Beginnings • c.h

Epilogue (pt.5)

Anni POV

I sway back and forth, happy to be just dancing in the arms of my new husband.

"Did I mention how absolutely ravishing you look, Mrs. Hood." Calum whispers down into my ear. I tilt my head back to laugh with him, and I catch sight of all my friends' and family grouped together watching us move slowly around the dance-floor.

I glance back in Calum's direction to see him staring directly at me, the clearest sign of awe and adoration in his shit-brown coloured eyes. No matter what changes he went through overtime, I had always had the security of looking into those same coloured eyes from when we first met.

"Only a couple of times, Mr Hood." I cheekily poke back. Calum leans forward, and whilst pressing his pouted lips to my forehead, I hear him mumble something.

"God, how did I get so lucky?" I pretend not to notice what he'd said, instead focusing back on the sight of all your best friends having a good time. Luke and Lacey were standing together off to the side of the group, caught up in their own mysterious little bubble.

But that was just them though. Lacey and Luke were both shy kind of people when in a social setting, and constantly relied on each other to remain calm. They were the complete opposite of Michael and his recently acquired girlfriend, Kayla.

They were both the life of the party, continuously bouncing off of each other's witty and often perverted comments to draw a laugh from the crowds often surrounding them. I didn't mind Kayla that much, but often I found myself comparing the poor girl to Megan.

It wasn't fair on her, and I know it, it's just hard knowing that your old best-friends boyfriend had moved on, and with someone that was so similar to Megan. She looked nothing like her of course- blonde hair and green eyes; she was the polar opposite of Megan. But she made Mikey happy and that was good enough for me.

Ashton and Aimee are standing with Michael and Kayla, nodding and laughing along with whatever the topic of conversation was. I quirked a smile at how they both stood. It was almost like they were the exact same teenagers as they were seven years ago.

They stood with their arms wrapped loosely around each other, occasionally stealing a glance to one another and blushing when they got caught. It was heart-wrenchingly cute. And so were the bouncing little toddlers chasing each other around between the other guest's legs.

"Stop looking at everyone else and focus on the main event, Anni." Calum whined, nudging his nose with my own. I let out a faint giggle, riding an absolute wave of euphoria.

"It's just so nice to see all of my friends and family here- well, almost all of them." I say, trying to battle back the threat of tears trying to escape. Calum pulls back from me, and sends me a sad look.

"Come on, Anni, don't cry. We all miss Megan- you know we do. But she wouldn't want you to freaking cry on your wedding day; you know that better than anyone."

"Everyone cries at weddings Cal. Even you did." I let out a watery laugh. Calum's cheek darken and he refuses to look me in the eyes.

"I had something in my eye, okay? I didn't cry."

"Really? Because I honestly though I saw a tear when I was walking down that damn aisle."

"Shut up, Anni."

"You shut up."

"Why don't you?"

"You know what? I might just file for that divorce now." I joke, poking him in the ribs. He lets out a laugh and lets out a low whistle.

"Well if you do, we might break the record for the shortest marriage ever. Shorter than Kim Kardashian and Kris Humphries, they lasted like 72 days or some shit."

"I'm honestly frightened by how much you know about the Kardashians' lives, Cal."

"You can't talk! You're the one that got me obsessed with that damn reality TV show!"

Calum stares at you with a straight face for a couple seconds before you see his mouth twitch. I let out a small giggle and suddenly Calum and I were in hysterics, laughing at our own stupidity.

"Oh my god, I love you so much." I manage to wheeze out between laughing fits. We had stopped dancing long ago, simply to caught up in one another to keep the motions going.

"Not nearly as much as I love you." Calum laughs back, taking me back in his arms. I merely hum in response, too happy in the arms of my new husband to think about starting an argument I would surely lose.

"You know what I think, Cal?"

"What did you think about this time, Anni?"

"You know how we constantly meet new people, new fans, new family members I can't help but think that if we didn't meet so many people, saying goodbye would be a lot harder."

Calum's hands press harder to my back, the warmth of them radiating through the many poufy layers of the stupid dress I was wearing. I look up into his eyes, and get caught in them like so many times before. He presses a tender kiss to my lips, causing my eyes to flutter. Pulling back he whispers,

"Well, nothing is as easy as Beginnings."

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THAT'S ALL FOLKS! This is finally it (for the second time lol) and I feel like a heavy weight has been lifted off of my shoulders. I felt really bad about the way I had previously ended this book and I feel a lot better knowing that it finally ended up the way I wanted.

Thank you so much to the amazing support of friends, voters, commenters and all the other readers. You are the inspiration that drives my writing, so thank you!

For the last time on Beginnings:

Big love xx

Morgan