EMMA's POV :
"Damn girl, that dress makes you look like a Mrs. for sure," Tiff hollered as the girls stood around the mirror, looking at my reflection.
"You look like a real life princess, Emma," Carrie added.
"I think I'm gonna cry again," Sophie fanned herself with her hand.
"My brother's gonna go nuts when he sees you in this," Hailey chuckled.
I was wearing a simple backless white lace dress with an off the shoulder top and mermaid skirt. It was simple, yet elegant. And it was sexy and sweet in all the right ways.
"You guys are not just saying it, right?" I asked nervously.
"Hell no!" Tiff snapped.
"This dress is so you. Beautiful, sexy, yet elegant," Carrie said reassuringly.
"And have you seen yourself in the mirror?" Sophie added. "If Ian's not marrying you, I'll be the first to line up,"
I couldn't help but laugh at that comment. Looking at my reflection, I could see what my friends were saying. The dress did look amazing on me, but I was afraid it wasn't amazing enough. Today was my wedding day after all. I should be looking my best.
Is this my best?
"Gah, I'm so nervous, I think I might hurl," I was taking deep breaths to stop myself from hyperventilating.
"Relax, Emma. You look amazing. You'll be fine," Hailey said. "Plus, if it's my brother you're hoping to impress, you can wear a potato sack and he'll still think that you're the prettiest girl in the room,"
I was full on laughing at that comment. "Thanks you guys, you really made me feel a lot better,"
"Of course," the girls smiled and gathered around me.
All of them looked amazing too. They were all wearing simple light turquoise silk dresses. Light turquoise was the color scheme we picked for the bridesmaids' dresses and groomsmen's ties.
Everyone looked amazing and my dress looked amazing, but for some unknown reason, I could shake the feeling like something bad was gonna happen.
"You're not still nervous, are you?" Carrie asked when she noticed the smile on my face was falling.
"I don't know... I just feel like-"
* KNOCK * KNOCK * KNOCK *
Before I could say anything else, a loud knock was heard on the door. Hailey went over and creaked the door open, and from the mirror's reflection, I could see Ian standing in the doorway.
"Ian? What are you doing here?" Hailey gaped at him.
"I need to see Emma. Where's she?" he replied.
"I'm here," I said, coming forward to see him.
He was already dressed in his three piece suit, looking absolutely gorgeous. His hair was slicked back neatly and his face was freshly shaven. He looked so freaking handsome!
"Holy crap," he muttered when he saw me. His jaw fell open and his eyes were as wide as saucers. And then I realized that I was wearing my wedding dress. He was shocked to see me in it.
"What are you doing here?" I hissed at him and covered myself with both my hands, but it was a futile effort. "You're not supposed to see the bride in her wedding dress,"
"Or what?" he smirked challengingly.
He strode closer and pulled my hands away from my body. His eyes roamed my body and he smiled triumphantly. "You're so beautiful, baby girl," he said under his breath.
"It's bad luck to see the bride in her wedding dress before the wedding, though," I muttered and threw my gaze away, completely blushing like mad.
"It's just a superstition," he said as he cupped my face with his hand, pulling my gaze towards him. "I really wanna see you. I haven't seen you all day, and we couldn't even talk much during the rehearsal dinner. I miss you, baby girl,"
I was feeling all sorts of nervousness and anxieties a minute ago, but after I saw him, all of that just went away. I was marrying the love of my life. Nothing could possibly go wrong.
A smile crept up my face as I said, "How are you not bored with me already?"
"Never," he replied and snaked his arms around my waist, pulling me into a hug.
"You know, after today, you're gonna be stuck with me forever," I said as I played with his tie.
"Lucky me," he chuckled.
I looked up at him and our eyes met. My eyes darted to his lips and I licked mine instinctively. He looked at me like he wanted to kiss me too, but we were in a room with all my bridesmaids staring at us. It didn't feel right.
"Hey, let's just get outta here for a second," he leaned closer and whispered to my ear. "What do you say?"
I looked at the girls for one second before turning back to Ian and said, "I say... with you, anywhere."
Ian and I shared a knowing smile and I took his hand. Turning to my friends, I started, "Guys..."
"We got this," Tiff answered quickly.
"You don't even have to ask," Carrie added.
I nodded at them one last time before disappearing with Ian out the door.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Leading me by my hand, Ian took me outside to the garden. It was nice to get some fresh air. He also let out a deep sigh as soon as we were outside.
"What's wrong," I asked him. "Is everything okay?"
Wait, he's not having cold feet, is he?
"Nothing's wrong, baby girl," he smiled reassuringly and pulled me into a hug. "I just wanna take a moment to do this," he leaned down and captured my lips with his. His arms locked me in place and his kiss grew deeper and deeper.
"What's that for?" I smiled from ear to ear once we broke away from the kiss.
He let out another sigh and raked his perfect hair with his hand. "It's supposed to be our day today, but everyone's telling me to go here and there, do this and that. Why is everything so complicated? I didn't care about all that, I just wanna stand here and be with you,"
"Aww," I blushed. I thought he was having cold feet, but he was just exhausted by the wedding program.
"I just wanna marry you right now," he said again.
Smiling softly, I cupped his face in my hands and said, "Hey, we're gonna get out there soon. We'll say our vows and we'll be officially married. After that, we'll ditch all this and just spend some time on our own. Just you and me. I'm all yours, and you're all mine,"
He smiled really wide and nodded his head. "Yes, ma'am,"
Ian and I ended up taking a walk around the garden. We held hands and we just talked about the things we wanna do as soon as the ceremony is over. Annie was probably frantically looking for us right now. We were scheduled for a family portrait in the hotel room, but hey, we could always take pictures later. But this moment with Ian right now, it was priceless.
When we got tired of walking, we sat at a bench by the fountain and just continued talking. He held my hand the entire time, refusing to let me go. We were talking about something stupid, I didn't even remember what, but I was laughing at something he said and suddenly, he cocked his head to the side and said, "I can't believe I get to marry you today,"
I stopped laughing and tilted my head to the side, waiting for him to continue.
"I'm the luckiest guy alive. I get to have you as my wife," he said.
My heart, my knees, my everything was melting into a puddle at his words. I could only look up at him and bit my lip to stop myself from smiling too much. Ian put his thumb on my bottom lip and tugged on it, setting it free. He then inched his face towards mine and gave me another kiss. A soft and tender kiss. He was taking his time with this kiss because we both knew that we had all the time in the world from here on out.
We were probably out in the garden for half an hour, or maybe an hour. I lost track of time, especially when Ian started kissing me like that. I was in the middle of relishing in his kisses, when suddenly I heard the church's bell toiled. It was already 12 PM.
"Oh," I sighed and pulled away. "They're gonna be looking for us,"
Ian shrugged and sighed too. Lending his hand out to me, he got up and said, "Come on, let's go back. Let's get ourselves married,"
Smiling eagerly from ear to ear, I gladly took his hand.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Ian and I were still hand in hand as we walked back to my room. I was floating on cloud nine, smiling in excitement at the thought of being married to him in just a few hours. But as we reached the door, I heard loud yelling coming from inside the room.
"Where is she?" my mother's voice thundered loudly. "Tell us right now!"
"She just went outside for some air, she'll be back soon..." Tiff replied. She sounded scared, which was very unlike her.
"What's going on?" Ian asked me.
"I don't know," I replied.
I quickly swiped the room key and pushed the door open. As soon as Ian and I stepped inside the room, we could feel the tension in there was as thick as smoke. Mom and dad were inside, talking to Tiff, Carrie, Sophie, and Hailey. They all turned their heads to us and the girls looked horrified.
"What's wrong?" I asked.
"Emma! There you are!" mom yelled in anger. Her face was completely red and she stomped towards me and pulled my hand briskly, separating me from Ian. Dad was right behind her too. He had this chilling look on his face, like he was seething mad, and I had never seen him like that before in my life.
"Mom? Dad? What's going on?" I asked again.
"Emma, you need to explain this to us. Right now," mom pulled out a book in her hand, shoving it to my face.
Oh, crap! That's my diary!
It took me a second to register everything. Mom had found my diary. She was angry, so that must mean she had read what was inside. She must have found out about Ian being my teacher in high school!
"How did you get that?!" I gaped and tried to reach for the book, she held it back.
"It was right here on your desk," she said firmly.
"Your mom came in and found the book," Tiff interjected. "I'm so sorry, I didn't know what it was,"
"He was your teacher at school?!" mom shouted again. She never raised her voice like this before.
"Mom... I... I can explain," I stammered.
"You all knew about this?" mom turned to my bridesmaids who just stood there, looking absolutely horrified. She then turned to Ian and pointed a finger to his face, screaming, "And what were you doing with your own student?! You're a sick bastard!"
"Mom, stop! Please!" I stepped in between her and Ian. Ian couldn't say anything back. He looked confused, lost, and defeated.
"Emma. This is unacceptable!" she screamed to my face. "This man had sex with you when you were in high school. He almost had a baby with you! This is immoral and unethical on so many levels!"
"What's worse is that you're hiding it from us and try to pass off as being a good guy," dad spoke for the first time, and his tone of voice dropped an octave lower. Turning his face to Ian, he glared at him and said, "I was wrong about you,"
"Dad..." I pleaded, but then he turned to me and gave me a look I could never forget. The look that I was dead to him.
"I am so, so disappointed in you, Emma," he said.
"Dad, I..." I wanted to say something, anything. But I couldn't. What could I possibly say at this moment?
"This is not Emma's fault. It's all my fault," Ian stepped in suddenly, standing in between my dad and me.
"You bet your ass it is," dad hissed glared at him. And suddenly and without warning, dad lifted his hand and his fist connected with Ian's face.
* SMACK! *
Dad had punched Ian across the face. Ian stumbled down and blood splattered from his nose.
"No!" I screamed and bent down to Ian on the ground. Tears were streaming down my face as I grabbed Ian's face in my hands. Ian looked so dejected. He couldn't even look me in the eyes.
"What's going on here? Is everything okay in here?" Kristen popped into the room, followed by Ian's groomsmen. She gasped loudly when she saw Ian on the floor with blood everywhere.
"Everything is not okay! Your son ought to be ashamed of himself!" mom shouted at Kristen.
"What are you talking about? What did you do to my son!?" Kristen screamed back at my parents.
"He dated my daughter when she was in high school and he was her teacher!" mom snapped back.
"What?"
"Mom, let me explain-" Ian tried to speak, but my mom was quick to cut him off.
"Yeah, he was her art teacher in high school, did you know that? I just learned about it today. He had sex with her while he was still her teacher!" mom screamed her head off, causing everyone in the room to cringe. "That is illegal! That is immoral and not to mention disgusting!"
"Is that true?" Kristen turned to Ian and Hailey. They didn't say a word, but their faces said it all. Ian couldn't look her mother in the eyes. He was absolutely ashamed.
"How could you do this? You're an adult teacher. She's a high school student!" Kristen spat again, she was about to say something else, but she stopped herself and her hand went to hold her chest.
"Mom, please," Hailey quickly went to support her mother. "Take it easy,"
"Take it easy?" Kristen shouted. "Do you know what your brother did?!"
"It's not like that mom-"
"What, you knew?!" Kristen gaped at Hailey.
Everything just kept going from bad to worse. I was on the floor with mascara running down my face and my fiancée had blood all over his shirt. The timing couldn't be better, because the next thing I heard was Annie's voice. She came into the room and announced, "Places everyone! The wedding starts in half an hour-oh my God! What happened here?"
"No," dad said to her firmly. "There's not going to be a wedding today!"
"What?" she gaped.
"What??" I gaped.
"You're not marrying my daughter," dad stood in front of Ian and me. Glaring at the both of us, he spat, "Over my dead body!"
- - - - - To Be Continued - - - - -