Long time no see, guys! It's good to be back, I've missed writing about Axel and Skylar.

This chapter is to celebrate hitting one million reads!! I don't think it's hit me yet - I seem to be in a constant state of wonderment. Either way, I wanted to thank you guys for making this book come this far!

To do this, I've created a bonus chapter for you guys, I hope you enjoy it :)

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The sunlight streams into the open room, ricocheting against the walls and making the satin covering my body glimmer with a pink hue. The room was a muddle of forced calmness, nobody wanting to disrupt anything on my day.

Our day.

Axel and I's wedding.

Sitting in the make-up chair, the make-up artists touch is light as she sweeps on my make-up. My Mom, Emma, Brooke and Axel's Mom are sharing stories in the background, but I tune them all out because I know I've heard them all before.

Three years with Axel. Three years of laughter, memories and time that we've spent together and I've loved every moment of it. He proposed nine months ago and in that time we've planned the wedding of our dreams, although admittedly it's been mainly Emma, my Mom and I.

The spring weather of Wisconsin was a comfortable eighteen degrees with the sun shining but the manageable temperature meant I wasn't going to pass out in my dress later on.

With one last touch across my cheekbones, my make-up artist steps back with a smile on her face as she hands me a mirror.

My eyes are smokey, more daring than my usual make-up, and my lips are a matte nude, lined to make them look more plump than they actually are.

"Thank you so much, I love it!" I practically squeal, my excitement rising yet another level.

"Not at all, Skylar. It was an honor." She smiles as she begins to pack up her equipment, already done with the other two bridesmaids.

Her words remind me of Axel's high status throughout the sporting world. However, he remains to be the same playful, kind and sarcastic man met three years ago - so I've got no complaints about the attention he's receiving. Until he gets to cocky, then I have to knock him down a few pegs. Just a few.

"Oh honey, you look stunning." My Mom gushes, covering her mouth with her hands as her eyes become misty with tears.

"Thank you." I blush, looking down at the floor.

A knock on the door interrupts anymore talking and when Rob's voice calls out, I go over to answer it.

"Don't open the door, I want to be just as surprised as Axel." He reasons.

I laugh at Rob's usual dramatic flare. "You know, that's usually just for the husband-to-be."

"Yeah, well, I don't care." Rob scoffs "I'm here because Axel wants to tell you that he's getting, quote, antsy with waiting for you so if you could just walk down the aisle to see him that would be great."

"It's still twenty minutes until the ceremony starts." I laugh.

I can picture Rob shrugging on the other side of the door as he says, "Only the messenger, Cupcake. Ain't got nothing else to say."

"Tell him I'm hurrying. I've just got to get my dress on." I say, turning to look over my shoulder to see everyone looking wide eyed at me.

"Okay, see you soon, Cupcake. Damn, I'm excited." Rob mutters, before his footsteps trail away.

Turning back towards the room where all four women are already dressed, I look down at my satin robe. "I think I need to put the dress on."

"I think so too, sounds like Axel is going to charge in here if you don't." Brooke says, her eyes still wide with the threat of Axel charging in here.

I laugh and nod in agreement, making my way over to the grand white closet that stands in the right hand corner of the room. My dress hangs off of the top of it, preserving it for when I put it on.

"I'm gonna fall in it or something." I laugh, trying to hide the fact that what I've just said is a genuine concern of mine.

"No, you're not. C'mon, lets do this." Emma supports, before she begins gently taking the dress off of the hanger.

Slipping into the fabric that hugs my skin, I breathe out a breath of relief when the dress zips up properly.

Proving that Rob was right - the Chinese two days ago was a risk worth taking.

Turning round, Emma and Brooke grin at me whilst my Mom looks on the verge of breaking down. Again.

Axel's Mom comes and places both of her hands on my arms. She looks me in the eye as she says, "I'm so glad my son found you."

Love glows like fire from my fluttering heart, igniting my veins in a feeling of belonging. "I'm so glad he found me."

Axel's Mom smiles before walking away, muttering about ruining her make-up. A knock on the door stops me from letting my amused chuckles slipping past my lips. Brooke walks to the door, her burgundy dress swaying around her heels as she oozes confidence.

"She's right here, I hope you've got your tissues ready." Brooke distant voice says before letting my Dad walk into the room.

I'm drawn aback by his outfit as he stands decked out in his tuxedo. Hair gelled back, my Dad's usual t-shirt seems to be a distant memory for today - thank god. Reaching out, Dad places a hand on my shoulder, giving me a watery smile.

"You too?" I groan, frustrated that everyone is emotional apart from me.

"Can't help it, Honey. You look beautiful." He nods. "Now are we ready to go? I'm beginning to regret giving Axel permission to marry my daughter."

Yes, Axel did ask my Dad for permission to marry me. Old fashioned, sure. But my cheeks hurt from smiling whenever it's brought up because I never would've pinned down Axel to be traditional like that. His gesture meant more to me than I think he'll ever know.

"C'mon old man, let's get you down that aisle." My Mom says, smiling cheekily at my Dad when he glares at her.

"I'm not old."

"Your daughter is getting married, so yes you are. But she won't be getting married at all if you don't hurry up." My Mom ushers.

Turning to Emma and Brooke, I hug both of them before watching them head downstairs to where the ceremony is being held. My Mom runs out of the room a couple of moments later, eager to get her camera ready.

With my Dad and I remaining in the room, my Dad offers me his arm and I take it with a shaky hand. Making our way out of the room, the walk is quick and before I know it, all that's separating me from my future husband is a pair of oak doors.

"Nervous?" My Dad asks, glancing at me with our spare ten seconds.

"I just want to see him." I reply honestly, squeezing his arm.

"Lets do this, then." My Dad nods and the doors open, letting Brooke and Emma walk through in front of us.

The music filters through my ears, light and classic. Taking my first step into the room, my heels echo against the hardwood floor as my lips part with love at the sight of the room.

With fifty of our closest loved ones filling the white, wooden chairs, they all send me smiles of pure elation. Daylight streams through two main bay windows and in between them, an arc of flowers cascades down.

Around Axel.

His eyes are soft as his eyes look around me, overwhelmed at the sight of my dress. His toned body is encased in a black suit, his tall body looking even more tempting than usual. But the way he lets out a small sound of excitement as we get closer to him makes me almost drag my Dad down the aisle.

I love this man and I need to make it known to the whole world.

My dad kisses my cheek and shakes Axel's hand as we come to the end of the aisle, the end of the last walk I'll take without having Axel as my husband.

Stepping forward, Axel offers his hand to me and I slide my hand into his own, shivers making my way down my spine as the realisation dawns on me that he is mine and I am his.

Stepping up, I send the officiant a small smile before returning my eyes to Axel's. His blue eyes light up and when he mouths you look gorgeous at me, I squeeze his hand and will the time to go faster.

"We're gathered here today..." The officiant begins and I tune out, embracing every single sound around me as I know this is the first and only time I'll ever do this.

The floral smell of the flowers around us lingers, but Axel's familiar and comforting smell overpowers everything else. The room is silent as all of our family concentrate on the wedding. Axel's hands play with my own and I almost giggle when he starts stroking back and forth against the inside of my wrist - my weak spot being used against me.

I tune back into the words being spoken just in time. "And now, the couple have prepared their own vows so, Axel if you would like to begin."

Excitement and anticipation ignites through my body, speeding my heart up until it's thundering. Not even reaching for notes, Axel takes a step closer to me before he begin speaking.

"It's safe to say I'm pretty obsessed with you, Skylar Black. From the very first day you stood outside of the stadium, I was intrigued. Admittedly, our cooking wasn't the best," Axel pauses to look at the crowd as they laugh in understanding. We laugh along with them before Axel draws another breath, returning his focus onto me. "But the moments we had together because of it were worth it. The intrigue that I initially felt was soon replaced by feelings of love - ones that have grown so much that I can't remember a time where you weren't everything I thought about.

"And I don't want to ever discover a time where you're not all that I think about. When you agreed to marry me, it's safe to say you made me the happiest man alive. I'll spend every day hoping to make you feel the same because that feeling of love is never going to away." Axel finishes, his smile breaking my fragile heart even more.

All at once, the tears make sense. The watery smiles are just common sense. The gasps seem like a day-to-day regular occurrence.

Because at that moment, I understood why everyone is emotional. A lone tear trails down my cheek as I stand in front of the man that loves me for me - making me feel as though I'm about to combust from emotions right on the spot.

""Skylar." The officiant urges gently.

Sweeping my hand across my cheeks, I laugh as I remove any evidence of my tears before re-joining my hands to Axel's.

"Yeah, sorry," I say to the officiant before turning my head to Axel, "Thanks for that."

"You're welcome." Axel winks, resulting in another round of laughter from the crowd.

"Yeah, so we started with cooking. But, um, I don't think we really did. Sure it brought us together but it was you who made me fall in love with you. Your kind heart that seems to shine brighter than anything I've ever known. Your sense of humor that never fails to bring me back up, even when everything seems dark around me. You're the person I fell in love with three years ago, Axel and ever since - my heart hasn't stopped trying to yell at me that you're the one.

"I love you for everything you are. Thank you for making me feel like the luckiest girl alive. I'll spend every moment of the rest of my life knowing that we're made for each other and that nothing can drive us apart because I love you, Axel McSmith."

Axel's eyes mist over and I almost take a step back in shock. Axel has never gotten to the point where he gets so overwhelmed that he cries. Bringing my hand up to his mouth he kisses it before looking back at me, his eyes once again clear.

We exchange rings and say the two words that define the rest of our lives. The words roll off of my tongue as if they were waiting there for my whole life - my brain just deciding when to use them. A pause of anticipation settles over us as I repeat the same words as Axel.

It's anticipation that's physical. In the way that my hands twitch to touch or use something. How my minds seems to of had a constant buzzing but now there's silence and focus - it's deafening. Breaking the silence is my heart, thundering against my chest as I breath in and out slowly, keeping a smile on my face to mask the fact that this anticipation has settled into my body and now it's desperate to get out.

Just like how I'm desperate to be Axel's wife.

"I now pronounce you husband and wife." The officiant says, taking a step back to clap their hands.

The crowd follows and I'm faintly aware of the tsunami wave of noise, but it settles back into just a ripple when Axel slides his arms around my waist. Dragging my hands over his shoulders before taking his face in my hands, I shut my eyes as Axel's lips press onto my own.

Or rather, as my husband presses his lips onto my own.

Moving them in a desperate pace, my body relies on Axel's to keep itself upright as my knees give out from under me. My body swirls with adoration as I kiss him back just as fiercely, not wanting this moment to ever end. The bliss flows for moments after before we draw back, facing the crowd with grins too big for our faces.

I laugh and lean into Axel before making our way back down the aisle. We're hurried by our photographer into a room for a group shot before we know it, but the room is empty and I finally get some alone time with Axel.

"Hello, Mrs McSmith." Axel grins cheekily, wrapping me up in his arms as he draws me towards him once again.

"Hello, Mr McSmith." I giggle, placing my forehead on Axel's chest.

Using his hand, Axel cups my chin and pulls me in for another kiss. One that pours so much love through it that I feel spaced out for moments afterwards.

Separating, Axel breathes, "I love you, Skylar."

"I love you too, Husband." I smiles, before kissing him once more.

"Mmm, I like that." Axel grins, tightening his arms around me.

Sill wrapped up in Axel, I don't here the door bang open until I hear Rob's voice shout, "They're in here! C'mon, Axel man, I need to look good for these photos."

Letting out a huff, Axel places his lips against my forehead as he murmurs, "He's right, I do need to look good for these photos."

"I'm pretty sure he was talking about himself." I laugh, pulling away from Axel in an attempt to keep my make-up nice.

"Who cares about him? This is me and you today, baby. C'mon lets go pose and look hot." Axel grins, amusement lighting up his gorgeous eyes that I've never gotten bored of staring into.

"Let's do it." I smile, my cheeks beginning to hurt from all of the smiling I've been doing today.

We're posing for nearly an hour. Different shots with bridesmaids and groomsmen, as well as family members and parents. By the end of it, there's around thirty of us in the room as I pose for one last photo.

The click goes off with finality and I remove my arm from around my cousin. Making my way through the crowd, I'm thankful for Axel's broad and tall body as I easily spot him in the sea of our loved ones.

"I think I'm dead." I groan, interrupting Axel's conversation with Emma and Rob.

"I hope you're not. We've made it to the fun part, we get to party now!" Emma squeals, clapping her hands.

Resting my head against Axel's arm as I let out a hum in agreement, the excitement slowly building in me once again.

Bending his head down, Axel whispers in my ear, "Marrying you was the fun part."

Scoffing, I pull myself of off Axel's arm to look him in the eye. "I'm one-hundred percent sure that you thought of that an hour ago."

Shrugging, Axel doesn't give me an answer as he grabs my hand and kisses my knuckles.

A member of staff comes in and calls for all family members excluding the wedding party to go through to where the reception is being held. They all leave in a flurry of excitement. Once it's just us, we move to line up outside of the doors.

"See you in there, I'll reserve all of the bottles of champagne." Rob reassures.

"I'll keep your drunk Aunt away." Emma smiles.

"Thanks guys." I smile back before taking my place beside Axel at the end of the line.

Each pair gets introduced individually and the line slowly dwindles down until there's just Axel and I left.

"Ready?" Axel asks.

"With you? Obviously." I grin back, linking our hands together.

From the inside of the room, a voice calls out our cue.

"Now, please put your hands together for the new Mr and Mrs McSmith!"

And we take a step forward both into the room and into our new married life.

••••

Heyyy :)

Long time no see, guys! How have you been? What did you think of this bonus chapter?

After the epilogue, there was a lot of requests for a wedding scene so I thought it was only right to include it! For anyone wondering, I imagined Skylar's dress and flowers to look like this:

But as always, imagine what you want :)

I hoped you enjoyed this bonus chapter, make sure to leave a comment if you did!

Much love,

Jade x