The Art Of Letting Go

Two Year Later
I was nervous. Beyond nervous. Everyone kept telling me things would go fine and nothing would happen to ruin things, but my pessimistic side wouldn’t leave me alone.
I sat in the chair while the hair dresser I’d hired finished my hair. It was in tight curls with a purple ribbon fastened neatly in the back. My stomach was doing flips. I’d never imagined my big day to be like this, not ever.
I stood up when she was finished and my mom helped me into my dress. It wasn’t anything special. It was fitted and strapless on top and clung to my hips but it flowed a little at the bottom. It had a little sparkle on but not too much. I wasn’t a fan of going over the top.
My mom had tears in her eyes as she looked at me.
‘‘You look so beautiful, Dakota.’’ She beamed, stepping forward to hug me.
‘‘Thank you.’’ I smiled. I turned to look at myself in the mirror. I never did think I could look so different.
‘‘Cars are here.’’ My aunt called. Jack looked so much like his mom. I think that’s why he was so feminine at times.
I grabbed my flowers from my bed and walked down the stairs with my mom. My dad was standing at the bottom. His grin couldn’t have been much bigger.
‘‘My baby girl, you look so…I don’t even know. You’re spectacular.’’ He said, dabbing at his eyes. The smile on my face grew and me, my parents and Jack’s mom left my house and got into the cars that had came to pick us up.
We drove all the way to the church in silence. I felt too sick to speak. Things were going to be a lot different in an hour. My whole life was going to be changed. I was no longer going to be a free soul. I was going to have another person that was always going to be attached to me. But I was ready for that, because I loved him more than I thought I could love anyone.
‘‘We’re here.’’ My dad said, tapping my shoulder. I hadn’t realised where we were until I got out of the car. It all felt like it wasn’t really happening, and that I was going to wake up from a dream at any second. ‘‘You ready?’’ He asked, linking my arm.
I nodded and smiled. ‘‘As I’ll ever be.’’ I grinned. I watched my mom and aunt walk ahead of me and enter the church, I heard faint music starting to play then me and my dad started walking. I was shaking horribly. I almost forgot how to walk and breath. But I calmed down as soon as I saw his face.
He was stood there, at the bottom next to the alter grinning up at me. He looked so smart. Smarter than I’d ever seen him before. His usual messy hair was nicely in place and you could see his face. Like I’d asked, he had a little purple flower pinned to his jacket. It was a theme I wanted between the two of us. One I wasn’t sure he was going to go along with, but he did, and I was so grateful.
Me and my dad reached the alter then he took a seat next to my mom who was already beginning to cry.
I turned to face the priest and he started to talk. Everything apart from his face was a blur. His grin got me every time and I was fixed. I zoned out for a few seconds until I heard my name.
‘‘So, do you, Dakota Cunning, take Aiden Macavoy to be your lawful wedded husband?’’ I smiled at the priests words.
‘‘I do.’’ I replied, simply.
‘‘And do you, Aiden Macavoy, take Dakota Cunning, to be your lawful wedded wife?’’ He held onto my hands and squeezed them tightly.
‘‘I do.’’ He said.
‘‘Now, you may kiss the bride.’’ The priests final words chimed through the church. I leaned in and kissed him. Everyone clapped and whistled and cheered. I pulled away and smiled at Aiden. I looked past his shoulder to see Alex grinning at me and clapping along with everyone else. I’d asked him to be the ring bearer since there was no one I trusted more with something so precious. He’d actually jumped at the chance when I’d asked him. I took Aiden’s hand and we left the church, being stopped at the doors for photos and people wishing us the best in our marriage.
When we finally reached the hall where Aiden and I had picked out for our party I took a seat away from everyone just to get my thoughts together. It was already beginning to seem like such a long day already.
‘‘Hey you!’’ I heard Jack yell and run over to me. ‘‘You look absolutely beautiful.’’ He beamed pulling me up from my seat to hug me. ‘‘Aiden is one lucky guy.’’ He grinned.
‘‘Thank you, Jack. For everything.’’ I hugged him again. Jack had been there for me when Alex and I decided being together was never going to work. He helped me realise things would be ok and that is wasn’t the end of the world. I looked over his shoulder to see Rian, Zack then finally Alex walk up to us.
‘‘I didn’t know you could look like such a girl.’’ Rian joked, smiling at me.
‘‘And I didn’t know you could look like something apart from a scruff.’’ I joked back, praising him on how smart he really looked. He grinned and brushed his suit jacket down.
‘‘You really do look gorgeous, Dakota.’’ Zack then piped up, looking me up and down.
‘‘Thank you, Zack. Not too bad yourself.’’ He smiled and I hugged him. They all congratulated me and left Alex and I to talk. It wasn’t awkward as he pulled me into his chest like he always used to.
‘‘You look stunning. I’m just sad I couldn’t have made you this happy.’’ He breathed, pulling away.
‘‘Alex, you always made me happy. Even now, you’re making me happy. You wore you’re purple flower, that’s something I didn’t expect to see.’’ I smiled at him. ‘‘You know I’m always going to love you Alex. There’s no part of me that’s willing to give you up even though I’m married now. I’m always going to be there for you, you’re always going to be a top priority in my life. I love you just as much as I did when we were younger.’’ I shouldn’t have felt like that about Alex, I was married to Aiden, the man I’d grown to love and care about. The man I’d had about fifty official none dates with, the man that so happened to be my boss. But my heart wasn’t ready to let go of Alex.
We’d decided in our talk that us being together was going to hurt me since he would rarely be home. We wanted to make it work, but there was no hope in things going well. He even had to leave again two month after to headline another tour. I was happy for him though, for all of them.
‘‘I’ll always love you too, Dakota. I just want you to know that.’’ He hugged me again and brushed his lips over mine ever so slightly. ‘‘We just need to find a way to let go now.’’ He breathed.
We both knew that that was never going to happen.