A/N: Jordan's a bit of a bitch to Molly in this chapter, lol. Also, my apologies for its suckiness!


Chapter 15: "Wouldn't that have been an event to remember?"

I not-so-patiently waited as Molly twirled in a circle for perhaps the fifth fucking time since I'd begun doing her makeup that she oh-so-sweetly demanded me to put on.

Apparently it wasn't enough that I'd practically organised the whole thing, but I also had to make sure she looked pretty as well. She was so lucky I wasn't Flora, otherwise she'd end up looking like a drag queen that had been dragged through the sewage.

"Molly, sit your ass down," I commanded, pointing at the chair she'd sprung up from.

She clasped her hands together, her eyes shining with excitement as she slowly lowered herself onto the seat of the chair. I would've been touched at how emotional she was being if I hadn't been around her since five in the morning. Yes. That was right.

Five. In the morning.

It was now noon and we had one bloody hour to get her makeup, hair, and dress ready, yet she kept prancing around like a bunny frolicking through a field of flowers. And seven hours of listening to alternating gushing and crying really did make a girl a "grouchy-puss" as Luke so eloquently put it.

"I am so lucky to have Mark, aren't I?" she cooed, tilting her head right at the exact moment I was doing her eyeliner. I cursed lowly and glared at her, but in her love-induced haze, she didn't even notice my positively murderous face.

"Yes, you are so very lucky," I muttered grumpily, blotting out the crooked liner so I could fix it properly.

"Danny!" she complained, jerking her head to look at me. My eye twitched and I bit my lip to hold in my scream when the liner went awry yet again. One more move and I would stab her through the nostrils with this bloody pencil.

My hands clenched and I threw them up in the air in exasperation, raising my eyes to the ceiling in a "why me?" gesture. "My god, I'm going bonkers," I breathed, trying to keep calm.

She sighed happily, ignoring me completely. "Mark's eyes are so deep...and they're so blue! They're like the ocean - so gorgeous," she continued, barrelling right over my anger.

I sighed as well, but more in an 'I'm-about-to-fuck-you-up' way as opposed to 'I'm-so-in-love' way. "You hate the ocean," I said blandly.

Molly smiled dreamily. "But I'll never have to go as long as I look into his eyes!" I forced down my gag reflex and settled for rolling my eyes. Even my feelings for Luke wouldn't ever make me such a sappy little pussy. No way. "Why are you so cross anyway, Danny? Shouldn't I be the one mad at you?"

I gave her a look that suggested that she was so moronic that she shouldn't be allowed on this planet. "Why in the absolute fuck would you be mad at me?"

She frowned deeply and accusingly. I raised an eyebrow at the random negativity. "You left all of us drunk and rideless at a club, Danny! Why would you even do that?"

I thought about blaming Luke, but decided to cut him some slack because he'd been so sweet to me lately. "Your problem, not mine," I replied smoothly with a 'what-can-you-do' type of shrug.

"Danny!" I was seriously getting tired of hearing that. "You're lucky that Leo wasn't drinking, otherwise I would've been late to my own wedding."

The thought made me smile mischievously. At least then I would've gotten my proper sleep. "Wouldn't that have been an event to remember?" I mused. "Both the bride and the groom absent for their own wedding."

Molly shot me an evil look which I tactfully ignored as I added a light coating of blush to her cheeks. For a minute at least she was still, and I managed to finish faster than I had in the last two hours of her fucking around. She'd had to wash her face twice over because she kept jumping around and screwing up my aim.

"It's alright, you got home one way or the other," I dismissed. When I realised she was about to retort, I added, "but how the hell do you not have a hangover?"

The cross expression melted off her face and she winked. "Special drink recipe from Mark. It's absolutely brilliant but it makes you more hyper than a three year old on a sugar rush."

"So I've noticed," I replied, somewhat sullenly as I added the final stroke of mascara to her face. "There! You look beautiful!"

"So I don't look beautiful normally?" she tried to tease, but I was still mad about her annoying antics from before.

"No," I deadpanned. "Not at all. Not sure how Mark deals with you."

She chuckled and shoved me lightly. "Are you going to do my hair now?"

I rapped her head lightly with my brush and turned away from her to stick some bobby pins in my mouth.

Suddenly, I heard sniffles and turned around to see Molly crying again, her eyes full of tears. "W-what if he gets cold feet? What if he realises he doesn't want me anymore?" she sniffed for probably the sixth time this afternoon.

"What if my cold feet suddenly went flying to kick you up the ass?" I snapped. Forgive me for not being the most sensitive person in the world, but I was getting tired of this. "Don't be a fucking moron, Molly. He's not going to leave you at the altar!" She sniffed dramatically and went to rub her eyes, but I smacked them away with the hairbrush I held in my hand. "Seriously, Mols? You seriously wait until after I finish doing your makeup to sob like this?" I groaned. I probably should've been more sympathetic, but I never understood these pre-wedding blues. Like, why the fuck would you go through months of preparation just to chicken out in the end?

"Couldn't you be a bit more compassionate?" Molly snapped at me, gingerly dabbing at the corner of her eyes. "Don't you know what comfort is?"

I simply yanked on her hair a little harder, causing her to yelp like a puppy. "Shut up, Molly, or I'll make you look like Frankenstein's wife."

"Don't you need to look in the mirror so you'll know what that looks that?" she shot back, crossing her arms.

I laughed out my amusement. "That was a good comeback," I replied. "I'm so offended." I finished by twisting her thick, chestnut hair into an elegant knot at the top of her head and pinning it in place. "Now go put on your dress, poppet," I murmured, as a knock sounded on the door. "That's my cue."

She looked at me with wide eyes as I snatched up my bouquet of white roses. Since she was the bride, she had red roses, because she was special. Very special, if you know what I mean. "Will I be okay, Danny?" she asked, sounding vulnerable, her eyes gaining a glassy quality.

As annoying as she was, she was my favourite cousin, don't tell Flora that, and she was getting married. Of course she'd be nervous. I swallowed my grumpiness and gave her a reassuring smile. "You're going to be just fine," I assured her, planting a kiss to the side of her head. "Mark's going to take care of you, and if he doesn't, Luke will help me kick his ass."

Molly smiled widely at me, her tears completely disappearing. "You're right, Danny."

My smile twitched into a smirk. "Aren't I always?"

She cocked her head to the side and shook her head. "Sometimes you're very, very oblivious, Danny. I want you to promise me that when love extends its hand, you won't back away, and you won't let go."

"Love?" I repeated, bemused at how quickly she'd turned this to me. "I don't think I'll be thinking about love for a long time, Mols."

She assumed her wiser-than-thou expression and shook her head. "Love is always around the corner," she whispered mysteriously. "Now go, my best man awaits you."

I rolled my eyes, not entirely sure what she was getting at. Just because she found the love of her life didn't mean I had to look as well. Maybe I was content being single. It wasn't like any of my relationships had ever ended well.

I opened the door to see Uncle George, Molly's father, waiting outside with a happy grin on his face. "Is she almost ready?" he asked, looking spiffy in his navy blue suit.

I nodded with a smile. "I'll just lead the bridesmaids, you should come in around three minutes later, yeah?"

He nodded. "We'll be right there, honey."

"Okay." I patted his shoulder. "It'll all go smoothly, Uncle George. You're giving your daughter away to a good man."

He grinned largely at me, but I noticed a tinge of sadness in his gaze. "I know, Jordan. But you're a good kid as well, y'know? You should let yourself love a little too."

I simply nodded and moved away, clutching my bouquet of roses tightly. I didn't know why everyone had to tell me to love. It wasn't like I was forcing myself not to, right? Ryan wasn't that big of a detriment to my love life, was he?

I made my way to the entrance of the church where the four bridesmaids were waiting, three of Molly's friends, and Flora. "You ready?" I asked them.

They all grinned, their dresses similar to mine except they were floor length as opposed to my above-knee length one. I knocked on the door like rehearsed, counted to three, and pushed it open. I stepped onto the golden rug that led to the altar as the music started playing. Sydney and Hunter were the flower girls, each holding a woven basket of painted gold rose petals that took forever for me to find online, by the way. They approached me from the side and walked in front of me, paving the way with the flower petals.

I walked slowly with my head held high and my shoulders squared, aware of eyes on my every move. I didn't even notice that my lips were in a straight line until I made eye contact with Luke. He looked devastatingly handsome in the suit I helped him pick, and he winked at me, mouthing, "Smile, beautiful."

I didn't even bother stopping the beam from growing on my face, because that was just the affect he'd begun to have on me. His smile grew at the sight of mine and he made a kissy face. Before I started giggling in the middle of the event, I rolled my eyes and faced the front again.

When we reached the altar, I glanced behind me to see Molly floating along next to her dad in her beautiful white dress, her silky veil hiding her face as she glided to Mark, who I noticed looked like a happy bomb had just exploded on his face.

I took my place next to Luke. I glanced at him, and noticing the tender smile on his face, I quickly faced the couple, unable to look at him without blushing. The priest began the ceremony, and I easily tuned out, because he was the worst kind, with a quiet, breathy voice and looking like a gust of wind could blow him over.

"Why won't you look at me?" Luke's husky voice suddenly whispered into my ear, his mouth lightly touching the smooth skin.

I almost let out a shriek as I snapped out of my daze, tipping my head back to toss him a scowl. "Shut up," I whispered back. Molly was in the middle of her vows, and if we spoke any longer, everybody would notice us.

He grinned at me and casually slung an arm around my shoulders, causing me to sag a little under the weight. With an easy pull towards him, I was suddenly leaning snugly against him, my back touching his chest.

"What are you doing?" I questioned, trying to escape from his grip. If any of his relatives saw us in this position, I would be doomed. As it was, Mark had already noticed our shuffling and winked at us from over Molly's shoulder.

"I'm making you more comfortable."

"Well, can you stop?"

"No."

"And why not?"

"Because I don't want to."

"Fuck you, Luke."

"I knew you wanted me, beautiful." I knew he was smirking without even looking at his smug face.

"Don't call me beautiful," I hissed lowly, quickly forcing my now ever-present blush down.

He simply grinned a self-satisfied grin and pulled me more tightly against his warm body. "Okay, beautiful."

There was seriously no winning with this boy, was there?

***

The wedding passed by in a flash, and before I knew it, it was time for partying and dancing and eating and cake at the reception.

We simply changed venues from the church to a country club's garden in order to accommodate everything we were going to do. But what I'd forgotten about was that Mum and Rita were in charge of alcohol.

Luke's Auntie Sara smiled drunkenly at the two of us. "Luke darling, you and Jordan take choir together, am I right?"

He nodded slowly and I grimaced, not liking where this was going. So far, three of his drunken relatives had assumed we were together and gone off to tell everyone else, just what I'd been hoping and praying against. The Tarrones were ruthless when it came to relationships.

"Then sing the bride and groom a song!" she cheered to the crowd of drunken relatives and small children, all of whom immediately roared their approval.

Molly and Mark approached us, wrapped in each others' arms, identical lovestruck grins on their faces. "Please guys?" Molly pleaded, making me feel so guilty that I couldn't refuse. "We're leaving for our honeymoon soon, and I want to hear you guys once before we go."

I nodded in submission and sagged my shoulders, too tired to argue when Luke took my hand. I almost pulled out of his hold until I realised that it actually felt good, warm and comforting. He smirked at me as he said, "Sure, which song?" It was like the skin contact wasn't affecting him at all, while it was turning me into mush.

Molly squealed. "Yay! Thanks, poppets, do you know 'Beside You'?"

I perked up. That was one of my favourite songs. "Of course I do, Mols!"

"Luke, you? It's by Marianas Trench, you know, that band Danny always listens to?"

I grinned slightly and tugged on Luke's hand. "You know it?" I asked him.

He smiled at me. "Yeah I do, isn't it one of your favourite songs?"

I blinked. "How did you know that?" I asked, slightly weirded out.

He rolled his eyes. "You forget that we've known each other our whole lives, beautiful."

I coughed awkwardly and turned to the newlyweds, who looked amused at our exchange. "You know those microphones at the front where we gave our speeches? You can use them," Mark told us.

"Okay, let's go, Jordy-kins!" Luke exclaimed cheerfully, yanking on my hand and leading us over the clean-cut grass to the front, where a row of tables were laid out, two sets of mics laying on top of them.

I pulled myself out of his grasp and stepped forward, taking one of the mics and tapping on it. The chattering faded when I cleared my throat, the sound echoing over the lawn. "Hello everyone," I said politely. "Eh...Luke and I have been asked to perform a song, I believe?"

Friends, relatives, employees alike burst into cheers and wolf-whistles, and I winced at the noise, briefly shutting my eyes. When I opened them, I noticed Seth and Marie to the left of me, identical smiles on their faces, Marie's hand casually resting on her noticeable baby bump.

I searched further and saw Mum, whose eyes were firmly fixated on a passing waiter, who held flutes of champagne. I chuckled at her glare - she looked like she wanted to incinerate the poor man on the spot. Dad had given her specific instructions on not drinking, and at the look of the protective stance he held over her chair, I knew she wouldn't be destroying her liver for a long time.

"Does the band know the chords of Marianas Trench's 'Beside You'?" Luke asked, looking over at the band we'd booked to play for us. The shaggy-looking guitarist glanced at his bandmates and they all nodded in affirmation. He shot Luke a thumbs up, and Luke grinned at me.

"Whenever you're ready," I said softly. There was a pause as everyone settled down into chairs in order to listen to us properly.

At the sound of the first gentle chords, Luke began the first stanza. "When your tears are spent on your last pretence, and your tired eyes refuse to close and sleep in your defence. Well it's in your spine, like you've walked for miles, and the only thing you want is just to be still for a while." His voice was deep and silky, like rich caramel. I'd always loved his singing, but I'd never admit that to anybody, especially him. He was full of himself enough already without me adding more to the pile of things he'd hold against me.

I joined him in the chorus, our voices melding together melodiously. "And if your heart wears thin, I will hold you up, and I will hide you, when it gets too much. I'll be right beside you, I'll be right beside you..."

For some reason, he glanced at me out of the corner of his eyes and winked, causing me to almost stumble upon starting the next verse.

We continued on with the song, separating on the stanzas and coming together during the chorus. The entire area was silent, listening intently as we sang to them, and Molly was watching us with shining eyes, her hands clasped together. I would bet anything that some sort of ludicrous romantic thoughts of Luke and I were clouding her mind, even though it wasn't that unusual for us to duet, considering he was an alto and I was a soprano, which made our choir teacher pair us together indefinitely.

As the second chorus faded and built into the bridge, Luke's eyes trained themselves on me as he sang that part. "Trust in me, trust in me, don't pull away. Just trust in me, trust in me, 'cause I'm just trying to keep it together 'cause I could do worse and you could do better!"

I swear, I got chills as his voice raised and lowered in accordance to the tune. He was literally making me so emotional that I couldn't even feel my feet. The intensity of his gaze on me held me riveted to the spot, unable to move, to think, all except for the lyrics.

"I'll be right beside you," he sang again, his voice quavering slightly as the song began to wind down.

"I'll be right beside you," I ended softly. The quiet notes faded into silence, and even as the crowd erupted in cheers, I couldn't take my eyes off the boy in front of me.

Why was it that when he said those lines, it was like he was saying them to me?


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Hello lovelies! New chapter sucked, eh? My apologies, I don't know why my writing was so wonky lmao I've been out of sorts lately