𝐢 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐝𝐨 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐧 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭; 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐰 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐲 𝐠𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐫²

chapter twelve

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one month later. —> narration. —> july
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over the past month, matthew and i have been planning our wedding. even though my biological parents won't be there, thomas and christine will be there. i'm planning on asking thomas to walk me down the aisle and do the father daughter dance with me seeing as he was always a father to me growing up. during the time we spent planning, i made many stops to the starbucks near our house. i ended up meeting and becoming friends with this girl named natalie who was there one day when we were waiting for our drinks seeing as it was taking forever. we ended up getting along really well and so we exchanged numbers and now we're super close and she's like my best friend.

but anyways, i'm also thinking of asking paget, kirsten, and aj to be my bridesmaids and then asking natalie to be my maid of honour. rain, jasmine and rachel are obviously invited but, i had so many people i wanted to choose for my bridesmaids and maid of honour but these were the people that were left when i narrowed down the list. i do want to include them in some way, i'm hoping they'll be willing to each write and say their own speech at the wedding but, we'll see. anyways, we're almost done planning the basics of the wedding. like who we're gonna have at the wedding, a rough estimate for the amount of guests, etc. we've also started looking at different venues. we both agreed on a small, but pretty venue. we don't want a huge wedding.
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present time: 12:45 pm. —> stephanies pov —> july.
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"hey beautiful!" rachel says as i open the front door and see her standing there with rain and jasmine "hey guys! how are you?" i say as i let them inside and close the door then hug each of them "we're good, how are you and matthew doing?" rain asks as we walk into the living room and sit down "we're doing good. we've been doing a ton of wedding
planning. which is one of the reasons i invited you over." i say and they nod which tells me to continue "i was wondering if you guys would each write and say a speech at the wedding. we need some speeches and you guys have known me the longest." i say and they nod "we'd love to! but who are the bridesmaids?" rachel asks and i smile

"my three friends kirsten, paget and aj. i truly considered you guys and it was hard to not choose you but, i wanted you guys to do the speeches instead. i still want you helping me get ready and i was hoping you'd also help me plan and pick out my wedding dress and stuff. i chose one of my other best friends natalie to be my maid of honour." i say and they nod "we'd love to help you with all of this. i'm so glad you found people that you trust enough to have as your maid of honour and bridesmaids." jasmine says and i smile "thanks guys." i say and we all stand up "it was nice to see you again. stay in touch." rain says as i hug them goodbye and they leave.

"hey, where'd they go? i was coming down to say hi" matthew says as he walks downstairs with wet hair "they had to go, they were just stopping by. sorry love." i say as i stand up and walk towards him then wrap my arms around his waist which makes him look down at me and smile then kiss me gently. "wanna go out and get some coffee?" i ask and he smiles and nods "sure, lets go." he says as i let go of him, slip my shoes on and walk out of the house holding his hand and straight to the car after locking the front door.
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at the coffee shop. —> stephanies pov
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"oh steph hey!" i hear as matthew and i walk in so i look around and find natalie standing there smiling as she walks over and gives me a quick hug "hey nat! you remember my fiancée matthew right?" i ask as i let her go from the hug and she nods "that i do! it's nice to see you again matthew."she says and gives him a quick polite side hug "oh there's my drink" she says as she walks over to grab it and we walk up
to the counter and order our drinks and then walk over to the waiting area. "how's life been nat? we haven't talked in awhile." i ask and she smiles "good! how's wedding planning going?" she asks and i smile "good! i actually have a question for you" i say
and she nods "will you be my maid of honour? i already have my bridesmaids but i'd love for you to be my maid of honour. which means you'll help me plan and go with me dress shopping and all that." i say and she nods

"i'd love to be your maid of honour, steph. i'm so grateful that you chose me." she says and hugs me "i'm glad you said yes." i say as we laugh and matthew walks over and hands me my drink "thanks love." i say as i kiss his cheek "what are you guys gonna be doing?" she asks "just came for coffee and then we're going home." i say and she nods "well i'll let you guys go. it was nice to see you again." she says and gives us each a quick hug goodbye then we leave the store and head to our car. "do you want to go home or somewhere else?" he asks as we both buckle and i smile "i'm okay with anything, you choose." i say and he nods "how about we go to the mall? we haven't been in awhile and it gives us something to do." he says and i nod "okay, let's go." i say as he pulls out of our parking spot and drives us to the mall.
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at the mall. —> third person.
as matthew and stephanie walk through the mall, hand in hand, matthew begins thinking. thinking about how amazing his life is ever since he met steph, and thinking about how crazy this road has been. he's also thinking about how much he loves steph and how he's so excited to marry her. but while matthew thinks, stephanie is focused on looking around in stores. that is until she realizes matthew isn't listening and dissociating. she's not sure why, until she hears someone say "hey matt! long time no see! how you been?" someone he knew in high school is here. someone who used to bully him.
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continued in first person. —> stephanies pov.
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"matthew, hey are you alright?" i say trying to bring his focus away from them "matt! why are you ignoring us? and who's this little friend of yours?" he asks which makes matthew immediately revert his focus from me to them "leave her be. she didn't do anything nate." matthew says which makes nate laugh "so she's your girlfriend? i don't see why she's with you." he says which makes me immediately tense up. he wants a reaction from the both of us. we can't give it to him. "matthew, ignore him." i say just loud enough for him to hear as i try to lead us out of the store but nate stands in the way "where you going?" he asks and i use my arm to move him out of the way so we can get passed until he grabs my arm "you don't push me." he says and i let go of matthews hand "release my fucking arm." i say and he laughs "why? you worried you're boyfriend can't protect you? i mean, if i were you i'd be worried too." he says and i immediately elbow him in the gut "learn your fucking place. you're in your what? 20s? and you're still behaving like a 16 year old. that's truly embarrassing." i say as matthew and i leave the store and head straight out the doors to the parking lot.

"are you okay?" i ask and he nods but i can tell it's a lie "matthew, please don't lie to me. i know he got inside your head and definitely pissed you off when he grabbed me but, i need you to be honest with me." i say and he nods "i'm sorry for not stepping in when he laid his hands on you. i should've." he says and i smile "i appreciate that but, if you had gotten involved it would've made the situation worse. it's best that you didn't get involved." i say as i give him a quick kiss "i love you." he says "i love you more." i say as we walk to our car. "lets go home." i say and he nods as we both get in the car, buckle, and he drives us home.