All for a reason

Epilogue

~Epilogue~

I looked in the mirror at the girl before me. She was a grown woman. The white dress hugged her upper body and then fell in waves of silk and lace to the floor. The woman's hair was piled neatly on the top of her head, wisps of the dark orange framing her porcelain face. I smiled at myself, the woman was me.

Brooke Robyn Jackson.

The rings on my finger felt natural, like they were supposed to be there. Like the way his hand felt in mine.

I remembered the way he looked at me a couple of hours ago as I had walked down the aisle to my future, clinging onto my dad's arm. His eyes had shone with love, adoration, admiration. The truth behind the whispered 'I love you' as my hand had been passed into his. I remembered the way he had slipped the ring onto my finger and the sigh of relief he had given out in that moment of instant clarity. The way he had kissed me when I was officially his and he was officially mine and the way I had clung onto his jacket as his lips branded mine in a silent promise to never let him go.

Him. My husband.

"Baby, are you alright in there? We're about to do the toasts," Hayden's worried voice called from the other side of the bathroom door.

"Yeah, I'm on my way out now," I called back, walking over to the door and sliding across the lock.

Hayden looked up as I opened the door, a smile decorating his face as he pulled me into his arms.

"Have I told you how beautiful you look today?" he asked me, his eyes trailing the length of my body.

"Yes, about a million times already," I laughed.

"That doesn't do you justice," he murmured, leaning down to my lips, "I can't wait to show you how beautiful you are tonight," he finished, his lips brushing mine as he spoke before they moved down on mine and sealed his words with a passionate kiss, a taster of what was to come.

We pulled back and with his hand on the small of my back he led me to our table. We'd both finished college and Hayden had got down on one knee to ask me to marry him on graduation. Obviously he asked without the ring because it was already on my finger. Wedding plans had passed in a blur and before I knew it we were here with a honeymoon to Fiji booked.

I'd always wanted to go there.

During college, Imara and I had grown closer, I'd stayed in contact with Sophie but we'd grown apart as she went to the other side of the country to pursue a career in film production. Reuben had followed her and they were still going strong as a couple, in fact I had heard rumours of an engagement. Toby, Aaron, Mason and Elliott had all gone their separate ways and of course we'd all made new friends but that didn't stop us from still seeing each other far too often for my own sanity. Elliott and Madison had broken up at the end of senior year on mutual terms and they were still good friends. Much to Madison's word, the next day at school after the day in the diner, Tori had been alone so much that I did feel bad for her. I tried talking to her, it didn't end well.

I still think I'm combing out the lasagne in my hair to this day.

Aaron and Mason were still 'playing the field' as they liked to call it, even inviting me out on their bar crawls to help them find a willing girl to take a vacation to their beds. I'd heard from a distant friend back in England that Cameron and Freya had broken up, and not in the good kind of way either. The gossip was also followed by a pleaing text from Cameron about the big mistake he had made.

I told him I was with someone else and kindly let Hayden deal with the rest.

A spoon tapping on the glass beside me caught my attention and I looked up to see Hayden standing, waiting patiently for silence in the room full of white tables and soft, pastel flowers. When all eyes were on him and silence hung in the air, Hayden put the glass he was holding down and gently ran his hand up my back in a gesture of love. I looked up at him, smiling lovingly and he looked back at me in exactly the same way. From beside me, Imara gripped my hands as if she knew what was coming and I held my breath, waiting for it.

"I'd like to thank everyone here today for coming and supporting us. True, it would have been a lot cheaper if you hadn't turned up but that's besides the point," he paused and the crowd chuckled quietly, "around four years ago I met a girl, well more like the girl walked into me. In my usual, ignorant, 18 year old fashion, I'd seen a pretty girl and I flirted with her - she shot me down but there was something about her that made me want to know her, so I pestered her, annoyed her and she let her walls come down as she hacked at the well built case around my heart.

I didn't really like to think I was the commitment type of guy. I didn't want anyone to change me and I didn't let anyone change me, until her. She constantly kept me on my feet and I hate to be Shakespeare but it was only fate that brought us together... eventually.

I later found out what was different in her, made me want to further embarrass myself even though she wasn't interested : kindness, selflessness, bravery and behind those gorgeous good looks a big heart which could love anyone, give anyone a chance. She chose to love me like the way I loved her the moment I heard her completely bulldoze my advances. She changed me, she changed my friends, she turned loss into hope and my life upside down. I have so much to owe to that beautiful girl who walked into me. I love you, Brooke," he finished gazing down at me.

He steadily lifted his glass, "to the beautiful bride."

The room erupted into cheers and wolf whistles but it all faded out as Hayden sank back to his seat his eyes never leaving mine. Without saying a word I moved towards him, cradling his jaw as I pulled his mouth towards mine. His lips were possessive on mine, marking me as his. The kiss was short and I pouted at him as he pulled away.

"Later," he whispered, winking at me and taking my hand, leading me to the dance floor.

He wrapped his arms around my waist as I wrapped mine around his shoulders. We swayed steadily to the gentle music playing from the speakers. I rested my head on his chest, listening to the gentle beating of his heart, a smile curving my lips.

"It beats for you," Hayden murmured above me.

I looked up at him, smiling.

"When did you get so cheesy?" I teased.

"Must of been those awful cheese omelettes you made," he laughed, looking down at me.

I slapped his chest playfully at the memory of my terrible cooking skills which had somehow caused us to get food poisoning.

I'd never been a big fan of omelettes.

"They weren't that bad," I lied.

"No you're right," he replied and I raised my eyebrows in surprise, 'they were terrible, never letting you in the kitchen again."

We laughed together and I sighed as I rested my head back on his chest again. Hayden's hand ran up my spine slowly making me shiver as his hand moved to cradle my neck.

"I love you," he said his lips moving against my temple, "and I can't wait to live the rest of my life with you."

"I love you," I replied, "and ... I love you?" I muttered, unsure of what to say. Hayden chuckled in response, pulling me closer to him.

"Here's to the future," he whispered, tilting my head up till I was looking him in the eyes.

"Here's to the future," I replied as his lips moved to mine.

And in that moment, as we kissed in the centre of the dance floor, the wedding guests circling around us, I knew this boy was my forever and I would go through the confusion, heartbreak and bad times in a heart beat to have him.

The End.