Midnight Lover

Chapter One : Two Painful Words

I hope you all enjoy this Fan Fiction of MJ. This will be my first completed story & I'm so excited to write it. I hope you all are just as excited to read it. <3

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~ Rowan's POV ~

"Row, please..smile," my older brother, Gene whispers giving a chilling nudge to my arm. I inhale deeply and grip down on my teeth, giving him the most faked, forced grin while gripping my hands on tighter around the large, gaudy pink flowers I held in front of me. Usually, the brides have their father to walk them down the aisle. I haven't seen my father in three years since he and mom divorced. So, the next person to walk me is Gene, and in not really all that disappointed. I'd rather him be here than walking the aisle by myself. And well, here I am..about to walk into the rest of my life. This wedding, it should be a beautiful experience, obviously, especially for me; the bride. I've always dreamed of having the feeling of knowing that I had someone to love for my entire life, to vow that I would forever be theirs and they'd vow the same in return. I've dreamed of someone looking at me with absolute adoration and love as I walked down an aisle, forgetting about all the people surrounding me. I've always dreamed that someone would swoop me up, carry me bridal style on our honeymoon into a room and lay me down on a bed, looking at me with the same adoration as before.

But, It isn't beautiful for me, none of it. The only person that has made me smile today is my brother, and it was only a fake smile. This wedding is completely forced, rushed, and a lie. It's a lie for me because I don't truly love the man awaiting me on the platform beyond these doors, and he knows it too. I'm about to walk into a room, filled with Lord knows how many people, and tell someone straight to their face that I love them and that I want to spend the rest of my life being with them, knowing that it's a lie, from both of us. I don't love Marc (my husband to be in less than two minutes) and he sure as hell doesn't love me. He's actually told me, to my damn face, that if I weren't rich and kind of attractive and made him look good for his job to get a higher position, he would've never agreed to marry me. I cried for weeks after he told me such. I told my mother, but she didn't listen. She's just like him. The female, elderly version of him. All my mother cares about is money and making herself look good. I feel like everyone is like that nowadays.

Everyone except for Gene. He is literally the only person I trust out of seven billion people on this planet. He's my best friend who just happens to share the same blood as me. I've never told him what Marc has said to me. I've never found the courage to. Just thinking about his cruel words to me gives me rough goosebumps all of my body. He's said so many mean things, I've cried so many tears, had so many sleepless nights.

I swear, if I had a quarter for every time Marc checks another girl out or flirts with them behind my back, forget a lottery ticket, I'd start my own lottery business, shoot. I'm about to lie in front of all of my family, friends, and God. I'm in a damn church for crying out loud. A Catholic Church for crying out even louder.

My mother knows I've never wanted to get married in a church. I've always wanted a simple marriage, nothing fancy and unoriginal. Outside weddings in nature was always a cool idea to me. I love being outside and being one with nature. (The trees remind me how small I really am. They keep me humble. Marc should check nature out some day. Just saying). She knows I also hate the color pink, bright pink at least. So, of course, she ordered pink flowers for me anyway. And of course they are just about the brightest pink you can imagine. She told the bridesmaids to wear bright pink dresses after she found out that I requested lavender and told all of the guys to put pink hanker chiefs in their suit pockets.

I know I seem like a complete brat right now, and Gene senses it. He knows when I'm not happy. I'm not usually the cheesy, smiley type girl in the first place, but I can tell he knows something is bothering me, especially since I haven't smiled a real smile all day at anything, anyone. He probably thinks I'm the most ungrateful person pouting my lip while standing in this beautiful cream wedding dress surrounded by magnificent art and architecture. "Smile..You're just nervous. That's all. It'll ware off once you see Marc." He assures me as he hooks my arm around his. Ware off once I see Marc? If only he knew how inaccurate that statement was. But he's 100% accurate that I'm nervous. I'm about to lie in front of all those people. My mother is forcing me to spend the rest of my life with someone I don't love, nonetheless even like or find interest in. I think anyone would be a bit nervous about that. "Just incase no one's told you yet, you look beautiful. You're kinda glowing." He whispered with a smirk as he studied my face mockingly.

Yeah, I sure am glowing..with sweat. I didn't respond to him. I purse my lips together and shut my eyes tightly, as if when I opened them, this all would have just been a dream. Oh, but it was very much real. The doors in front of me were very much real, very much detailed, very much large.

And before I noticed it, they were very much opening.

Gene tugged on my arm lightly, snapping my out of my daydream.
"Oh, wait, walk? Do I start walking?" I asked him a little louder than I expected which roused polite laughter from the audience. Gene just smiled awkwardly and pulled my arm with a little more force. I guess that's a yes. I started walking beside him, clutching onto his arm for dear life holding the flowers in the crease of my left arm. He walked so. damn. slow. But I know that he was only trying to be a gentlemen and make sure that my wedding dress was flowing behind me properly. I ignored looking into people's faces. I stared straight at the stairway that led to the platform where the Preacher, Marc, the bridesmaids, and the best men were standing. I'm not exaggerating, it was an actual staircase. Like I was walking up to Heaven..or Hell.

Watch me fall flat on my face when I start walking up those long ass steps in these white Pumps. I'm not used to wearing high heels because I'm already tall as a castle so wearing high heels makes me feel like a female Jack and the Bean Stalk giant and people tend to look genuinely intimidated of me. Catholic Churches are so dramatic. Honestly, whoever made this church needed to chill the Hell down with all of these designs and pictures on the walls. I can't even draw a legit stickman.

I see two little kids dressed elegantly, one boy and one girl, standing on the side of the platform, completely oblivious as to what's going on. They were the rose peddler's, I guessed.

After what seemed like minutes, Gene started to guide me up the staircase, keeping my dress neat behind me. The audience "oohed" and "ahhed" when they saw the full view of my dress. As he lifted me into the final step, I looked back at him with worried eyes. He winked at me at held up the "okay" sign. He was the only person that gave me comfort in this room besides my best friend, Mila, who I chose as one of my bridesmaids. That's one of the only things my mother let me chose for MY wedding. The bridesmaids.

I didn't even look out in the audience to find my mom or to see any familiar faces. The amount of hurt that I felt just looking at Marc made me give up any interest I had left in this disgusting marriage. He looked at me from head to toe, licking his lips like I'm a piece of meat. It's too late to turn back now. All of these people have showed up and I am definitely not walking back down those torturous stairs again for awhile, no can do. Mila walked beside me looking stunning, even in that gaudy pink dress my mother insisted her to wear, and took the flowers out from my hold. She pulled me into a tight hug. Only she knows and understands the true hurt I feel right now doing this with Marc. She's witnessed some of the cruel things he's said to me and about me. "You look great." She whispered in my ear before quickly turning back around to join the other bridesmaids once again.

It feels like hours went by, and I could hear the Preacher speaking, but I wasn't listening. I was singing a song in my head to keep me calm, happy. I was singing "Dream On" by Aerosmith, my favorite rock song ever. I ran the lyrics over and over again in my head until I felt a hand tangle with mine.

"Now Miss Smith, I need you to repeat after me," the Preacher begins gently. I nod my head and look at Marc, whose hand is wrapped in mine. He has a sincere look on his face, like he's actually taking any of this seriously. In his mind, he's probably daydreaming about the next girl he's going to bang while he abandons me on our honeymoon. Crap. I forgot there was a honeymoon. That's going to be Hell on earth.

"I, Rowan Aali Smith, take you, Marc Lee Sanders, to be my husband. I promise to be true to you in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health. I will love you and honor you all the days of my life."

Those words that I repeated came like fire in my throat, daggers to my heart but not at all as painful as the next two.

"I do."

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I hope you enjoyed the first chapter :)) Chapter two is coming soon. The story will get better once Michael comes in the picture, which is also happening soon ;) <3