Such a Surreal Place

Brian continued to carry me until he’d found a certain place in the gardens: a seat under a large oak tree surrounded by lots of roses and other pretty petite flowers. He sat me down on the seat and took his place next to me. I could tell his nerves were gone, and he was acting casually, like the cool, relaxed man he usually was. He kissed me once before taking my hand into his and sitting in silence. We had nothing to say to each other, after all, we had just said it all a few minutes ago. He then leant over the side of the bench and picked something up off the ground. It was a small knife. Brian stood up and walked behind the chair to the large trunk of the tree. I watched him the whole way. There, he carved into the tree ‘Bri 4 Ash’, just like how you see in the movies or read in the books. I kissed Brian again after he had dropped the knife into the ground. Then he swept me up off my feet again and took me back to our guests...

Brian set me down on the concrete (I had not one grass stain or speck of mud on my beautiful white dress) and we walked hand in hand up to our guests who were now sitting under a large canopy ready to eat and celebrate. When Brian coughed loudly, everyone turned around and started clapping and cheering for us. Syn’s smile was amazingly huge, and I bet mine was too. We ate as Good Charlotte played some nice romantic songs for us, then it was time for some toasts, the only part of the wedding I was dreading.

Brian Haner Sr.’s toast was alright. It was simple and sweet, saying that once he heard we were seriously dating, he had hoped his son would marry me because I was such a nice girl who made him so happy, unlike any other woman had. My mother’s speech wasn’t as good, as she was honest about not liking Syn at first. But she also said how she loves him a lot now and that she’s glad he’s in our family, so everyone forgot about her disliking my husband. She also mentioned my father and brother, who she knew was watching over me now and was proud of me. That nearly made me cry. Then it was time for the best man to make a toast. Oh boy... Jimmy stood and straightened [url= http://www.celebrity-mania.com/images/files/00011296.jpg ]his awesome suit[/url] and cleared his throat. Brian had a mischievous grin on his face, as well as the rest of the band. We all knew The Rev was nuts, and just because it was a wedding, didn’t mean that he would act normal for a change.

“Honestly, I never thought these two would make it this far. When they first met, it was argument after argument. They wouldn’t stop their bitching! I remember that day I had to help hold Ashleigh down for that body shot for Brian so clearly...” Jimmy started and everyone chuckled at him. There goes the first reason we couldn’t have any children around: Jimmy. I could just imagine the ‘Mommy, what does .... mean?’s that would torture the poor parents... “That was the start of it; I know it. Then her boyfriend dumped Ash because of a silly text Brian sent to her about that body shot and I can still remember her screaming ‘I fuckin’ hate you!’ at Brian. I seriously thought they would never love each other. But then, one day during band practice, Zacky secretly wed them and now look where we are today; an actual wedding. What an amazing journey... I’m truly happy for my best friend. And Ashleigh... If you don’t continue to make Brian the happiest man on this planet, you’d better watch out for me! All the best!” Jimmy raised his glass to us and gave us a small nod and we all clapped while laughing at Jimmy’s craziness. He sat down and Mel stood up and waited for the applause to die down.

“Well, I’m about to contradict Jimmy; I knew right from the moment I first saw them together that they were going to make it!” Mel exclaimed and our guests chuckled. “I straight away called Brian sexy and was totally jealous that she’d scored him, and later I found out that he really is the perfect match for her. There’s just something about you two that just works. It’s unbelievable. I don’t believe that you guys used to be at each other’s throats all day long! And by that I mean arguing, not anything else... And Ashleigh, I do apologize for focusing on Zacky that first day instead of you and your amazing relationship, but I’d like to finish off with something that Zacky told me he said to you a while ago. That you and Brian were pushing each other’s wrong buttons, but he knew that you guys could push the right ones too. I guess he was right... Good luck guys!” Mel also raised her glass and I clapped with a huge grin across my face. She really was a great friend to me.

“Can I please have your attention?” Joel asked over his microphone. “Now it’s time for the newlyweds’ first dance together. Mr. and Mrs. Haner, please take the dance floor.” I glanced at Brian as he stood up and offered me his hand. Of course, I took it, and he led me out onto the middle of the small dance floor.

“By the way, I can’t dance,” Bri whispered and I grinned uncontrollably. I noticed our photographer was by our side again, but I couldn’t take my eyes of my husband. The piano started playing and I gazed up into Brian’s eyes as we put our arms around each other. Joel started singing sweetly and we started to sway slightly to the beat. We’d both heard this song before, many times, and knew what was coming. When the drums came in, we started dancing properly. We continued to dance to a great cover of Amazed by Lonestar. Brian and I whispered sweet nothings to each other the whole time. I think it was then that what had happened finally sunk in and reality hit me. This was the after party to my wedding. I was married to Brian. We were starting our life together. I just about ended up crying with joy, but I somehow managed to keep it in. I never would’ve seen this coming. It must be a dream...

“Now we’re going to play the song that Brian first kissed Ashleigh during. After the song has begun, other couples are invited to join in,” Joel announced and Billy started tapping a tune out on his keyboard. Sure enough, it was A Little Piece of Heaven, and both Brian and I started to laugh uncontrollably, remembering the fun we had had in the studio that day. He took my hand and wrapped his other arm around me and we started to dance strangely to the alternative song. I could tell he was thinking back to the first kiss we had; he had a large, goofy grin on his face. Shortly after Joel started singing, Zacky got up and led Mel out onto the dance floor. Matt copied, taking Val out to join us. This continued until all of Avenged were out dancing with a partner and lots of other couples joined us too. I was happy to see that Johnny was dancing with his new girlfriend, Lacy, someone who he was actually serious about.

“I don’t think me kissing you would’ve worked out any more perfectly if it hadn’t happened during that song,” Brian commented as the part where Zacky should be doing his croaky vocals was about to happen.

“I’m really glad you did kiss me, babe,” I said as Benji started say the vows. We both looked over at him, grinning uncontrollably. All eyes were on us, though, especially Syn’s band members who knew at what part he kissed me. I didn’t dare look at Val though, as that moment had ruined her twin sister’s relationship with my husband.

“I know pronounce you-” Benji said, leaning away from the microphone. I turned back to Brian and he smiled even bigger than me before leaning in and kissing me on the lips, exactly like he had for our first kiss.