"I have something to tell you." Grandpa said as soon as he entered my room after a few knocks.
He saw me still nestled in my bed after a long tiring sleep with horrifying nightmares in between. I dreamed about Lauren being dragged away from me and the police officers with devilish grin pushed her off the cliff and I think I had another major heart attack.
"What, you changed your mind already?" I sarcastically said, sitting up from my position in bed and granpa moved closer as if what he was about to say would change everything.
"No but this is another bad news... about Lauren." he said, gaining a look of surprise from me upon hearing her name.
"What did you do to her?" I asked with a note of accusition.
"She caused another mess in jail, unfortunately, she got stabbed and was hurt badly." he said and my heart almost popped out of my chest from fear and agitation.
"What? I need to see her!" I exclaimed and agressively rolled out of bed, knocking some staff toys in the process but grandpa tug me in the arms.
"And what? You are going to runaway with her again and disrespect us and break all the rules?" he said.
"She's hurt granpa, I just want to be there for her, she needs me." I said with pleading eyes. "Please?"
I was very agitated to see Lauren but he held grip of my arm with a terrifying facial expression.
"You know the only way to save her from that hell. All you have to do is be a good girl and do what I want." He said in a calm but dangerous voice.
Just by thinking of marrying another man breaks my heart but nothing's more painful than knowing that Lauren wasn't in a good condition in that jail, she might get killed one of these days and I can never accept that.
And with a heavy heart, I nodded.
"Okay, I will do anything, I will marry whoever that devil is, I don't care if it's Satan, just...make sure that this family will never lay another finger on Lauren or any member of her family." I said as my eyes started to water while grandpa's face lit up.
"I promise. I could also give them amount of money to help them to start over to a different place if they want." he said, suddenly uplifted and energetic as if he just won in a horse race while my whole body began to tremble, I feel numb from all the torture happening to Lauren and I.
"But I need you to do something." he continued, gaining a look from me.
"What?" I asked him.
"Write a letter to Lauren, tell her to forget about you, tell her to never show herself again and that you are getting married." with his greedy, wicked heart, he instructed.
"Yeah I'll give it to you later," I answered. "just leave me alone now, please." I asked of him while I can't help the tears from falling off my face.
"Alright." he said as he started sprinting off the door but stopped beside the doorframe and looked at me as if he was worried about me. I looked away almost immediately, letting him know how hurt and disappointed I was. He sighed loudly and decided to leave me in my grieving.
To be totally honest, Lauren and I anticipated this since the day we ranaway. She always tell me: Carpe Diem (Seize the day/moment) before it fades away right before your eyes. Take each day as it comes and fill it with small things that make you happy. Tell the things you always wanted to say, show the feelings you always wanted to show, laugh like there's no tomorrow and love like you never did before.
But when it's already happening, it's just damn hard to contain your feelings and keep a straight face.
It was the beginning of a sunny day in the middle of spring but my tears fell like rain, my little heart was covered in mud and dirt, and in my head exists a powerful, destructive hurricane.
I feel like falling down a rift, an opening on a land, leading to the raging lava crust, immitating the mouth of hell. I feel like being swallowed up by quicksand in a desert.
But this is the only way to cease her suffering. I would do anything, even surrendering myself to a demon, just to save her from getting killed. I would rather choose to get trapped in a cage than to see her being swallowed up by a heartless beast.
I took a paper from the folder sitting on my desk and held a ballpen, trying to compose my last words for the love of my life. I never imagined I'll be doing this one day and I feel helpless. My hands were quivering from every stroke of the pen against the paper and every word brought me to tears.
---
Everything went according to grandpa's plans. Gray proposed to me, asking if I could be his wife, in front of our families, friends and the socialites in a grand celebration that I didn't have any choice but to accept it and as soon as he wore the ring in my finger, tears started to escape my eyes but everyone thought it was out of happiness except those few people who exactly know the reason behind those tears as I officially died in another tragic death.
One day, when my bestfriends visited, Dinah was carrying a huge present which I believed was a painting and Ally handed me a letter while Mani gave me a bittersweet smile.
"From Lauren." Ally said and my heart skipped a beat upon hearing her name while I nervously took the letter.
"Hey, we know how hard this is but no matter what, you know that we're always here for you, right?" Dinah said, taking my hand to hers and I nodded as an answer.
"But for now, we'll go ahead, Mila." Normani said and the girls gave me a very comforting hug before sprinting off my room, giving me privacy in reading the letter and engage myself in yet another wreckage.
I ripped the paper covering the huge canvass, revealing a beautiful painting of two birds, freely flying over a field of roses in different colors and a sudden sharp pain settled in my heart, as if it was being violently ripped.
---
For the next few days, Gray show up in the mansion with flowers, chocolate and a lot of other gifts, he would ask me out to a romantic dinner, he would say sweet things to me but non of it convinced me, even a bit, that I could possibly like him too.
"Are you okay?" he suddenly asked, making me a little startled from my seat in the table for two.
Something in his facial expression told me he was really worried as if he wanted to tell me he's on my side here. It occurs to me for the first time to wonder what kind of a sales job my grandfather has done on him about me. He's great mass of charisma, I must admit, but something in his manner so much like my grandfather that a confusion which was not altogether unpleasant settled in my heart.
"I'm fine, I just...have a little headache." I lied.
He reached across the table and took my hand on both of his.
"Do you want to go home now?" he asked, looking seriously concerned.
"Can we?"
"Of course." he said and requested the bill from the waiter. He guided me as we walk back to his car.
We drove away from the restaurant in the failing evening light, which was going in fast stages from mellowing yellow-red into dusky grey, filtered through the trees. The sun sets below the horizon and it is suddenly dark and the full moon has risen, sooner than I ever expected. Then again, for the nth time, I thought if Lauren was also watching the beautiful night sky from where she was at that very moment.
Gray have been trying to make me believe that he got a sense of humor. Then suddenly, under the light of the full moon, he knocks me for a loop.
He said he enjoys playing pranks, he once stole a car. I never met anybody so dull, humorless, inhibited, mindless, depressing, and boring. He pretends to be naive, innocent, almost rustic hick.
A relationship, I have decided, is not something addicting like a drug, but a journey, a circumstance, a choice. And love is a soul residing in two bodies, it is coexistence.
When I got to that part, tears sprung into my eyes that I had to look on the other way and pretend I was watching the Atlanta landscape as the street lights buzz in a very fast pace as we drove down the highway. I wonder if I could possibly have a good relationship with him when all I think about is the memories of the past where Lauren resides.
"Bye, good night Camila." Grey said as soon we reached the grand front door of my grandparents' mansion.
"Yeah." that's all I could answer. Not that I was intentionally being rude to him but I just don't have the energy to come up with a good cotton candy-covered lie, though I'm now very good at it, one thing I learned from Lauren.
I started to walk away from him and entered the house without bothering to look back and it wasn't long when I heard the starting of his car's engine.
I just wanted to nestle in my bed and cuddle with my cold pillows, I lay awake under the field of stars, the city I grew up in, seemed sad and alien.
In the early light of dawn, as the vultures flexed their wings along the rooftop, I was on the same spot, still lying awake, staring down at a photograph of Lauren and I as we smile for the camera with stars in our eyes and I thought about the memories of our tragic love story.
--
Everything's perfectly prepared for the wedding, the gown, the venue, the food, the groom, every single detail except the bride herself.
I asked my parents if they could switch the venue, I doesn't wanna get married to a place that reminds me of Lauren and everything we did. But the elders' minds won't change. They said it's the perfect place for my wedding and that's what I dreamed about when I was a kid, to get married in the island. They were right but not with anybody else but with the person I'm truly in love with.
We all went to the island five days before the wedding except the groom and his family.
I felt so nervous just by watching as the island getting closer especially when I took another step to the place special for Lauren and I, the feeling was so surreal and memories came rushing back.
"Hey." Dinah said as soon as we walked down the perimeter leading to the main house, my other friends stood beside me and we shared a smile.
"Are you okay?" She asked while she took my hand on hers and Mani and Ally looked at me with another sympathetic smile.
"Yeah, I guess." I simply said, trying to convice them but the conciseness of my voice let them know it was just a crooked lie, they decided not to ask any further, they know my emotions would burst out eventually and they would never like to deal with another crying Camila.
There were purple and white crocus, daffodils and beach roses in full bloom covering each sides of the patio. Trees were dancing in the wind and the air smells like lemons and seaweeds and a little like salvation.
I looked back at the dock, to the same spot where Lauren's green eyes paralyzed my senses for the first time and I had trouble breathing.
There was the same pungent taste of depression in my mouth and I decided to look away and close the main house door.
I refused playing with the littles like I used to do when we were in the island, I doesn't have the energy to swim and hang out with my friends and most especially, to roam around the island and visit the cabins, the places where memories of us resides.
--
Two days before the wedding, I was with my friends and cousins in the playroom for a weird despedida de soltera (bridal shower) where boys joined the girls even if they shouldn't, according to tradition.
"Are you ok?" Harry asked.
"Yeah." I nodded and faked a smile.
"Everything's gonna be okay, Karla." Katie said, holding my hand and I nodded as an answer.
Dinah and Ally made a cake for me. Harry and Niall dedicated a song for me. Mani asked to dance with me and Louis started the games and gave me presents. These people were the only ones who truly understand the heaviness of my situation, the melancholy I was going through and I'm really nothing but thankful for their existence.
That night, I decided to break away and let it all out. I drank a little too hard than I ever did before and finally cried in front of my friends, letting out all the emotions without filters.
"It's just fuckin' hard to forget about the things we used to do when every little thing reminds me of her. Every single day without Lauren is hard to swallow and it tears me up even more when I think of causing her another heartbreak by marrying a man I barely even know." I stated, holding grip of the bottle of beer in my hand as tears once again escaped my eyes.
"Camila, you know what they say," Niall said in a serious tone. "you don't marry someone you can live with you, marry the person you cannot live without and everyone in this room knows that it's definitely Lauren, not Gray."
The look on their faces made me realize how I affect my friends and bring out the melo dramatic side of them, even these bubbly boys who used to goof around in times when we were in the island.
"You still have enough time to back out." Harry reminded.
"But" I tearfully said. "this is the only way to save Lauren, I-I can't stomach seeing her get hurt again, it's killing me."
My friends gave me a bittersweet smile, trying hard to be as strong as they can to be the wall I could lean into when I feel so weak. The girls cried with me and wrapped me in their arms supportively.
"Would your grandfather kill me if I take Lauren in this island right now and bring her back to Camila?" Dinah said, talking to Louis and Katie.
"Uhm probably." Louis answered, gaining bitter chuckles from us.
"I'm gonna be fine, I promise." I told them as Ally helped me wipe the tears running down my face. "Not today but, I will be...someday."
Call me a massuchist, crazy, suicidal, whatever you want but this is the only way I know I could save Lauren and give her the life that she deserves, a life where she can grow and find what can really make her happy, a life where her family would be so proud of her, a life without me and my devilish, greedy family, the beautiful family of the Cabello's.
I told my friends to continue and enjoy the party, I just need to go and inhale some fresh air.
I walked out of the playroom and into the hallway, leading to the elevator. As soon as the door closed and my reflection was clearly seen on the mirror, another pile of sadness settled in my heart. I saw the old Camila with dark bags under her eyes, a weak smile and depression was written all over her face.
I walked out as soon as the door opened and find my way to the beach, to the same spot where Lauren and I went skinny dipping, where I unravel myself to her without any pretentions and where I told her the things I wanted to tell her for the first time.
I walked past the huge rock where we hid when mami almost caught us naked in the water and from that spot, I saw the east cabin where the library was, the place where we had our first kiss. I remember running away from her after kissing her unintentionally while we were both lying on the floor. I smiled and continued walking until I saw the tree house where Lauren officially called me her bestfriend. I remember we used to argue about calling each other bestfriends and sneakily touch each other under the sheets but can't tell anybody about it, especially the elders. I walked further and stood in front of the tree where Lauren scribbled 'Camren', when time was on our side and life was easy.
I felt chills up and down my spine and decided to go back and from the distance I saw the west cabin where the art room was located.
I stopped myself at first but was defeated by the thought of seeing that room for the last time.
I sprinted off to the cabin and my heart beat faster when I finally laid eyes in the very familiar room, it still looked the same as if it wasn't visited at all after the last time I was there with Lauren. I walked slowly and saw the art materials that Lauren used before, I saw the well folded blankets and sheets we used to lie into. There was a yarn imperfectly wrapped in a bobbin placed on the side of the table. The walls were covered in wallpapers and mostly Lauren's beautiful drawings and doodles. I walked further and saw the other artworks Lauren made. She turned this room into her very own studio, her very own wonderful world where I love to dwell, a place where I fell in love with her even deeper.
I saw her painting of a horse, the cabins and what sent me chills was the painting Lauren made for my grandparents, the painting that brought everyone to tears but now it's in the darkest corner of an empty room.
I took a seat on the same office chair we used to sit in, we even had countless made out sessions in that position and it brought me again to tears.
I noticed another painting facing the wall, out of curiousity, I took it to have a better view and I almost had a heart attack, seeing a painting of me...naked.
I remember when Lauren asked me if she could paint me naked and I refused but Lauren was so determined, she didn't tell me she really did it though. I smiled and let the tears fall from my eyes.
I set the blanket on the floor and lie for awhile and remembered Lauren's touch and hot kisses, I let myself drift into memories of her until I fell asleep and dreamed about Lauren and her hypnotizing green eyes...again.
"Wake up, Camila..." A familiar sweet smoky voice said in the edge of my sleep.
"Hmm?" I said, with my eyes closed.
"Hey wake up Camz!" she exclaimed and I abruptly sat up from bed, meeting eyes with the prettiest face I always love.
"Lauren?!" I said in confusion, part of me was simply puzzled but the biggest part was beyond overwhelmed to see her green eyes again.
"Hi," she greeted with a big smile. "I have been waking you up for about thirty minutes. What happened to you last night? You're so drunk." she said, pouring a cold water on a glass as if she have been up early, impatiently waiting for me to wake up.
"Here drink this." she put the glass on the floor in front of me and gave me her usual angel smile, just like the first few days when she was here in the island when Dinah had a terrible hangover.
"And look what I made for breakfast! Tada!" She exclaimed and excitedly took the tray of breakfast from the table and placed it next to the water.
"Pancakes." I mumbled, looking over the food.
"Yeah it's a little too thick and I got
just a little syrup just because...well, Maria and abuela and your mami was in the main house kitchen this early in the morning, making their breakfast and literally just running around, I think there's another party but I had to sneak out this pancake mix so I can make you breakfast." she explained.
"Hey, it's okay. Thanks for doing this." I said, giving her a warm smile that she reciprocated abruptly and then suddenly she wrapped me in her arms that surprised me for sure but I found myself melting down in her arms as she buried her face in the crook of my neck and smelled my perfume, sending chills up and down my spine and causing me to shiver.
"Let's eat?" she said as soon as we broke away from the hug.
"Yeah." I nodded. Lauren sliced a bite size with a fork and shove it on my direction. "Here you go."she said. "Is it good?"
I nodded slowly in agreement.
"Perfect." I mumbled and we continued eating until Lauren noticed I was watching her as she sat there and giggled at nothing as if there was a joke crossing her mind.
"What? Why are you looking at me like that?" she suddenly asked.
"Nothing, you just...look beautiful, I mean you always are but now you're just glowing and it's fascinating." I explained, a little nervously.
"Thanks but you are still the most beautiful girl in the world." she answered. "Don't fight me with that." she added and we shared a chuckle and she leaned in, kissing my forehead.
It seems to me that she just have been waiting for me to visit the west cabin, the art room, the place we learn to call home. And I'm very glad that I did coz this just feels real, like she was really here, like it wasn't just a dream at all.
But like in real life, there will always be someone who would interfere even to our wildest dreams, or in this case, something. There was a really huge terrifying creature interrupting our little fantasy. It literally broke in the west cabin, destroying everything in its path, roaring in anger and desperately tearing us apart. The horrific beast looked like a combination of a white polar bear and a huge otter with dazzling red eyes, large fangs, sharp claws and a roar that anybody would totally and immediately get frightened.
"Camz!" Lauren yelled, tucking me protectively into her arms like the one she did when we were in our little apartment.
But no matter how tight she held me, it would never be enough for the beast to take her away and slam her against the wall. The beast was about to kill her but I yelled tearfully.
"Stop, please!"
And the beast suddenly stopped and flashed me a devilish look. I was quivering but I noticed the necklace it was wearing, a necklace identical to what my grandfather always wear, it has a golden ring pendant, the wedding ring my grandma gave her.
The devilish beast smirked and ignored my plea, stabbing Lauren in the stomach with his long, sharp claws. Blood immediately streamed down from the wound it created and flow down its dirty white fur. The beast removed his hand, causing Lauren to fall off the ground and I was just standing there, crying and quivering from fear and agitation.
"Lauren!" I screamed out.
I woke up breathing heavily and realized I was still in the art room floor with tears in my eyes.
"Weird." I said to myself, thinking about the absurdity of that dream and I decided to roll out of bed and fix myself. The sunlight temporarily blind my eyes as I stood next to the window and shove the curtain to let the room be filled with the morning light. It's definitely a beautiful sunrise and the salty wind was blowing rightly all over the island. If Lauren was here, we'd be admiring the full bloomed beach roses with rainbow colors that grew beautifully all over the island like another work of art. I bet she'd be painting this beautiful scenery and I'd be sitting close to her, admiring the way she delicately turn a blank canvass into yet another priceless artwork.
I sighed to myself, realizing what day it was. It was the day I'm getting married to a boy, someone I never imagined to be with for the rest of my life. If it's Ed Sheeran then maybe I'll consider sharing vows with him in front of a priest but, well, he's not him so...
I laughed from the absurdity of my statement and swallowed the lump on my throat.
I dashed off into the house with an easy, unenergetic gait. In the breakfast table, everyone seemed puzzled and looked at me with disbelief upon seeing me as I took my usual seat.
"Where have you been?" Mami asked."Did you know we have been looking for you?" Tia Isabel said.
"Sorry, I fell asleep in the west cabin." I answered, coldly.
"Fix yourself, Karla, your groom and his family will be here any minute." Grandpa informed and I looked up, meeting his gaze and noticed he was wearing the same necklace in my dream, then I just nodded as an answer but in reality, I feel like vomiting from the absurdity of the situation.
Everyone was so busy preparing for the wedding. I looked at myself in the mirror and asked myself if I was really sure about this and convinced myself that it's the best thing to do.
I was standing in front of a grand mirror while the staffs were busy making me the most beautiful bride.
Every single detail of my gown was fabulously breath-taking and my make up brought out my glamorous side but the only thing lacking was a smile on my face. But no matter how hard everyone try to convince me, I could never get to convince myself to show a real smile.
My friends walked in, admiring my gown but they looked at my face and felt sadness as well. They all knew I wasn't happy at all.
"I know the weight you have been carrying in your chest. Are you sure about this?" Katie asked and I wasn't sure what to answer.
"This is the right thing to do." I said with watery eyes.
"The right thing to do isn't always the right thing to do, you have to weigh things out and do the things that would make you happy." Katie said as the other girls looked at me sympathetically.
"I know that very well but there's nothing I can do about it. I need to do this because of a promise, not for myself but for Lauren." I tried to convice them even if there was a huge pain in my chest that I have been trying to endure.
"If I could just snatch you away right now and take you to Lauren, I would."
Dinah said as tears ran down her face.
The girls agreed as they all cried along with me.
When I was younger, I would imagine myself in a very beautiful wedding gown walking down the aisle. There would be birds flying around, there would be sweet music playing, there would be a lot of people, from friends to relatives, close cousins, and of course my family.
And there was the man I would share I do's with, he was standing tall on the altar, watching me with a smile on his face but his whole body was quivering from nearvousness but his heart would settle in when I finally get in front of him and people would thought how beatiful we were while there were tears in my parents' eyes.
But you know what? To be totally honest, as early as twelve years old, I learn to create another version of that wedding. A wedding with another woman. She was beautifully standing by the altar in her wedding dress, waiting patiently and looking at me lovingly and we shared I do's and heartfelt wedding vows and the best part was kissing her in front of everyone and they applaud upon announcing our marriage.
Five years, later, the beautiful woman waiting for me in the altar in her wedding dress had a face. Her dark locks dancing in the air, her skin white and rosy, her lips pouty and soft, she has a nose piercing, her eyebrows were thick and perfect, her eyes were greener than the summer leaves, her smile was enticing and her long enthusiastic laughter was addiciting.
But it all fade out the moment I wore this white dress, the moment I gave up on us and let her go but swear to God and all angels in heaven, it was all real, everything we had was real, the tears, the laughs, the sadness, the promises and the love I gave. But I guess, this isn't just the time for us.
--
The ceremony has started, Gray was waiting on the altar for me, I was on the other end of the aisle, praying to God to give me a sign if I'm really doing the right thing.
Everyone was watching me in my white long glamorous gown as I started to walk down the aisle.
I was so nervous that my knees were so weak and could possibly cause me to collapse anytime.
The matrimonial music was playing in the background while I take every step but there was something else playing in my head, not a music nor a poem but Lauren's words from the letter she gave me as an answer to my letter. The letter that broke my heart and brought me to tears every night.
My Camila,
Hey, I received your letter and I want you to know that I'm not mad at you. I'm mad of the situation, I'm mad that no matter how hard we fight for us, it seems to me that we're just puppies fighting against wolves.
If I only knew they would snatch you away from me again, I should have kissed you harder, I should have held you closer and never let go, I should have wished on a shooting star that it would last forever.
It is still hard to understand how we ended up separated but I want you to take care of yourself.
Whenever you look at yourself in the mirror, I want you think that no matter what you are going through, you are still the most beautiful girl in the world.
Whenever you put on your clothes everyday and at night when you take them off, think that I was still the one doing that for you.
When the wind blows and the air embraced you, think that I was just holding you and in bed where you lay, when you embrace your favorite pillow, think that I was the one you are holding.
When you go back in the island, and there's seem no one who can understand you, go to the garden, stand in front of the statue of Mary holding her wounded son, Jesus in her arms and pray, ask the heavens for peace and I know He'll grant that right away coz you're an angel, remember? When your heart covered in fear, go to the cliff and jump, feel the ocean embracing you and think that I was with you. Do the things we used to do in the island and don't forget to smile as you watch the sun blend in the ocean thin.
Promise me you'll be alright.
And I don't want you to worry about me, your face is scribled in my memory and your soul will always linger inside my heart.
If you ever miss me, just look up and watch the rising and the setting of the sun, and the moon and stars at night, in another place wherever I am, I'll be watching the sunrise, the sunset, the moon and stars with you. I would whisper the feelings I have for you and the wind will carry it to where you are.
From the very start, I know my heart belongs to you.
I won't say goodbye, I don't want to, I just want to say so long and I'll see you again. I know that day will come, when we can fly together like two butterlies in the meadow but until then, I'll be standing strong and brave like a wild flower and wait until you find me again and hold me in your arms.
Please don't forget that I love you Camz. Forever.
Love,
Lauren
I succeeded reaching the altar.
My grandparents looked very happy, my parents, even Sofi who doesn't have the slightest idea as to why I need to marry this man, and pretty much everyone was very happy to finally be there and witness our wedding.
"We are gathered here today to celebrate one of life's greatest moments, and to cherish the words that shall unite Karla Camila Cabello and Grayson Curtis in marriage." The priest said and each word brought me to tears, my whole body quivering and even in open air, I felt like sweating in agitation and fear.
"Marriage is a promise between two people who love each other and who trust that love, who honor each other as individuals and who choose to spend the rest of their lives together.This ceremony will not create a relationship that does not already exist between you. It is a symbol of how far you have come for the past few years. It is a symbol of the promises you will make for each other to continue going stronger as individuals and as partners.
No matter what challenges you face, you will face them together and no matter how much you succeed, you now succeed together." he continued and every word was like a knife being burried in my chest. I wanted to runaway, I wanted to tell the priest to stop, I wished that it was just a sad dream and I'll wake up, running into Lauren's arms and cry. But it wasn't a dream, I tried closing my eyes and opening it again, only to find myself in the same spot, I was still in front of a priest next to a boy I hardly know and I'm in the middle of my own wedding.
"The love between you joins you now as one." The priest said with the sense of finality. I wonder if how many people he already unite in marriage without even the love in between that he was talking about.
"Karla Camila Cabello, do you take Grayson Curtis as your lawfully wedded husband for sickness and in health, for richer or for poorer 'till death do you part?" And there he was, asking me the million dollar question. The question I fear the most. Can I say no? Can I just shake my head and leave? I noticed two birds resting on a tree near to where we stood and reminded me of the painting Lauren gave me.
"Karla?" he said, interrupting my train of thoughts and I heard people chatting, probably talking about how I looked so stressed out like I was in a middle of a quiz bee. I looked over my shoulder and met eyes with my father who was looking back at me with a supportive smile but I was stopped on my tracks when suddenly there were tears rolling down his face. My heart sank and I wanted to run into his arms, I know this was hard for him too, he was hurt that I had to get through a difficult situation like this and what breaks his heart was that he can't do anything to make it stop.
"Are you okay?" Gray asked, holding my hand and I looked deep down his eyes, part of me was trying to find a reason why should I answer the priest's question. My attention was snatched by one of the birds flying into the ocean, leaving the other one.
"Karla?" the priest said, gaining my full attention.
I breathed deep as another batch of tears fall from my eyes and with a heavy heart, I answered. "I do."
---
A/N: Sorry about the sadness and tears :(