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Vows
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Chapter 13: Vows (Ava's POV)
The next morning after breakfast, I heard the house phone ringing. Mom and Dad were busy talking about the wedding and Ashton was on dish-duty, so I went to answer it. I held it to my ear, "Hello?"
"Ava?"
I froze while wrapping the cord around my finger.
"Hello? Ava, is that you?"
"Brooke?" I asked softly.
"It is you," she chuckled. "Don't tell anyone I'm calling, please. I just wanted to check-in. I would have hung up if mom or dad answered but I'm glad it's you," she paused, hesitating. "Are you okay?"
I glanced at our parents before sitting on the couch. "Am I okay? I don't know, am I okay, Brooke? What do you think? My sister ran out before her wedding and now I'm marrying the freaking prince instead of her, so what do you think, am I okay?" I rambled.
"I'm sorry, I'm so, so sorry. But I had no choice, they would never let me be with Griffin."
"So you ran?!" I whisper-yelled. "And you totally threw me under the bus, Brooke!"
"I know and I'm sorry, I really am. But I just thought that you and Rhys make a good match."
I groaned, "God, why does everyone keep saying that?"
"Because it's true, Ava. I saw what everyone didn't, okay?"
I went quiet. "What is that supposed to mean?"
"It means I fucking knew, okay? You two were in love. You were until he broke your heart."
I sat there in silence, listening to the soft static of the telephone.
"Ava!" Dad called.
"I need to go," I mumbled, hanging up on her.
She knew. She knew. Oh. My. God. What the hell does she think she's doing? Setting us up for a happy ending? No! She's setting us up to fail!
"Yes, dad?" I stood in front of him.
"We're all going to the palace for lunch later. Make sure you're dressed by twelve-thirty, hmm?"
"Okay."
So, here we sat in their backyard again, having lunch on a hot summer one o'clock afternoon. "Ava honey, where's your ring?"
I glanced at my bare ring finger. "Um, actually I—"
"I took it," Rhys cut me off. And I didn't know if that pissed me off or if I was grateful that he took the question I wanted to dodge.
"What do you mean you 'took' it?"
"It's not hers. It was Brooke's. Ava gets a new one."
I stared at him as he leaned back in his chair, nodding towards me. But... I liked that ring.
"I'm going to get it exchanged later today," he added. He turned to me. "You don't have to come, but you're free to join if you'd like."
Oh my god, what is wrong with him? Is he feeling okay? "I'm actually working later," I mumbled.
"Ava," my mom scolded.
"No, it's okay. I think I'll be fine," Rhys shrugged. What the hell, why is being so... nice? Or has he suddenly had a change of heart and decided to call a truce? Whatever it is, it feels like another game. And I'm tired of playing his games, so I'm going to sit this one out.
"All right," Mr. Phoenix spoke, getting everyone's attention. "We actually wanted to discuss your vows today. There are only a few days left until the wedding. Do you both know if you'd like to write them?"
"Do we have to?" I asked hesitantly. I could feel Rhys looking at me from across the table but I didn't dare to face him.
"Oh well, of course not. If the media asks, we could simply say you exchanged them in private and don't want to reveal them. It's a little lie, no harm. But if you simply don't want to say them in front of everyone, you can just exchange them in private. Up to you."
"Let's do that," Rhys suggested.
I faced him. "You want to write wedding vows?"
"It's a huge part of the wedding ceremony, it won't look good if we don't."
"They won't be revealed anyway."
"It won't look to anybody. Families included," he clarified. The looks on our parents' faces only confirmed what he was saying.
"All right," I agreed. "We'll exchange them in private after the wedding."
"Why not before?" Ashton asked.
I turned to him. "It's bad luck if the bride and groom see each other on the wedding day before the ceremony."
"Do you really believe that?" Ashton scoffed.
"Yes," everybody answered.
"We saw each other before the ceremony," Mom said. "Look at us now."
"You two seem fine," Ashton mumbled.
"We didn't see each other before the ceremony," Mr. Phoenix chuckled. "We seem fine too." He gave Mrs. Gemma's hand a squeeze and I realized their hands were locked at the table the entire time.
"Well, you decide," Dad sighed. "You want a marriage like ours or like theirs."
Everyone laughed softly while Rhys and I looked at each other. I've seen my parents' marriage up close. It's not as good as people think. They argue. A lot. There was a time where my mom constantly accused dad of cheating, a time where they were sleeping in different bedrooms because my mom hated how late my dad would come from work sometimes. I've seen that marriage collapse and bounce back numerous times. And I don't want that for myself.
I've also seen Mr. and Mrs. Archer's marriage up close, just not as closely as Rhys has. But I've never once seen them fight in public. They've always supported each other in front of others, even if the other person was wrong, and then explained to them in private why what they did was wrong. This happened at a public event, where Mrs. Gemma had something that could be read the wrong way in her speech, and Mr. Phoenix completely supported her there but I heard them talking about it later. They're still in love and it shows so clearly.
That's what I want for me. But how can that happen when Rhys and I aren't in love, to begin with?
Lunch ended and then Rhys and I were sent off to write our vows. "Do you want to go to my room? We could go somewhere else too," he said, looking at me.
"You're acting weird. Let's skip your room." I stopped walking and glanced at the double doors. "The library." I nodded towards it.
"All right." I watched him warily while he led the way and held the doors open for me. What is wrong with him, seriously?
I walked in, taking a look around the room that I hadn't stepped foot into since Rhys and I broke things off between us. This was our place in the palace, we'd sneak around here all the time, spend hours hiding in the very back and no one would notice. The room is huge, so big that we were able to hide here even as our fathers came inside to grab some old records or discuss something at the bar, yes they have a bar in the library.
We'd go missing for hours and nobody would realize, if we ever got caught, it was easy to pretend as if we'd just gotten here and were only reading and picking out books for each other because that's something we did since we were kids. Pick books for each other.
I heard the doors close behind me and I jumped out of my thoughts, coming back to the current reality. "Um," I turned to him, "we'll write the vows on our own, won't we?"
He nodded. "But it might be better to discuss them. At least if we're stuck somewhere and don't know what to write. Let's sit down."
I followed him blindly and regretted it when he led us to the same windowsill. What the hell is he trying to do? Take me down memory lane? We both remained standing, staring at the spot that used to be ours.
I could feel his eyes on me while I read the book, my eyes only going over the words, not registering any of them. I think I haven't turned one page in the past twenty minutes. My eyes met his from above our books and he closed the one he was reading, stepping forward until he was completely pressed up against me while he blindly placed the book on the shelf behind me, where it didn't belong. "What do you think you're doing?" I asked in amusement while he took the book out of my hands and placed it with his.
"I'm reading in the library," he said softly, towering over me.
"Really? And what is it that you're reading?"
"You." He rested his hands on the shelf, trapping me there. "I'm memorizing every little detail. So just let me look at you." His eyes slowly traveled across my face, lingering on my lips before he looked further down, his gaze kissing every inch of my body with heat before his eyes settled on mine again.
"Why are you memorizing me?" I whispered.
"So that I know exactly what you look like even when I kiss you with my eyes closed."
"Right," I smiled. "Because kissing me with your eyes open would be weird."
He chuckled softly, shaking his head in disbelief. "You always ruin the moment."
"No, I make it better," I argued.
"Sure, okay." He brought one hand down, tilting my chin up before lowering his lips to mine softly. I went up on my toes as his hand drifted down to cup my face. And we both were too lost in the kiss to realize what this moment was leading up to. "Ava," he whispered against my lips.
"Rhys," I mumbled as we broke off the kiss and he rested his forehead against mine.
"I think I love you."
I blinked in surprise, getting startled and turning to him. We were standing in such a silent room that his words bounced off the walls and echoed in the room. "What?" I asked, watching him wide-eyed.
"Isn't that where I said it? For the first time?" He turned to me. "I love you." His eyes searched mine. "That was the first time and place we said that. Right?"
I looked back at the spot, nodding slowly as I swallowed past the bothersome lump in my throat. "Yeah. It is."
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Chapter 13
I literally said I would update more last night and then fell asleep lmao
anyway, quick question, not really a question tho
I've been writing poetry recently, how cool huh
no, but I just wanted to ask if you guys would like it if I start putting my poetry at the end of the chapters because of course, I write about love there too what else am I going to write about, anyway let me know
yk all the deep heartbreak shit
next chapter: tragedy