a perfect contradiction • lrh

Happy Endings

Luke’s POV
Somewhere on the cliffs of Big Sur

The sun hangs low over the sea, gold bleeding into the waves like someone tipped a jar of honey across the sky. There are maybe forty people here. No massive crowd. Just those who matter. Those who stayed. Those who helped piece us back together when we thought we might never be whole again.

Chase stands beside me in a linen suit that looks ironed to death. He’s not even trying to hide the tears pooling in his eyes. Neither am I.

Jess is in the front row, camera in hand, but not snapping a thing- just holding it to her chest, eyes glassy, cheeks pink from smiling too hard. Abbey, radiant and barefoot, has just glided down the aisle in a seafoam green dress with wildflowers in her hair. She winked at me as she passed.

The music changes.

Everyone turns.

And then I see her.

Eleanor.

My El.

She walks barefoot, her white dress trailing gently behind her, the hem embroidered with wildflowers in delicate thread. Lavender. Daisies. Poppies. California blooms that remind me of her- soft, chaotic, beautiful. Her hair is curled gently, and wild in the wind. A single scar shows beneath the sheer sleeve of her gown, and I think I’ve never seen anything more sacred.

She’s not perfect. She’s real. She’s stronger than anyone I know.

She catches my eyes and smiles, her hands wrapped tight around a bouquet made of wildflowers and forget-me-nots. The world spins and stills all at once.

God, I can barely breathe.

When she reaches me, I take her hand and press a kiss to her knuckles. She smiles, tears already caught in her lashes.

Chase passes me the vows, but I don’t even glance at them. I know what I came here to say.

I speak, my voice rough but steady.

“I used to think I didn’t deserve much. Not peace. Not softness. Not love. But then you walked into Retro Records and changed everything. And when I tried to push you away, you stayed. You taught me that being broken doesn’t make me unworthy. That scars don’t ruin a person—they just prove that they’ve survived.

You are the strongest, bravest, most breathtakingly real person I’ve ever known. You saw something in me when I couldn’t see it in myself. And now, every single day, I want to be the man you believed I could be.

I vow to hold your hand through every storm and every sunrise. I vow to laugh with you, cry with you, fight for you, and grow with you.

You are my song, El.

And I promise, for the rest of our lives, I will never stop singing for you.”

She’s sobbing. And I’m not far behind.

Chase hands her a small, crumpled tissue. She laughs, dabs her cheeks, then clears her throat.

“I never believed in fate.

But then I met you, and everything that had ever hurt suddenly made sense. You were the reason I survived. The reason I got up and kept going.

I used to hate my scars. I used to wish I could erase everything. But now, I look at them and see the chapters that led me to you.

Luke, you are kindness in chaos. You are steadiness in the storm. You are music in a world that sometimes feels silent.

I vow to love you through every quiet moment and every loud one. I vow to hold you close on the hard days and dance with you barefoot on the good ones. I vow to choose you, every single day.

You are my home.

And I’ll never stop coming back to you.”

---

The celebrant doesn't even finish the sentence. We move together instinctively, like gravity, like fate, like two halves of a single soul finally snapping into place.

I kiss her.

And the world erupts into cheers, laughter, and a thousand wildflowers thrown into the wind.

She is mine.
I am hers.
And this- this is the start of forever.

A/N
This marks and official end to my time in wattpad and what a lovely, surprising journey it has been. I have loved attempting create characters and stories and have learnt so much about myself in the process. Thank you if you've managed to read this far, I am forever grateful for your time <3