A/N: Thank you all for your reviews and support! I hope you enjoy this next chapter.
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Chapter 17: The Ceremony
Elliot and Kate were soon filled in on the whole Jack Hyde situation, and were shocked and sympathetic to say the least. Neither of them had expected to come home from their honeymoon to this whole scenario, but they immediately offered to help Ana and Christian with the fake wedding so they could expose Hyde for the abuser that he was.
"Jesus. I mean, I know that politicians tend to be slimy assholes, but I can't believe such an obvious piece of shit like Jack Hyde is actively working for our Congressman," Elliot said angrily, looking genuinely pissed. "Malkiewicz isn't getting my vote this year, I'll tell you that much."
"Elliot, have you ever even voted in an election?" Mia asked, looking at her brother in amusement.
"Hey I vote! I once voted for Woody's Burgers being the best burger joint in the city," Elliot insisted, and Mia just rolled her eyes.
"Ignore him, Ana," Kate said to Ana, her pretty blue eyes gleaming with eagerness. "I actually work for the Seattle Times and my bosses would absolutely love an exposé on a high-ranking political official like Jack Hyde. With your permission, I'd love to write a hit piece about him."
"Really?" Ana asked, raising her eyebrows. "You would do that for me?"
"Are you kidding? This story would be perfect!" Kate insisted, immediately whipping out her phone and typing feverishly on it. "I've been on my honeymoon for two weeks, so to come back to work with a juicy story like this would be spectacular."
"Looks like 'Work Kate' is back in action," Elliot said, letting out an exaggerated sigh while shaking his head. "I guess the honeymoon bliss is officially over."
The others laughed, but Ana was silent as she absorbed this information. A hit piece on Jack in the Seattle Times would be like a dream come true – for years, she would secretly fantasize about finding a way to expose him as an abuser to the public and escape him once and for all. However, she had no real media connections and was terrified of contacting an outlet in case Jack found out, which meant her dream just remained a secret wish that she held onto into her heart. But if Kate was a reporter for a reputable media outlet and she was willing to help her, this could actually make that dream into a reality.
Now, however, it felt like all her dreams were coming true. Once again, Ana started feeling hopeful about her future.
The rest of the week seemed to practically fly by as everyone continued planning the wedding. Thankfully, there had been no other sightings of Jack since he had come by the courthouse when Christian and Ana were there, and, according to Christian's security, he'd barely left his house since then. Everyone was staying vigilant, however, since they all expected him to try to stop the wedding. Ana knew that Jack finding out about her and Christian was pretty much the point of this whole charade, but she couldn't help but feel nervous at the prospect of seeing him again.
A couple days before the ceremony, Ana finally brought up the courage to reach out to her old college friends. She decided to do it via email, feeling too anxious to have to call them up on the phone, and told them everything save for the wedding being fake. She apologized for falling out of contact with them over the past three years, explaining honestly as to why. She admitted to being abused by Jack for the past few years and that she had finally, thankfully, gotten away from him. Now, she was getting married to an incredible man and they were holding a small ceremony on Saturday with his family. She said she would love it if they could attend, but if they couldn't, there were no hard feelings. Since this wedding invitation was so short notice, and since it had been many years since they had last spoken, she wouldn't have been surprised if they didn't show up at all.
Regardless, however, Ana felt relieved to have finally reached out to her friends again. A large part of her hoped she could start rebuilding these relationships that Jack had systematically been tearing down over the years. This email felt like a good first step.
Finally, Saturday morning rolled around – the day of the 'wedding'. The ceremony was taking place in the afternoon, so Ana, Mia, and Kate (along with a few members of Christian's security) headed over to the restaurant a few hours beforehand to get everything set up. The upstairs room where they were holding the ceremony was pretty small compared to most wedding venues, but they were still able to fit about a dozen fold-out chairs, a runner, an archway for the altar, and a few small tables near the back to hold flowers. Their 'reception' was just going to be dinner in the restaurant downstairs, so they didn't have to worry about setting up for that.
Ana and Kate had just finished setting up the archway and Mia was about to decorate it with some fake flowers when they heard a knock on the door. Ana glanced over to see who had arrived, figuring it was someone from the restaurant downstairs, but then froze when she saw three familiar faces.
"Hey Ana," Stephanie smiled a bit nervously, stepping inside the room alongside Jose and Lacey. They all looked a bit different from three years ago: Stephanie had grown out her hair to about shoulder-length and dyed it dark red, while Lacey's blonde hair was trimmed with bangs and Jose had a beard. All of them smiled at Ana, who just looked at them in shock.
"Um, hello," Mia said politely, glancing between Ana and the newcomers. "Can we help you?"
"Oh, we're Ana's friends from college," Stephanie explained, stepping forward. "I'm Stephanie, and this is Lacey and Jose. I know we're a few hours early, but um… we're here for the wedding. That is, if you want us to be here."
She was looking a bit nervous as she gazed at Ana, and Ana didn't respond for a moment or two as she still seemed to be in a bit of shock.
"Ana?" Kate asked quietly, looking concerned.
Without a word, Ana stepped away from the arch and walked over to Stephanie before wrapping her up in a big hug. Stephanie let out a relieved giggle before hugging Ana back just as tightly, and Jose and Lacey walked over to hug them too. The four of them stood holding each other, none of them seeming to want to let go anytime soon, and Mia and Kate simply looked at them, smiling at the sweet reunion.
"I missed you guys so much," Ana said in a warbly, muffled voice against Stephanie's shoulder. "It's so good to see you again."
"It's so good to see you too," Lacey insisted, tears filling her eyes too as she smiled. "I'm sorry we didn't respond to your email. After we saw it, Steph called us up and suggested that we should show up here as a surprise today."
"Well, I'm definitely surprised," Ana laughed, pulling away before wiping her tears from her face. "Honestly, I had no idea if you wanted anything to do with me anymore after I iced you out over the past few years."
"We didn't know if you wanted anything to do with us either," Stephanie said truthfully. "We figured you were too busy living your lavish lifestyle with Jack and didn't want to associate with us anymore. But after you sent us that email a couple days ago we realized the truth."
"We all feel terrible that we didn't try harder to reach out to you, Ana," Jose said regretfully, shaking his head. "There's so much we could've done to be better friends."
"Well, we're here together now," Ana said, giving Jose a small smile before looking at the other two. "That's what matters."
"That's right," Lacey nodded. "And we don't plan on losing contact with you ever again. I'll text you every single day if you want me to."
Ana laughed. "Sounds good to me."
Mia and Kate now approached the small group, and Ana made introductions. The six of them stood around chatting for several minutes, talking about everything regarding the wedding, and Stephanie, Lacey, and Jose all offered to help them set up. They all finished setting up the chairs and tables, still talking about their lives, and Ana almost felt like no time had passed at all since the last time they hung out. She couldn't remember the last time she had smiled this much.
"...Oh, hello," Christian and the others all arrived a little after noon, immediately noticing the three new people standing in the room. He raised his eyebrows in surprise.
"Christian, these are my friends from college," Ana introduced. "They came by to surprise me for the wedding. Stephanie, Lacey, Jose – this is Christian. He's my soon-to-be husband," she added, blushing awkwardly.
"Hi, nice to meet you," Christian smiled politely, shaking their hands. "I'm glad you could make it to the wedding."
"Of course, we're thrilled to be here," Lacey said, shaking Christian's hand before glancing at Ana beside her. "Although should you two really be in the same room together on your wedding day? It's bad luck, you know."
Everyone laughed, and Ana's cheeks went a bit pink. "Well, since this is such a small ceremony we just felt it didn't really matter."
"Agreed," Christian said. "And since we're all here and everything seems to be set up, why don't we get this show on the road?"
"Yes, let's do it!" Mia squealed immediately, clasping her hands together and bouncing eagerly on her toes. The others laughed at her enthusiasm.
The rest of the Grey and Trevelyan family made their way into the room to introduce themselves to Ana's friends. As everyone chatted with each other, Christian took Ana gently by the arm and led her away from the others.
"I think you should know," he said quietly, lowering his head toward her slightly so she could hear him better. "Hyde left his house about an hour ago. Taylor and I both think he's going to try to crash the wedding."
Ana blinked, feeling like her heart was stuck in her throat as a buzzing sound filled her ears. "Oh."
"I know you're worried about seeing him again, Ana, but this is exactly what we were hoping for," Christian continued. "That's why we were holding this wedding to begin with – to finally draw him out and make him show his hand."
Ana swallowed before nodding. "I know," she said quietly. "I just don't want to see him again, that's all."
"I know. And if I had things my way, you'd never be in the same room as that piece of shit ever again," Christian said firmly, taking her hand in his. "You just need to be brave for a little longer. I promise we'll keep you safe from him."
Ana didn't say anything for a moment as she looked down at her and Christian's joined hands. The warmth of his fingers in hers reassured her in a way she couldn't quite verbalize, so she simply squeezed his hand gently to let him know she appreciated his help. Christian smiled at her.
"So… ready to get married now?" he asked, his eyes shining as he looked at her. There was amusement but also some other emotion on his face when he asked that, and Ana couldn't help but smile back at him.
"I was born ready," she said, and Christian chuckled.
"Let's do it then."
It only took a few minutes for everyone to move around and settle into their seats. Christian stood at the front alongside Mia, who was of course the "officiant" pretending to marry them today. Ana quickly slipped away into the adjacent bathroom so she could change into her dress, and once she was ready, she gave herself one last glance in the mirror before picking up her bouquet and stepping out into the main room.
Everyone turned to smile at Ana as she moved to the back of the room, and she blushed and giggled as several people took out their phones to take pictures of her. Elliot took out his own phone and tapped a few times on the screen before Pachelbel's Canon in D began to play from his speakers.
Mr. Grey walked over to Ana and held his arm out for her to take, and once she did he began to walk her down the aisle toward where Christian stood. Ana felt herself unexpectedly get a bit emotional at the sweetness of Mr. Grey doing this for her – she was reminded of her late father Ray and how he would never get the chance to walk her down the aisle.
Hold yourself together, Ana.
Ana blinked a few times as her eyes filled with unshed tears, and as she tried to get her emotions under control, she almost missed the expression on Christian's face as he was gazing at her. She saw the tenderness in his handsome gray eyes as he regarded her, and Ana couldn't help but look back at him with similar affection.
Mr. Grey and Ana finally arrived at the front of the room, and Christian reached out his hand to take Ana's. She willingly held his hand, holding on tight as she let go of Mr. Grey's arm and stepped to his side.
"You look beautiful Ana," Christian said quietly, looking down at her with warm affection. Ana smiled back up at him, wishing not for the first time that this wedding to Christian could be the real thing.
"Thank you," she whispered back, and Christian winked at her. Elliot finally turned the music off.
"Ladies and gentlemen," Mia announced to the room, straightening her back and holding her notebook up as if she were a real officiant reading from Scripture. "And dearly beloved. We are gathered here today…"
There was a sudden commotion of voices outside the door, and Mia stopped speaking as everyone turned around to see what was going on. A moment later, the doors opened to reveal Taylor and Sawyer, who both entered the room.
"He's here, sir," Taylor said to Christian without preamble, and Ana felt her heart drop to her stomach. "Reynolds has him."
Christian nodded before turning to the rest of the room. "Everyone, it looks like Jack Hyde has crashed the party," he stated, tugging Ana's hand so she was standing behind him. Everyone in the room began muttering to each other, looking concerned. "Let him in, Taylor."
There was a scuffling sound beyond the door, and the next moment Reynolds appeared with Jack in tow, the man struggling as Reynolds held his wrists behind his back while shoving him along.
"Hey!" Jack snapped as Reynolds pushed him hard, causing him to stumble and almost fall down. He righted himself enough to meet Ana's eyes for a brief moment before glancing over at Christian, his eyes darkening with anger and contempt.
Ana swallowed, her heart hammering a furious tattoo in her chest. No doubt shit was about to hit the fan.
A/N: Looks like we got ourselves a wedding crasher… 0_0
If you enjoyed this chapter, please review! Be sure to follow me on Facebook for teasers and updates – I go by the username Straw Paj. I'm also posting this story to AO3 for anyone who wants to read it there.