Chapter Sixty Five:
It Was Always You
~POV: Jaiden~
The day of the wedding, I was woken up by my mom gently rubbing my arm.
"Good morning, my beautiful little girl." She said, a smile across her face and tears in her eyes.
"Morning, Mama." I said, smiling.
"Come on. Kellie is already here. Let's get some breakfast into you and get ready to go." I got up and got dressed, putting in my contacts, brushing my hair and teeth."
I was wearing a white shirt and white skinny jeans, putting on white converse. I left my room to see everything ready in the living room to go. I ate some breakfast before getting up and going to the now cleared out music room. I jumped on Jack who was still asleep.
"It's my wedding day!" I screamed. He and Zack both bolted awake. Jack laughed and hugged me tightly. "Us girls are leaving. Please, please, please make sure everybody is out on time, Zack." I finished. Zack nodded and got up. "Thank you so much." I said, giving him a tight hug before getting up and leaving. It was already noon. I had gotten up later because the wedding wasn't until three.
I went out and got in the drivers seat of my car where Mimi, Mom, and Kellie already were in the car. I drove to the venue and we walked in. We set everything up before the girls started arriving.
Taryn, Alexis, Sydney, Mariah, and Abby walked in, holding their brides maids dresses. They all screamed and hugged me.
"So, who is your maid of honor?" Kellie asked. I smiled.
"Eliza." I said. Kellie nodded, biting her lip, tears welling in her eyes. Everybody stood silent. Then Adam burst in.
"Hello, bride!" He yelled, hugging me.
"Hey, Adam!" I greeted him, hugging him back. I took his camera from him slowly. I then took a selfie. He shook his head at me, taking back his camera.
"You ready?" He asked. I giggled nervously.
"I don't think I fully know what I'm getting into." I admitted. He smiled.
"Today is going to be perfect. I think it's safe to say that everybody will be sure of that."
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After hours of getting my hair and makeup done, I took off my shoes and clothes and slipped on the dress. Mom gently laced the corset up. Through a lot of the getting ready process, Adam recorded videos and took pictures, just as he did with Aaron. The guys had come on to check on me, but not Aaron. I hadn't talked to him all day and it was killing me. When I was finally ready, I looked in the mirror. My hair was braided back off my face- just two pieces with the rest of my hair was straighten. My makeup was done flawlessly.
"I'm getting married." I sighed. Abby walked up behind me.
"You look so beautiful." She said softly. I smiled.
"Thanks, Abby." I told her. Her phone went off, signaling a text.
"Tell Jaiden that Kenny and Bobbie said good luck." Abby read me the text. I laughed.
"Send back, thanks! I'll need it." I told her. She nodded, laughing. It was two fifty. "It's time." I said. She nodded. We all started heading out, me going behind everybody. At two fifty-five, the doors were closed. I was in a hallway near the front entrance. A few minutes later, I heard the doors open again, meaning the boys were getting ready to go. I heard music playing and the groomsmen and bridesmaids matched up. I stayed back waiting.
Ben approached me. He held out my bouquet of fake flowers to be. He was walking me down the isle.
"Ready?" He asked softly. I nodded. The music for my entrance started and Ben and I started our descent. The area was packed. I glanced around and saw some of my old classmates, bands from touring we had met, all of LINKIN PARK and their families, Abby's family, my old pastors, Johnnie and Bryan were there, Kellin and his family, all of Dayshell, Tyler and Raul. So many people who had touched mine and Aaron's lives. Then my eyes landed on him.
My love. My boyfriend. My fiancé. My husband. Mike stood beside him. We both agreed there was nobody we would rather have marry us than Mike. We would nobody we would rather have standing next to us rather than our band and our family standing with us.
Ben and I reached the rest. Aaron smiled so brightly at me. I smiled back. We got through the giving me away part and I held Aaron's hand tightly. He gently squeezed my hand in a comforting way. I squeezed back. He let out a quiet breath.
Mike started the ceremony with the normal, "Dearly beloved." Then he got original.
"We gather here today to witness the joining of two people. I don't know why they asked me to do this, but they did, so here I am." Mike said lightheartedly. "So, let's get a new kind of show I don't think Aaron and Jaiden are used to! No basses to hide behind this time." I inhaled sharply. Everybody laughed.
"We'll see, we'll see." I said. Aaron smirked over at me. I giggled. That caused him to laugh. We both were laughing at this point.
"We can blame this on nerves. They've been so stressed these pasted few weeks from going straight from touring to getting moved into a house together and getting everything finalized and studio work on top of that. Speaking of studio work, both bands released singles today and Mariah is due for delivery of her baby in two days." Mike said as Aaron and I regained our composure.
The rest of the ceremony was sweet and filled with this of love and marriage, stories of myself and Aaron, and laughing. It was perfect. We had our rings on and it was finally time for the "I Do's."
"Aaron, do you take this woman as your wife?" Mike asked Aaron.
"I do." Aaron said, staring into my eyes.
"And, Jaiden, do you take
this man as your husband?" Mike asked me. I could tell he was grinning. Everything is that moment was silent and perfect.
"I do." I said, a grin taking my features.
"By the power vested in me, I pronounce you husband a wife." Mike said. Everybody cheered. "You may kiss your bride." Aaron put his arms around my waist, pulling me so close to him.
"I didn't get to say this yet, but you look absolutely stunning today, my beautiful wife." Aaron said, smirking, holding me down a bit in a dip.
"Shut up and kiss me, already." I told him, wrapping my arms around his neck and connecting our lips. Our family, friends, bands, and everybody else in between was cheered, awing, and I bet crying. Aaron and I kissed gently, lovingly, softly, but so passionately. We slowly pulled away, our eyes staring into each other's.
We stood up straight and laced our fingers together, looking out at everybody.
"I give you all, Mister and Misses Aaron Pauley." Mike said. Everybody stood up and clapped. Aaron and I walked out of the main area and passed the doors, standing outside the room in that hallways I had previously waited in only an hour and a half before. Aaron wrapped his arms around me and hugged me tightly. I hugged back immediately.
"Oh my gosh." He said, holding me tighter. "We're married." He sighed. I laughed.
"Yes, we are." I agreed. We pulled away from each other.
"Turn! I've been dying to see the full dress!" He demanded. I laughed and did so. My veil that flowed down to over my back and stopped at my butt. Aaron smiled as he looked the dress over. When my back was facing him, he stopped me by putting his hands on my waist. "Your mom let you show your tattoo." He said, surprised. I laughed and nodded. He spun me back around to face him. People were starting to leave. Everybody was letting us be alone to be with each other for the first time all day.
"I can't believe this." I said, leaning back against the wall, smiling brightly. Aaron pulled the sleeve of his tux up to reveal his watch, Of Mice & Men band, and a bracelet that I had made as a joke. I had a matching one, but I had to take it off.
"It's only four thirty-five. We'll be at the reception hall at five thirty." He said. I nodded.
We stood in the hallways talking and occasionally sneaking a kiss until everybody had left, leaving our parents and the others in the wedding party. We took pictures, Adam telling us all what to do. At one point, I started to do a Jay-Z rap while Aaron and I danced terribly. Adam managed to record it.
Finally, we all got ready to leave. Mike's family had waited. He got in the car with them and went to the reception hall. Our parents left and the rest of us got in a limo. I laughed. Aaron shrugged.
"I thought it'd be fun. But we can't drink until we get there." Aaron explained. I nodded and kissed him lightly. I was beside Aaron and Taryn, who wouldn't stop squealing. I laughed.
We all joked around on the way, Ben talking about wanting to score a dance with Shayley. We finally arrived and got ready to go in. Everybody walked in before us. All Time Low was on stage playing and announced the wedding party.
"Austin Carlile and Taryn Korn, Alexis Shippy and Alan Ashby, Sydeney Northface and Valentino Arteaga, Mariah and Phil Manansala, Abby Calderwood and Sam Pauley." Alex announced. They all walked in in the order.
"And for the first time ever, Mister and Misses Aaron Pauley." Jack yelled. Aaron and I walked in. The guys started playing a bit of Blink-182's All The Small Things. Aaron and I laughed and walked to the center of the dance floor.
"And now for the bride and groom to have their first dance as husband and wife." Alex said. Jack grabbed his mic and put his hand on his hip.
"I was there for what I'm pretty sure was their first dance as a couple. They let me pick the song. This is one they should both remember dancing to back on their first year of Warped Tour together, back before ITH was as big as it is now, back when Jaiden was Aaron's bass tech, and back when things were simple. We've been here before, a few times, and I'm quite aware we're alive." Jack introduced the song. Then they started playing Always by Blink-182. Aaron held his hand out to me.
"May I have this dance, Mrs. Pauley?" Aaron asked, a grin on his face. I grinned, too.
"Of course." I took his hand and he pulled me close to him. I closed my eyes and let myself relax in his embrace as we swayed back and forth.
"Come on let me touch you, feel you, all night, always." Aaron sang to me quietly. He held me tighter. When the song ended, we kissed softly before walking over to the long table for the wedding party.
I loved how we had set up the seating arrangement. We did some people by bands, some by family friends, and some by who they wouldn't kill or get drunk with. For now.
Aaron pushed my chair in for me and sat beside me. He laced our fingers together.
"So, my love, what do you want to do later? Our flight leaves at four thirty tomorrow morning, so I figured since we both got up around noon, how about we stay up all night and sleep on the plane?" Aaron asked.
"Plane?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. He smiled.
"I'm contemplating telling you, but I think I'll wait some more." He teased. I groaned and laid my head on his shoulder. He laughed. Two figures approached us. I looked up to see Bryan and Johnnie.
"Hey, guys!" I greeted them with a big smile.
"Hey, Jaiden! Hi, Aaron!" They greeted both of us back.
"This is so beautiful! The ceremony was absolutely perfect and so fitting for you two." Bryan said.
"Thank you! I'm glad you've enjoyed yourself so far. Just wait until the real party starts and I take off the heels." I said with a wink.
"Woah! Don't need to know that much!" Johnnie said. I laughed and shook my head while Aaron blushed.
"No! I brought Converse to change into. This afternoon, I was wearing all white before the wedding. Right down to my Converse." I explained. Aaron sighed and rested his head against his hand.
"My gosh, give me a heart attack, Jaid." Aaron said. I giggled.
"Look here, silly. You've messed up your hair." I told him. He sat up and faced me. I brushed his hair out of his eyes and smooth his hair down. "There you go."
"We'll talk to you later, Jaiden. Thank you again for inviting us." Bryan said.
"No problem, guys! I'm glad you could come. After we come back from the honeymoon, call me up and I'll come over and we can do some videos." I told them. They nodded.
"Gladly!" Bryan said before he and Johnnie walked back to their table. Jack hit shuffle of his playlist for when he did Emo Night and sat down. I laughed because it was Sugar We're Going Down. As soon as the first line hit, the girls and I yelled it.
"AM I MORE THAN YOU BARGAINED FOR YET?!" We yelled before laughing. Aaron nodded.
"Babe, you is way more than I bargained for." He said. I laughed and kissed him.
We all ate then Aaron and I socialized for an hour and a half before I went and took off the flair part of my dress. Magic of alterations. It zipped off. I took off my heels and put on my white converse. I grabbed my bass and the girls were grabbing their instruments. We got up on the stage. I approached the mic.
"Okay, everybody! Hello! Thank you all so, so, so much for coming. Some of you from half way across the country." I started off. "As Mike said earlier, both bands released a single today. We have a bunch of other bands here, so we will have a bit of live music tonight. All Time Low playing Always by Blink-182 and I'm sure some other stuff before we got here. We've got Mr. Adam Elamickis coming around and taking videos and pictures. He's a good friend. So, smile pretty!" I joked.
"Jaiden, you're worse than in concert. Shut up and let's play." Taryn said into her mic. I groaned.
"Fiiiiiine." I said dramatically. "This song is our new single, released at three o'clock today. It's called Three Down." I said.
I started playing the bass opening as Taryn sang. It was mine and Aaron's story. I watched Aaron the entire time. His eyes stayed on mine. I smiled at him. He smiled back. We finished the song and then we played one we had only practiced once.
"This song is one we've only done once. Ever. This song is called Worth Dying For. One I kept hidden away for four years." I admitted. I got up on the speaker with my mic and started singing. We got to the chorus and I put my mic back on the stand and played bass, singing. "Beaten down!
Broken up!
Left for dead to figure out
Thought they're worth nothing more
But they're worth dying for!" We made it through until the last chorus. "But they're worth dying for!" I sang the lyrics passionately as Taryn and Sydney sang "worth dying for" over and over. We fished the song, the final notes ringing out. Everybody clapped. We took our instruments off and passed them off as Of Mice & Men walked on. Aaron put my bass over his shoulder and got up to his mic.
"I'm just with Jaiden on what all she said. Thank you for coming and celebrating our marriage with us. I can't believe it, honestly. I don't think many people can. So-" He stopped. "Jaiden? Do you have a pick on you?" He asked looking over at me.
I laughed and nodded. I walked up on stage and reached into his breast pocket and pulled out a pick I had put in his pocket the night before.
"Oh! Thank you, my love." He said. I nodded and walked back off stage. "So, this is our new single, released today at three-oh-four. We timed it so that when I went down the isle, Insert's song would be released and then when Jaiden walked down the isle, our song would be released. So this song is called, When I See You."
It was like Another You, but still Of Mice & Men. It was beautiful. Everybody clapped when they were finished.
"This next song is one that is forever going to follow Aaron and Jaiden because of how many times they've sang it together. Jaiden, get up here. You're singing, too." Austin said. I knew what song it was. I grabbed the mic in front of Alan as Aaron was half way through the first verse. I joined him where I normally do for the chorus.
The song went down just as if we were in concert. When we finished, we got off the stage. Jack put on shuffle again and we decided to do some line dances. We're talking Cha-Cha Slide. Aaron kept purposely messing up and bumping into me. I laughed and just continued on. The dance finished and I heard something I didn't expect.
One Direction, That's What Makes You Beautiful. Aaron turned and held my hand.
"You're insecure. Don't know what for. You're turning heads when you walk through the door." Aaron sang to me, holding my hand and dancing with me. I laughed and sang the words back. We dance together, singing the words. Aaron took off his back bow tie and his black jacket, leaving him in his white shirt, black pants, and dress shoes. That was when LINKIN PARK took the stage.
"That's Right!" Mike said. "The minister plays guitar." He joked. "This song goes out to the happy couple, one of Jaiden'd all time favorites for some reason." They started playing No More Sorrow. I laughed.
They played a few songs that weren't as heavy like What I've Done and Mike rapped some Fort Minor. Then we went back to shuffle music. We had fun until it was time to cut the cake. Aaron and I did that right surprisingly.
Then we were good children and were mature about the tradition of feeding each other the cake. Until Aaron bit my finger. I jumped back in surprise and he laughed, putting his arm around my waist and pulling me in for a kiss. After cake was served, we all also got champagne. People stood and made toasts. It was a bit boring. Abby's wasn't for mine. She had my cringing so bad. Aaron couldn't stop laughing. Finally I stood, taking the mic that was passed to me from Sam, even though it was unplanned.
"I want to make a toast to some people. To my beautiful ladies who have stood by me through everything. To Of Mice & Men for becoming my brothers. To Dayshell, for helping me from the start.
"To my family, the one I have from my home back among the hills. To my new family, the one I have from California. To my husband, my love. I can't wait to spend the rest of my life with you.
"And also to my maid of honor- my little sister, Eliza. Eliza died a few years ago. She was my best friend as well as my sister. I know she's looking down with a big grin yelling, "You can turn off your reminder that goes off every month on the twelfth at five o'clock! He does love you!" I know she'd be proud of how far we've all come. I know she would have adored to meet Aaron and be able to scare him and be here to crack Helen Keller jokes at inappropriate moments through her toast. To Eliza." I said.
"To Eliza." Everybody said back. I took a drink, trying to swallow the lump in my throat. I sat down and Aaron put his arm around me.
"Are you okay?" He whispered in my ear. I nodded. He kissed the side of my head softly. We all finished our cake and Aaron stood up, picking up the mic. He flipped it on and began talking.
"Okay, everyone. I was allowed to plan the honeymoon by myself. I did help plan the wedding. It wasn't all one sided. But the honeymoon was all up to me. I've refused to tell Jaiden where we're going, so I figured, why not now?" Aaron said. He took my hand and pulled me up with him. "I've never been so I said, why not? I'm sure you'd love it, too, so. We're going to Disney World." I gasped. "Disney Land is fun, but we go a lot. I thinks Disney World will be quite the adventure. I've already got the cliche just married ears." Aaron said. I laughed and hugged him. He hugged back, laughing, too.
"You're crazy." I told him.
"Crazy for you." He replied. I shook my head and kissed him. We all got up. People with kids started to leave. We turned on Jimmy Buffet and broke out the margaritas. Mom drank one. It was great.
I sang along with my mom to 5 O'Clock Somewhere loudly as we danced along happily. We laughed the night away. Around eleven thirty, All Time Low and Of Mice & Men disappeared. Aaron and I didn't notice until around one when we went to leave, everybody who was left (that was actually a large number.) was yelling goodbyes. The guys had tied cans to Aaron's car and written Just Married all over it. We laughed and made our way to the car. Aaron opened my door for me and helped me in before getting in the drivers seat. We drove off, everybody still yelling behind us. Aaron and I held hands over the console.
"I'm hungry." Aaron said. "Let's go get pizza." He declared. We stopped at a 24 hour pizza place. We walked in- still in our clothes from the wedding. We ordered a pizza to go and sat down to wait. "Hey, who caught the bouquet?" He asked.
"It was Jack, I think." I said. Aaron laughed.
"I'm not surprised." He said.
"Why'd you bite me, earlier?" I asked. He grinned and shook his head.
"Felt like it." He said. I shook my head and moved so I was sitting beside him. He put his arm around me and I put my head on his chest. "Sleepy?" He asked me, kissing the top of my head. I nodded. "We can go home and sleep a little. Did your mom get drunk?" He asked. I chuckled and nodded. I looked over to see two girls approaching us, a guy in tow.
"Are you guys Aaron Pauley and Jaiden Rutabaga?" The one girl asked.
"Yes and no." I answered. "He's Aaron Pauley and I'm Jaiden Pauley. We literally just came from the reception." I explained. The girls gasped and fangirled. They asked for a picture, which we happily took. "Did you hear the new singles?" I asked. All three nodded.
"We played them for the first time live at the wedding." Aaron said. "And it was fine!" He grinned proudly.
"He's a little buzzed." I explained quietly.
"Says Miss. Margaritaville." Aaron scoffed. I stuck my tongue out at him. Then we were called for our pizza. We said goodbye to the fans and got back in the car. We drove home. I got out of the car after Aaron and he was coming around to me. "I've got to carry you!" He said.
"Why?" I asked slowly.
"Because the groom always carries the bride over the threshold!" He said. He picked me and and kicked the car door shut. He carried me up to the front door and I unlocked it. I opened it and Aaron carried me up into the bedroom. He laid me down and sat beside me. "Screw the pizza. I'm going to bring it in, lock the car and lock the doors. I'm tired." He said. I nodded in agreement. I laid on the bed until he walked back in.
"Help." I said. He undid the back of my dress and I slid it off my body, letting it fall to the floor. I picked it up and hung it up. I put on sleep shorts and a tank top before climbing into bed. Aaron took off his clothes and put them away neatly before also getting in bed. I took my contacts out in the bathroom and then jumped back in bed. I cuddled up beside Aaron and he put his arms around me.
"I love you, Jaiden Rose Pauley." He said.
"I love you, too, Aaron Charles Pauley." I said back. He shook his head.
"This is all so surreal. I can't believe it." He whispered. I kissed him.
"You better believe it. I'm here to stay." I whispered.
"Good. I want yo to stay. I could never find anybody to replace you. I will never find another you."
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A/N: I probably shoulda just stopped here. But of course, I didn't.
Rereading this months after written, and I cringe. It woulda been alright without Bryanstars (the asshole) and the mini concert. Oh well. Doubt anyone will get this far anyways.