Recovery / / h.s

Chapter Fifty.

A/N EXTRA LONG CHAPTER BECAUSE I WONT BE UPDATING FOR LIKE TWO WEEKS.

CAUTION: CONTAINS SEXUAL CONTENT. ENJOY.

My palms were sweaty. My hands were shaking. And even though I had made adjustments to my simple black tux at least twenty times in the last ten minutes, I still felt like I didn't look good enough.

I tugged on my hair, wishing that I would have gotten a hair cut and then I tugged on my lip ring because the anxiety coursing through my veins was starting to make me physically sick. The lip ring looked like it didn't belong with the tux, so I took it out quickly, tossing it on the table where Ashton's stuff was. My eyebrow ring was next. I winced a little as I pulled it out, but it had to go. I looked back at my reflection and adjusted my rose colored tie again. I debated on whether or not to take it off, it felt like it was actually choking me and I couldn't stand it.

Just as my fingers were around the knot of the tie, the door to the "groom's room" swung open. I snapped my head back to see Ashton, a goofy smile on his face and a rose red tie draped over his shoulders.

"How many people are here?" I wondered, reaching for a bottle of water. What if I drank it now and had to use the bathroom during the ceremony? I put the bottle of water back down on the table and wiped away the sweat starting to form on my forehead. Was it hot in here or was it just me?

"The first five rows are filled, man," he said nonchalantly as he carefully tied his tie in the mirror. That wasn't too bad. It had been short notice, but I knew there would be more people coming. Lily wanted a small wedding with an actual ceremony. I hadn't been in a church in God knows how long. Honestly, I would have been fine with going to the courthouse and only having a few witnesses as we signed our papers, but I just couldn't say no to Lily. I'd never been able to.

Our wedding. My wedding. Fuck. If you would have asked me ten months ago where I planned on being in the next year, married wouldn't have even been an option. As I paced back and forth, tugging on my lip in the absence of my lip ring, it was actually starting to sink in. By then end of today, I would have a wife. I would be a husband. LillIan James would become Lillian Styles or LillIan James -Styles depending on what she wanted to do. We hadn't talked about it, but I was really hoping she'd go for the first option.

Ashton slung his arms over my shoulder before saying, "I don't think you understand how much it means to me that you asked me to be your best man."

Just as I was about to respond, a faint knocking sound came from the wide open door. Mr. James stood there scratching the back of his neck awkwardly, as if asking permission to come in. I didn't blame him. Sure, we had resolved our issues, but you couldn't really ask either one of us to try and act all buddy- buddy.

"Mr. James," I greeted him. He looked up at me before stepping into the room. Ashton slid his arms off my shoulder and glanced between the two of us.

"Hey, uh, I'm gonna go wait out there," he pointed towards the door. "I'll see you when you get out there. You're gonna do great, man." Then with a quick nod towards Mr. James, Ashton was gone and the tension in the air was almost too much to handle with my already wired nerves.

"How are you feeling, son?" He asked me, his lips pursed together and his arms straight at his sides. He had never He looked so stuck up, almost as if he didn't even want to be here.

"Honestly," I sighed, glancing towards the clock. 2:45. Which meant that the ceremony would be starting in fifteen minutes. My anxiety boiled to an all time high as i averted my gaze back to Lillian's father. "I feel like I'm going to vomit."

His hard features turned up into a smile. A genuine smile. His smile looked a lot like Lily's. "Prewedding jitters," he explained, putting a hand on my shoulder. I was more comfortable with his heavy hand than I would have been two weeks ago when he finally accepted us, and that was a little surprising. "I told you to take care of her not marry her," he joked and I stifled an award chuckle. "It'll all be worth it once you see her."