Mitchie frowned, brushing the hand off her arm as she turned to continue sleeping.
"Mitchie... Mitch,"
She groaned, opening her eyes. "What Mara? It's 5 AM in the morning."
"I-I know but we gotta do something." Mara pulled back her duvet and dragged her out of the bed. "Come on, it's important."
Mitchie furrowed her eyebrows when she saw that her friend was dressed in a lace white dress with white wedges. "What's going on?"
"Come on. Cait's waiting outside and is most likely sleeping standing up by now." Mara let go of her arm before collecting a tote bag from her bed and waving her friend to hurry up.
Mitchie rolled her eyes, slipping her boots on before following the bassist out the door to meet with their friend.
"So where are we off too?" Caitlyn asked, also in her pyjamas.
Mara grinned, reaching into the bag to give them both a bouquet of flowers.
"Let's just get there, shall we?" She asked brightly.
The other two soon found out that they were going to the lake once they saw the guys and their friends waiting for them.
"What's going on...?" Mitchie asked, her eyes drifting towards Shane.
Nate immediately took Caitlyn in his arms, giving her a sweet kiss and an apology. "Beats me, Jason dragged us out of bed."
Jason and Mara finally stood together, addressing their friends and family. "We want a small intimate wedding."
"But you're not divorced yet, Jason," Shane stated, ignoring Mitchie's pleading glances. "Isn't this illegal or something?"
"Well, we're not getting married officially. Just a private affair." Jason explained, smiling at Mara.
"We just want it to mean something. Once the divorce is through, we'll sign the papers and be done with it."
Caitlyn had a doubt. "What about an officiate. Have you thought of that?"
Ethan blushed, raising his hand. "I actually have a-"
"Don't tell me..." Caitlyn realised. "You can officiate. Well, you guys really thought of everything."
Mara giggled. "Not really. This was only planned an hour ago."
"Then let's get you married." Mitchie finally grinned, nudging Caitlyn's side to encourage her.
Caitlyn gave out a smile, finally agreeing.
The ceremony was soon rushed through and they decided to have a wedding breakfast, courtesy of Connie.
"Classes start soon," Ella yawned, biting through a slice of toast.
"I am not looking forward to it. Lucky you, Caitlyn, you get to go to Hawaii tomorrow..." Tess moaned.
Nate turned to face Caitlyn who raised her eyebrow back at him. "Not now. Later."
He nodded, taking her hand under the table as they ate.
"I want to say something," Mara piped up, standing up with her glass of orange juice. "I want to say how much I love Jason and how much I always have since I met him all these years ago. Jason, you mean everything to me and so does Kelly. I want to spend the rest of my life beside you raising our family and getting by catching the stars in our lives. Since we both share the love of birds, I thought that I would tell you what ravens are since they're my favourite bird however how morbid they are. Ravens are masters of time so I hope that whenever they are around us, they pull the time back just a little bit so I get to spend more time with you, loving you and caring for you. Now, this may sound weird but I hope that you do not steal, lie or cheat even though they sound reasonable for a typical wedding speech. If you were to steal, steal my sorrows. If you were to lie, lie with me when we sleep every night so I know that you are near and if you were to cheat... please, cheat death because, without you, I am incomplete..."
There was silence as Jason gazed lovingly at his girlfriend, his hand gripping hers tightly.
Shane excused himself, making Mitchie excuse herself and follow behind him quickly. Nate and Caitlyn also excused themselves, taking the time to talk their next plan in action.
"I hope I didn't stun anyone to death," Mara laughed lightly.
"That was so beautiful, Mara. Jason is so lucky to have you." Dana smiled.
...
Mitchie gave out a frustrated yell. "Shane, wait up!"
Shane stopped, clenching his fists as he closed his eyes. "Mitchie... You made your choice."
"What if I regret it? What if I want things to be different?"
He finally turned to face her, exasperation written on his features as he started to laugh sardonically. "You want things to be different? All of this is because of you!"
"No!" Mitchie yelled back, pointing a finger at him. "This all started because of you. You were meant to propose to me in Paris but you dumped me. If you hadn't, I wouldn't have developed feelings for Antonio and accepted his marriage proposal!"
"Well..."
"That's all you have to say? 'Well'?!"
"What do you expect me to say to that? It's all true, isn't it?" Shane sighed. "I did break your heart in Paris and then I forced you to restart our relationship as friends. I'm a terrible person, Mitchie and I know that. I've done things that I'm ashamed of and well, they'll haunt me forever."
Mitchie's glare softened as she sighed, rubbing her arms for warmth. "I... You're not a terrible person, Shane. You're just... misunderstood. Running away was not the answer to solving your problems nor is taking..."
"I didn't."
"I know."
"I... I thought about my family. I couldn't do that to them, to Uncle Brown. I couldn't do that to you."
Mitchie gave him a watery smile. "I really don't want to marry Antonio... I just thought that you didn't want me anymore so I freaked-"
"I'll always want you, Mitch..." Shane whispered. "But we can't just jump back into a relationship. We have to rebuild it so we're stronger."
"I think I'm ready to do that."
"Yeah?"
Mitchie stepped towards him, bringing him in for a hug. "Yeah. Friends first."
...
"Hawaii?"
"My sister's murderer is being sentenced."
Nate nodded. "Who's going with you?"
"Steve, of course, and Mitchie and Mara. Do you want to come before you run off again?" Caitlyn snapped.
Nate kissed her, immediately making her melt into his arms. "I love how I can make you melt with one kiss. And yes, I'll go with you, without running off but that was for Shane and I was never even going to go through with it."
"Are you telling me the truth?"
"Yes! Shane... he wanted his own life and Jason and I weren't part of that. We were going to take him to wherever he wanted and then come straight back. Shane... I love him but I can't put my life on hold because of him. I can't ruin the things that are going great for me."
Caitlyn kissed him, leaning her forehead against his. "Shane's a big boy. Let him follow his own path."
"I don't want him to... He was in rehab for two years, Caity."
"And he's fine now. He didn't take the drugs, did he? He's strong and he will continue to recover." Caitlyn gave him a smile. "You will have to trust him."
Nate nodded, giving her a smile. "What will I do without you?"
"Nothing. Probably shrivel up and die with no self-worth-"
"You're mean."
She chuckled. "Well, you did ditch me for your brother so..."
"Yeah. Sorry about that."
"Already water under the bridge, stupid." She smirked.