Sanctuary

Alex and I finally set a date for our wedding which will be April 23rd and we have to start planning now. It’s two weeks later and I’m going out today with my friends and my mom to go dress shopping which I couldn’t be more excited about. I feel like I have to do this within a month or two because there are bound to be alterations that need to be done.

“How are you feeling?” Miranda asked, picking me up.

“So fucking good. I get to pick out my wedding dress.”

I was practically singing that last sentence.

“You’re gonna look like a princess.”

I squealed.

“Let’s put on some ATL.” I said.

“Let’s.”

I hit shuffle and the first song that came on was The Edge Of Tonight. My heart melted as the song played.

It's a long way home
When you're on your own
And your only friends are traffic lights
Speaking in Morse code
Yeah the road is long
And I am tired
But with you on my horizon
I will drive until it all breaks down

'Cause I can't breathe without you near
You keep me safe
Keep me sane
Keep me honest

You keep me alive
On the edge of tonight
Chasing tomorrow
With fire in my eyes(yeah)
You're like a siren in the dark
You're the beat playing in my heart
You keep me alive
On the edge of tonight (yeah)

Spent my whole damn life
Trying to get things right
And for every one of my mistakes
You gave me all these chances
When the roads too long
I am tired
Baby you are my horizon
And I'll drive until it all breaks down

You keep me alive
On the edge of tonight
Chasing tomorrow
With fire in my eyes(yeah)
You're like a siren in the dark
You're the beat playing in my heart
You keep me alive
On the edge of tonight(yeah)

(You keep me safe
You keep me sane
You keep me honest, honest, honest, oh woah
You keep me safe
You keep me sane
You keep me honest)

You keep me alive
On the edge of tonight
Chasing tomorrow
With fire in my eyes(yeah)
You're like a siren in the dark
You're the beat playing in my heart
On the edge of tonight(yeah)
We're on the edge of tonight
The edge of tonight

You keep me safe
You keep me sane
You keep me honest, honest, honest (standing on the edge of tonight)
On the edge of tonight
The edge of tonight
The edge of tonight

“I love this song so much.” I said gushing.

“It couldn’t be more fitting for today.”

“It really couldn’t.”

We picked up the girls and my mom at the airport and sooner rather than later, we were at a bridal shop. I was in awe as I saw some of the dresses; I get to wear one of those...

“How may I help you?” the woman at the front desk.

“Hi. I have an appointment to try on wedding gowns.”

“Name?”

“Abigail Shaw.”

She looked at the computer and found my name quickly.

“Ms. Shaw, come with me.”

I toned down my smile and followed her. Less than ten minutes, I was trying on my first gown. It was gorgeous; there were so many sequins on the top part and the bottom part was long and flowed like the wind.

“What do you think?” I asked everybody while looking in the mirror.

“It’s gorgeous and fits you so well.” Miranda said.

“You look stunning, sweetie.” my mom said.

I got similar responses from Kendra and Brielle. It wasn’t the one since it had so much sparkle, but I really liked it. I tried on a couple more that were incredibly lacy with one of them showing a lot of cleavage. The fourth dress was incredibly simple, but it was so beautiful and made me smile. I walked out and everyone was in awe.

“So?”

“It’s you.” my mom said.

I really began to tear up.

“You look like a princess.”

I was speechless as I spun around like a ballerina.

“Wanna try on the veil?” the attendant asked.

I nodded.

“It’s the one.” I said smiling.

Everyone came over and hugged me. I couldn’t believe I found my wedding gown.

“I love this. I absolutely love this dress.” I said a moment later.

Part of me was hoping that Alex was gonna love me in this dress, but the other part already knew that he was going to and I couldn’t wait to see that look on his face when I walk down the aisle. That’s one thing I can’t stop thinking about; it’s always there.

“Hey. I know we can’t post a picture of you in your dress today, but how about after you change, we all take a selfie?” Kendra asked.

My mouth dropped open.

“I love that! I’ll go change!” I said jumping up.

Once I changed into my regular clothes, the five of us gathered where they were seated and took a selfie.

“Perfect.” I said, looking at it on my phone.

“Let me see.” Miranda said.

She had the same reaction.

“Ready to eat?”

“Let’s just go to a diner.”

It was one o’clock and I was starving. That was also where I decided to post my selfie. When we sat down, I felt my phone vibrate; I looked and saw that it was Alex texting me.

Hey.

Hey. What’s up?

I was interrupted by the waiter asking for our drink order.

“Alex?” my mom asked.

“The one and only.”

Did a little shopping. About to eat with my mom and the girls. You?

Out to eat with the guys.

“I’m gonna text Jack.” Miranda announced and proceeded to take out her phone.

I shook my head and laughed. We ordered our food after we got our drinks. She was still texting at this point.

“Miranda.”

Nothing.

“Miranda Cullen.”

She looked up confusedly.

“You are like a lovesick teenager, honey.” I said.

“I can’t help it.”

“Give me your phone.”

I held my hand out, expecting her to place her phone in my hand. Seconds later, she gave me it and pouted.

“You’ll get it back after lunch. You need to chill. I know you two are in a relationship, but still...”

“I get it.”

I was about to put her phone away when it vibrated. Jeez...

I miss you so much, baby.

Adorable. I texted Alex.

Tell Jack to stop texting. I confiscated Miranda’s phone.

“What’d he say?”

I showed it to her.

“Let me have it back.”

“Nope. I told Alex to stop him from anymore texting.”

She shook her head.

Thank you.

Glad to know he was feeling the same way.

“Anyway, how’s the planning going?” Brielle asked.

“Good. You guys already know it’s the 23rd of April. Um... we’re trying to put a guest list together, so we can find a proper venue and that’s it so far.”

“Was April his idea?” Kendra asked.

“It was. We talked about this on Thanksgiving. He said something sweet and I brought up wanting to get married before the new album comes out. I told him I’ve always liked the idea of a spring wedding.”

“April sounds perfect.” Miranda said.

"Well, would you prefer it to be inside or outside?" Brielle asked.

"I'm thinking inside, but I don't know. If it was in the summer, I'd go for outside the entire way."

"What matters most is the look he'll have on his face when you walk down the aisle and during the ceremony." my mom said.

I bit my lip to keep from smiling so much.

"Yeah."

The rest of lunch went smoothly with no texting between Miranda and Jack then we were ready to do a little more shopping before I head back home. We headed to a Target since I love the store so much and maybe it’ll give me inspiration for the wedding and reception.

“I hope I can get some ideas for our wedding venue and the reception, you know? Decor.” I said, walking inside.

When we were halfway through the store, I noticed some guy eyeing up Miranda. Not happening buddy.

“What are you looking at?”

“There’s this guy who has the hots for you.”

“What?” she asked looking to her right.

He was on the other side of the store looking disgusting.

“Yuck.”

“I have an idea. Put your ring on your left ring finger.”

She smiled and did so; I took her hand and we held hands like we were engaged.

“Is he still looking at us?” she asked.

“Yep.” Kendra said.

“Kiss me.”

“Are you serious?”

“Trust me. It’ll get him to stop.”

“Ok. Let’s take a picture and send it to the guys.”

“Absolutely. Let me get my phone out.”

I was thankful at this time, my mom had excused herself to the restroom; I wouldn’t have felt comfortable doing this in front of her. She kissed me and I took a selfie.

“Is he still looking over here?” I asked.

“Nope.” Kendra asked.

He looked dejected and pathetic. We all laughed.

“Gonna send it to you, so you can send it to Jack. I’ll send this to Alex.”

“They’re totally gonna get a kick out of this.”

“I can’t wait to see the looks on their faces.”

Sent.

“You know, if you guys weren’t already taken, you’d make a cute couple.” Brielle said.

I smiled.

“I’m going to post this on social media later and add a caption to it. See what kind of reaction it gets.” I said.

Three minutes later, Miranda and I’s phones vibrated.

When did this happen? You look hot, babe!

Alex. I laughed.

Holy fuck. Should I be jealous?

Jack.

Everyone got a kick out of it. My mom came back a moment later and everything was back to the way it was before she left. We were there for close to an hour when my feet were telling me to go leave.

“I had such a great afternoon.” I said.

“Me too. I really enjoyed myself today.” Miranda said.

“I’m ready to go chill and see Alex.”

Roughly a half hour later, I dropped my friends off before my mom and I made it home. I texted Alex not to talk about the picture in front of her; the woman doesn’t need to know about that. The only social media site she’s on is Facebook and I don’t plan on posting it there. My mom walked in first after I unlocked the door, then I walked in and was greeted by Alex.

“Welcome home.” he said kissing me.

“You make it sound like I’ve been gone for days.” I said, kissing him back.

“Still. I’m glad to see you.”

“I’m glad to see you, too.”

We walked and I sat down, propping my feet on the table once my shoes were off.

“Feet sore?”

“A lot of moving happened today. Hell, we were in Target for an hour.”

“That’s insane.”

“We’re women.” my mom chimed in.

“What she said.”

“You had a good day, then?”

“We had a great day. Happy to be home. How was your day?”

“Great. Me and the guys didn’t shop till we dropped like you ladies did, but it was a great one.”

Come late evening, Alex and I retreated to our bedroom as my mom retreated to the guest room. I was so eager to talk about that picture with him.

“Can I hear about that picture?”

“Oh, the one with my other fiancée?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.

“What?”

“This disgusting guy was eyeing up Miranda, so I suggested she put her ring on her left finger and we held hands.”

“Was this your idea?”

“Yep and she totally went with it. When our friends still saw that he was still looking at her, I told her to kiss me. She thought I was joking, but when I told her I wasn’t, she kissed me.”

“And he stopped?”

“He looked so dejected and pathetic. You would’ve loved it.”

“I bet. It’s amazing what friends will do for each other, even that.”

“I enjoyed myself. Brielle even said that if we weren’t already taken that we’d make a cute couple.”

“Did she?”

“She did, but I don’t plan on breaking up with you anytime soon." I said, crawling into his lap.

"That's a relief. I'd miss all of this." he said, tracing my body with his hands.

"Ditto."

"Ditto?"

"Shut up and kiss me, Gaskarth."

He smirked and engaged me into a deep kiss.

"Can we break a rule?" I asked after a couple minutes of our heavy make-out session.

"I'm always up for breaking rules. What'd you have in mind?"

His hands were on the small of back as my shirt was riding up.

"Well, it has three letters."

"Hmm... three letters. Wonder what it could be?"

He bit his lip and pretended to think before he flipped me onto my back.

"I think you figured it out, genius."

I gave him that seductive look I know he loves so much.

"How are we supposed to stay quiet?" he asked.

"That's a fantastic question."

"Because you are the loudest person I know and I love it."

That turned me on. I slipped my hand between us and into his pants, taking hold of his cock and began stroking him; a subtle moan escaped his luscious lips.

"Fuck, Abby."

He grasped the sheets as I continued to pleasure him and he also bit down on my neck causing me to moan.

"Alex."

"We need to get naked before I come."

"Yeah."

Once we got that done, I went back to pleasuring him, but instead of continuing to give him a hand job, I replaced it with my mouth. He threw his head back and had difficulty refraining from moaning; he didn't last much longer as he came and for the first time, I decided to swallow.

"That's a first.”

“You like?” I asked as I faced him and placed his hands on my chest.

“I love, but part of me misses cleaning off your face.” he said squeezing my breasts.

I moaned into his neck.

“How about sometimes I swallow and other times, you come onto my face? The best of both worlds.”

“That’s a brilliant idea.”

“I have another question.”

I was so unsure about asking this because it was something we’ve never done before.

“You up for me sitting on your face?”

I was biting my lip as I looked straight into his eyes. He responded by rubbing me.

“I’ll take that as a yes.” I gasped.

We maneuvered so he was lying at the top of the bed and I was facing the wall.

“Ready?” he asked.

“Yeah.” I said as my heart started to race.

He placed his hands on the inside of my thighs and soon I felt his mouth on the lips of my pussy and I moaned instantly; I was a little louder than I wanted it to be.

“Someone feels good.”

“Stop talking.”

I pressed my hands against the wall in an attempt to steady myself; it was incredibly difficult as I felt his tongue on my clit.

“Oh my God.”

If I could grip the wall, I totally would. His mouth and tongue were all over the place and it was an unbelievable feeling. Within five-ten minutes, I was ready as my thighs began to quiver.

“Almost.” I said breathlessly.

And... I’m there. I dropped my head and tried to catch my breath.

“Thank you.”

I moved so I wasn’t hovering over his face.

“My pleasure.” he said, flipping me over again.

“We need to do that again.”

“That was so much fun.”

“I just wish I had something to grip. My hands are a little sore from pressing my hands against the wall.”

“Let me see them.”

I smiled and handed them to him. He ran his thumbs across my palms and I felt some relief.

“Feel any better?”

“That feels wonderful. More reason to do that again.”

He laughed. I buried my face into his neck and collapsed into him with his arms wrapped around me. We were tempted to do more, but I didn’t know if I could continue to control my moans under these conditions.

Notes