An SK Kind of Wedding

Chapter 7

Wedding Day

I wake up to a throbbing pain in my left shoulder. Thank god, it is just a graze, but it bleeds like crazy. My father is a doctor so he patches me up. He said I didn't need any stitches. All throughout, Nick never leaves my side. He tells me about what happened to Kurt, who is now in police custody.

After what happened the past couple of days, Nick went to the police (he had a politician friend who had contacts) and made sure we had security during the wedding. What he didn't count on was Kurt slipping through because he posed as a guest. In fact, Kurt was able to seduce one of my high-school friends and got himself invited as her plus one. Suffice it to say that when said friend found out, she was very apologetic. I couldn't blame her. Nick was really a charmer.

My gown is ruined and one side is soaked in my blood, my skirt ripped from the back, sides and front, and the hem spattered with Kurt's blood. Nick's pristine white shirt is stained with my blood. We are still in the church and all the guests are still around. We are the only scheduled wedding on that day.

"Hey, Carrie," Nick says gently.

I look at him, my supposed to be upswept hair a mess and my make-up ruined. I also have open wounds on my face from where pins from the veil scratched me when I whipped it off me.

"You look so in character right now," he says smiling the smile I love.

"Yeah, cue the pig blood dropping down on me now," I answer sarcastically. He laughs.

"Can you imagine how cool our wedding photos would look like now?" he asks.

I smile wide and then giggle and then laugh.

I freaking love this guy!

So yeah, the wedding is still a go! I don't change out of the ruined gown. Someone hands me the shoes I discarded on the aisle. The veil and train? Nah, can't use them anymore. My hairdresser unpins my hair and just lets it hang down. My make-up artist tries to clean my face up as best he could.

And I am back where I started. Walking down the aisle on the arms of my father, whose barong is also speckled with my blood, and my mother, whose soft gray gown is smudged with dirt as she was the first one, apart from Nick who dropped to her knees when I fell in a swoon.

The choir's version of Canti Chorum reverberates in the small church. I am still alert for anything, but my eyes are fixed on the beautiful man waiting for me at the other end, his shirt bloody. His entire entourage also had blood-Kurt's blood—on different parts of their attire.

The ceremony flies by in a blur. I am only aware of the man beside me, his hand in mine. When the priest says that Nick can kiss his bride, he holds both my hands in his. He looks into my eyes and smiles.

"Carrie, thanks for saving my life," he whispers as he moves his face closer to mine.

"Nick, you're the one who saved my life," I whisper back, thinking about my post-Kurt life of uneasiness and lack of trust.

"Cue pig's blood now?" he says, his eyes twinkling, his lips are mere millimeters from mine.

I look up just to check if there really is a bucket ready to spill blood on us and instead I see the lone yellow balloon floating right on top of us. Earlier it had been an ominous sign, considering a red balloon was used by the hated clown in It to lure children to their deaths, but if it weren't for the balloon, I wouldn't have noticed Kurt going for Nick. So, it turned out to be a lifesaver.

For some reason, I find it extremely funny, so I laugh, but it is short-lived because Nick is kissing me, and nothing else matters.

o o o o o

Oh, and yes, our wedding photos are epic.

Best wedding ever.

Stephen King would be so proud.