BOLD

W- Wedding

We go to the rehearsal dinner and then come back.

"My feet," I complain.

"Then why do you wear those heels?" Carson says letting me hold onto him for balance as I take them off.

"Because next to you I look like one of my students," I say putting them away in the hall closet. We go into the kitchen and he pulls out a cheesecake from the fridge. There wasn't dessert at dinner. Well none that my mom would let me eat.

"When was that in there?" I ask looking at the cake all decorated with fruit and everything.

"Evelyn, made it for us," he says cutting it and putting it on a plate for me. I dive into the cheesecake and just about cry.

"This is so good," I mumble. He laughs and puts it away. He walks across the room and grabs his laptop.

"We need to pick a song," he says. I nod and watch him look up The Lone Bellow. After awhile of listening we moved out into the living room laying out on the couch. I pressed the sole of my foot against his and he pushed back. Soon we weren't listening anymore and was just trying to leg wrestle.

"No," I say as he starts to beat me.

"What song are we doing?" he asks when I admitted defeat.

"Looking For You," I tell him yawning.

"Done. Now to get married," he says. I laugh and nod.

--

Not remembering how I got into my own bed I roll over and groan. My phone was ringing and it wouldn't shut up.

"Hello?" I say into the phone.

"Wake up," Mackey says.

"Hi, boo," I say into the phone.

"You ready to get married?" he asks. My stomach twists into knots and I grit my teeth afraid about what was going to happen.

From that moment it was a blur.

"Now get in," my mom says. I freeze and I couldn't breathe.

"I can't," I say stepping backwards.

"Come on. Yes you can," she encourages. I shake my head and take another step back. Turning on my heel I go over to the chair and sit down.

"I don't think I can do this," I say. My mom sighs.

"Here, talk to him," she says shoving her phone into my face.

"Who?" I say pushing it away still freaking out.

"She's freaking out," my mom says into the phone and then shoves it back to me.

"Hello?" I say into the phone confused.

"Hey," Carson says.

"Oh, I'm sorry. You shouldn't be talking to me. You should be getting ready," I say my voice shaking.

"No, it's fine. What's wrong? Don't freak out," he replies his voice deep and gentle. Goosebumps rose on my arms.

"No I'm good. I'm fine," I say, but then the phone was ripped out of my hands.

"Hey, wait no," I say to my mom.

"She isn't getting into her dress. So she's lying. She isn't okay," my mom says. He tells her something and then hands the phone back.

"Hey," I say.

"Everything is going to be okay. Alright? All of this. I promise, okay? Put on the dress," he says.

"But-," I start to say but he cuts me off. "Put on the dress. I'll see you at the end of the aisle." He had hung up on me. I put on the dress and take a deep breath.

Carson must be right. Right? If he was confident that we can do this then. Now to walk down the aisle. When I get to the aisle with my dad I immediately see Carson. We make eye contact and his face stays straight not moving. Serious and strong. His black tuxedo made him look handsome and I was afraid that I wouldn't even look good enough to be by his side. My dad's arm tightens on mine and I look at him with a smile.

"You don't have to do this," he says. I laugh.

"It's already been done," I reply seriously. He frowns and then kisses my cheek when we get to the end.

"I love you dad," I say. He smiles and joins my mother. Carson and I join hands. The preacher does his job. But we had to say our vows. Our mothers had forced us into writing out our own.

"Being a straight face, strong man is required for my job. As a businessman everything I do is serious. Work runs my life, but now it doesn't hold much of a hold as you do. You are my best friend that makes me laugh, taught me how to smile again, and reminds me that I can be teased about my flaws," Carson says. I remember yesterday and smile wide trying not to giggle.

"Most of my life, well if you haven't noticed by now, I have winged it. Like I am for this speech. Sorry mom. Thank you for putting up with my dorky laugh and my constant state of being ridiculously, sickening cheesiness. And for feeding me my constant requirement of cheesecake," I say. Everyone laughs and I couldn't help, but join when he rolls his eyes at me.

"You may now kiss the bride," the preacher says after announcing us husband and wife. I freeze not really knowing what to do. I really know how to make it awkward. Carson steps towards me and wraps an arm around my waist. His lips find mine and I squeeze my eyes closed. My body was tingling all over and my heart was beating out of my chest. He pulls away and we both face the crowd. As we were walking down the aisle we both wave to familiar faces.

"How come there are more of your students here than I thought?" he asks. I hadn't told him that I invited them.

"Oops," I say with a shrug. He chuckles as we get into the limo.

"Was it as bad as you thought?" He asks. I shake my head.

"The kiss," he clarifies. I look at him and giggle.

"You need to work on that," I tell him scrunching my nose up.

"You think you are so funny don't you?" he says clearly irritated.

"Of course I'm funny! I make myself laugh all the time," I say defending myself.

"Well, I think I kiss pretty well," he says with a huff. I put my hands up trying to show that I was surrendering. He looks the other way and shakes his head at me.

"I was joking! Don't be mad," I say grabbing his arm. He pulls it away from my grip and I sigh.

"Don't be mad. Please," I say getting on my knees carefully. "You can at least look at me," I say sitting back down properly. I look back up to him jumping a little when I realized that his face was close to mine.

"I'm not mad. I like hearing  you beg though," he tells me. My jaw drops and I couldn't help but smile.

"That's cold," I say.

"I'm the coldest, baby," he says gesturing to himself.

"Even though I didn't tell you. I think you are my best friend too," I tell him.  He grabs my chin and I furrow my eyebrows feeling confused. He kisses me locking me in his hold. The limo stops and I pull away. The door opens and without saying anything Carson gets out. My head felt a little disoriented and I scramble to get out.

I felt so confused all throughout the night. He kissed me again after our first dance. We walked around saying hello to everyone. Then it was time to cut the cake. Mackey saving the day brought both of us a bib.

"I don't think we are going to need those," Carson says. I shake my head.

"I don't trust you. Give me the bib," I say. Mackey helps me put it on. As we both were feeding each other somehow we both just ended up and smashed the cake onto each other's mouths.

"Should've worn a bib," I told him wiping off the cake. He rolls his eyes.

If he keeps that up his eyes would fall out.