Page 121 of Broken By Silence
Crew clears his throat beside me. “Alright, before you two start eye-fucking each other in front of the priest, maybe we can get this show on the road?”
Lottie lets out a small laugh, and even Elijah cracks a smile, shaking his head. “You’re an asshole.”
“Yeah,” Crew grins, “but I’m your asshole. Now hurry up before Roman starts crying again.”
Roman glares at him. “I wasn’t crying. There was smoke.”
Oscar smirks.“Right… Smoke… From your eyes.”
“Shut up,”Roman signs back, but he glares playfully at him.
The priest, visibly terrified and probably reconsideringall his life choices, clears his throat. “Ahem. Right. W-we are gathered here today, in the presence of… God, I suppose?—”
Mom coughs pointedly, hand resting on the gun at her hip. He swallows hard. “In the presence offamily,” he corrects quickly. “To join these… six people?—”
“Five,” Elijah cuts in. “She’s already married to me.”
Oscar grins.“Not if we vote you out of the marriage. I hear divorce is still an option.”
Elijah’s glare could curdle blood. “Try it,” he mouths.
The priest looks like he’s seconds from fainting. “Right. To… renew their vows, and to celebrate the union of?—”
Lottie’s laughter bubbles up, bright and unrestrained. “You don’t have to make it sound so weird,” she teases softly.
He stammers. “I-I think that ship has sailed, my dear.”
She turns to us then—first Elijah, then me, then Crew, Oscar, and Roman. Her gaze lingers on each of us in turn, and in that moment, the chaos, the blood, the pain—it all fades away.
“I don’t know what I did to deserve any of you,” she says, voice trembling but sure. “But I know that I’m here because of you, because you fought for me. Because you never gave up.”
Elijah retakes her hands. “We’d burn the world for you,” he says simply.
She smiles through her tears. “You already did.”
The priest’s voice wavers. “Do you, Lottie, take these men?—”
“Don’t say men,”Oscar interrupts, and I relay what he’s signing.“Makes it sound like she’s starting a cult.”
Lottie giggles, wiping her eyes. “It’s fine. I do.”
“Do you all,” the priest sighs, clearly done with us, “take this woman to be… whatever it is you people are?—”
“I do,” Elijah says first.
“I do,” I echo quietly, because there’s never been any other answer.
Crew smirks. “Hell yeah, I do.”
Roman nods, eyes still red. “Always.”
Oscar winks at her.“Till death do us part, or until Elijah kills me.”
Elijah groans, pinching the bridge of his nose. He says, “You’re unbelievable.”
The priest gives up completely. “Then, by whatever authority I have left, I now pronounce you all… something.”
Cheers erupt from everyone. Mom and Dad are clapping so loudly I can barely hear anything else, Peter laughing through his tears as he stares at Lottie like he remembers her playing dress-up as a kid.
