New Beginnings: A Hessa Story (2)

Chapter 33: Hardin

"Hardin, get up!" I hear a voice nagging me as I lay in bed. "Hardin!" The same voice smacks me on the head with a pillow.

I slowly open my eyes to find Landon standing in a suit, continuing to wack me.

"Okay asshole, I'm up." I hold my hands up to stop him from hitting me. "What time is it?"

"It's noon, why are you still sleeping?" Landon asks.

I sit up slowly, rubbing the back of my neck. "I spent all of last night finishing my fucking vows."

"Oh..."

"Yeah." I slam my head back down on my pillow. The sun is way too bright for my eyes right now.

"Well, come on. Let's get some coffee in you. It's your wedding day!" He pulls at my arm to get me out of bed, and I get up.

Today is the day that I get married to Tessa. The day I have been waiting for since we got back together, and the day I honestly thought would never come. The tiniest part of me is nervous to get married, but the bigger and stronger part of me is excited. I know Tessa has been iffy when it comes to marriage, so if I'm nervous about anything, it's the idea that she'll leave me at the altar.

"So did you end up finishing your vows?" Landon interrupts my paranoid thoughts.

"Yeah, I guess." It's just a bunch of jumbled thoughts that make no fucking sense whatsoever, but it's just impossible to describe how much Tessa means to me in such a short paragraph. I got pretty personal with my vows, so I hope she enjoys them.

"You guess? It's a yes or no answer." Landon pours me a cup of coffee and sits across from me.

"Yes. I did." I tell him unconvincingly, and thankfully he doesn't question me further.

"Ken and Christian are gonna be here in a couple hours."

I nod to him, and continue to drink from my coffee.

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot. Tessa wanted me to remind you to reapply ointment."

Oh shit. I already forgot. See, I literally cannot go a day without Tessa, but I laugh at the idea of her telling Landon to remind me of such a trivial thing.

"I'll go do that."

I race quickly into the bathroom and grab the ointment from the cabinet. I sit on the toilet, and begin gently applying ointment to my incision. Memories of Tessa cleaning my wounds as I sat on the toilet of our apartment come to mind. We have come so far since then, since I used to fight people physically, treat people like shit, and hate the world. In just a few short hours, I'm going to be marrying Tessa, and all of the pain that has happened in my life will have been worth it. Tessa was worth the years of loneliness, solitude and down right misery.

"You good in there?" Landon knocks on the door, and I wipe the few tears that escaped my eyes. I am so happy, happier than I thought I would be ever in my life. I remember sitting with my mum on the stairs of my old house in London after getting in a fight when I was sixteen. She was trying to lecture me and parent, but I wasn't having it.

-

"Hardin, you can't keep getting in fights." She pleaded with me. She had to leave for work in five minutes, so she wasn't happy that my poor behavior was making her late.

"Just mind your damn business. I'm fine." I kept my head down. Little did she know I got in a fight because Edward in my class was pushing around his girlfriend. I didn't tolerate men touching women in a violent way.

"Look at you. You're all bruised up, your lip is bleeding... I don't want you hurt."

"I don't care."