Reunion - Mapi Leon x Reader

Chapter 12 - Ceremony

I walk into the church looking for my family. I spot my brother, Javi, who walks over to me before we team up on the hunt for our parents. For the first morning in a while, I don’t feel tired. It’s a relief as I don’t want to worry my family.

If it hadn’t been for Alexia, I would have stayed over at Lottie’s place again. Last night I’d been sitting alone in my apartment, having gone home and slept for most of the afternoon, feeling rather bored. I’d found my coloured pencils and began to doodle, but I couldn’t really get anything that felt right onto the piece of paper. My cat walking into the room, staring into my eyes, and then promptly leaving had been the last straw. I needed some company. So I invited Alexia over, and almost as soon as she’d sat down, Lottie had called. We went to rescue her and took her back to her hotel room.

Once we’d got there, Lots basically dragged me inside. The look on Alexia’s face was unreadable, but I could tell she had a lot to say. She’d wished Lottie goodnight before walking me back to my place.
“What is it?” I asked her after finally not being able to bear her silence any longer.
“I’ll tell you later.” Then she’d left me alone again, and I eventually drifted off to sleep.

Waking up this morning and discovering a pit of nerves in my stomach was unexpected. I’ve known Lottie for so long, but getting ready for today, all I could think about was that Lottie was going to be here. It’s all I can think about still if I’m being honest.

We’re seated in the church pews waiting for the processions to start.
“Why are we here again?” Javi leans in towards me.
“Amalia’s wedding.” I roll my eyes at the fact he’s been able to get himself dressed up and to the right location, but has no clue why he’s here.
“Oh.” He searches through the files in his mind before a lightbulb goes on. “She’s the one I told Mum I was going to marry as a kid.”
“Yep.” I nod, amused by the way this is what he remembers of her from his childhood.
He laughs. “Guess that plan didn’t work out so well. What was her sister’s name again? Lola?”
“Lottie.”
“Right, yeah. You know you two used to be connected at the hip. Mum would compare the two of you to a married couple.”
I almost choke on nothing but air. “What?”
“Yeah. She thought it was so cute the way the two of you went around protecting each other and the way you’d ‘fight’ the boys for her.”
“I didn’t fight them.” I protest while trying to process what my brother’s just told me.
“You sorta did. I remember the black eyes.”
“There were like two at most.” I argue back as music starts playing.
“No, there were definitely more than two.”
“Was not!”
“Children.” I hear my dad’s stern voice, and my brother and I shut up.

Amalia’s bridesmaids - not a sight seen at a traditional Spanish wedding, but knowing Amalia this is probably going to be far from traditional - start to walk down the aisle, many of their faces recognisable from that bar a few nights ago. As Amalia begins to be walked down the aisle by Lottie, my eyes physically can’t stop looking at the pair. Amalia is beautifully put together in her long flowing crisp white dress, and Lottie is.. well.. she’s Lottie. Practically perfect, no matter what she’s wearing. She looks in my direction, her eyes scanning the area. When they meet mine, those nerves make a comeback as my breath hitches. It feels like forever that her eyes are locked on mine, but it’s realistically only a couple of seconds. Once they pass us, I feel as if a hurricane has swept through me.

A hurricane of emotions. Of fear and worry and realisation and love.
I like her. And as much as I don't want to admit it, I can't bury it down inside of me much longer.

The ceremony is over almost as soon as it begins, and then we’re off to the wedding reception. My parents offer to drive my brother and I to the venue, and I gladly accept it. I texted Alexia on the way, remembering how she’d looked at me last night, a simple, hey Alexia. As per usual, she replies quickly, as if she has nothing better to do than sit around all day waiting for me to message her, hey Maria. What do you want?. That’s a good question. I know she’s asking me what I want from her, but I consider this slightly further. What do I want? When it comes down to it, I want my cat to be healthy, to spend my days playing football, and most importantly of all wake up next to Lottie each morning knowing that she’ll never leave me again, and that if she did I would go to the edge of the earth and back to look for her. It sounds dramatic, but I entirely mean this. She's been my everything since she was 4, the sweet little girl who ran rings around my brother and bashed the ball into our makeshift net. I think about my response for a while. Is this something I want to share with someone else? It doesn't take me long to make my decision.

So I reply, for Lottie to stay in my life forever, no matter the cost. It brings a smile to my face, writing this down for someone else to read. Alexia replies, "I think she wants that too." I visibly reel back at that, and my brother gives me a strange look. I ignore him as I look back down at Ale’s message. She wouldn’t say something like that unless she was almost 100% sure that it was true. Perhaps that look last night meant, wake up, you idiot and see what’s right in front of you. I decided I had to tell her. I understand someone else's wedding isn’t an ideal place to do something like this, but I don’t know when I’ll see Lots again after tonight. She goes back to the US early tomorrow morning. By this time tomorrow, I’m either going to be heartbroken or feeling like I’m on top of the world. And I can't help but pray it's the latter.

(You guys do know that it's Lottie, Mapi, Lottie, Mapi.. right? I just realised we never made it clear that Em writes Mapis's POV, and I write Lottie's. Anyway.. drama is coming soon. Please leave a comment! Love ya<3)