JEANIE

I have a hard time keeping my eyes open as I stare blankly at the counter, doing my utmost to not fall asleep as I sit on the stool in the kitchen. Mom stands behind me, cooking eggs and bacon, which makes the kitchen smell like heaven.

Travis walks into the kitchen.

He sees me, and grins. I do the same.

"Morning sleepyhead," Mom greets him as he pulls out a stool and sits next to me. He rests his hand on my thigh and I lean my head over onto his shoulder. He kisses my forehead.

"Did you sleep?" I ask him, and he shakes his head.

I smile. "I didn't either," I admit as Mom places our plates of breakfast in front of us.

"Why didn't you two sleep?" Mom asks.

I give Travis a knowing smile.

After we came home from Franny's yesterday, I took Travis home to Mom, and she practically did the same thing I did. She cried. She was really happy he was home and we spent the whole afternoon and dinner time talking to her, and then we all went to bed.

Except Travis and I. We sat in the living room, talking. I don't think I've talked so much in my life, but we both knew we needed to know what happened to us this past year and even the year before. There were a lot of laughs and tears shed, but it was so satisfying and good for the soul that we got everything out in the open.

It's been two years since I was able to share anything and everything with Travis. I hadn't realized how much I missed it until it happened last night.

We woke up, side by side, on the living room couch too early in the morning, then tried to go back to sleep, but I guess that didn't work.

So now, on my wedding day, I will be a zombie.

It's worth it though.

"We talked last night," I say, and Mom sits down across from us. "We talked about the past two years and basically caught each of us up with what happened in our lives when we were not together."

Travis squeezes my knee.

I take in a breath. "We're gonna leave here in about an hour," I say, glancing at the clock.

Mom frowns. "Where are you going?"

I share a look with Travis and we both smile. I turn back to my mom. "To the courthouse."

Instantly, she gets it. "Oh, just, just give me time to get ready, I'll come."

I shake my head, sorry for making her miss this, but we already decided we want it to just be the two of us, and no one else. The witness will already be there, as well as the judge, so we really don't need anyone else.

"Sorry Mom, it's just gonna be us. We already decided."

She looks heartbroken. "Oh, ok."

I rub her arm. "No one else will be there, just us. We don't want it to be a big thing, since it already happened once, and we don't want to plan. We just want to get married."

Mom smiles. "I understand. Are you dressing up?"

I look at Travis, and see his frown. I laugh. "I guess not."

Travis pokes my side. "I didn't say anything."

"Your face gave you away." I laugh again, reacting to his poking me with jumping. "I mean, I don't care, I just want to go."

His expression couldn't be happier.

It's how I feel.

Mom stands. "Well, eat your breakfast, then go get ready and change, and then I'll see you off." She starts to eat her eggs and bacon and so do I.

Travis already finished.

Once I finish my food, I go straight to my room and pick out a nice shirt and jeans. I put them on, fluff out my hair, decide it's fine down, then walk out of the room into the living room. Travis is there, with a pair of shorts and t-shirt on, looking handsome.

He sees me and walks over to me. He places his hands on my waist, leaning down, "You look beautiful," he whispers, kissing my lips. I kiss him back, wrapping my arms around his neck.

"Oh, there you are!" Mom exclaims from behind us, breaking off the kiss. I lay my arms on Travis' chest while he hasn't let go of my waist as we both turn to my mom.

"We're ready," I say.

She smiles, then holds up her camera. I almost groan, but then hold it back. This is her way to participate, and I may want a picture in years to come.

We don't look as pretty, but Mom snaps away and gets a bunch. Travis grabs my hand, and pulls me out of the house. He already has the necessary documents in the car, and so all we need to do is get to the courthouse for our appointment.

It doesn't take long to get there.

We were silent for the whole car ride there.

Travis parks, then walks over to my side of the car and opens my door. He helps me out and we walk in hand in hand, the papers in between my arm and side.

The courthouse is huge and cold as we walk inside. We found a receptionist to tell her our names and appointment time. She tells us to take a seat.

We sit down on some comfy purple seats, waiting for the judge to call us in.

"Are you nervous?" Travis whispers.

I shake my head. "No." I look at him. "I've already done this once," I say, and he smiles.

"True. We look a lot different though."

I nod. "Yeah, we're dressed so differently, and..." I trail off, searching his face. I finger his beard. "You have a beard."

He grins, fingering it as well, stroking it. "I do."

"I like it," I murmur.

"Yeah?" He asks, looking surprised.

I nod,."Yeah. You look handsome."

He smiles.

We both turn to the empty courthouse, still waiting to go inside the room. It was crazy that we even got in this early, since we came in here yesterday with our papers and they asked us to set a date.

Travis said today.

They said they can do that, which might be uncommon, but I wouldn't want to wait a few weeks.

I've waited two years to marry Travis again.

We get called into the room.

I grab Travis' hand as we walk in quietly. The judge is standing there waiting for us, a pen and paper on the table in front of him. I grin, giddy at the prospect of signing that paper and being married to my best friend again.

The man smiles at us.

We stop in front of the table.

I wasn't sure if he was actually going to perform a ceremony, but there is literally no one here to watch us except...

The doors behind us open, and Lucy walks in.

I smile at her, and she is already grinning. I called her last night and asked her if she'd be our witness, and even though I basically ruined her relationship with her boss and good friend, she immediately agreed to come and be a witness.

"Sorry I'm almost late. I was booking it," Lucy speaks in a quiet tone, smiling at the both of us as she comes up to the table.

"Thanks for coming," Travis says, and Lucy nods.

"Of course, I actually can't believe you invited me to come, so thank you."

The judge clears his throat, and we stop talking. He gives us pens and shows us where to sign on the paper.

Travis goes first, and signs his name.

My turn.

I lean over the paper, my heart full of joy as I sign my name.

Lucy has to sign her name as a witness.

Then it's done.

I look at the guy. "Is that it?" I ask, feeling Travis already wrap his hand around my waist and pull him close to me.

The judge nods.

I look at Travis.

His eyes twinkle.

"We're married," I whisper.

He kisses me. "We're married," he agrees.

Lucy cheers.

We decide to go out to lunch to celebrate and we invite Lucy along. We are sitting down in a booth as a fast food place. The waitress just took our order, so now we are back to conversing.

"Have you tried talking to him at all?" I ask Lucy who takes a sip of her water.

She shakes her head. "I stayed at my Mom's yesterday, not wanting to stay at his place. He'd probably kick me out anyway."

I was told how her dad got out of jail early and I went to the hospital to see her after her anxiety attack, but apparently those continued every time she saw her dad, so Elias, her boss, told her she could stay at his house. I would imagine that would be awkward, but I guess they are really good friends.

Except he looked in love.

"Do you think you'll be fired?" I ask.

She shrugs. "Maybe. That's not really a reason to fire me, but I guess if he got proof, I could go to jail, I guess. I don't really know the rule on hypnosis, but I'm sure I could have gone to jail for what I did."

Travis shakes his head. "I don't think he will," he comments.

We both look at him. "How do you know?" I question.

He smiles. "He's in love with her."

I look at Lucy. "Is he?" I ask.

She nods slowly. "He told me, last week, of his feelings, and I basically shot him down, obviously, because I was still pining over you." She gestures to Travis. "But just yesterday, after you guys told him about everything, as he was walking out and I was afraid I just lost another guy, I realized how much I did love him and how much I want him in my life," Lucy admits.

I smile. "I could tell you were after talking to Travis.'

Lucy smiles. "Yeah, but I might have ruined it."

I flinch at her heartbroken expression. "I ruined it. I'm sorry."

She shakes her head. "No, no, you didn't realize I didn't tell him. It's my fault, I should have told him, I was just... too ashamed." She hangs her head. "No I don't know how he feels about me and that's what scares me."

I place my hand on top of hers. "Lucy, I think if he really loves you, he'll fight for you. Even if you made a mistake. He must know you paid for it, and that we've forgiven you. I think the thing that hurts him most is that you did it. If he loves you, and you didn't tell him, he might just feel betrayed."

Lucy sighs. "Probably. He told me he was gonna wait." Her eyes fill up with tears. "I kept trying to tell him I wasn't worth it, and I'm thinking that's what he's thinking right now. He may actually take my advice." Tears run down her face, and my heart breaks for her.

I want to say something that would comfort her, about hope for the future, but nothing comes to mind. I turn to Travis.

"Lucy," Travis says softly and Lucy lifts her head. "If Elias somehow regrets you, and things happen and you never see each other again, maybe it's not meant to be. But I believe the guy for you would never leave you for whatever you may have done. If Elias does, he's not the one."

She nods. "Yeah but if he leaves, that'll hurt more than I can bear."

He takes her hand. "You were in love with me, right? It took a long time, but eventually, you got over me, right?"

She sniffles, but nods.

"It'll hurt, but if you have to move on after Elias, you will, eventually. It'll take time, it's a wound that has to heal."

Lucy lets out a whimper. "But I don't want to move on," she cries, placing her face in her hands. I stand, and sit in the booth next to her, wrapping my arms around her. I just hold her close as she cries, ignoring all the looks we are getting.

"Shh, shh," I soothe, rubbing her back, holding her close.

Her cries get quieter, and I pull away, pushing her hair out of her eyes.

"Then fight for him," I say to her, and she looks at me with her tear rimmed eyes.

"What?" She asks.

"If you love him, and believe you can have a life with him, then fight for him. Show him, tell him how much you love him, and don't let him push you away. You deserve happiness Lucy and if Elias makes you happy, then I believe you belong together."

She looks stronger, as if she has absorbed my words. Her eyes lift to mine and she nods sharply.

"Okay. I will," she has a determined tone, which makes me smile.

Travis leans forward. "We're here, if you ever need to talk, or if you need me to beat him up. Jared and I have ski masks and baseball bats laying around somewhere." He winks at Lucy.

She smiles, chucking a little. "I'll let you know."

I grin, and resume my seat next to Travis.

The waitress arrives with our food.

We eat quickly, pay for it, then leave. Travis and I hug Lucy and watch as she gets in her car and drives away. I'm not sure what she's going to do at the moment, but I know she'll eventually have a plan for Elias.

I only hope Elias listens to her and forgives her.

He seems as if he deserves some happiness as well. I don't know him, but I can tell Lucy makes him happy, and maybe that's what he needs.

I just hope he'll see that.

All hurt is worth it when it comes to the person you love.

Travis stands next to me. "What do you think he'll do?"

I shrug. "Hopefully accept her."

He nods. "Me too. Lucy deserves love."

I smile, turning to him. "I'm glad you guys are okay. I was concerned when you first came back, and I saw Lucy's expression. I could tell she didn't know how she felt when she saw you, but I'm glad I can see a change in her now when she looks at you."

"How does she look at me now?"

"As her first love, but more as her big brother. She told me when I came back how much she felt protected by you and I think that's why she fell in love," I pause, remembering the time of her in the hospital, with Elias by her side. "Elias was at the hospital when Lucy got hurt, and he stayed by her side. I didn't know who he was, but I thought she meant a lot to him. And then Lucy told me that he wanted her to stay with him at his house because her dad would visit her mom and every time she would see him she'd get an anxiety attack or close to one."

"You're saying he's protecting her." Travis gets it.

I nod. "Yes. I believe that's all she wants. Her dad didn't protect her, he hurt her, and right now, he's continuing to hurt her. All she wants is protection by a man who loves her. I think that's her point of when she realizes when she loves someone like that. For you, it was when she told you of what her dad did to her."

He nods, dipping his head. "I remember."

"She told me that's when."

"She realized?"

I smile. "Yeah. My realization is very similar to hers."

His eyes pique with interest. "Oh, yeah? How so?"

I clear my throat. "When you told me you were leaving. I thought I was already in love with you, but when you said that, it all clicked, and that's why I ran. I didn't want to have to think I would have to live without you."

Travis gathers me in his arms. "You'll never have to again," he whispers.