Here it is! Sorry for the wait-I've been fairly busy, but I hope it was worth the wait? Please review and say so :)
Rachel's wedding day dawned quicker than we had expected. It was the first family event that we had been to since Elliot's birth and we were looking forward to spending the day surrounded by family and friends.
The wedding was organised fully by Rachel and due to the fact that I had been asked to be one of the three bridesmaids along with Rebecca and one of Rachel's friends, I had to leave Elliot's dressing in the hopefully capable hands of Jake.
I arrived at Billy's house to find Rachel surrounded by her hairdresser and various other unknown women doing her makeup. Billy was already dressed in his tux, ready to escort Rachel down the aisle, a change to his plans. Billy had said, at first to Rachel that he didn't want to spoil her day by having her wheel him down the aisle, and that Jake could take his place. Rachel has opposed this idea understandably, and Billy and Rachel finally settled on Jacob wheeling the wheelchair alongside the bride, as two of the three most important men in her life. Scratch that. One of four.
Rachel's wedding started a change in the life of La Push. It started a conflict. A war between two of the four men in Rachel's life.
As I walked down the aisle behind Rebecca and Rachel's friend, I passed a gurgling Elliot, who was perched on Charlie's lap, members of my new family and various citizens of La Push, including the wolf pack.
I reached the podium and turned back to see a grinning Jacob slowly walking down the aisle next to his beautiful sister and pushing his beaming father. I however, only had eyes for Jacob, until subtle movements from the seats where the pack were, caught my eye. Looking over, I caught Emily's worried glance and followed her gaze in time to see Sam and Quil restraining a desperate looking Paul.
It didn't click in my head there and then, but it did in Jacob's, as his eyes darkened and his hands gripped Billy's wheelchair harder, turning his knuckles almost white. This, Jake's unconscious communication made me realise with a jolt, and I grew extremely worried.
The fuss died down as Rachel and the other two reached the altar and Billy joined his daughter's hand with Tom. Tom had been nothing but good to Rachel and his deep devotion was reflected in his eyes as he stared into Rachel's.
Billy and Jacob took their places and the music died as the guests sat down. The ceremony started as normal, but stopped abruptly after the words 'Does anybody have any objections?' were uttered.
At this point, Paul stood up forcefully despite Sam and Quil's restraining grips, catching the attention of everyone. Rachel turned to see the interrupter with an anxious look. In an instant, she had caught Paul's eye and realised as something clicked inside of her too. I had felt a similar feeling when this happened to me and Jake, but thankfully, ours was more appropriate timing.
Paul had imprinted.
Skirting around all of the facts, Paul declared his undying love for Rachel, who had tears brimming in her eyes. She turned to run up the aisle, but was blocked by a crushed Tom, demanding to know what was happening. She shook her head at him and ran before he could catch her arm. He lowered himself to the steps, placing his head into his hands.
The guests were silent, presumably speechless as Tom's best man glided over to place a comforting hand on his back. I glanced towards Jacob who was looking almost angry, but sympathetic. Looking behind him, I saw that Paul had disappeared, and decide that being the only bridesmaid who knew and understood the circumstances, I should go to find Rachel.
Leaving my bouquet on the steps, I headed up the aisle; to be joined by Jacob as the guests started to murmur, wondering what was going on. Jake's warm hand enveloped mine and we headed towards Billy's house. Arriving there, we found Rachel and Paul in the middle of a heated argument, and decided to wait outside for them to finish.
Worriedly, Jake snuck over to the window when, after a few minutes there was silence in the house. Peering through the window, he turned to me to mouth 'They're kissing.' He was just in time to see Tom marching up the road, looking angry and as if he were wanting to pick a fight.
Jake stepped away from the window and cleared his throat loud enough for Paul to hear and escape from the two new lovers' clinch just as Tom stormed through the door, pushing Paul away from Rachel.
It was during this fight and argument that I saw a new side to Paul, who was usually very quick to anger. I don't know whether the reason for Paul not transforming there and then was because he felt sorry for Tom or because he had found control over that side of his persona. Whatever it was, I was happy that Jake didn't have to intervene, and that we could walk home that night, hand in hand, with Elliot in Jacob's arms, and Paul and Rachel happy together. And a partially understanding yet crushed Tom leaving for his home in Washington the next morning.
