I love you and that’s all I really know...
It’s a love story,
Baby just say “Yes”

When I imagined my wedding day, I thought it would be like a fairytale. From the second the morning sun greeted me with its rays, I figured I’d feel like a princess, filled with overwhelming love for the man of my dreams as I prepared for the beginning of forever.

Now of course, this Disney prefect dream changed as I grew older and more realistic because, lets’ face it, this is real life and no matter how hard we try to prepare, things go wrong, especially at weddings. You can prepare all you want, hire the perfect planner and something will still go south by the end of the day. That’s just how things are. We adjust, we move on, we make it work.

So needless to say by the time I arrived to the morning of my wedding day, I had already mentally prepared myself for things to go wrong. It wouldn’t be the Hollywood, everything went according to plan kind of wedding. I mean, with Jack, Alex, and Pete all involved, I wouldn’t expect anything less.

Turns out, the biggest day of my life began with a little curveball I wasn’t expecting, as I greeted the world by puking my guts out.

“Ugh, this can’t be happening right now...” I mumbled to myself as I leaned a warm, slightly clammy cheek to the side of the icy white porcelain. I had a billion and one things to do and Cassadee was bound to knock on the bedroom door any second to make sure I was up. I hadn’t seen my husband for almost twenty four hours at that point thanks to the previous nights festivities. It was decided early in our planning stage that though we already had done the whole celebrating-our-last-days-as-single-people thing, if we said no to the tradition with people not in-the-know involved, suspicions would imminently arise. Especially if Jack said no. Jack never missed out on a chance to party, and he kind of had to live up to this reputation of we wanted to keep up this charade and pretend we hadn’t already been living in holy matrimony for almost a whole year at that point.

So to keep our families from blowing a gasket, I went out on the town for my bachelorette party, part two--minus Lisa, who wouldn’t be able to make it into San Diego until the following afternoon. Instead, we let Anna tag along, which made for an....interesting night, given that meant that everyone else would have to stay tight lipped and literally pretend we all hadn’t done this before. This was especially difficult once alcohol was added into the mix. Poor Cass almost spilled it three shots of tequila and who knew how many glasses of champagne, but thankfully I shut her up with questions of her own love life.

It was going swimmingly, according to her. Her words, not mine.

So with the girls and the guys split up for the evening, I had ended up staying the night at Cass and Rian’s LA apartment on the other side of town with the rest of my bridesmaids. Jack on the other hand, stayed at our apartment with Alex, Matt, Rian, And Zack. From there, we’d both ‘meet’ back at the B&B by the beach in San Diego where a good chunk of Jack’s family and various friends would be staying the night. And considering the wedding party had basically rented out the entire establishment for the day, the owner was nice enough to let us use it to change and get ready for the wedding as well.

I should be clear though, when I say ‘meet’, I mean Jack and I would both be in the same building. I wouldn’t be allowed to actually see him until I was walking down the beach to meet him at the alter. Unless, of course, things went to hell and I used the code word.

Does missing him count as a good enough reason to use the code word?

I texted him this and he said as sweet as that is, no that doesn’t count.

Dammit.

A wave of pure nausea washed over me as I kept my body hunched over the the toilet, bracing myself for the hurling to continue and praying that this godforsaken hangover wouldn’t be that brutal. I mean, I know I kept saying that this wedding didn’t matter as much to me as the first one in Vegas did, but it wasn’t exactly ideal to look half-dead walking down the aisle in front of everyone I knew, either.

I’m never touching another fucking shot again, so help me God. Nothing good has ever happened with me and shots, except of course major pain and regret. Why the hell did I agree to drink that much last night, anyway? I thought hard, groaning to myself when the person at fault coincidentally knocked on my door, inviting herself in before I could even utter a word.

“Alright sleepyhead, time to get your ass out of bed. There’s some shit going on that your mother is freaking out over and driving everyone else insa--” Jo froze mid-step, having just turned the corner from the bedroom to the adjoining bathroom where I had been comfortably slumped on the floor for the past few minutes. “And you’re puking your guts out. That’s great, just fucking awesome.”

“‘s your faul.” I muttered, resting my forehead against my arm in admittedly dramatic agony.
Jo raised a brow. “What?”

“Why’d I listen to you last night?” I clarified, shooting my head up to give her a death glare, but of course immediately regretting it and slumping back over the porcelain for an unladylike dry heave. “You...you know I can’t handle more than four shots...”

She innocently threw up her hands. “Hey, I’m sorry, but you said you were good and you honestly looked fine last night until the very end when you started crying about how much you missed Jack. That’s when I knew to cut you off.”

“Jo, never listen to drunk me, okay? And for future reference, when I get emotional drunk, that’s my max and almost guarantees a hangover.”

“Shit now I feel bad...” She winced, realizing she probably should’ve paid more attention to the amount of alcohol I was consuming as my tolerance level, though higher than it had been when I first met her, was still considerably lower than her own.

I let out another uncomfortable moan. “Call ‘lex and tell him it’s a hangover emergency.”

Jo huffed a laugh, knowing exactly where I was going with my request. Anyone who’d toured with All Time Low knew of Alex’s infamous hangover remedy. He was always nice enough to make it for anyone who needed it, but was protective as all heck when it came to what was actually in the mysterious concoction. “Like hell he’ll tell us what’s in that shit.”

Gathering a bit more strength, I raised my body just enough so I could show how desperate I was. “Jo, I need it or I swear I’ll be crawling down the aisle. Call Alex or hand me my phone and I’ll call him myself.”

Not wanting to make me any more grumpy than I had already become, Jo complied and called up the best man to the wedding. Getting straight to the point, she skipped any pleasantries and said bluntly, “Hey, I sure hope you guys are off to a better morning than we are. The bride is in need of your special remedy.”

I watched Jo as she nodded into the phone, listening to Alex’s reply for a minute. “Are you sure? You can just tell me what’s in it and--” She stopped mid-sentence as I assumed Alex was arguing her point. “Okay, fine, be that way. You suck but you’re also a lifesaver and Chris owes you forever. See you soon.”

As she hung up, Jo turned her attention back towards me, explaining, “He’s coming over, I guess. I tried getting him to just tell me what’s in the damn thing but he’s convinced I’d get the balance wrong or something. ‘A delicate process’ is what he called it.” She rolled her eyes.

“Sounds abou’ right...” I muttered, keeping myself up with pure determination for a solid minute before loosing my guts into the bowl below me once more.

Jo grimaced at the the sight, covering her mouth to prevent the retched smell from overwhelming her senses. “God, you weren’t kidding when you said you needed Alex’s remedy.”

I just glared at her, temporarily puke-free as I wiped beads of sweat off my forehead. God, I needed to shower, have breakfast and get down to the B&B. I didn’t have time for this shit.
“He better get here fast.” I mumbled, mostly to myself. I felt my stomach lurch, my head swirling so bad I had to close my eyes just to keep steady.

“He’ll be here in like, a half hour, tops.” Jo assured me, biting her lower lip slightly as she observed my sickly figure on the worst day possible. “He’ll get here, make the gloopy wonder and you’ll be golden. I mean, unless its not from a hangover.”

I scowled at her, following her train of thought. “I’m not pregnant.”

She threw up her hands. “Hey, all I’m saying is you and Jack do it like freaking rabbits any chance you get. Not to mention that little surprise trip of yours down to Sin City--”

I shushed her immediately, earning her the umpteenth glare of the morning. I knew she was my friend and she meant no harm with the teasing, but now was really not the time with the pregnancy talk. Today was my wedding day. One thing at a time, thank you. “Shush, okay? Anna could come in any second and if she found out what I did, it would devastate her and you know it.”

“I guess...” Jo sighed, her arms crossing over her chest as she leaned against the doorframe. “She is a fragile little squirt.”

“GUYS!” Cassadee’s voice reverberated against the bathroom tiles, causing Jo to snap her head back towards the bedroom I had slept in. Sure enough, Cass came barging in a second later, not even bothering to knock. With elongated, determined steps, she b-lined it to where Jo and I were patiently waiting for Alex’s miracle cure. Oblivious to the situation, Cass cheerfully began, “Guys, are you ready to get your wedding starte--oh!” Her eyes bugged out at the sight of me. “Oh my--are you pregnant?”

“Seriously, you too?” I fought back the urge to roll my eyes, knowing that would end up back with me face first in the toilet.

“What?” She scrunched up her nose in confusion, obviously worried that I was looking a little worse for wear on the dawn of my wedding day.

“It’s nothing.” Jo answered for me, making sure she didn’t jump to any conclusions. “She’s just overdid it a little last night. My fault.”

Her shoulders fell, deflated. “Crap, well what are we going to do? Just let it pass?” She asked, peering over at me with worry. “We’re supposed to have her at the B&B by twelve and it’s already ten-fifteen She can’t walk down the aisle like this!”

“What’s up with Chris?”

“Shit!” Jo cursed at the sound of my younger cousin already creeping towards the scene of the crime. “Cass, you go distract mini Lawson, and I’ll stay with Chris until Alex comes.” Jo whisper-hissed.

“Alex is coming?” Cass asked, her tone still wavering, struggling to catch up to speed as Jo shoved her out of the bathroom. She shut the door behind her.

Once the coast was clear, Jo let out a hearty sigh of relief. “That was close.”

“Thanks.” I gave a small, but genuine smile towards my friend. The nausea had, at least for the moment, cleared up. “If Anna saw me like this, my mom would be sure to be here in five seconds and I’d never hear the end of it.”

“Don’t worry, if your mom found out, I’d make sure to let her know it was one hundred percent my fault for you getting so shit faced last night.”

I raised a brow.

“I should say hungover instead of shit faced, shouldn’t I?”

I chuckled. “If you want to keep your dignity, I would.”

Jo joined in my laughter. “God, I can only imagine what your mother thinks about all the things I’ve written for you to sing. Shit faced should be the least of her worries.”

I took a breath, knowing how my mom appreciated I had a successful career that allowed me to see the world. That being said, I don’t think she and dad ran out and bought all of Midnight’s albums, either. She was always more into classic, singer-songwriter kind of music. Nothing edgy and certainly nothing as provocative as what I had been known to sing about. “All my mother knows is I’m happy and successful in my career. She knows I get to tour with Jack when I can, and that I get the chance to see the world. Other than that, she doesn’t ask me to sing ‘Hit Me Like a Man’ at any of our family gatherings or anything.”

“Your mom is the complete opposite of my old man. He’s always asking me to play new songs whenever I visit. And he has I don’t know how many copies of our debut. I reminded him he only needed one, but he said he wanted to support me any way he could.” She smiled fondly.

The sickness subsiding slightly, at least enough to focus completely on Jo’s words. Though honestly, I thought I was hallucinating for a second, given that she’s never--and I mean, never, talked about her family before. “He...he sounds really special.” I told her.

She kept her gaze on the ground for a beat, lost in her thoughts. Then, in a snap she cleared her throat and nodded, smiling once again towards me. “Yeah, he’s awesome...”

My nausea returned shortly after this, cutting our conversation about family short. It was nice for a change, to have an open conversation with Jo. She was always very guarded, even before I knew her. For her to mention even the tiniest thing about her life outside of music, outside of hanging out with our friends, was groundbreaking.

Truth be told, I wasn’t exactly sure what changed to make her make this monumental step. Maybe it was her relationship with Josh, which after a rocky start seemed to be going well, as far as I could tell.

...or it could be something totally different. With Jo, everything was a mystery, I swear.

What I appreciated most about that short half hour with Jo, other than her thanklessly holding my hair back while I puked my guts out, was the fact that she didn’t leave my side once until Alex had made it over and his miracle cure was in my hand. I wasn’t sure if it was partly the guilt of causing the hangover in the first place, but I definitely saw Jo in a different light after that. Before, I considered her a band mate first, friend second. Whenever I needed advice or someone to turn to, I went to Cass or Lisa, figuring she wouldn’t be into whatever ‘girly crap’ I had going on.

Now, she’d probably still roll her eyes and call it ‘girly crap’ and say I’m making a big deal out of nothing or whatever, but that wasn’t important. In her own way, I realized she was letting me know that she was willing to be there for me like I was for her.

As I took a big swig of Alex’s mystery concoction, I let my body relax, already feeling a million times better. It was an instant cure, and still didn’t understand why Alex didn’t patent and sell that shit. It would sell out like that and he’d be a millionaire for sure.

“Oh my God, thank you so much, Alex.” I groaned as I nursed the drink in my hand. “I felt like I was going to die.” I took another sip, then quipped to Jo, “Told you I wasn’t pregnant.”

She chuckled. “Yeah, yeah, yeah. Now let’s get you up so you can officially start your big day.” She even winked, walking with Alex out of the bathroom and back towards where Anna and Cass were patiently waiting in the living room, already to go. “Don’t wanna be late on the supposedly most important day of your life.”

Alex glanced at her, brows furrowed. “Supposedly?”

“Like I believe a piece of paper determines how committed you are to each other.” Jo rolled her eyes.

Alex just shook his head in disbelief that she would say this in front of me, right at that moment.

“Yeah, you might want to keep that to yourself for the next few hours.” Alex muttered, shooting his gaze back to me a few times in silent apology.

Jo’s eyes widened slightly as she realized what she’d said. “Oh shit, I didn’t mean your wedding is pointless, Lawson. I just meant it’s not for me, is all--”

“No, it’s fine, I get it.” I laughed. “I promise, I’m not offended.”

She pursed her lips, eying me carefully. Then, just as she and Alex reached the door back to the hallway, she turned back towards me and quickly rushed, “...I’m-sure-your-wedding-will-be-beautiful,” before shutting the door behind me for much needed peace and quiet before the chaos that was sure to come.

~*~

An hour later, the bridal party arrived at the Bed and Breakfast by some miracle, right on schedule. My happiness over being on time, however, was short lived. As soon as I stepped through the entrance, I was bombarded by my mother, Julia, Paige, and basically every other female family member at the wedding.

“Thank goodness you’re here, Christina.” Julia began, looking polished and the definition of perfection. “I just need your secondary choice on flowers. It seems the florist we ordered from has a flat tire and is stuck two hours out and with traffic the way it is, it looks like they won’t be here until three at the earliest. We’re running out a car to try to try to get them but I’ve got another florist on speed dial...”

She continued to explain the situation, her voice going a mile a minute as she listed the most ready available flowers. “Um...” I considered the options quickly in my head, not really caring what kind of floral arrangements I had. “Roses, I guess?”

Luckily, Julia ignored or didn’t notice my unsure tone. She just nodded, jotting down the classic flower in her phone. “And what color?”

“...White?” Again, it was more of a question than a general response.

“Great!” She smiled. “Classic. White roses will be the perfect back up plan.I’ll get on that right away while you, you beautiful bride, go get ready. Don’t worry, I’m on it.” She pressed a few buttons on her touch screen phone and sure enough, a second later was on the phone with another florist. “Deb? It’s Julia. I’ve got a favor of favors to ask--”

She walked off, her stiletto heels clicking softly against the wood panel floor as she went to find a bit more privacy.

It took maybe half a second before my mom spoke up. “And with that, come on, sweetheart. Let’s get you upstairs before the boys arrive.” She was wasting no time, obviously excited for the things to come--possibly even more than I was. She grabbed my hand, gently coaxing me up the staircase that led to the room I’d be using to get ready. “Oh, I can’t believe this day has finally come. My baby’s getting married!”

“I can believe it” My Aunt Julie quipped, and when my mom turned to give her a puzzled expression, she just shrugged and said innocently, “What, it’s only the hundredth time you’ve said that, Caroline. I think everyone in the neighborhood knows.”

My mother lifted her nose slightly, brushing off her sister’s comment with a huff. “Just you wait until one of your girl’s get married, Jules. You’ll understand then.”

“Nope, not gonna happen. My baby girls aren’t allowed to grow up. Isn’t that right, girls?” Aunt Julia looked over at Anna and Paige, who were trailing towards the back of the bridal party, just behind Cass and Jo.

“Whatever you say, mom.” Anna chimed right in, while Paige just rolled her eyes.

We got inside the room and I could hear audible gasps from behind me, as the dress I had picked for my wedding day (part dos) was hung elegantly the edge of a long, full length mirror. It was quite a bit fancier than my first dress, with a fancy beaded flower adorning the right hip, a pleated sweetheart neckline, and a long, flowing skirt that screamed elegant. Oh, and a cut out on the left side of the skirt to tease just a little skin.

I had to be a bit rebellious, right?

“It’s beautiful!” I heard Cass breathe to herself.

“Isn’t it?” My mother agreed, surprisingly okay with my choice in showing that much skin.Though I guess I had still done it in a tasteful way. It wasn’t like I was walking down the aisle in a dress with my boobs practically on display for everyone to see. “Now.” She turned to me. “Time to get you ready.”

Over the next hour, Cass and Paige worked together to do my hair and makeup, the latter of which I kept a close eye on as we always had complete opposite tastes in...well, everything. I had initially thought about hiring a makeup artist and hairstylist to do it, but considering just how much everything else was costing us, I decided to penny pinch just a little. I may have be making quite a bit being in Midnight and everything, but I wasn’t going to throw money down the drain every chance I got, either.

Not to mention, Cass was amazing at beauty-related things, so despite my timidness with Paige also being in the picture, as long as my friend was in control, I was in pretty safe hands.

As the girls were putting the finishing touches on my hair, a soft knock on the door caught the attention of everyone in the room. Anna, who was closest to the door and had long since finished getting her makeup and hair done, answered it. A second later, a squeal of pure joy could be heard. “LISA! You made it!” My cousin shouted happily as she threw herself at the tiny blonde in front of her.

My eyes widened, surprised that she had made it so quickly. I honestly hadn’t expected her to get into San Diego until the wedding practically started thanks to the plane delay she was unfortunate enough to get. Double checking that it was safe, I rose from my chair and b-lined it to Lisa, waiting for Anna to release her grip on the woman so I could have my turn.

“I’m so glad you’re here!” I told her, giving her a tight one-armed hug while at the same time, trying hard not to ruin all the hard work Cass and Paige had just done. “Did you come straight from the airport?”

Lisa nodded. “Yeah. I didn’t want to miss out on more than I had to so I just took a cab straight here.” She smiled warmly at me. “It’s been so long since we’ve seen each other, and like hell I’d miss you getting married.” She raised her brow just slightly, as if to silently add, ‘Again.’

“Hey, did you see if the boys made it here yet? I’ve been so distracted up here I haven’t checked.” My mother asked her.

At the mention of the groomsmen, Lisa nodded quickly--maybe too quickly? “Yep. They’re all here, getting ready downstairs.”

My mom sighed in relief. “Good. The last thing we need is to misplace the groomsmen. Misplaced groomsmen spell trouble.”

I laughed lightly, thinking that these groomsmen in particular were nothing but trouble. I loved each of them, but they were all trouble with a capital T.

Cass, Jo and I continued to multitask, catching up with Lisa as we hadn’t seen her in almost a year, while simultaneously getting dresses on and in Lisa’s case, getting her own hair and makeup perfected as well.

It was just as I was snaking my way into the white gown that fit like a glove, around my bust-line and waist, that I felt a familiar pressure in my lower body. I immediately scrunched up my nose, cursing myself for not even thinking about it before I got into the most expensive dress I’d ever bought. “Crap. I have to pee.”

Anna laughed at this, while my sister was a bit more sympathetic. “Don’t worry. I’ll help you out, sis.” Madison smiled at me while my mom frowned, inwardly upset as I was that I didn’t think about such a simple thing before getting into the damn dress.

“Thanks. I’ll, uh...” I tugged the bottom of the skirt up so it no longer dragged across the floor. The last thing I needed was to trip and fall on my face, after all. “I’ll be back in just a second.”

I walked out of the room and carefully make my way down the hall to where the upstairs bathroom was, my sister close behind. It was as I was navigating to the bathroom that I noticed a man peering around the rooms, looking like he was either lost or looking for someone in particular.

Madison, knowing that the man wasn’t supposed to be anywhere on the upper level of the B&B and considering I didn’t recognize him (from afar anyway) I assumed he wasn’t supposed to be in the B&B at all until after the ceremony. “Um, sir. I’m sorry, but you aren’t allowed up here. The wedding will be commencing on the beach shortly--”

The man turned around then, his bright blue eyes striking me like lightning as I froze in my tracks. Those same eyes had captured me, controlled me before, and I had prayed long and hard that I would never have to see them again, but here they were--here he was, standing in front of me.

Madison’s eyes widened as well, recognizing that face anywhere. “Derek?”

My jaw dropped in pure shock and I could feel my heart pounding wildly in my chest as I whispered to myself, “Oh, Tattoo.”

Notes

So I saw All Time Low yesterday and met the guys (for the 4th time, I can't believe it). They were awesome and amazing as always AND it happened to be Zack's birthday, so we all got to sing Happy Birthday to him. It was a really special night and I can't believe its over.

Anyway, I know this chapter is super mysterious with several things, and the next chapter will reveal a good chunk of it. I should be getting more time off soon since the semester is winding down and I'll have a whole month off in between classes!

I'm excited to have a life again lol.

Opening lyrics are from "Love Story" by Taylor Swift. I hope you enjoyed :) Oh, and Jack will be in the next chapter!!! I just realized he's not in this one at all haha