SOULMATES

THE WEDDING GIFT

PHOEBE'S POV.

Everyone told me to marry Harold.
Even his parents had changed their minds. They didn't want to lose their son.Law had sworn it would happen over his dead body before he watched me marry Percy.Funny how quickly loyalty shifted when death entered the picture.

Why did everything suddenly revolve around marriage?The truth was, I wasn't even sure Percy wanted to marry me in the first place. Even Louis said Harold was the safer choice.Percy seemed unconcerned. Kait remained neutral. Fair never liked Percy anyway.

And here I was... planning a wedding I didn't want because I felt like I had run out of options.

~~~~~~~

I didn't know how to reach him.I had rehearsed a hundred messages in my head and deleted every one of them before they were even written. What was I supposed to say?

*I'm getting married tomorrow, but I still love you?*

So when I heard the soft knock on my window that night, my heart nearly stopped.

I turned—

And there he was.

Percy.

Standing in the shadows like a secret I had tried and failed to bury.
For a second, neither of us spoke. The air felt too heavy for words.

"You shouldn't be here," I whispered.

"I know."

But he didn't leave.

I crossed the room before I could change my mind and threw myself into his arms. He caught me instantly, like he'd been waiting for it.

"I wanted to see you," I admitted against his chest. "I just... didn't know how."

"I know," he said softly.

That was the problem with us. We always knew.

I pulled back just enough to look at him. "Say something reckless. Tell me not to do this."

His jaw tightened. His hands trembled slightly at my waist, but his voice stayed calm.

"You'll be okay."

The words sliced through me.

"I don't want to be okay," I whispered. "I want you to fight for me."

For a moment—just one—I saw it. The war in his eyes. The almost.

Then it was gone.

He brushed his thumb under my eye, catching a tear before it fell.

"Some fights," he said quietly, "cost too much."

"And losing me doesn't?"

His silence answered.

He pulled me close again, holding me like something already slipping away.

"Get some rest," he murmured into my hair. "Tomorrow is important."

"So are you," I said.

But he was already stepping back into the shadows.

And somehow, I knew—He hadn't come to stop the wedding.He had come to say goodbye.

~~THE WEDDING DAY~~

"You are the most beautiful bride I've ever seen!"

My mother's voice trembled with excitement and I laughed softly, staring at my reflection.I barely recognized myself.The white gown with soft pink accents, the makeup, the carefully styled hair — I wasn't usually the type for all this. But today, I looked... different.