Letting her go was the hardest thing I've ever had to do....

6. Elle

Hey lovelies,

Thank you for the support as always. Kinda blown away by all the love that this story has (and even 'Dear Elle' seems to be getting the flow on effect).

This chapter is a special one and the reason why it's very long is this is one that I had in my mind from the very beginning and was a moment I wanted to write. It may seem a little far fetched.....but it is definitely all the feels.

In that span on six years, in my fic, Noah and Elle saw each other twice - the Christmas after they split and half way through Elle's second year at USC.....which is where this chapter starts.

Hopefully you love it as much as I do.

AliciaRuby90 x

Elle POV

Today was a big day.

Today we had officially welcomed Linda into the Evan's family and my Dad was happy, I mean really really happy, once again. Not that he ever wasn't, but I guess being in love and knowing that you were going to grow old with someone who made you happy made you smile just a little bigger.

The wedding had been scheduled for the summer during my second year of USC. I was really loving being a College student. I was learning so much and was really developing my creative skills. I loved discussing game ideas and concepts with my tutors and getting great feedback.

In the last couple of months, I was grateful for still being close to home and to be able to have that time to really get to know Linda. It wasn't a big surprise when Dad sat Brad and I down and discussed his wish of wanting to marry Linda. For us, it was a no brainer to say yes. Brad relished the opportunity of having a proper 'Mum' figure in his life and have those moments with her that were taken away when we lost Mum, but she was never too far away in the stories that were shared. To me, she was someone that I could confide in, someone who I could openly talk to most things about. I knew that June was my go to if I needed some solid 'Mum' advice as she knew me better than I knew myself, but sometimes I felt like if I wanted to vent about Lee or something reminded me of Noah, I felt bad ratting to their mum. After she accepted, Linda had told us of her surprise but also that she was so very happy. It was a intimate wedding with only our close family and friends. Dad didn't really want anything big, but as it was Linda's first wedding he agreed to make it special.

And that's how we came today.

Brad stood at Dad's side, while I stood at Linda's as they exchanged vows and the crowd applauded when they were husband and wife. They had chosen a simple garden wedding with the reception at a restaurant overlooking the park. Everything was covered in candles and flowers and was just really, really natural.

I sipped on my champagne as the guests milled around the room, speaking and wishing their congratulations to the happy couple. The band was playing in a corner and the music was flowing.

'There's my girl', June said as she waved me over, wrapping an arm around my shoulder. 'You look gorgeous as always'.

'Thank you!', I grinned as I clinked glasses with her. Lee walked over and nudged my shoulder as he glanced around the room, 'If the video design fails, you could always try to become a wedding planner. Everything turned out great!'

I rolled my eyes into my flute as the guest began to take their seats, as he gave me a pointed look. 'How you doing? Big day!'

I sighed as I looked over towards my Dad and Linda, they were smiling and holding hands, 'I'm okay. I'm happy that he is happy. Linda....is....'

'Not your Mum', June concluded.

'No, but I don't think that she can ever be replaced. I'm glad he's happy and he's found someone to have the life that he wanted to have with Mum. Someone to grow old and be happy with. That's all she ever wanted for him, for any of us. Just to be happy', I said as I flicked away the stray tear and took another sip.