3 years later...
"Aiden! we're gonna be late if you don't come down now." I shouted as I checked the time on the clock hung on the wall.
"I'm ready! I'm ready!" he says while running down the stairs with one shoe on and the other in his hand.
"Damn! You take more time to get ready than girls do." I tell him and he scoffs mumbling something to himself.
I quickly lock the door once Aiden goes out to start the car engine. I sit in the car and we make our way to our destination.
~~~~
I quickly find where Carrie's room is and get in to help her with the dress.
"So...how does it feel to finally get married?" I ask Carrie as Jules retouch Carrie's make-up.
"I'm so excited to start a new life with Blake, but I'm nervous. I don't want to mess this up. Today should be a perfect day for us."
"Everything will go smoothly. You just have to look pretty and get ready to be Mrs. Walter." I tell her and Jules nods. Yes! you heard right. Carrie is getting married to Blake. They had been inseparable since the school days just like Aiden and me. They had their fights in between but always made up since they couldn't miss seeing each other for more than an hour.
Blake proposed to Carrie in front of all our classmates at a party, celebrating the last day of college. Carrie cried a lot that day because Blake faked an argument with her that day and didn't talk to her the whole day until he proposed. It was rather amusing to watch both Blake and Carrie control their urge to be in each other's arms the whole day.
Julie missed it because she and Jake went to different university. Well Jake was gonna be with us but since our university didn't provide what Jules wanted, she had to get admission into another one and Jake being whipped, he joined there too since it was his second preference after our college.
"And no crying missy. If you ruin your make-up now, I'll whoop your ass." Jules says breaking me out of my thoughts and cracking us up.
A knock interrupts our laughter. Jules opens the door to find Mr. Williams aka Carrie's dad.
"It's time. Is my daughter ready to go to her new home?" Mr. Williams asks as Carrie walks up to him with tears glistening in her eyes.
"Yes dad. I'm ready as long as you and mom are with me." Carrie says and Mr. Williams laughs a little with unshed tears in his eyes.
"We are always there with you until the day we die. Now, let's not let the boy wait in the altar any longer, or else he'll think you left him." Mr. Williams says and we laugh.
"I dare you to shed a single tear Carrie" Jules warns her and Carrie laughs while shaking her head as to tell us that she won't cry.
Soon Carrie is standing next to Blake and repeating the vows said by the priest. Aiden being the best man, he's standing on the side of Blake and I'm standing on the opposite side as I'm the bridesmaid.
I look over at him to see him looking at me and when he catches my sight, he points me towards Carrie and Blake with his eyes and then points at me and him with his finger. I immediately understand what he means and blush and look away.
After the vows are said, the priest announces the couple to seal this marriage through the kiss and we applaud once they lock lips for a small but passionate kiss.
Carrie has a wide smile on her face and Blake mirrored her smile. They walked down the few stairs together and we threw rose petals at them as they walked ahead.
I went ahead and hugged both Carrie and Blake wishing them a blessed married life ahead and Jules followed. After all the wishes, we decided to have a group photo and Me, Aiden, Jules and Jake joined the couple.
"Hey! Don't forget us." We hear someone say and turn around to find Jeremy and Daniel standing behind us, wearing matching blue colour suits and striding towards us.
We all gasp in unison at them. Carrie and Jules run into their arms and I follow them. After a group hug, Carrie slaps each of them on their head.
"Where were you all this time? You know how hard it was to find your address? Me and Blake had no hope that you'll come today." Carrie says.
"How can we miss your wedding Carrie? We booked a flight as soon as we could to celebrate this day with you." Daniel informed making Carrie smile.
"Where were you though? You went to Los Angeles with your girlfriends saying you'll return by Christmas, but there was no news from both of you." I asked them.
"Yes, neither did any of your phones connect. You didn't even contact us. All we knew was that you broke up with the twins. May we know the reason as to why you both broke up at the same time?" Julie added further.
"It's a long story. We'll tell you but for now let's have our group photo taken now." Jer said and Carrie shook her head, "I wanna know now. The photo can wait for a few minutes." Dan sighed before accepting. We all settle down around our table and eagerly wait for them to start. We let the guests have food first, to buy some time before listening to them.
"We did go to Los Angeles for vacation, but my parents decided to stay there. I was against it but couldn't go against my parents. Riley, Milly and Dan with their family were returning to California before Christmas. But Dan decided to stay with me because both of us didn't feel like leaving each other since we have never been apart. This caused a rift between Dan and his parents."
"My parents didn't want me to stay so far away from them, but I somehow managed to stay there. Jer's parents comforted mine and assured them of my safety. So, I started living with them while not being a burden." Dan chuckled and Jer slapped his arm.
"Yeah! And about Riley and Milly, we broke up with them in LA. Well, first it was Riley who broke up with Dan because she found handsome boys in LA. It didn't last for her though because she had to return to California. Me and Milly were still in a relationship when Dan had his break up. Dan tried hooking up with other girls there but it didn't work out and soon he started complaining about how I was always with Milly and left him out of his life." Dan had a sheepish smile on his face before taking over.
"I felt really left out though, since Riley went on with her life after the break up. I started feeling jealous of them and because of this we started arguing and not talking to each other for days. One such day we were arguing when it slipped my mouth that I have feelings for him." As Dan said that, we gasped, unable to accept.
"When did you start falling for him?" Jules asked once she came out of her shock.
"Well...it started after my breakup with Riley. I started feeling jealous. At first, I thought it was because they were still in a relationship while mine didn't last long. I started feeling lonely as he spent most of the time with her. But then, I used to feel weird when seeing them making out. Being alone for most of the time gave me time to think a lot and it was then I realised I wasn't jealous of them being together rather I was jealous of Riley. In the beginning I used to think it was because Jer and I have been friends since our childhood and suddenly not being able to spend time with him was taking a toll on me. But when I saw them making out, it didn't feel right to me and something tugged at my heart. I thought the feelings will pass once I get a girl for myself, but soon realised that I didn't feel for them."
"It got so frustrating that I started avoiding him. When it didn't work, I decided to tell him and decided to accept whatever the result was. Riley and Milly were out and the house was empty except for Jer and me. I tapped him on the shoulder and he turned, but nothing came out of my mind due to the closeness between us. Since I couldn't speak, I showed him. I kissed him. He remained still for a moment before pushing me away. It led into an argument and I revealed my frustration at him that I think I have caught feelings for him. He was stunned. I told him that I just wanna confirm it and started advancing towards him hesitantly. He didn't move away which relaxed me a little and slowly kissed him. He didn't reciprocate for a few moments and I feared he'll back out, but he surprised me by kissing back before coming back into his senses. He pushed me away and started pacing around frustrated with himself. I let him relax and then we talked it out and it was then I knew that he too felt that we were distanced than before and he had started losing interest in Milly and used to think of me often. So we decided to let the information digest and waited for few days to let Milly know and then we got together." Dan concluded.
"Okay now since you know the whole story, let's have our photo taken." Jer said.
"No, clear this up too. Why didn't any of you contact us?"
"That was because our phone got stolen when we were out walking around. And we didn't remember any of your phone numbers, so...now you know. Let's continue with the photos now." Jer explained hurriedly and we nodded once the story telling was over and returned for the group photos.
The photo session ended and Carrie and Blake were called for their first dance together as a wedded couple. Gradually, we all joined them. Aiden and I were swaying with the music when he told me, "we'll have our turn soon." I looked at him curiously as he smirked and walked away leaving me in the middle of the dance. Dan took that time to ask me about my days in college.
We were still talking when the song changed into a disco one. Carrie grabbed each of our hands and dragged us to dance with them. We were dancing like crazy and had to control ourselves when the photographer zoomed in on the bride and the groom who were dancing with us.
The song ended and food was served for the couple and their close relatives and friends as background music played. Jake was filling his face with varieties of sweets and Blake and Aiden were trying to stop him before he got high on sweets. Jer and Dan were looking so lovely, feeding each other and laughing at something said by Jules. Overall, It was fun and relaxing to sit after dancing in heels. Aiden hasn't talked to me since the dance floor so I was trying to gain his attention when the announcer announced for the bride to throw the bouquet of flowers.
We all stood and went to the centre. I wasn't going to stand but Carrie dragged me and made me stand in the centre. She walked ahead and stood facing the stage while her back was to us. The announcer counted till three and she threw the bouquet which landed directly in my hand. Carrie turned around and squealed, muttering a thank god. I gave her a confusing look, but before either of us could say anything, I heard my name being called behind me.
I turned around and gasped, covering my mouth and moving a few steps back in shock. Aiden was kneeling on his knees holding a beautiful ring.
"Kia" he called my name again and extended his free hand for me to hold. I held his hand still unable to believe, with tears glistening in my eyes.
"With the couple's permission, I wanna steal the spotlight to ask you something very important. It is so important that I had to somehow arrange to bring both our parents to attend the wedding. It is so important that if I don't ask you now then I won't be able to have a peaceful sleep at night. And your response to this question will determine our life ahead, though I know we have been together for so long but when it comes to this, we can never be too sure. So, let's not make me wait any longer and come into my life permanently as my support, my other half, my love and my everything. Please!
Kiara Jones, will you make me the happiest man in this world by being my wife? Will you marry me?" Aiden asks as he takes the ring from the box and holds it near my ring finger.
With tears now flowing from my eyes, I nod my head and whisper a 'yes'. I thought he didn't hear so I was gonna repeat when he took my hand and placed the ring on my ring finger before sharing a passionate kiss with me. The crowd cheered and clapped, while my friends hooted.
"I love you" Aiden whispered in my ears.
"I love you" I whispered back.
Once we pulled apart, our parents came and hugged both of us. Our friends too came and hugged us while other guests attending the marriage congratulated us.
This was the best day of my life. Three years ago, we couldn't say "I love you" to each other due to our fear of losing each other in our college days, but we overcame all our fears, doubts, insecurities and reached here. Today, here we stand saying "I love you" without fearing anything.
"Hey beautiful" Aiden whispered as he hugged me from behind.
"Hey handsome, thank you for giving me such a beautiful day" I told him.
"Anything for you baby. I love you so much."
"I love you more my soon to be husband." I teased him and he kissed my cheeks.
"You know, You were my first boyfriend and now you are my first love." I tell him and he smiled lovingly.
"I'm glad it was me, your first love" He says and grins adorably.
"I'm glad too, My first ever love."
I tell him before sharing a lovely kiss.
_____________THE END______________
Hey guys!!
The book ends here officially. Thanks to all those who have supported me to continue writing when I had lost hope. Will always be thankful to you.
If you see any other mistakes while reading the chapters, do inform me freely:)
I'll be working on another book now so let's meet once I start uploading the chapters.
Byeeâ¤