A/N: I'm dedicating this chapter to @kara94 for all her positive feedback and for being such a supportive reader. Thank you!

This is the wedding ceremony! I've done something a little different with the style of this chapter. It's fast-paced and there's a lot going on so it jumps around from Harry, Louis and Darby's POV.

HARRY

Darby entered the flat with a small shopping bag dangling precariously from her pinky finger. "I'm gonna hop in the shower," she said wearily.

I kissed the top of her head. "Your mum and your sister are on their way."

She searched my face and I tucked a loose strand of hair behind my ear.

I took this as a good sign. Whatever happened in that hotel room with Louis it wasn't him telling her everything and ruining our lives. I was worried he would tell her, if only to delight in her pain.

And to think, just a few hours ago I was willing to give all of this up: Darby, our life, our future, and for what, for a man who destroyed our band, our relationship, and me, out of spite?

LOUIS

I paced back and forth in my room waiting for the news. Darby would call off the wedding and Harry would be devastated. He would blame me, and even though I didn't actually tell her about us, in a roundabout way it was my fault. I never should have come to New York.

After a few hours I became impatient and texted Liam, asking if the wedding was still on. He quickly replied: "yes," and "why? what did you do?"

"nothing," I texted back. "never mind."

Either Darby wasn't willing to face the truth or she'd decided she loved Harry so much that it didn't matter. I was stunned. She seemed too pragmatic for that kind of self-delusion, but then again Harry makes people do crazy things, myself included.

I texted Liam again, telling him I was flying back to London. He called me immediately.

"Louis, I don't have time for your drama. You know Harry wants you there, whether he admits it or not. Can we please put these theatrics behind us now?"

"Harry doesn't want me there anymore. We had a row. It's over."

"What now?"

"It was me."

"What was you?"

"The Kitty cheating scandal. She agreed to let me take a pic of her with Harry at the bachelor party and leak it if I could convince this new act I manage to collaborate with her on her new album."

"Oh God, you didn't."

"I just wanted to win him back. I didn't know what else to do!"

"That's bad, Louis. Even for you. That is very, very bad."

Ah, Liam always knew just what to say to make me feel better.

DARBY

As I stepped out of the shower, my mother and sister burst through the bathroom door without knocking, Harry's mom trailing behind them, both hands full with trays of coffee.

"We're three minutes behind," my mother yelled in my face, like a drill sergeant. "Your hair! Your makeup!"

"She's doing it herself," Abby said. My mother's eyes went wild. "It'll be fine mom, I'll help."

She looked at Abby who was wearing kaki shorts and hiking boots caked with mud.

"It's like the blind leading the blind," said my mother throwing up her hands.

"Don't get your knickers in a twist," Harry's mom interjected. "I've landed two husbands, I think I know how to apply eyeliner."

Before I could say another word to Harry, they pulled me back into the bathroom. I could hear the distant screams from Sarah and Chloe in the background. "TODAY'S THE DAY BITCHESSSSS... Oh sorry, Mrs. Rose."

HARRY

Zayn helped me with my cufflinks and tie, his long nimble fingers working quickly over the fabric.

Niall came into the bedroom and silently closed the door behind him. The mood was quiet and tense.

"So," said Niall, between short jagged breaths. "Beautiful day for an outdoor wedding. No rain in the forecast. Good, good..."

"There," said Zayn, smoothing my lapels, examining the shirt and tie, which Louis had bought me. He didn't dare mention the elephant in the room but Niall couldn't help himself.

"He's really sorry, Harry. You should forgive him. I'm not saying he should come to the wedding but you can't get married today with all this hate in your heart."

I winced at the mere suggestion of what Louis did. "I won't forgive him. Not this time."

DARBY

Deep down I knew it was true. It was written all over Louis' face. But I couldn't believe it, not without more proof.

My mother was dragging a comb roughly through my hair while my sister applied cold cream to my cheeks.

"Wait, I need my computer!"

"Absolutely not!" my mother chided. "Darby Lynn Rose this is your wedding day. I forbid you from working."

As my mother reached into her cosmetics bag, I tore myself away and ran to my desk. To the untrained eye, it was a mess but to me it was organized chaos. I looked over my research notes and my interview points. The facts were a whirlpool that swirled around the boys with no end in sight. You could drown in them if you weren't careful. I reviewed again, for the bazillionth time, the tabloid reports surrounding Liam and Zayn and noticed something I'd never noticed before. A strange pattern emerged. During the band's breaks between gigs Liam and Zayn were photographed together frequently, so were Louis and Zayn and Liam and Harry, Niall and each of the boys. But there were literally no photographs of Louis and Harry, not one in four years. This didn't make sense. All the other the boys had been photographed together dozens of times. How was it possible that the lead guitarist and the lead vocalist in the world's biggest band would never be papped together? I had been concentrating so hard on what in front of me that I hadn't stopped to consider what wasn't.

HARRY

Everyone had left the flat except Darby who insisted that she needed a few more minutes alone.

She was in the bathroom while I stood outside the door. "Darby, we really should go. Everyone's downstairs waiting."

"I'm putting flowers in my hair," she said softly. I touched the wood grain of the door.

"Here, let me."

Darby stepped out in her lace gown, her white-blonde hair resting on her tanned shoulders like snow on a mountain. She held out the crown of violets and primrose. I took it from her hands and gently pinned it in her hair.

"I have something for you," she said, expressionless. She went into the bedroom and returned with a jewelry box. Inside was a dazzling broach with pale pink diamonds and dozens of neatly arranged gold petals nestled within the heart of the bloom. "It's a Juliet Rose." She fixed it to my lapel.

"It's incredible. Oh, Darby, you shouldn't have... Why did you...? How did you...? I thought you only wanted wildflowers?"

"I couldn't find a wildflower special enough. I wanted you to have something beautiful."

"Darby," I touched her cheek. "I already do."

Outside the window I could hear the commotion from our family on the sidewalk. My mum was yelling at my dad to be patient and he was yelling up at me to hurry the bloody hell up. "We're losing daylight out here!"

Darby wasn't her usual sarcastic self. Normally she would humor my father. Yell something cheeky out the window. Make a joke. She was uncharacteristically quiet. I chalked this up to wedding jitters.

"Do we have everything?" I said.

"I think so," she was speaking to me but gazing pensively at her desk. "My clutch. It's in the closet."

She went into the closet and looked intently for several minutes.

"Did you find it?" I said, looking inside next to her.

"Yes."

"Great, let's go."

But she remained frozen.

"Harry, where's your suede jacket?"

"My jacket?" I shrugged. "I don't know, why? I'm wearing a suit tonight. I don't need it."

She stared inside the closet blankly.

"Darby, what is going on? Why are you so worried about finding that jacket?"

"I'm not. I already know where it is."

It was like standing on the edge of a cliff with a blindfold on. I was afraid to ask.

"What do you mean?"

"It's in Louis' hotel room because you were with Louis last night."

LOUIS

Eleanor skipped over to me barefoot on the hot pavement outside the hotel, her purse over her shoulder and stilettos in hand. Her makeup was smudged and she yawned, exhausted. She'd been out all night. "Hey lover, don't we have a wedding to attend?"

"Firstly, you're a hot mess and in no condition to attend a formal function. Secondly, I'm going back to London."

She threw an arm around my shoulder. "So, the wedding's off! Congrats!"

"No, the wedding is not off. It's happening and I'm getting as far away from here as possible."

"There's no plan B?"

I stuck my arm out to hail a cab. "There are no more plans. I played to win and I lost."

"Baby, you never lose."

"I'm touched by your faith in me, El, I really am."

She kissed my cheek, slipped into her heels and hailed a cab going in the opposite direction. "El, where are you going? Get your things, we'll fly back to London together."

"Just because you're giving up doesn't mean I have to."

DARBY

It had all become so clear: Kitty, the band splitting, Louis hating me. For the first time in all my years of reporting the band's history had finally come into focus. The secrets were really just one big secret: that pop music's biggest heartthrob was in a relationship with pop music's baddest bad boy. Every little lie was in service of this larger lie. It made me sad and angry.

"You should have told me."

"I know, but how? The longer I waited, the harder it became. I couldn't risk losing you. I love you, Darby, please believe me when I say that."

"Do you love him?"

"I hate him," Harry said darkly.

"That's not what I asked." I was so numb, I couldn't find the energy to cry or yell. "You lied to me."

Harry was on his knees. "I lied to the world! I've been lying since I was sixteen. You don't know what that does to a person. I lied for so long it stopped feeling like a lie. It felt like... a different version of the truth. Then Louis hurt me and I wanted to forget that we had ever been together. I never wanted to think about him again. I wanted a fresh start. With you."

"Why were you with him last night?"

I may not have been able to cry but Harry couldn't stop crying. "I was confused," he wailed. "I thought there might still be something between us but there isn't. He's the same selfish arsehole I broke up with three years ago."

"Did you have sex with him?"

"No!"

I crossed my arms. I felt the flowers in my hair begin to wilt and fall to my shoulders. "Did you do other things?"

He covered his face. "Yes."

"What did you do?" I said sharply.

"We kissed... and we touched each other."

It was like someone had punched me.

"Was that the first time you did anything since he's been here?"

"No." Harry's voice was tiny. He hung his head. "We kissed at the bachelor party, and then here, at our flat, when the Kitty story broke and you were at Sarah's."

"Just kissing?" Okay, now I was yelling.

"No," he groaned. "We did other things too."

"What things? What did he do to you? What did you do to him?"

"Darby, please! Don't make me say it, I'm begging you!"

I wasn't sure if I wanted to know. Did it matter? The fact that he had lied about having a four-year relationship with his band mate was already such a monumental betrayal. Did I really need all the sordid details?

"Please forgive me. I'm a different person when I'm around Louis, but you know how good it can be when it's just us. It can be that way again."

Even after everything that happened I still loved him. I wanted to believe him so badly. Fucking Tomlinson. Harry was right, the trouble between us started the second Louis got here. Though, I reasoned, Harry had been lying to me about his past throughout our entire relationship. But what if he really was emotionally scarred by being forced to lie all those years ago? He was just a kid back then.

He took my hands. "Please."

Liam and Sophia were in the doorway. They hadn't heard a word and were urging us to go.

"Everyone's left," said Sophia. She was right. Our parents, Sarah, Chloe, Niall and Zayn were gone and the photographers, who probably thought we were with them, had gone too. The street below was empty and eerily still, like a painting.

"You're late! To your own wedding, Harry!" Liam shepherded us out of the flat alongside Bedelia and Cordelia like we were another pair in the Payne clan.

I stepped out onto the pavement, the white from my dress reflecting the sun like firelight. Harry was as beautiful as ever, with his dark windswept curls and crimson lips, the Juliet Rose matching perfectly the flush of his cheek. At the same time, he felt like a stranger, his beauty unfamiliar to me now.

A warm western wind swirled around us and I became light on my feet. Sophia grabbed my hand to steady me, "He loves you so much."

I had no doubt that Harry loved me. And my God it was so easy to love him back, not just because of his beauty but because he was genuinely humble, funny and kind. Our relationship was as easy as sailing down a lazy river. I didn't know much about his past relationship with Louis but I knew it hadn't been easy. It was a vast and choppy sea that ran deep. Watching a conversation between them was like watching a hundred lifetimes of things left unsaid.

The car pulled up to the edge of the park. A path of violets led to the altar. The wooden chairs and wedding arch, entwined with pussy willow and cat's tail, disappeared into the cityscape. Only our guests stood out, like actors in a dream. Nothing felt real. Not even Harry. Especially Harry.

We stepped out of the car. Liam and Sophia gave us one final hug before leaving to take their seats. Cordelia and Bedelia hugged our knees.

Harry and I had decided months ago to break with tradition and walk down the aisle together. I didn't want to be given away; we already belonged to each other.

I looked down at my white sandals in the grass. "Tell me you don't love him," I said quietly.

He hesitated. "Darby, I love you."

"You can't say it. You can't even say the words."

LOUIS

I checked the giant flight board at the airport. My flight was delayed. That wasn't the only thing that gave me pause. The wedding ceremony was at 4:00 and it was now 4:30. It was over. Harry was married. He was gone.

Back at the hotel I had been so been so concerned about running away I forgot that I had nothing to run back to. My stark, colorless flat was empty. The only thing that gave it any remnant of life was my dirty laundry and old take-out containers. Oh, I had great taste, I could select and buy beautiful objects, but Harry was the one that put pictures in frames, books on shelves and plants on windowsills. He was the part of me that made a house a home. Without him I was alive but I wasn't really living.

The cabin crew was now assembling at the gate. It would be a few minutes still before I would board the plane. I checked my watch. It was just about time for the wedding reception, or whatever hippie potluck version of a reception Darby had planned.

A flight attendant asked over the loudspeaker for first class passengers to board the plane. I stood up, my grey suitcase rolling tidily behind me. As I was pulling out my passport my phone rang. I was tempted to shut it off. First Niall called and now Eleanor. They were checking in on me. I let it go to voicemail but it rang again. There were about six people in front of me.

"What is it?" I answered.

"Something's happened."

I covered the phone with my hand. "What do you mean? Is Harry alright?"

"They can't find him."

"How the hell do you loose the groom between the ceremony and the reception? I'm sure he's around there somewhere. I gotta go, El."

"No, no, no, listen to me, there was no ceremony. Harry and Darby are gone."

"Bloody hell." I crouched down and ran a hand through my hair.

"Oh, fuck off, you're thrilled."

The line inched forward but I didn't. The elderly woman behind me tapped my shoulder, annoyed.

"Eleanor, you know I'm a wonderful human being who wishes nothing but happiness for them both."

"Uh huh. Well, keep wishing. I'll let you know if they turn up. Have a good flight."

I hung up and stared at my phone.

"Sir," the woman behind me said. "Sir, you're next."

I handed my passport and boarding pass to the flight attendant then immediately snatched them back. "I'm sorry. I forgot something... In Brooklyn."

HARRY

We walked farther and farther away from the venue until I couldn't hear our guests anymore, just our footsteps rustling through the tall grass, cracking twigs and branches. Darby's sandaled feet and the edge of her dress were soiled with dirt but when I mentioned this she just shrugged.

"Stop, please," I said.

"Why?"

She did this when we were jogging and she had something on her mind. She thought that if she kept moving forward the problem would disappear like scenery falling away in the background.

"Darby, don't do this. I need you."

She stopped and turned around. Her eyes were red but dry, like she'd willed her tears to evaporate.

"I can't marry someone who loves someone else."

"I love you." I yanked at my collar breathlessly. "This past year with you has been... perfect. We are perfect together and you know it."

She gathered up the skirt of her dress. "It was perfect because Louis wasn't there to remind you of what you had."

"That's not true."

"Then prove it."

"I'll do anything."

She winced. "No, I change my mind, I don't want to be that person. Don't make me that person."

"Darby," I pleaded. "What do I have to do? Tell me!"

"I can't live my life wondering whether you'll go back to him."

"How can I prove to you that that will never happen?"

She lowered her eyes. "Promise me you'll never see him again. Cut him out of your life for good."

LOUIS

Guests were milling about under the reception tent to get out of the setting sun. The flowers were drooping and h'orderves had been reduced to crumbs and bits of parsley.

"Miss me?"

Liam was sitting on a folding chair, his feet up on another. I knocked his legs out of the way and sat down.

"What is God's name are you doing here?"

"I was invited, remember?"

"Well, you're late."

"I hear I'm not the only one."

"I don't know what Eleanor told you but they'll be here. Do you know how long it took me to plan this wedding? They wouldn't do this to me."

"It is your special day, Payno."

Niall and Zayn waltzed over with plates of food they nicked from the caterer.

"Any word?"

Zayn shook his head. "We're in a dead zone. There's no cell reception so Darby's mom walked up to the road to try and call her."

The parents were frantic. Even Harry's mum had reluctantly teamed up with his dad to go searching the park for them.

When it looked as though people were planning to leave, Liam rushed over to stop them. "Please, can you just give it another half hour? I'm sure there's a perfectly reasonable explanation for all this."

Niall put me in a headlock. "We should play some footie to pass the time."

"Dunno, I'm getting tired of beating your arse."

His grip tightened. "You wouldn't last five minutes with me. I've been doing cross-fit with Ronaldo's former trainer."

"So that's what you've been up to in L.A.?"

"I'm a fitness junkie. Guilty as charged." Niall let me go and pulled up a folding chair. "You guys think the wedding is off?"

"No," said Liam resolutely.

"Whatta ya reckon, Louis? And what will you do if it is happening?" said Niall.

"I'm going to do what I should have done ages ago. Be happy for him."

DARBY

I laced my fingers through his. We held hands tightly until they melded together and felt like one.

"Yes," he said.

The sun was beginning to set over the trees. I had no idea how long we'd been gone or if any of our guests had waited but I was ready. The past was in the past. Harry was here for me now and he would be here for me in the future.

"You don't have to worry, Darby. Louis is out of my life for good. I promise."

HARRY

This was not at all how I envisioned our wedding—Darby finding out about my past, running off just before the ceremony, and then both of us coming back after sunset to whatever guests were left to say our vows into the night sky. But at that point I was so happy that she had come back to me, to us, nothing else mattered.

We ran into my mum and dad on the trail back. My dad immediately pulled Darby into a bear hug. "Thank God."

Once my mum got hold of me she would not stop kissing my face. "Where the hell have you been? We've been worried sick."

"We needed to talk some things out but everything's okay now." I reached out to Darby and she reached back from my dad's embrace, our fingertips touching. "We're ready to get married, if anyone is left to witness it."

Walking back to the venue with my mum clinging to me like a tree frog, I could hear crickets beginning to chirp and cicadas hissing in the grass, a completely different soundtrack to our nuptials than birds chirping but beautiful all the same.

Sarah and Chloe practically tackled Darby as we appeared over the small hill.

"Oh my God, where have you been?"

"Everyone is freaking the fuck out!"

As Darby began to explain the situation, they whisked her away to the bridal tent to fix her makeup.My mum followed and my dad went to find Gemma to tell her the good news.

I stood alone now at the edge of the aisle. Many guests had left and the rest were waiting for me to make an announcement.

Then, out of nowhere, Louis ran up to me, breathless. His hair was mussed and his grey suit wrinkled. I thought he was at the airport or on a plane, not at my wedding looking like he just rolled out of a suitcase.

I turned around and began walking away. I couldn't believe he had the audacity to show his face here.

"Harry, wait!"

"Louis, you have some fucking nerve showing up like this."

"I'll leave, but you have to listen to me."

"No, I don't."

"Okay, okay, you don't. I just came back to say—"

I whipped back around, more furious than I ever thought possible, and spat, "I know what you're going to say and the answer is—"

"You have to marry Darby."

"What?"

"I mean it. You have to find a way to make it right with her. She loves you so much, Harry... More than I ever knew how to."

He coughed hoarsely into his fist, a gesture he made when he tried to stop himself from crying.

"Well—I—the wedding is on. It's happening. Darby is just getting ready."

Louis smiled, a genuine smile, and brushed the tears from his eyes. He actually looked relieved. "I'm so glad I didn't mess this up for you, Harry. You have no idea. You deserve the fucking world."

This wasn't a trick. Louis wasn't trying to manipulate me. I didn't know how to respond. I was speechless.

Liam, Niall and Zayn approached and I told them the wedding was still on. Liam slapped me on the back and immediately began ushering the remaining guests to their seats.

Zayn pulled Louis away. "Come on man, let's go take our seats."

"No," said Louis. "I should go."

I looked to my right. Darby reemerged from the tent.

"I know," he said. "Go to her."

He reached out, not to hug me but to straighten my tie. My heart beat steadily against his hand.

Louis walked off and Zayn took me by the shoulders. "Are you okay, Harry?"

"I'm fine."

The rivers of black mascara had disappeared from Darby's cheeks and all that remained was her silken complexion. I held out my arm for her. She linked hers through mine.

The music started. The bearded indie folk band we hired played Canon in D Major, the bright woody strings of the mandolin carrying for miles all around us. There was nothing wrong with the selection or the way the band played it. Everything was exactly as Darby and I had planned. On the contrary, the band was wonderful and in perfect harmony. It made my chest ache to think that the lads and I used to have that same connection. We used to be able to anticipate every note, sense each other's movements and moods, like five bodies sharing one heart.

Darby took the first step.

Louis hadn't left the grounds yet. He was at the top of the hill, far enough for Darby not to notice him and close enough for me not to notice anything else.

LOUIS

I hadn't got to the edge of the bike path before I completely broke down. On my knees— grass stains be damned—I cried into the sleeve of my crumpled jacket. Was doing the right thing supposed to feel this fucking terrible? I thought being a good person was supposed to feel, well, good.

I was still in the center of the park. There was no reception, so I followed the bike path north in hopes of at least getting a few bars so I could call the airline before my phone died. I could always go back to the reception and use someone else's phone but I didn't trust myself not to snap and declare my love to Harry. It took all the strength I had to give Harry my blessing and I wasn't going to mess up what was left of our friendship after nearly destroying the most important day of his life.

I trudged along the gravely path in my Richelieu wingtips, each step cutting into the back of my heels. That's what I get for being vain.

Once I reached the road, a black rental car with tinted windows slowly rolled up.

A voice shouted through a crack in the driver's side window, "Get in, hot stuff!"

"Okay, no."

The window slid down all the way. Niall's head popped out. "Get in."

I peered in the window and saw Eleanor stretched out in the back waving. "You two should be at the reception."

"Wedding's off," Niall said. "Yes, again."

My stomach turned. Guilt was eating at me from the inside out. I had ruined this day for Harry after all. "What happened? Why did she call it off? I thought everything was sorted."

"Darby didn't call if off. She started to walk down the aisle but Harry wouldn't budge. Then he turned to her and whispered something about not being able to keep his promise and she ran off and left Harry to announce to all the guests that it was over."

Promise? What promise? Whatever it was it must have been totally unreasonable. Harry would never go back on a promise. He was touchingly serious about such things.

"He must be in a state! Poor love! Why aren't you with him, Niall?" I barked accusingly.

He held up his hands. "Hey! Calm down! He got in a car with Liam and his parents. I'm seeing them back at Liam's flat."

"Should I come?"

"Dude, what? No! Des wants you dead."

I got in the passenger's side and buckled my seatbelt. "Drive."

A/N: Here we are... Everything's a mess and Louis is on his way to see Harry!

The next couple chapters will deal with the resolution. Will Harry and Louis patch things up? How? What will happen to Darby? Will she end up with someone else in the story? Will she forgive Harry?

I really hope you guys liked this chapter! Thank you SO much for sticking with this story.I'll really try to make the next chapters worth it!