Disclaimers: I own nothing or anyone associated or affiliated with TNA. I own only the original characters. This is just a fictional story that came from my imagination.
Chapter Content & Trigger Warnings: None this chapter

Chapter 21

"Joe, we need to talk," Ella said as they both entered the house along with Jeff. Determination gleamed in her blue eyes, and he knew there'd be no delaying their discussion. He followed behind her as she stalked up the stairs to her room and waited for Joe to enter after her.

Once he was inside, she closed the door loudly and glared at him. Joe knew, before she even spoke the words, what she was going to say.

"So that's why you want to marry me," she demanded, pacing the floor in front of him. "Is that the only reason? Fournier's apparently become even more deranged and you just want to protect me?"

"No, Ella," Joe replied with a sigh. "That's mostly the reason Jeff wants me to marry you. I want to marry you because I'm in love with you." He paused for a moment, anxiously running his hand over his hair. "I don't deny that I'd die before I allowed something to happen to you, but that has nothing to do with why I truly want to marry you."

Ella collapsed onto the bed and nervously rubbed her neck. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have asked that. I know you love me. But…it's just... This is big, ya know? It's marriage. I'm only eighteen years old. I guess I'm just scared."

"How so," Joe asked, sitting down beside her and taking her hand.

"It's hard to put into words," she said softly. "It's a lot of things, really. We're both so young. There's a psychopath after me. And marriage is so final. What if we're rushing into it without even realizing? What if we're marrying for the wrong reasons? Fear can make you do crazy things-"

Joe's finger pressed against her lips suddenly as he'd had to do several times the past few days. "Whoa. Let me make this simple for us, okay? You know I love you, right?" At her nod, he continued, "And you love me, right?"

"You don't even have to ask that."

He smiled at her answer, "And there ya go. If it's love—and it is—then marriage isn't the wrong thing to do."

"But it can be the wrong timing…"

"Look," he told her gently. "If you don't want to marry me because you're not in love with me, I can understand that. Wait," he cut her off as she started to protest. "But if 'timing' is all you're worried about, you shouldn't be. I can take care of you, in every way. I'm financially stable. I love you more than anything. And I've learned since New Year's Eve that life is too short to worry about 'timing'."

Ella caved and gave him a small smile. "You always know exactly what to say to make me feel better. But…"

"What other doubt do I need to shoot down," he asked with a confident smile.

"The danger."

"Danger?"

"Don't play dumb. You have to know marrying me will put your life at risk."

"Not for long," Joe answered. "The cops will catch Fournier. And then we can completely focus on us."

"But what if something happens before he's caught?"

"Ella, I'll say it again. If you aren't in love with me, tell me and I'll leave you alone. But if you are in love with me, give it a rest, okay," he teased. "You're not gonna scare me off."

"Joe, you don't get it!" She jumped to her feet and paced the floor again. "It stands to reason, if Fournier finds out we're getting married, he will try to kill you."

"Then let him try," Joe replied calmly.

Ella groaned angrily. The sound verged on being a growl. "I swear—I love you, Joe—but no one can make me angry the way you can. You say let him try. What if he succeeds? Do you know—or even care—what that would do to me? I lost you once. I can't go through losing you again, especially not this way. I couldn't handle it. A life without you…it wouldn't be living! I'd rather you hate me and be alive and safe, than know you died because of me—to know I would never see you again!"

Joe shot to his feet and pulled her into his arms as a loud sob ripped from her throat. "Shhh, baby. It's going to be okay."

"I'm sorry," Ella cried, wiping at her tears. "It's just…you have no idea how scared I am of losing you. I love you, and I always have. And finally…you love me too. I'm not ready to lose that."

"You're not going to lose it, honey," Joe whispered, stroking her back as he held her. "Even if the worst case scenario happened, and I did die… Death can't stop my love for you. It'll always be there. Always. Do you hear me?" His arms tightened around her, the only way he could convey his desperation for her to believe him.

"Yes. I just don't want you to be taken from me," she whispered, as a fresh tear spilled down her cheek. She wrapped her arms around his waist and buried her face into his chest.

"I won't, Ella. I won't leave you and I sure won't be taken away from you. Not ever. I don't want to lose you either, so know that I'm going to do everything within my power to stay on this earth with you."

Ella nodded. "I know."

"Good." He brushed the remaining tears from her cheeks, and kissed her forehead. "Now, let's try to relax the next few days and enjoy our wedding."

She nodded again. "I'm sorry I'm so…emotional," she whispered. "I just know that I still…have so much to lose."

"Hey," Joe whispered, brushing his lips across hers. "So do I."

She smiled softly through her sadness and reached up to kiss him in return.

"Now, what do you say we go downstairs and get an early lunch?"

She nodded in agreement. "Sounds good. I'll come down in a minute. I'm just going to freshen up so Uncle Jeff and Aunt Nina can't tell I've been crying. They've got enough to worry about."

"Okay, just come down when you're ready," Joe said, giving her one last kiss. Then he headed out of her room, closing the door behind him.

Sighing, Ella entered her bathroom and neatened her eye make-up. She shivered then, and could not tell whether she was cold or just a nervous wreck so she approached her closet, in search of a sweater to wear.

Upon stepping into her large closet, she grabbed her oversized green sweater, and pulled the fuzzy garment on. As she tugged her hair out of the collar, her eyes fell on her overnight bag from when she stayed with Joe.

The envelope Allen Tate gave her from her parents jutted up out of the opening.

"Oh, my God," she whispered. "I never opened it." In all the chaos, she'd completely forgotten about it.

Quickly, she grabbed the envelope and ripped it open, dumping the contents onto her bed. She found a folded sheet of paper—most likely a letter—a small gold key, and a smaller manila envelope which was quite bulky. She grabbed up the key, knowing it must be of importance, and then taking a deep breath, unfolded the piece of paper.

Ella, our precious daughter,

If you are reading this, it means that your mother and I are no longer alive. We wrote you a letter for a few reasons.

One, to let you know how much we love you, and how much we'll miss you until you join us in heaven.

Two, to let you know how proud we are of you. You were always a lovely child, and warm-hearted and loving. You've grown into a breath-taking young lady, and we couldn't be more thrilled with how you turned out.

And three, this letter is to explain to you about Jacques Fournier. If you're reading this version of our final letter to you, I'm sure you already know quite a bit about him. I'll not go into the horrid details. Suffice it to say, he's determined to have you in his possession. I feel that even though I did nothing wrong, this is still my fault. I should have warned you before now, but I had no idea how to broach the subject with you. My job as a father is—was—to protect you, not frighten you to death. I'm so sorry I didn't tell you, baby. I'd hoped Fournier would give up—that he would realize the madness in his decisions and get help. Sadly, he did not. Now, all I can do is hope that you manage to evade his advances, and try to help you do so.

You'll notice a key and another envelope. The key is to a safety deposit box at our bank in Memphis. You'll need it, your license, and our death certificates to get into the box. Inside it is ten million dollars for you to live on.

I'm not going to tell you to run away. All I want is for you to do what you think is best and to stay safe. I know you, and I know you will want to protect your loved ones. If you choose to leave them for their protection, get to the safety deposit box and get the money from it. Stay hidden the best you can for at least a couple of years till you find out if Fournier is caught or killed.

In the other envelope is twenty-five thousand dollars to help you get out safely, and secretly. There's also a prepaid credit card in your name. These can be traced but it's more difficult. Still, use it only for things that require a credit card. Use it for nothing that'd give away your plan of location. Use it to order wigs, contact lenses, and any other things that will disguise you. Do NOT use the credit card at an airport, or bus or train station. Instead, book a flight with a travel agent, and when you pick up your ticket, pay with CASH. And above all, order the ticket with a new name and fake ID (I'll leave a website to use for that at the end of the letter). That way, there'll be no record of Ella Roberts leaving Nashville. And as hard as it might be since this is our last communication to you, you must destroy this letter.

Your mother and I love you very much. Be safe, baby girl. We'll always be watching over you.

Love,

Mom and Dad

As promised, he left a website for her to visit in order to obtain a fake ID. And that was all.

The last words from her parents.

Ella didn't realize she was crying again until the words blurred before her eyes.

"Oh, God…they knew the whole time. They suspected Fournier would kill them sooner or later. That's why Daddy always tried to teach me about money. He knew I may have to be on my own sooner than I would've expected." She re-read the last line of the letter and a sob hiccuped out of her. "They were with me that day—the day Red Miller tried to kidnap me. The note…I heard their voices…" She was comforted at the thought, but saddened as well. "I just wish I could hug you both one last time," she whispered. "You can't know how much I miss you."

And along with her pain, she was more confused than ever.

Should I marry Joe, or protect him and my family by leaving, she wondered. "If I leave I'll have no happiness left in my life. But if I stay and marry Joe…if something happened to him or my family, I'd have no happiness left then, either. What do I do?"

Unsure, she decided on a compromise. She began making plans, just in case she needed to leave suddenly. If one more risky thing happened, she had no choice but to leave.

However, she knew she couldn't just leave. Joe and Jeff would search the ends of the earth for her. She would have to go a step further—hurt her loved ones a step further.

If she did have to flee, she would need to fake her death.

Before heading downstairs for lunch, she quickly went to her desk, and scribbled out a list of things she needed and things she needed to do, in order to prepare her back up plan.

}i{}i{}i{}i{

Ella headed toward the stairs with the last package she had ordered over the past few days. She had most of them sent via overnight shipping so she would have everything she might need, on time.

To change her appearance, she ordered a couple wigs; a short red one, and a long blond one. She also ordered three pairs of contact lenses in green, hazel, and brown. Once she had the wigs and contacts, she had taken a photo of herself in the blond wig and hazel contacts, and emailed them to the man who would be handling her fake identification.

Luckily, after she explained her situation as vaguely as she could, he agreed to give her order priority over any others. He assured her that as soon as she emailed her photo to him he would have her documents and IDs done within minutes, and would get them shipped to her right away. He also gave his word to keep her secret. Which was no guarantee, of course, but she didn't have much choice, or many options.

The documents and IDs were one of the current packages she was in the process of taking upstairs.

Her aunt stopped her on the way up. "Happy Valentine's Day, dear," she said, giving her a little hug. "Do you need any help getting those to your room?"

"Happy Valentine 's Day to you too, Aunt Nina. And no, I think I've got them just fine."

Nina eyed the largest of the boxes and glanced up at Ella's face. "You've sure been getting a lot of packages the past few days."

For a moment, Ella panicked, but quickly recovered. "Well, it's just some things I need for the wedding tonight, and for….the, uh…th-the—"

"The honeymoon," Nina supplied with a knowing smile.

"Y-yes, the honeymoon," Ella forced a chuckle. She felt guilty for lying, but knew it was imperative to keep everything a secret. Besides, I'm not completely lying. I really have ordered a dress and shoes for the wedding. And in case I am able to stay with Joe, I did order some "honeymoon" items.

"Ella, I've been meaning to talk to you, hon," Nina broke into her thoughts. "I know you and Joe love each other. But—and if I'm over-stepping a boundary, I apologize—did your mother…ever…have the birds and bees talk with you?" Her voice shifted to a whisper then. "I just… I know how scary it can seem your first time."

"Aunt Nina, it's fine," Ella broke in with a nervous chuckle. "Mom didn't exactly give me a detailed outline on it, but I know basically how it works…"

"You're sure? Is there anything you need to ask me?"

Ella shook her head with an apologetic smile.

If she and Joe's passionate kisses and make-out sessions were of any indication, she doubted making love would be anything short of amazing. She wasn't frightened or nervous at all, just eager.

"Okay, just know you can come to me if you need to talk," her aunt finished, giving her a warm smile.

"Thank you, Aunt Nina," Ella smiled and squeezed her aunt's hand with her free one. "I love you."

"I love you too, dear," Nina kissed the back of Ella's hand, "very much." She started to head down the stairs, but paused. "Have you seen your uncle or Joe around? Do you know if they got back from the store yet?"

Ella shook her head. "I don't think so. As loud as those two can be, I think we'd know," she laughed.

Nina nodded and laughed as well. "Yes, that's true. Well I'd better get a start on the laundry. Come down later for a snack, okay? You still haven't gained back all of your weight."

"I'll try," Ella said, smiling softly. "I have butterflies in my stomach though, so I'm not sure I'll be able to eat much today."

"Okay," Nina relented. "But if you feel hungry at all later, take advantage of it."

"I will. I promise."

Nina smiled then, and headed down the stairs leaving Ella to prepare herself for the wedding that night.

Thinking of the wedding itself, Ella did grow a little nervous. It was imperative the wedding stay a secret. They had only informed their closest family friends about it, to guarantee it stayed a secret. It probably would have been safer to totally keep quiet, but they'd all felt as if they were betraying their loved ones by not informing them of it.

Ella began going over the plan notes again once she reached her bedroom. She picked up the note tablet from her desk and read over the pages, committing them to memory:

Jeff, Nina, Joe and I will be the only ones in attendance.

Joe and I will stay hidden in the back of Jeff and Nina's SUV on the way to the magistrate's office, so we won't be seen.

AJ will babysit Jennifer and Kayla and keep them safe.

After the wedding, Joe will drive the SUV back home, while I hide in the backseat again. And, Nina and Jeff will take a cab to a hotel, so Joe and I can spend our wedding night alone.

She could not help but smile at her family's thoughtfulness.

Then AJ will take the SUV with the girls and meet up with Jeff and Nina at the hotel.

Keeping the plan embedded in her mind, she began to pack a bag in case she needed to utilize her back up plan.

}i{}i{}i{}i{

Jacques Fournier pulled on a set of earphones when a notification flashed across his computer screen that Ella had received a phone call on her cellphone.

He had gone to the expense of having her cell phone tapped in order to keep an even closer watch on her. Silent as death, he listened to her converse with her two close friends.

"Talia, AngelinaHow are you guys?"

"Never mind us," a female answered. "How are you doing? How long till the wedding?"

"I'm doing great, actually. And it's about three more hours," Ella said, her voice full of joy. "It's just going to be a magistrate's ceremony, but I can't wait! You guys have no idea how I've dreamed of this!"

"Oh, but I think we do," a third female laughed. "Since you were about nine?"

"Try since the day I met him," Ella giggled, and let out a dreamy sigh. "I just can't believe this is happening. It's almost too good to be true, ya know?"

"But it is true, girl. He loves you, and you love him. You're going to be so happy together!"

"Oh, my God! This is really happening, isn't it?! I'm going to be Mrs. Joel Seanoa!"

Ella's jubilant squeal and the other girls' giggles were more than Fournier could take. He yanked off the headphones and slammed them down on the desk.

"Inacceptable!"

His shout seemed almost loud enough to break through the soundproof office's walls.

"This can't happen! Il n'arrivera pas! I have to come up with something to stop them." He realized he had less than three hours to not only think of a plan but to execute it.

Trying to gather control of his rage, he quickly began searching through his files on Ella, and everyone around her, in hopes of finding something to use against her.

}i{}i{}i{}i{

Ella eyed her reflection in her mirror and took a deep breath.

"This is it," she whispered, adjusting her cap-sleeved, white dress. The soft folds of lace fell gracefully down to her knees with an asymmetrical hem.

Her long dark hair was in a partial updo, while the remaining layers of waves flowed free. She had kept her makeup somewhat simple except for her eyes. She had played them up with a brown smokey eye and finished the look with a sheer nude lip gloss.

She was putting on a pair of ear rings when there was a knock at the door. She smiled and replied, "If you're not Joe, come on in."

There was a chuckle and the door opened, revealing her visitor to be Jeff.

He paused in the doorway and Ella could have sworn she saw his eyes begin to tear.

"Oh, Uncle Jeff, please don't cry. You'll make me cry and I'm not wearing water-proof mascara," she tried to lighten the mood with a joke.

Jeff regained his composure then, and walked forward, pulling her into a hug. "Sugar, you look just beautiful."

"Really? You don't think the dress is too much? I just felt that even though we're having a magistrate's ceremony, I still wanted to wear the customary white dress."

"No, it's not too much at all," Jeff answered smiling. "Joe's dressed up too." He sat down on the edge of Ella's bed and rubbed the back of his neck. "I wish you both could have a big wedding, but it's just not safe.

Ella nodded. "I know. Really, it's fine. Great, even," she beamed. "I mean, I'm marrying Joe! I still can't believe it."

And maybe since we've not heard anything from Fournier, it'll be okay. Maybe he's finally accepted that he can't have me, she thought. Maybe he'll finally leave me alone. And maybe I can stay with Joe. Forever.

"Be happy, pumpkin," Jeff said softly. "Your parents would have wanted that above all."

"I know," Ella said, looking down at her hands. "I think I'm…becoming happier. And in time, I think I'll be able to be completely happy. Joe's really helping with that. A lot," she said, lifting her eyes to Jeff's face. "I love him so much, Uncle Jeff."

"I know. And he loves you every bit as much." He stood and hugged her again, placing a kiss on her cheek. "You will be very happy together."

Ella nodded, fighting tears, and hugged her uncle tightly. "Thank you."

"Don't mention it, darlin'," Jeff said softly. "Now, are you ready to go get married?"

She nodded again, taking a deep breath. "Yes."

"Okay. AJ's downstairs so we can go anytime now."

They headed downstairs then and, for a moment, Ella was overcome with shyness and could not meet Joe's eyes. She had no choice however, when he walked over to her and tilted her chin back with his fingers. She looked into his eyes, and saw his love for her radiating from their dark depths.

"I can't even begin to tell you how beautiful you look," he whispered, brushing his lips across her cheekbone. "No words are fitting enough."

Ella flushed under his gaze and smiled softly, "Thank you." She took in the sight of Joe in his black suit and felt her pulse soar. "Words aren't fitting enough for you either." Her smile broadened then. "Happy Valentine's Day," she whispered.

Joe smiled and brought her hand to his lips. "Happy Valentine's Day. I love you."

Ella returned his smile with a surge of butterflies in her stomach. "Ou te alofa ia te oe."

"Okay, lovebirds," Jeff chuckled. "Let's go get you two married."

}i{}i{}i{}i{

"Come on, Uncle AJ," Kayla giggled. "You're 'it'!"

"Uh, girls…" AJ panted. "How about we play a nice board game instead?"

Who would've thought two little girls and a couple games of 'Tag' could wear me out, he thought to himself.

"No, Uncle AJ," Jennifer protested, stomping her little foot. "We wanna play 'Hidengo Seek' now!"

AJ chuckled, and patted her head. "Okay, okay. 'Hide-And-Go-Seek' it is. Go hide while I count."

The two little girls scattered and began searching for the perfect hiding places while AJ covered his eyes and began counting. Before he even reached five, his cell phone began to vibrate in his pocket. He pulled the phone out and glanced at the Caller ID, seeing it was Talia calling him.

"Talia?"

"Hey, AJ. I didn't wake the girls did I?'

"No, we're in the middle of a game of 'Hide-And-Go-Seek'," he chuckled. "I have the phone on vibrate, in case someone called while they were asleep, anyway.

"Oh, good. I have Angelina with me, and we wanted to come over and decorate Ella's room forwell…" she chuckled nervously. "For the wedding night."

"Oh, okay," AJ said, "When can I expect you?"

"We're on the porch."

"Right now?"

"Yeah. Can you let us in? It's freezing out here."

"Why didn't you knock," he asked, heading for the door.

"I was afraid the girls were in bed," she reminded him.

"Ah, okay. Hang on."

He ended the call and stepped into the foyer, headed for the front door.

In the next instant, Talia and Angelina stepped inside with sacks of items they brought to decorate with.

"Good grief, are you gonna entirely remodel the room," AJ asked, smirking.

"Hey, this needs to be a special night for Ella and Joe," Talia said, already heading for the stairs.

"Yeah, AJ," Angelina agreed. "Especially for Ella. She deserves a perfect wedding night."

"Yeah," Talia giggled. "We've got everything to make the room really romantic for them."

"Well, I'm sure they'll love it," AJ said smiling. "Although, I think all they really want is each other."

"Well, of course," Talia said. "But that doesn't mean we can't make it more beautiful for them."

With that, the two girls headed upstairs. "Oh, and I wouldn't leave Jennifer and Kayla unsupervised for long," Talia called, laughing. "From my experience in babysitting them, they can get into trouble very quickly."

"Oh, no…" AJ groaned, having forgotten all about the little Jarrett girls. He frantically hurried off to find the two sisters while Talia and Angelina giggled at his haste.

"Well, we've got work to do, and not much time to do it," Angelina finally settled from her fit of laughter. "Let's get on it."

They hurried up to Ella's bedroom, and began the decorating.

"These clear lights look great in here," Angelina exclaimed, turning on the white lights that were strung up around the canopy of Ella's large bed.

Talia nodded in agreement, as she pulled out a set of Red lacy curtains, and red satin bed sheets. "Are you sure we aren't going overboard," she asked, eyeing the deep colors of the items they'd picked up.

"It's Valentine's Day, and it's their wedding night. I don't think we can overboard," Angelina laughed.

"True."

They settled in to work, and before long, the room was complete. They inspected their handiwork and smiled happily. Red lacy curtains adorned the windows and French doors, the lavender canopy and bed clothes were exchanged for vibrant red ones, they had lit several red, white and pink candles all over the room, and added red, white and pink decorative pillows to the bed, along with scattered rose petals in the same colors. In Ella's stereo system was a custom made CD of passionate film scores playing softly on "repeat".

"They're going to love it."

"Who wouldn't?"

"Our job is clearly done," Talia finished, giggling. "Now let's get out of here so they aren't expecting it."

They grabbed up the empty sacks and packages, and ran downstairs to say goodbye to AJ, as well as swear him to secrecy. Then they were out the front door and gone before anyone returned home.

Translations:

"Inacceptable!"~"Unacceptable!"

"Il n'arrivera pas!"~"It will not happen!"