In the End

Adjusting his tie, Gerard spared a glance into his car’s mirror, his blue eyes scanning his appearance thoughtfully in search of any slight imperfection. It had been a little while, after he and Ariella had shared dinner with her mother and step-father, a little under a month had passed, and with her step-sister’s wedding day having arrived, Gerard had offered to her pick her up, wanting to try and ease some of the nerves he was almost certain that she would have. She wasn’t looking forwards to it, with her relationship with her step-sister being awkward at best, the prospect of attending her wedding was something which he knew Ariella wasn’t excited about, but he knew that she wouldn’t shy away from it, even if he was sure that a part of her would be tempted to. He knew that she wouldn’t want to upset her mother or Stefan who were more than excited about the prospect of Imogen making it up the aisle.

Studying his reflection, he pushed his hand back through his hair a couple of times before the sound of heels clapping against the pavement reached his ears, causing him to lift his head, his eyes widening a little at the sight of Ariella who’d come to a stop a couple of paces ahead of him, her fingers tugging irritably at the hem of her skirt which had ridden up slightly. Blinking a couple of times, he looked her up and down before he quirked a soft smile, a little in awe of her. “Is that what you’re wearing?” he breathed.

Ariella, who’d been focused on smoothing out her skirt, lifted her head, her eyes a little wide in surprise at his comment. “Is there something wrong with it?” she asked “I mean, when I bought this dress, I thought it looked really nice on the hanger, but if it looks awful on me, there is still plenty of time for me to change. I highly doubt that Imogen will notice if I am a few minutes late” she fretted, her fingers still pulling at the bottom of her dress.

Gerard watched her for a couple of seconds, a slightly amused smile pulling at the corner of his mouth, before he reached his hands out, capturing hers so that she’d stop pulling at her dress. “It looks amazing on you” he mused gently.

Ariella blinked. “Really?” she spluttered.

Gerard nodded. “I might be biased” he quipped “I mean, I am your boyfriend after all, but I think I can safely say that you’re going to be the most beautiful woman there. You look amazing, Ella” he fussed warmly, his hands offering hers a soft squeeze.

Ariella’s cheeks flamed pink at his compliment before she shook her head, a sheepish smile pulling at the corner of her mouth. “I wouldn’t say that in front of Imogen” she murmured, not quite sure of how to reply to his compliment “She’ll toss you out before you even have a chance to sit down” she added, gently slipping one of her hands out of his so that she could mess with a few loose hairs which tickled the back of her neck.

Gerard smiled a little at her nervousness before he offered her other hand another soft squeeze. “I wouldn’t want to upset the bride” he replied “But I wanted to tell you how beautiful you look. I mean it, Ella, you look gorgeous” he fussed warmly.

Ariella chewed on her lip for a second, trying, and failing, to stifle her smile, before she shook her head. “Are you just trying to make me blush?” she quipped playfully.

Gerard laughed before he shook his head, holding his hands up ahead of himself defensively. “I wasn’t aiming to” he quipped “You just blush easily” he added.

Ariella rolled her eyes gently before she spared a soft look down towards her dress. “You sure that I look Ok?” she asked, looking back up at him through her eyelashes "You're not just saying it to get moving or something?” she added softly.

“You look beautiful, Ariella” Gerard replied earnestly, offering her a soft smile.

Ariella marveled at the soft smile on his face for a moment before she gently pushed herself up onto her toes, stealing a quick kiss. “Gracias” she murmured gently.

Gerard merely leant into her, stealing another soft kiss, before he took a pace back, gesturing towards his car. “You want to get this over with?” he posed.

“Do I have a choice?” Ariella replied “If I don’t show up, my mother and Stefan will never let me forget it, which will actually be a lot worse than my step-sister taking almost every opportunity for the rest of the day to rub the fact that she’s getting married and I am not in my face” she added, rolling her eyes slightly.

Gerard shook his head. “It might not be so bad” he quipped “I mean, she is getting married, you’d think that she’d have better things to do today. Besides, I’ll be there too. I’ll make sure that you have a good time” he added, offering her a boyish smile.

Ariella offered him a dubious look, something which caused Gerard to offer her a small nudge, wordlessly telling her to climb into the car. They couldn’t avoid it, Imogen’s wedding was important to both Estella and Stefan, and there was no way that they could avoid it, and so Gerard merely wanted to get it over with. He understood why Ariella didn’t want to go, ever since they’d been introduced, Imogen had made a point of competing with Ariella and taking almost every opportunity to rub her face in something that had gone her way, but he knew that it was simply something Ariella had to get through, even if she didn’t particularly want to be there. Her not going was likely to cause more of a problem than her showing up.

~#~
Self-consciously adjusting the clip in her hair, Ariella let out a soft sigh, her blue eyes stuck to her feet as the party whirled around her. It had been a beautiful day, all of the plans that Imogen and her new husband, Paulo, had spent months perfecting had come to fruition, and Ariella had to admit that she was thrilled that things had gone off without a hitch, even if she had spent most of the day trying to avoid being left alone with the bride. She was happy that her step-sister had gotten the day that she wanted.

Dropping her hands away from her hair, she tugged the bottom of her dress a little more down her thighs before the sound of someone clearing their throat reached her ears, causing her to lift her head, her eyes landing on Imogen who stood ahead of her, a wide grin spread across her features. “I did think you were here somewhere” she quipped “I mean, I have been pretty busy with all of the guests, but I saw you over here and thought I’d come and say hola. I am so glad that you made it, Ari” she enthused, deliberately using the nickname that she knew the brunette didn’t like.

Ariella smiled pleasantly. “I wouldn’t have missed it, Imogen” she mused “It was a beautiful ceremony and you make a very beautiful bride” she added.

Imogen grinned, nodding in agreement, before she looked around Ariella slightly. “My padre mentioned you having a date” she mused “You haven’t scared him off, have you?” she posed.

Ariella forced out a laugh before she shook her head. “He just went to get me a drink” she replied “He should be back in a second” she added.

Imogen looked at her dubiously for a couple of seconds, something which made Ariella sigh before she spotted Gerard over the other woman’s shoulder, causing her expression to brighten. “Here he is” she enthused brightly.

Gerard, who’d stepped up to her side, quirked an eyebrow. “You seem pretty surprised that I came back” he quipped “I did tell you that I was only going to get us a drink, right?” he joked, offering her a playful grin.

Ariella nodded. “You did” she replied “But Imogen was wondering if you’d ditched me” she added, sparing a look towards her step-sister who stood ahead of her, her head tilted curiously as she looked up at Gerard.

“I thought the two of you broke up?” Imogen commented, a slight frown tugging at the corner of her mouth.

“We did” Gerard confirmed, trying not to smirk at the slightly irritated look that had passed over Imogen’s features “But we’ve been trying things out again for a little while now. It’s going pretty well” he added, directing a soft smile down towards Ariella as he gently slipped his arm around her waist.

Ariella’s cheeks warmed a little before she nodded her head, a timid smile on her lips. “It is” she agreed gently.

Imogen looked between the two of them for a couple of moments before she let out a sigh. “I came over to tell you that I am about to throw the bouquet” she stated “You’re welcome to join, Ari” she quipped before she swanned away.

Ariella watched her step away before she shook her head, a soft grin playing at the corner of her mouth. “You have wonderful timing” she commented.

“Occasionally” Gerard replied with a small grin.

Ariella rolled her eyes playfully before she pushed herself up onto her toes, pressing a soft kiss against his cheek. “I should probably go and join in” she quipped, spotting the group of women who’d started to gather a little away from them “I’ll be right back” she added.

“I’m not going anywhere” Gerard replied “Besides, I think you probably owe me at least one dance” he added.

Ariella lifted an eyebrow. “You want to dance?” she posed.

Gerard grinned. “Slow dancing can be pretty romantic” he quipped.

Ariella rolled her eyes playfully before she pressed another kiss against his cheek, moving away to join the gathered women who stood behind Imogen, waiting for her to toss the bouquet into the crowd. Shifting her feet, she spared a glance around the crowd of women before the sound of cheering reached her ears, causing her to look up just in time to gather the bouquet of red roses into her hand.

Carefully gripping the stems, she quirked a small proud smile to herself before she caught Gerard’s eye, not missing the wink that he had sent in her direction, something which made her cheeks flush a soft shade of pink before she diverted her stare downwards, admiring the pretty bouquet of flowers which she clutched in her hand. It was early, she and Gerard had only been back together for a matter of weeks, and she knew that it was still far too early to start thinking ahead, but she couldn’t help but smile at the flowers in her hand, hopeful that they were a sign that there was a future for the two of them.