LIBBY

***

I surprised Jasper... which I was ecstatic about. And his reaction was perfect.

When I landed and turned on my phone, I had about twenty missed calls from him in the space of two hours, so I figured something might have been wrong. The first call had been at two his time, so maybe he'd started having nightmares again. I rang him back but his phone rang out. I rang four times and then texted him, figuring he probably went back to sleep.

I got through security pretty quickly, and then there was a car waiting for me that Lori promised she'd booked. He greeted me as Eddie and took my bags before leading me to a black Range Rover.

The ride from the airport wasn't too long, and soon I was at the hotel. I didn't have a room, figuring I'd be in Jasper's, so instead of waiting around for him to see me, I headed out to the city and went to grab some food.

After another hour he finally rang me back. He sounded odd on the phone, but he assured me he was fine. Unfortunately my phone battery died before I could talk to him properly but at least I vaguely knew my way back to the hotel.

When I got there, Lori had a ticket waiting for me so I grabbed it and took a look around before joining the queue for his book. The line was massive, and after half an hour he finally arrived to a chorus of whoops. He looked so handsome in his button blue shirt and black jeans I was tempted to run at him then and there, but I couldn't ruin my own surprise.

When I got close to the front, I could hear him getting moody, and I couldn't help but laugh. He shouted at me for giggling, not realising who I was, so I could see what Lori was talking about when she said he'd been grumpy. I was going to joke that he wasn't himself, but the truth was whenever he was like that, that was him reverting back to who he used to be. And although he wasn't a terrible person, Jasper hated being that version of himself more than anything, because he knew he could be better. Especially when he was with me. I think that's why he hadn't wanted me to read his book.

But then when the woman in front gave me her phone and stood behind him, so they could take a picture. He even offered that time. But when he saw me, his face lit up like a Christmas tree. He was the smiling bright and bubbly version of Jasper, who I love equally to grumpy Jasper. I only had time to take one picture before he shot across the table and next thing I knew I was being spun around in his arms and his lips were on mine. I think he may have even been a blur in that photo... but I didn't have time to fix it. After a few pleasantries he threw me over his shoulder and took me up to the room and had his way with me... and I him.

But never was I expecting him to say what he just said.

"Baby?" He nudges, stroking his index finger up my arm.

"Yeah I heard. Oh my god, Jasper... where did that come from?" I say it incredulously but I shouldn't really be surprised. And to be honest I was tempted to.

I'd been trying to plan it for the best part of six months, and not getting anywhere with it. We didn't even have a date yet and we had to be married within a year of him moving to the UK.

"How easy is it to just get married anyway?"

He grins. "Not sure. I've never tried." He laughs at his own joke and it's a beautiful sound.

"You know what I mean," I giggle again whilst swatting his chest. Again.

"Would you want to though?" He asks, his face serious for a second. "I know you want the big wedding and the dress and stuff."

I shake my head. "I don't necessarily. Trying to plan without you there has been stressful beyond belief. I mean, I love you, and I do want to marry you, but planning a wedding is bloody hard."

He chuckles as I go off. "Venue, then with venue there's a date, and then with a date there's RSVPs... then the band, then the catering... do you use outside caterers or do you use the venue's. Does the venue even do catering. Then you have seating... do you have traditional wedding in a church or do you do a registry at a hotel."

"Jesus, you really have looked into it all."

I nod with an over-exaggerated exhaustion.

"So what your saying is..." he searches my face.

I look at him for a minute, debating my answer.

His beautiful face looks younger than it did three hours ago. The stress lines from the last few weeks are starting to fade already and his smile is brighter and easier. The green in his eyes is glinting beautifully and his hair is back to how I love it. Long, tousled and easily grabbable.

"I'm down for getting married now." I giggle as he crushes me to him. "But we need to check if it'll do something to your visa don't we?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well if we're getting married in the US surely it would do something to the UK visa... right?"

He shakes his head. "Marriage is marriage. Plus we're still having a wedding there as well... or rather, reaffirming the vows or whatever. But we can get the legal schmegal bit done here."

"So romantic." I roll my eyes.

"You know me," he cocks his head and winks.

"You're sure it won't affect you?" I ask, stroking the outline of his tattoo gently.

He tips my chin up so my eyes have to meet his, and nods. "Yes."

I sigh. "Then yeah... Jasper, of course I will! Especially if it means I have longer to plan the other one."

"You will?" He grins again and the dimples I love more than anything appear on his cheeks as his smile splits his face in two.

"Jasper how many times do I need to fucking say yes!" I laugh, pulling myself on top of him.

As I put my hands either side of his head, leaning mine down over him, I feel his fingers tickling over the bare skin on my thighs. My skin goosebumps as he goes, and my stomach flips as he pinches the skin at my hips lightly, making me rock my hips slightly.

"I take you..." I kiss one side of his lips. "To have and to hold..." I kiss the other side. "For better or worse..." I move underneath his ear, at the sensitive skin there that drives him crazy, and nip. He tightens his grip on my hips as I continue, doing the same thing to the other side. "For richer, for poorer..." I move down to his neck. "In sickness..." I kiss the other side of his neck. "And in health."

I then reach behind me to take hold of him, and he gasps, not expecting me to do that. I bite my lip as I lift myself up slightly, positioning myself so I'm on top of him.

I let him go as I lower myself, moaning with pleasure as he fills me once again, and I hear him sigh himself as he shifts his hips, pushing deeper.

"I do."

I lean down and kiss him fully before he flips me over so I'm underneath him. As he looks at me, he links our hands, holding them so gently in his. His soft lips tease against mine as he moves in and out of me, and a slower more sensual rhythm this time, compared to the hurried pace he'd had before. Our hips move together as I follow his lead, and soon we come to our release together.

"I love you," he says after a couple of minutes.

He's just holding me in his arms, stroking my skin softly, barely leaving a trail. It's soft but it's making my toes curl.

"I love you too Jasper." I kiss him once more as his fingers move lower, tickling over the bottom of my stomach, before he starts teasing me all over again.

***

The next morning Jasper wakes up first. Due to jet lag, I tossed and turned before I finally fell asleep so, for once, he lets me sleep in.

But when I wake, I have an amazing surprise.

He's up, dressed, has ordered breakfast and there's a beautiful array of flowers over on the table. Yellow daisies, my favourites, some orange lily carnations and even some blue ones, which I didn't even know existed. But I love them.

"What are you doing?" I ask, my voice thick with sleep.

"Oh hey, you're up!" He moves away from the table where he's writing something. "I... I, um, got started on things."

"On what things?"

His face falls.

"Oh! Wedding things. Yeah I guessed that from the flowers baby." I giggle as I stand and realised he's managed to dress me in one of his t-shirts. I must have been out for the count if I hadn't felt him move me. "How long was I asleep for?"

"Well it's 2pm..."

"Bloody hell," my eyes widen but he chuckles. "I really was tired."

I sit on his lap and he quickly turns over the pages he's working on.

I try to grab at them but he shoves his hands, which were holding the pages, behind his back.

"You're not fucking reading my vows, baby."

I pout. "I just want quick peek. For inspiration."

"You don't need mine for inspiration. Use this." He taps my temple. "And this." He taps my heart. "There's bound to be something you love, or even like about me?" He plasters a faux-look of hurt and clutches his chest.

I kiss the spot between his eye, then his nose. "Okay. Well just be prepared for my vows to just say that I like your smile."

He chuckles. "Is that all?"

I stroke his hair away from his forehead and shake my head. "Of course it's not."

"Well, what else?" He coaxes me.

"Nope. If you're not showing me yours, I'm not showing you mine." He chuckles and shakes his head.

I slide off his lap and walk over to the bedside table where I can see a pad of paper and a pen. I knew exactly what I wanted to write, but whether or not it came out the same way as words on a page... I had no idea. It was unfair to get married to someone who had literally compared me to an angel in a book that had been published countrywide, but I was going to goddamn try.

"Have you looked at places to get married?" I ask after half an hour of us being completely silent.

He nods. "And I've already asked Lori to be a witness."

"Christ, was I really asleep for that long?!" I joke, and he nods.

"I didn't sleep a wink. I've been up since four. I went out to get those from the flower market when it first opened and when I got back you were still sparko."

I laugh. I'm picturing him using all kinds of tools around me and I'm still lying there snoring.

"I did travel nine hours to see you."

"I know you did. And it's amazing that you're here. I never would have expected it." He slips his hands round my waist as I perch myself on his lap again. "And I love you for it."

***

We spend the rest of the day out shopping.

Jasper had had a free day anyway, to explore, so we wander hand in hand among all the alternative clothes stores, trying to find a white dress for me and vaguely smart shirt and trousers for him.

This is the city we should have come to instead of spending so much time in California. LA was nice but it was so backed up with traffic, and it kind of took away from the views and atmosphere. Here there were barely any cars around, everybody was walking, and everyone was so nice. LA kind of reminded me of London in rush hour, which wasn't a good thing. Seattle was busy, yes, but it didn't have a busy feel. And I loved that. And if Jasper wasn't so set on leaving the US, I could find myself living here one day. Who knows... maybe we would.

"Oooooh!" I squeal and detach my hand from Jasper's when I spot a fourth dress shop.

He rolls his eyes but follows me in, and immediately goes to pretending to be interested in what was to offer. Jasper was a typical guy in the sense that he went shopping because I wanted to. He held my coat and my bag whenever I went into a changing room and followed me around like a puppy dog.

Although when I came out of the changing room after trying on a beautiful hippie-style white floaty dress, which was perfect, he was at the till buying something.

"What you bought?" I ask, trying to look in the bag, but he clamps it shut.

"Nope. It's for tomorrow."

His reaction makes me put my dress behind my back. I was definitely wearing this one, but I had to make sure I could find a suitable hair accessory to match it.

"Go outside for a sec then. Don't want you seeing mine either."

He pretends to try and look round me but I shove him forwards and around, towards the door.

I can still hear him chuckling as I hand the dress over to the shop assistant.

"What's with the secrets?" She asks as she scans the label.

"Oh. Erm, we're getting married tomorrow."

I say it plainly but she looks at me strangely, wondering why on Earth I'd left it so late. And be so calm about it.

"Wow. Umm... well the dress is really pretty."

I smile at her as I hand over my card. "Thanks! Erm... I don't suppose you know where I can find like a head accessory to go with it?"

She looks at the dress again quickly and then looks round the till, as if looking for someone.

"I have one upstairs that's perfect."

"Oh cool?" I look around. "I didn't know this place had an upstairs?"

It was such a small shop and it surprises me.

"There isn't. It's our flat upstairs. Me and Mom."

"Oh. Oh no, I can't take it if it's yours..." I shake my head.

"No, really it's perfect. It'll just take me two seconds to find it."

She looks round the till again and then sprints across the floor to the stairs I now see in the corner.

She must have either been checking for her mum or for any other customers. I'm currently the only one in here, and I'm about to shout up the stairs that it's fine, when she reappears.

She has a crepe paper packet in her hands, holding it delicately, and she brings it round to the counter and gently opens it.

The breath catches in my throat at the look of it.

It's silver and gold, with tiny gold leaves woven into the silver threading. It's so beautiful and intricate, and she's right, it would go perfectly with the dress. But I'd need someone to help me with it.

"I can't take this." I say again but I don't sound convinced, and I can see the girl smiling.

"Please. Take it for the day, then bring it back... if you have Instagram you can tag us in it or something as payment. Please, it's perfect."

I hold it up again and smile as I look from her to the dress to the intricate piece in my hands and then back to her.

"Okay, you've sold me. And I do have Instagram so I will tag you. Thank you so much..."

"Sophie," she smiles as she wraps up the head piece again.

"Thank you Sophie."

She waves at me as I leave the shop, smiling as I meet a yawning Jasper outside.

"You took your time in there," he notes, taking my hand in his, tracing a pattern on my palm with his thumb like always did.

"Yeah sorry. I found something perfect."

He raises his eyebrows.

"And before you say anything you'll see it tomorrow."

***

Jasper left earlier this morning, to give me time to get ready before we head to the registry office in the centre of town.

I'm sitting at the mirror in our room at the hotel, Lori behind me, having my hair done into an intricate plaited style. Lori is apparently amazing at hair. She said she has two five year old twins with long hair like mine, so she's been doing hair for parties for so long now she can do any kind of hairstyle in her sleep. She's easily weaved Sophie's headpiece inside the plaits she's done in my hair, leaving most of my hair down. I look like Galadriel from Lord of the Rings.

"We need to make sure we get a picture before I leave," I grin, looking at her in the mirror.

"I will don't worry. It's amazing. Where did you find it?"

"I didn't. I'd mentioned to the girl in the shop that we were getting married and she'd brought it up from her private stash or something."

"Private stash?" She makes a face.

"Well it wasn't for sale. I think this is literally hers. But I'm grateful though." I smile and then my head to get a look at it.

"I can't wait to see Jasper as well. Have you seen him?"

She shakes her head. "Nope. He's probably in jeans though." We hadn't found any trousers or a shirt for him, so I expect he would be turning up in jeans.

I giggle. "Probably."

My face falls slightly and she stops doing my hair for a second to put a reassuring hand on my shoulder.

"You okay?"

I look her in the eye in the mirror.

"Yeah. I just... I can't believe how far we've come. We've made it nearly two years now... and now we're getting married. It's absolutely crazy." I wipe a shaky hand across my forehead. "My parents are literally going to kill me."

"Hey there's nothing wrong with knowing what you want. I married my husband at eighteen and we're still going strong. When you know, you know."

"That's exactly what I said to my friend Lo when I first told her I loved him. It was only like a month after we'd been dating but I just knew. Even though he was a knob, he was different with me and I loved him so much it scared me. It still does."

"It's never supposed to be easy."

"You can say that again. I think having this year apart has proved to us that we can make it work, no matter what."

She smiles. "You can."

"I know we will," I smile wider. "I just wish my parents and family could be here."

"Didn't Jasper say you're having one in England as well?"

I nod. "Yeah. But to be honest... when Jasper asked me two days ago, I just felt... relieved?" I slump my shoulders dramatically Lori giggles.

"You hate planning stuff?"

"No! That's the thing. If this wedding wasn't my own I'd be all for planning. But it just felt weird."

"Yeah, I think part of that was my fault. I had him on the road too much."

"He hasn't minded. He speaks fondly of you," I smile and look at her in the mirror again. She blushes.

"I know how to handle him when he's being a little shit. As do you. And I think he respects that."

I laugh at that. We are literally the only two people he allows to give him shit, or make fun. I tease him constantly, and I know Lori does the same. When I first met him I would never of dreamed he'd be as open as he is now, but that just proves how much he's grown in the last two years. He's come a long way, wading through a load of fucked up stuff along the way. But what makes me grateful is that he has made it out the other side.

"There. I think that will do it."

I look up at her handiwork and a wider grin spreads across my face. It really does look stunning. I can barely even recognise myself.

I hug her gently before she steps away to grab my dress from where I've hung it on the skirting. It's an above the knee the dress, with a relatively low cut chest. It wraps around me, with a tie, tying together at the front, with sleeves that frill out slightly just above my elbow, with a similar bottom to the hem. I'd never wanted to wear a long dress, even when I get married, again, in England. I'd trip and I don't want to trip at my own wedding. That's embarrassing.

"Can I get a picture?" I hear Lori ask as she hands me my small bouquet of flowers.

I grin widely, my toothier grin, as I pose several times for her, glad that someone is taking pictures. I hadn't even told Lo that I was getting married today, knowing that she'd tell Mum. I mean, of course I want them there, but this is easier somehow.

It's what Jasper and I have wanted from the beginning. And now it was all finally coming into place.

When Lori and I get out of the cab at the registry office, I can see Jasper pacing just outside. He looks nervous, but then again so am I.

But he also looks extremely handsome. And not in jeans!

He's wearing a blue pair of chinos, with braces and he's even wearing a bow tie. As he turns I can see he's also wearing a waistcoat, his shirtsleeves rolled up to just above his elbow. He's wearing some kind of boots, and I as I concentrate, I can see they're a kind of blue suede Oxford shoe. And I love them. They're very hipster... which is both so unlike him but also... him. He's always had his own sense of style, and he pulls of the 'I don't care' appearance so well. But today, with his clean cut suit and tousled hair, just the way I like it, he looks even more handsome than I've ever seen him.

He suddenly stops, as if he senses me. And I swear I nearly burst into tears when I see his face react to seeing me. His eyes glisten and he cups his mouth with shock. And when I get to him, he takes my hand in his and looks me up and down, raking his eyes over every piece of my body, making me blush.

"Baby, you look... you look..." he gasps, unable to find the words, and I smile, carefully wiping my eyes so I don't smudge my make up.

"You look... too. I actually love this outfit the best." I brush my hand over his waistcoat and it's a tweed waistcoat.

"Well I tried. I even tied a tie."

"You tied it yourself?"

He nods but then he admittedly shakes his head when he sees my eyes widen in shock. "Nah, I didn't actually. One of the guys on the desk at the hotel saw me struggling and took pity on me."

I smirk and touch my fingers to his cheek. He tips it slightly and I hear him almost humming with contentment.

"You ready guys?" Lori asks from next to us.

I had forgotten she was here too. That often happens with Jasper and me, and I've been called out on it before.

I nod without taking my eyes off Jasper's and his pupils dilate slightly. He's excited, same as me.

"Let's go..." he kisses my forehead and holds his lips there for a few seconds.

"Let's go start the rest of our lives."

He grins as he drops his hand and holds it out for me. I place my small one in his large, calloused hand, and he laces our fingers gently.

And as we make our final steps towards the building, any nerves or butterflies fly away. I love this man. I love him and live without him I would be nothing...

I love him, and I can't wait to spend the rest of my life making more memories like this.