Serena

"You look amazing," Will complimented me, as I fussed around with my dress.

"Do I?" I asked, grinning.

Will wrapped his arm around my shoulder and nodded. "You always do," he said and I kissed his cheek.

Tiff had invited both Will and I to attend her special day. It was really sweet of her, since it wasn't a usual thing to invite the person from whom you got your dress.

With Tiff, I didn't think of her as just one of my customers, I thought of her a friend and so when she invited us, I accepting. There was also the fact that I was close with her family.

The only thing that I'm not overly enthusiastic about when it comes to wedding, is the effort it takes to get ready. Now I know I'm not the bride, but even being a guest, I was going to be in a picture at least and I didn't want to look dull.

"You're finally going to meet Emma and Mr Hunter," I told Will.

He'd missed them the last time at the dinner and they had gone back home after. This was the time they'd properly meet him.

The ceremony was a little too hectic and I didn't want to get in the way by dragging Will around to meet them, so I thought I'd wait till after, till the reception.

"Should I be scared?" He asked, with a worried look across his face.

"No. But maybe a little nervous," I joked and he playfully narrowed his eyes at me.

Taking his hand, we both walked towards the entrance of the hotel, where the ceremony was to be held in one of their halls and then made our way there.

Just as we walked into hall, I could see Emma and Mr Hunter, standing by one of the tables.

I squeezed Will's hand, gesturing over to then and he nodded, before I then began to lead him towards them.

As soon as Emma spotted me, she smiled brightly.

"Ah darling. It's good to see you," she greeted, quickly pulling me into a hug.

"And you too, Emma," I said, hugging her back. "You look beautiful as always."

As she pulled away, she shook her head. "You're too kind," she said.

"Um, I think I deserve a compliment too?" I looked to the side and saw Mr Hunter standing there with a grin on his face.

Emma snorted, as I smiled at him. "You look handsome as ever," I told him.

"I know," Mr Hunter shrugged, with a smug smile.

His smile then left when he looked beside me. "And who is this young man?" He asked, staring Will down.

I cleared my throat, before preparing to give introductions.

"Mr Hunter, Emma, I'd like you to meet my fiancé, Will," I gestured to him and then back to them. "Will, this is Emma and Peter Hunter, Liam's parents."

Will put his hand forward. "I'm so happy to finally meet you both. Serena's told me a lot about you," he said.

"Good things?" Emma asked, as she shook his hand.

"Endless amount of good things," Will grinned.

Mr Hunter shook Will's hand and then looked at me. "Atta girl. I knew I liked you," he said.

I smiled, whilst Emma shook her head.

"She's always been a sweetheart." Emma looked at me fondly and then back towards Will. "We've heard great things about you too."

Mr Hunter then put on an intimidating look, one that had me in surprise as well, he even puffed out his chest slightly.

"You take good care of her, you hear me? I may not be young, but I will still put you in the ground if you hurt my Rena," he threatened Will.

Well, this was unexpected. But cute too.

Will nodded, looking a little scared. "Understood."

"Easy, honey," Emma tapped his chest. "Let's get you some food," she then said.

Emma gave me a look, one that nearly had me laughing as she led him away from Will and I.

"So that was...interesting," Will looked like he released a breath of relief.

I laughed at his nervousness. "They're protective," I shrugged.

Will then let out a snort. "Is there anyone that isn't protective over you?" He asked.

His words sounded bitter, but they were far from it, and I could see the playfulness in his eyes.

"Have you met me?" I asked rhetorically. "Who wouldn't want to protect all of this?" I teased, gesturing to myself.

One thing I've learnt over the years is that... confidence is key.

Will looked me up and down, giving me a lazy smirk. "True," he agreed and then wrapped his arms around my waist.

"I can't wait for when it's time for you to show me how amazing you are at dancing, whilst I step on your feet, and keep apologising," he said and I couldn't keep my laughter in.

I placed my hands on his chest. "Why do I keep you around?"

Will then gave me an incredulous look. "Are you kidding? Why wouldn't you keep me around? Have you seen all of this?" He echoed my words, stepping back, and gesturing to his body.

"Dork," I said.

Will let out a laugh, before he froze. There was a weird look that came over his face, one that had me worried. He looked like he'd seen a ghost.

"Will? Are you okay?" I asked, placing a hand on his cheek.

He seemed to snap out of whatever he was looking at and then turned to face me.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm good. I'm okay," he said, although it sounded a little rushed and breathless.

"Are you sure?" I asked again, since I didn't buy his words at all.

He nodded. "I'm fine. I promise."

I eyed him a little skeptically, before nodding slowly. Maybe it was nothing? Or he'd just tell me after. Either way, I didn't want to push, especially since it looked like he was still processing.

"Okay," I said, slowly.

Will then grabbed my hand. "Come on, let's go sit down," he said, leading us to our table.

The wedding reception was quite fun. Watching Tiff and her husband enter the hall, with beaming smiles was adorable.

I really didn't know many people here and neither did Will, but we managed to strike up a conversation with the people at our table. Then when the awkward silence struck, Will and I went for a dance.

We only had one dance, before one of Tiff's guests, an elderly lady, asked to dance with Will. She was so cute, obviously I couldn't say no. So, I was currently stood at the sidelines, watching the two of them dance.

"Serena!" I heard a little shout and immediately knew who it was.

Turning around, I saw Bea running towards me, holding onto her pink dress as she was bound for me.

I quickly crouched down and held out my arms. Bea giggled as she crashed into me, her arms looping around my neck. Immediately, I hugged her tightly.

"Oh, my little bumblebee," I grinned, her energy was so infectious, I couldn't help but smile. I pulled back from the hug and smiled at her. "You're so cute," I said, cupping her cheek gently.

She giggled in response and gave me a peck on the cheek.

"Thank you," she smiled.

When I stopped up, Bea looked at me with wide eyes, like she was enthralled.

"You look so pretty too. Like a Queen," she said, her hand coming up to touch the fabric of my dress.

Bea ran her hand over the fabric so carefully and gently, it was like she was afraid she'd ruin it somehow. She looked almost fascinated by it, but I guess the slight shine to it might have distracted her.

I gave her a little courtesy. "Why, thank you, princess," I said and Bea laughed at my gesture.

Before I could question where Liam was, since she was alone, I saw him walk up towards us.

"Hey," he smiled.

I smiled back. I found it really adorable that Liam wore a light pink tie with his suit, so that it matched Bea's dress.

"Hey, Liam," I greeted him, smiling widely.

Just when I thought he'd say something more, possibly talk about the ceremony, the reception, or just make any kind of conversation with me, he instead stood there, seemingly frozen.

I frowned and then quickly glanced behind me, in case there was someone else that he was staring at. But there wasn't anyone, or at least no one that should warrant that kind of response from him.

When I looked down to see Bea, she also had a pout on her face. I don't she understood why her father had glitched either.

"Liam? You there?" I waved my hand in front of him, trying to snap him out of whatever trance he'd found himself in.

It seemed to work, as Liam shook his head and cleared his throat.

"Yeah. I'm here...I...You look..." he began to say, but stumbled through whatever he was trying to say.

I swear this seemed to be happening a lot. It was as if I needed to twist a key in his back, like one of those wind-up toys, to get in motion.

"Planning on saying a word?" I teased him.

"I just-...what I mean is..." Liam trailed off.

I held in my laughter. He was so hopeless. I nearly lost it when I looked at Bea again and she was shaking her head and then face palmed.

"Daddy, just say she looks pretty," Bea tried to help him out.

I had to cover my mouth with my hand, to stop myself from bursting with laughter. His four-year-old was helping him speak, I couldn't deal with him.

"Right. Yes. That," Liam nodded, rubbing the nape of his neck sheepishly.

"That?" I asked and then rolled my eyes. "You're useless."

Bea reached to grab my hand. "Yeah, you're useless, daddy," she repeated my words and I finally let out that laugh.

Liam playfully glared at Bea who was laughing with me. When he looked at me, I gave him a smug smile with a shrug.

"You want to dance with me?" I then asked and Liam looked like a deer caught in headlights.

"Me?" He questioned.

I let out a snort and then shook my head.

"No. I'm talking to Bea," I said.

"Yes!" Bea exclaimed, tugging at my hand.

When I looked back at Liam, his expression looked a little disappointed. Did he want me ask him for a dance? Surely not.

Before I could dwell on that any longer, Liam smiled again and I shook the thought away.

I'm probably imagining things.

"Let's go show them how it's done," I told Bea and we began to make our way to the dance floor, where I saw Will was dancing with another elderly lady. Someone has a fan club it seems.

"Hey, Rena?"

I turned back around when I heard Liam say my name.

"Yeah?" I asked.

"You look..." he tried to say something once more, but his mouth just opened and closed, much like a gaping fish.

I shook my head. We'd be here for ages if I had to wait for him to finally complete his words.

"It's okay, Liam," I smiled and his mouth closed again. "Thank you, anyway."

Seriously, he was hopeless.

After dancing with Bea, then Will, Tiff and a few others for a while, I had to take a break.

As I was walking back to my table, I felt my heel strap digging into my ankle, only when I went to bent down to fix it, my problem only increased.

I felt like the back of the dress had either ripped open or possibly the zip had broke, since I now felt cool air on my back.

"Shit," I cursed and immediately plastered my back against the nearest wall.

As I tried to sort myself out, I saw people walking past me, giving me a weird look, watching my struggle.

Curse this dress, for being annoying and also not having pockets. I left my phone with Will because of that.

Just as I stretched out one of my arms, ready to flag someone down and ask for help, someone walked into my arm.

"What the-" he turned and of course it had to be Liam. "-...Rena?" He questioned, looking at me weirdly.

Keeping a straight face, I stared back at him. "Yes?"

He looked around and then back at me.

"What are you doing?" He asked.

I clearly my throat a little awkwardly, knowing how exposed my back was right now.

"I um-...you know, just chilling," I said. However, my words came out more as a question.

Liam looked a little amused at my answer.

"Stuck to the wall?" He questioned.

"Yeah, it's normal," I defended myself, whilst knowing it really wasn't.

"No, it's not," Liam chuckled, but his amusement then quickly vanished. "Wait, is something wrong? Are you hurt?"

I could see the way his eyes scanned over me, checking if for any sign of hurt probably. Although, I don't quite think my bruised ego would show.

I sighed, knowing he won't just leave me stuck to the wall like this. "No, it's just my dress."

He looked confused and glanced down at my dress. "What's wrong with it?"

"Something's wrong with the back of it, I may have ripped it or the zip broke," I told him.

I knew this dress would cause some kind of issue, since it was a bit fiddly in the morning, but it was too beautiful not to wear. I didn't even have a backup option.

It was a gorgeous dress and one that I had found after hours of online searching.

"Oh," Liam responded to that.

"Can you get someone for me?" I asked. "Like Emma or Will? Or just-"

I stopped talking when I saw Liam turn around and begin to take off his suit blazer.

"What are you doing?" I questioned.

He didn't say anything, instead he took the blazer off and held it open in my direction, for me to wear.

"Wear this for the time being. Then we can go find Will and he can help you out," Liam offered.

I shook my head. "No, it's okay. I-"

He sighed. "Rena, everyone is mingling with guests and having fun. I can't see my Mum or Tiff, and I can't see Will either. It's okay, take the blazer. You can return it after."

I was ready to decline his offer once again, but then the cold wall was beginning to make me be shiver slightly and when I felt the dress slipping from my shoulder, that was when I decided.

"Okay" I agreed.

I quickly pushed off the wall and slipped my arms into the blazer he held out for me. I could feel my dress begin to slip past the shoulders, but I just managed to hold it in place.

"Thank you," I smiled.

Liam turned around and nodded. "Okay, let's go," he said.

As we walked I saw him roll up the sleeves of his shirt, removing the cuff links as well. He looked like a man on a mission and I bit back my laughter, the thought amusing to me. He seems to determined to find Will, more than me.

"Liam, you can relax. You look way too tense," I commented, when I saw the look on his face.

He turned his head towards me and smiled.

"Sorry. I just...I don't want you to be uncomfortable because of your dress. It's better we find Will quickly and he can help you," he said.

I wasn't entirely sure what to say to that. He was this worried about my dress? I guess it's sweet of him. He also probably wants his blazer back.

"Thank you," I replied, assuming that was the right thing to say.

He gave me a smile. "Anytime," he said, and then shook his head. "Well not anytime, since I don't want your dress to rip again, but I mean if it does, I'll help again. Or you could just get a different dress. Not that this one doesn't look nice on you, it does, really, but maybe one that doesn't rip. Or you can, you know, it's up to you. But not that-" he rambled on.

"Liam. Breathe," I said, laughing at him.

He took a deep breath. "Sorry," he smiled, sheepishly.

Finally, we found Will. Of course he was eating.

"Will," I said his name, he looked up with a smile, before confusion came across his face seeing the blazer on me and Liam next to me.

He then got up. "Well, that's one way to accessorise," he joked.

I shook my head. "Something is wrong with dress ripped at the back. Liam gave me his blazer for the time being, I need your help to fix it."

Will nodded, realising the situation.

I turned towards Liam. "Your blazer-" I began to say, just about to shrug it off, when he held his hand out to stop me.

"Keep it, for a moment. At least until the dress situation is sorted out. You probably don't want to fix it out here," he said, gesture to the hall we were in, where everyone could see me.

"He's right," Will said. "Let's sort out the dress somewhere and then you can return it."

I nodded. "I'll come find you later, to return it," I told Liam.

He smiled. "No problem. I'll see you later," Liam said, before walking away.

"Come on. Let's sort you out," Will chuckled and held my hand, leading me away.

Finally, Will managed to sort out my dress. We had to use a safety pin to secure the zip for now, as a short term solution. I'd have to get it fixed later.

When Will left to get me a drink after that stressful situation, I quickly found Liam, wanting to return his blazer.

Luckily, he was stood by the dance floor, watching Bea dancing with Mr Hunter. It was quite an adorable sight.

"Thank you for your help," I smiled, holding out his blazer.

He took it from me, gently shaking his head. "It was no trouble."

"It was still sweet of you. So, thank you," I smiled and Liam just nodded. "I better go find Will now. I'll see you later," I added, echoing his words from before.

Just as I turned around, I heard Liam call out my name.

"Yeah?" I questioned, looking at him.

Only this time, he wasn't gaping like a fish.

"You really do look gorgeous in that dress," he said.

I let out an amused breath. "Thank you, Liam. Finally, you get words out," I said.

He shook his head, not saying anything in return but held a smile on his face, along with reddened cheeks.

"I actually wanted-" before he could finish his words, Tiff approached the two of us, tugging on Liam's arm.

"Liam. Come dance with me," she whined, seemingly a little tipsy. I was quite hilarious.

He looked at me, a little apologetical and I nodded. "It's fine, we'll talk later," I told him.

"Thanks, Serena," Tiff then said, dragging Liam with her and I laughed at the expression on his face.

Just as I turned away from them, a glass was held out in front of me. "Drink, madam?" Will asked.

"Why, thank you," I grinned, taking it from him and leaned against his shoulder, turning to watch the people on the dance floor.

"At some point, we should probably start our planning," I said. Usually, there was always something delay us, but it seemed like the perfect time now.

I felt Will tense and waited for him to say something, express shock or just joke about it and exaggerate that 'finally' we could start the wedding planning, but instead he was just silent, which was usual for him.

Tilting my head up, I looked up at him. "Will?"

He didn't respond and continued to look frozen. It was much like earlier, when he seemed dazed.

"Will?" I shook his arm.

He snapped out of whatever thought he was in and looked at me. "Yeah?"

"Are you alright? You keep zoning out. Is something wrong?" I asked, starting to feel a little worried now.

"Yeah, yeah, I just thought I saw someone familiar," he said, shaking his head.

My brows furrowed together. "At Tiff's wedding?" I asked confused. "Babe, I don't think I even know anyone else here, apart from the Hunters."

"It's a small world," Will then said.

"I don't know if it's that small," I chuckled and he laughed with me.

"You're right," Will nodded and then smiled at me. "Dance with me?" He asked.

I was a little worried about the randomness of it, but Will didn't give me a chance to reply, as he took out glasses and placed them on a table and held my hand.

"Let's show 'em how it's done," he said.