Wedding bells, or should we say in this case, wedding silence.

The entire church sat still in their seats, their eyes focused on the alter, trying to place what was going on. Why he was hesitating. Angelo swallowed hard as he looked at the huge crowd at the church. He could see Juliana sitting at the front row with Michael beside her. Days had gone by so fast and before he knew it, it was his wedding day. The wedding he didn't want. The wedding that was forced on him. His mind was all over the place and he could barely keep himself from racing down that hall.

Angelo could feel beads of sweat forming on his forehead all of a sudden admist the cool breeze from the air conditioners.

So much for wanting a small wedding with a small crowd

Where did all those people come from?
He barely knew half of them.

Patricia.

He really hoped she wasn't there. She was all he was bothered about. He knew he had hurt her enough. Coming to his wedding when she was the one that was supposed to be beside him on that alter was going to break her. She was never going to recover from what she was going to witness that day if she ever came.

"Angelo?"
He didn't hear the priest call for his attention the first time. He still kept his eyes on the crowd searching for her. He had to make sure.

"What is wrong with him?" Michael whispered to Juliana as the crowd began to get really impatient now.

"Angelo." Angelo slowly turned to the priest. He looked so confused. Did he say something to him? "You're yet to conform."

"C-conform?" He stammered.

Anna rolled her eyes. Was this it? Was this the man she was going to spend the rest of god knows when with? A man that couldn't even keep his emotions apart from his business? He was too shaky for a man. She couldn't wait to get it all done and over with. She was sick of all those people anyway. She could never get too comfortable among them. Among humans.

Angelo slowly turned to his bride. Anna looked so beautiful in her wedding dress. Not like he told her. Not like he cared, but she knew she did. She had prepared so badly for the wedding. Everyone had looked forward to that day not just because they actually cared about them, but everyone wanted to know what a wedding between an Atian and a human was going to look like. It was the talk of the country for days.

She held his arm, but gently enough and squeezed them tightly to get his attention. She wasn't going to let him embarrass her. Angelo glared at her. What on earth was she doing?

"Don't you dare embarrass me." She whispered to him with her teeth gritted and a smile on her face. "Get yourself together." She let him go with a hard pull.

Angelo cleared his throat.

"Is anything the matter?" The priest had to ask.

Angelo and Anna turned to look at him and she faked another smile.

"No," Anna said. "You may continue father."
The priest nodded. 

"Angelo," the priest was repeating the vows to Angelo for the third time. "Do you accept Miss Anna Storm as your lawfully wedded wife, to love and to cherish, for richer and poorer, in sickness and in health, till death do -"

"I do." Angelo slid the diamond ring quickly on her finger. Angelo just needed all of it to be over. The priest took out some time to look at him. He wasn't sure he understood why something was off about the wedding. He frowned. He slowly turned to Anna.

"Miss Anna Storm, do you accept Mr Angelo trust as your lawful wedded husband, to love and cherish, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, till death do you part?"

"I do." Anna slid a ring in his finger too.

"Is there anyone here who is against this marriage?" The priest asked. "Speak now or forever hold your peace."

The whole crowd was quiet. Anna waited patiently, heart in her mouth. Everyone turned to see if anyone was going to step forward.

Angelo hoped someone would.

No one did.

"By the power vested in me, I now proclaim you, Mr Angelo Trusk and Miss Annabelle Storm, husband and wife. You may now kiss your bride." He announced and turned to Angelo.

Angelo looked at Anna. She looked at him too. How come none of them ever thought of that part?

Everyone looked at them eagerly. Angelo could see that. He was so numb. He couldn't move. It was almost like he was traumatized. Everyone was starting to talk. He couldn't bring himself to kiss her. It was like there was a force pulling him from her. It was getting weird and uncomfortable now and Anna was getting so nervous and impatient.
She gently reached for Angelo's hands. If he wasn't going to do it, she was going to do it for the both of them. He slowly turned as she wrapped her hand around his head and pulled him to her.

She kissed him.

The crowd rose up to their feet clapping now but she did not stop and Angelo didn't stop her. He just stood there numb from head to toe. He was shocked. Too shocked to stop her.

He kissed her back.

*************************************************

Anna stopped pacing for a second and checked the time on her wrist watch.

Past eleven.

Where on earth was he?

It was barely a day since she married him and she hadn't seen him since church. He left immediately the service was over. He wasn't even present at their reception and he wasn't there at their house either. His phone was off the whole time she tried to call him. Some type of marriage wasn't it?

She exhaled, rubbing her arms gently. She was so cold. The entire city was, how on earth could anyone bare to be outside at that point? How could he be outside?

Why was she even worried?
It wasn't as if she was expecting a romantic first night.

Anna could barely concentrate at this point. For some reason she was worried. Some reason she couldn't explain.
What if something bad had happened to him?
Just like André?

Breathe Anna. Breathe.

How was she going to explain the death of another Trusk? No one was ever going to believe her. It could ruin everything; everything she had ever worked so hard for. If getting married to Angelo was going to get her to all her dreams then she had better be good at it. She had to protect him, she had to protect her only chance to save her people.

No one would ever want to be with her or another important figure of the society died. It was hard finding a replacement for André as it was. Angelo was her last chance.

Click!

She froze when she heard the door click, too eager to see who was going to walk through it like she couldn't already guess who it was. The door opened quickly.

"Anna?" She watched as Sam pull Angelo in.

Besides Patricia, Sam was the only other closest person Angelo had to a brother. Even if they weren't always together when Angelo left for Germany unlike Patricia and him, Sam made sure he visited and always kept in touch. There was no other person Angelo needed more as his best man. That explained why Angelo was out all day, why he didn't take any of his calls. He was drunk.

Anna let out a disappointed breath as Sam pulled Angelo in. He reeked of alcohol. She walked to the door and closed it quickly.

"Please bring him in here." She said leading the way to the living room. Sam followed, holding on tight to Angelo so he didn't fall.

"You can drop him on the couch." She told Sam while he obeyed without question.

"I'm so sorry Anna." He turned to Anna. "I tried to stop him from drinking so much but he wouldn't listen to me."

Anna faked a smile.

"It's alright, -" She looked at Sam, squinting her eyes as she tried to remember his name.

"Sam." he smiled.

"Yeah." She folded her arms. "Thank you for bringing him home safe."

"No its nothing. You don't have to worry about him, it's not the first time this is happening. He tends to forget himself after three to four shot glasses. Just give him some hang over medicine. I'm sure he'd be fine by morning."

"Thank you once again."

"Sure." The light skinned man in front of her smiled, exposing his perfect dentition. "Have a great night.

"You too."

Sam turned to leave. He followed one of the maids as she led him away from the living room.

Anna looked at Angelo.
He was so deep in his sleep. He looked so peaceful. How could he sleep like that after making her worry so much? She shook her head. She wasn't ready to deal with it at that moment. Anna turned to leave when he grabbed her hand. She quickly turned to face him.

"Don't leave me." He told her with his eyes still closed. "Stay with me Patricia, please."

Anna scoffed.
The guts of this man. How could he be so soft? So unprofessional? Patricia? She scoffed. How could anyone mistake her for that German lady he always hung out with? She grunted and rolled her eyes.

She pulled her hand away quickly and took a deep breath. She turned to the maids that stood there.
"Could you take him to his room please?"

"Yes Mrs Trusk." They chorused.

Anna turned back to Angelo. She sighed and then walked away.

So much for the day that was supposed to be most important day of her life. She married a mistake and she was starting to think Shink was right. She might regret this mistake after all.