Stay With Me

July 18

***Amie's POV***

I woke up to yelling. Beth's yelling. I rolled over, expecting to find Carl's warm, muscular body. There was nothing. Just air. I panicked. I wasn't used to being alone.

"Calm down. Carl's downstairs on the couch. He is not allowed to see you until later. You are under my control until the wedding. So get up!"

"What time is it?"

"6:15."

"I will give you ten seconds to get your ass out."

"I brought you coffee."

"Welcome to my paradise. Gimme."

Beth handed me the latte. I chugged it down. As soon as I finished, I dragged myself off the bed and eventually made it to the stool next to the bureau.

"I'm gonna wash your hair. Then I'll fix it up. You're gonna love it."

"Okay. Whatever you say, I'm to tired to give a shit."

She dunked my hair in a basin of water and started shampooing it. Then she rinsed it out and started combing it with a wide tooth comb. I felt her fingers drift through my hair, doing who-knows-what to it. She picked up a Cherokee rose and a sunflower. I looked in the mirror for the first time. I gasped at my reflection. My hair was in a bun and the sides were braided up to the back. The flowers were stuck in the middle of the bun. I couldn't form words.

"D-do you like it?"

"Are you kidding? I fucking love it!"

"Good. My arms are sore. Not cool man."

"Not my fault."

"Uh huh. Where'd you put the dress?"

"Closet."

She grabbed the dress and handed it to me. I pulled it over my head, careful not to mess up my hair.

"Close your eyes," Beth instructed as I sat on the stool. I did and I heard an eye-shadow pallet open. I felt her gently brush the gel like powder on my eyelids. She finished and I opened my eyes.

"Not yet. Close them again."

I felt her putting on lipstick. Ugh.

"Open."

I opened my eyes and looked in the mirror. My eyes were grey and blue. My lips were cherry red.

"It's missing something," Beth said as we studied my reflection. I jumped up and ran over to my bag. I grabbed my eyeliner and pulled the cap off. I put it on thick in a swooshing cat eye style, but only on the lower lid so I didn't mess up the eye shadow. I grabbed the shawl and was ready to head to the barn to get the horses ready.

"Wait!"

"What?"

"I need to go make sure Carl won't see you."

"Fine. Hurry up."

She ran down the stairs. I heard sine talking, but I couldn't decipher what they were saying. Just as quickly, Beth was back up here.

"Hurry up and get down here."

We ran down the stairs and out the screen door before anyone had a chance to say anything. We walked into the small paddock that the horses were in.

"I brush, you braid. I'll let you get the saddles, too."

I nodded in agreement. We got to work immediately, not wanting to waste any time. We didn't talk. Just brushed and braided. I integrated the flowers into the braids so that they would look prettier. We finished in a reasonable amount of time, so I put on saddles and Beth put on bridles. She grabbed the mare's reins and led her to the house while I got on the stallion. I had just settled into the saddle when Beth came back with a small shoebox.

"Climb down so I can do this."

I did as I was told as Beth arranged the comb of the veil under my bun. I climbed back on and she arranged the veil over the rump of the horse.

"Wait here for Rick. He's gonna walk you to the stairs. I need to go make sire everyone is ready."

She walked away and left me to wait for Rick. I eventually saw him approaching, but it seemed like I waited for an eternity. He walked in without saying a word. We started going towards the house. We were almost trotting, but it felt like we were barely moving. I had to resist the urge to spur the horse into a faster pace. When I saw Carl, I immediately felt overdressed. He looked as stunningly handsome as ever in jeans, a black t shirt, and a red flannel. He had his sheriff's hat on over his fluffy hair, and he looked anxious. I couldn't blame him. I was too. Our horses stood side by side, making it easier for us to hold hands and say our vows. We gazed at each other, almost letting the world disappear. We exchanged rings and waited for the magic words. As soon as it happened, our lips collided. It was sweet and full, like nothing could end it. We heard clapping in the background, and we separated after a few seconds. We took the horses back to the paddock so that we could unsaddle them.

***A/N***

Okay hi. I am so sorry i havent had a decent update in like four months. Thats really bad but i got a new phone so now i can update regularly!!! Im gonna keep working on stuff and hopefully have this story done before Halloween. So here you go people! If i git 48 reads on this chapter i will have 1k reads and that is really exciting so thank you all for hanging with me! ❤ you all!