Chapter 31: Chapter 31

Chapter 30: Now and Forever

"And do you, Evelyn Sanders, take Luke Stone, to be your lawfully wedded husband?" The priest turned to Eva, who all but cried out, "I Do!"

"By the power bestowed upon me by God, I now pronounce you man and wife. You may now kiss the bride."

Cheers erupted from all over the room as the groom finally kissed the bride and flower petals came raining down on the alter, as planned by the bride herself.

Mom and dad looked both delighted and sad at the same time. Luke's mother was reduced to tears while his father consoled his wife. Eva herself seemed to be wiping off heard of joy. Seriously, what's with all the crying on a happy occasion? Nick's girlfriend looked relaxed and happy now that she's seen me walk up to the isle with Ethan. And I was busy glaring at Ethan.

I haven't been able to contact him the whole day yesterday and he even arrived late to the wedding with the excuse that he's had a bad hangover. I kept waiting all throughout Eva's snoringly boring tea party last night for a call or at least a text, but what did I get? No-fucking-thing! Nada. So yeah, he dug his own grave and now I'll gladly help him and fill it up with soil.

"You look murderous, Ms. Sanders. Want me to give you a massage?" Ethan whispered in my ear as we gathered around in a circle, watching the bride and groom cut the four tired wedding cake.

"You should be grateful I haven't mutilated you yet, Mr. Whitmore." I told him just as pleasantly.

I moved to another part of the circle but Ethan, as usual, didn't get the message and kept following me around. Okay, so maybe that exactly what I wanted and having him by the leash was giving me exquisite pleasure.

"And why is that?" He had the decency to look genuinely surprised.

I folded my arms across my chest and flared at him to appear intimidating. "I'll decide the 'why' part once I get the name of the strip club you boys visited last night."

When he raised an eyebrow, I clarified. "You've been MIA the whole of yesterday." I ticked them off with my fingers. "You even arrived late to the wedding today-"

"By 10 minutes!"

"-probably lied about the hangover because I know you never drink more than one beer bottle since you like to drive back yourself and, you left me at the mercy of my sister's doctory fiends without even a text to help me survive the exasperatingly boring night!"

Instead of getting nervous, Ethan Whitmore burst out laughing, drawing everyone's attention towards us.

"What are you doing! Everyone's looking at us." I whisper scolded him.

"So, let them." His smile held a fashion of nervousness that I've never seen on Ethan before. He held out his hand.

"What's going on?" I frowned, taking his hand.

And then, I felt the ground move away from under my feet as Ethan knelt before me on one knee. A chorus of gasps and whistles sounded from behind me, but the sound of my heartbeat seemed to drown out everything else.

"I can't tell you which strip club I'd been to last night because I haven't been in Imphal the whole day." He looked up at me, pulling out a blue velvet box from his pocket. "I had to drive all day and night to get this from my mother."

He flipped open the cover of the box to reveal an antique looking diamond ring set on a band of what appeared to be white gold. This time it was my time to gasp.

"Akira Sanders, we've been together for nearly three years now. No one believed that we'd get this far," this time he had an evil twinkle in his eyes as he said, "especially considering how we got together. And I know this may seem a bit too soon to some people," he looked behind me to where I knew my father was standing, glaring holes through Ethan, "but I believe, why wait when I've already found the person I want to spent my life with."

A chocked sob escaped my lips as tears ran down my cheeks. Tears of joy. I'd never expected this would be happening so soon. I'd always known Ethan meant everything to me, but I'd never foreseen what the future will bring us. But, obviously, Ethan had. How does he do it? Make all my insecurities, my fears vanish with just a few words.

"I love you, Ms. Sanders." He looked into my eyes and I could feel the dampness of his palms as he said, "Will you marry me?"

"Say yes!" One very familiar voice shouted from behind me, followed by a chorus of hundred others. Nick.

"Yes." I told Ethan, my smile stretching from ear to ear.

"Yes?" Ethan looked both relieved and on the verge of a nervous breakdown.

"YES!" I laughed as he took the ring out of the box and slid it onto my ring finger. It was a bit tight, but it'll start to feel comfortable in a few days.

Ethan rose from his positing and kissed me right on the lips, in front of my parents and a room full of people. I think I heard my dad saying "it's way too soon", but mostly, it was the cheers from my friends and family.

"Hey Akira! Catch!"

I pulled away from Ethan right on time to catch Eva's bouquet of white orchids with one hand, and Ethan with his free hand, right before it smacked me in the face.

"Oh my God! I can already hear the wedding bells!" My mom gushed, clapping her hands in glee while my father sulked.

"Um...mom," Eva interrupted her. "Those...are kinda...my wedding bells."

"Oh!" Mom looked at the roof of the church. "Yes...I think you're right."

The rest of the day went by merrily with cakes and dances and a million congratulations. Both for the newly wedded pair and for my engagement. I'd never felt so happy, so cherished in my life as I did standing next to Ethan, his arm wrapped around my waist.

"Did my family already know about this?" I asked him later, while we danced to a slow song at the reception.

"Yes. Your mom and dad, Eva and Luke." Ethan spun me out and then back into his embrace. "They helped cover up my absence by sending me with Luke. In fact, it was Eva and Luke's idea for me to propose right after the wedding. Your dad however, doesn't seem so pleased."

"Don't worry. He'll get over it." I smiled and laid my head down on his chest.

"But are you okay with this?" He asked seriously.

"With what?" I looked up at him frowning.

"Us, engaged. I'm not going to let you go Akira. You accept this and we're in this for the rest of our lives. No more guys, especially your classmates, get to flirt with you." He answered honestly. Looks like I wasn't the only one with insecurities.

"Ethan," I cupped his cheeks. "If I were to run, I wouldn't have given in to you so easily. You know I could have run, but I didn't because I didn't want to." I kissed him then.

"You're mine Akira." He whispered against my lips.

"Now and forever." I whispered back.