Around Two Years Earlier
Cole was throwing rocks at Alli's window.
He knew it was tradition for the bride and groom to not see each other the morning of the wedding... but technically, it wasn't the morning yet. He still had a bit before the clock struck midnight. Cole had tried to just go to sleep, but it was useless. He just didn't sleep the same when Alli wasn't in bed next to him. All he wanted right now was to see her.
Cole was supposed to be in his brother's hotel room right now, but he couldn't relax. The two of them didn't plan on going to these extremes, but everyone insisted. Which caused him to resort to sharing a bed with his younger brother for the night. He snuck out of the hotel room while Sam was in the shower, knowing it would've been nearly impossible to leave at any other point. Luckily, his brother took absurdly long showers. He had time.
The hotel had a different set up than other places he had been to. There were suites separate from the main building that were right on the water. His and Alli's room was there, which was a bit of a walk from where he was meant to be. He thought about knocking on the door, but where was the romance in that? Besides, Cole vaguely recalled Alli mentioning that she loved when people did that in movies.
He was trying to throw the rocks as gently as he could. Really, he was.
But he was running out of small pebbles, and no one was coming to the window.
Maybe he shouldn't have thrown the bigger rock, but before he could second guess himself, the sound of glass shattering was already filling the air and a familiar shriek followed.
Cole's eyes bulged from his head and it felt like his heart was trying to burst from his chest. He gaped at the hole in the window and didn't dare to move a muscle until he saw someone appear. Alli's gaze darted from the shattered window, to Cole, and then back to the window. Her jaw was slack and Cole was sure that he had never seen her so at a loss for words. It wasn't exactly like he could blame her, either.
"Oh my god," Alli remarked simply, nodding as she said it like it was helping her brain comprehend what just happened.
Then she turned from the window, and walked away from it.
Cole blinked. "Alli?"
A few moments later, the door to their suite was opening. His fiancé gawked at him incredulously as she tiredly made her way towards him. Neither said anything as she stepped next to him. In perfect sync, their heads tilted slowly, taking in the damage.
"Oh my god," Alli repeated, finally turning towards Cole expectantly. "What... what the hell?"
"I... I just wanted to say hi," Cole explained lamely, shrugging so harshly that his shoulders reached his ears.
"By throwing a rock at me?"
"No! No, not at you," he corrected hastily as he tried to find the words. "Just... just at... you."
Cole winced as he repeated the words. Alli groaned and her head fell into her hands. "Oh my god. What do we do?"
"Deal with it in the morning and say it was a bird?" Cole offered feebly.
Alli laughed, shaking her head in awe. "You know, I always wanted a guy to throw pebbles at my window."
Cole nodded frantically, pointing at her. "That's why I did it!"
"And they say romance is dead," Alli commented teasingly. She placed her hand behind his head, pulling him down gently to kiss him. Pulling back, she let out a gentle laugh at the dazed look on his face that Cole always got when she kissed him. "But I'm going back to bed, okay? I'll see you in the morning."
"Hey, I'm sorry. I just wanted to see you before tomorrow," Cole admitted guiltily, a bit embarrassed.
Alli let out a laugh, shaking her head at him. She turned back towards him and cupped his face gently. "I love you."
Cole couldn't help himself, leaning forward and kissing her one more time. He felt a bit relieved that she wasn't mad. "I love you."
Alli smiled at him once more before going back in the direction of their suite.
She tried to open the door.
She paused.
She jiggled the doorknob.
"Oh my god, I'm locked out."
It took him a moment to process her words.
"Huh?"
"Cole, I'm locked out," Alli repeated firmly, facing towards him while her hands continued to turn the doorknob as if it would make it open if she wanted it badly enough.
"Shit," Cole muttered as he hustled towards her, trying the doorknob himself once before wincing. He looked at her nervously, asking, "Do you have your phone?"
"I was a bit busy dodging a rock," Alli reminded him pointedly. "Just use yours."
Cole nodded quickly and patted his pockets. He felt relief flood his body as he pulled it from his sweatpants. Waving it in the air, he flashed her an optimistic smile. But then he tapped the screen and it remained black. He hummed in confusion, holding the power button down. Nothing happened. He swallowed thickly, glancing back and forth from his phone and then back to Alli. She watched him with raised eyebrows and crossed arms.
"Phone's dead?" Alli asked knowingly.
Cole let out a wry laugh, hoping she wouldn't murder him. "Uh, yeah."
But she wasn't laughing. "Do you at least have your room key?"
He narrowed his eyes in thought. "If I say no, are you gonna call off the wedding?"
It took a good ten minutes for Cole to convince Alli that everything would be fine and that they would be back in bed before they knew it.
Besides, they could just go to the front desk.
But the concierge wasn't there. No one was there. And the doors were locked.
After a bit of panic on both their sides, they decided the best thing they could do was wait until the concierge came back to the front desk. For a bit, they just sat on the grass with their eyes locked on the building, ready to jump at the first sign of life. But after a bit of no one showing up, they realized they may have to sleep outside for the night.
It took a while to get comfortable, but after some squirming, Cole laid on the grass with Alli curled up into his side. Her head laid on his chest with her arm comfortably rested on his chest. He held her close to keep her warm from the cold air nipping at their skin. The temperature wasn't the only thing nagging at him. He couldn't rid the guilt with tonight. If it weren't for him, Alli would be laying comfortably in her bed. But to his surprise, she seemed calm.
"I can't believe we're getting married in a few hours," Cole muttered into Alli's hair as he continued to run his fingers up and down her arm.
"I can't believe I'm gonna look like the bride of Frankenstein tomorrow," Alli groaned, covering her face and letting out a laugh. "Sleeping outside and covered in dirt."
Cole snorted. "Does that make me Frankenstein?"
"No, it makes you the insane scientist who had the genius idea to start this whole mess," she remarked teasingly, her voice light.
"Hey, the doctor is Frankenstein!"
"Shut up," she laughed out, gently swatting his stomach. Cole chuckled, pulling Alli closer to him.
"You're gonna look beautiful, you always do," he promised softly, pressing a kiss against the crown of her head. "But I am sorry, really. I didn't mean for this all to happen."
Alli shrugged with a small smirk growing on her face. "If I'm being honest, the rock came through the window right as I was about to come see you."
Cole beamed at her. "Really?"
"Couldn't wait until morning to see you," she admitted softly.
He let out a content sigh. "God, I can't wait to marry you."
Alli curled into his side, leaning up and kissing his cheek. "Me too."
Cole held her tighter against him, rubbing her arms to keep her warm. The guilt was eating at him a bit still. He didn't mean for them to enter the next stage of their life like this. But Alli didn't seem mad, really. She seemed just as content as he did to sleep next to her, even if it was in the grass. Cole couldn't help but stare at her as her eyes drifted shut. He loved her so much that it felt like it would consume him entirely, sometimes. But he wouldn't even mind if it did. He would be happy to feel like this forever. His head lolled to the side, deciding to check the hotel one more time before dozing off.
"Oh my god, the concierge is back," Cole noted excitedly as he spotted a man behind the front desk, his neck straining as he lifted it to see.
"What?" Alli asked, a bit more alert.
"Come on, come on!" he rambled as he stood up, grabbing her hands and lifting her to her feet.
They ran towards the building as fast as they could. They couldn't risk this man leaving again. Cole and Alli knocked on the glass doors of the hotel, waving their hands madly to get the man's attention. They got it almost immediately and the man raised his hand as if to confirm he was coming. They both breathed a sigh of relief, laughing joyously as he lazily shuffled towards them.
The keys clinked against each other as he unlocked the door, opening it to let them inside. He grumbled out, "My bad, usually lock it unless I see guests coming. Went to go check something out."
"That's fine," Alli dismissed quickly, too happy to care.
It wasn't as much of a hassle as Cole worried it would be to convince the doorman that they were who they were without their IDs. But luckily, the man said he recognized them from earlier when they had their rehearsal dinner. He must've decided he didn't want to spoil the wedding day because he gave them new room keys without too much of a fuss.
Besides, it seemed he had bigger things to worry about.
"Hey, did either of you see anyone suspicious when you were out there?"
Cole and Alli shared a look. He narrowed his eyes and said, "No, why?"
"Someone called about some dude throwing a rock through a window. Weird, he must've ran off."
Cole's head darted towards Alli, who burst out laughing. Her hand went to cover her face, trying to smother her laughter. Cole joined in, a mixture of the entire situation and their exhaustion getting to them. She fell into Cole's chest and he wrapped his arm around her, pressing his lips against her hair as he chuckled. The concierge was asking what was so funny, but they wouldn't say.
They never told a soul, actually.
It was a moment that was just for them.
It was theirs.
Those were always Cole's favorite moments with Alli.
˗ˏˋ ★ ˎˊ˗
Present Day
"Til death do we part."
They both swore the same vows.
They both stood in front of everyone they knew, and promised it would last forever. Promised that nothing could get in between them, and that their love would last forever. Both truly believed their words— it felt natural to say, as if the words were always waiting to be said to the other.
Love.
Marriage.
Forever.
Or at least, that was how it was supposed to be.
Love was strange in ways neither could predict. It was strange in the way it could slip away like a whisper in the wind. You hardly even noticed it leave, sometimes.
It was almost like how the seasons passed by seamlessly. Love was there one day... and gone the next. You wouldn't realize it was gone in the same way you never realized you've worn your winter coat for the last time.
That wasn't Cole and Allison— they were one of those forever couples.
But now they felt like a stranger to one another.
There was a time where Cole would spend the better part of his days just doing whatever he could to make Allison smile. He knew exactly what to do to cheer her up on a bad day— popcorn, tea, and she would lay in his lap as he read her her favorite book. And on Cole's bad days, she would make him that soup of hers that he loves while watching whatever movie he had been pestering her to watch with him.
They knew every nook and cranny of each other. Everything there was to know, they knew.
It started to slip away without either noticing it.
Maybe love can just... disappear.
Love.
Marriage.
Forever.
What a joke.