Alright-y, everyone! Today is the big wedding (I think, or it may be the next chapter), so get ready for lots of theatrics. Because you know how it is: what's a wedding without a little drama? Oh, and like I said, so sorry for not updating, but I'm back now and here it is:
Chapter 7
"A happy man marries the girl he loves, but a happier man loves the girl he marries."
FLASHBACK
Ian and I stood together on the porch steps, my hand hovered above the doorbell. I was going to press my finger down, when the door swung over and my mother stood there, looking the same as she had the day before (I had stayed at Ian's last night as I wasn't brave enough to go home).
"Wanda, Ian," She sneered. "To what do I owe the pleasure?" You'd have thought that a mum would be happy to see her youngest daughter, wouldn't you? Well, obviously not.
"We have something to share with you all. Is Sunny here?" She nodded and stepped back to let us go through.
"Come in, come in," She instructed at the same time as my sister came bounding down the stairs yelling, "WANDA! Where have you been lately? And who's this handsome fellow? Is he single, or is he your mystery man?" I giggled and lead Ian towards the front room where Dad was. The rest of them followed us and spread out across the room.
"Sun, this is Ian. Ian, this is my big sister Sunny." They shook hands and muttered hellos to each other. Before we sat down, I saw Sunny raise her eyebrows and wink at me. I blushed and flipped her off while no one else was looking. Mum was impatiently tapping her fingers on the coffee table; Dad continued flicking through his paper, ignoring us all. "We have some good news – well, we think it's good."
Everyone turned towards us – even my dad put down his newspaper – and Ian grabbed my hand in his, rubbing his thumb over my knuckles in reassurance. He took a deep breath. "Wanda and I have decided to get married." It took a minute for it to process, and then there were millions of mixed emotions in the room:
"What! You hardly know this guy, he could be a psycho for all you know!"
"No! I will NOT have my daughter getting married to… him. I refuse: next, your sister will want to go running off with a hippy and get a tattoo of the ying-yang-thing."
"Aaahhh! Oh my God, my little sister is getting married! Can I be a bridesmaid?" I sighed and stood up, pulling Ian with me.
"NEVER! I WILL NOT LET YOU DO THIS."
"Do you even know anything about him? How long have you known him, what, 2 weeks? Baby, please don't make this mistake. Please."
"How DARE you! This is none of your business. I didn't come for your permission, I came to tell you that we're going to do it with or without your blessing. And if that's how you feel, then I guess this is goodbye." I took a deep breath and made my way to the door, looking over my shoulder to give them the evil eye. "I'll be round to pick my stuff up in the morning."
PRESENT
And that's exactly how I ended up at a chapel in Vegas, about to get married. It was just Ian, myself, Mel and Jared (who were having a baby in about 6 months: I'd only found out the day that we'd told them about the wedding). Kyle, Ian's brother who I didn't know very well but seemed nice, and Sunny (who would have guessed it?). Lily and her boyfriend Wes, and finally Jamie, who had flown out all the way to be here specially. I'd protested, saying that there was no point and he could just video-chat it, but apparently, he had been meaning to come and visit soon anyway; ever since he'd found out that I was back.
I stood in front of the full-length mirror in the bathroom and smoothed out my white dress. It was long and flowed down to my ankles, clinging to all the right curls, but quite simple. It was strapless and jewels were studded all around the neckline. My hair was loose down my back and I wore only light makeup that complimented my features nicely. I wore small black heels on my feet that made me look about two inches taller, but were starting to kill my feet.
I took a deep breath and plastered a fake smile on my face. What am I doing? I know nothing about this guy. I don't even know his middle name, for God sakes! My parents were right: I am rushing into this too fast, but what can I do now? Was I making a mistake? Getting tied down to someone at only nineteen (an age that I thought appropriate, but not from the book), even if I do love him, should we wait a few years? I took in a deep, shaking breath and turned away from the mirror. Are these reasonable thoughts, or is it just cold feet? I wasn't sure, so I whipped my phone out of my clutch bag on the counter and texted Mel.
Me: Mel, HELP! Having a major breakdown right now and need 2 talk 2 u. Don't say anything 2 Ian, I don't want him to worry. Hurry, please. Xx.
She texted me back almost instantly. MelanieJ: Alright, hun. Be there in a sec. Ian's worried about u, already, wants to know if ur alright. What should I tell him? Xoxo.
I sighed and furiously tapped at the screen. Me: Tell him I'll be out in 5, and that I love him.
I leant against the countertop and tried to slow my pulse down, hoping that I wasn't about to have a panic attack. Luckily, I didn't have to wait long, as Mel soon came running in. As soon as she spotted me – which wasn't hard as I was the only one in there – she hurried over and pulled me into a tight hug. She stroked my hair as tears started to streak down my cheeks, whispering soothing words in my ear. I let out a few shaking sobs and started to calm down a little. I pulled back from my best friend, whose jacket was now tear-stained, and looked at me carefully. She stared at me with a concerned expression and I couldn't bring myself to look her in the eye.
"Now, what's up?" She asked. I sighed and then proceeded to explain it all to her. She just stared at me with tears in her eyes. I was starting to get a little uncomfortable until she finally spoke, "What are you going to do?" I shrugged.
"What do you think I should do?"
"As your friend, I think you should stop and wait to see where you think this is going; but, as Ian's best friend's girlfriend, I think you should do the same. Have a chat with Ian and see what he feels. He looks like a nervous wreck out there and I think that Jared is probably telling him the same thing." I received a sad smile from her – she grabbed my hand and pulled me outside of the bathroom and into the hall. I spotted the door a little while down, right next to the room where everyone was waiting for me to arrive: all dressed in white. I debated what to do. What was the saying? Something old, something new, something borrowed, and something blue. I had all of that – my mother's charm bracelet, my dress, Mel's shoes, and the bluebell that was threaded into my hair. But was it enough? A few old saying, deciding my whole future?
I could feel myself starting to shake as I thought of Ian standing in there, wondering where I was. I suddenly realized that if I wasn't sure now, then how would I ever be sure? If I couldn't even say I Do properly, then I'm surely going to let him down in the future: the man I love being dragged down by me and my insecurities. I can't do this to him; he deserves better than me, so much more, so I chose the only thing I could: flight. Not fight, I chose flight. What does that say about me?
I couldn't bring myself to say goodbye, make it harder to let go, so I let go of Mel's hand and started to run. I ran, ran towards the door, and away from all of the worries and pressure. As I reached them, I pushed on the heavy double doors and sprinted out into the cold night. Footsteps followed behind me, familiar voices shouting my name. They were all yelling for me, telling me to wait up and to talk about it, Jamie was starting to tear up, which just made me run faster. It was killing me to do this, but believe me, it's for their own benefit. I was rapidly approaching the road, and the crumbly sidewalk soon turned into the smooth and slippery material of the street. The screams behind me grew louder, and Ian's made me stop.
"WANDA! Watch out!" I was confused at his screams, and turned around, only to see two yellow lights in the centre of my vision. I felt like a deer under the headlights – when effectively, I was a Wanda under the headlights. The last thing I saw as I whipped my head back round was his pained face, tears proceeding to stream down his face, before everything went black.
Aaaahhh! Cliff-hanger! I might not be able to update for a while, again, as I've got a lot of schoolwork, but I will try my hardest to be on regularly. What did you think of this chapter? Please R&R, and I'm sorry again for not being on. Thanks for reading.
Queen of Everything Epic.
Xxx
