3. The Wedding

Edward Bartlett tightly clasped his hands in front of him as the doors opened and revealed the bridesmaids in their pastel blue dresses, Zia's favorite color. The band then started to play the song I Choose You by Ryann Darling. And even as the song was in the Blues genre, an EDM was playing inside Edward's stomach. His heartbeat rose to his throat as nervous sweats dripped down his forehead. Excited, overwhelmed and ecstatic.

"You're my always, you're my forever, you're my reality..." As the singer began to sing the first verse, the twelve bridesmaids started to walk down the aisle in pairs.

"...you're my sunshine, you're my best times, you're my anomaly..."

And as the wedding planner had not seen the maid-of-honor in sight, she sent the little boy in. The little ring bearer walked in with light careful steps, so as to not mess up his role with the rings.

"Best times," Edward thought to himself and suddenly reckoned about the time they first met. The five years old Edward had just moved to the outskirts of town due to his father's job relocation. And their house was just next to the Scotts. At that time he was infuriated not being able to get in touch with old friends in the city.

Never knew that that day would change his life forever. And there he was, about to slowly witness his life changing with his first and probably the last love of his life.

"...and I'd choose you, in a hundred lifetimes I'd choose you, in a hundred worlds I'd find you..."

Seeing the flower girl had already reached the front, Edward's heart skipped a beat. It's time to finally see his bride--his future wife and the mother of his children.

"...and I'd say "I do"..."

The doors finally reopened and everyone focused their eyes in anticipation, Edward was no exception.

"...for the rest of my life, with all that I have, I do..."

Edward gulped in nervousness as a woman's figure flashed in the scorching sunlight.

However, instead of a woman in a wedding dress slowly walking down the aisle, it was Gray Stewart in her casual shirt and cargo pants running towards him with a piece of paper in her hand.

"...and I will, when the sky is falling, I promise you I'm all in, no turning back..."

The guests were baffled, with only one question in mind.

Where is the bride?

With Gray running towards him, Edward already sensed a terrible news coming.

As she finally stood before him, she passed on a piece of paper to him. "I'm sorry." She panted.

With trembling hands, he reached for the paper.

"...every day, every moment, every breath you take...I choose you..."

And as he read the note, a tear escaped from his eyes and dripped down to the paper. The paper read:

'I will be back. I promise. Wait for me.'

-Zia

He turned to her. "W-when w-will s-hhe be b-back?" His voice broke.

"I-I don't know, I'm sorry." She tried to avert her eyes.

Clenching the piece of paper in his hand, he sprinted outside the church. "Zia! Zia!" He called out to her name, but to no avail, no woman in a wedding dress appeared.

He started running around the empty road back and forth. "Zia! Please tell me you're here! Zia! Baby!"

And as if heaven felt a sense of sympathy towards him, heavy rain started to pour down unbidden.

"Zia! Zia!" he continued to shout amidst the loud noise of raindrops hitting the damp pavement. The coldness from his wet tuxedo had started to reach his body, leaving him totally soaked.

"Zia! Z-zi...Zia..." His voice cracked as he knelt down on the ground and clutched on his heart as he felt excruciating pain. His incessant calling for her name seemed to have never reached the bride-to-be. All his efforts proved futile.

He eventually caved in, his head on the ground. clutching on the note with both hands over his head. Was the liquid dripping down his face from the rain or his tears, he couldn't tell. Were his shoulders shaking from the cold or his crying, he couldn't tell. All he knew was that at the very same day he thought his life would change forever, a nightmare occured that he will always remember for the rest of his life.

"Y-you...you could ha-have written d-down when y-you'd be b-back, idiot," he uttered as he sobbed.

Meanwhile, unbeknownst to his knowledge a little girl with sapphire eyes and loose shirt was witnessing his demise from a distance, under the pouring rain. She so wanted to comfort him but she could only watch from afar in despair. She knew it wasn't the best time to walk up to him and say, "Hi, it's me, your bride. Oh, I don't know but I suddenly turned into a child. So yeah, shall we continue the ceremony?" She knew it would confuse and break him even more, seeing that he was already in a state of anguish. She wanted to relieve him of his pain but all she could do was to also cry in isolation.

"Man, that's painful."

Zia felt an umbrella over her head and when she looked up, it was Gray.

"Yes, it is painful. And you're not even fazed, you apathetic psycho." Zia wiped her tears and hugged herself, trying to get every ounce of body heat she had to warm herself up.

"You're soaking wet, little kid." Gray dropped a towel above Zia's head and crouched down beside her, still holding the umbrella. "And why would I cry? It's not like you both stopped loving each other or that someone died."

Zia took the towel and wrapped it around herself. "I knew it was a dream when I saw you crying." She scoffed.

"Dream?"

"Yeah, last night I dreamt about getting married and it felt so real."

"I think it's bad luck to dream about your wedding right before your wedding."

"No, I think it was bad luck when I saw you in my dream," Zia sneered.

"Yeah?" Gray raised an eyebrow. "Then good luck finding a place to stay because I'm sure you don't want to spend another second with this bad luck."

"Aww~ Come on, my best friend for twenty years~" Zia puffed her cheeks and pouted. "Can your conscience really take it if you leave a homeless little girl on the cold streets?"

Gray looked at her unfazed. "You do know I can kick a kid and not feel an ounce of guilt, right?"

"Fine. Leave me and I'll tell everyone you know that I'm your secret child that you abandoned because my father is an alcoholic and you couldn't stand seeing my face that resembles his." Zia smirked.

Gray palmed her face. "This is why I don't like kids."