Soundtrack:
Between Us by Peter Bradley Adams – the beginning and Will's speech
I Should Go by Levi Kreis - when Chance and Candi talk
***
"You know, I never did understand the reasoning behind a rehearsal dinner," Ava informed us as walked through the doors of the respectable dining hall. "I mean, we all know how to eat dinner, right? I didn't realize it required practicing."
"Hey, you're the one who insisted upon doing it," I responded, laughing.
She shrugged, happily agreeing. "I want the whole she-bang. We are going to have this traditional wedding even if it kills me."
The dining hall was decorated beautiful. Ivory linen lined the tables, and atop it sat named place cards, crystal flutes and glittering cutlery. Lit candles joined sconces on the walls, and the place had a warm and romantic atmosphere.
"Wow," I whispered. Ava had wanted to keep everything a surprise for me, and I was extremely impressed with her taste. I turned to her and pulled her into a big hug. "Ave, this is amazing. Thank you!"
"When are you going to trust me?" she replied. "I have taste!"
I felt a twist of nervousness in my stomach. The wedding was a mere two days away, and now that all the complicated things had been sorted out, it was all down to the actual event going off without a hitch. I'd had the final wedding dress alterations, made a few calls to make sure the caterers and the celebrant was ready. I never thought I'd get married in a church—I wasn't really religious by nature—but since Will had been raised in a religious family I had agreed to it for him. However we weren't having a priest or monsignor. Just a nice celebrant in a more loose church. Who said marriage wasn't about compromise?
Will, who had arrived earlier than us, walked over to us from across the room. He put his hands on my hips and leaned down, kissing me sweetly on the lips. I was powerless to his touch, and immediately surrendered happily into his arms.
"All right, you two," someone said, and we pulled back to see Shae entering the dining hall with a striped party bag in her hand. "For the future bride and groom."
She held out the bag, and I took it gratefully, peeking inside to find a bottle of pinot noir inside. I hugged her. "Thank you, Shae."
Léon shook Will's hand and kissed me on the cheek, admiring me. "You look beautiful, Candi," he told me, and if I hadn't been blissfully taken, I would've fawned over the French accent.
"Thanks," I replied, running a hand down my navy floor-length dress.
More people began to arrive, and the next hour was filled with greeting everyone from our coworkers to Will's parents. We ordered drinks for them and enjoyed hors d'oeuvres, laughing over conversations of wild honeymoons and marital bliss. Finally we sat down for dinner, and the room was a hum of laughter and conversation. It was a happy atmosphere, and I smiled and leaned into Will as the steaks and chicken dishes were served up.
"This is nice," I whispered, and he squeezed my knee contentedly.
"So, you're marking this off as a success?"
I pecked his cheek. "If our wedding is half as good at this, I'll be the happiest woman in the world."
He leaned back and looked at me, acting offended. "Are you saying you're not already the happiest girl in the world?"
"I became the happiest girl in the world when I met you," I assured him. "I just can't wait for the wedding and then the honeymoon."
Somewhere in the flurry of weeks passing by, we'd booked our tickets to France for our honeymoon. They always said Paris was the city of love, and who didn't want to eat croissants at a café overlooking the Eiffel Tower? We'd considered areas like Australia and Rome, but the allure of France couldn't keep us away.
"Ah, yes, the honeymoon. Not scared of flying?"
"I'm not scared of anything now that I have you," I replied. He put his arm around my shoulder and pulled me in, nuzzling his nose into my hair.
I giggled. "If you mess up my hair, you're in big trouble. It took me three hours."
"Uh-huh," he replied, chuckling and kissing me.
Dinner passed in conversation and uncontrollable laughter. Surrounded by friends and good food, it was hard not to smile like a maniac the whole time. Everyone in the room was here right now for Will and I, to celebrate our happiness. It was hard to believe, but also one of the nicest things.
Once dinner was finished and the plates were collected, the wait for dessert was short and filled with more chatter. Finally Will squeezed my thigh, grabbed a dessert fork and tapped it on his water glass.
Everyone quieted and turned to him as he stood up. I hadn't expected any speeches to be made, and felt myself blushing by this unexpected turn of events.
"Will," I whispered nervously.
"There are a few people I'd like to thank," Will began, his voice smooth and jovial. He'd always been a good public speaker, and he was never nervous about anything. I admired it. "I'd like to thank Ava Donoghue, the beautiful brunette on my left, for putting this shindig together. It's absolutely beautiful. Candi and I couldn't have done it without you."
She laughed and raised her champagne glass. "Hear hear!"
"I'd also like to thank all of Candi's friends who have come all the way from America to support and celebrate with us. It means everything to both myself and Candice. It's been incredible meeting everyone who has helped Candice to become the incredible girl I fell in love with."
"Aw," the crowd cood, and as I met Julie's eyes across the room, she blew me a loving kiss.
"I'd like to thank my parents for helping us to put this together, and for giving us your undying support." Genevieve smiled timidly at him over the rim of her glass. "I'd also like to thank anyone in this room who has ever helped us. Maybe you chipped in for the wedding, maybe you calmed my jitters or helped me write my vows. But each and every one of you took time out of your lives to help us celebrate the beginning of ours. And, no matter what happens, I am forever indebted to your love and support and kindness, and both Candice and I wish you all lives as happy as ours have become since finding one another."
Everyone broke into jovial applause, drinking in celebration and laughing.
Once the volume had dropped, he spoke again. "But above all, I want to thank my beautiful wife, Candice Sinclair—who, in two days, will become Candice Winchester."
I ducked my head, but couldn't hide my blush or elated smile. "It was two years ago, I met this beautiful blonde beside me. I spilled sauce all over her, and I remember being so nervous that I could hardly speak. Here was this sweet, kind American girl—one of the most beautiful women I'd ever seen in my life. I thought she was an angel."
"Aw!" a few people said loudly, and he chuckled.
"You know, if you had asked me a few years ago if I believed in fate or destiny, I would've said no," he said. "But now I know that it definitely is. I was destined to meet her. I was destined to fall hopelessly and uncontrollably in love with her. And I was destined to stand here before you like an idiot, trying to put into words something I could never explain. True love.
"We've been through a lot. We've been through a lot of ups-and-downs, but I have never once doubted us. She has shaped me into a man I can be proud of. The luckiest man in the world. And I know that in fifty years I can look back, and if I'm half as happy as I am now, I'll still be the happiest guy in the world.
"So I hope you'll all join us in two days, when I can finally call the most incredible girl in the world mine. And I hope one day you all can experience the kind of love that could change the world. I hope you can all experience a love like ours." He turned to me. "I love you, Candi."
I stood up and threw my arms around him, hugging him tightly. "I love you so much," I whispered. "So, so much."
He pulled back and kissed me long and hard on the mouth, and everyone broke into spirited applause. We pulled back, and while I bashfully ducked my head, he owned the moment by bowing long and deep.
I pulled him back down with a giggle, and leaned into him. Looking out across the room, I could see everyone looking as happy for us as we were for ourselves. I had always thought I had no family left, but that wasn't true. Family was more than blood. It was every smiling face and congratulations uttered in the room. It was every person here right now who only wanted to see Will and I happy. They were my family.
A table over, I watched Chance stand up and straighten his suit jacket, before making his way towards the doors quietly and unassumingly. He left without a second glance toward anyone else. I looked at Ava quizzically, and she nibbled on her glossed lip as if unsure whether or not to follow him.
Will was currently in a joking conversation with Luke. "I'll be right back," I whispered, and he nodded at me.
I exited the way Chance had left, and opened the dining hall doors into the cold night. I looked around and found him leaning against the brick wall around the corner.
I slowly made my way toward him, assessing his movements. "Chance?" I murmured quietly. "Are you all right?"
He shook his head. "I thought he could do it," he whispered. "I thought I could do it."
"Thought you could do what?" I asked, walking closer to him. I put a hand on his shoulder and forced him to turn around. "Hey, talk to me."
"I want to be happy for you," he told me, and I was shocked to see his eyes rimmed in red and real tears in his eyes. "I look at you, and I can see how truly happy you are. You've finally found everything you ever wanted; I can see it in your eyes."
"But?"
"But every time I look at you, I can feel my heart breaking," he told me, resting a hand on his chest. "Every time I look at you, I feel like I'm gonna die."
"Chance..." I whispered. I didn't know what I could say to make it better. But maybe there was nothing I could say to make it all right.
"I thought I could walk in tonight and smile and shake hands with people and pretend it didn't feel like the end of the world, but I can't. I can't sit in one of those pews on Saturday and watch you marry the wrong guy."
"He's not the wrong guy," I replied.
"Maybe not for you, but he's not me," Chance replied. "He'll never be me. And as long as it's not me you're saying your vows to tomorrow, it's not right."
"What are you trying to say?"
"I'm trying to say that I hope you have a wonderful wedding, and I hope your life is everything you ever wanted, but I'm not gonna stick around to watch. I'm gonna go back and pack my bags and be on the first flight back to America."
"You're leaving?"
"I can't stay," he replied, throwing his hands in the air. "I can't do it. I want to be there for you. I want to be able to congratulate you and give you a wedding gift, but this hurts like hell. Letting you go is one of the hardest things I'll ever have to do. But if you can look me in the eye and honestly tell me that this is what you want, then I have to be strong enough to walk away from this. And you can't ask me to stand there on Saturday, because I can't, Is this what you want, Candice? Is he what you want?"
"With all my heart."
He looked me deep into the eyes, and I felt like I was falling. It was a happy night; a beautiful night filled with hope and the promise of a happy life with Will. But how could I smile when I could see Chance obviously in so much pain; so much agony that he felt he had to leave the country to feel whole again? I wanted his support on Saturday more than anything, but I couldn't ask him to stay when it was so obvious he wanted nothing more than to go.
"Do you still have feelings for me?"
"Chance, please."
"I need to know," Chance replied. "It's the only way I can finally let go and move on. If this is really over, I'll walk away. I'll board that flight to London and never look back. You can live a fairytale life and I can finally move on, but I have to know if this thing between both of us is really over."
"I..." I trailed off. I didn't know what to say. I didn't know how to say it. It felt like the universe as I knew it was crumbling.
"Look me in the eye, and tell me that you don't love me," Chance whispered desperately.
"I..." I needed to say it; so that we could both finally close this chapter of our lives and start our new one. "I..."
"You can't say it, can you?" he whispered. "You can't tell me because the truth is, you can't let go. You can't let go of us, and maybe you don't want to. Maybe there's a part of you that still wants what we had. If there is, tell me. Tell me so I have something to fight for."
"Chance, what we had was beautiful and incredible, and it changed my life," I told him honestly. "But it's over. And it has been for over a year. We're different people now."
"But if our feelings are the same..." he protested.
I shook my head. "It's over. We have to let it go. We have to move on and never look back."
"Why?" he asked. "We had something worth fighting for. And it's not too late to have that again. If we just fight."
"It's too late."
"No, it's not."
"Yes, Chance, it is," I replied adamantly.
"Because of the wedding?" he asked. "We can stop it. You can postpone it, just until you have enough time to figure out what you want. We can talk, and—"
"Chance, it's not about the wedding!" I protested, and I could feel all of my emotions boiling over.
"Then what is it?"
I felt a tear spill over the edge, and finally admitted a truth I hadn't told anyone yet.
"Chance, I'm pregnant."
It was