Anonymous

“Maybe this is too soon,” I exclaimed with anxiety as I paced back and forth in front of Harry, my best man. “Maybe we jumped into this without thinking.”

“Mate,” Harry sighed, “you two have been dating for five years. It’s not that fast. Plus, she’s been living with you for two. There’s almost nothing that could come up now that you guys don’t already know about each other.”

“Am I supposed to be this nervous?” I gasped, struggling to keep myself from running my hand through my hair. “I feel like…Oh my God, what if I’m having a heart attack? We should just send everyone home, and you should probably call an ambulance.”

“Stop being so dramatic,” he groaned. “You’re so lucky Zayn’s already out there. I think he’d hit you right now.”

Harry was probably right. Zayn was the one who, throughout the whole process, had been the most involved out of all the boys. He was almost as excited about the whole thing as Jess was, which was weird, but I learned to accept it. Zayn was just a romantic, I guessed. And maybe he wanted to immerse himself in something that wasn’t Perrie’s repeated dismissal of his attempts to propose himself.

There was a series of knocks at the door before the door flung open. From the abruptness, I knew right away that it was Maria. No one else would be so brash.

“Are you two almost ready?” she demanded, her thin eyebrows furrowing over her dark eyes. Although she still had some kind of resemblance to Jess, she was an entirely different woman. She was a little taller than Jess, her figure curvy while still being thin, and had, I hated to think it, really nice boobs. Her prediction as a kid had come true; she truly was a knockout.

“Yeah,” I agreed, since Harry had turned into a mute. “We’ll be out in a second.”

“Good. Because everyone’s starting to get antsy, and they’re confused as to why the bride has been ready for fifteen minutes, while the groom is still holed up in here.” She raised her eyebrows at the end of her snarky comment, accentuating just how pathetic I was being.

“Two minutes,” I replied.

She grumbled loudly before slamming the door shut, the clacking of her heels audible as she made her way back toward Jess’ dressing room.

“Holy shit,” Harry gasped, his eyes still locked on the door. “Just to be clear, that was Maria, right? The little tomboy who always wore baggy t-shirts and jeans that looked like they could have fit me?”

“Yup,” I responded, straightening my bowtie, struggling to keep from smirking knowingly. “She’s a little different now, huh?”

“I haven’t seen her since her thirteenth birthday,” he stated dumbly. “Holy fuck, she’s… Would it be really bad if I went after her? Because I just…”

I cleared my throat uncomfortably before answering in as neutral a voice as possible, “Well, she just turned eighteen, so technically, there’s nothing wrong with it. But Jess might castrate you.”

“I’m willing to take that chance.”

I sighed before snickering in spite of myself. “Alright, let’s head out. Trust me, we don’t want to keep Jess’ family waiting.”

Harry snapped out of his trance and nodded. “Right. Okay.”

“But before we do…you got a little drool…” I reached up and wiped under my mouth, trying to give him a little cue.

“Oh, shit, do I really?” Using the side of his index finger, he wiped the whole area under his lower lip, his expression far past panicked.

I laughed loudly as I went out into the hallway to go to the venue where the actual ceremony was happening, ignoring Harry’s repeated interrogative questions about whether I’d been serious or not. It was just kind of sad that he figured it was possible he drooled over Maria, who had once been such a thorn in his side.

I got into my position, Harry standing next to me, everyone’s eyes locked on the door, waiting for the main attraction. The flower girl, Jess’ six-year-old cousin, the ring bearer, the bridesmaids, and the ushers all made their way down the aisle, taking their proper places and building the suspense.

My stomach was in tight knots when she finally showed her face around the corner. Her face was made up perfectly, her cheeks flushes with excitement, her eyes bright and optimistic. Her dress was absolutely gorgeous, white with a tasteful amount of embellishments, hugging her incredible curves in all the right places.

I swallowed back my emotion as she made her way up the aisle slowly, her eyes locked on my face the whole time, grinning like there was no tomorrow. I felt her energy catching, and I was sure that I looked like a goof when I returned the sentiment.

The vows were read, we slipped the rings onto each other’s fingers, and we kissed in front of everyone. It was slightly embarrassing, and I had to be conscious to keep the kiss from getting too deep or offensive, before pulling away.

As we held hands and made our way out toward the dressing rooms, where she could change into her other dress, we both scanned the seats, taking a tally of how many of our relatives were in tears.

“I got fifteen,” Jess told me as she closed the door of her dressing room behind her, gathering her long, curly dark hair and putting over her shoulder to expose the tied corset in the back of her dress. “What about you?”

“Fourteen,” I sighed. “I must have missed someone.”

“My great-great-aunt was crying in the back, sitting kind of isolated in the comfy chair we had to special order to keep her back from hurting.”

I made an understanding clucking noise. “Then that’s who I missed. But hey, that’s not a bad percentage.”

“Not at all. I have to say, I totally didn’t expect my dad to start tearing up.”

“That took me by surprise, too.”

Jess peeked over her shoulder, smirking. “Are you going to untie my corset or what? I do want to get into my reception dress, you know. This one isn’t too comfortable.”

“Oh, if you insist, Mrs. Tomlinson.” I worked to untie the bow at the bottom before loosening the strings all the way up her back.

She slipped the dress off her, leaving her in just her underwear and strapless bra, and I pulled her into my arms without hesitation, planting kisses from her jaw to collarbone. “Do we have to go back out there?” I mumbled before flicking out my tongue against her skin.

She let out a soft moan before replying, “Um, yeah, kind of. It’ll look really bad if we just decide to skip to the honeymoon.” There was a short pause before her lips were against my ear, whispering, “But don’t worry. We can do this later. And wait until you see a little thing Elena helped me pick out.”

My mind started to rev with possibilities as she drew away, unzipping the black garment bag to retrieve the more comfortable dress inside. Once it was on and buttoned up the back, she took my hand in hers and kissed my cheek. “Let’s head out there before the gossip starts.”

I opened my mouth to answer with something cheeky when there was a fast series of harsh knocks on the door, followed by Maria yelling, “Seriously, you two? You can’t wait a few more hours? This is just ridiculous! Get your arses out here!”

“She’s lovely,” Jess commented drily, laughing after the statement left her mouth.

“Oh, Harry caught sight of her earlier, and I think he’s on the prowl.”

Jess let out a long sigh that must have contained all the breath in her lungs. “Oh, God. Whatever. She’s eighteen and can make her own decisions. And if she wants to date Harry, or even just have sex with Harry, then that’s alright with me.”

“We’ll just have to wait and see.”

And, not surprisingly, Harry and Maria disappeared after a couple drinks, about halfway through the reception. Jess went looking for them, just to save her mother’s honor a little bit, but they were nowhere to be found.

“The hotel,” I mumbled in explanation, which she acknowledged with a nod.

“So much for her rejection plan.”