(The Next Day)

(Aaliah's Pov)

Today was the wedding rehearsal.

We drove all the way to port of Hayman Island and rode the ferry there right after the club.

Thank god for late check ins.

Im pretty sure I wont be able to keep a straight face during the rehearsal.

We havent seen any of the guys since, but the girls have talked to their husbands on the phone. Im the only person who hasnt spoke to their "man". 

I didnt have the maturity in me to do that.

The rehearsal began and I was directing everybody on where to go and how to come in, since I was my own wedding planner.

Just adding on more stress.

It was now time to practice walking down the aisle. 

The bridesmaid and grooms mens walked in sync and then Mak's cute little cousin (our flowergirl), walked down the aisle.

I stood next to Mak's father, he was giving me away. 

We began to walk down the aisle and all my attention was focused on Eddy. I sensed the awkwardness between us and I covered my mouth to hide my laughter. 

Once we were in front of each other. I went back into work mode.

"Ok. Now once the priest asks who gives me away, you say 'I do' and give my hand to him" I said to Mak's father.

Now I was facing Eddy.

"You, take my hand and we stand in front of the priest and then the priest says his speech and we exchange vowels and then rings. Then were married. Got it?" I looked at him, and everybody else, and they all nodded.

"Ok lets run this again then" I shouted.

~~~

After the second rehearsal, the guys and girls went to our seperate rooms to shower and change for the rehearsal dinner.

Once in the hotel room, we began to laugh and gossip about just random girl stuff.

After a good shower and clothes change, I laid out on the bed. 

The dinner didnt start until 3 hours but I needed to be there in 30 minutes to make sure everything was good and perfect.

I sighed and slowly felt myself in slumber mode, that is until Kaitlyn and Nami jump on my bed.

"Have you talked to Eddy yet about last night?" Kaitlyn asked.

I shook my head.

"Well when do you plan on it?" Nami asked.

I shrugged my shoulders.

"You have to sometime before the wedding!" They both shouted at me.

"Ugh. I'll do it when I have the time" I said, grabbing my things, walking out the hotel room.

I began to walk where the dinner was going to be held. 

I was walking towards a garden of bushes, when I was snatch into one.

The person covered my mouth and I bit their hand. I turned my around to see the person and I rolled my eyes, mentally screaming.

"Ugh! You play too much" I continuously hit Eddy on the shoulders.

He just laughed and let me hit him.

"Why did you snatch me in here, we cant talk like normal people?" I yelled at him.

"No, I dont want anyone to hear...its a little embarrassing?" He shyly smiled, looking down.

"Oh, you mean about the 'Y BAKE-" I screamed, but he covered my mouth again.

I bursts in fits of giggles, as he still covered my mouth.

"SHH" He said.

"Okay okay, so why did you do it?" I asked.

"I needed the money to buy something..special" He admitted.

"Ohh~~ special like what?" I asked, fully interested.

"Secret" He said.

"Ok, fine. Dont tell me. But where did you get those moves from? You looked pretty experienced in..um..you know...stripping!" I smiled and winked at him, just to make him uncomfortable. 

"Well, I learned from the best" He smiled, looking directly in my eyes.

My smiled went flat.

"Are you implying that im a stripper?" I gasped, pushing him on dirt filled ground. 

He began poking my stomach and I fell on the ground next to him, as I started punching his stomach.

Pretty awkward if anybody was see us-.

"Woah, cant you two love birds wait until tomorrow?" I saw Eco's head through the bushes.

I jumped up and saw him with Nami, holding hands.

I smiled and made my way through the bushes. I looked back and glared at Eddy. 

I made my way back to the dinner venue, while brushing off the dirt on my outfit as well. 

~~~

Were now having the dinner, and everybody's having a great time.

Eddy's family was conversating with the rest of the guys and alot of his other friends were there and it made me realize that, this is the closest I'll ever get to family. These guys and their wives are my only friends and it makes me miss my family even more.

I dont understand why they would abandon me, just based off my pass.

I changed the day of the crash. I learned how cherishable family is. But I guess this is all I have, not that im complaining.

"Um. I would like to make a speech" Eddy stood up, tapping his glass.

"First, I would like to thank you all for coming out to celebrate our wedding tomorrow" He looked down and smiled at me. "And second, it feels so good to see our family and friends all together, getting along. Am I right?' He nudged me a bit.

I looked up and him and nodded smiling. I looked back down and started to frown, and I can tell Eddy caught that.

"But something is missing" He said, lifting my chin up, forcing me to look at him. "Which is why I have a surprise for someone" He grabbed my hand and made me stand up. 

I was a little nervous, seeing all the eyes looking back at me.

"As we all know, Aaliah unfortunately lost her parents and Mak's parents took her in."

Where was he going with this. I thought.

"I know that she's been missing her family, a lot, and seeing all of you guys here as a family means the world to her, I know thats its killing her that none of her biological family is here and the fact that she hasnt seen them in over 15 years" He turned my head with his two fingers, so I was now staring in his eyes.

"So I wanted to suprise her with this gift" He said. 

(Eddy's Pov)

On cue, her aunt, uncle, cousin, and grandmother walked on the scene. She looked over at them and the look in her eyes changed from nervousness to broken.

She broke down in tears in front of everybody.

"Go on" I told her, giving her a little a push to walk over to them.

She basically ran to them and engulfed them in the biggest hug ever.

Her grandma wiped her tears and then more continued to fall.

I could hear the "awws" from my family and friends and I recieved a few soft pats on the back.

Aaliah walked back up to me and she was still crying. 

She wrapped her arms around my neck and hugged me.

"Thank you. so much" She barely got out.

I pulled her apart a few inches and wiped her tears again with my fingers, and I could hear more 'awws', mostly from the ladies.

"You're more than welcome" I said, softly.

She hugged me again and kissed my cheek.

"Do you mind if I sit with them tonight?" She asked. How could I be greedy and say no? 

"Duh, of course" I said, making her laugh a little.

She detatched herself from me and walked back over to her family.

The soft music started to play again and everybody went back to eating and conversating. 

Aaliah and her family sat down at one of the empty tables that I purposely set up. Even though she argued with me before on why we needed an extra table. 

She looked at me and I smiled back at her. She smiled at me and went back to catching up on old times with her family.

"That was really nice of you Eddy" Mak said.

Eco nodded his head.

"Yeah, how could you hide that from us?" Simba said.

"Seriously! Even I didnt know" Sancheong added.

"Sorry guys. Some secrets are truely meant to be secret" I told them, leaning back in my chair.

For the rest of the night, I continued to watch her laugh and enjoy the company of her family.

I smiled to myself, proud of what I did.

You are an awesome guy, Eddy. I thought to myself.