A week later, it was time for Shawn's wedding. Stephanie and Paul were on their way to the airstrip to meet the wedding. Paul had offered up his private jet for the wedding party to get to the venue's location in Miami, he also is letting them stay in his beach house there. They both strolled onto the plane not bothered and they saw everyone had arrived, all had glasses of champagne and were obviously waiting on them to arrive.
"It's about time you guys showed up" Shawn said welcoming his best friend
"Blame Paul, he kept saying that it was his plane and it will take off when he says" Stephanie laughed as she hugged Shawn
"It is my plane" Paul said taking Stephanie bag off her and handing it to the hostess before going over to Rebecca and hugging her
"Well you're here now, can we confirm the take off now?" Rebecca asked once the hug ended
"Of course" Paul said walking off to talk to the pilot. Once he got back he sat down opposite Stephanie and Rebecca stood up at the end of the aisle and started talking.
"Okay everyone listen up. This is what's happening this weekend, when we arrive we have the last dress and suit fittings followed by in the evening the rehearsal dinner. Which reminds me, Paul you better have a speech because you are giving the first speech at the reception" Paul put two thumbs up while smiling like an idiot, "I'm not joking Paul, you better have a good speech"
"I know how to speak in public, have trust in me"
"We'll see" Rebecca pointed her finger at him, "Then obviously on Sunday is the wedding. After the ceremony is the photos and the photographer will be going through what is happening"
"Well I guess I have one thing to say then" Paul said signally over the hostess, she brought over glasses of champagne and handed them out, "Everyone raise your glass to Shawn and Becky. They are the best friends I could've asked for and I hope they have a great weekend"
5 hours later they all arrived at Paul's beach house in Malibu, everyone had gotten settled in after Paul told everyone what room they would be staying in. They spent the day relaxing by the beach before they had to go to the suit and dress fittings, once that was over they left for the rehearsal dinner.
It was coming up to midnight and both wedding parties were either sleeping or in their rooms getting ready for the big day, the rehearsal dinner was a success which only left the real thing to happen now. Paul was laying on his bed watching a movie with Stephanie, well he was until he saw that she had fallen asleep next to him. He slowly go out of bed and made his way downstairs to get a bottle of water, as he reached the kitchen he saw the light on out of the porch, he walked closer and saw his best friend sitting on one of the chairs looking out to the sea.
"You all right man?" Paul asked stepping outside
"Yeah, just thinking about somethings. . . I'm getting married tomorrow" Shawn said handing another beer to Paul
"It's weird thinking that, you two have been together for six years. It's been a long time waiting for this one moment"
"Remember when we met her" Paul nodded reminiscing the odd times, "I would've never thought that I would be here marrying her with you by my side. You've really stuck with me through everything" Shawn looking over at his best friend and smiled, "Thank you man"
"Anytime. You are basically my brother, I would do anything for you" They sat there for a couple more hours before going up stairs and getting some rest.
It was the day of the wedding and the groom's wedding party were all still at the beach house while the bride's wedding party headed off to the venue early. That gave the men and Stephanie time to relax and get ready before the limos arrived to collect them.
"You look beautiful, my love" Paul said looking in awe at his wife. She was wearing a strapless light blue floor length dress.
"You don't look too bad yourself" Stephanie said walking up to Paul and rested her hands on the lapels on Paul's jacket before moving her hands to his tie to straighten it out for him, "have you got your speech?"
"Yes, in my pocket. I'll be scared of Becky if I forgot it!" Paul wrapped his arms around Stephanie's waist as her arms wrapped around his neck, "do you want to get married?"
"Paul. We're already married" Stephanie moved her hand so that he would be able to see her wedding ring, "we've been married for the past four months or did you forget?"
"I know but that's not what I mean. I mean an actual wedding, I want you to say 'yes' sober, I want you to want to marry me"
"You are thinking clearly? I'm happy with you, at first we decided to stay married because it was the easier option than dealing with lawyers and the paparazzi but it's past that point now. I've decided to stay married to you because I love you. Besides Kelsey, you are the only person that knows everything about me; you know all about Alex. I'm unbelievably happy and I don't need a wedding to help with any of that" Stephanie said leaning up and kissed Paul softly on the lips, as she pulled away she saw the look on Paul's face and knew that wasn't the answer he wanted, "Okay, stop thinking so hard about this. We'll talk about this another time, okay?"
"Okay, I just love you so much and want to scream it to the world"
"Hold off on that, tiger. Let's get through this wedding and then we can talk about what you want to do" Stephanie stepped out of Paul's hold and took his larger hand in hers, "I love you Paul, just don't think too much into the whole of my not wanting to have a wedding"
"We will talk about it later" Paul said, they walked downstairs and everyone was standing in the living room with the photographer taking some photos.
"Thank god, I thought I would've had to drag you down here" Shawn said looking over at his best friend and his wife, "We have 10 minutes before the limo get here. We need to take some quick pictures then alcohol"
"Easy on the alcohol, I won't hear the end of it if you show up drunk" Paul said walking over to the group
"Not drunk, a nice buzz that will take away the nerves that I have right now" Shawn took a deep breath and ran his hand over his face
"Take it from me" Paul whispered loudly, "A drunk wedding is the worst"
"I heard that, honey" Stephanie said as she brought the champagne glass to her lips, Paul winked at her
"Let's do photos" Paul clapped his hands and gestured to the photographer and Stephanie.
Shawn stood shocked as Paul and Stephanie stood next to each other posing for the cameras, "Are you two about to steal this wedding from me?"
"You have to understand that we didn't get photos"
Stephanie looked up at her husband smiling, "we did, they just weren't the best"
"Anything that you're in, are always the best" Paul whispered as he leaned down as softly kissed her lips, noticing the flash from the camera
Shawn groaned, "You two make me sick" he joked, walking over to them patting Paul's back, "Can we all get some photos in?"
"If you must" Paul joked winking as Shawn hit his arm. Not long later, they were making their way to the venue and before they knew it the wedding was underway.
"I, Shawn, take you Rebecca to be my lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for wore, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death do us part"
Paul looked over at Stephanie and smiled widely. All he could imagine was saying real vows to her and having a ceremony just like this, and it was all dedicated to her. He saw Stephanie look over at him and smile widely, she could see the look in his eyes. look forward Stephanie mouthed.
After the ceremony, Stephanie was standing at the bar waiting for her drink to be made, she text Paul asking if he wanted a drink, but she knew he wouldn't reply just yet as he was taking the wedding party photos.
"Hi, that's pretty dress" Stephanie turned to the voice and saw a woman probably in her early 30s standing next to her, "Sorry, I'm Tracy, Rebecca's Cousin"
"Thank you" Stephanie said then repeated it back to the bartender as he handed over her drink, "It's Vera Wang" Stephanie said looking down at her dress, "Did you want a drink?"
"I'm sticking with juice, I have no money for this place"
"I'll get it for you, it's not a bother. It's like a sin to be sober at a wedding"
"That you are right" Tracy said as she took Stephanie up on her offer and ordered a drink
"I'm Stephanie, by the way"
For the next half an hour they were getting to know each other, talking about the wedding and making comments on everyone's outfits. The wedding party came in later on and almost immediately Paul found Stephanie and was by her side within seconds.
"Babe" Paul said grabbing her champagne glass and took a large sip, "I needed that. Photos shouldn't be that hard and stressful"
"Would you like one?" Stephanie asked taking the glass away from him
"Nah, I have a whiskey" Paul said showing his glass. He looked at who his wife was talking to and smiled seeing Tracy, "You good, old lady?"
"Watch it" Tracy said pointing her finger warning at him, "You picking up people from the wedding?"
"No" Paul said pulling Stephanie's chair closer to him, "I have my one right here"
"Are you sure you don't want to flirt with the bridesmaids?" Stephanie asked smiling
Paul looked at like she was crazy. He opened and closed his mouth a couple of times before tilting his head to the side, "Is that a trick question? Like if I answer anything, I'll end up sleeping on the couch or something?"
"I'm guessing you're dating" Tracy said watching their interaction
"Married, actually" Paul said lifting up his left hand showing his wedding band
"Wow, congrats" Tracy said shock and happiness present in her voice, "And sorry you have to deal with this one, Steph"
"Feelings" Paul said putting his hand over his heart as the women laughed.
The wedding was finally over. After saying goodbye to his best friend and new wife, Paul left the venue to go back to his beach house with Stephanie. The second they got out of the taxi, Stephanie went straight upstairs, she was exhausted. Paul was emptying his pockets out and as he did, he realized that he still had Stephanie's phone on him, some messages popped up and Paul saw that they were all from Alex, he looked at the message he sent and could feel his anger rising.
"What's taking you so long?" Stephanie asked walking back downstairs in one of Paul's t-shirts that reach mid thigh. Paul looked up at her and she got see the hurt across his face, "What? What's wrong?"
Paul took a deep breath and threw her phone on the couch before standing up, "Your boyfriend texted you"
"Boyfriend?" Stephanie said confused picking up her phone, just like that her heart stopped. Alex had been texting her non-stop during the night. She looked up at Paul and he was putting his jacket on, "Where are you going?"
"Getting some air"
"Wait" Stephanie said running to stand in front of the door, "Don't leave. It's not what it seems" Stephanie winced at the way that she said that, "Not like, I'm hiding anything from you but it really isn't as it seems"
"Move out the way, Steph" Paul said slowly losing his patience
"No!" Stephanie worry evident in her voice
"Fuck sake. Move out of my way!" Paul gritted out doing everything in his power not to lose his resolve.
"No!" Stephanie shouted, "I'm not cheating on you with Alex! Or with anyone else!"
"Then what's with the texts or the calls?"
"He's a possessive bastard and doesn't like the fact that I have moved on" Stephanie said letting her hands fall to her side, "I might've gone back to him more than once but I won't make that mistake again, especially the hell he put me through" She stepped to the side out of the way of the door and sighed, "Of all people that I know, I hoped you would be the one to know that."
Stephanie walked off upstairs to go to bed leaving Paul standing in front of the door. He took his jacket off and made his way up to his room ready to fix everything with his wife. He opened the door to the main bedroom and was disappointed to find that Stephanie wasn't in there, he continued walking down the hallway to the guestroom and saw the light on. He opened the door and saw Stephanie lying on the bed strolling through her phone.
"I don't want to talk to you" Stephanie muttered turning her attention back to her phone
"That's fine" Paul said softly walking into the room and knelt by the bed next to Stephanie, "I was hoping that I would talk. Mainly apologize. I shouldn't have assumed what I did, I'm was just upset. I was thinking about earlier and how you said that you didn't want to marry me again and my anger took over and I blindly assumed it was because you wanted to be with Alex again and leave me. I know everything that you went through with Alex was hard and just know that I didn't want to make you upset"
Stephanie put her phone down next to her on the bed, just stared straight ahead, it was clear she was trying to process everything he said, "I'm not leaving you, you dumbass, but why did you react like that? I thought you trusted me"
"I do, it's just him that I don't trust"
"That's fine, but I would never do that to you" Stephanie said resting her hand on her husband's shoulder and started to run her hand up and down his arm
"I know" Paul said sighing, "It's just that I've been cheated on and I can become paranoid sometimes. A couple months before we got married, I was engaged" Stephanie stopped moving his hand as Paul continued, "I was with her for five years, she was my everything, I'm pretty sure a part of me still loves her but why wouldn't I? Five years of my life was dedicated her. Everyone didn't think that she was the one for me, all through the five years people would make their own comments about her and judgments, but because I loved her I didn't listen to them"
"What happened between you two then?"
"After we got engaged, she changed. I don't know what it was but there was something there. Turns out she was cheating on me, our relationship was apparently becoming too real for her and she cheated"
"Where is she now?"
"My guess is some country in Europe. She's got enough money from my family to be quiet and leave us alone" Paul said, "It wasn't until recently that I've been thanking my lucky stars that she left. I wouldn't have met you if I was with her still, you are the best thing to ever happen to me"
Stephanie smiled and leaned closer to him and kissing him softly, "I love you, and I know this thing with Alex is hard but we will get through it. Thank you for tell me about your ex"
"I love you too"
Paul climbed into the bed next to her and pulled Stephanie into his side, "Babe, can I ask you something?"
"Anything"
"Can we go back to Boston next week? I have classes to finish before Christmas break and-"
"Steph, you don't have to explain anything to me. You have college, I'll arrange for our flight tomorrow and we can be back in Boston in a couple of days" Paul said as he kissed her temple. In a flash, Paul stood up on the bed and picked up his wife bridal style.
"What are you doing?" Stephanie asked shocked wrapping her arms around Paul's neck quickly.
"As expensive as this bed is, I prefer our bed and I'm not sleeping in it without you"
In the next couple of days, Paul and Stephanie went back to Boston. Paul was sitting in the back of his SUV waiting for Stephanie to finish her last lecture, as he looked out of the window he saw Alex walking by. Not really thinking anything through, he just saw anger and hatred as he looked at Alex, he knew that Stephanie was finishing soon and all common sense was screaming at him to stay in the car but he wasn't listening to that at all and only cared about making Alex pay. So that's what he was planning on doing, Paul got out of the car and walked over to Alex blocking his pathway.
"Move dickhead" Alex spat, he went to barge past Paul but got pushed back.
"Leave Steph alone"
"You see the thing is, that Stephanie and I are meant to be with each other! You are in the way and I'm trying to show her that I'm the one for her" Alex said finding the confidence and stood toe to toe with Paul
"Deal with the fact that she has moved on. She's with me and I'm more than willing to give her everything, things that you can't even think about" Paul pushed Alex out of his face
"We made a life together for the past two years and I'm not ruining it because the slut got herself someone new to bang while we took a break" Quickly Alex regretted those words just by looking at the anger in Paul's eyes.
Paul launched forward knocked Alex to the ground, quickly taking the advantage Paul starting punching Alex in his face ignoring what was going on around him. He felt some people try to pull him off but he kept pushing them away and continued his assault on Alex. Nothing was breaking through his anger, that was until he heard his wife's voice coming through
"Paul!" Stephanie shouted, Ty had his arm in front of her to stop her from getting hurt. She didn't care about that she just moved his arm and ran closer to her husband, "Paul! Stop!"
His hand was midair as he heard Stephanie telling him to stop, he looked around and saw the pain in her eyes, "Steph"
Stephanie raised her hand and walked away from him and got into the car. Paul jumped up and quickly followed behind her, he tried to get her attention but she was completely ignoring him. Paul sighed and looked at the driver, "Go back to the house"
The entire ride back to the apartment, Stephanie didn't say one word to him or even look in his direction. Paul knew that he fucked up and needed to fix it, but that's hard when your wife doesn't talk to you at all. When they got back to the apartment, Stephanie got out straight away and walked into the apartment, she didn't acknowledge Kelsey who was sitting in the living room and went to her room closing the door behind her. Not long after Stephanie walked into the apartment, Paul followed behind her.
"Ooo, what did you do to make her angry?" Kelsey asked as she watched Stephanie storm into her room
"That's really not important" Paul said as he sat down on the couch next to her
"Really? 'Cause I'm her best friend and the way it's looking, you might be sleeping on the couch tonight. Maybe I can help you fix this"
"I haven't completely fucked up, she just needs a couple of minutes away from me" Paul explained, as he relaxed on the couch, "This isn't the first time I've pissed off a girlfriend"
"You are one stupid idiot, you know that right?"
"Of course" Paul smiled, and turned his attention back to the TV. Exactly 12 minutes later, Paul went over to Stephanie's door and knocked softly and opened the door, Stephanie was sitting at her desk doing her work, she looked over her shoulder before looking back at her laptop.
"Do you listen to me about anything?" Stephanie sighed as Paul walked into her room.
"I fucked up, I'm sorry"
"You didn't just fuck up, Paul. Alex won't let this go, that's way I wanted to deal with it myself"
"I know you did but he was just walking around he that stupid smug face of his and I couldn't just sit back anymore"
"Thanks to you, we can now expect a visit from Alex before the end of the night" Paul looked down at his now bruising hands and sighed,
"I'm sorry," Paul said softly, he could've handled the situation differently but his anger got the better of him
"I know" Stephanie sighed turning around on her chair and looked at her husband, "Just leave me alone for awhile, I have to finish my work before Alex shows up"
Paul nodded and walked out of her room and back into the living room with Kelsey. As he walked in Kelsey looked up at him, it was clear that she was trying to hide a smile on her face. Without saying anything or acknowledging her, Paul said down next to her and focused his attention on the TV. After sitting in silence for 40 minutes, Kelsey was getting curious and muted the TV and looked at Paul.
"Okay, so you two have been back for over an hour and Steph hasn't left her room and you haven't stopped brooding in the corner. So out with it, what happened between you two?"
"Nothing" Paul muttered silently keeping his eyes facing forward
"Please, I know both of you, especially Steph. What did you do? And from the look of your hands, you fucked up big time" Paul looked down at his hands and they were completely bruised covered in cuts
"I got into a fight at your college and Steph showed up, and hasn't spoken to me since"
"Does this fight happen to include your wife's ex boyfriend?" Kelsey asked raising her eyebrows. Paul looked down at his hands not saying anything, Kelsey rolled her eyes and turned the volume back up. Not long after that, someone was knocking on the door nonstop. Stephanie walked out of her room and quickly glanced her Paul before going to the door, she wasn't surprised to find Alex standing on the other side. He didn't even bother waiting for her to invite him in, he just pushed passed
"You better fix this Steph!" Alex shouted, Stephanie quickly looked at her ex boyfriend, his bruises were really visible on his cheek and eyes.
"Fix what?"
"Your fucking boyfriend almost broke my nose, and my face is bruising like crazy" Alex said angrily pointing at his face, walking further into apartment not noticing the other people in the room
"I can actually break your nose if you want something to complain about" Paul said standing up and walked over to Alex as he stood nose to nose with him
"Leave us alone, Paul" Stephanie said, Paul stood his ground but looked at Stephanie and saw the pleading in her eyes, he nodded and walked off to Stephanie's room, "You too, Kels"
Kelsey groaned and followed Paul into Stephanie's room. Once Stephanie heard the door close, she looked at Alex and sighed
"What is he doing here?" Alex asked angrily
"Not that it's any of your business but he's my partner, he stays with me"
"Whatever" Alex rolled his eyes and walked closer to Stephanie, "how much longer until you forgive me and we can continue our life together?"
"Forgive you? You cheated on me, blamed me for it and then broke up with me. I'm not forgiving you for anything! We, you and I, are over! We have been for months now, I've moved"
"Please, that guy is just for fun! We are the ones meant for each other"
"That guy" Stephanie said putting air quotes around the words, "Is my husband. We got married four months ago, that's why he's here, that's why he hates you"
"You got married? To the dickhead that beat me up. What about us?"
"There is no us Alex, I gave you so many chances for us to be together because I loved you and because we were going to have a baby together, but that was a long time ago and you fucked up every single time"
"I'm human, I make mistakes. Can that guy really give you the life that your family would approve of? I know for a fact that my family bank account is big enough"
"Trust me, any life with him is perfect enough. This was never about money, Alex, how haven't you figured that out yet? We dated for over 2 years and you still think that money meant everything to me. My last name might be McMahon but I am not my father!" Stephanie expressed, she could feel herself reaching her boiling point, "Maybe that's why we never worked out. Alongside you abusing me and cheating on me, you always assumed that's all I wanted! You were a terrible boyfriend to me and it took me being with someone else that actually treated me the way I deserved to know that."
"I never knew" Alex whispered, putting his head down as all of Stephanie's words washed over him, "I knew I was never the best boyfriend in the world, I made mistakes, including cheating on you" Alex took a deep breath as he continued, "and beating you. I just didn't think that I actually treated you badly"
"Yeah well you did. It's my fault as well, I let you do it, I was just blinded by all my love that I looked past it all"
"So this is it?"
"This is it. I've been avoiding you for months for loads of different reasons, I think in the back of brain I didn't want to end this chapter of my life, you have been part of my life for so many years and saying goodbye was actually hard"
"We don't have to"
"We do, Alex. I'm starting a new life with Paul and I'm so excited about it but I can't properly do that with you still messaging and trying to be part of my life" Stephanie said, moving around Alex and made her way to the door,
"I can't believe this is it. You're my life, how is this the end?"
"We just weren't a match. I'm thankful for you because you opened me up to so much but you're not the one for me, I hope you find someone that you love and treat right and create a life with them"
"Yeah" Alex nodded as he stepped out the door, "Even though I'm pissed about my face and everything, there's no hard feelings. Have a nice life, Steph"
Alex kissed her cheek and left the apartment. Stephanie closed the door and rested her back against the door. She felt a tear roll down her cheek, that was a lot for her. She just closed the door to her first love, her first everything. She felt her best friend pull her away from the door and wrap her arms around her, Stephanie softly cried into Kelsey's shoulder.
"Thank you" Stephanie said wiping her eyes, she looked over at Paul standing in the corner clearly trying to figure out where he stood. Stephanie walked over to him and wrapped her arms around him burying her face in his chest, "I love you, Paul so much and even though I'm mad at you for beating up Alex, I can't wait for our life together"
"I love you too" Paul said leaning down and softly kissed his wife.
Thanks for being patience with me, I'm really busy and this chapter was terrible I had to rewrite it and get it up to a standard but don't think I reach it. Didn't want everyone waiting any longer so I hope you enjoy and sorry for any mistakes in this.
There are about 2 or 3 more chapters left and I even promise to include the Vegas wedding in parts of it lol