when jack harlow left louisville, kentucky after high school, he knew he was on to bigger and better things. he only regretted leaving behind one thing - beth, his life-long next door neighbor, his first everything, the girl he could never make his...
The venue's dressing room was silent except for the ongoing ringing of the phone in Beth's ear. He wasn't going to answer. She didn't blame him. If she were him, she wouldn't answer either. After four rings, he picked up, though she only knew he picked up because the ringing stopped. The line was silent for several moments.
"Beth?"
"Christian, you answered."
"Is everything okay?"
The line went silent again. Beth didn't know if everything was okay, and now that he was on the phone, she wasn't quite sure why she called.
"How's Lucy?"
She was supposed to be getting married in fifteen minutes and she was asking about the dog.
"Uh...she's good. She's confused about where you are."
"Yeah, I'm sure."
"Beth, why'd you call me?"
"I don't know if I can go through with this..."
•••
Jack was putting on his cuff links when his phone rang. It was Urban. Jack debated answering; he had to be dressed and ready in a matter of minutes. Worrying it may be important, he decided to pick up.
"Hey man, what's up?"
"Hey, where are you at?"
"The wedding venue, you know that."
"So you're going through with it?"
"I uh...yeah...I'm going through with it."
"You love her?"
"I've always loved her."
"I know Jack, but love isn't always enough."
•••
The clock struck 2:00. Jack walked down the hallway and knocked on Beth's dressing room door.
"Well, I guess that's your cue to leave," Christian said over the phone. "After all the shit you and Jack have been through, you better be sure of this. If you're not, you've gotta let him go."
"Bye Christian."
"You ready to go Beth?" Jack asked, turning the door handle.
"No no don't come in! You can't see me in my dress!"
"Oh come on, that whole bad luck thing is bullshit. We've had more bad luck than anybody, and we're here. Nothing can ruin this."
"Jack," Beth whined. "Go out there and wait for me. You'll see me when I walk down the aisle."
"Fine, you almost ready?"
"Yes, yes, I'll be there in a second."
Beth listened to the sound of Jack's footsteps as he walked away and wiped the tears that had gathered in her eyes during her discussion with Christian. She looked at herself in the mirror, her face framed by her vail. Christian was right; she and Jack had been through so much. It made sense for them to get married. However, Beth felt a sense of longing that she couldn't explain. She felt like a little girl who wanted her mother, but she couldn't be with her mother or even call her, because her mother was disappointed in her. Most of the people who meant the most to her were disappointed. Hell, even Jack was disappointed in her, in the decision she made without him all those years ago. But she was finally going to marry him, which was everything she had ever wanted.
Beth put her hand on the doorknob and stopped for a second, taking in her final moments as a single woman, her final moments not being married to Jack after years of longing for him. She turned the doorknob, walking out into the hallway. She pushed open the glass door that led outside, revealing the garden scene in front of her and her soon-to-be husband at the end of the aisle. Jack smiled at her, his eyes fixed on her as she walked down the aisle. It felt odd that it was just the two of them and the officiant. Beth could hear the clicking of her high heels down the stone aisle, no friends and family looking on and whispering about her dress.
When she finally reached Jack, they grabbed each other's hands and she could see the tears of admiration in his eyes glistening in the sun. The officiant looked at the couple with a kind half smile.
"Have you prepared vows?," he asked them.
"Yeah," Jack responded. "Yeah, I did."
He grabbed a paper from his pant pocket and skimmed it before deciding to place it back in his pocket.
"Beth, I have spent my entire life loving you," he said, squeezing her hands gently. "I spent the majority of those years being immature and undeserving of your affections, and yet you loved me anyways, and for that I will always be thankful. We were so young when we were together, but I was so proud to love you. Afterwards, I spent so much time chasing women who reminded me of you, but it was never the same. Despite the circumstances that brought us back to each other, I will forever be grateful that you gave me the chance to love you again. Regardless of whether we ever got back together, I would've spent my whole life loving you, but now, I get to do it with you by my side."
Beth felt flustered. Her fiancé's sincere words made her forget the vows she had been spending the last week trying to perfect.
"Jack," she started, trying to collect her thoughts. "I have admired you my entire life, most of it from afar. I felt blessed that you would even give me the time of day, much less love me. When I lost you, I lost a part of myself as well. I watched you live out your dreams while I lived out mine, but I didn't realize how much I would've rather lived out those dreams with you by my side. I am so glad that God has brought you back to me, and that we can live out the future that has always been destined for us. I have spent over 20 years loving you, and I never plan to stop."
The officiant nodded with a smile.
"Jackson Harlow, do you take Elizabeth Radford to be your lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold, for better and for worst, in sickness and in death, unless death do you part?"
"I do," Jack said confidently, his eyes glued on his fiancé.
"And Elizabeth, do you take Jackson to be your lawfully wedded husband, to have and-"
"I do," Beth cut him off, a large grin on her face.
"You may kiss the bride."
The newly married couple wrapped their arms around each other in an embrace and connected their lips passionately, the first kiss of the rest of their forever.
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jackharlow: introducing the harlows
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yvngswag: holy shit man congrats
bethradford: otw to change my username to bethharlow 💍
