AFFECTION

SEVENTEEN

(◍•ᴗ•◍)✧*。

HOPE WELLINGTON

"..you may now kiss the bride?"

My heart stopped at that. I tried so hard to put it at the back of my mind. But kiss is an important subject in a wedding.

How will he kiss me? He doesn't love me. W..what if he refuses to kiss me? The dread was clouding me. The dread of rejection. I didn't know what should be done in such circumstances. I'd prefer he kissed me on the cheeks. Although onlookers will be disappointed but atleast he won't feel bad about it.

I cast my eyes down, feeling overwhelmed.

God save me! God save me!- I started repeating in my head, only to feel a hand on my face, and then the proximity of him surrounding me.

I was very much aware of Oliver's presence in his arms, but that made it more special. That kid means the world to me.

"Hope..", I hear him whisper which makes me look up at him.

Embarrassment alert!!
He's definitely not kissing me. Never in a million world..

And then in that very daze, I felt his eyes on me, and then the place where he meant to kiss. And it shocked me to the core, that the place was not my forehead or cheeks or nose but the very lips that quivered at the thought of him.

He leaned down a bit and placed a gentle but breathtaking kiss on my lips.

For once, I learnt what it is about the time stopping. It does. It really does stops when something of this kind happen.

"Thank you..", he whispered pulling me a little closer by my shoulders. God! What is this happening!?

What was the 'thankyou' for? For marrying him?

My eyes catched his obsidian ones and I feel something strange inside. It wasn't just love. For the first time in my life, I felt the motivation of having him to myself. To pull him close and never let him go.

My attention diverts when Oliver tucks at my veil, confused at the exchange between us, and the distasteful expression on his face.

Soon enough, he uses the little distance between us to lean forward and kiss my cheeks.

Even though my uterus did not produce him, I still feel my ovaries bursting at the sight of this little charmer. I kissed him too. And I swear I had never felt more complete in my life than at this moment.

*

My eyes snap open as the beautiful modulation of reality comes back in the form of a dream, and I find myself staring at the dark ceiling with dim lights at the corner.

I sigh. The unfamiliar bed will not let me sleep for a few days. And when I thought I was finally asleep, I was dreaming of that. I looked at the digital clock on the wall, only to find it was 3 am in the morning.

I felt a little shifting beside me and turned to look at the figure lying not so far, at the other end of the bed.

He may have acted like a perfect gentleman in the whole ordeal, but as soon as it was time to sleep, he came into his oh-so-typical David Wellington style. Roaming all around in just sweatpants can cause problems. If not for himself, then for the others living in the same house.

He offered to take the couch, but I refused. This is not a short term agreement but a huge ass marriage, where we have to live together. I can't let him sleep on couch. And about sharing a room? We didn't have to think much... because back in highschool, when my roommate used to abandon me at nights, and I had nightmares after my father's death that left me no option but to wake up whole night, he offered that he can be there.