Page 335 of When We Fall: Part Two
But here we were.
“Dearly beloved,” Minister Avery started.
I turned him out, lost in the awe of her. Her hands in mine. Trembling. I couldn’t see her face, but I knew she was staring back at me.
“And now, the vows. Rosalie,” Minister Avery said.
Her hands shook harder in mine, and I gave them a gentle squeeze.
She breathed out. “Evan. When we were kids, I didn’t know the word for what I felt when you looked at me. I just knew that the world quieted, and that you made all the bad disappear with just your smile. We’ve both carried scars, some seen and some no one else will ever touch. But you never looked away from mine. You learned them like a map home. You’ve seen me fall apart and helped me build something stronger from the wreckage. You made me believe love could survive hell—not by running from the fire, but walking through it hand in hand. I vow never to let fear make me small again. I vow to fight beside you, even when the ground shakes beneath us. I vow to keep choosing you. In the calm, in the chaos, in this life and every life that follows. You are my oldest memory and my forever after. My beginning, my middle, and my home. I love you, and I vow never to stop all the days that my soul exists.”
I cried a little harder as she finished before wiping hastily at my eyes.
“Evan?”
I nodded and inhaled, trying to get myself together before I spoke.
“Rosalie. You taught me that love, real love, doesn’t demand strength; it creates it. We’ve been broken, burned, buried, hurt, and you still found me every damn time. You’ve been the voice that pulled me out of the darkness, the heartbeat that reminded me I wasn’t done yet. Every scar I have is proof that I lived long enough to meet you again. I vow to guard your heart as if it’s my own, because it is. I vow never to let the world harden what’s softand sacred between us. I vow to keep fighting for you, even when the odds are cruel and not in my favor. I vow to love, cherish, and be your husband and your best friend through all the challenges the world may bring. You are my gravity and my freedom, my storm and my stillness. And if fate burns the world down again, I’ll find you in the ashes. Always,Rosie.”
Rosalie gripped my hands tighter as I finished my vows. I knew she was crying. I couldn’t wait until I could wipe her tears.
“Rosalie Bishop, do you take Evan Beyers to be your lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish until death do you part?”
“I do,” Rosalie said, her voice wavering. I slid the diamond on her finger from the box I’d given Anson. He’d held it back and kept it from Rosalie’s box I’d left for her. When I asked him why, he shrugged and said he couldn’t explain it, but just had a feeling.
“Evan Beyers, do you take Rosalie Bishop to be your lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish until death do you part?”
“I do,” I answered softly. “Forever.”
Rosalie slid a silver band onto my finger that Anson had picked up this morning from a local jewelry shop.
“By the power vested in me by the state of Colorado, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride.”
I lifted Rosalie’s veil to see my beautiful girl peering back at me, her eyes so vibrant and full of love, that my breath caught.
I crushed my lips against hers as everyone clapped and cheered, my arms around her tightly.
The kiss went on and on. I couldn’t get enough of her. I never would either.
“I love you,” I whispered against her lips. “MyRosie.”
“Foxy,” she whispered back. “I love you.”
I kissed her again as Jamie and Trent catcalled. I smiled against her lips.
I’d died and finally made it to heaven.
ONE HUNDRED SEVEN
ANSON
Everyone left for the night, staying in the place Kurt had rented, except me.
Evan asked me to stay behind because he was nervous about his wedding night.
I knew what he meant. He’d been hurt in the underground. Everett had forced his way into his body. I knew the feelings all too well.
I agreed, even though my soul was crushed.
