"You want me to leave the car running? We can make a quick getaway if you change your mind."

Estélla turned to give her father a knowing smile when he parked the red mustang outside the church a few minutes before midday on August 5th. He looked handsome in a black tuxedo with a rose pinned to the breast pocket and his sophisticated look reminded Esté of the way she'd seen her father as a little girl, always dressed in fancy suits and shiny shoes.

The sun was beating down on the Hamptons from a cloudless blue sky, birds soaring across the surface of the turquoise waters and through luscious green trees. There was salt in the gentle breeze and a sweet freshness from the patisseries and ice cream shops that lined the small streets, laughter from children and chatter from adults walking with plastic buckets and spades in their hands heading towards the beaches.

"Thank you," Esté said, "But you can turn it off, Dad."

George chuckled and killed the engine, hauling in a breath as he pulled the key from the ignition and spun it around in his fingers. He and Tony had spent hours over the past two months fixing up the old beauty, working in shade of the garage while Esté and Leonie chased Selena around on the lawn.

It felt like the old times, and it felt right. Tony had always been a part of the Goldwyn family and he'd given George and Leonie the most precious gift imaginable in Selena, but seeing Estélla happy because of him had been a gift Tony had been giving them since he was a child.

"I know, but I had to ask. Let's get you and this dress out of the car, wait there."

George's eyes were covered by a pair of black wayfarers and he adjusted the cuffs of his white shirt as he walked around the front of the car to open the door for his daughter. He bent down beside her, helping to lift the train of her dress out without catching on the car as she stepped out into the fresh air.

Esté sighed happily and fanned out her dress, walking up the wooden steps of the small porch that fronted the church. She and Tony had toyed with the idea of getting married at St Patrick's church in the city, though ultimately decided on a small ceremony in the Hamptons for their wedding day with a reception at the Goldwyn's home, planning on having a bigger celebration with everybody else tied in with Esté's birthday a few weeks later.

As she felt the sun kiss her skin on the porch and was free from the flashes of paparazzi and bright lights, Esté knew that she and her husband-to-be had made the right decision. She had vivid memories of her and Tony sprinting down that very street to race to the ice cream parlour, barefoot after spending all day at the beach. She remembered her father teaching her to drive in the parking lot of the church on late autumn evenings and she remembered arguing with Tony about a school project outside the bakery across the street.

Esté remembered everything, and she would remember that moment right then, too, the moment before she married her best friend.

"Gosh, you look so beautiful, Esté."

George stood at the foot of the steps with his hands on his hips, shaking his head in disbelief as he gazed up at his little girl, removing his sunglasses so his blue eyes could meet her's.

She truly did look beautiful, the one of a kind dress from Tom making her look like some kind of angel, something from another world. Her hair was in her signature Hollywood curls though half pinned back, two golden strands framing her face loosely. Her makeup was simple and bronzed, lifted cheeks with a peach blush and subtle shimmering eye shadow that brought out the ocean swimming in her eyes. Her lips were nude and glossed and she wore simple gold earrings, her skin bare of any other jewellery.

"Really?" Esté asked.

George scoffed, "Darling, you are the most beautiful girl in the world. I love you so much."

"You're going to make me cry, shut up. But I love you too."

Esté laughed and looked up to dry her welling tears, embracing her father when he comforted her with a gentle hug.

She'd chosen to do her own makeup that morning and Alicia had spent an hour and a half on her hair while Katy steamed everybody's dresses. To say that the house had been chaotic might've been an understatement, eyeshadow brushes and pallets everywhere mixed in with glasses of half-finished mimosas and croissants that nobody had been able to stomach because of the nerves.

Tony and the boys had gotten ready together at a hotel further down the bay after spending the evening playing golf together, George included, and God did Esté hate sleeping alone that night. Her mind kept her awake almost the entire time, drifting off for a few hours here and there, but never finding comfort in the huge bed without him beside her.

They'd stuck to traditions and not spoken since before he'd left yesterday, not even so much as a goodnight or good morning text shared between them. Esté had found the whole thing torturous but the fusion of nerves inside her chest at the thought of seeing his face again had kept her heart racing nonstop all morning.

"Have you seen Selena this morning? Is she alright?"

George nodded, "I saw her before I came to pick you up. Your mother has her, she's absolutely fine."

"A-and Tony? How was he last night? Did he seem happy? Excited? Or was he-"

"Sweetheart," George laughed and cupped his daughter's face in his hands, "Tony is just fine, and he can't wait to marry you. He's been waiting his entire life, I can promise you that."

"You think?"

There had never been any doubt in George and Leonie's minds that one day, Estélla and Tony would end up together. It didn't matter that they spent fifteen years apart on different sides of the world, the faith never wilted that the souls of the two of them would pull together again one day, and that day had come.

"That boy has loved you for as long as I've known him. I saw it in his eyes when he was seven years old, I saw it when he was thirteen, I saw it the day we left for Switzerland and I see it every time I look at him now. So yes, he has been waiting his entire life."

Esté smiled weakly, "So have I."

"I know you have," George kissed her forehead with a smile before glancing down at his watch, "Are you ready?"

She nodded and breathed in, lifting her shoulders and tilting up her chin with composure settling into her bones. Walking down a runway had become second nature to Estélla Goldwyn, and although an aisle was technically no different, it was by far the most nerve wracking walk she'd ever had to face.

Paris and Milan, New York and London, Estélla had stolen the show with her infamous stride across fashion weeks and runways as the world watched her. She could do it with her eyes closed, do it backwards, do it in her sleep if she so wished, but as she waited for the doors to the church to open and the sun continued to beat down on her, Esté gripped onto her father's arm life her life depended on it.

"It's alright," he whispered, giving her a gentle nudge and placing his hand on top of hers, "I've got you."

A wave hit Esté when the church doors were pulled open, silencing her and weighing down her chest as she watched her friends and family rise from their seats and turn to look at her. There might've been less than thirty people inside that church but to Esté, it was her entire world. She'd found comfort and put her trust into every single person inside that building, but only one of them could give her the reassurance, the confidence that she needed in that moment. And he was waiting for her at the end.

Tony turned around at the alter with Selena in his arms, audibly gasping when he saw Estélla standing with the sun illuminating her at the doorway of the church. Her dress was the most beautiful thing she'd ever seen, she was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen, and as she began to walk down the aisle with a bunch of Juliet Roses in her hands, Tony had never felt more at peace in his life.

"Mama!" Selena pointed, one arm around her father's neck.

"That's right baby," Tony said as he cleared his throat, lifting a finger to wipe away a tear that had escaped his eyes, "That's your mama, isn't she beautiful?"

Tony had watched Estélla walk a million runways by that time, but as he watched her walk towards him in that breathtaking white gown, he didn't see the supermodel that the rest of the world saw. Instead, Tony saw the blue-eyed little girl that he'd swam in the ocean with, that he'd made up stories with in the treehouse, that he'd jumped off yachts and drank sangria and rode bikes at sunset with. Tony saw the girl that he'd fallen in love with from the day he'd set eyes on her, the girl with the golden hair and golden soul and the girl that had his entire heart in the palm of her hands.

Esté gave her daughter a kiss when she reached the alter, brushing a hand across her cheek and fixing the white bow slipped into her hair before Tony passed her to George, the flowers going with them as they sat down a few feet behind them.

"You're shaking," Tony whispered to Esté, grinning at her as he looked down at noticed the way her fingers weren't still.

She just swallowed and looked up at him, eyes filled with excitement and fear, nerves eating her alive. Esté didn't say anything but she didn't have to. Tony grabbed her hand and squeezed it tightly inside of his own, and that was all she'd ever needed.

The vicar was the same gentleman that had baptised Estélla as a little girl, a familiar face that took away some of her nerves and wrapped her in comfort instead. He conducted the most beautiful service, red and white Juliet roses hanging from every corner of the church while every guest abided by the black tie dress code, pops of red tied in with flowers pinned to their dresses and tuxedos.

Both Esté and Tony had agreed to keep their vows as short and sweet as they could, no long sheets of paper or reading from a script. They wanted their words to come from the heart, from the moment and everything that being stood together made them feel.

So when the time came for Estélla to say her vows, that was exactly what she did. She turned to Tony and took his other hand inside her own, breathing slowly as his thumbs brushed against the side of her palms calmingly, a sparkle in his dark eyes that settled her heart.

He was perfectly beautiful in front of her right then, his black Tom Ford suit fitting him like a glove and his hair tousled back, not a strand out of place. The red flower on his tuxedo reminded her of the one he'd always wear whenever they attended prom together and the smile he wore reminded her of the one she'd seen him give whenever he waited at the bottom of the stairs for her, his cologne noticeably the same Calvin Klein scent he'd worn when he was fifteen; a touch that brought Esté close to tears on its own.

"You always told me that one day you'd fly up into space and bring me back a star. It sounds stupid but I believed you, because I believe that there isn't anything you can't do, that you wouldn't do for me. You have been my rock, my biggest supporter, my defender, and my best friend for as long as I can remember, and you did get me that star, and she's sitting right there."

Tony bit down on the inside of his lip when he followed Esté's eyes and looked at their daughter sitting perfectly on Leonie's lap, her blonde hair in wild curls and her honey eyes melting their hearts.

"I've loved you since I was a little girl. I used to look at you and feel like I couldn't breathe, like the world was dark and you were colour. I loved you when you'd hold my hand when I was too scared to jump into the ocean and when I thought I wasn't good enough to compete in my gymnastics competitions at school. You've always made me feel like I could do anything, the same way that I hope I do for you. And the way I looked at you as a little girl is the same way I look at you now, and the same way I'll look at you forever. You have my heart, Anthony, it's always been yours and it'll love you endlessly."

Tony promised himself he wasn't going to cry but Estella's poetry had cut him open and torn him to beautiful shreds, leaving him to wonder how on earth he'd gotten so lucky.

He too hadn't planned on what he was going to say to her in his vows, but the words seemed to pass from his lips without having to spare more than a second's thought.

Tony remembered reading Este's diary entry about her sickening jealousy when he'd kissed another girl and he remembered the way he'd felt the same thing when the situation had been reversed. He remembered the way his world fell away from his feet when Estélla left for Switzerland and he remembered how New York felt haunted when  she wasn't around, and how it suddenly became alive when they crossed paths again.

He remembered the times she'd ask him if her hair looked okay and if he liked her dresses and while it seemed like nothing at twelve years old, his words had meant more to her than he could've ever understood. He remembered how he'd look for her in every crowded room as a child and how as an adult, he'd look for her on the cover of every magazine instead, desperate to catch a glimpse of the woman he'd once known like the back of his hand after being apart from her for so long.

"I loved you before I knew what love was. I loved you when it was me pushing you into the pool when you said you didn't want to get your hair wet, when I'd ask you for help on the same math question for the tenth time, when I'd tease you about your crush on Al Pacino and when you got mad because I learned to do a cartwheel faster than you did. I loved you when you didn't laugh when I said I wanted to be an astronaut, or a race car driver, or any of the other ridiculous things I said I wanted to be. I loved you because you always believed in me and I love you now because you still do. I made a lot of stupid decisions in my life but the decision I made as a kid, the one that the little boy that lives inside of me made to love you, is the best one I've ever made, and one of the only ones I've never regretted. You're my best friend and you're right, there isn't anything I wouldn't do for you or for our little girl. Your father once told me that I'd be safe loving you, and I know that I am, that I always have been and that I always will be. I love you with everything that I am, and everything that you've made me. Little Stella and Tony would be so proud of us."

By the time the words you may now kiss the bride echoed around the church, Tony was the one that was shaking. The touch of Esté's hands wasn't enough, not after he'd poured his heart out and listened to her do the same thing, not after he'd looked into her blue eyes and remembered every beautiful memory of their lives and not after he'd been doused in love and set alight when she slipped the ring onto his finger.

And so Tony wasted no time in grabbing her, grabbing his wife in his arms and kissing her like he'd crumble to his knees before her if he didn't. He kissed her the same way he wished he'd kissed her the day she'd left for Switzerland and the way he wished he'd kissed her when he selfishly ignored her confession of her love for him. He kissed her for all of the times he'd screwed up and all of the times she'd shed tears over his actions, and for all of the times he hadn't been there to wipe them away.

Tony was sorry, he was sorry from the depths of his soul and the skin and bones that made him the man that Esté loved, and she'd accepted it. She kissed him back and felt his tears mix with her own, smiling against his lips and letting herself fall into his body, held up by his arms and the strength he had to carry her the way he promised he always would.

"I love you," she said to him over the sound of the applause from their friends and family, foreheads pressed together and light glowing in their eyes.

"I love you more," he replied, kissing her again before lifting her up into his arms with a hand beneath her knees and the other at her back, her arms wrapping around his neck as she laughed wildly while they headed back down the aisle, red rose petals being thrown across them like flurries of falling snow.

He carried her out into the blissful sunshine and gently sat her in the passenger seat of a white convertible Mercedes from 1968 that was waiting for them outside, grinning as he blew a kiss to their daughter who was waving in Leonie's arms on the steps of the church.

Tony leapt behind the wheel and started the engine, resting an arm across Esté's shoulders and pulling on a pair of red-lensed sunglasses before tilting her face with his fingers on her chin, pulling her in for a long kiss that she eagerly reciprocated, hands cupping his face as she kissed him back now her tears had dried.

She pulled back and looked at her husband with a breathless smile, into the eyes of the young boy that had captured her heart and never let it go. The ring on his finger tickled her skin as he grazed a hand across her shoulder, pulling heat into her cheeks that made Tony unable to do anything but kiss the pretty girl all over again, completely and utterly besotted by the sight of her with a ring on her finger, too.

He smiled and picked up her hand inside his own, brushing a thumb across her knuckles before kissing them and placing his hand back on the steering wheel as they left the church behind them.

"I can't believe it," Esté said as they drove down the street with the breeze tousling her hair behind her shoulders, holding her hand in front of her face to admire the ring glimmering in the sunshine, "We're married, Tony, we're married."

He just grinned at her, winking as he rest a hand on her thigh and headed into the direction of the sun, "It's been a long time coming, Mrs Stark."