Soundtrack:

Endlessly by Green River Ordinance – Candi & Will in the elevator

The Broken Ones by Dia Frampton – when Candi & Ava talk

Find A Way by SafetySuit (<- this song is my obsession) – end of the chapter

He hadn't made it very far by the time I caught up to him, and as I found him at the end of the hall stepping into the elevator, I hurried my pace to intercept him.

The metal doors were sliding shut when I threw out my arm and stopped the doors from closing. I pried them back open and stepped in, and he looked at me with a mixture of shock, heartbreak and convoluted anger.

"Will, wait," I grunted.

It was as if he hadn't heard me. He refused to meet my gaze, and instead reached out and pressed the button for his floor. My stomach flipped as the elevator began to rise.

"Will, listen to me."

He continued to ignore me, and it was one of the most frustrating things in the world I'd ever experienced. In a desperate attempt to make him listen to me, I reached out and hit the Emergency Stop button of the elevator, causing it to stop with a sudden jolt.

He reached out to press the button again, but I smacked his hand away. "No, not until we talk this out. Talk to me, Will."

"I don't even know what to say to you," he replied, and he looked at me finally. I almost wished he hadn't. His eyes were cold and blue, and I felt like I was falling off the edge of a cliff. "You love him?"

I ran a hand through my hair. "You weren't supposed to hear that."

He chuckled derisively, and I knew right away that was the wrong thing to say. "Oh, great. You can confess your love to someone, as long as your fiancé isn't around."

"I wasn't finished," I told him hurriedly. "Please, Will."

"Don't," he replied. "I need some time to think."

"Will..."

"Our wedding is in less than two days, and you're in love with somebody else?" he yelled, causing me to jump. He rarely ever raised his voice—and especially not to me.

"I'm not in love with anyone else," I told him matter-of-factly, reaching out to caress him reassuringly. He shrunk back as if my touch was poison, and I felt my heart clench. "I said I loved Chance. But not in the way I love you. He was my first boyfriend, and those feelings don't just go away."

"It's been two years, Candice," he reminded me. "And I know that he meant something to you, but I didn't realize just how much you still loved him."

"Of course I love Chance," I replied, throwing my hands up in the air. "And maybe I always will. Does that mean in a year I'm going to leave you to find him? No. It means that I don't want to see him hurt. Right now he's jumping on a plane just to get away from me so he doesn't have to watch us get married. I don't want him to go."

"Look, Candice, I have been so patient ever since your friends got here," Will replied. "You don't think I see the way he looks at you? You don't think a guy knows when someone else is in love with his girl? I know that a lot has been happening in your life, but it's not just hard on you. When Chance tells you he loves you, or when you question who you really love more between us, it doesn't just affect you."

"I have never once questioned who I love more, because it's always been you," I cried desperately. "You're the one I'm choosing to marry. You're the one I've spent the last eighteen months dedicating my life to. You're the one I wanna be with for the rest of my life." I reached up and brushed my fingers down his check, and almost unconsciously he shut his eyes and leaned into my touch.

"Do you have any idea how much I want to believe that?" Will whispered. "Do you know how much I want to believe I'm all you want? There are no words on this earth to describe how much I love and adore you. There is not a single thing I wouldn't do for you. But I can't spend the rest of my life wondering if you're in love with somebody else. It's not fair."

"You're right," I whispered, stepping back. "It's not fair. No one should ever have to wonder that. You don't have to wonder that. What I said in there, it was taken out of context. I told Chance something tonight, and it broke his heart. So much so that he felt he had to go back to America just to escape it. He was my first love. He was the one who opened my eyes to the world. He's the reason I fell in love with you. But there will always be a part of me who remembers Chance with love. I love Chance, like a friend, or like a wonderful memory. But I'm in love with you. And in two days when I'm in that white dress walking down the aisle, it's going to be you standing on that altar. And I wouldn't wish it to be anyone else."

"Do you really mean that?" Will asked. "You're not just saying that to make me feel better?"

"Have I ever lied to protect your feelings?"

"No," he admitted, smiling. "Your honesty is what I love about you."

"So it's just my honesty you love?" I replied dubiously, cocking an eyebrow.

"Well, that and your incredible taste in men."

"Shut up," I replied, punching him jokingly in the bicep.

He reached out and pulled me into a hug, and I settled into his arms. Like a house on the lake or a blanket with a good book, he was my home. My safety. My comfort. I hadn't lied to him with anything I'd said. I loved Chance for the boy he was and the happiness he gave me. But I was embarking on a new adventure now. And I wouldn't trade my time with Will for anything.

"Are we okay?" I whispered.

He kissed the top of my head. "Yeah. We're okay."

I pulled back and looked up at him. "I don't want you to think there is anyone I'd put before you. You're my family. You're the only one I'll ever love and need. Chance will always be a part of my past. But you're my future."

"And the present?" he replied with an adorably crooked grin.

I leaned up and kissed him, pressing him playfully against the metal wall of the elevator. If we were already on Emergency Stop, we might as well make the most of it. "I think the present belongs to us."

~ * ~

I entered my apartment later that night with a large smile on my face. Ava was in the kitchen texting on her phone, and looked up with a cocked eyebrow. "Took you long enough. Did you bake him an apology cake, or something? Oh, wait, did you tell him about the pregnancy?" It came out as more of an excitable squeak than actual words.

"Shh!" I said, out of habit more than necessity. I rubbed my stomach, which was a little bigger, but not much. "And, no. I didn't tell him. I'm going to tell him when we come home from the reception Saturday night."

"Ah, so that you two can celebrate in private," Ava replied, winking devilishly. "Gotcha."

"Don't you have your own boyfriend to harass?"

"Luke isn't my boyfriend," she argued diplomatically. "We're just hanging out for now."

"And how is our budding love story?"

"Well, it goes like this: once upon a time, a girl who swore she was a lesbian met a guy, they got drunk one night and fooled around in a bathroom, and agreed to just have some fun together. Sound like a modern-day love story?"

"Not one you can tell your kids, but one that would sound good over a cocktail.... Which I could really use right now."

"None for you or Baby," she told me, grinning.

"Speaking of which, I have something to ask you..." I told her, tracing my finger nervously over the edge of the counter top.

"Uh-oh. This never sounds good. What's up, Candi-Cane?"

"I haven't spoken to Will about it yet, obviously, but I've been thinking, and once this little baby is born, it's really going to need a cool aunt. Since it doesn't have one, it might have to settle for a godmother. And I can't think of anyone better than you for that. Would you, Ava Donoghue, be my baby's godmother?"

Her eyes widened and glittered with unshed tears. She opened her mouth and snapped it shut, obviously speechless over my proposal. "Oh, my God," she whispered, clapping a hand to her mouth. "Yes!"

She ran over and hugged me so tightly it took my breath away. I laughed and held onto her. "You've always been the voice of reason in my life, and this little kid is going to need a cool aunt to help it out, too."

"I would be more than happy to be your baby's source of corruption," Ava replied and leaned down, staring at me stomach. "Kid, I know you're barely the size of a peanut right now, but you and I are going to have so much fun together!"

"I hope you know that also means you get to be on diaper duty occasionally, too."

She laughed. "You're funny, but I don't think so. I get to do the cool stuff, like dressing her in cute little outfits and taking her for her first ice cream. I'll leave the bathing and diapers to you."

"Who says it's going to be a girl?"

"I don't know," Ava replied, frowning and looking intently at my stomach as if that might tell her the gender of the baby inside of me. "Just a feeling. Hey, have you thought of any names?"

"I don't know... If it's a girl, her middle name is definitely going to be Ava. That's a promise. If it's a boy, I like Thomas or Ben. I also like Chrissy for a girl."

"Chrissy Ava Winchester. That has a certain ring to it."

Just then the door opened, cutting off our conversation. I heard heavy footsteps on the wooden floor, and together Ava and I raced to the front door to greet Jamie.

"Jamie!" Ava called, skidding to the door. "Did you find him?"

We got our answer the minute he came into sight. His brunette curls were dusted lightly with dew, and he was already kicking off his shoes and unwrapping his scarf. The corridor behind him was noticeably bare, and judging by the crestfallen look on his face, I could tell my heart had every reason to drop.

"Oh," Ava whispered.

Jamie shook his head. "I'm sorry. I looked everywhere. Chance... he's gone."

~ * ~

The day before a bride's wedding us supposed to be one of the best days of a girl's life. It's a day for hair and nails and final gown fittings and last-minute preparation. The next day would mark a new era; a new chapter in the story that is life.

Yet it was hard to so much force a smile when I got up the next morning to face the bleary morning and get ready. I had hardly slept the night before, thinking of Chance and wondering where he was. Neither Ava nor Jamie had heard from him since he left, but that could either be due to his flying time or his need for space.

To Ava's immense credit, she kept up a peppy air, not letting anything get in between her wedding planning. She dragged me out of bed at just after seven, much to my displeasure.

"Up, up, up!" she crowed. "There's so much to do today! We have to check out the venue this morning and make sure the preparation is up to standard. Then we're meeting up with the ladies for a celebratory lunch. After that we have to get massages, facials and manicures at two. After that, you have to have your hair curled. Final goodbye with Will and the guys at seven o'clock. And then pizza and a sappy romantic comedy; just you and me. Early to bed, and then we'll be up for the whole she-bang! Isn't this exciting?"

"Where does Jamie fit into your plans?" I replied, laughing ruefully as she started riffling through my drawers in search of an appropriate outfit.

"Since he's part of the male wedding party, he'll be with Luke and Lachlan and Will for today. Don't worry, we've got it all sorted out. Now, go shower and put this on."

I felt the familiar twist in my stomach, and held a finger up. "Hold that thought."

I raced out of the bedroom and down the hallway, locking myself into the bathroom and spending the next ten minutes emptying the contents of my stomach into the toilet bowl. This was how most mornings went for me now, and it was the reason I first became suspicious that I might be pregnant.

I still remember the horror I'd gotten one morning after throwing up. I thought maybe it had been some kind of bug, but no one else had gotten it. It happened again the next two mornings, and that was when I'd started getting suspicious. Due to the craziness after Jamie, Chance and Ava had arrived, I'd slipped quite a few days of using the Pill, and somewhere in that time I'd messed up.

Getting a moment to myself to actually buy the test had been hard, and it had sat in the bottom of my underwear drawer for another two days, out of fear and also because I had no way of surreptitiously smuggling it in.

At two o'clock one morning I finally cracked and took it, and the wait for the strips to show up on the stick had been one of the most awful moments of my life. I had chewed the inside of my cheek and paced around the bathroom, eager to know the results. And there it had shown, just as it had on the front of the box. I was pregnant. With child. I'd clapped a hand to my mouth and screamed, out of fear and excitement and an overwhelming joy. It was one of the best and craziest moments of my life.

Once I'd finished puking my lungs out, Ava knocked gently on the door. "Is it still a nuclear war zone in there? Or is it safe?"

I flushed the toilet, sprayed the air with air freshener, and then flicked the lock to open the door. Ava walked in slowly and glanced around, as if afraid of what she'd find. "It's safe," I told her, squeezing the toothpaste tube onto my brush.

She set the clothes down on the basin, and I busied myself brushing my teeth as she ran me a hot bubble bath.

"You don't have to do that," I told her through a mouthful of foam as she lit a few candles.

"You look like you could use some relaxing," Ava replied, smiling at me in the mirror's reflection. "We can push back our morning just a little bit. I'll make you some coffee and get you some toast. Enjoy."

She left and shut the door behind her, and I undressed and hopped into the steaming water. I slowly lowered myself into the bubbly water and turned off the taps, maneuvering the bubbles so that I was decent. I twisted my hair up and grabbed a ponytail holder, snaking my hair up into a chignon.

Someone knocked on the door. "Is it safe?"

"Come in!" I called, and Ava hopped in with a steaming cup of caffeine and a purple towel.

"Room service!" she called grandly, grinning.

"Awesome," I replied, and took the mug off of her gratefully.

"Hey, ladies," Jamie said, swinging into view unknowingly. "What's—"

"Oh, my God, Jamie!" Ava crowed, throwing a loofa at him.

He looked around, desperate to have his gaze directed anywhere but at me. "I didn't know!" he cried. "The door was open!"

"The door was open," I granted, thankful the bath was full of bubbles and nothing but my face and shoulders was showing.

"So you thought it was acceptable to just come in?" Ava continued, unwilling to stop her inquisition. "Get gone, heathen, and let the ladies be!"

"I just wanted to tell you guys that I heard from Chance," Jamie replied, holding up his phone for evidence. "He said he's okay, he's safe, and he'll see us later."

"Just wait till I get my hands on that boy!" Ava replied, shaking her head.

"It's okay, Ave," I told her, smiling gently. "As long as he's okay, right?"

"Right," she relinquished. "Tell him we're glad he's okay and we hope to hear from him soon, okay?"

He nodded and slowly backed out of the bathroom, shutting the door gently behind him. It was extremely hard to ignore the awkward tension that had permeated that conversation, and I had no idea what to say to make it better.

Suddenly the door opened, and a soft ball flew inside. "Oh, and have your goddamned loofa back!"

Ava and I traded wide-eyed looks, and then burst into hysterical laughter. And that was when I knew that everything was going to be okay.

From then on, the day continued to get better and better. Everything began to come together like something from a fairytale. The venue looked beautiful and romantic and incredible, the lunch was delicious, and the massages and manicures were awesome. The longer the day went on, the more the excitement began to grow.

In the end we were like a bunch of babbling little kids, giggling and teetering in heels and laughing over the silliest jokes.

And that was the moment I finally knew that moving to England was the best decision of my life. It had brought friends, good fortune, true love and happiness. I was pregnant to the man I was going to marry tomorrow. We were going to Europe in a mere three days—Ava and Jamie had already offered to house-sit for the two weeks we would be gone.

Will's parents accepted us whole-heartedly, business was booming, and everything was finally coming together at the seams. It was the beginning of the rest of my life, and I wondered how I'd gone from a scared little girl afraid to love and put herself out there, to a girl who was among the luckiest in the world.

I'd found a man who loved me like a queen, treated me like a princess, and showed me that occasionally, fairytales really do exist.

~ * ~

The story isn't over yet!

Keep reading, because I still have one thing left in store for you guys (and, if you're good, it might just involve Chance).

Hope you guys like this! Please blow up the comments section with your love and let me know what you think!

Thanks for reading!

Much love xx