Fast forward to 6 years later...
"Is she done yet?" Kelsi asked, her bright eyes sparkling with excitement as she looked at me through the dressing table mirror.
The make up artist, Aubrey rolled her eyes playfully for the fifth time as she carefully curled my last few strands of hair, creating beautiful wavy locks. "Well isn't she patient?" She teased and I let out a soft chuckle.
"Very," I turned to look at Kelsi who was sat right behind me on my bed, already dressed in a blush pink dress I chose for my maid of honour. It was a simple dress, embellished with some crystals around the waist area, the chiffon material flowing down nicely which stopped right at her ankles.
Kelsi looked at me, giving me a sheepish smile.
Aubrey took the flower crown veil that was sitting on the side table and gently placed it on top of my head. The array of flowers came together to create a beautiful design, adding some colour to my plain white wedding dress.
"Thank you so much," I said with a grateful smile before hopping off the chair I had been sitting in for the past few hours.
I made my way to where the full length mirror was at, still right beside my wardrobe, the college poster replaced with one of the wedding pictures I took with Jax. We were standing in the middle of a field of lavenders, my favourite flower. He was carrying me in his arms, bridal style. The both of us had big smiles plastered across our faces as we looked into the eyes of one another.
I can't believe this day has finally arrived. After so many years of ups and downs, I thought I would have lost him to someone else, to someone better than me. I thought we just weren't meant to be, I was afraid and insecure. I know we have been saying how we love each other but I never really understood what it meant, especially when I was that young. But now I do. Loving someone isn't easy, and sometimes pain is just a consequence of love.
I looked at my reflection, admiring the dress I had on. It's plain white and off the shoulder with a sweet heart neckline. It hugged my waist nicely and flows down nicely, the soft and smooth silk material reaching the ground. Around the waist, there were small crystals that decorated the dress, similar to the dress Kelsi was wearing.
Kelsi walked up to me, her arms wrapped around me as her lips curled upwards into one of the biggest smiles. "You look beautiful Shai. Look at you."
"You are too sweet."
"I'm serious."
"I know. Thanks Kels," I turned around to give her a hug. "You look beautiful too."
The door bust open as mum entered the room, dressed in a maroon dress she bought only a week ago. Her eyes landed on me and I watched as a smile graced her red lips. "Oh sweet heart, you look stunning." She looked at me once more before pulling me into a big warm hug. "I'm so happy for you," she whispered into my ear, her voice slightly shaky.
She pulled away from the hug and I could see the tears swimming in her eyes, threatening to fall out any moment. "Mum..."
"I'm not crying. I'm just really happy for you," she said, the smile still on her face. Her arms reached up, placing on my shoulders. "I know you two are perfect for each other."
"You are making me cry."
She laughed, wiping a tear that escaped before leaning in to plant a kiss on my forehead. "I love you so much. Come on, dad is waiting outside. You ready?"
I took in one deep breath before I nodded.
I slipped into my pair of sparkly high heels, feeling like a princess. Mum and Kelsi helped me down the stairs and I watched as dad paced around nervously before he looked up and saw the three of us. His lips immediately twitched upwards into a big smile, the nervousness that was once evident in his eyes faded. "Shailey, you look absolutely gorgeous." I smiled at the compliment once again as he placed a kiss on my temple.
Once I reached the bottom of the stairs, I wrapped my arm around dad's arm before he passed me the bouquet of flowers. We waited behind the closed doors as the other two headed outside into the backyard where the guests were already seated.
Talking about the backyard, I haven't had a chance to step outside to see how they decorated it to be. They told me they wanted it to be a surprise and had been working on it for weeks.
The music started playing, it's our favourite song, perfect by Ed Sheeran, and the door was pulled open. The backyard was decorated beautifully. White lamps laced with flowers of all sorts and a candle inside were hanging on the tree branches. The aisle ahead was covered with a pristine white carpet with rows of chairs by the side. I looked ahead to see a large frame decorated with white and light pink roses, lace curtains hanging by the side. In the middle of the frame hung an expensive looking chandelier.
And Jax was there, clad in a sleek black suit, a bright smile plastered across his handsome face.
I felt as though I was in a dream, a beautiful one, a dream that I would never want to wake up from.
I walked ahead as the sun was shining down on me. I took in deep breaths, feeling my heart pounding against my chest loudly, so hard that I thought it was going to leap right out of me.
My grip around the bouquet of flowers tightened as dad and I slowly made our way down the aisle. Applause and cheers filled the air and I looked up to see Jax with teary eyes but a smile still lingering on his face.
"I love you so very much Shailey," dad whispered to me before he let go of my arm to get a seat. I took in one deep breath, my heart still beating faster than usual as I concentrate on my walking, careful not to trip.
Just as Jax reached his arm out for me, I stepped on my own dress and tripped in front of everyone. Jax immediately reached out and caught me and I looked up to see the familiar smirk morphed itself onto his lips.
"I'm so embarrassed," I told him softly, as I could feel my cheeks getting hot and red from the laughter coming behind me.
"Don't have to," he said before pulling me back up to my feet, his fingers interlocked with mine as his chocolate brown eyes bored right into mine. "You look perfect, by the way."
The pastor looked between the both of us, smiling. "Today, we are gathered here to witness the wedding of Jax Merico and Shailey Costello. It wasn't easy for them to be able to finally stand here, they have been through a lot as a couple. And I'm extremely happy to be here to pronounce them husband and wife today. You may now exchange your wedding vows."
"I know I may not be the perfect husband, I'm definitely not perfect. I have my flaws and I'm so blessed to have met you in my life, so lucky that you would never try to change everything about me but only embrace all my flaws and love me for who I am. It's never easy to whole heartedly love and accept someone but you did. I am so extremely lucky to have you by my side all this time, so that we can grow together and live life together. I didn't know the perfect woman exist until I met you. You are intelligent, kind, sweet, talented and beautiful, both on the inside and outside. I can't wait to wake up right beside you every morning, I can't wait to call you my wife. I promise to love you even till the day I die."
I bit my lower lip, holding back the tears that were swimming in my eyes. My lips curled upwards into a smile as Jax reached up to wipe away a stray tear.
I took in one deep breath. "Jax Merico. When I first met you, I got to admit, I didn't want anything to do with you. Sure, you are charming, handsome and the boy that every girl would kill for..." I laughed. "But I always thought you appeared to be arrogant and rude. Then I got to know you better, and I realised I got everything wrong. I found this sweet, loving , amazing, and still charming guy. I am so blessed and thankful to have met you in my life. I am absolutely lucky to have someone who would always be there for me no matter what. And I too, can't wait to wake up right beside you every morning and call you my husband. I love you so much."
Applause rang loudly behind me and I turned around to see mum leaning on dad as she wiped her tears. "You may now exchange your rings," the pastor announced once the applause died down.
Kelsi handed me the ring and I took it carefully, slipping the ring onto his ring finger. Jax did the same. He took my hand in his and just as he was about to slip the ring onto my finger, he fumbled and the ring fell onto the ground.
Gasps were heard while some only laughed. I turned around to see some people stood up from their seats, ready to help us find the fallen ring.
"Found it!" Jax exclaimed, holding the ring up high for everyone to see as the guests only laughed.
He stood back up, easily slipping the ring onto my ring finger as well. "Now they won't remember how you tripped earlier," he said softly, giving me a wink.
No words said, as I wrapped my arms around him and pulled him in for a kiss.
A/N:
Hello lovely readers! Thank you so so much for all the support and love, it really makes my day ❤️ Here's the epilogue I have been wanting to update in the longest time and I finally thought of the best possible way to properly end this story.
I really hope you enjoyed this chapter, even the whole story. If you do, don't forget to vote, comment and share 💖 Also, I apologise if things don't seem right because it's my first time writing a wedding scene, so I'm just trying my best to make it as accurate as possible.
Anyway, there will not be a sequel to this but I will be uploading bonus chapters. You can leave requests and I will try my best to write them 😊
s/n did anyone catch my song references?
Much love,
Rachel xoxo