Chapter 5

They were happy in love. For as long as they were together, nothing seemed to matter. Serene held Bryan in her heart from the very first day she saw him and each day of the years they’ve been together. They met as youngsters in love and matured together as a couple. She loved him in all the ways she knew how. She supported him in his endeavors. Encouraged him when he felt weak, hugged him when he fell down, held his hands when he felt alone. From time to time she would write him prose, poems or letters, especially when she would coax him after they quarrel. 

Bryan’s voice cut off her walk back in memory lane. He spoke his vows. His deep, melodious voice reverberated throughout the whole chapel.

“I promise to love you in all the ways I know how. I will stand with you when all the world has given up on you, believe in you even when you do not believe in you anymore. I will be your biggest fan and supporter, your pillar, your shoulder, and your fiercest ally.”

She looked at him as he spoke these words, tears rolling down from her eyes. She mouthed the words as he spoke them. These words were very familiar to her. She wrote these for him during the darkest time of his life. 

He was feeling down. He opened two businesses consecutively; both closed before they even reached their respective anniversaries. This brought him down and had created a negative impression on his family.  

Her lively beau became reticent. The man, who was once a smooth talker, did not speak for days. These blunders snatched his confidence from him. It snuffed the light that surrounded him like a halo out. Suddenly he felt he did not amount to anything, that he failed everyone who believed in him. 

It’s as if his entire life, which he has planned from the very beginning, crumbled before him. During his dark days, Selene held his hands and stood by him. She talked to him, even if he won’t talk to her. She did all that she could to boost his morale back.

Each time she looked at his sad eyes, it tore her heart to pieces. She was patient with his mood swings, even with his rejections. She understood how much proving himself to his family mattered to him, and when he did not get it, she naturally understood how much it broke him. 

He eventually came out of his dark spot. When he did, her bright smile welcomed him. She made sure that she stood by him every step of the way. Boosted his morale when he needed it, made him feel that there is always hope whenever he got pulled back to the dark spot he’s been to. She listened to him. She existed because of him. 

Rising above the misstep of those business ventures was the toughest challenge they faced together, and it also strengthened them. Their relationship had always been in the pink. However, that moment showed Serene that Bryan can be fragile, that he also needed to be held — and hold him, she did. She did not let go. She held on to him as if holding on to life itself. 

“I love you and make it my solemn duty to love you for as long as I breathe.” 

Serene silently completed the words of his vows even before he spoke them. She looked at his eyes — his happy eyes. She looked at the promise those eyes spoke and the endless pool of love reflected in them. 

When she thought her eyes could no longer shed tears, a fountain of tears poured out of them, rolling down her cheeks. She wiped them. However, the more she wiped them, the more they poured. Her tears, which started as a fountain, now seemed like a spring.

“I now pronounce you husbands and partners for life”