Heliophilia (camren)

Chapter 35 (part 1)

Chapter 35 (part 1):
"Camila?" I hear shouted from the other room as a smooth down the fabric of the long, baby blue coloured dress.
"Almost finished" I yell back and run my hand through my straight hair. It was only 11am but my stomach was in knots and I was hungover from the stag party I had to attend over the past 2 days.
I finally walk out of my room to see a pacing Sam in his suit trousers and shirt open as he runs his hand through his hair.
"Mila I cut myself shaving" he rambles out worried. "7 months planning and I fuck it up because I look like a fucking drug addict. And I can't find my tie" he says shakily as I grab his shoulders.
"SAM" I yell and he stops.
"Tie is in my room, you can't even see the cut. We are running early, you haven't eaten and it's ok to be nervous" I say smoothly as he sighs.
"Im about to shit a brick Mila" he mumbles as he runs his hand over his face. I wanted to say I was too about to shit a brick since the girl I hadn't seen in 7 months was finally going to be in the same room as me. After endless nights of crying and pain this is it; but I also knew this was defiantly the very last time I would see her, so I had a game plan. Keep her at arms length, even if it meant hurting a little. I can't deal with the separation again..but that didnt stop the butterflies in my stomach making me feel like I was about explode.
"Will I call room service?" I ask him calmly and he nods his head.
"Okay, go put on a t-shirt so you don't get food on the shirt you're getting married in" I chuckle and walk over to the night stand with the phone it in. The hotel was way too expensive for my taste and Sams too, but since Normani had a few celebrities coming to the wedding everything was very suave. The actual wedding was happening in some castle a few miles away that was extremely expensive and done up. Sam was a little embarrassed he couldn't pay for the whole thing, but Normani's dad stepped in and went all out. We visited the place yesterday and it looked like something out of a movie with huge fireplaces and expensive rugs. If you had told me I was attending my best friends wedding in a place like this last year I would have laughed in your face, yet here I was.
I ordered the food quickly and found Sam walking around in a t-shirt and his suit trousers a he mumbled to himself.
"Everything will be fine Sam" I say softly and he looks up to meet my gaze.
"Thank you Camila, for everything" he smiles and I smile back.
"What are best friends for?"
___________________
He gripped my hand harder and harder as we rapidly approached the castle, the gravel of the driveway crunching below the wheels of the car.
"Sam, you're going to break my hand" I say in the nicest tone possible and he shoots me a sheepish smile.
"Sorry..." He trails off and I can't help but smile at him.
"So eh-" he starts as I can see he's trying to come up with the right words. "We didnt really talk about Lauren coming" he said softly.
"Don't worry about me" I say calmly. "It's your wedding, not my time with Lauren...I'm just going to keep it to small talk and not get attached" I say to him and I see him relax.
"I know it's horrible; the way things turned out" he starts. "And I really do want you guys to be happy..but maybe it's the best if you keep yourself safe" he looks me dead in the eye. "I just hate seeing you all torn up after she's taken away" he mumbles and I sigh, resting my head on his shoulder. "Me too Sammy"
"But hey, it's your wedding" I poke his side and laugh. "We're going to have an amazing day, yeah?"
"Hell yeah!" He yells and wraps his arm around my shoulders.
The car stops outside the huge castle and I hear him swallow an obvious lump in his throat.
There was a church attached to the main part of the castle; apparently it was lived in by a king and his family years ago, then someone just renovated it, making it liveable in.
"Now or never" I say with a smile and he nods his head before climbing out of the door. My heart is hammering in my chest at the thought of Lauren being only meters away from me as we climb the steps of the church and walk in.
Crowds of people were all seated in the huge church, splashes of colour from the different clothes made the place seem less scary as we walked up the middle aisle towards the alter. Sam shakes hands with the priest and they start talking but everything blurs out as I try to find Lauren in the masses of people in the crowd. I didn't even think Sam knew this many people; they were all probably Normani's invites.
I'm snapped out of my thoughts as everyone straightens up and turns to face the front, signalling Normani had arrived. But as the door swung open and a broad man ushered someone who most certainly wasnt Normani my breath caught in my throat when she looked up and started walking to her seat. A sudden ache shook my body as I watched her hair sway and her heels click on the floor. I could hear my heartbeat hammering in my ears and my hands started to shake as she sat down and noticed everyone staring at her. She shyly looked down at her lap and I saw a ghost of a smile linger on her lips.
I'm sure the doors reopened and Normani walked in, and everyone was left breathless at her beauty, but all I could seem to see was the girl with green eyes who was playing with the bracelet on her thin wrist.
But if I thought I was breathless before, I was proven wrong when she looked at and locked eyes with me. Honestly, I thought love at first sight was a mirage until I caught her gaze and my world stopped. The hammering in my chest faded, the voice of the priest was silenced and all the people around me disappeared. All the walls I just built up, the mental preparation I organised was all crushed and I felt like doing nothing more than running into her arms.
I couldn't tell you how long I was just standing there, staring at her while she stared back until I felt a nudge on my arm and I tear my gaze away from her to see Sam looking at me.
"The rings?" The priest asks and I mumble an apology before handing them over.
My eyes found their way back to her and she was smiling now, as if we getting lost in her was something hilarious. But the mood turned serious as the vows were spoken.
"And do you, Sam Howard take Normani as your lawfully wedded wife?"
As the answer dropped from his lips, the simple "I do" my eyes saw something no one else in the church was meant to see. Laurens lips just barely mouthed the answer herself, and I knew without a doubt that I do was for me. So as Normani's 'I do' dropped from her lips I did the same, looking her straight in her eye so she also knew that I do was for her, and if I could have it any other way it would be here up here in a white dress with me and we could have started a story we talked about on our last night for real.