I Do

Chapter 30

Merry Christmas my beautiful cakelets! Whether it's still Christmas Eve or already morning or midnight, like it is for me, I hope your holidays are as wonderful as you are <3

Dedication is... @Horany4_Horan because GEEZ she left 2 long comments. I like long comments. Especially when they're funny and sweet and say something about this being your favorite fanfic, like hers :)

Anyways... HUGE chapter, like I said. So let's start reading, shall we?

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Chapter 30 *Wedding in: 2m 4d*

-Hallie-

   Hot, fresh tears prick the corners of my eyes and I breathe raggedly, hunching in the corner of my dorm room. The roses that Trevor lovingly presented to Sara-Marie this morning are set neatly in a vase, mocking me. Hah, the deep red flowers scoff. It's Valentine’s Day, and you're alone. All because you love Harry. His name sounds harsh in my mind and splotches pinprick my vision. I feel a sudden, aching pain, as though the roses' sharp, threatening thorns are being jabbed into my flesh.

   I'm not quite sure what has brought about this dramatic, devastating mood swing. Perhaps it's being utterly alone on the most romantic day of the year. Perhaps it's thanks to my dreaded period, accompanied by stomach-churning cramps. Either way, it's resulted in me sobbing irrepressibly on the dusty grey carpeting of my dorm.

   Almost as if to add to my misery, my brain helpfully chimes in a reminder that Harry and Arabella are probably strolling through the fresh, colorful, stunning streets of Venice, Italy at this exact moment. And I, meanwhile, am curled up on the floor, ever-so alone.

   Swaying, I leap up from my huddled form, racing to my closet. Half-blinded by tears, I stumble over a mass of dirty laundry, and pain flares in my left elbow as it slams against the beige wall. I dig through my loads of junk, not quite sure what exactly it is I'm searching for, until my eyes land on the box of childhood DVDs that Harry helped clean out of my room, months ago. I gaze down into the clear plastic box, my eyes hastily scanning the familiar, beloved titles. Beauty and the Beast, Freaky Friday, Snow White, Finding Nemo, Sleeping Beauty, The Lion King, The Little Mermaid.

   I realize, with a sudden pang, that I've entirely lost all faith in happy endings. Almost as an attempt to re-instill my belief in fairy tales, I pluck a random DVD case from the box, vaguely recognizing it as some Disney romance.

   Within an hour, I'm scrounging through the colorful bag of tart Sweethearts that SM placed at the foot of my bed with a handwritten note wishing me a Happy V-Day and vacantly gazing at the screen. I've swiftly realized that A Cinderella Story is more heart-wrenching than I first expected. The main character, in a breathtaking white dress and elegant mask, revolves slowly around the gazebo with the ever-so handsome Austin Ames's arm looped around her waist. Above their heads, strands of decorative lights twinkle, emitting a star-like glow, and he twirls her in a circle to the beautiful lyrics of I'll Be.

   "I'll be your crying shoulder. I'll be love suicide. I'll be better when I'm older. I'll be the greatest fan of your life," the singer croons, in perfect harmony with the gentle chords of violin.

   As Hillary Duff smiles affectionately up at the boy of her dreams, the suffocating love is overwhelming, and I shudder. In some way, the image of the pair gazing at one another is enough to open some hidden valve deep within my mind. Countless memories of Harry and I resurface, until I'm drowning in flashbacks.

...

   "We're all in this together, when we reach, we can fly, know inside that we'll make it. We're all in this together and once we see there's a chance that we have and we take it!" I'm practically squirming in my seat, dying to leap up on the coffee table and dance around.