Okay! Sorry for the slight delay but here is part 2 of the Aleheather wedding! This chapter takes place right after Alejandro and Heather's wedding ceremony. And this is a long one so I hope you're in a comfy spot and hope you all enjoy! :)

({No POV})

After the wedding ceremony and some group pictures with the bridal party, Carlos went off to 'regroup' with Marisol and their son Saul.

Meanwhile Leshawna decided to take the opportunity at being done with pictures to excuse herself to the restroom and also freshen up a little bit for the reception. Even though all the while during her time of fixing her hair and makeup in the mirror, Leshawna also couldn't help but let herself 'think' at the current moment.

Mainly, and despite her still partially reanalyzing her sanity for why she even agreed to be Heather's maid of honor, that she was actually relatively having a nice time so far.

Sure, the wedding ceremony was only a small part of the rest of the wedding festivities for the day, but even so. Leshawna had no idea what she was getting into, especially since there was a part of her that still did NOT trust Heather that she just couldn't shake.

Yes, both of them were 23 now and it seemed kind of stupid to put much stock into their 'petty rivalry' they had as teenagers on a reality TV show and in many ways Leshawna knew Heather was herself in a lot of real ways still and has been a bit of a 'bridezilla' in many ways to say the least as she's seen through her role as maid of honor for this wedding, but… Heather has been surprisingly cool with her in Leshawna's opinion.

That and there was something that happened earlier that she also couldn't ignore.

Leshawna took the opportunity to quickly look around to make sure she was alone as she sat down on the couch in the women's restroom of the country club she was in and pulled something out of the clutch she got that was left in her dressing area along with a VERY expensive yet tasteful gold pendant necklace.

She unfolded the piece of parchment paper labeled 'Leshawna Harris' and reread it for the millionth time since she found it:

Leshawna,

I know things were never exactly straightforward with us and we both still annoy the crap out of each other even now, but thanks for doing this. I don't want to get into any of that crap so just take this necklace and we'll call it even. Then maybe you can use it to add some 'class' to your ratchet mall jewelry you still wear. That and you don't wear enough gold anyway to know it compliments your attributes better anyway. For real though, thanks for always being straight with me no matter what. Even though it always seemed like it pissed me off and made me want to shove you off the same cliff you threw me off back when we were all idiots on the Island, but just know that I always actually kind of respected you for it. So, if you ever get bored with that club promoter thing or whatever and want to do something actually worth it… let me know. Who knows? I may be able to hook you up once I finally get my show.

Good luck,

Heather

While still maintaining a lot of Heather's usual and typical stuck up 'passive aggressiveness' that made Leshawna roll her eyes at it yet again even at that very moment of her rereading it and seeing Heather's still typical comments toward her… but at the same time, it was still the nicest thing that Heather has ever genuinely directed toward her.

Not only the note but the fact that with the note Heather got her a necklace that at the current moment was probably the most expensive piece of jewelry by a VERY wide margin she now owned.

Practically to the point that Leshawna didn't even want to know how much it even cost anyway.

But… she couldn't help but smile a little and shake her head as she said to herself, as she looked back at the note, "Heather, you may still be one of the craziest chicks I've ever met. But, girl… you definitely are somethin' else."

With that Leshawna put the note back into her purse and walked out of the bathroom only to bump into someone who simultaneously came out of the men's room.

Both of them instinctively stuttered out a 'sorry' and Leshawna looked like she was about to rejoin the bridal party to see if Heather and Alejandro were done taking pictures yet.

Until she heard, in a deeper gasping tone, "Wait, Leshawna."

She stopped and looked over her shoulder to see a tall, very lean, yet athletically built guy her age with rusty red hair, short beard, and a pair of glasses looking at her.

At first she quirked up an eyebrow as she responded instinctively yet hesitant, "Um, yeah?"

Right then after taking a closer look and hearing him speak as he smiled and motioned to himself, "Leshawna, it's me." Leshawna's eyes went wide in recognition and was almost in shock, as she responded in a matching tone, "Harold?"

Harold grinned and Leshawna smiled back even more as they hugged.

The two held the hug for a few seconds before Leshawna smiled and pulled back, putting her hands on the sides of his face and feeling along his short beard for a moment as she said, "Harold, look at you! It's been a hot minute since I've last seen you! Sorry 'bout that, I almost completely didn't recognize you!"

Harold just shrugged as he said, "Yeah, almost 6 years and late stage adolescence will do that to you. Did you know that in some rare cases people can still grow until age 21? And that for males it's even more common for that to happen than females since women tend to mature faster than men typically."

Leshawna shook her head but still smiled seeing Harold, despite looking older, filled out, and more mature… was still the same 'Harold' she remembered.

She smiled and hugged him again as she said, "Well, ya may look a little different, but you're still you." Harold, who's smile hadn't faltered the whole time, simply grinned even more and started, "You aren't different at all. I mean, your hair looks shorter, but… you haven't changed at all. Actually, you look… amazing."

Despite their 'complicated' relationship that Leshawna was never sure what to call it since they met (especially after those 'love notes' he wrote for her when they were 16 before he was eliminated on the island), Leshawna couldn't help but secretly acknowledge her soft spot toward him especially.

Actually, she always felt this very odd 'draw' toward Harold that seemed to exist even now since that kiss on the dock.

Because while Harold was NOT in any way the usual type of guy Leshawna usually went for or felt attracted to in most situations even to this day, even she had to admit looking at him now… Harold was looking good, honestly she'd go as far to say he was kind of handsome in his own way.

She covered it up though as she smiled and gave him one more pat on the cheek as she said, "Thanks, baby. Hey, I gotta go, but I'll meet me on the dance floor later and we'll catch up, okay? I need tah know all the details on what you've been doin'."

Harold just smiled slightly and nodded before saying and doing a mock-bow toward the end, "Cool, sounds good. I'll be sure to save a dance for you, my lady."

Leshawna smiled and laughed a little in amusement as she rolled her eyes while saying, sounding a little joking and teasing, "Save it for later, sweet stuff."

Leshawna started to walk off as Harold just smiled and watched her walk away, meanwhile Leshawna was smiling to herself as she rounded the corner to join the party.

Harold; meanwhile, continued to stand there for a couple more moments and grinned before letting out a sigh as he followed to go back to the ballroom for cocktail hour.

10 minutes later

(Heather's POV)

Today… is going exactly as I planned it.

Although now that pictures are out of the way, now we have to do the receiving line which is just boring as hell 'facetime' that we need to do with the guests.

But… patience.

I just need to make it through to dinner and then the real 'entertainment' can begin. If Kelsey and José thought being at the literal 'butt' of Owen's fumes was bad during the ceremony (even though seeing those two close to vomiting the entire time was fantastic), just wait until they see what Alejandro and I have 'planned' for them during dinner.

And if all goes as planned, then this should be better than any dinner and a show I've ever been a part of at any of the boring-ass country club ladies luncheons I've ever been a part of.

We kept going down the line as people came by and I could feel my face locking up from forcing a fake smile and doing pleasantries as Alejandro kept breezing through it because of course he can.

Sure I may love him and am now married to him… but ugh, I'm just jealous; since of course he always still has to be a perfect, smooth talking jerk with this kind of thing.

But, I do have to admit and now that he graduated from grad school… I have no doubt Alejandro is going to be an excellent politician.

We kept going through the line of people until I heard, "Hey Heather, how's it going?"

DJ.

But, truth… I was actually surprised to see how many people from the show actually came to the wedding, and not just DJ. Well, some of them I guess I wasn't that surprised about.

But… some were weird.

Since my siblings were already being forced into being invited because my parents 'insisted', I decided why the hell not to a certain extent with certain portions of the guest list?

I didn't even bother inviting Courtney for many obvious reasons, considering she'd probably send in her 'No' RSVP with an annoying notice to never contact her again since the annoyance was mutual between us.

Then again even I questioned a few of my invites since I also invited Beth, Lindsay, Duncan, and Gwen.

Beth and Lindsay said 'No' which didn't shock me at all honestly.

Then I ended up getting a letter back from Duncan's mom of all people saying Duncan was currently 'doing time' for stealing parts off parked cars in Toronto and couldn't come.

Shocker.

And then there was Gwen… and I still don't know why I even thought to invite her since we have never liked and barely even tolerated each other at all and I was expecting a passive aggressive or snarky remark as my reply.

Yeah she still replied 'No' like I was expecting, but she included a separate note with it that was not what I was expecting and still remember it word for word:

I don't know why you sent me this and I honestly don't really want to know. But, I've kind of put everything from the past behind me and want to keep it that way. Thanks for the invite anyway.

-Gwen

At first I had no idea what the hell to make of it, but… I guess I shouldn't have been surprised anyway, right?

After all, maybe she's right that we should just 'call it even' at this point.

Even though I still have no idea what the hell she was implying that she thought I had some 'ulterior motive' for inviting to my wedding.

Yeah, I know I read her diary on TV but, seriously come on? We were 16! Get over it!… and she was annoying me back then anyway and it was on her for just leaving in a public drawer for any of us to find and look at.

At least Kelsey was somewhat smarter and at least hid her diary a little better and put a decent lock on it. And yeah, that still didn't stop me from getting into it, but at least she had more deterrents to cover her tracks.

AND also why I have never had a diary and never will. If there's one thing I learned, don't put into writing what you don't want anyone to know about.

But, anyway, needless to say I wasn't surprised completely by who all ended up coming.

Say what you want and as much as Alejandro and I agree that Owen is absolutely revolting, he at least 'earned his place' on the guest list for unknowingly helping us in making Kelsey and José grossed out and miserable to completion during our ceremony so I will give credit where it's due.

And DJ… I had to invite him.

I don't know and as stupid as it sounds, but… DJ always kind of reminded me of Shane in some weird way. I just couldn't do anything against him since he never did anything against me.

That and I know he somehow trusted me more after season 3 too when I tried to help him and get him into an alliance with me regardless of a merge. Allies were allies and I was willing to take anyone I could get who wouldn't try to screw with me.

Because I always had to admit… DJ never, despite everything, ever did anything to screw with me and I… appreciated that.

Even though I could tell by the way he was looking at Alejandro that he still 'didn't forget' what happened since he just nodded at him and shook his hand quickly and politely before looking back at me and… smiling?

But, I was surprised even more when he actually gave me a hug.

Ugh… why does he always have to be so nice?!

He pulled back from me and at first I had no idea what to do as I started, "Um, thanks for coming, DJ."

He smiled and shrugged before saying, "Hey, no problem. Thanks for inviting me. Oh yeah, this is my fiancé Molly. We met in culinary school."

I looked next to him at the girl who had her arm interlocked with his with a slightly tanned complexion, freckles, and long, thick curly dark brown hair as she smiled and said, "Hey, Molly Runnels. Nice meeting you guys."

She shook our hands as I quirked up an eyebrow at what I heard DJ mention as I asked, "Wait, you're a chef?"

DJ grinned and shrugged before saying, "Yeah, I work at a restaurant in downtown Ottawa and Molly's a pastry chef at a bakery."

As stupid as it sounds, I still think about how amazing DJ's food was when we were 17 on season 2, especially the sandwiches.

Hmph… Good for him.

I saw Molly grin before remarking, "And he said his momma was hard to impress, but I'd say she liked me enough after trying my signature chocolate ganache on a cake I made for her when you introduced us."

They laughed before DJ said, "Hey, I think it just shows my momma's got good taste. And who doesn't like your ganache recipe?"

Molly and DJ just smiled at each other before DJ said, "Well, thanks again for inviting us guys." Molly even gave us one last wave with a smile before saying, "And, again, nice meeting you."

As both of them walked off and went up to the bar for a drink, I couldn't help but look at them for a second.

Like there's something weirdly familiar about them that I can't... "Hey Heather… Alejandro, congratulations."

I whipped my head back in front of me only to see Shane and Aga standing there.

I felt something in me pause for a second, despite them being the least surprising thing about our wedding and I was reminded of that as I looked at his left hand to see the gold wedding band there clear as day… despite how much standard gold wedding bands are so off trend right now.

But, mostly because Alejandro and I just saw them last month at their wedding.

Alejandro immediately smiled and shook his hand and Aga's as he said smoothly, "Muchas gracias. And thank you both for coming."

I didn't really know what else to do as I just said, "Um, yeah. Thanks... Shane."

Almost immediately, he smiled at me and gave me a nod, something for some weird-ass reason gave me flashbacks to every single day when we'd nod at each other by our lockers all the way through school since grade 1.

It was like I couldn't even resist the instinct as I gave him a nod back.

15 minutes later into cocktail hour

({No POV})

Heather and Alejandro were walking through and making their last minute pleasantries before dinner started, walking arm in arm and exchanging slight smiles every now and again (clearly indicating how much they were both enjoying each other and 'their day in general ').

Most of the room seemed locked into small groups of socializing guests chatting, catching up, and making introductions like most people participate in at weddings.

But, not everyone was locked in conversation at the moment.

Stationed near the bar, with a glass of pinot noir in hand, was none other than Elena looking on at her youngest son and now daughter-in-law before letting out a defeated sigh before taking a long sip of her wine.

Despite 'coming to terms' with the marriage, it didn't mean Elena was still 'pleased' with the situation since her and Heather were still FAR from 'friends' and were nothing more than 'civil' at a maximum with each other even now.

Elena let out another sigh as she said, "Dios mío... I still cannot believe this."

It looked like she was about to take another sip of her wine when she heard a harsh male tone respond in an equally annoyed and almost 'bored' tone, "You said it."

Elena immediately whipped her head over to see an older gentleman with thinning white hair she had never seen before in a very expensive set of tails and white tie.

His brown eyes behind his thick dark rimmed glasses were glazed with a bored and glaring look to them as he sipped what looked like whiskey out of a tumbler. Despite looking to be 80 years old if not close to it and using a cane, he seemed to have a very strong and almost 'intimidating' aire about him physically for some reason.

Craig Senior.

Elena didn't know who he was still; however, and quirked up an eyebrow and looked taken back.

Mainly by his comment and what he was referring to? Were they even talking about the same things? Or was it just the ramblings of an old man?

Elena gave him a further inquisitive look before asking, "Um, I'm sorry?"

Craig Senior wasn't even looking at her and Elena now realized he was in fact looking at Alejandro and Heather. But it seemed Craig was only half listening as he took another sip of his drink before letting out a sigh and saying, "Quite honestly, and while I will give some due credit to the boy… I still think she could do better than an egotistical looker."

Immediately Elena's eyes went wide and her jaw and fists clenched, clearly in regard to the offense at the audacity of this man to imply that Heather could 'do better' than Alejandro. This was reflected as Elena spouted, "Excuse me?! That 'egotistical looker' happens to be my son! And just who do you think you are to say he isn't good enough for a brash and cold little... bruja."

While Craig Senior wasn't exactly 'fluent' in Spanish, he did see the tone in Elena's voice referring to Heather and her saying she was Alejandro's mother as being things you didn't exactly have to be a linguist to figure out.

But, rather than get angry, Craig gave Elena a stern look before bitterly responding, "Well missy, that 'bruja' you're referring to happens to be my granddaughter… and the only grandchild I have with enough moxy that'll do anything worth a damn with her life."

If Elena's eyes weren't wide before, they definitely were now that she realized she was talking to Heather's grandfather.

As much as she felt almost dare she say embarrassed internally at being 'called out' and demeaned slightly by Craig Senior as if she were a scolded child by being called 'missy'.

At the same time though, she was still more than offended at the audacity to insult Alejandro to her face… but at the same time also made her see now more than ever where Heather got her 'personality' from in her family since no one else exactly fit the bill in her opinion.

But on the same token, she was also surprised by almost the affectionate regard he had toward Heather in his last statement, indicating he was very proud of her.

Elena; however, was not about to be made a fool of as she started, "Regardless, are you even remotely aware of what you're 'granddaughter' is like? Considering the 'moxy' you're talking about means that she can be a repugnantly, unpleasant shrew that pushes things much too far to the point of shoving young men off the side of volcanoes and have 'just cause' for it apparently according to you."

Although deep down Elena was saying too much and wasn't as angry as she once was about the situation to come to terms with things regarding Heather, to her it was a much needed venting outlet to say these things out loud to someone within Heather's family… particularly since said family member took the opportunity to open up the 'can of worms' in the first place.

Elena tried to maintain her stern front that always helped her in boardroom situations at work as CEO of her company… only to realize it wasn't entirely working. Particularly she was unknowingly dealing with a fellow, and while retired, ruthless CEO in Craig Senior.

If anything, Craig seemed remotely unintimidated or impressed as he got nearly right in Elena's face before responding coolly, "Well… if we're 'speaking honestly' here, then your son is an arrogant, egotistical narcissist who still mind you needs a good haircut that felt the need to 'peacock around' with my granddaughter rather than just 'getting the job done' in the first place and instead drove her to do what she did… AND perhaps then maybe he wouldn't have been shoved off and left licking his wounds out of his own doing, now would he?"

Elena's eyes widened in shock at practicality being 'put back into her box' by Craig Senior, who was now casually knocking back the rest of his glass of whiskey (which he decided to not order watered down like usual today) before casually excusing himself, "I need another drink."

After he walked off with the sound of his cane tapping in his wake, Elena was still standing frozen in absolute shock.

Although still feeling her blood boiling at practically having both herself and her son she was closest to insulted, it was almost as if Elena was at a loss for words regarding Heather's grandfather. Considering she had never met a more impertinent, shrewd, and blunt human being such as him in her whole life to even surpass Heather.

But, all aside, what infuriated and frustrated her more than anything currently… she begrudgingly had to admit she shared Craig's opinion of wishing and wanting Alejandro to cut his hair.

And it looks like game, set, and match to Craig Senor who completely just owned Elena… something that has kind of become a running trend between the Wilson's and Burromuerto's. Haha. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the Elena and Craig Senor interaction cuz trust me… it was SO fun for me to write! Lol. XD I also hope you enjoyed the Leshawna and Harold interaction as well. Now look, I know they are the definition of a crack pairing that came literally out of absolute nowhere in the show… but I don't care. As weird as they are together, I love it and most importantly still ship it. But more on these two later. ;) I also hope you enjoyed the interactions Heather had with a few of her guests. Mainly another brief stint with Shane, but I HAD to include DJ. Now, maybe a bit of an overshare, but while everyone else back in the day was crushing hard on characters like Alejandro and Duncan in the show… I had a HUGE cartoon crush on DJ. And I still have a special place in my heart for DJ's character to this day. I love how he's this big, strong, and strapping guy… but he's also so chill, cool, and such a sensitive sweetheart! Where can I find a guy like him in real life?! I've been looking for years and still can't a real-life DJ. But, still looking though! Lol. XD Anyway, my weirdness aside, to me DJ is one of the most underrated and under used characters in the show. Sure he got that fleeting storyline with Chef that didn't really go anywhere honestly other than us seeing that DJ was a great cook and that he helps his mom with her makeup for church (again where can I find an IRL DJ). And then they COMPLETELY disrespected my boy by cursing him to harm animals and that angle just slowly ate me inside. I mean, that angle was just taken WAY too far in my opinion until it was the world's deadest joke. In short, it was so sad and not what DJ deserved. Also, why does hardly NO ONE talk about how other than Harold and Cody… DJ is probably one of Heather's closest friends from the show (if not more so than Harold in my opinion). I mean, out of everyone, Heather never really did anything to wrong DJ or was mean to him like she was with almost all the other contestants. Even back in season 1 when Heather was the main villain and DJ was screaming in terror when he accidentally walked in on Heather shaving her legs in the bathroom during the horror challenge. Heather was actually trying to calm DJ down to not be scared of her in her own way. By the way, that scene is one of my favorites from the show and still puts me in tear filled laughter to this day. And in season 2, Heather showed more of a 'caring side' toward DJ in many instances as well and the fact that writer's seemed to pass over this friendship almost like they did with Leshawna and Heather in TDWT disappointed me greatly. :( So, I wanted to redeem DJ and give him a good life post show by having him become a professional chef and being engaged to a nice girl, because dammit our sweet boy deserves it! Just because I can't find an IRL DJ doesn't mean I can't give DJ some happiness by playing God in my fanfic as the writer here! It's the power of pen and paper!… or computer and keyboard?… I need to stop talking and get some sleep. I'm losing my mind. Lol. Anyway, next chapter will be the last and final chapter of the wedding saga with dinner and dancing… as well as seeing the next piece of Alejandro and Heather's plan to make José and Kelsey miserable for their enjoyment on their wedding day. Stay tuned! Lol. ;) Anyway, I hope this chapter brought some joy and escapism to your day like writing it did for me. Seriously, thanks again so much for taking time out of your day to read and constructive reviews are always appreciated.

Stay safe, healthy, and classy as always!

Dexter1995