It was a warm, winter morning wedding. The area faced warm sunrays. Chairs covered in white velvets were lined into aisles and several guests were seated, some standing and admiring the beautiful floral theme. At the end of each seated aisle, jasmine scented candles hung from tree branches. Spread down the aisle was white leaves, as far as the eyes could see, slightly moist so they wouldn't crack when you stepped on them.

A peach colored couch, decorated with white flowers was placed on the stage up in front and on it were the bride and groom to be seated. An officiant was standing on the stage with the Holy Bible in his hand. The wait wasn't for long, as the groom stepped on the stage and five minutes after that came the bride, walking down the aisle in her white dress gracefully. As soon as she arrived, a melancholic music produced by several violins was played. She held a bouquet in her hands, holding it in front of her chest. Little girls dressed in white gowns, wearing tiaras followed the bride closely and that's when I noticed who one of the girls was.

On her wheelchair that was decorated with silver nets sat Kelly with a wide grin on her face. Her doctor was getting married. I could almost feel her happiness.

The groom gave Ms. Frost a hand and pulled her onto the stage carefully. They looked at each other with love-filled eyes and then over to the officiant as he ordered them to stand in the middle of the stage.

I glanced towards Elijah secretly. His head was high, watching the soon-to-be couple put rings on each other's fingers. I sighed with a smile before turning back to the stage.

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"I pronounce them as husband and wife, in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. You may now kiss the bride." The officiant announced and the newly wed couple shared a kiss.

Once the clapping of hands died down and everyone went around to enjoy themselves while the couple seated themselves on the couch placed on the stage, I wavered at the beautiful setting once again. It had been so long since I'd attended a wedding. No, I'd never attended a single wedding.

"Careful!" I heard Elijah and immediately looked at where he was standing earlier. He had moved a little forward from his spot, holding the arm of a girl who had tumbled upon a stone. She was wearing pencil heels, so it was a given, walking on grass wearing such sharp heels.

"Thank you very much." She chuckled a little, looking at Elijah.

"It could've been pretty bad." He sighed and let go of her arm.

"I'm sorry for the trouble. I'd like to make it up to you...could I get your..." She couldn't finish before Elijah had already turned on his heel and started walking towards me.

Either he likes someone or he hasn't moved on from Stace. That was a great chance that he kicked away.

His eyes were locked with mine as he approached me and my heart started beating uncontrollably fast.

Stop it Gwen!

I broke the eye-contact, fidgeting with my fingers and looked ahead as he stood beside me.

"Mrs. Frost looks pretty." I said.

"And happy." Elijah added.

"Oh shoot!" I groaned," I didn't take pictures."

"Nor did I." He said and shrugged," We can count on dad though. He loves taking pictures."

"Of crime scenes." I joked.

"And weddings. They're just funerals with cake." He said.

"You don't...like weddings?" I asked.

"You're not wrong there. If it's not with the right person, it fails and...someone who doesn't deserve to, gets hurt." He looked away as he said that.

"So you're not going to marry?" I asked with plain curiosity and he turned his head towards me,"I will." He said.

Our eyes locked again but he quickly turned away," Let's go and congratulate her." He said and started walking towards the stage. Even when I was walking behind him, I thought how perfect of a guy he was. He should never stay a bachelor because that would be a pity.

There were small stairs on either side of the stage to climb up. Elijah waited for me and let me get on the stage first since I was wearing a sophisticated dress, which wasn't totally a bad thing because it made me look pretty.

Mrs. Frost swiveled her head towards me and got to her feet with a huge smile on her face. She held her gown from either sides to lift it a little from the ground and approached me.

"I'm so glad you came!" She exclaimed and pulled me into a hug. No one really expected me to come. I knew how glad everyone was...with my little act of being happy. It wasn't much, but it made me happy too.

"Congratulations on your wedding." I said and reciprocated the hug while Elijah stepped aside to greet the groom.

"Thank you honey." She said," But I wanted you to do my hair. I couldn't find you anywhere."

"It was my fault. I got confused while navigating so we ended up being late." I said," And I should be the last person to do your hair." I said honestly.

"Explains your plain hair-style." She said, glancing at my hair and shaking her head simultaneously. I was really bad at hairstyles. The most I could do was pull up a messy bun.

"Oh...that..." I uttered and she put her hands on my shoulders," I'll help you. We have to take selfies!" She looked quite determined so I agreed.

"My apologies but..." The groom spoke politely," We'll need Marie here to meet with the guests."

"You're right." I said immediately.

"Then...Elijah can do it." Mrs. Frost said and I exchanged quick glances with Elijah and her.

"Just make thin braids and leave them loose or pin them on the sides." She instructed Elijah who just kept nodding with a smile when I expected him to disagree. I kept scrunching my eyebrows in confusion and he did notice me, but all he did was smile and listen to her blabbering about how to do my hair.

"Go on. Sit on the front seats and do it comfortably." Mrs. Frost said before another guest got onto the stage with a gift and she had to attend to them.

I awkwardly got off and followed Elijah who was going towards the front row in the aisle. He dusted the chair for me, making sure it was clean and gestured me to sit down.

"Really?" I asked, not sure if he was actually going to do my hair. I wasn't against it, but I thought he was doing it forcefully because Mrs. Frost was watching us from over the stage.

"I'm going to try my best." He answered. I quickly sat down and he stood behind my chair and held some strands of my hair from the right, braiding them carefully.

Thankfully, I shampooed and conditioned my hair today.

I sighed deeply.

"What are you thinking about?" He asked while his hands were still busy braiding my hair.

"Well...I realized we don't really talk about ourselves." I said, thinking it was the first time we were not meeting up regarding the investigation.

"What do you want to know about me?" He asked.

"Like...How are you doing without Stace and what happened between your mom and dad?" I asked in a tiny voice. I figured it was too personal but I gave it a shot anyway.

"I've moved on from Stace." He answered," And my parents got divorced because they didn't understand each other. I lived with my grandma in town for a few years and learnt stuff about paranormal beings while my parents were sorting things out and when it didn't work, I had to choose."

I then understood what he meant earlier when we were talking about weddings. According to him, his parents weren't right for each other and hurt him, who didn't deserve to get hurt.

"So you chose your dad?" I asked.

"Yes. Mom still comes every weekend. She works in a law firm and has a new family." He said.

"I see... Thanks for answering. I thought you wouldn't." I said.

"Tell me about you now." He said," About Ethan."

I bit my lower lip and blinked continuously at the suddenness of the situation and the overwhelming feelings taking over me.

Elijah

I thought I went a little too far with my question. I shouldn't have brought up a topic that could break her. She had finally seemed to move on from Ethan leaving her twice, but when I looked at her eyes beginning to get teary, I realized how huge of a mistake I had made. I was about to change the topic when she started speaking.

"I...knew him since 2 years. Today's the beginning of the 3rd year." She said and I paused braiding her hair," You knew each other?" I asked even though I knew the answer. I knew that she was attached to him. The way she cried and longed for him. It was so fucking obvious.

"Nope, he didn't even know I existed." She smiled through the embarrassment," I followed him on social media. That's how I got to know things about him mostly and started admiring him. So it's more like I knew him but he didn't."

I pinned up the braid on the right side and shifted over to her left side, grabbing the same proportion of hair carefully on the left side as well.

"You never told him?" I asked.

"I couldn't. I needed something called courage, which I never had." She answered.

"Then did you tell him after he passed away?" I asked and she shook her head slowly," God gave me another chance...but I didn't use it well."

"It's alright." I said," I'm sure he's long felt it ever since you started helping him. Or at the least, he thinks of you as a good person and knows you exist."

"How are you so good with words?" She asked, looking up at me in awe," What you just said really touched me."

"Does that make you feel better?" I asked and she nodded with a smile. I pinned up the left braid too," And we're done." I said, stepping away a little.

She immediately pulled her phone out of her purse to have a look at her hairstyle. Her eyes shined with joy and she beamed at me," It's beautiful." She said," Not even a strand is sticking out of the braids."

"I just tried my hand at it. It's not all that great."

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Gwen

I was sprawled on my bed in my bathrobe after a quick shower at the end of the day. I could call it the best day after whatever had happened.

"You heard me today right?" I asked, looking at the ceiling.

No response.

I smiled at the realization that I was back to square one. Back then, when he was there but never responded to me. That thought too, gave me a hope that he was there but just wasn't responding. And some day...I would hear him say 'Gwen' in the same way he used to.

I heard a knock at my door and mom's head popped in," What are you doing?"

"I'm tired." I sulked.

"Hurry up and come down. We'll play the movie without you otherwise." She said.

Right, I need to celebrate New Year with my own family too or my whole act of being happy will go down the drain.

I got up and followed mom downstairs where dad was sitting with his legs crossed on the couch and a blanket draped over him. Mom and I settled in the little space we had and covered ourselves with the blanket and dad pressed the play button.

"Which movie-" I started off but when I looked at the screen, I paused and didn't feel like asking anymore.

It was the movie that I had watched with a killer, sitting at the same place.