Never Say Never

Stephanie looked at herself in the mirror. She wanted to cry. Her makeup was flawless; the top half of her curly red hair was in a bun, staying put by bobby pins that had little silver beads showing on her hair while the rest of her hair lay on her exposed shoulders and back. The only piece of jewellery Stephanie had on was a pair of tear-shaped earrings, with a smaller aquamarine teardrop surrounded by diamonds.

Closing her eyes, Stephanie could picture the way her dress looked when she looked at herself at home in the full-length mirror. She remembered how good she felt then; like a princess. And Brian was her dragon. Stephanie smirked. ‘Cause God knows she couldn’t handle the prissy Prince Charming.

“Spring is here, the sky is blue woah oh oh,” Alex sang from the back seat, “birds all sing as if they knew.” Stephanie grinned and turned around from the passenger seat to her baby sister.

“Today’s the day we say ‘I do’,” Stephanie sang, finishing the verse, “And we’ll never be lonely anymore because we’re…”

The sisters smiled at each other and sang the chorus of ‘Chapel of Love’ simultaneously. Stephanie bobbed her head to the song. “Goin’ to the chapel and we’re gonna get married. Goin’ to the chapel and we’re—”

“Stephanie Daniels! If you ruin that hair Gena and I will beat you black and blue!” The driver, their mother, interrupted.

Stephanie and Alex exchanged exasperated looks.

“Mom! Chill,” Alex said and Stephanie sent her a grateful glance. Then Alex added, “You can beat her after the wedding!”

Stephanie glared at her sister. “You’re so lucky I’m up front right now.”

“Pssh, and what? You can’t touch me when we’re side to side!” Alex made a kung-fu pose with her hands.

Stephanie rolled her eyes. “Lame-ass. I should’ve changed the bridesmaid’s dress colour to like a parrot shit green.”

“Parrot shit?”

“Yeah! Haven’t you see the colour those birds poop out? It’s seriously gross.”

Brian was panicking. Worse, he was burning a hole into the small room in the chapel, but really he couldn’t care less right now.

“Haner, if you don’t stop moving, I will resort to cursing in this chapel and I do not want to be eternally damned for that,” Matt growled. Brian sighed, stopped and tried calming down.

“Whoa Syn, what is wrong with you?” Zacky asked. He was sitting on a polished stool, his left elbow on his knee and his chin propped up. He shared an amused look with Johnny, who was next to him standing.

“I don’t know,” Brian admitted, running his fingers through his hair, “I keep thinking, what if Steph realizes what a sucky guy I am and refuses to marry me? What if she happens to see some blonde guy who doesn’t mess up, don’t have piercings and tattoos and has some kind of sturdy job like an accountant on the way to the chapel and decides to run away with him leaving me at the altar?”

Jimmy burst out laughing. Brian gave him a cold stare.

“Sorry man, but are you really listening to yourself? I mean, do you really think Stephanie would propose to you after everything you both went through just to leave you? Get real you stupid punk. Don’t doubt yourself and don’t dare undermine Stephanie. Somehow, and I don’t understand it, she loves you and wouldn’t dare look at some pretty-boy. So dude, chill, you’re getting married today, to the woman of your dreams.”

All the guys stared at Jimmy.

“What?” Jimmy asked.

Johnny blinked. “Dude, that was kinda deep.”

Stephanie’s arm was tucked under Boss’. He turned to face her. “You ready?” he asked. Stephanie breathed out and smiled. She was.

She was walking to the altar (nervous as Hell too). All she could think about was the fact that so much people were looking at her and with her luck, she’d most likely trip and fall. Then she turned her eyes onto Brian, who looked just as nervous as she was. He looked so amazing in the tux. He smiled his smile. The smile he used only for her and her breath hitched. How did she get so lucky? She smiled softly at him, her eyes focused only on the man she needed for life and just like that her anxiety left. She met him and they both turned to the priest.

“Dearly beloved, we are gathered today….”

“Ah! What the Hell?” Alex yelled, dropping the bouquet she caught.

Stephanie grinned. “Looks like my baby sister is gonna get married next!”

“Sweetie, you ready to go?”

Stephanie turned to see Brian. She ran and jumped onto him. He caught her, spun her around and kissed her. God, she loved him.

“Let’s go Mr. Haner!”

“Fine by me Mrs. Haner.” He grinned and kissed her again.

Catcalls and whistles broke them away from their kiss.

“God, save it for your damned honeymoon!” Someone called out.

“Hey! All now is our honeymoon. Not my fault you want to start a voyeur!” Stephanie yelled back. Brian grinned at her.

“Come on, I think I’m a bad influence,” he said.