𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐧 ─── scoldings

Faltbush Ave., 28th December 2007

"ℑ had a bad feeling that you were up to something. What have you done?" Ellie froze, turning to look over her shoulder. Luke and Ethan sat on either side of her, all with the same wide eyed expression as Iris and Ava walked in. 

They were holding Ellie's niece, Mia, who was giggling to herself, as Ava shot the woman a thumbs up. The three younger adults had cake icing covering their mouths and hands, a devoured cake in front of them as Ellie tried to work out what to say.

"You couldn't tell from the white dress?" Was what she finally settled on. Iris' jaw dropped, as Ava began to howl with laughter.

"Oh, Bella, Bella, Bella, you lovely child, you're brilliant. You got eloped! This is beautiful," Ellie nodded, holding a bottle of champagne up in agreement, her hand covered in icing, as Ava continued to howl with laughter. Ellie turned back around to avoid seeing the livid look on her cousins face.

"What have you done?" Iris growled, stomping around to the other side of the sofa as Ethan paused the movie and the three teens shot her angelic looks, slowly licking icing off from around their mouths. "Who witnessed?"

"That would be me," Ethan put his hand up, a grin on his face as Ava high fived him. He put it down as Iris shot him a glare, wiping ice cream off of the eye patch that covered one side of his face. "I was witness, Maid of Honour, Best Man, Flower Girl, Ring Bearer and Photographer at the same time, like the multi-talented man I am. Want to see the photos?"

"No!" Iris hissed.

"Yes!" Ava sat next to Ethan on the sofa, handing Mia to Luke, as she and Ethan began to go through the photos. Iris set her gaze on the newly weds, who both grinned innocently, smoothing Mia's clothes as the toddler giggled.

"You two better have a good explanation for why you did this."

"I tolerate him enough to spend the rest of my life with him." Ellie joked, as Luke raised an eyebrow at her.

"Thanks."

"No problem."

"Iris, come and look at this photo though," Ava called, as Iris watched the five of them on the couch with narrowed eyes.

"Do your parents know?"

"No, I...I haven't told them." Ellie went quiet as Luke wrapped an arm around her gently. "Maybe I'll just move house and not tell them where, then leave a letter with my landlord telling them that I married and moved to Finland."

"Why Finland?" Luke asked, though a smile played at his lips.

"It snows more than here." Iris glared at all of them again, debating on whether to kill them or not. "And they have the cutest dogs. Have you seen the Finnish Lapphund? They're so fluffy and cute and aww..."

"Maybe we should get a dog." Luke mused, as Ellie began to nod.

"Iris, come on, baby, look at this one," Ava cooed, as Iris finally relented and sat down on Ava's lap, a frown on her face. "You're not fooling anyone, I know you're happy about it."

Iris huffed again and crossed her arms further, before looking through the photos once more and smiling at the sight of the pair getting married in front of a .

"You know for a guy with one eye, you take good photos," Luke grinned, as Ethan laughed.

"Hang on..." Ethan turned around to glare at Luke, who was snickering quietly. "I've had one eye for like two weeks and you've already started making jokes! Can I stay with you?"

"Yes." Ava nodded.

"Ava, no!" Iris replied, face palming at her partner, who was grinning like an idiot. "I swear, I deal with children. Mia's two and has more brain cells than all of you combined."

"Straight facts."

"I see no lie."

"You're not wrong."

"That's because she's your kid."

Iris sighed once more, rubbing a hand down her face, before snatching the champagne bottle from Arabella's hand and taking a deep swig from it.

"I'm too sober to deal with all of this BS right now,"

∘☽༓☾∘

Times Square, 1st January 2008

Ellie grinned, clinging onto Luke as he picked her up with ease, holding her gently in his arms as he beamed. She placed both hands onto his cheeks, kissing him twice in quick succession as she giggled against his lips.

"Happy New Year." She murmured, as he finally set her down on the floor once more. People cheered all around them, singing songs and yelling to one another.

"Happy New Year to my lovely wife!" Ellie laughed at the statement, still not quite believing that she had somehow got this man all to herself now. Her stomach fluttered every time he called her that, and she knew that if she weren't so cold, she would be blushing. "You're stuck with me."

"I wouldn't have it any other way." Luke kept his arm tight around her waist, Ellie's dark curls brushing against his skin.

"How does it feel to be a Castellan now?" Luke asked, as Ellie glanced up at him with a wide smile, eyes glimmering.

"I love it," She stated simply, before softening and leaning further into him, "and I love you."

"I love you too," He murmured against her lips, before pressing a couple more kisses to her face. She laughed once more, as more cheers came from around them. "What are your plans for the New Year?"

"Move house, finish my course and start my job." Ellie thought for a moment, trying to work out whether there was anything else for her to do. "Spend a lot of time with my brilliant husband and my friends. What about you?"

"Well, annoy Ethan about being single, annoy your family, spend more time with my beautiful wife and maybe try and get in contact with Annabeth again," Ellie grinned, squeezing his hand as the crowd around them began to disperse slightly. 

"I'm proud of you," He smiled at her, even if he felt that she shouldn't be proud of him. "Come on, let's grab ice cream on the way home."

"Ice cream?" Ellie nodded. "It's -3 degrees, Ellie."

"And? There's no bad temperature to eat ice cream. Come on!" He laughed, before allowing for Ellie to drag him from the crowd and towards the nearest shop that sold ice cream at that time of night.

After a couple of minutes of searching, a shop appeared in front of them, selling ice cream on New Years. 

"What do you want, Ellie?" She was looking at the ice cream flavours, before joining Luke at the counter.

"Bubblegum please," Luke sent her a glare, as she grinned at him, motioning for him to speak.

"Chocolate Chip please," The server nodded, before waiting them to pay. Luke flicked Ellie's hands away from her wallet, paying quickly as he grinned at her.

"I was going to pay."

"Not a chance." He replied, wrapping his arms around the top of her shoulders. "I'm paying for my wife."

"No fair," He pressed a kiss to her cheek, as the worker got their ice creams ready and handed them over. 

"And really, bubblegum?" Ellie began to lick the ice cream, a grin on her face. "It's bright blue?"

"Eh, it's sweet and nice," She hummed, licking it, as Luke rolled his eyes and continue to eat his own ice cream as they walked, a hand around her waist once more.

∘☽༓☾∘

Hiya,

Ellie and Luke are the chaotic relationship that I admire to be. Them eating wedding cake, and drinking champagne with Ethan is beautiful and I love them. Ethan it hilarious, as is Ava and Iris is a mood. Anyhow, I love this little found family and once again, let me know what you think.

Let me know what you think,

Love Li xx