A/n: Updated and Edited on 27th December 2019 - Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays
Epilogue:
Everything is ready. Everything is perfect.
A row of roses line up on the end of each chair facing towards the small archway to where the attention would be directed at. The beach, warm and ticklish against my feet, tinged with the sea salt of the beach's water gives me gentle chills against my bare back. My blonde hair, styled away from my face, allows my eyesight to look out without the locks getting in my way.
I stand outside of the bridal's tent despite Cassandra's warning to not be seen, but I need some air. We're positioned a few metres away, just in front of the limo. The bridesmaids wear a blue off-the-shoulder dress, a design made by Noah and I as a gift to the couple.
The ceremony starts soon. Over towards the archway stands a Celebrant, part of Aaron's many contacts, standing beside the Sky brothers and two of Vincent's friends. Vincent stands with great pride, hands in front of his person, looking ready to be married. Noah massages his older brother's shoulder, eyes past the guests seated on the chairs.
I return his smile and gaze down towards my feet.
A completed school year - and we're only just starting.
My face was getting warmer, and the sun had nothing to do with it. Looking up to find Noah talking with his brother, I take a final deep breath before returning to the tent...
Maybe I should've stayed outside.
"Oh my god, I'm having a nervous breakdown!"
"Cassandra," a bridesmaid name Ashlee says. "Breathe, breathe!"
"Cass, you want a drink?"
"Don't touch her hair! It took me three hours to perfect—no, Aubrey!"
"What? There was a strand out of place."
Aubrey Blackthorn laughs at her sister Ashlee for playing with a curl that fell effortlessly against Cassandra's back. The two girls, almost identical save for the age, stand as Cassandra's bridesmaids, and Aubrey as her maid-of-honour. Despite Ashlee's protest of not touching her hair, it makes Cassandra calm, judging by her red cheeks reducing down.
It nerves my mind to stand in the former presence of a student who lived in room 210 before me.
It takes Aubrey's hair massage and Ashlee's encouragement to get her to stand. Cassandra's dress is a long and elegant, simple beach dress, strapless with diamonds lining underneath the part where her chest fills out. She's breathtaking to all eyes. The excitement radiating on her face is enough to make me want to cry.
Aubrey takes it upon herself to grab the small blue bouquet and pass them to Ashlee. When she hands me mine she smiles. "You're up first, sweetie. We'll start the walk when you're ready...or is it when the music starts and then we walk...?" Her face scrunches in confusion.
I offer her a polite smile. "Weren't you just married?"
She laughs before standing behind me.
Cassandra's dad comes in, compliments his daughter before taking his rightful position.
The tent opens allowing an easy exit. I walk out when the faint sound of music plays.
And although the wedding is to rejoice in Vincent and Cassandra, I can't help but feel excitement and anxiety wash through me when I catch Noah looking handsome beside his brother at me. His eyes twinkle with a new brilliance. It gives me shivers.
When I take my position on the opposite side, emotion washes over Vincent. There is no hesitation in his stance, just pure happiness, love.
And by the look on Cassandra's face when her father leaves her in the hands of Vincent, it's just as powerful. It's a comfort to know how easily she could fall without a doubt that her Sky will catch her.
Just the thought makes my tears known.
Breath cut off, mouths joining as one - there is no definition to describe how fast my blood races as Noah hitches my dress up my thighs until the skirt bunches up in my lap in our dorm room.
After the gorgeous beach wedding where we stood to take shots with the bridal party and groomsmen, Noah and I left to head back to our dorm for a make-out session before having to arrive at the Sky's mansion to hold the reception of the new Mr. and Mrs. Sky. They aren't arriving until later on tonight, allowing guests to go home and change if required.
We have no excuse but the hormones flowing in our bodies.
Noah's hands run down my bare arms, sliding up and down on the skin as he gives me kisses along my neck. I close my eyes in bliss as I run my hands in his hair until his mouth latches onto mine again. I can feel myself wanting more than what I'm giving but I can't tell him to stop.
"You do not understand how beautiful you are," he gasps out, trailing kisses once again on my neck, my collarbone and shoulders. "Too beautiful."
"I love you."
He tangles his fingers in my hair, eyes filling with need. "I love you, too."
Suddenly, his blazer disappears and so does his tie. The anticipation to run my manicured nails against his skin kills me on the inside. He made me crave him more than what I could take in. He consumes the whole of me. And yet, when I try to pull away, I cling onto him. There was nowhere out.
Our make-out session processes to passionate love-making with our bridesmaid dress and groomsman shirt still on. Our love has always been desperate, neither one of us not wanting to slow down, but given the time we have left on our hands we make the most of it.
And when we finish with our sweaty bodies pressed together and lingering kisses to the skin, we listen to the humming of the electricity and the insects buzzing about, forgetting about the world except for this moment.
His eyes blaze with a spark. "I love how we can come back here and escape with no hassle or worry that they will take this place from us.
I laugh. "Why would anyone want to do that?"
"For construction reasons." He shrugs. "They might want to use the space."
"You would know," I say as we separate to get comfortable again.
"Being the son of a dad who runs this campus has perks."
I rest my head against his shoulder. "Tell me."
"Dad wants to upgrade the dorms and build a new set besides the overall ring, seeing how dorm room 210 will be removed from the dormitory system once I graduate—"
"What?"
I sit up abruptly, stunned and utterly speechless. That can't happen. Why is that happening?
He raised his brows but stayed still as the information progressed through my mind. Yet, as I repeated the statement, my mind can't comprehend the reasons.
"You're bullshitting me, Noah."
"I'm not," he says. "New technology is being upgraded in the fourth building and the plan for another auditorium for performing art students is a go for next year. Plus Building E will need another workshop, but that won't happen for years."
I raise a brow at him. "Have you been spying in your dad's office?"
"I don't have to. Dad showed me what was being done to the school two weeks ago, said even though I won't follow up on the business he still wants my input. Mostly Vincents, but I'm a great addition."
"Does that mean your hopes of becoming a world-class fashion designer might come true?"
"I don't know about world-class, but yes. It might help to gain publicity with the many contacts dad has under his belt. I might host a get-together myself."
I gasp. "You hated it on your birthday."
He laughs and presses a kiss to my forehead. "I'm just saying. I'm in no rush to do and become anything extraordinary soon. There's still so much to learn."
"I suppose so," I say, lying back into his arms. "Still..."
"Hmm?"
"I don't know how I feel about the dorm being stripped from the system," I tell him. "I know they built it for a separate purpose, but it's a waste."
Noah chuckles and plays with the strands of my hair. "Don't worry, Sunshine. I'm sure people will fall in love with no need for co-ed dorms."
He runs his hands down my arms and across my waist, pulling me into his chest to kiss me.
"You think that's how I fell in love with you?" I whisper into his mouth, too pleased with the noises he's making as he kisses me again. "Not because of your personality, but because of a dorm."
He laughs, soft brown eyes staring deep into me. "If I hadn't messed around with the system in the first place, we wouldn't be here my darling."
"I can't believe you did that."
I wrap my arms around him.
"You didn't seem to mind."
I huff. "I minded."
Suddenly, he maneuvers me back against the mattress, blanket flopping to the floor. My eyes wide, Noah follows my body down, kissing wherever he feels like. With just a nudge from his nose, my breathing slows but my chest hammers with anticipation. His mouth hovers near. "Do you mind now?"
I play with the strands of his hair. "Noah, we need to get ready."
He raises his brows. "Do you mind?"
This guy.
"I haven't minded for the longest time."
It's the answer he's looking for, judging by the grin spreading on his face.
He moves from the bed steadily, then helps me up. Passing my dress and bra back to me, he helps me dress before he does the same. It's quiet but he won't stop smiling. He kisses me when he can - kisses me until I have to prompt him to focus on the task at hand.
We leave the dorm, hand-in-hand, walking down the stone path to the direction of the parking lot -
"Wait! I forgot my bouquet."
Noah stares at me in question. "Do you really need it?"
"They're real flowers," I say. "I don't want them to welter in the dorm."
"Okay," Noah says. "Let's get them."
We turn back those few steps, unlock the door, and head for the bouquet lying on my bed next to blue fabric that was used to make the bridesmaid dresses. When I grab the bundle, my head swerves and I focus in on the small grey names printed on the edge of my side of the room. Not the Justin hearts Aubrey one, I'm talking about the freshly written names, darker than the ones below:
Sky hearts Sunshine.
I couldn't hide the smile for Noah while he waits by the door.
"Everything okay?" he asks.
I take his hand instead.
The End