Take Me to Your Paradise

Chapter 8: This is Our Story (2/3)

A/N: Some pure fluff for you. Enjoy;)

Lyrics: Simply You by Secret Garden & Niamh Kavanagh (songwriters: Brendan Graham / Rolf Lovland).

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Bradley felt the corners of his eyes prickling as he stared at the stunning sight of Stefani walking towards him, securely holding onto her father's arm; then a familiar melody reached her ears and she glanced at the band, took a deep, shaky breath, a solitary tear running down her cheek and he felt one escaping his eye in response. Ever since he had started planning this, there had been no doubt on his mind that Always Remember Us This Way was the only possible song for her to walk down the aisle to, so Mark had made a new, instrumental arrangement of it for them just for this occasion; it was their song, even more than it was Jackson and Ally's, the song that had brought them exponentially closer, bonded them even deeper in her house the day she had written it, the song that was undoubtedly, inexplicably and so perfectly them.

Christ, she was breathtaking; the white dress was gorgeous, like it had been made with her in mind, a form-fitting strapless bodice with intricate lace decorations, a full bottom part flowing down from her slender waist, her hair on a beautiful updo and a long veil attached to it, cascading down her back. And around her left wrist, the green bracelet he had given her on that final day she had spent on set, that sad, yet such a beautiful day when he had already been so deeply in love with her but unable to do anything about it, anything other than watch her drive away after their incredible kiss, his heart heavy with the knowledge it would probably be a very long time until he saw her again. And when he had seen her, in London, their relationship had changed permanently, passionately, and the bracelet had been there to see them through it all, through everything to this very day.

Stefani stopped in front of him, incredible green eyes tightly adhered to his, beautifully applied makeup really bringing out the colour; Sarah had worked her absolute amazing magic so perfectly once again.

"Hello," she whispered, her hand holding the stunning white roses trembling slightly, a wide smile forming on her face. "Fancy meeting you here."

Bradley laughed a little, so amazed by her, receiving a quick, teasing wink and all nervousness drained from him suddenly; clearly she had sensed he was slightly edgy too, overcome by the massive significance of today, had known just what to do to make him relax and Christ, he loved her even more for it.

"My God, Stef," he sighed quietly, swallowing, unable to stop himself from gently touching her cheek. "You are so beautiful."

"Thank you." She sniffled, brushing a tear from her face. "And you look so handsome, B."

Joe shook his hand, kissed his daughter's forehead and walked to take his seat next to Cynthia and his granddaughter; the band stopped playing and he and Stefani turned towards the officiant whom they had had a brief time to sit down with on the day before to go over the ceremony. She was very nice, very courteous, not at all fazed by who they were; smiling at them, she started to speak, and he held onto Stefani's fingers firmly, tried to listen, tried to refrain from constantly staring at her but truly, it was proving to be a quite impossible task. She seemed to have the same problem, watching him with warm, tender eyes and Bradley gave up the fight, just drowning into her green gaze, feeling like he was almost having an out-of-body experience; how was he this lucky, how was he the one chosen by destiny to marry this incredible, gorgeous woman? Behind them, Francesca babbled something, drawing chuckles from their guests and they turned to glance at the baby, sharing a quick grin; Stefani squeezed his hand and he caressed her skin with his thumb, held onto her even tighter.

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Her heart was pounding, excitement and happiness flowing through her veins; standing there with the love of her life, in front of the officiant, with their families and friends witnessing this special moment was everything she had dreamed of from a very young age and now it was finally reality, it was actually happening. Bradley was a warm, solid and reassuring presence next to her, his hand securely enclosing hers and Stefani kept stealing glances at his handsome face, shivering a little, just wanting to touch him, all over; his ocean blue eyes turned to her, so full of love and the power of her emotions made her swallow. Memories of another moment almost like this flooded her mind; she had already had a small taster during filming, sharing the intimate, happy occasion with him as Ally and Jackson but now it was her and Bradley and while they had already had such a deep connection back then, four years ago, she hadn't dared to hope for more at the time, hadn't dared to dream that maybe one day their paths would lead to this. He looked so gorgeous, every bit as gorgeous as he had that day, and he was there with her and everything was just magical.