I felt like a porcelain doll sitting in a chair as people did my hair and makeup for me. I could have done it, but they insisted. Besides, I probably would have just let my hair go frizzy and have smudged makeup.

And that wouldn’t look good on my wedding day.

“I can’t believe I’m getting married.” I mumbled quietly with a smile on my face.

Allie, whose baby belly was quite visible now, curled the last piece of my hair before pinning some of it up. It looked really great, actually.

“Well, there have been some delays but we’re all here and we’re all healthy and everyone’s happy.” She cheered.

I thought back to when I hated Allie. She was a complete bitch to me for no reason when she started dating Aaron, and when they got married, nothing changed. I think what made her a happier person, was having her first child. I couldn’t wait to have children of my own.

“Time to get your dress on, sweetie.” One of my aunts told me.

I got up from the chair and went into a large room where I could put the dress on. Allie helped zip it up at the back and then I stared at myself in the mirror.

It felt like I was brought back to that moment when Courtney and I were dress shopping. The only differences were, was that this was my actual wedding day, and that she wasn’t there.

“Are you ready to go out there now?” She anticipated.

“Just give me a minute, I’ll be right out.”

She nodded her head and closed the door after leaving.

I slowly took steps to the open window in the room. I leaned on the windowsill and stared off into the distance. David was right- I was a thousand miles deep in thought.

I looked over myself one more time in the large, wall-length mirror and headed back into the room where all the girls were waiting to see me. They all let out gasps as they complimented on how I looked.

I loved the feeling I was having. It was a mixture of butterflies, yet total relaxation. And by the end of the day, I would be David Gilmour’s wife.

“10 minutes, dear.” A lady came into the room to tell me.

“David’s going to fall in love with you all over again at the altar.” Hailey squealed.

Everyone went quiet and then my friends and I started screaming out of excitement. I honestly felt like crying. The moment was so joyful- the entire day was joyful.

As we were all calming down, I heard yelling outside of the door. Suddenly, a man burst in and I knewexactly who it was.

Followed by my father, my mother trailed in with a guilty expression on her face. My fucking fatherwalked in with my mother and I think everyone in the room predicted that this wouldn’t go over well. And it wouldn’t. I was shocked at first, more than anything.

“Are you fucking kidding me right now?” I sneered. The room was dead silent.

“Emma I tried to get him to leave…” My mother started.

“Yeah? Well how did he know that the wedding was here? How did he know what time it was at? And how the fuck would he know what day?” I tested.

Neither of them said anything, and I finally figured it all out.

“You have the fucking nerve to show up at my wedding after everything you’ve done to me?” I scolded at my father. He bowed his head and then looked up at me with an angry sneer.

“Look, I know I messed up. I messed up really bad by leaving you all. But what I want you to know is that I still love you. And I still care about you. And as a caring father, I can tell when my daughter is about to make the biggest mistake of her life.”

At this point, I was livid. A fiery shot of adrenaline pumped through every part of me.

“Fuck you.” I said through my teeth. “You’re not a caring father, you aren’t anything to me. You’re just a worthless piece of shit.”

I glared at my mother. “And you, mom. How could you do this to me? How could you bring him here?”

Neither of them said anything again. I started to cry.

“As if I haven’t been through enough!” I yelled. “All I want is to just get married, but the stupidest thingsalways have to happen! What kind of parent would ruin their own daughter’s wedding?! Was that your plan all along? To intentionally ruin the most important day of my life?”

“Emma-”

“I hate you.” I cried.

My mother tried to give me a hug but I pushed her off. I couldn’t even understand what was happening. I was shaking like a leaf.

My father stormed out of the room after some people told him to leave. Next one to leave was my mom, and then Hailey left to go get David.

“My own parents did this to me!” I yelled.

“They’re gone now though, we can still go on with the wedding.” Allie comforted.

I shook my head. “I can’t do this.”

“What?”

“I need to leave.” I breathed.

“Emma!” She yelled but I was already out the door. I held up the length of my dress as I ran down the hallway and out the front doors. I sat on the cement staircase as I buried my face in my hands. It’s like the world was challenging me to breathe, and I was losing.

And like so many times before, everything came crashing down. Except this time, I didn’t know how to recover- or if I was even supposed to.

David sat down beside me and with the most worried, sincere look on his face, pulled me into him for a hug. That’s all I needed.  

“Emma?” he asked. I didn’t answer.

“Babe…” He nudged me. I still didn’t answer. I had nothing to say.

There I was, sitting on the cold cement steps wearing a long wedding gown with the man I was supposed to marry, sitting beside me. I was crying, while everyone waited inside for a wedding.

There wasn’t going to be one.

I stood up and he did the same. I started to walk back inside and he gently grabbed my arm. “Emma, we don’t have to get married today.”

“I know.” I took a deep breath. “I’m going to go inside, get changed, and leave.”

“Leave? What do you mean?” A worried look glazed his face.

“I’m going to go stay at my farm house for a while.” I spoke quietly and calmly.

“Okay, we’ll leave first thing in the morning.”

“No, David. I’m going alone. Just me.” I informed.

I pulled away from him and started to do what I said I was going to do. I wasn’t leaving David for good, I needed to escape for a while.

I was on the verge of a nervous breakdown.