love again 2 [z.m au]

∞ f o r t y - f o u r ∞

Evelyn

We always talked about our future wedding day when we were in high school, from planning the color scheme to what we wanted our dress to look like; dreaming of how perfect we wanted it to be.

Alexa and I stood side by side and watched as our best friend walk down the aisle as that dream turned into reality.

As usual, I was a crying mess by the end of the ceremony. I noticed Zayn taking quick glances at me and hiding his chuckles.

Before the ceremony started he asked me, "so how many times do you think you'll cry today?"

He knows me too well.

Dinner was catered, music was playing and everything was just so beautiful and what Lauren and Niall pictured for this very day.

"Mommy! Can I pretty, pretty, pretty please have a cupcake?" Ella asked with a slight grin on her sweet face.

"Have at it, baby girl," I said, pushing the plate towards her direction, watching as she excitedly unwrapped and took a huge bite out of it.

"Seven times," Zayn told me.

I looked at him oddly. "What are you talking about?"

"You've cried a total of seven times today."

"You really kept track?" I laughed, shaking my head at him.

"Mhm," he nodded, feeding Ash a chocolate covered strawberry.

Several minutes have gone by and it was time for the speeches from Louis, Niall's right hand and best man, and I.

I stood up with the mic in my hand, letting out a deep breath.

"Hello, everyone. For those of you who don't know me, I'm Evelyn, the matron of honor and best friend of the bride. I just want to express my gratitude to Lauren and Niall for including us all to celebrate this special day."

"The first time I met Lauren was in the sixth grade when she kicked a kid in the shin for bumping into me and not saying sorry as all my papers and notebooks fell to the ground." The crowd laughed and Lauren was smiling too much already.

"From that day forward, she has been my best friend since and I'm so happy to be able to watch her marry the man of her dreams. When you've been close to someone for this long, you gather a lot of juicy secrets and hilariously embarrassing stories, however, I will spare you from those stories because 1) It would take me days to tell them all and 2) because I respect Lauren too much to embarrass her on what is supposed to be one of the best days of her life. But, if you happen to catch me anywhere else, the embarrassing stories are fair game."

I turned my gaze towards her. "Lauren, I want you to know that I rewrote this speech about 50 times over. There aren't any words that define the kind of friend you've been to me. There are also no words to describe how happy I am for you and Niall."

By now, I'm sure I've shed a few tears already.

"We have always said that God made us best friends because our moms couldn't handle us as sisters, and to this day I still believe that's true. We've had some crazy adventures, like our sleepovers and summer vacations. We have our inside jokes and think we're hilarious. That's why we're sisters, because nobody else would understand, and nobody else seems to get just how cool and hilarious we really are."