Summer Rain

Extra: Forever and Ever

Please read the Author's Note at the end, because it has information about Kaden's POV and the spin-off, and one shot contest.

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(Unedited)

You're my air, when I feel I can't breathe.

Catching me, when I'm tripping over my feet.

We'll get through this together.

You're my smile, when I just want to cry.

Make it all better as you kiss my sad eyes.

I'm giving you my forever and ever.

~Forever and Ever- He is We

      Known fact: Weddings are chaotic.

     Obvious fact: They're even crazier when the two people marrying are pretty famous.

     Scary fact: There was a mountain of paparazzi and fans at the front of the house, and only a dozen or so security guards to keep them out.

      I had more or less gotten used to the cameras and people; it came with acting, but still. Besides, everyone had agreed that while a little coverage was fine, it would be bad if the cameras were so blinding that it could make someone trip while walking down the aisle. Someone meaning me. I had wiped out on the red carpet more than a couple times thanks to the camera flashes.

      The wedding was being held in the backyard of one of the many estates the Flemings owned. We -the girls of the wedding party- were getting ready in one of the guest rooms upstairs. Since Bells and Kallie looked preoccupied with getting ready, I moved to the window facing the backyard and sneaked a glance outside. The wedding wasn't scheduled to start for another twenty minutes or so, but everyone was already seated and waiting.

      The backyard looked perfect, like something straight out of a bridal magazine. The benches and makeshift altar they had brought in were stained black with cream coloured gauze wrapped around the sides and back. Fairy lights curled up the sides of the altar, casting a soft glow in the evening sky. White lanterns had been strung up above the seats so that everyone would be able to see.

      There were a lot of people here, most of whom I didn't really recognize. I had enough people to talk to for the night, though. I could see my parents in the front row, talking with Brett's parents. Devon and Shawn were seated a few rows back, talking to Blake and Avril, who were sitting beside them. They were back from Europe for a week, to attend the wedding.

      On the other side of Blake and Avril were Jared and Hayley. There had been a pretty big argument on whether or not they've been invited, because of what happened, but since a lot of friends from home had been invited, and Jared had changed, we figured it'd be okay. They had brought Jared's daughter, Melissa, who was turning five in a couple weeks. It had been a little awkward since Xavier and Freya had also been invited, but since they had decided to mutually avoid each and Melissa didn't seem to really remember Freya, so things were okay. Sort of. As close to okay as you can get with what had happened.

      Xavier and Freya were sitting across the aisle from them, with the rest of the 'Hollywood' people. We had all agreed there wasn't really any point in making a seating chart, so everyone was free to sit where they wanted. On the right side of the aisle, there was family, old friends from home and 'normal' friends. The seats on the other side of the aisle were filled with, I guess you could say, famous people. Actors, musicians, models, directors, designers that were close friends. They took up most of the first couple rows, talking about their careers, or gossip.

      A few photographers from some newspapers and magazines had been allowed in to cover the event. They sat in the last row, quietly trying to snap pictures of the talking celebrities.  Between sat some super important business people. They were invited more out of politeness than anything else. They were clients, or associates of the firm, so none of us had really spoken to them, other than Kaden.

      "Raine, get away from the window! What if someone sees you?" Kallie asked, pulling my attention from the window. She, Bells and Macy -a close friend of Kallie's who was also a bridesmaid- were sitting in front of the mirror, doing some last minute fixes on their makeup and hair. Mrs. Fleming and Brett's mom were beside them, talking, and in Mrs. Fleming's case, trying not to cry.

      I shot Kallie an amused look. "I'm not the bride, Kal, it's not bad luck," I teased, but stepped away from the window and drew the curtains anyway. As the maid of honor, I probably should've been helping Kallie with her makeup and hair, except I wasn't exactly skilled in those departments. If I tried, I'd probably ruin all the work the hairdressers and makeup artists had already done.

      "You know, I'm kind of surprised it's you're getting married," I said. It had always been kind of assumed the Clark and Bells would be the first of our group to get married, or something. Not because Kallie and Brett didn't make a good couple or anything, it was just that Kallie had always said she had more important plans than love and stuff. She had said that if she were to ever get married, it would be way after she accomplished everything she wanted to do. Then again, she had already accomplished most of what she wanted to do.

      "What's that supposed to mean?" Kallie asked, though she sounded more amused than angry or upset.

      Bells caught on to what I meant. "Nothing bad. We just all didn't expect you to be the first one of us to get married."

      "Actually, technically, Raine and I got married when we were five," A new, but familiar voice cut in. Kaden opened the door and poked his head in, eyes shut. "Is it safe?" he asked. He held a large black box in his hands, which I knew contained the flowers for the wedding. I had asked him to bring them up, because they would be dropped off downstairs and I couldn't be in two places at once. At least, that's what Kallie. Secretly, I just wanted to see him once before the wedding. I hadn't seen him for two days, and we would need to be social at the ceremony and reception.

      "Yeah, it's fine," Kallie replied, rolling her eyes. I walked over to him and took the box from his hands.

      Kaden grinned and opened his eyes. "Hi," he said.

      "Hey, no gooey eyes you guys," Macy called out from across the room, laughing. I stuck out my tongue at her. I didn't know her that well, she was a friend of Kallie's I had never met, but she was really nice. Teasing -probably part of the reason her and Kallie got along so well- but nice.

      "Clark and Viktor will be up here in a bit," Kaden said, changing the subject. Viktor was a groomsman along with Clark and Kaden. He and Brett were actually pretty close friends. I hadn't seen him -before the preperation for the wedding started, that is- since last year when we had gone to his restaurant, so I hadn't known him that well. I found out in the past couple of months that he was really loud once you got to know him, and a little weird, but in a funny way.

      "I'll be right back," I told Kallie as I started pushing Kaden back towards the door. I had to talk to him to double check all the plans for the wedding. I had done as much as I could, but since I was supposed to be with Kallie the whole time, helping her get ready, I wasn't sure if everything had gone as planned. And if they hadn't, yeah that'd be bad.

      "Okay, just don't start making out or anything," Kallie called after us. I rolled my eyes as Kaden laughed quietly in response.

      "Is the getaway car here?" I asked as I pulled him out of the room and down the hall a bit.

      He nodded, sobering slightly. This was his sister, and best friend's wedding after all. "Do you have Kallie's ring for Brett?"

      I pulled the ring out of a hidden pocket in my dress. "You have Brett's for Kallie?"

      "Yeah, about that..." he trailed off, looking away.

      I froze. "Tell me you didn't forget it," I said slowly, trying to keep calm. If Kaden had forgotten to bring Brett's ring for Kallie... That would be a pretty big problem. The rings were pretty important for the wedding.

      Then he laughed.

      Okay, so maybe he hadn't turned completely serious. "You're a jerk," I told him with a half-hearted glare as he pulled out the small band from one of his pockets.

      He grinned. "And you love me anyway."

      "That," I said. "Is questionable."

      Kaden raised an eyebrow, but instead of replying, he simply leaned closer. Just as his mouth brushed mine, someone crashed into me, causing all of us to stumble.

      "Nuh-uh-uh," Viktor tutted, as if we were children. "None of that."

      Kaden proceeded to tell him to do something that would be incredibly difficult, if not impossible, for Viktor to do with himself, but pulled away.

      "Brett's really nervous," Clark said, walking up to stand beside Viktor. "You might want to get down there before he has a seizure."

      Kaden muttered a curse under his breath and sighed. "I'll talk to you after," he told me. He pressed a quick kiss to my forehead and shot Viktor one last glare before turning to walk down the hall.

      "He needs to get laid," Viktor remarked.

      Oh. My. God. "Viktor!" I half-yelled, half-screeched, swinging around the punch him in the arm.

      He dodged, laughing. "What?" he asked with a mock innocent expression. "I'm just saying. It might loosen him up." He and Clark were still laughing as we entered the room where the rest of the girls were waiting.

      "What's so funny?" Kallie asked.

      "Kaden needs to get laid," he replied casually, as if Kaden's mom and Brett's mom weren't in the room. As if we were talking about the weather.

      Kallie scrunched her nose. "I don't need to know about my best friend and my brother's sex life, thanks."

      I let out another half-screech and buried my face in a pillow from the bed. Or, at least, I tried to. Before I could, someone snatched it out of my hands. "Makeup," Mrs. Fleming said, eyes twinkling amusedly. Right. Mostly everyone I knew and their parents were insane. I sighed, straightened and began to hand out the flowers Kaden had brought in, purposely ignoring Viktor. And Kallie. And Mrs. Fleming. And pretty much anyone in the room that was laughing at me. Which was pretty much everyone.

      "We should get down there," I glanced at Kallie. "Ready?"

      She took a deep breath and nodded.

      "You sure you want to marry-" Viktor started.

      Macy punched him in the arm. "Quit ruining the moment."

      "That's going to bruise," he muttered, rubbing his arm. They were still arguing quietly as we made our way down the stairs. Their personalities clashed like crazy, I swear. They had barely agreed on anything during the planning of the wedding. Mr. Fleming and Kaden were waiting for us at the bottom of the stairs.

      "Aren't you supposed to be with Brett?" Kallie asked, looking at her brother curiously.

      "Does no one say 'hey, it's good to see you anymore'?" he muttered. Kallie didn't reply, instead just continued looking at him with a pointed expression. "Okay, okay, I know where I'm not wanted," he said, holding his hands up in an 'I surrender' position. "I'm just here to escort Mom and Helen to their seats." Helen was Mrs. Hastings. She had told us more than a couple times to call her by her first name, but I couldn't get into that habit. It was weird, calling one of my friend's parents by their first name. Though, after the wedding, technically, Kallie could also be called Mrs. Hastings. I'm not sure which one will take longer to get used to...

      "You look beautiful," Mr. Fleming told Kallie after Kaden, Mrs. Fleming and Mrs. Hastings left.  He looked happy, but also a little wistful. After Kaden had taken over the firm, Mr. and Mrs. Fleming had started spending more time around their kids, and I knew they regretted not being there when they were growing up. They had said it a couple times during the planning of the wedding.

      "Don't make me cry, Dad," Kallie warned. We were at the doors now. The doors leading outside, just a little away from the aisle.

      "Everyone ready?" I asked, biting my lip nervously as I peeked around the doors. The pianist was just beside the door, waiting for my cue to start playing. We had gotten a baby grand piano so it wouldn't be too difficult to move into the backyard.

      "You sure you're sure you want to marry Brett?" Viktor asked jokingly, causing the rest of us to roll our eyes.

      "I've never been surer of anything else," Kallie said quietly, answering his question as if it were a serious one.

      After double checking that everyone was ready, I signaled to the pianist to start playing. "Go," I whispered to Viktor and Macy.

      "Can you believe this?" Kallie asked softly, grinning.

      "Yeah, I can," I replied, ducking down to fix her train. I peeked out the doors again. "Bells, Clark," I said as I straightened. "You look gorgeous, Kal, Brett's going to have a heart attack when he sees you."

      Kallie laughed quietly. "I hope not."

      "Might complicate things," Mr. Fleming added.

      I glanced outside. Bells and Clark were almost at the end of the aisle. I pulled Kallie into one last hug, then checked my pocket to make sure the ring was still there. Don't trip, Raine, I told myself as I started walking. 'Cause you know, that'd be really awkward and a total mood ruiner.

      It was both a good and thing the bridesmaid dresses weren't long. They fell to about the knee, which meant if I were to stumble, it'd be really noticeable. But at least I couldn't trip over the hem or something. The dresses were strapless and there was a wide band around the waist. This was where my dress was different from the others. While their band was the same cream the dress was made of, mine was black, with a small bow on the left side. That was the only difference my dress really had from the other bridesmaid dresses. My hair had been done differently, and instead of carrying a bouquet, I only held a single white rose since I would need to hold Kallie's bouquet later.

      I kept my eyes in front of me as I walked, trying to ignore the sounds of cameras clicking and resist the urge to look behind me. Brett was almost bouncing up and down. Whether it was from nerves, or excitement, or both, I couldn't tell. I think the only thing stopping him fidgeting was how tightly his hands were clasped beside me. His eyes widened when Kaden whispered something in his ear. Possibly a threat. He had been repeating the typical 'hurt-her-I'll-kill-you' threats to Brett a lot during the planning of the wedding.

      When Kaden caught my eye and noticed I had seen the exchange, he smiled innocently. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes.

      Some things never change.