Hello, my lovely readers. It's Hayley's and Elijah's wedding day, but would it be without a little chaos... On with the show...
Chapter 11: It's Not the Day Of: It's Every Day After
Four Months Later:
Freya
On the day of Hayley Marshall's nuptials to Freya Mikaelson's younger brother, Elijah Mikaelson, Freya did not have a date to the wedding. That did not bother her. She had a solid job, friends and family. However, weddings could make you lonely, and in the past four months; Freya felt lonelier and lonelier. She found herself concocting excuses to spend time with Finn, Sage, and the triplets. Or she would appear on Klaus and Caroline's doorstep, to help with little Hope. And she laid in bed at night, staring at the ceiling and wondering what her life with Jackson would have been like; if he had lived...
The sound of her phone ringing jolted Freya out of her reverie. She picked it up off the locker room bench and stared at the screen. A smiling picture of Caroline's face was lit up on the screen. Freya could guess why Caroline was calling, judging by the time.
"Hello. Caroline," Freya began.
Caroline did not allow Freya to continue. The hyper blonde jumped in. "You're late!" Caroline half-shouted down the phone-line. Although Elijah was supposed to have a heavy hand in the planning of his wedding, Caroline's was made of steel and she threw herself into the position of "co-wedding planner," all but knocking Elijah out of the ring. No one had asked Caroline for the help, but once she had made up her mind, even Niklaus could not dissuade her.
"And you didn't find a date? Correct?" Caroline continued, not giving Freya time to respond. "Otherwise I would have to change your place-setting. Right now, I have perfectly even numbers at the singles' table. Unless, you found a date...?"
Freya found herself smiling in a tight and eerie manner that she suspected might continue through the wedding if someone did not stop the Planzilla. Soon. "I haven't found anyone -"
Again, Caroline interrupted. "Are you kidding me? You're hot! I would go with you; if I weren't already spoken for. Ugh! Let's see..." The sound of tapping in the background ended with: "Lucien Castle!" Caroline let out a laugh. "I heard a rumor you guys hooked up. He's cute. Right? Or maybe I could call my friend, Stefan Salvatore. You'd love him! He's nice. And cute. And single. I think..."
"Car-o-line!" Freya snapped.
"Yes?"
"I will be there. Within the hour. With a date." Freya started to hang up, but Caroline was not done.
"Tell Hayley to get her butt here! Or she'll be late to her own wedding!" Now, Caroline was shouting. "Got to go! That's not where the flowers belong!" She shouted at some poor soul.
Sighing, Freya slipped her midnight blue dress out of its garment bag
This had also been Caroline's choice. All the bridesmaids' dresses were in a variety of the color blue.
Freya made short work of dressing and slipping into her heels. No doubt Caroline would make all of the bridesmaids have their hair and makeup re-done at the church.
Striding out of the locker room, Freya went down the hallway and headed for the stairs. She caught sight of Vincent Griffith standing at the end of the stairs. He looked handsome in a black suit with a tie the same color as Freya's dress. He glanced up from his phone and stared at Freya as she made her way down.
"Dr. Griffith," Freya called to him, with a teasing smile, "you look dashing."
"You look breathtaking," Vincent replied, and looked away, clearing his throat before saying, "You're headed to the wedding."
"Yes." Freya nodded. "Before Caroline sends someone to fetch me."
Vincent nodded. "I'll see you there."
Freya started to leave and then paused. "Would you like to go with me? If you don't have a date?"
The new resident looked up from his phone. "I'm flattered, Freya -"
Freya held up a hand. "It doesn't have to be a date. Just two people who went to a party, together."
Looking thoughtful, Vincent nodded. "Yes. I can do that." He walked to the door and held it open for her. In the parking lot, they linked arms. "Caroline will lose her mind over the seating chart," Vincent pointed out.
"Side benefit," Freya replied and they began to laugh.
"What do you mean: You didn't see Hayley?" Caroline cried, hands on her hips. "This is important! This is the BIGGEST day of her ENTIRE LIFE!"
"Didn't you and Niklaus elope?" Freya asked as the hairdresser removed curlers from Freya's hair and the manicurist finished her nails.
"Yes." Caroline frowned, hands still on her hips. "But this is not about me. This is about Hayley -"
"Exactly," Freya cut in. "And she's probably been pulled into surgery, making an important moment in someone else's life." Getting up, Freya moved to leave the room.
"But -" Caroline cried.
"No, Caroline!" Freya called back. "She'll be here. Now, calm down and go play with your husband and baby."
Striding down the hallway, Freya went into the church, to find Vincent on his knees before the glowing rows of candles. Bowing her head, Freya waited for him to finish. "Ate you alright?" she whispered.
Turning, Vincent nodded, but he looked solemn. "I haven't been to a wedding in years," he said, glancing at all the candles lit along the aisles.
"May I ask: Why? Or do you not want to talk about it?" Freya moved to take a seat in a pew. There weren't too many people gathered close to where she and Vincent were, but if Vincent wanted to talk, Freya felt sitting away from the majority of guests might help.
Vincent looked to the front of the church, his hands in his pockets and his expression did not change before he came to sit with Freya. "The last wedding I went to was my own. My wife, Eva, made the most beautiful bride I'd ever laid eyes on. And I knew I would never regret joining my life to hers." He looked down at his hands. "One day, she goes out to buy flowers in the market. We were having friends over for dinner. Our place was tiny and she wanted to make it welcoming. I made dinner. Eva didn't arrive home. I put on some music. Set the table. Our friends arrived. I called Eva's cell. Voicemail. They call. Same thing. So, we go down to the market-leave a note-in case she shows. Maybe she saw a sale. Or was distracted by an art showing. Musicians. You can lose track of time in this city."
Shaking his head, Vincent continued, "Flower vendor never saw her that day. No one in the market remembered her-and they knew us-Eva stopped by two, three times a week. Sometimes just to chat. I called the police. They gave me the spiel about forty-eight hours. I told them she'd never done this before. I waited. Cops don't care. Just another woman who disappeared one day and never came home."
Freya took Vincent's hand. "You never found her?"
Vincent shook his head. "Nope. But I still check the old neighborhood, just in case she found her way home, or someone heard something, anything."
"You know, I don't think Elijah, or Hayley, would take offense if you decided not to attend," Freya said, quietly.
"Nah." Smiling, Vincent looked around. "I like weddings. They're hopeful. And I can remember the happiest day of my life."
Freya relaxed into the pew. Now, she knew that she was not alone today. She, and Vincent, we're both in love with people they could not be with. And in their pain, they found someone to hold their hands in the darkness.
Caroline
Weddings were supposed to be happy occasions. But Hayley and Elijah's wedding was giving Caroline Forbes-Mikaelson a headache. Freya was the only bridesmaid to show up-other than Caroline. And the bride was still missing and the venue for the reception had broken a pipe and the fire department shut it down. Like a little flooding never happened in New Orleans. Caroline wondered, What else could go wrong?
Then Rebekah Mikaelson, Hayley's choice for maid-of-honor appeared. "I'm here," she growled, "get on with it." She looked like she'd rolled out of bed and shown up in her PJs.
"Where is your dress?" Caroline examined the expectant mother for any trace of the garment bag with the not-cheap formal wear. "Bekah!"
"So, that's what I forgot," Rebekah groaned, falling into a chair. "Can someone rub my blasted feet? I'm a hundred months pregnant and my arches are killing me!"
"Rebekah!" Caroline said, going to kneel beside her sister-in-law. "Where is the dress?" she pleaded. If Rebekah wasn't pregnant; Caroline would be yelling.
"Dress?" Rebekah's brows rose. "Oh, yes. In my closet. Marcel, or Tyler, should be wandering about." Rebekah waved an airy hand at the door. "I'm sure they can run and fetch it for me."
"Marcel's part of the wedding!" Caroline snapped.
"So am I!" Rebekah thundered, her cheeks reddening.
Caroline took a deep breath. "Did you happen to see Hayley?" With any luck, this was not about to turn into a runaway bride situation.
Rebekah pursed her lips and stared at Caroline. "Yes. She was asleep." Rebekah yawned. "A nap sounds excellent. Someone fetch me a pillow."
"No! No!" Caroline cried. "You can not go to sleep!" She shoved Rebekah's shoulder. "Where is Hayley?"
"At home," Rebekah grumbled and it took Caroline a second to work through that one. Tiffany Marshall's house, not Hayley's place with Elijah.
Caroline stood up. Looking at her team, she gave them orders: "Do not let her go to sleep! I'm going to get Bekah's dress and shoes. And the bride!"
"Caroline?" Rebekah moaned, waving for the irritable tyrant to come over.
Striding over, Caroline waited, "Yes?"
"You smell lovely," Rebekah smiled dreamily and then leaned over to vomit on Caroline's shoes. "Sorry. Too much of something last night..."
"Oh, my God!" Caroline shrieked. The hairdresser grabbed a towel and handed it to Caroline to clean her shoes off. "This is a disaster!"
Rebekah let out a loud snore while the makeup artist laid down paper towels for Caroline to make her way out of the room. She ran into Davina on the way.
"Am I late?" Davina asked, slightly put of breath.
"You're great. Thank you. Don't go near Rebekah." Caroline kept going feeling good about one decision she'd made. Davina, in that peacock blue number, looked divine. It really brought out her eyes.
Caroline groaned when she heard Davina say, "What smells like puke?" Shaking her head, Caroline continued towards the door to the main part of the church.
"Ty-ler!" Caroline shouted.
A number of guests' heads spun in Caroline's direction. She offered them a quick, hopefully, reassuring smile. Tyler broke from a conversation at the same time that Klaus appeared at her elbow.
"What's going on?" Tyler asked, glancing from Caroline to Klaus.
"Rebekah forgot her dress. And puked on my shoes. And Hayley is trying to sleep through her wedding," Caroline told them. "I need you," she addressed Tyler, "to come with me. And you," she turned to her husband and inhaled. "You're perfect." She leaned over and kissed Klaus on the lips. Pulling back, Caroline added, "Keep Elijah calm. Make sure things are moving forward. Thank you! I love you!"
Whirling to leave, Caroline paused at Klaus' words, "Elijah is not here."
Whirling back around, Caroline gaped and Klaus smirked. "Just kidding, love. I'll make sure no one gets out of line."
Tyler dragged Caroline away before she could begin to yell at Klaus.
Pushing clothes she wished were hers out of the way; Caroline found Rebekah's garment bag. Thankfully, the dress was fine. She snagged the shoe box off the shelf above her head and then made her way to Hayley's room.
Tyler came to the door with a sleeping Hayley in his arms. Caroline gave him a long look. "She looked so peaceful. I would feel bad waking her up," Tyler said with a shrug that jostled Hayley's head.
"What's going on?" Sleeping Bride moaned. She rolled in Tyler's arms and fell to the floor. Hayley banged her head on the table which they all used to run into, during their intern days, after getting drunk, or stumbling down the hallway, eyes half-shut after a double-shift.
"Ow!" Hayley shouted, placing her hand over her eyes.
"I always said: 'We need to move the table!'" Caroline shook her head at the nuisances object before attending to Hayley. Eying Tyler briefly, Caroline added, "That's why you wake her up. First." Fixing her attention on Hayley, Caroline eased Hayley's hand away from her wound. "Oh, crap!" she groaned. "Tyler, get some ice! Now!" Hayley's eyelid had turned an angry red. "You'll look great. The makeup artist is first-rate."
Hayley pushed herself to her feet. "What makeup artist?" she looked confused while Caroline listened for Tyler. Would he hurry up? she thought. "Oh. No! The wedding!" Hayley gasped, looking quite upset at trying to have forgotten her own wedding day. Caroline was, too.
However, Caroline knew how to power through times such as these. "We've got it covered. We just need to get you to the church," Caroline said as Tyler appeared with a steak in hand. "What is that?" The blonde shouted before letting out a laugh for Hayley's benefit. This could not get worse.
"The freezer isn't working. Everything in your fridge is melting," Tyler told them.
"I have to call my mom!" Hayley cried, turning to go into her old bedroom.
"Nope!" She'll be at the wedding." I hope, Caroline added silently.
Hayley
This was supposed to be the happiest day of Hayley Marshall's life. But she was tired, grumpy, and had a massive black eye. She stared at her reflection as a makeup artist tried to cover her shiner and felt miserable.
"It's not that bad," Caroline lied. "Does anyone have a pair of size nine shoes?" There must be a story behind Caroline's bare feet, but Hayley was not in the mood to ask.
"It is terrible!" Rebekah bellowed from another corner of the room. Hayley turned to find Freya and Davina trying to wrestle Rebekah into her teal blue dress. The zipper would not budge up Bekah's back. "Stupid baby! Stupid breasts!" Rebekah moaned before bursting into tears.
"There's my girl!" Philip Walters entered through the door someone must have left open. He made his way over to Hayley. His smile fell when he saw her bruise. "I don't care how long I've known him; no one beats on my kid!" He slid his jacket off and started for the door.
"Philip!" Hayley shouted, getting up to follow him before she and Elijah had matching faces. "Phil!" He wasn't listening. "Dad, it was Tyler! Not Elijah!" she blurted.
"Which one is Tyler?" Phil demanded, looking at them for an answer.
"Little weasel knocked me up. Been at it with all my girlfriends, too!" Rebekah sobbed and then jerked her dress off. "I am a hideous whale!"
Phil continued to the door and opened it to reveal Elijah. "Is Hayley here?" her groom inquired.
"Bad luck to see her!" Caroline shouted.
"Do you know which one Tyler is?" Phil, of the single-mindedness, demanded of Elijah. "Never mind. I'll figure it out. Go. Take care of your bride." He patted Elijah on the back and left.
"Dad!" Hayley tried, finding Elijah blocking her path. "Hi," she greeted him, feeling shy as she examined how he filled out his tux through her one good eye.
Elijah cupped her chin and tilted her face upward. "How did this happen?" his eyes on her bad one.
"Tyler and Care were trying to get me here. I was asleep. So, Ty decided to carry me here. I woke up and fell into that table in the hallway of mom's place. You remember the one you ran into one night and almost woke the whole house up." Hayley found herself smiling at the memory.
"Ah." Elijah placed a tender kiss to her forehead. "This day has been filled with headaches it seems."
"Meaning?" Hayley watched Elijah.
"Well, Kol was drunk when he arrived at the church. And I took him to a café, to sober him up, and he left through the back door. Niklaus only found us an hour ago, at the airport. Kol was headed for more tropical climates."
"Klaus was lying! I knew it!" Caroline swore loudly. "Oh! I need shoes!"
"Everyone, could we have a moment? Alone." Elijah went to the door and opened it, giving the family a none-too-gentle hint to leave. Rebekah grabbed a robe and Caroline snuck out behind Freya, still barefoot.
Once they were alone, Elijah turned to Hayley. "I have an idea."
"Yeah?" Hayley grinned. "Let's hear it?"
"Come with me!" Hayley tugged Caroline back into the dressing room.
"What's going on? Why aren't you in your dress?" Caroline frowned as Hayley pushed her friend into a chair.
"Because this isn't my wedding. It's yours." Hayley watched Caroline's brows rise. Hayley laid a garment bag down and set her shoes down In front of Caroline's. "Be happy, Care," she whispered, hugging her friend.
"But..." Caroline protested. "Who's going to be my maid-of-honor?"
"I prefer man-of-honor." Josh entered the room and Caroline let out a surprised laugh.
"Josh!" Caroline got to her feet to embrace her best friend while Hayley slipped out the door. Elijah was waiting in the hall for her.
"We have an hour," Elijah said. And Hayley took his hand. They set off to find the people they needed and to make a quick stop before returning for Klaus and Caroline's wedding.
Standing in front of the mayor, with their parents acting as witnesses, Hayley offered and accepted a ring from Elijah, and he her. She tried not to cry when she said, "I do..."
A recording of Etta James played over the sound system. "At last, my love has come along," as Hayley and Elijah danced.
"How did you know this was Caroline planning her own wedding?" Hayley peered at Elijah, waiting for an answer.
"She ordered Red Velvet cake for our wedding cake. Klaus mentioned it was her favorite. Not to mention, the very large, very detailed binder she brought 'to help me.'" Elijah spun Hayley out and back "Just the small details."
Hayley laughed until she heard Caroline. "What are you doing?" she yelled at Vincent. "You're at the Singles' Table, not this one. And Freya...What the hell?"
Hayley began to laugh harder as Klaus hauled his bride away. "Let's go even out the single's table." They went to sit with Lucien and Oliver and Elijah took Hayley's hand. Their new rings clinked together as their hands connected and Hayley looked forward to hearing that sound for years to come.
Thank you for reading, faving, following and reviewing. :)
Be safe,
-J