Chapter 26

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The next day, we were all hungover and exhausted and spent most of the day sleeping. Except Zach, who, despite being hungover himself, spent most of the morning cooking breakfast for everyone.

Sooner than I wanted, evening rolled around and after cleaning up the house, the sun began to set. "Don't go!" I whined, clinging tightly to Zach's arm as he made his way towards the front door.

"I have to," he grumbled. His hand slipped into mine, giving them a quick squeeze and he pressed his lips to my forehead. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"No!" I grizzled, shaking my head and pouting up at him.

"Will you guys give it a rest?" Lexi sighed from behind me, pouring a huge jug of margaritas into glasses. "You are literally going to see each other in like 15 hours."

"15 hours," I grumbled, shaking my head. "Thats too long."

"I'm sorry baby but she-," he nodded towards Lexi who smirked, "-is throwing me out."

"It's bad luck to see the bride on her wedding day," she snapped, approaching me and handing me a margarita. "So get out!"

"Bye," he said softly, taking my lips in his. "I love you. And I can't wait to marry you tomorrow."

A smile graced my face at the thought of marrying him in less than 24 hours. "I love you too," I whispered against his mouth. "I love you so much."

"Out!" Lexi demanded, placing her glass on the coffee table and forcing Zach towards the door. I rolled my eyes as Caroline and Liv grabbed each of his arms and began hauling him out the house.

"Bye!" I called.

He chuckled from the front porch. "Bye gorgeous!" He yelled back before the door slammed in his face.

Lexi turned around and groaned aloud. "God, you guys are so annoying," she said, shaking her head and bounding back towards the living room.

We had moved the sofa backwards and dropped some mattresses in front of it with the coffee table off to the side. On top lay a mass of snacks and bottles of drink.

"Okay, we should probably start clearing up a bit," Jordan said from where she was curled up on the corner of the mattress. "We don't want to be tired tomorrow!" She squealed excitedly.

I grinned and grabbed a few of the empty wine bottles from the table. "I can't wait!" Liv said, changing into the matching bridesmaid pyjamas I bought them.

"Me neither, our bridesmaids dresses are gorgeous!" Caroline agreed, tossing some empty bottles into the trash. "Are you nervous El?"

I poured a glass of water and shrugged. "No, I'm not nervous about marrying him... I'm nervous about falling in front of everyone though," I muttered, making her laugh aloud.

"You'll be fine," she said, shaking her head. "If you fall then you will probably knock us all over and at least you won't be the only one on the floor."

I shot her a look. "Great," I muttered, rolling my eyes. "That makes me feel so much better."

She laughed as I threw a pillow across the room towards her. She caught it in one hand before we all jumped onto the mattresses and switched off the lights. I curled up in between Jordan and Lexi, holding onto Zach's pillow tightly while his shirt drowned my body.

****

Light cracked through the slit between the curtains and I rolled over to see Jordan asleep beside me, her face completely perfect and not a single hair out of place.
Meanwhile, on my other side, Lexi and Caroline were lay facing me with a mass of hair around them and Car had a trail of drool down her chin.

I couldn't help but smile as I saw the time. In exactly 4 hours, I would be getting married. To Zach.

"Morning," Liv grumbled from the floor across the room.

"Hey," I said with a smile. "How did you end up over there?" I laughed, glancing to the empty spot on the end where she had fallen asleep last night.

She shrugged. "Who knows." A grin crossed her face as she stretched out and looked at the time. "Excited?"

I smiled widely. "I can't sit still," I answered agitatedly.

She laughed loudly, causing the other girls to stir. "Wake up!" She yelled. "Ella is getting married today!"

"Yay," Jordan mumbled into her pillow before rolling over. "It's your wedding day!"

I laughed and turned to see the clock hanging on the wall. "It's 9," I told them. "That means we have three hours before we have to be down at the square."

Lexi bolted upright and wiped her eyes. "The makeup artists and hair stylists are coming at 10," she told me, already on her feet and pulling the covers off Caroline. "That means we have an hour to get some breakfast."

"Did you speak to Liam last night?" I asked her, following her lead and folding the bedding.

"Yeah, he promised he had everything handled," she answered, raising an eyebrow at me.

"I hope so," I muttered.

The rest of the girls slowly rolled out of bed and slumped towards the kitchen where Zach had left all the ingredients for a cooked breakfast. The three of them made a start on the food while Lexi and I tidied away the bedding and brought the dresses downstairs.

"Bacon El?" Jordan called as I headed into the kitchen.

"Definitely. What can I do?"

She shook her head. "Nothing, its your wedding day... we can't have you burning down the house." She giggled as I shot her a glare, shaking my head.

"I'm going to ring Liam... just to make sure they are up," I told them before leaving the room to dial. "Liam?"

"Hey El, how's the bride to be?" He asked.

"I'm good, I just wanted to check in and make sure you guys were up and getting ready."

He laughed down the phone. "You don't need to worry, I promise you I have everything under control and he will be there on time."

A smile graced my face. "Thank you. How is he?"

"Grinning like the cheshire cat," he chuckled. My smile widened at the thought. "See you later El," he said, "and try not to fall."

I scowled as he ended the call, leaving me with the worry of falling flat on my face in front of the whole pack. "Ass," I muttered, shaking my head.

"El!" Lexi called and I returned to the kitchen to see a full plate of delicious looking breakfast.

The five of us took our time eating, discussing the schedule for the day and going over every detail to ensure we hadn't forgotten anything.

"One of the families that live in the square are giving us their house to use so Zach doesn't see you before the ceremony and Ryder is going to meet us there. The guys will arrive after we get there and then everyone else will start arriving at 12:30. The ceremony is at 1," Lexi explained.

I nodded, more than grateful that my friend had organised the vast majority of the wedding since I was certain I would have forgotten something.

"The hair and makeup people will be here soon so shall we set up stations for each of us?" She asked, already manoeuvring chairs around.

I shared a grin with Caroline who rolled her eyes and started to collect the empty plates.

"Oh I almost forgot!" Lexi exclaimed, "the photographer is coming at 10 aswell to get photos while we get ready."

Livs eyes widened as she glanced in the mirror at her wild frizz of hair and scruffy pj's. "Got a brush?" She mumbled under her breath to me. I laughed and indicated towards the living room where Jordan had left hers lying around.

She tugged the brush through her hair just before the doorbell rang and a team of eight rushed through the door, bags in hand with a photographer right behind them and suddenly, my wedding day began.

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