I’d been home for almost two hours now, and they were the most miserable two hours of my life. I tried everything to get my mind off the memory of his face, of that unnerving gaze he’d fixed on me. I tried to read, but I couldn’t concentrate; I’d found myself stuck on the same page for nearly a half hour. TV was my next outlet, but I couldn’t bring myself from switching the channel to anything but Animal Planet or the Discovery Channel in fear of seeing some news or picture regarding the happy couple. I tried to eat something, but nausea kept me from actually taking a bite. Finally, I decided I’d give into my depression, draw a bubble bath, and cry my little heart out.

And as I sit here in my tub, drinking wine straight out of the bottle and tears streaming down my cheeks, I see a clear picture of my near future. Day in and day out of avoidance—avoiding Trace, avoiding my mom, Justin’s mom, Rachel, Justin. Avoiding reality in general. I’ll throw myself into my work. Yeah, that's what I'll do.

'Knock, knock.'

Who the hell is at my door at—wait, what time is it? I have absolutely no idea. Oh well, they’ll go away eventually.

‘Knock, knock.’

Is someone here? I swear I hear keys and the door knob jiggling. The only people that have keys are Justin, Ethan, and Trace. I should probably get those keys back from Ethan at some point. And now Justin too, I suppose. Oh wait, I forgot I gave my friend Dana keys to feed my cat while I’m away. Maybe if I don’t make any noise she won’t know I’m in here. I hear footsteps in the hallway after I hear the front door shut. Maybe she’s looking for ‘Cat’, my cat.

“Bells? Are you here?” I hear Justin’s voice as the footsteps come back down the hallway.

Am I delusional? Maybe I should’ve eaten something before I drank all this wine. I am officially crazy. A lunatic. But sure enough, I watch intently as the doorknob to the bathroom begins to turn, the door slowly pushed open to reveal him. I watch as he raises his eyebrows at the scene in front of him: the bubbles, the wine, my tearstained face.

“What are you doing here Juj?” I ask quietly, my voice cracking.

“I couldn’t do it,” he tells me simply with a slight shrug, his eyes cast downward.

I lick my lips, my mouth suddenly going dry, “Why?” I question carefully, quietly. “You made it through almost the entire ceremony. When did you--?” I trail off.

His picks his eyes up and looks at me, “Right after you left. I just couldn’t go through with it. It wasn’t right.”

I nod slightly, not sure how to respond.

“I think I was waiting for you to put a stop to it,” he told me, honesty written all over his face.

“I didn’t know you wanted me to.”

“I wasn’t sure you wanted me anymore. Not after Ethan finding out about us, and you avoiding me. It scared me. So I gave into her.”

“I missed you.”

I watched a small smile appear on his face, “I missed you too.”

“How the hell did we get here?” I sighed, running my hand through my damp hair. He moved closer to me, sitting on the edge of the tub and reaching into the water to grab my hand.

“We fell in love; and then we royally screwed it up,” he said, tracing his thumb over the wet skin on my hand.

“This could only happen to us,” I chuckled. “You know that right?”

“Hey, it wouldn’t be me and you if everything was simple. Our relationship has never ever been easy, but that’s what makes it so great.” He paused for a second. “You know, she was standing there today waiting for me to repeat those vows, and all I could think about was you. I was picturing my future, the good, the bad, and everything in between, and you want to know what I realized?”

“What’s that?”

“That you were there, in every thought, in every dream I had for myself. It wasn’t her. It was never her. It’s always been you.”

Swallowing the lump in my throat I choked back the sob.

“I didn’t mean to make you cry more Bells,” he said sadly.

I shook my head, “They’re good tears.”

“I’m in love with you Isabella Milena.”

I sucked in a breath, letting the words wash over me, and trying to freeze the moment in time. New tears threatened to spill from my eyes as I smiled softly, “Im in love with you too Justin Randall.”

He leaned down towards me, capturing my lips in a soft kiss, and after relishing in the feeling of his lips pressed against mine, I tugged him a bit closer to me, causing him to tumble into the tub and on top of me. “Oh Isabella,” he grinned devilishly, “you’re going to get it now.”

I smiled into the kiss, before pulling away slightly to press my nose against his, “I hope that’s a promise.”