A Coalition Story

Redo

By the time her brother Peter had walked her to the altar, Ravyn was debating pulling a Buttercup and taking her own life after the wedding. It would be sweeter than any death Lev would ever give her. It would be her last act of control.
Ravyn was not the classic blushing bride as she stared Lev down at the altar. He, in classic Lev style, smirked at her cruelly.
"I object!" She couldn't imagine who would object to her wedding and had an actual valid point that her father would accept, but Ravyn's heart soared with hope nonetheless. Hesitantly, not wanting her worst fears to be confirmed that this was a prank, she glanced at the entrance to the chapel.
Ace.
Ace walked down the aisle, fixing his crooked tie and his shiny gold cufflinks (cufflinks she had once joked he should buy to match his silverware. She never knew he'd actually bought them).
The next five minutes passed in a blur that even the quick witted Ravyn couldn't process.
She wasn't marrying Lev.
She wasn't being condemned to a life of abuse and torture.
She was marrying Ace. Her Ace. The man she loved, her closest friend. The most important person in her life.
How on Earth was this happening?
Before she could really understand what was going on, Cal had rewalked Ravyn down the aisle, she had her dead mother-in-law's old sapphire hair pin tucked into her braided bun, and Atticus was rambling about poetry and soulmates and golden silverware and Nutella.
Then it was her turn.
Silence sat for a few moments as she stared at Atticus.
"Can I kiss him yet?" Ravyn asked, turning to face Torin. "I can kiss him now, right? I don't care." Luckily, Ravyn hadn't been allowed to wear heels that day (her aunt knew Ravyn would only stomp on Lev's foot if she had been allowed stilettos), so she was at a height that was perfect for her to stand on her tiptoes and kiss the man she loved.
Atticus and Ravyn had been best friends for two years. They'd been through Hell together again and again. She'd put him through Hell again and again. And now here she was, marrying him, and finally kissing him.
Slowly, reluctantly, Ravyn pulled away. She could barely breathe, and judging by the look on her now future husband's face, he felt the same.
"Ace, I-I don't know where to begin. I'm not eloquent like you are, I don't have quotes and poetry to recite. I'm only eloquent when I'm threatening someone or making a snarky comment, but now I guess you're stuck with my snark for the rest of our lives." Ravyn laughed softly, still in shock at everything that had happened in a matter of minutes.
"I don't know who you had to threaten or kill to get my dad to approve this, but because of that, now I get to marry you: my best friend. The man I have realized I'm completely, inordinately in love with. And yes, I know I probably used that word wrong. Again, not eloquent when I'm professing my love for someone." Another soft laugh, and Ravyn shook her head. Now she was the one rambling.
"I love you so much, Atticus Hamish Blackbourne III, and yes, I do." She didn't hesitate this time in pulling Ace's head closer to hers and kissing him. As far as Ravyn cared, the ceremony was over. She had Ace, forever now, and she wasn't going to lose him ever, ever again