Save Me

Epilogue: 10 Years Later

"Blair, please! I'm starving!" Erika complained, trying to reach for the large McDonald's bag Blair was eating fries from. She wasn't getting far as Isobel told her to sit back so she could flat-iron her hair.

"No, you can't have any! You got to fit in that dress 'cause you bought it when you were a size down," Blair said, taking another fry. "So you can sit and wait until you get that dress on. Besides, this is my breakfast."

"But–Ow!" Erika said, recoiling from the hot iron touching her scalp.

"Sorry!" Isobel apologized. "But you gotta sit still. I still have to curl it afterward."

"How's my aunt?" Erika asked Blair.

"Probably pulling her hair out and giving the florists black eyes," Blair said, taking a bite out of her burger.

"Oh no," Erika said, nervous. "I'm starting to think it wasn't a good idea for her to plan the wedding."

"Hey, she volunteered. Besides we're in too deep already," she said, before dunking a few fries in some barbecue sauce.

"Was your mom like this when she planned your wedding?" Erika asked.

"She didn't leave the house for three days afterward," Blair stated plainly.

"I'm sure Sophia has everything handled, Erika," Isobel, now Erika's stepmom, told her. Erika was appreciative of her comfort but that wasn't the only thing she was nervous about.

Just then, August, now nineteen, burst into the room. She had a large pair of sunglasses on, along with a large son hat. A small backpack was on her back along with an iced coffee.

"Your aunt is driving me crazy, sis," she said, putting her bag down. She moved over to the closet full of dresses in zippered bags. "She almost had an aneurysm when I just showed up. 'You should've been here an hour ago!'"

"Well, you should've been here an hour ago," Isobel told her daughter.

"Hey, I don't have to spend hours getting my hair done like y'all," she said, stroking the side of hair she shaved.

"But you said you would help Erika with her makeup," Blair stated, brushing her fingers.

"I did?" She asked. Blair nodded. "Well, oops. Sorry I forgot."

"It's no problem, August," Erika said. She looked back in the mirror of her in-progress wedding look. I am getting married today. Just thinking about it made her freak out. When Lucas proposed a year and a half ago, she knew that she wanted to spend the rest of her life with him. Now that the day is here, the reality is so clear.

"Erika, hon, you doing okay?" Blair asked. She sat next to her.

"Blair, I'm shitting bricks," Erika told her honestly. "I feel like something is gonna go wrong."

"I feel like with your aunt in charge, she's not gonna let that happen."

"I think I should go down and check on her," Erika said, shifting to get up but being burned again in the process.

"I'm sure she has everything under control. I'll have her come up soon to come check in with you, okay? If she doesn't swing at me first."

Erika chuckled as Isobel finished with the flat-iron and took out the curling iron. She groaned inwardly at the device. She wondered what the guys were doing.

Lucas was only half dressed in his navy blue suit, in his and Erika's apartment in Miami. He failed to properly put on his shirt because of how much he was sweating. He was reading a crumpled piece of paper over and over again, crossing sentences out and writing new ones.