Truly, Madly, Deeply

Chapter 41: The Wedding

"I wanna welcome you to a day that, in this family, will last forever. I wanna welcome each of you and I wanna thank you for coming to share and be apart of this today. We're gathered here together to celebrate the love between Niall and Ana. They will begin their new married life...today, with all of you, the people who are most dear and important to them. Marriage is perhaps the most amazing yet terrifying adventure we take with our significant other. Don't let it fool you, though, this ceremony will not create a marriage; the unconditional love, the laughter, the support, the tender kisses, the quiet moments that stay between the two of them...that's what makes a marriage. I am so delighted to be apart of such a beautiful ceremony for an even more beautiful couple."

Niall watched Ana float down the isle like a queen and he was so sure he could never love anyone or anything more in his life. The Palace they had rented only made her look even more beautiful, as if that was even possible. He looked down the bridesmaid isle, smiling to himself; all of Ana's favorite ladies looked perfect in their blush colored gowns. He looked down the line at each of them. Lou, Caroline, her close cousins Madison and Jessica, her closest model friends Adriana, Candice, Behati, Jasmine, and Lais. And first in line with the role of Maid of Honor, of course, was Ariana.

Then he looked back at his line of groomsmen, all looking as dashing as ever. Liam, Louis, Harry, Zayn, two of Ana's cousins, Julian, Ed, Jamie, and the Best Man was his older brother, Greg.

All of the guys gave him nods and looks of approval, boosting his ego and pride even higher than it probably needed to be.

Hey. He was marrying his best friend. He deserved the ego boost.

The ceremony went by fairly quickly and, after pictures, the reception was fully under way. Friends, music producers, people from record labels, celebrities, and friends of friends packed the palace. Just before dinner, the hired MC for the night tapped on the microphone to gather everyone's attention.

"Ladies and gentleman, give it up for the Maid of Honor!"

The crowd of at least 500 people clapped and cheered as Ariana stood from her seat beside her sister and walked to the edge of the table to grab the mic. "Thank you," she said with a smile, waving at the crowd. "For those of you who don't know me, I'm Ariana Jones, sister of the bride and the Maid of Honor. Although, I think I should be called Best Woman, but whatever." The crowd chuckled as she cleared her throat to begin her speech.

"You know, the week after Niall and Ana first met," she started, giving her sister a big smile. "I just knew that she liked him, I knew he was going to stick around for a while. I mean, she wouldn't shut up about him. So I figured if he meant that much to her after just a week then I should probably get to know him. And I'm not kidding, people, when I say that I knew instantly that he was the most perfect person for her. They were both constantly eating, constantly laughing, constantly loving without it being official. Everyone just kind of assumed they were together even though they weren't yet. So, time went on and these two kept calling themselves "best friends". It was cute, but it wasn't enough for me, at least. And then the day Niall asked me if it would be okay if he could ask her out, I just...I knew. I knew that one day we'd be standing here after a gorgeous ceremony, celebrating the love between them."

Ariana paused for a moment, taking a deep breath as a few people here and there clapped and whooped. "Ana, I just wanted to say thank you, because I don't think I have. Thank you for teaching me how to do makeup and paint my nails and for binge-watching Gossip Girl while eating hoards of ice cream with me after a break up." Ariana started choking up and this brought tears to Ana's eyes. Ana reached up and rubbed her sister's back, comforting her. "Thank you for always being the first person to tell me 'Good morning' and 'Merry Christmas' every year and for sharing your friends with me because God knows you were always the cool one. Thank you for teaching me how to be a strong, independent young woman. Thank you for being the most incredible big sister."