It's You [H.S.]

6.3 | Back to you

Flipping her head, she intentionally swipes them with her long wet hair as she wraps it up in a towel. Busying herself scooping make-up, toiletries, jewellery and underwear into a bag, she flips off Ben as he sarcastically encourages her to take her sweet time.

Shoving her feet into her sheepskin slippers, she scuffs over to Harry's side of the bed.

"See you at the church, I guess?", she bends to give him a sweet kiss. "Good luck with this one", she rolls her eyes towards Ben.

>

Pinned down by an over-eager hairstylist, doing battle blow drying and then pinning up her long hair, Eloise figures she may as well get started on her make-up.

As a result, she's ready first. Standing in front of a full length mirror, she's adjusting her dress and tugging at the thigh-high split. Catching Mer's eye, she playfully lunges in the mirror, double-checking she won't be at risk of inadvertently giving the vicar a heart attack.

Maddie's almost ready too and joins suit with her alternate leg. The seamstress couldn't repair the damage to Eloise's dress in time yesterday, so they neatened the split and, to avoid her being the odd one out, took the scissors to Maddie's dress too, to make it look intentional.

Like Mer, Maddie's shorter than Eloise, but also has a cracking pair of legs, so they pull it off well.

The photographer takes a break from snapping candids of them getting ready and asks them to pose either side of Mer, still in her white kimono. Naturally, they strike the Angelina pose and throw their heads back laughing.

There's a knock at the door and Elin joins them, already dressed and coiffed and looking as glamorous as you'd expect.

Eloise is surprised when she proffers a coffee and a plate of scrambled eggs and smoked salmon for her. "From Harry", she explains, casting an appraising eye over her. "He figured you wouldn't have had time to eat after you over-slept".

She appreciates her delivering Harry's sweet gesture, but notes that's two-for-two so far this morning. She lets it slide. She can't bite. She won't. Not today.

The other bridesmaids coo over how attentive and thoughtful he is, making Eloise blush.

"For the love of God, can he give James some bloody pointers one of these days?", Julia sasses good naturedly from the corner, where she's multi-tasking, finishing getting ready whilst trying to avoid Max waking up a napping Carey.

Mer laughs and passes a wrapped gift to Eloise. "Once you've finished eating, please can you take that to the gatehouse for me?".

"Of course", she grins, eager to have something to do, plus the chance to hang out with her brothers for a bit, and thank Harry for his sweet gesture.

>

Having picked her way carefully over the gravel drive, dress held up in one hand and the gift clutched in the other, she raps a knuckle on the door.

Crispin opens the door, garnering the others' attention as he gasps, "Lolly!".

Peering around his shoulder, she spots the others turning towards her. Ollie, Lucas, James, and Gabe are all quick to fawn over her.

Harry steps towards her, away from Ben who was fixing his tie. "El! You look so beautiful".

Ben spins, tearing up a little as this suddenly starts feeling really real. "Oh, wow...".

She addresses Ben over Harry's shoulder as he reaches for her. "Hold on you, don't start", she wags a finger at him. "Present time!", she hands it over, smiling sweetly and passes on Mer's instructions. "First page. Present. Second page", she recites. "She said I need to wait and take the envelope back too. Okay, knock yourself out...", she gestures, before finally stepping into Harry's arms.