A Fiery Dalliance

XLIII

Just at that moment, the harmonium began to sound, and the guests all stood and turned towards the door of the church. Joe's throat seized and his stomach clenched with nerves as his brother offered him a supportive clap on the back, and an utterance of, "Good luck."

A succession of bridesmaids floated down the aisle first dressed in an array of fine colours and fabrics. First came Perrie's youngest sister, Alice, followed by her cousins closest to her in age.

Joe understood them to be Perrie's uncle Jack's two daughters, Jackie and Maria, who looked about as dissimilar as sisters could be. One had the fairest features he had ever seen, while the other, in contrast, appeared to inherit the dark hair that Perrie had received from her own mother.

Lily was the final bridesmaid to make her way down the aisle, and Joe could not help but notice there was an air of apprehension about her. Lily tried to smile, but her expression resembled more of a grimace. Joe did his best to offer her a look of reassurance, but Lily quickly shuffled her way onto the pew and took her place beside her mother. Grace took one of Lily's hands and rubbed it soothingly, before whispering something into her ear.

The tune of the harmonium changed as two figures suddenly appeared in the doorway of the church, one much shorter than the other. Joe caught Perrie's eyes immediately. Just as soon as he looked into their blue depths from all the way across the room, his nerves vanished. The music from the harmonium, and the chatter and gushes from the guests all dissipated as Joe took in all that was his bride.

She was draped spectacularly in blush silk, with lace the colour of champagne overlaying it elegantly and perfectly. The layers of lace floated behind her as she began to walk alongside her father. Perrie's dark hair was pulled away from her face, and she wore a crown of flowers that matched the bouquet that she carried in her right hand. But her prettiest adornment was not the glittering necklace at her throat, but the smile that just about reached her eyes.

And Perrie's smile was for Joe. She was walking towards him so openly, and so happily, and Joe wanted nothing more than to run out and meet her halfway.

This walk was too long. It was then that he realised that this walk had lasted nearly twelve years. Twelve years they had been dancing down the aisle that was life, and narrowly avoiding death (at the hands of each other) as they did.

Until this day, there had always been a barrier between them. Joe knew that those barriers had come from his own demons, known to him, and buried beneath the surface of his consciousness. Those barriers were gone. From this day on, they would walk together.

When Perrie finally arrived at the altar, Joe realised that he had not been breathing for several minutes. Her beauty certainly made him weak at the knees, but so did a lack of oxygen, and he took rather an embarrassing gasp of air.

Perrie snorted a giggle, and Adam rolled his eyes.

"You two really are quite a pair," the duke murmured, though Joe could see that he had a tear in his eye, and he was barely holding himself together. His voice showed a crack in his composure. But he then looked Joe in the eye, and he extended his hand. "She is your responsibility now." It was uttering those words that forced a tear from Adam's eye.

Joe shook Adam's hand and nodded firmly. "She is safe with me."

"I know." There was such a tone of confidence in Adam's voice, despite his obvious emotion, and Joe allowed that to wash over him, as he took Perrie onto his arm.

"Good morning," Perrie whispered to Joe with a devilish grin on her face.

The pure joy and excitement upon Perrie's face was infectious, and Joe could not help but bask in it. Life was meant to be this happy.