Three years later
Galaxy's POV
"Mmmm girl you look hot in that dress!" Jasmine giggles as I stare at myself in the mirror.
I grin at her, "Well it's me. Did you expect anything else?"
"I'm still jealous you picked Rosie over me to be your maid of honor." Paris huffs.
My little sister turns to glare at her, "She chose the best, don't be jealous."
I butt in before an hour long argument starts again, "I chose her to sign the papers, you to do the bachelorette and Jasmine to protect the ring. No one here is the full maid of honor so stop trying to start a fight."
"Fine." They huff simultaneously.
But Thea, Stacy and Ruby all whine, "we didn't even get one of those!"
"Sorry," I shrug sheepishly.
Going back to my reflection, I smooth down the gown letting out a deep breath.
Today is the day. I finally get to marry my saviour.
I feel one of them walk up to me, but I don't even register who it is.
"It's time." Someone says as they peep their head into the room.
My sisters leave for their trek down the aisle, and I breath deeply. This is it. When I return, I will be his wife and he will be my husband.
Damn that bastard found a way to claim me. Whatever, he knows that no one could ever fully claim me.
A knock on the door tells me it's time, and I find Mark waiting to walk me down the aisle. He's looking dapper, in a suit, but tears are gathering in his eyes.
"I'm so proud of you." He whispers quietly in my ear as we wait for the music to start. "After everything, you still let yourself be loved and never stopped loving others. I love you." Placing a kiss to the top of my head he leads me to my man.
Tears are already threatening to fall from my eyes from Mark's speech, so when I lock eyes with Tyler and he is sobbing, they fall like a hurricane.
The priest does his thing and then Tyler starts his vows.
"Galaxy, you came into my life when I was completely lost. My only goal in life was to kill the Ghost for what you did to my Dad, but thank God I didn't know who you were at that point. Because I got to see you. Not the Ghost or Rogue or even Gaia, I saw G. The girl who was hiding behind all these aliases trying her hardest to protect her friends without letting herself get hurt again. I saw when you got lost in a memory, good or bad, and the effects of waking up from nightmares every night. There was this darkness that you let surround you, but I could the brightest spark when you let your mask slip even just a little but. You drew me in and made me want to kindle that spark into a raging flame.
"Then we both ended up stuck with your family. I could see how badly you wanted to stay, but protecting them came first. This was my first time experiencing a true family and it made me jealous that there were so many people who loved you enough to try and lock you in a room till you agreed to stay with them. But then, you made me stay. Watching each of them come forward to give you their move was earth shattering for me. So when I found myself alone with you at the bar, I drank all the liquid courage I could and told you my story. I fully expected you to reject me after that, but you didn't. You told me your own story and I couldn't have been happier, so I stole a kiss, then ran away so you wouldn't kill me.
"In that first year I watched as you blossomed and this spark grew to be a burning sun. You changed my entire outlook on life. You gave me a reason to exist other than killing. You took a chance on me, and I thank God every day that you don't regret it. Since then I've watched as you made it past so many milestones and built your own dreams.
"As we continue our lives together I promise to protect you even from yourself. I promise not to take you for granted. I promise to savor every second you allow me to be with you. I promise to tease you relentlessly. I promise to make you laugh and smile. I promise to remember the little things you like. I promise to care for you even if you're sick. I promise to comfort you when you need it and to accept comfort when I need it. I promise to never treat you like a thing. I promise to love you to the ends of the Galaxy and back. I promise to be the man you deserve to be. You are my whole Galaxy. I love you."
Everyone awws at his words, but I can't stop myself from laughing at his cheesiness, even while tears fall down my cheeks.
Then the priest tells me to do my vows, "Tyler… you have pissed me off and made my day. You have made my head spin and my heart ache. You have made me hate and love you, but with each contradiction, I've found myself falling deeper into your love. When I first saw you, I thought there's a man who doesn't care what the customs are. You barely gave me a glance before turning back to your work and I admired you for it. Then I acted on impulse and made you my assistant to follow me around and do whatever I need. Honestly, I had no idea what I was getting myself into, but something was telling me it was the right choice and I am so happy I listened for once.
"You pulled me from the darkness and gave me hope that there was more to life for me than just surviving. My one goal in life had been protection, but then there was this guy who wanted me to let others in and to open up about my past. I thought you were insane, but then I learned about your darkness. I had always seen it, but I couldn't acknowledge the similarities between you and I. Every time I tested you, you would find a way to break a wall down until finally, I had someone new to love and trust.
"That terrified me. I couldn't believe that you had managed to dissolve my walls after everything I had been through. I challenged you a lot, but each time I saw you rise to the occasion and challenge me right back. 4 years later and here we are, you still trying to 'claim' me, and me fighting every step of the way.
"I promise to respect you. I promise to laugh at your cheesy jokes. I promise to be the family you never had. I promise to spend as much time with you as I can. I promise to be the change in your life and to let you be the change in mine. I promise to listen to you. I promise to remember the little things that you like. I promise to trust you. I promise to show my love to you. I promise to accept your love. I promise to be your Galaxy."
He chuckles through tears at my ending, and the priest finishes his stuff before announcing, "I now present to you, husband and wife, you may now kiss the groom."
He rolls his eyes at the change, but leans into me as my lips find their way onto his.
The audience cheers and somebody wolf whistles, but they're all just background noise to my first kiss as a married woman.
When we finally break apart a song plays and we head down the aisle together for a few minutes of peace before pictures are demanded and our attention goes to our guests.
The rest of the night goes beautifully with our guests constantly making us kiss, and Mark's friends Shauwn and Ricky hitting it off well with Jasmine and Paris, and even the mafia boys aren't too concerned with trying to outdo the others.
At one point Jace came up to us. He's 15 now, but Mark refused to let him turn into a moody teenager. Jace gives me a big hug, then turns to Tyler, "I know I've said this before, but one wrong step and I won't hesitate to beat the crap out of you."
To his credit, Tyler flushes slightly, "I give you my word that if I do, I will come right to you and your family for whatever punishment you see fit."
A small grin grows on Jace's face at his response. "Good, welcome to the Family man." They bro hug, and then another guest pulls us away.
Too many underworld people demanded to be invited for me to have the luxury of a small wedding, so here we are at the reception trying to talk with everyone.
Eventually, Hector, the new Don of the Greek Mafia and his brother Adrian, grab our attention.
"Congratulations, you two! I am so happy for you guys!" Adrian squeals out like a school girl.
We thank them and somehow the conversation turns to their mafia. "Well, thanks to your training we've managed to take over most of the gangs that were operating in our country. It's going to take us a while to wean their clients off of the drugs though. I would expect the business to be entirely clean in about 6 years. Our suppliers aren't very happy and keep trying to get random dealers from ex-gangs to sell it. We're actually thinking of starting a rehab center with a bunch of psychologists to give them therapy so when they get clean they don't have trauma from whatever made them start."
Tyler looks surprised at how thorough they were, "wow, I never would have expected you guys to get this far. I figured too many of your men would revolt."
Hector nods, "Yeah, well we had a few of those, but I put them in the dirt. Most of our people are in the mafia because their parents were so they were all ecstatic to have a way out especially for their kids. G, I want to thank you for giving me and all the people under me a way out of hurting people for a living. We thought we were stuck, but then you made me this offer and I was like… a 13 year old thought of that! But it made sense and the moment I took over we started working on it and now there's a light at the end of the tunnel."
"You're welcome, but this was all you. All I did was tell you how to free yourself. It was your hard work and dedication that actually did it." I tell him.
Several more Mafia bosses come and tell me the same thing and Tyler just stands next to me with this proud look on his face.
A limo pulls up outside the reception and Rosie comes on stage, "All right everyone, the limo has arrived, so it's time for one last dance of the evening and then the bouquet toss. Can all of the couples gather on the dance floor?"
A slow song starts playing over the speakers and we move ourselves to the middle of the dance floor. We just sway back and forth in a circle because dancing is hard.
"I love you, Tyler." I whisper in his ear as head rests on his shoulder tiredly.
"And I love you, my Galaxy." He whispers in my ear causing tingles to shoot down my spine.
When the song ends, we pull apart and go up to the stage calling all the single women to the front. Once everyone's gathered I turn around, toss the bouquet and grab Tyler's hand pulling him out the door as my sisters all fight for it.
Now time to make good on those promises.