"Thank you for not making us wear hideous bridesmaid dresses!" Caroline squeals out of happiness while checking herself in the mirror, straightening an elegant, red dress on her waist. "Now I can interact with people, you know, fulfilling my maid of honor duties, while being able to look them in the eyes with some dignity," she smiles at her reflection in the mirror, dark red lipstick making her lips ten times more attractive, her perfect curls bouncing on her shoulders.
Picking a maid of honor was a difficult job. Bonnie was the first person who popped into her head. But the truth is, over the years, the two of them drifted apart. Bonnie simply never had time for anything, not between college and her job in the record label. Even after they got their diplomas she was always either buried in work, or sleeping. She saw Bonnie once a month if she were lucky. When they went home during the holidays Bonnie was never there either. Caroline seemed a much more logical choice than either Rebekah or Alisson since she knew her longer and, the truth be told, even though she was on the other side of the continent, Caroline always found a way to be there for her, even if trivial problems were the matter of her worries. Also, being the party planner, Elena knew she can count on Caroline for understanding, and granting, her wishes when it comes to the wedding.
"Even if I wanted to Rebekah wouldn't have let me," she says nervously, glancing at Rebekah who was already on her fourth glass of champagne. Luckily for her, Rebekah had a high breaking point. "The dresses are her design," she adds with a smile on her face, thinking how the dresses came out really nice. They're perfect. Not tacky, but they don't stand out either. They're strapless with a heart shape for the top, allowing some cleavage, while the skirt of the dress is skin tight and reaching just above the knees. The color matched Bonnie's dark skin as well as three blondes fair skin, and when Elena saw them standing next to each other for the first time in those dresses she knew that's what she wants.
"That's right," Rebekah leaves the champagne glass on the table and reaches for her lipstick, applying a thicker coat of it on her thin lips, "When you look back at your wedding day I want you to remember it fondly instead of thinking why did you feel the need to dress your bridesmaids like clowns because of your irrational insecurities that you're not the most beautiful woman in the room and that all of the eyes are not on you," she brings her lips closer together, rubbing them against each other before puckering them in the direction of a mirror. "I mean, it's not like you have anything to hide, like a huge baby bump," she closes her lipstick and throws it in her purse before twirling on her heel and looking at Elena in shock, "You aren't pregnant, are you?" her look falls on Elena's flat stomach and instantly she knows that possibility is off the list.
Elena laughs while shaking her head, "No."
Rebekah exhales, maybe even a little bit disappointed. "Too bad," she slumps back on the little sofa in the room, "Dylan could use a cousin to play with."
Rebekah gave birth to a beautiful baby boy with piercing blue eyes and a patch of blonde hair a year ago. The baby, Dylan, just had his first birthday last week, and even though Rebekah swears she enjoys being a mom, it's also evident she hates the stroll motherhood had put on her career. She started working as an assistant to a fashion designer only two years before she got pregnant and now she's not even sure her job is still waiting for her. And she needs it because she needs experience and funds to go through with her life long dream - to open a design studio. Elena asking her to design her bridesmaid dresses was a great uplift for Rebekah since it's the first thing she designed since she gave birth. She should be going back to work next month.
"Dylan will have to wait," Elena brushes her fingers over her stomach, thinking how one day she would love to be a mom, but not right now. She doesn't think either her or Stefan are ready to be parents yet. She also knows if they were forced into the situation that they would manage.
Rebekah looked so tired most of the time, plus her stories about stretched skin and extra weight didn't push Elena any closer to wanting a baby. She wasn't willing to give up her body just yet, even though Rebekah tried to convince her that her skin would probably just bounce right back where it was. It seemed elastic while Rebekah's skin was like rubber - once you stretch it, it stays like that. She wasn't ready to put a hold on her career either, not unless she's sure her job would be waiting for her once she comes back from the maternity leave.
Damon has been of great help, though, and Elena was sure Stefan would be the same. He has thoughts of their life together longer than she does, so he probably thought everything through. He would never give up on something he spent so much time thinking about, looking forward to.
The door open and Elena hears a high pitched cry, "Oh sweetie," she notices Jenna's reflection in the mirror. Jenna puts her hands over her mouth and her eyes fill with tears upon seeing Elena in her wedding dress. "You look beautiful," she starts walking towards her niece, putting her hands around Elena's shoulders. Her dress is snow white, every one of the girls pointing out the irony, and has a corset for the top. Thanks to her slim figure and thin waist she doesn't look like she's suffocating in it. It gives her a nice cleavage, nothing too obvious though. Around her waist, where her corset ends, there's a thin, sparkly line decorated with diamonds, and that's where her dress begins to spread into a princess like dress features. Her hair is curled up and left to fall over her bare shoulders. Jenna takes the veil from the table and attaches it to the clutch in Elena's hair which is barely visible through the thickness of the curls. "If only your mom could see you.." she says quietly, not wanting to turn this into a sad moment, but feeling the need to bring her sister into this.
Elena puts her palm over one of Jenna's hands and squeezes her fingers with hers, "She can," she smiles at their reflection in the mirror.
Jenna smiles right back at her, indicating that she understands the meaning behind Elena's words. "And she is so proud of you," she squeezes Elena's shoulders tighter. More tears appear in Elena's eyes and she barely manages to stop them from flowing down her cheeks. She wishes her mom could be here, physically. She wants to see her face and hear her voice, because the memory of it is slowly fading away year after year. She knows she will never forget her mom completely, but some things, like the way her mom used to sing along her favorite radio program while preparing lunch or the sanctuary she found in her words, are slowly disappearing. She wanted to see the expression on her moms face when she tells her she fell in love with that potty mouth boy who used to copy her homework, than she got engaged to the same boy and that she is pregnant with the baby who will most likely have the same potty mouth as his father. She always thought her mom will be here for all those things.
"Oh, I almost forgot," Jenna jumps a little, her hands flying in the direction of her clutch purse, "I promised you something old."
Her garter is something new and something blue at the same time, while the clutch in her hair is something borrowed from Caroline. Jenna promised to bring something old.
Out of her purse she takes out a locket on a necklace. It's marble white, with thin pink veins across it, and with a silver necklace attached to it, it definitely looks antique.
"When me and your mom were about twelve, we went to visit our aunt in California," Jenna starts talking while unclasping the necklace and swinging it around Elena's neck, "The day before we were to head home, she took us downtown and said we can choose anything we want to buy on her expense. Of course, I bought shoes," laugh escapes both of their throats, "But your mom spent hours in this little vintage store until she laid eyes on this locket. I have no idea how it even got in my possession," she clasps the necklace around Elena's neck and the locket fall on her chest.
Elena wraps her fingers around the locket, holding back tears. "Thank you," she says with a muttered voice. She squeezes the locket in her hand, feeling it embedding into her skin. "What if I suck at being a wife?" her eyes widen and lock with Jenna's in the mirror.
"What?" Jenna asks confused, furrowing her brows.
"Think about it, what if I start noticing things, like him checking out other girls on the street and withholding sex?" her breath becomes faster, harder, and her open palm falls on her chest.
"Here it comes," Rebekah takes another sip of her champagne, "The panic attack," she sits back, falling deeper into the sofa, expecting Caroline to start panicking more than Elena any minute now.
"Oh boy," Caroline says, trying to catch her breath, "This sounds like a maid of honor duty!" she squeals, "What should I do?" she looks at the rest of the girls, "Slap her? Give her some drugs? Maybe alcohol? I could splash her with cold water! Oh, or put some ice in her bra!" she goes through ideas on how to help Elena.
Rebekah rolls her eyes. "Just talk to her."
Caroline frowns. "Right," she coughs to cover the irritation in her voice, "I knew that," she walks over to Elena and takes her by the shoulders, "Sweetie, what's wrong?" she tries to reach her friend who seems to be in a panic mode.
Elena locks her eyes with Caroline's and says silently, "What if I rushed into this?"
A smile appears on Caroline's face, that light smile which often signals everything will be okay, and she brushes her off. "Elena, you and Stefan have basically been married since kindergarten, this is just a formality."
Somehow, Caroline always finds the right words to say.
"You seem to be forgetting about the time when we couldn't stand each other," Elena cocks her eyebrow in her friends direction, calming down a little.
Caroline rolls her eyes. "You mean when he was a horny 14 year old and thought cheerleading outfits are sexier than skinny jeans?"
Now he's a horny 25 year old who thinks cheerleading outfits are sexier than skinny jeans.
So what changed?
She changed. He changed as well.
She could be wearing a coat and she would still look sexy to him. Because he knows what's underneath. But not just underneath the coat, but underneath the three layers of her skin as well.
"Plus," Caroline smirks, caressing Elena's shoulders, "What's an epic love story without few obstacles on the way?"
Elena smiles at her comment and nods.
"It's time," Rebekah announces, putting the champagne glass on the table and getting up from the sofa.
Jenna gives Elena one more squeeze before running back to her place. The girls point Elena out of the room towards the entrance of the church where her dad is waiting for her. April comes in the last minute, fixing her dress, and Elena notices her boyfriend slipping on the spot next to Jenna. April gives Elena an apologetic smile and mouths "I'm sorry", but Elena just shakes her head with a smile forming on her lips.
"You make a beautiful bride," her dad whispers in her ear after Caroline pushes a flower bouquet in Elena's hands, "You have no idea how much you resemble your mother when she was your age," Elena puts her arm under her dads and gives him a kiss on the cheek to thank him.
The girls align and when the music starts playing, they start walking down the aisle. Once they reach their destination the music changes and her dad asks her, "Ready?"
She nods happily and responds, "As ready as I'll ever be," and they start walking down the aisle. As soon as she steps on the path between rows and rows of seats, her eyes lock with Stefan's who is standing by the alter. His eyes wander all over her body, from the top of her head where the clutch that holds her veil is hidden in her curly hair to the hem of her dress which is dragging behind her. A satisfied smile appears on his face and she smiles back at him. Her dad kisses her on the cheek one more time, and before he gives her to Stefan she places the bouquet in Caroline's hands. She puts her hands in Stefan's and he squeezes them tightly, caressing them with his thumbs.
"You look breathtakingly beautiful," he mouths in her direction.
Out of some reason she blushes before mouthing back at him, "You don't look so bad yourself."
Bad? When he wears a tux she can feel all of her bones rattling inside of her body.
The priest starts talking but she can barely hear a word he says because she's so busy with gazing into Stefan's eyes. She knows the drill and she knows it's not required from her to speak until the vows.
The vows.
"I remember clearly my first ever memory of you," he starts talking, still caressing her hands with his thumbs, "I remember this short, chubby girl, with big, brown locks covering her even bigger brown eyes, sitting behind one of those yellow, plastic tables, scraping her front teeth over the top of color pencil. Soon enough, every color pencil in the kindergarten had teeth scrapes over the top. Sometimes I still see you as that girl, especially when I find a pencil with teeth marks on it lying around," he smiles at the memory, "That same girl saved me from agreeing to one of those stupid, boy dares and from that moment on," he looks at her and notices her eyes are smiling at him, "You keep saving me. Every day, every night, every second of every day, you keep saving me in every way a person can be saved. You're my own personal guardian angel," the corners of her lips keep going up until they stay in that position, "I can't wait to spend the rest of my life with you, to wake up every morning with those beautiful eyes staring back at me, to have children to whom you're probably going to want to give the weirdest names and I probably won't do a thing to stop you," she smiles because she knows it's true, "I'm planning on making your life so painfully pleasurable that just the thought of leaving it makes your whole body ache," he says with a husky voice before he smirks, "Because I fucking love you."
Almost everyone in the church chuckle, even though only few selected people know those words have history behind them.
"We've been through so much together," she starts, "There were good times, and then, there were bad times," she says with a lump in her throat, "The thing is, you see, you showed me a completely different side of life. You taught me to never give up, even when I have no reason to continue, with a little help of your ability to make me smile when I'd rather be crying. You taught me that even though bad things happen, that doesn't mean that's the end of the good ones. You taught me not to be scared of trying again. In a way, you taught me how to live," she gives him an appreciative smile, "I am who I am today because of you, and I don't think I would come this far if you haven't held my hand every step of the way. Most importantly," she says through a low, muffled whispers, "You taught me how to love. You made it look so easy," a smile forms on his lips as those words escape her, "Oh, I fucking love you too," she adds, and everyone chuckle one more time.
After exchanging their vows they exchange their rings.
"I pronounce you husband and wife. You can kiss the bride."
AN: One more chapter left. I have exams coming up so I don't know when I'll catch time to write it, so I apologize if it takes me little more time than usual :)