Epilogue
A hundred and five is the number that comes to my head
When I think of all the years I wanna be with you
Wake up every morning with you in my bed
That's precisely what I plan to do
The march begins and I find myself taking the first step, my dress swishing against my ankles.
Looking straight ahead into the sea of obsidian night, I find myself drowning out everything.
I no longer notice the pews filled with friends and family, or the lilac flowers strewn across the side, or even the minister standing in the front of the platform.
I only had eyes for one man.
He smiles widely; his handsome face still the same as it was three years ago when we first met.
“Beautiful,” he mouths, winking at me.
My heart skips a beat and I find myself smiling, feeling like I was the prettiest girl in the world.
After weeks of rehearsal fretting that I would trip on my dress, I found myself gliding forward, trip-free.
It isn’t until I reach the platform that my foot catches slightly on the edge. Teegan’s hand snaps out to grab my arm and steady me. A few murmurs and snickers run through the chapel and I blush a furious red, ducking my head.
“klutz,” Zach mutters lowly, grinning as he stands next to Teegan.
Teegan grins, amused. “Don’t die on me now,” he murmurs near my ear.
I shoot him an embarrassed glare and take my place. Reluctantly, Teegan lets go of me. Aligning myself to the side, I face Teegan straight on as the bridal march begins.
Emerging from the doors, gorgeous in her white Vera Wang dress, Blythe steps through.
Her blond hair is coiled neatly onto her head, her dress hugging her body beautifully. She smiles as everyone stands, murmuring and admiring her sheer beauty.
Blythe looks at me, a nervous smile on her face. I shoot her a reassuring smile. Like any good bridesmaid, I basically put this wedding together, for Blythe and Zach.
Shifting my gaze to the groom, I watch as Zach stands trembling.
His hair is nicely gelled for once and I can honestly say that he looks good. Dressed in a traditional black suit, Zach really does look like a high-class groom…. aside from his signature ear piercing though.
Zach’s eyes are trained solely on Blythe as he swallows hard, getting choked up.
I find myself tearing up a bit, the sheer love and admiration in his eyes for Blythe making me feel overwhelmed with happiness.
It was that look that every girl wanted to feel. It was the kind of look that held no words, only emotion.
When Blythe reaches the platform, she steps up-gracefully- and faces Zach in the center.
She hands me her bouquet, kissing me on the cheek before turning around. Zach takes her hands and I notice how their hands tremble out of excitement and nervousness.
They were so cute.
The wedding intros are soon exchanged and I find myself crying. Here I was, witnessing the wedding of my two best friends.
When I sniffle quietly, wiping my eyes delicately, I look up briefly to catch Teegan staring at me.
He smiles at me tenderly, his eyes softening.
"Do you take Zach Canter to be your husband, to have and to hold from this day forward for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish until death or zombies do you part?"
Everyone snickers at the last part and I shake my head, knowing Zach would include something like that in his vows.
“Of course,” Blythe laughs. She slips the ring onto Zach.
Zach grins at her, his eyes softening with emotion as he stares at the beautiful girl in front of me.
“Do you take Blythe Cornell to be your wife, to have and to hold from this day forward for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish until death or zombies do you part?” The minister asks, turning to Zach.
Zach chuckles mischievously. “Let me think about this-“
Blythe gasps, glaring at him as Teegan laughs, his laughter making my arms erupt with goosebumps.
When the laughter and chuckles die down, Zach steps closer to Blythe to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear. “Of course.” Zach slips the ring onto Blythe’s finger.
“You may now kiss the bride,” The minister says. Blythe and Zach grin at each other before sealing the real deal with a kiss.
~*~
Hours later, after I make sure everything is running smoothly, I find myself walking out the balcony for fresh air.
Stepping up the edge, I breathe in deep, the cool air burning a path down my lungs.
The reception was going swimmingly and despite the small hiccup where I actually tried to avoid catching the bouquet, the bouquet still landed in my arms. I swear, Blythe planned it all along.
When I feel something warm fall over my shoulders, I smile softly, already knowing who it was.
He always seemed to know where I was.
I turn around, Teegan’s hands at my waist.
“How is it that you’re the one who is deaf yet you’re always sneaking up on me?” I ask, amused as I wrap my arms around his neck.
Teegan chuckles, moving forward to lightly kiss me on the lips.
It’s almost been two years from the time Teegan first lost his hearing. I won’t lie and say that these two years were easy. Every morning, Teegan had to speak into a device that would light up green if he pronounced the word right, in order to maintain his speech. During these two years, we also picked up sign language.
Looking back, I really admired Teegan. He was determined to keep singing, to keep speaking-despite his deafness.
It took a lot of work but Teegan did it all tirelessly.
A few months after Teegan returned, I got a permanent teaching position in the children’s centers.
I was expecting another long distance relationship- another night spent in wistful thinking with Teegan gone, but it seems like Teegan had a different idea.
He officially moved in with me exactly two months and six days after I got a permanent job.
Since then, we’ve upgraded to a slightly bigger brick apartment and installed different lights that flashed for the doorbell, phone or alarm.
It was a lot to take in but we took it all in stride.
“What are you thinking about?” Teegan asks quietly, resting his chin on the top of my head and holding me close.
I shiver slightly and Teegan tightens his jacket around me before leaning back slightly to watch me.
“Nothing, I’m just taking everything in,” I sigh.
I form the words using my hands and twist my fingers to make the words. I was slowly getting better at sign language. Of course, Teegan picked up sign language like a pro, but for me, it took time to learn.
Teegan laughs quietly, tucking a strand of my hair behind my ear. “It’s kind of funny thinking about everything that’s happened. It feels like it was so long ago.”
I nod in agreement.
I haven’t really spoken to Carmina since that day I walked out of the house. She was still semi-famous (unfortunately) but the change in songs that she was singing was noticeable to everyone-especially the press.
Regardless of this though, I never stepped up and told people the truth about Carmina.
It just wasn’t worth it.
The only person I regularly talked to was my dad. I’m noting going to lie and say everything became magical and handy-dandy after years of neglect, but he’s making an effort.
Last I heard, my mom and dad were giving each other “space”. I still rarely talked to my mother but when I did, it was generic. It was always about the weather.
There are scars that run deep and will never be erased but I had only one mother.
Despite everything-even if it wasn’t going to be anytime soon- I still hope that one day, maybe we’ll be able to build a semi-civil relationship with each other.
“You’re so out of it today,” Teegan pouts, breaking me out of my thoughts, his arms tightening around me. “makes me feel unimportant.”
I blink, grimacing. “Sorry.”
“As long as you always come back from your head in the clouds, I’ll be okay,” Teegan laughs, kissing my forehead.
I glower at him, unable to keep the smile from my face. “Hey now, Take some tips from Zach and learn to treat a woman right.”
Teegan laughs louder, his rumbling laughter vibrating against my body.
“You know I love you,” Teegan murmurs, brushing his thumbs against my cheeks.
I stare into his beautiful eyes, so many memories trapped within them. “I know.”
Teegan’s eyes light up as he smiles genuinely, making my breath catch in my throat.
“So…. it’s convenient that you caught Blythe’s bouquet,” Teegan says amused.
My heart begins to race and I feel a blush bloom on my cheeks. “you saw that? It was nothing. She was plotting it all along, I swear-“
“Relax,” Teegan chuckles, ruffling my neat hair. “I won’t rush into anything you don’t want.”
I frown. “Wait-I mean it’s not I don’t want us to get married- no wait, I don’t know,” I mutter, thoroughly confused.
“What?” Teegan asks, confused. I know he couldn’t see half of my words because I was looking away from him.
Teegan places a hand under my chin, gently making me look at him.
I look away, embarrassed.
“Hey, don’t do this. What’s bothering you?” Teegan asks, genuinely concerned.
I reluctantly look back at him. “I do want to get married…I just don’t know when we’ll ever have the time with me teaching full time at the children’s center, attending college classes and you flying out to meet the band for recordings and stuff…”
Teegan is silent for the longest time.
I was honestly getting a little worried. I felt like I was walking on thin ice. I didn’t want to make it seem like I didn’t want to get married-because I did- but I also didn’t want to rush him into it. My career as a music teacher was just beginning to bloom and so was Teegan’s career.
“Do you love me?” Teegan asks, his eyes burning into mine.
I blanche, taken aback. “What kind of stupid question-“
“Just answer it, please,” Teegan pleads.
“Yes. I do.” I sigh.
The corners of Teegan’s lips lift into a small smile as he looks around. The beautiful night sky is sprinkled heavily with the stars, and the Christmas lights around the railings of the balcony twinkle bright.
It was honestly beautiful-this moment. It was almost like some cliché fairytale taken out of a movie.
Teegan lets go of me, his warmth leaving me. Fear seizes my heart and I begin to think that I’ve screwed us over. I’ve scared him into think that I was some commitment freak that wanted to get hitched right away-
Teegan takes another step away from me, his eyes bright.
He slips his hand into his pocket, his fingers closing over something.
“What are you doing?” I hiss, my heart pounding.
As I stand there, hyperventilating for a reason that I couldn’t really wrap my mind around, Teegan does the unthinkable.
He sinks down onto one knee.
He twirls a small, turquoise box around his fingers, the Tiffany and Co label catching my eye.
“I was going to wait but it seems like now or never,” Teegan mutters.
I was on the verge of choking and dying-right on the spot.
Teegan gently takes my hand, tugging me forward as he looks up at me, a nervous but confident smile on his lips.
“Aria Cadence,-“ Teegan begins.
“Wait, wait, wait-“ I interrupt, my eyes wide.
Teegan frowns. “Don’t interrupt me when I am about to give a romantic speech.”
“Oh God,” I gasp, wheezing.
This was really happening.
Teegan rolls his eyes at my dramatics, his bright eyes burning into mine. He strokes his thumb gently across the back of my hands.
“Aria, you already know everything we’ve been through. I know that you know everything that you were feeling when all those things came crashing down on us, but now I want to tell you what I was feeling-what I was thinking,” Teegan swallows hard. “Honestly, when I got out of the hospital, half-delusional and crazy, I remember pulling into that deserted lot because I couldn’t remember your address and just thinking to myself I am going to die.”
I blink back my tears when I hear Teegan get a bit choked up.
“I remember thinking to myself that I was going to die, never getting the chance to hold you again, never getting the chance to tell you I love you or how much you mean to me. Those things never seem to really matter until that moment when those things really do start to count. I sat there in that car praying that I would be able to say I love you again, to say to you that you’re the girl I want to cherish for eternity. Sitting in that car, alone, I even said that I would be willing to give up my hearing if it meant that I got to keep you. If it meant that I would get to live,” Teegan whispers quietly.
My heart thumps loudly and my ears begin to ring.
He said that?
Teegan looks away, his Adams apple bobbing and his eyes red. I begin to think that he regrets it all. I begin to think that all the work we’ve put into him maintaining his speech and music-he regretted having to lose his hearing.
It isn’t until Teegan looks back at me, a small smile on his handsome face that I can start to breathe again.
“That day that I woke up in the hospital room, alone and deaf, the only thing I could truly feel sad about- the only thing that made me feel like I had lost everything wasn’t my hearing, it was you. You weren’t there. Of course, none it was your fault because I sent you away, but waking up in that hospital, losing my hearing was in the back of my mind because the only damn thing I could focus on was how that space on the bed next to me was empty,” Teegan says earnestly, his grip tightening on me, the blue box still clutched in his palms.
“I’ll relive it all- all the heartbreak, all the tears, everything. I will do it all again if it always leads to same the result- you and me. I may not be the best option for you but I would lay it all down-everything I have- for you. So Aria Cadence,” Teegan grins at me. “I am asking you-begging you- to please be my wife, my one and only forever.”
I stare at Teegan, the wind rustling my dress and making Teegan’s messy hair fall in his face.
“Will I get all the raisins in the Raisin Brand?” it was such a random thing to say at that moment, but I couldn’t even stop the words from leaving my lips.
Teegan stands up slowly, his hands snaking into my loose hair, his nose brushing against mine. His breathing ragged.
“Is that a yes? Please let it be a yes,” Teegan says in a gravely tone, searching my face intently.
He brushes a tear that runs down my cheek away with the pad of his thumb, his body tense.
“Yes,” I breathe. “Yes.”
A breath-taking grin dawns on his face, his eyes brightening in happiness as he holds my face in his palms, crashing his lips onto mine.
He smiles against my lips as he kisses me passionately, my toes curling.
“You had me scared for a minute there,” Teegan chuckles against my lips.
I only laugh, not even caring that he was messing up my hair or the fact that there was a party right inside the doors of the building.
The only thing that mattered was this boy in front of me.
Popping open the box, Teegan gingerly takes out the ring to slip it onto my fingers. “It’s not a Tiffany Ring, I just put it in the Tiffiney box-“ Teegan begins.
I snicker and Teegan smiles ruefully at me.
“-But I swear to you, I will make you happy. I swear,” Teegan says adamantly, the beautiful ring on my finger.
It was simple. The moonlight reflects off the ring, making the silver glint off the small, almost primitive ring.
“Mrs. Aria Kemps,” I laugh. “I like the sound of it.”
Teegan wraps his arms around me, pulling me to him so my chest collides with his, his forehead resting against mine.
“So do I” he says quietly, his eyes burning into mine.
Teegan entwines out fingers together, his heartbeat steadily thumping against mine as he kiss me gently.
~*~
A/N- This is the epilogue guys. So here's the deal. Becuase i am entering this in the watty's, this story has to be completed and becuase it's marked as completed, Wattpad won't let me post any more chapters on this this after i mark it. So, i will post a new book called "Finding Aria Extra" where all the extra chapters, blooper scenes, deleted chapters and extra POVs can be read. leave a comment below if you want me to do that. i realize that some of you guys aren't my fans so you may not know when i post the new book but yeah, it would appreciate it if you fanned me so you could get my memo messages, but i don't want to force you lol.
I really hope you like this epilogue, it was kind of hard for me to write becuase i don't want this story to end, but Taria will live on. Thank you for all your support guys. the watty voting officially begins january i think.
i will be posting chapters to my Nanowrimo story 'just keep swimming' like every day or so and 'My Hired Boyfriend' is going to be epic (no joke, but i have some really cool ideas for MHB). If you like Finding Aria, check out the two books please <3
Song is will you marry me by Jason Derulo :)
i love you all. Your comments and votes blew me out of the water! Thank you <3