The Afterglow

Prologue

Twirling around in front of the mirror, Gwen stared at her reflection with a nervous smile. She was excited yet nervous, unable to stop thinking about all of the things that could go wrong; what if she forgot her vows? Or tripped over her dress while walking? Or what if there was an objection? So many thoughts over what could go wrong that she could barely find the space to breathe. That, and she was finding her dress to be a little tighter than it had when she'd gone dress shopping with Aunt May.

A knock on the door brought her mind back to the room, she turned around to see May standing in the doorway and drew in a breath. She opened her mouth to speak, but couldn't find the words.

"Can I come in?" May asked.

"Uh- Yeah… Sure." Gwen stammered, swallowing hard.

Stepping into the room, May walked over to where Gwen was standing in front of the mirror and reached out with her hand, tucking a stray strand of blonde hair behind her ear. Gwen smiled and turned back to her reflection in the mirror, locking her eyes on the bottom of the dress that swept the floor.

"Did I choose the wrong dress?" She wondered aloud.

"My dear, what on earth do you mean?" May questioned.

"Oh, nothing. Well… It's just that it feels a little tighter than it did two weeks ago. I'm sure it's nothing, perhaps they just mixed up the sizes, it doesn't hurt or anything so it's bearable." She explained.

"Perhaps that's it." May agreed.

"Give me your honest opinion… Does it look okay?" She asked.

"Ah, I think I see what's going on. You appear to just have a bad case of the jitters. Yes dear, it looks okay." May answered. "Beyond actually, you look stunning and in a few short moments it will be time to go out there and stun all your guests, and my nephew too." She added.

"Yeah I guess you're right." Gwen sighed, satisfied with her answer.

"Alright, now how do you feel?" May asked.

"Nervous. Excited. Happy… And a little sick, but I think that's just the anxiety." She answered honestly.

"Well, suck it up! Because it is time to begin." May informed her, checking her watch.

"Already?!" She exclaimed, a little surprised.

"Oh yeah." May confirmed.

Gwen turned back to the mirror, taking one last look at her dress; a floor length strapless pearly white gown with white netting protecting the silky layer of skirt underneath. Around her neck hung a blue lapis lazuli gemstone that had been gifted to her a few years back by her mother, and her hair was flowing loosely down her back with the sides held out of her face by a princess braid that was being held together by a headpiece embroidered with tiny diamonds and evenly spaced pearls.

She inhaled a breath. "I can do this." She told herself as she exhaled.

Turning to face the door once again, she glanced at May and took her outstretched arm, bracing herself for what came next. The most important part of the day, but also the most important day of her life. Slowly, the two exited the room and walked through the hall, out into the church garden, where everyone; all the guests, the musician and most importantly, Peter, were waiting. As soon as they aligned themselves with the aisle, the pianist began playing a smooth melody. Not the traditional music, but rather the instrumental to John Legend's song All of Me.

Gwen stared ahead at Peter, locking her eyes on his as she was led down the petal showered aisle at a steady pace by May. At last they reached the altar where May offered out Gwen's hand and Peter took it without hesitation. She stepped up the couple of steps that were in front and then turned so she was standing face to face with him, ready to move forward with the ceremony. He gave her a slightly shy smile, which she returned as her eyes lit up.