i'll surely die | spn

Part eight - And the cycle begins again

Weddings were truly a beautiful occasion, especially for hunters. No one was more elated about Scarlett's marriage after the bride herself than me. Scar's my best friend, I've known her ever since our dad's introduced us at kindergarten. We trained together after that and i have, on more than one occasion, gone on a hunt with just her.

Friendships aren't many in this life, and I'm glad I've found someone as caring and full of life as Scar to call my friend. She's one of the only people I trust with my life, and it helps ground me to know we don't all die, we're not all made for the same fate my parents went through, we're humans too. We get to feel happy, heartbroken, in love, and everything else in between.

Today I get to see that. I get to be one of the bridesmaids to my best friend. The whole set up had taken up more energy than any hunt in my life has— I wasn't used to this. I've never attended a wedding, let alone help plan it. It was a small get together with mostly hunters, a lot of old faces.

"Everyone's out there," i peak my head out of the curtain we set up between the backyard and the inside of the house. "Time for you, bride." She smiles at me, tears already welling at her eyes.

"I'm so happy you're here, Mel." And she doesn't mean she's glad I made it, she's glad I'm alive to see it. And I am too.

"I'm happy we're all here," i look over at the other three bridesmaids, some of Scar's closest friends. They're acquaintances I've occasionally seen on a hunt here or there, but I'm not as close to them as she is, and I don't care. Today is her day, I couldn't be more excited to help her get through this with as many laughs as possible.

"Okay, let's get you married!" Laila, the prettiest redhead i've ever seen, almost screams, throwing her hands up with a bottle of champagne in one of them. She seems to be the most eager one out of all of us, and it makes me smile. Scar deserves this. We all deserve this.

+

"I..." the bride lets another tear down and apologizes, "I never thought we'd be here, you know?" That's one way to start your vows. And some people agree as they scoff or laugh a little, and one particular laugh stands out to me, but I don't look back to see who it is, because it can't be.

"No, seriously," she half laughs too, wiping her tears, "who thought I'd be here, getting married to the love of my life. I mean, we've been through so much, you know? I knew I loved you the second I met you, that sounds exactly as cheesy as I feel, and I just... I'm so happy I can be here. I'm happy I get to spend the rest of my life, however long, with you. I get to see the rest of this world with you and we get to come back to each other every night. I love you, Jack, and I am so, so grateful to be here with you. For you loving me. For us finding a way to each other." She's out of breath and some tears have fallen already but it doesn't matter because he's kissing her just as quickly as she'd finished her vows. We all cheer, some crying, others laughing.

But through it all, I read his lips against hers, a gentle whisper, 'I'm grateful for you', and it makes me look over at my sister who's hands are clapping the hardest. She's always loved this stuff, even if she won't admit it.

And then, in the loudest, and most high pitched voice, "My girl is married!" A champagne bottle splashing all over us and we're all laughing, the bride and groom moving away to not ruin their clothes, though I doubt they'll stay clean anyways. There's too much champagne to be opened for that.

The crowd demands cake, and so we let Scar cut it, piece by piece. It's tradition to cut the first one then let your mother finish the rest, just like its tradition to let your father walk you down the aisle and hand you to the man. Both of which we didn't do today.

Scarlett's the one that handed herself off to Jack, and she's the one that cut up every piece of cake, and she's the one that planned most of this (all of it). She's done all of it on her own, like the confident and strong 32-year-old woman she is. She's made us all see, not only that we can have ahat we've always wanted, get the marriage and hunting life with someone we love, but also, that you can do it on your own.