We Said Yes
It was quiet.
Not the awkward kind. The sacred kind.
Jay stood in front of the mirror, veil draped loosely around her shoulders, hands trembling—not from nerves, but from something deeper. Something real.
Aries stood beside her, carefully adjusting a pin in her hair. "You okay?"
Jay looked at her reflection. "I don't feel like the girl who used to hate him anymore."
Aries smiled. "You're not. You're the woman who fell in love with him anyway."
Behind her, Percy peeked through the door with a dramatic gasp. "Oh my god. Jay Watson is soft."
"Leave," Jay muttered.
"Love you!" Percy vanished again.
Jay turned back to her reflection, steadied her breathing.
Then said softly to herself,
"I'm doing this because I want to."
The Ceremony
It wasn't grand. It wasn't loud.
It was just them.
A garden. Warm lights. Close friends and family. Jay walked down the aisle with her head high and her heart full.
Keifer stood at the end of it—no suit, just a clean white shirt, sleeves rolled, tie slightly undone like he always wore it. His eyes never left her.
When she reached him, he whispered, "You're breathtaking."
Jay rolled her eyes, but she couldn't stop smiling. "You're not too bad either, fiancé."
"Wanna make that past tense?"
She held out her hand.
The vows were simple.
Jay spoke first.
"We didn't choose how we started. But I'll spend the rest of my life choosing you. Every version of you. Every messy, complicated, soft, brilliant part of you."
Keifer's voice cracked a little.
"I used to think you were the storm that ruined me. But you're the reason I survived. You made me want forever. You are my forever."
They exchanged rings.
Not the same one from the engagement their parents arranged years ago.
This one was new. Chosen. Small. Personal.
Theirs.
And when the officiant said "You may now kiss—"
Keifer didn't wait.
Jay didn't pull away.
And Percy could be heard crying softly from the front row.
Later That Night
They sat on the ground in her white dress and his wrinkled shirt, eating leftover cake and laughing too hard.
Jay leaned against him, head on his shoulder.
"So… we're married."
Keifer looked down at her. "We were always going to be. But this time?"
He kissed her hand.
"This time, it was our choice."