You're the One - Part 2 || Greta Van Fleet

Chapter 224: Wedding Night

"Are you ready to go home?" Jake asked, smirking back at me.
Home. I guess now it really was home.
I nodded, still unable to contain my ecstatic smile, pulling him back into another kiss.
"Let's go home."

He grabbed his guitar, slinging it behind his back before grabbing my hand and helping me up. I held on tight, following him closely down the wooded path.
"Do.. do they know?" I asked, peeking up at him. He shook his head.
"No, I was able to sneak in quick without them noticing. I didn't want them asking any questions." I nodded.
"What are we gonna do with our rings?" He bit down on his lip, looking down at me.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean.. if we're both wearing wedding bands.. don't you think people are gonna ask questions?" He was quiet for a moment.

"Well, I can wear mine on the necklace you got me for Christmas. And.. you can wear yours on your right hand if you want. No one will know. As far as they're concerned.. it's just a ring."

It sounded easy enough, but we had never been lucky when it came to keeping secrets.

I stopped him before he went inside.
"Maybe.. you can bring it." I said. His smile grew.
"You want me to play for you again?" He asked. I nodded, feeling my cheeks burn.
"I love when you play for me."
"Then it'll stay at our place. Maybe you can even play something for me."

On the drive back, I opened my phone, aimlessly scrolling through until my heart dropped. The photo of Jake from the store. It was popping up in almost every other post.
"You okay?" He asked, laughing to himself. My face must've given it away.
"The girl from the store. She posted the photo with you." I said, continuing to scroll, reading as fast as my eyes would allow, looking for any sign of her mentioning anything.

But she didn't.

"What did she say?" He asked, reaching over for my phone. I pulled it away, continuing to scroll, letting out a sigh of relief.
"She just said that.. you came into her store and she got to show you her tattoo. And that you were super sweet." I giggled. His smile grew.
"Well, I am super sweet." He said. I nodded.
"You are."
"She didn't say anything about you, or.. why we were there?" I shook my head.
"Nope. She.. she even cropped it.. so you can't see that I took the photo."

That was.. kind. I could only imagine how much this would've blown up. She didn't owe us anything. She could have told everyone. But she didn't. It was nice to see there were considerate ones after all.

"You should reach out to her." I said. "Send her something. One photo and everyone would've known. That was.. really sweet of her." He nodded.
"Yeah.." He sighed, peeking over at me. "I'm.. I'm sorry you have to deal with this." I shook my head.
"We're married now." I laughed. "I knew what I signed up for." His smile grew as he looked forward, reaching over for my hand, pulling it up to his lips.
"I know, but.. that doesn't mean it's easy. I know it can get.. weird sometimes, so.. thank you for never letting it come between us." I leaned over, gently kissing his cheek.
"You can't get rid of me that easy." I laughed. "It's legal now. What's yours is mine."
"That it is, Mrs. Kiszka." He said with a satisfied grin.

My heart jumped.
Mrs. Kiszka.

"You know, we're gonna have to wait until the big wedding before I actually change my name, right?" I asked. He shrugged, rolling his eyes.
"I know, but.. you're Mrs. Kiszka to me now."
"That's all that matters."

When we got back to the apartment, I was barely through the doorway when I felt his hands on my waist, playfully pushing me inside, quickly shutting the door behind us. His hands slowly moved up my body, turning me around and pulling me into a passionate kiss. I instantly wrapped my arms around his neck, pulling him up against me, guiding him back down the hallway towards our bedroom. I could feel his lips curling into a smile as he reached out, leaning against the doorframe to catch his balance before effortlessly lifting me up and carrying me over to our bed. 

Our bed.
Not his bunk, or his childhood bed, or even the bed in the back of the tour bus.
Our bed.
In our apartment.
Everything was finally just.. ours.

I reached up, running my fingers through his hair.
"I guess this is kind of like.. our honeymoon." I laughed. His smile grew as he pulled me back into a series of kisses, his lips moving across my cheek and down to my neck. I grabbed his shirt, pulling him closer as I glided my hands down his chest, slowly unbuttoning it on the way down. His kisses got harder, slowly turning to gentle bites.
"And as much as I'd love for you to stay in this.." He said, lifting me up, reaching behind me and unzipping my dress. "I would much rather you be in nothing at all." 

That made two of us.

One by one, he gently removed every piece of our clothing until together we were nothing but exposed skin, bare limbs intertwined. My body, now forever his and his forever mine, his lips gently grazing every inch of me that starved for his touch. My ever-changing, ever-growing outline tenderly caressed by his doting embrace, making me love this body that had recently made me feel like a stranger in its own home. I had never felt more beautiful.

"I don't want to go back." I sighed as he crawled back over me, pulling me back into a passionate kiss.
"Don't think about that, we still have all night."
He was right. It technically was our wedding night, after all. I wanted to enjoy it. It wasn't every day we were able to be alone like this, and soon enough, we'd have two more with us.

I tangled my fingers in his hair, kissing him back harder as I felt his hands slowly gliding up my arms and finding their way into mine, tightly intertwining our fingers.
"You are so beautiful." He sighed. "I can't believe I get to be yours forever." My heart jumped, my face getting hot. I was convinced it wouldn't matter how many times I was with him, he would always make me feel like it was the first time, every time. Like the butterflies that permanently lived inside of me were set ablaze with every kiss, every touch.

 I then felt his hands move down to my stomach, instantly moving away.
"W-what's wrong?" I exhaled, sitting up to face him.
"N-nothing, I just.."
"Are.. are they moving?" I asked, gently placing my hands over them. He sat up, nodding. I couldn't help but smile, finally feeling them for myself again. He hesitated before moving closer, now lying down next to me.

"I'm.. I'm sorry." I said softly, peeking up at him. He shook his head, reaching over, gently placing his hand over mine, leaning his head on my shoulder.
"It's okay." He sighed, his smile growing. "This is nice too." I bit down on my lip, trying my best to contain the tears that were now coming to my eyes. He looked over at me, his face dropping.
"Oh no, I didn't mean to-" I shook my head, wiping my eyes.
"It's okay." I giggled to myself. "This.. this is nice. I just.. I don't want us to-" He leaned over, cutting me off by pulling me into a kiss.

"We have the rest of our lives for that." He said softly, gently brushing the hair out of my face. "We should enjoy this, right now. Cause.. one day they're not gonna want anything to do with us, and then we'll have the whole place to ourselves." I felt more tears come to my eyes.
"Don't say that." I laughed. "I haven't even gotten to hold them yet and you're already making them hate us. What if.. they never hate us? And they never want to leave?" I said hopefully. He shook his head, pulling me in, kissing my forehead.

"Then we'd be the luckiest parents in the world." He said, smirking back at me. "But.. no matter what they do, we will always have each other." I nodded, leaning my head on his shoulder as he spent the rest of the night talking to them, gently caressing my belly with the occasional kiss or two.

If you had asked me years ago how I imagined my wedding night, I would have never said anything remotely close to the night we had, but now, I wouldn't have wanted it any other way.