“Gently, this time.”

“I make no promises.” I could hear a smile in her tone.

With a deep breath through my nose, I closed my eyes and inhaled the ease of the day. No fuss—that was the condition of this wedding. No giant cake, no reception—well, I didn’t win that one, but cocktails and hors d’oeuvre’s don’t count as a reception—no wedding cars, but, lots of red roses.

“Honestly, Ara—” Emily tugged and pulled at the last of the plaits, “—I wish you had’ve let me tie this up.” She stood back and leaned forward, quickly fluffing the front of my hair. “But then again—maybe not.”

“Is it good?” I asked nervously.

“See for yourself.” She spun the tall mirror around, and as I stood, I stared at the unnaturally beautiful girl in the reflection. “Now, I left the top braids in, and look—” Emily pointed to the crown of plaits atop my skull where little fake ruby stones coloured each cross-section. “Pretty, right? Since you’re not wearing a veil this time, I get to use bling.”

“Em, it looks...” I touched the tips of my curls and smiled at how pretty they looked, cascading over the low back of the dress. “I look good enough to marry David.”

“Hm.” She pressed her finger to her chin. “No, all you need is bonnet, and you could be marrying Mr. Darcy.”

“Well, I have my own Mr. Darcy now, Em.” I smiled, flattening the front of my dress. “And this time, I’m not letting him go.”

“Here.” She passed my bouquet; completely red roses, with a white ribbon binding them together

“Thanks.”

“You’re gonna be fine, Ara. You look perfect.”

“So do you, Em. I like red on you.”

She smiled down at her knee-length dress, her face awash with wistfulness, then shrugged off whatever thought she had, returning to the now with a smile. “Are you wearing this?”

“It’s appropriate, I think.” I took my locket from her fingertips, dropping it back into place.

“Yeah, it is, I suppose. What about this, I’ve never seen this before?” Her eyes stopped on my silver bangle.

“It’s new—sort of. It was David’s mother’s.”

“He gave you his mother’s bangle?” her voice peaked.

“Yeah, why? What’s wrong with that?”

“Nothing.” She swallowed, the corners of her lips twitching as she quickly looked away.

“Em? Are you okay?”

“It’s just—” She exhaled. “You know how I feel about David.”

“Do I?” The shock of her sudden outburst remained, forcing my brows into an arch.

“Yes,” she rebuked. “He’s always been a good friend to me. I—” she straightened the ribbon on my bouquet, “—I just never imagined I’d be at his wedding, standing next to his bride.”

I grinned. “Oh. You fantasised about being his bride?”

Emily laughed softly. “We all did—every girl at school.”

Yeah, especially you. “Do you love him, Em?” I asked carefully. Tension squeezed my lungs like a bolt being tightened.

Emily took a short, ragged breath through her nose. “No. Not like that—but he’s…he’s special to me.”

Hm, special, huh? “I’ll be good to him, Em.” I tilted my head to the side. “You know that, right?”

“I do know. Besides—” she wiped a tear from her cheek, “I’ve got an eternity to make sure of it.”

“Well, not yet. We still have to convince David’s friend to change me.”

“While outrunning a mob of bad guys,” she added. “Did he tell you she was called out to New England?”

“Who?”

“His contact. She won’t be there when you guys arrive. She was called over here for some major case of torture.”

“Ooh, that’s just so freaky. And no, David didn’t tell me that.”

“Oh. Maybe you weren’t meant to know.” She bit her lip.

“It’s okay. He won’t be mad you told me. I mean, what I know and don’t know is the least of his problems, right?”

She smiled up at me in the mirror. “David will look after you, Ara. He won’t let them catch you.”

“I know. Doesn’t mean I’m not terrified.”

“Only because you don’t really know what he’s capable of, do you?” She folded her arms softly across her waist, tucking her bouquet under her arm. “I hunt with him. I’ve seen what he can do. You shouldn’t be afraid.”

“I’m sure that puts your mind at ease. But he keeps himself a secret from me—doesn’t really show me the vampire.”

“Just like Mike doesn’t show me the guy he is with you.”

“He will.” I nodded. “Just give him time.”

“Time is all we have,” she said and hugged me. “Come on, we have to go. It’s nearly midday.”

“Okay.”

“Are you ready?”

“Too ready, Emily.”

She left the room to gather the rest of the guests and send them out to the oak tree where David and I first held hands, and I took a moment to look around.

Things are different this time; I don’t feel empty, lost and alone. I don’t need to think about the sadness of childhood passing, or the longing to move on. I’m happy. Complete.

In the hinge of the old mirror, as I turned to take one last glance at the bride, I noticed a single red rose. “David?” I spun around, searching the room for the cheeky vampire. “You better not have looked at my dress!” I called to him anyway, sure he was around here somewhere.

The rose smelled of sweet, approaching summer, watery and cool. I plucked it from the frame, smiling.

My life begins today.

Meet me at the doorway to our forever, David’s voice hummed in my mind; I placed his rose in the bouquet and left the room—without looking back.

The billowy curtains, slightly transparent, gave way to the serene setting beyond the back porch. Dad greeted me by the formal dining table, offering his arm as I lifted my shoulders and dropped them again with a sigh.

Although I may be a little nervous, my long-time friend—the old oak tree—expressed its cheerfulness today; tickling the gentle breeze with its flourishing leaves, full and green, despite the newness of the season.