Love Persists

Chapter 32

Erik's POV:
I stood dressed in my suit, positioned in the spot that Mandie had shown up in my lair after being transported from the future. The nerves that I felt were more profound than ever before, even on the night that I had proposed to her. I could barely stand still while waiting for her to appear and walked through the lair towards me, not having seen her since the night before when Nadir had insisted she stay with him as it was bad luck for the groom to see the bride before the wedding.

"Erik, calm down, I do not know what you could be nervous about," Nadir spoke, looking at me with an amused expression on his face.

"Shut up, Nadir, I have plenty to be nervous about. What if she changes her mind? What if she realizes I am not the man that she wants? You would never understand, Nadir, but those fears are quite valid for a man who looks like this," I replied, realizing how strange it was for me to actually open up to Nadir like that.

He sighed, "you do realize she has stuck with you after discovering what your face looks like, after you treated her like a complete ass, and through that argument you had a few weeks ago that you have yet to tell me the subject of. I do not believe that you will be facing the problem of her leaving you."

I was about to respond, but was silenced by the sounds of footsteps on the cellar floor, approaching us. Without realizing it, I began to hold my breath, the wait before seeing her killing me inside. She finally came into view, looking more like an angel than a human. Everything about her radiated beauty and perfection. You could still see the faint scars on her arms, ones that would probably never fade, but at least now I could be there for her whenever she relapsed and she no longer tried to hide that from me.

Realizing that I was about to wed this beautiful angel, tears pierced my eyes and I wanted to pinch myself to assure myself that it was not all just a dream. Through my blurry vision I could see tears in her eyes as well, accepting her hand when she offered it to me as she approached where Nadir was waiting to marry us.

He began to ramble on as all officiants did, using a shortened version which he had altered for our wedding, knowing that we were an unconventional couple and therefore did not need the whole spiel that was often given. Even though he had shorten it greatly, it still seemed to go on forever. Mandie and I soon took to drowning him out, getting lost in each other's eyes.

We were unable to notice Nadir skipping most of the speech he had already shortened, after he noticed our lack of interest in what he had to say. Even when he got to our vows, he had to repeat it so that I realized it was my time to speak.

"Mandie, I cannot begin to explain how much you mean to me. You are the only person who has ever been able to look at my true face without horror or fear and you are one of the few people to treat me as equal. Even after I foolishly began to push you to the side, you forced me to see my incompetence. For that and for your love, I shall forever be grateful. I love you, Mandie, I have loved you for what has seemed like forever, and I never want to let you go again," I spoke earnestly, watching a tear trickle down her cheek.

After trying to compose herself, Mandie then replied, "from the moment I first saw you in my English class, I knew that you were someone special. I was was unwilling to let you go without at least trying to make friends with you, something I have been thankful for ever since. Now that we are together, I can never imagine a life without you. When you were sent back to the past, I tried to remain strong, I tried so hard to believe that it was all going to work out in the end, but I eventually broke beneath the pressure. Even though I will never see my family again, it has all been worth it to be with you. I will continue to love you even when death does part us, our love unquenchable."

"Erik, do you take Mandie to be your lawfully wedded wife? Do you promise to love, honor, cherish, and protect her, remain faithful to her alone, and hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do you part?" Nadir asked, tears even beginning to affect him as I fought to keep myself composed.

"I do," I replied, barely able to speak those simple words.

"Mandie, do you take Erik to be your lawfully wedded husband? Do you promise to love, honor, cherish, and protect him, remain faithful to him alone, and hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do you part?"

"Not yet," she replied, looking up at me, almost hesitantly.