Song of the chapter: Illuminate - Yellowcard

Emilia's POV

I have only seen two sides of Ashton in the time we've been together: the enthusiastic and generous side that I initially bumped into, and the sensitive, broken side that sought escape from his past. Today, I have seen a new side.

When I looked at him after the ceremony, I saw a side of him that showed his true colors to me; a side that couldn't contain the amount of joy flowing through his veins. I thought I have seen Ashton at his happiest, but this was such a dramatic difference. I feel like I'm meeting a new and improved Ashton for the first time today. I don't know who he is or what's in store for us, but I'm eager to find out, because if I love the old Ashton as much as I do now I can only believe I'll love him twice as more.

As we wait for Ashton to return, we inevitably find ourselves conversing in the reception hall about the events that occurred just moments ago.

"I honestly thought it was going to be harder for Ashton to get through the wedding," Calum says, rolling up the sleeves of his shirt to his elbows.

Michael toys with the flameless candles circling the thin vase on the middle of the table. "He had Reina with him, so maybe that helped."

"I agree with Michael," Julia says. "You saw how cute she is. That little girl could probably help me get through a morning shift at IHOP, so I wouldn't doubt that she could work a miracle on him."

"You know there's this little thing called perseverance that may have contributed," I say, but I feel as though my comment is lost within their chatter.

"I can't leave you guys alone for five minutes without you all talking behind my back," Ashton's familiar voice says from behind me. He sits in the empty chair next to me and hooks his foot around the leg of my chair, pulling me closer to him.

"You can't blame us," Calum says, shrugging. "You make for good conversation. Now we're going to have to go back to complaining about our college lives and boring discussions about the cons of adulthood. Do you know how insanely boring that is? I may have to stir up some unnecessary drama just to liven things up."

Ashton rolls his eyes, amusement spreading across his face. "As long as it doesn't involve me, knock yourself out."

"Don't encourage him," Julia scolds.

"No, do encourage him," Michael says. "It'll be entertaining."

Ashton holds his hands up in defense, unable to control his laughter. He turns to look at me, grinning all the while. "Hi."

"Hey," I say casually. "Are you okay?"

The apples of his cheeks rise higher as his smile widens. "I'm much better."

The DJ tucked into the back corner of the room introduces Mr. and Mrs. Hensley when they enter the ballroom. There's an eruption of cheers and then a series of bright flashes as everyone attempts to capture the moment on camera. The newlyweds wave and grin at their rowdy and animated guests as they walk hand-in-hand to the reserved tables lined at the front of the room for the wedding party.

Once everyone is seated, the main course is served. Throughout dinner, I constantly find myself randomly smiling and looking at Ashton. I'm beginning to feel like I'm turning into him whenever he watches me. Whenever he catches my gaze, I look away but he acknowledges my staring by nudging my knee with his and wearing his signature smirk. He never fails to embarrass me.

Ashton wipes his mouth with the cloth napkin and the tosses it haphazardly onto the table. He backs his chair out and stands, extending his hand out for me. "Come with me."

I take one more bite of the baked chicken on my plate before taking his hand. We sneak around the tables and head towards the front of the venue. Outside, the fountain glows as the lighting at the base illuminates the rippling water. Darkness may have swept over us, but the venue remains mystically lit. And here I thought this place couldn't get any more beautiful.

Ashton guides me around the fountain and towards the garden. "I want to thank you for coming here with me," he says. "This week has already given me grey hairs and I honestly can't wait to go back home. I miss Denver."

"I wasn't going to let you go through all of this without any support," I say. "You did everything you could to help me through a tough time and I was going to do the same no matter what. I hope I succeeded."

He smiles. "You succeeded."

The white chairs and plush aisle carpet are no longer set up when we cross through the garden and stand underneath the gazeebo. My hand traces along the ridges of the pillars. I let go of Ashton's hand and move to the center, looking up through the ornate iron dome at the stars gleaming above. No matter where I am, when I'm with Ashton I feel as if we're practically incandescent beneath the soft light.

"Why do I feel like we're about to reenact a scene from the Sound of Music?" I ask, laughing.

Ashton leans against one of the pillars and cracks a smile. "Well, it's not raining and I'd be severely concerned if you were sixteen going on seventeen, so I can assure it's not going to happen."

"I never took you for a musical-loving type of person."

"I'm not, but Mum loves the movie," he says. "You don't know how many years I had to listen to her sing 'These are a few of my favorite things' around the house. I hate that I'm guilty of having the tune pop in my head from time to time thanks to her."

"When the dog bites..." I sing softly. "When the bee stings..."

He throws his head back against the pillar and groans. "Nooo."

"When I'm feeling sad..."

"You're ruthless," he mumbles, crossing his arms over his chest and restraining from smiling. But I love how his dimples make it impossible to hide his amusement.

I laugh at his reaction and save him from any more torture. I press my back against the pillar adjacent to him, only feet away from where Natalie and Nathan's stood. There's something natural about the silence we seem to fall into. Words may have power to them when spoken, but they seem to make more of an impact when they're not said. One thing I've always liked about Ashton is that he wears his heart on his sleeve. He could tell me nothing and I'd know everything. There's no need for discussion.

"I like this," Ashton says, looking up to the sky. "When it's just the two of us together, it's like everything is okay and we can be Ashton and Emilia. Nothing stands in our way now. We don't need to protect ourselves anymore." He looks to me. "Is this how you felt when you finally setting things with Jared? Like you're rising above everything the world has thrown at you?"

To be able to share this sense of renewal with Ashton is both exciting and gratifying. We've been through so much torment and struggled to pull through. There were times when I thought it would be impossible for either of us to break free from our pasts, but we did it with the other standing by our side. We're all that we needed in order to stand here triumphantly today.

I reach for his hand and lean in. "Exactly."

Ashton's POV

I've been told several times that I haven't been able to see what was in front of me—something so obvious that even a stranger could see. My eyes have been opened to a new world around me, and I love it.

When Emilia and I return to the reception hall, we barely make it in time to hear the end of Jack's best man speech, which included a strange anecdote about how he and Nathan were searched by security after looking at wedding rings. In contrast to Jack's wittiness, Myra goes on about her relationship with her Natalie and how happy she is for her. Her voice shakes mid-speech, but she's able to hold herself together and refrain from bursting into tears. The cake that's served afterwards also seems to help her.

It isn't long after when the DJ calls the bride and groom out for their first dance. Natalie and Nathan step out onto the dance floor. The entire room is transfixed by the couple—the way they move so naturally together, laughing when the other misses a step. They dance as if there's no one else in the room, and there's something about the way Natalie smiles when Nathan looks at her. It reminds me of how Emilia and I look at one another—captivatingly in love.

When their song comes to an end, the DJ calls the rest of the wedding party onto the floor. Luke attempts to stay behind but Colleen doesn't have it and drags him with her. The guests follow suit and soon enough, the bride and groom are lost amongst the dancers. Michael chooses to stay at the table and take advantage of the free WiFi to chat with Lola, while the rest of us go dance.

As Emmie and I glide from one end of the floor to the other, we pass by Luke. His eyes flash with a cry for help but he cannot escape Colleen's grasp when she takes the lead and pulls him away. Poor guy.

Emmie looks down as we dance, making an effort to prevent a collision between our moving feet. I'm not sure how it would be possible since she's barely lifting her feet from the floor. Our form is much more formal in comparison to the first time we danced together. Less prom and more elegant.

"At this rate we could win a dance competition if we wanted to," I tell her, just as she steps on my foot.

"You were saying?" she sasses.

I swiftly twirl her around and her dress fans out with a wave. When her hand returns to mine, I take the lead. She tries to look down to our feet again but I tilt her chin up to only look at me. The tempo of the next song slows down and so do we. Our bodies gravitate closer to each other and Emmie smiles into my shoulder, pressing her face close and I twine our fingers.

"After you and the others left the garden, I spoke with Luke and he asked me what I'm going to do now that everything is over," I say. "There are so many things I've abstained from before today. There's so much that I want to do now; I've got an entire list."

"What's first on your list?"

"To ask you a question."

She pulls back far enough to view my face. "Please don't tell me you're about to propose to me like Calum did to Julia earlier."

I laugh. "I'm not proposing, but I guess you can say I'm proposing an idea." She cocks her head to the side. "Move in with me."

Our bodies stop swaying and our feet are stagnant. Guests continue to dance around us, unaware that time has stopped only for us. Emmie is stunned. She looks as though this idea has never crossed her mind.

"I've been wanting to ask you that for a while now, to be honest" I say. "We never get any privacy thanks to those friends of ours. We stay over at each other's place almost every day; we're practically living together already. I was even thinking of giving you a second drawer in my dresser," I joke, and I finally receive a delighted response from her. "It doesn't have to be now or anything, but sometime in the near future, will you move in with me?"

The possibility of being able to wake up next to her every morning without any disruption would be amazing. Our relationship is moving fast but the pace is such a thrilling adventure, and I'm willing to take the risks—even one as small as this simple question—to build something lasting between us.

Our feet are moving again, now to a different song. "Okay," Emmie finally says. "I'll move in with you."

I pause. "I honestly expected you to overthink it and reject the idea, like when you rejected me the first time I kissed you."

She lightly hits my arm. "That was different."

"So you admit you rejected me," I playfully taunt.

She laughs and shakes her head. "You've always given me the option of time. I'm grateful that you don't rush me into anything, but I don't want to be a ticking clock anymore. My lease will be up soon and I'll have to talk to Julia about it so that I don't leave her struggling financially, but I want to do this."

"Well that went smoother than expected," I say.

"You haven't driven me nuts yet, so I'm sure I can handle living with you," she jokes, but there's a hint of truth to her words.

Unfortunately, a tap to my shoulders pulls us apart. An ivory gown brushes against my leg. "Can I steal him for a quick dance?" Natalie asks.

Emmie's hand falls from my arm and she takes two steps back. Smiling, she says, "Of course."

Natalie takes my hand and guides me to the middle of the dance floor. She rests her hand on my shoulder while mine reaches for the small of her back.

"It's going to take some time to get used to calling you Mrs. Hensley," I say.

She lets out a breathy laugh. "Me too. But at least it won't take as long to write my signature."

"I always took you for the kind of girl who would use a hyphen."

"Natalie Rae Birchwood-Hensley," she ponders. "That's a bit of a mouthful don't you think?"

"I guess so," I say, chuckling. There's a difference in the way we talk to each other now. Just a few hours ago we were hesitant and chose our words wisely. But now we interact so casually, like how we used to before everything ended. It's a refreshing change. "So how's the married life?"

She brings her wrist to her face and checks the invisible watch. "Well it's only been about two hours, but so far it's pretty good. It's nice—different, but I like it. I don't think it will be long until you experience it," she says, nodding towards the other end of the dance floor.

Emmie and Luke are swaying from side to side, dancing with one another. They're talking and laughing and I've missed seeing them interacted like this. Like their friendship hasn't changed from day one. However, I'm humored because this is the second time he's stolen the girl I like for a dance. But I'm curious as to how he was able to get away from Colleen.

"Why does everyone insist I'm going to marry her?"

"Sometime you know when they're the one."

I chuckle at her choice of words and look across the room again. Emmie catches my gaze and we exchange an enamored grin. "Maybe," I say, watching her and Luke twirl away from sight. "Speaking of 'the one,' where are you and Nathan going for the honeymoon?"

"Bali," she says excitedly. "Dad booked the trip for us."

"How fancy," I tease. "When are you leaving?"

"Sunday morning."

"That's when we're leaving."

"Don't you have school the following day?"

My shoulders slump. "Yeah, I'm trying not to think about how horrible class on Monday is going to be."

I tell her a bit about my classes until she turns her head when her name is called across the room. Our feet stop moving when Nathan beckons her over again. She looks to me with apologetic eyes, as if she's upset that our dance was cut short.

My hand falls from her back and I step away. "Your husband's calling," I say, the words flowing out without any hint of malice or spite.

She wavers, glancing between me and Nathan before settling on me. She kisses my cheek and embraces me like it's the last time she ever will. "I will always love you."

The familiarity of those words startles me but the difference in meaning is clear as day to me. "So will I." I rub her back soothingly before pulling away. "Now go," I say. "Don't keep him waiting." She sends a final wave before joining her husband.

I go find Emmie and Luke, and when I do, it's just like déjà vu. Luke smiles when he sees me and breaks away from Emilia just like he did at the business party. The only difference is that when he pats my shoulder he tells me, "She's all yours," before wandering off.

I have a lot of respect for Luke. Even after getting punched in the face and hounded by me, he still helped me through this. He's always put our friendship first. We may have had some rough patches, but I'm lucky to have him as a friend.

Just as I reach for Emmie's hand, my legs are tackled and I stumble to the side. Innocent giggles follow and I can only smile at the little girl who's the culprit on my fall. Reina reaches her arms out to me and I willingly pick her up.

"You think that was funny don't you," I say, tickling Reina's stomach.

"You play," Reina says when her laughter dies down, not forgetting my promise to her.

"Okay, I'll play with you."

I turn to Emmie. "I guess there's no better time than now to ask if you like kids because I sort of have one now," I say lightheartedly. "I hope that's not a deal breaker."

She laughs. "I'm still here, aren't I?"

"Is Emmie still here, Reina?" I ask the toddler in my arms.

Her curls bounce as her excitement grows. "Emmie here," she says, pointing to the girl I can no longer picture a day without.

________

A/N: I think I've apologized to you guys more than necessary but I feel really bad making you all wait for updates. This marks the end of the wedding, which means there's only a few chapters left of this story. I didn't go into detail about the rest of the wedding because it really wasn't necessary and there's a little thing called summarization to fill that hole in the next chapter #ProTip for all the writers out there. I've already got an idea of how it's going to end and there will be an epilogue, so I hope you're excited!

Also, can anyone recommend a good mascara for me? I feel like I've tried everything but my lashes are thick and no matter how much I curl them, they fall flat the moment I put on mascara.

Thank you all for reading! I'm trying to write these chapters faster but I want this ending to be right and not rushed. I want it to be worthwhile for you guys.

Love you all! –Rebecca xoxoxoxo