Surprises

"I do," Thea said, her voice echoing the silent hall. Freya held her lips in excitement.

'Now, you have been called to love one another. With the power invested in me by the church and the word of God, I declare you husband and wife. You may now kiss the bride.'

His hand went round her waist instantly bringing her close to him. He closed the gap between them without wasting any time, sealing their lips together in a deep kiss. Absent minded to the never ending cheering of the crowd, they sealed their newly founded bond.

When he finally let go, they were taking deep breaths, paying for the lost ones.

"Hey," he said.

She smiled back immediately, muttering something similar to a 'hi'.

---

Clinging unto his arms, she smiled at the guests that greeted hem warmly.

"Mr and Mrs Ryder, what a pleasure," Ashton shook hands with the CEO of Vogue.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Gabriel," Ashton said immediately.

He pulled him forward for a hug but then whispered, "You caught a beautiful one there Mr. Ryder." Tapping his hands on Ashton shoulders reassuring and Ashton in turn, out on a smile.

When Gabriel released him, Thea was looking at them in confusion. "I will see you later, in the mean time. You need some alone time." Gabriel told him before walking away into the party.

"What did he say?" Thea asked, placing her arm back where they were initially.

"Oh, nothing important. Just something between the two of us," he said.

"I heard you guys are really close," they continued walking further towards the center of the room.

"Yes, friends with him since kindergarten. He's one of the friends that was with me through everything and I plan of doing the same."

"That's really great. A never ending friendship, I envy those kind of friendships,"

"What happened with Jane and Amelia still on your mind?" Ash asked.

"Sometimes." She chuckled. "I mean it comes and goes,"

"Well I don't want to you thinking about it anymore." Ash said to her. "You have a happy ever after ending with me now-"

"I never knew you talked about fairytales," she interrupted and they stopped walking.

"They are common stories actually and I will have you know that I watched them a lot," her hands slid to connect with his and he held them tightly.

"Oh really now, and what did you learn so far?"

"I noticed that," his hands went around her waist gently and in turn she wrapped hers around his neck. "They all end up with a beautiful bride at the end,"

"Does that make you my prince charming?" They began to move to the rhythm of the background music. The couple were given enough space to have their way on the dance floor.

He leaned to whisper into her ear. "You can say that again," she smiled and hugged him tightly.

"Thea," he said after a while.

"Hm," she replied with her eyes closed.

"I love you you know that," she finally opened her eyes. "And I promise you that you'll be happy with me." She loosened the hold she had on him.

"Ash-"

"Shhsh." She swallowed. "Remember when she were in school and everything was different, when we wouldn't even look at each other without cursing or saying something stupid that might probably cause us to quarrel for days," she scoffed as tears gathered in her eyes.

"I want to tell you something that I never told you back then," she nodded softly. "I always found you attractive Thea. I was just messing with you all those times that I said you were not my type. Back then, you always stole the attention of every boy in the team that I actually felt offended."

"Then, I was the only one you gave the opportunity to rile you up and I still can't believe that you actually chose me then."

He could hear the slight gasp of breath she took in and so, he inched closer. "You chose me then and you're choosing me now Thea, it's something to celebrate and I promise you, you won't regret it. I will make you happy for the rest of your life and as long as you stay by my side, I will be happy Thea."

"I love you Ashton, I love you so much." He smiled softly, watching her carefully. Her attention darted to his lips that were inches away from hers. He swept the hair across her cheeks and gripped her face softly. Leaning quietly, he locked his lips with hers earning her urgent reply.

It wasn't till the sounds of people clapping invaded their money that they recollected that they were still at the reception hall. She embraced him tightly, hiding her face from the crowd of people applauded them for their scene.

Scanning the crowd, Ashton could catch the attention of his family. Freya couldn't hide her smile from him when their eyes locked. They wouldn't have met again if Freya wasn't involved in that accident. He didn't know whether to be upset about it or happy. He returned her smile eventually before kissing Thea's hair before scanning the crowd again.

---

"Freya?" Freya turned to the sound of her Fiancée voice with a smile. Zachary stopped the front of her in pants from having ran quite a distance.

Her smile slowly began to slip from her face when she noticed the gloomy expression he was carrying. Without wasting time, she followed him.

"Mother," Lisa froze at the door of her car. Without hesitation, she turned to face her daughter who wore a very gloomy expression on her.

The breeze of winter swept against their faces. Two months had gone by easily but a lot of things changed within this last two months. Stealthily, Freya went down the flight of stairs only to stop in front of her mother.

"Mom, what's going on?"

"Freya, i-" Lisa tried but Freya was already staring at the bags that were being loaded inside the car.

"What's with the bags Mom?"

Lisa sighed. "Freya you were not supposed to see me leave,"

"You can't leave, you know you can't." Freya insisted instead.

"You know I can't stay Freya. In a week, I will stand before him signing our divorce papers Freya. He has been cheating on me for so long I can't stay any longer, I refuse to."

"Only a few days more please," Freya said to her as her eyes watered up. Elizabeth hugged her daughter tightly. She could only hold herself for a few more seconds.

When Freya saw that she wasn't changing her mind. She buried her face in her shoulders and cried.

"Freya, I'm not going leave the country but I'll just be a few miles away from here. I will call you." She gently released Freya's hold on her.

"You promised me mother that you'll be there for my wedding," Freya said to her.

"I did and I always fulfill my promise. I will be there for your wedding Freya, I wouldn't miss it for the world." Lisa said to her.

"Mrs. Ryder, the car is ready." Lisa nodded at the servant but Freya gripped her hand and shook her head, Totally against the idea of her, leaving.

Lisa said, to Freya. "I'll get going now," she released freya's grip on her hand for the second time. "I have to get going Freya." Freya swallowed painfully.

"You know you don't have to," Lisa only forced a smile before turning away from her daughter.

Freya didn't move an inch from where she stood. Instead, she watched as her mother sat inside the car and the door was shut after her. The servant slightly bowed at Freya before moving to the passenger seat of the car.

Silently, she watched the car drive away from them. The comforting hands of her Fiance around her shoulders tugging her to look away.

Lisa never tried to look back, afraid that she wouldn't have the courage to leave anymore. She had been dreading this moment for the past months, afraid that everything wouldn't be the same again.

Freya eventually looked away from the moving car finding actually comfort, in the arms of her Fiance.