids together but we are kind of getting married and I didn’t have time to buy a proper ring so…”

“This is so much better than a real ring.” I wiped the tears out of my eyes while he passed the ring on. “I love you.”

He smiled and Seth continued to officiate the wedding.

“Same blablah for Leah. Do you take Damon Hollins to be your husband in your heart for as long as you two may be together?” Seth asked.

I smiled. “Damn right I do. I don’t have a ring though.”

“Doesn’t matter.” Damon said.

“Alright, then by the power invested in me by… you guys, I now pronounce you two husband and wife in our hearts. You may now kiss the bride but please make it simple cause it’s kind of gross since she’s me sister.”

Damon laughed before kissing me with every inch of passion he could have had. I felt everything melting in me, electricity running in my spine. Then Seth took a picture and Jenny and him kissed. This time, it wasn’t all that weird, I was just too overwhelmed to even think about it.

Damon swiped me off my feet, literally, and carried me all the way to the hotel (which wasn’t far, luckily for him). I tried to convince him to let me down but he wouldn’t budge so I let him carry me like a princess, open the door with the card in his mouth (I guess he didn’t care about germs all that much anymore), push it open with his foot then closing it the same way, and then laying me gently on the bed before kissing me.

“I love you so much, you know that, don’t you?” Damon asked before removing my dress gently, caressing my skin as he did so.

“Mh-mm.” I murmured, unable of pronouncing any other words when his mouth was traveling its way down my now naked body.

“I thank the heavens I found you in time every day.”