J O D I E

PRESENT DAY

WEDDINGS ARE EMOTIONAL. A special kind of torture for the heart. I've been to one wedding since I encountered this group of loving and special people. Aaron and Liz's. It was a beautiful sight honestly, no one could deny the way they looked at eachother. And after everything that came between them, most especially the accident in the rink, they powered through, they made it.

This is the third wedding since then. In this case my best friend and her husband-to-be — the best bear hugger right after Terence. And I am the maid of honor. I'm excited, tearing up, but I'm fine.

I spent the night at Nick's Parents' so we could all go to the wedding together. Doctor Ava had some people bring my dress and it looks perfect. Kim and I are in the dressing room together, with Liz, while Doctor Ava helps Liz into her dress. Poor mama is having a huge hormone overload.

"I look like a potato." She sighs.

"I'm sure Aaron would have said a sexy potato." Kim says and Liz chuckles.

"Yeah he would have said that." She smiles at her long blue dress in the mirror.

"How's Junior feeling about being the ring bearer?" I ask, hoping to cheer her up and change the subject. She smiles at the thought of Junior.

"He's excited, he wants to walk down the aisle himself." She chuckles, while Ava helps her with her necklace. "But his protective mama won't let him."

"Well get ready then, someday you'll be sitting at Junior's wedding with the love of his life." Ava grins.

"If he doesn't end up being a heartbreaker." Liz says. "He's got his dad's looks."

"And his Dad married you." Comes Bri in her exquisite wedding dress. Ava gasps and Kim rushes towards her.

"Nick's gonna bow when he sees you." Kim says and she rushes to the mirror.

"You look beautiful, Bri." I tell her and she pulls me into a hug.

"Who's your date?" She quickly changes the subject and I don't resist the opportunity to roll my eyes.

"No one." I tell her and she snorts.

"Not Alex, or Steven?"

"I haven't spoken to Steven for a while, I've got a weird feeling and he's been blowing up my phone with texts, it's weird, scary and I don't want to deal with that right now, today is all about you."

"If you need Aaron to break his legs with his hockey stick, all you gotta do is ask." Liz says and we all laugh.

"Or if you need your Big Brother to swoop in and interrogate him with a hockey kinda torture, all you gotta do is ask." Kim says and I smile at all of them.

"I'm fine." I assure them, but I know they're not buying it. Makes me wonder what they'd do if they found out I was healing from a bullet wound. Still am.

"Justin is big on computer stuff, hacking, finding information, sometimes I'm scared of that kid, maybe I can have him get some information about this Steven guy? Does he even have a last name?"

Now that I think about it, I don't even know if he has a last name. Damn it, Jo.

"Except it's your wedding day and it's all about you today, not my fitness influencer not-so friend." I take Bri's hands in mine and she gives off a cherry smile.

"Alright, JoJo, but I'm on board with Justin doing a little digging, even though it might be an invasion of privacy and all, because I know that's exactly what's going on in your mind."

She always knows me so well. It's a feeling I've gotten used to, but I'm still surprised whenever she reminds me of it.

"My hope for you is that Alex fixes his shit in time enough for you guys to be together." Bri says and I gulp. "I know he's already had one wedding and I know how much it sucks, yes I hated him— I still kinda do— but I see him putting effort lately and I just wanna say I wish the best for you guys." She says and I struggle to resist the urge to tear up. "And I know you're hiding something from me, I just can't figure out what." She chuckles nervously and then her eyes soften. "You okay, right?"

"Of course, Bri, I'm alright! Now let's finish up your makeup." I say to her and she doesn't budge.

"You know Jo, maybe you and I should get married if Alex doesn't get his head out of his ass in due time." Kim jokes and we all laugh. And frankly I'm grateful for the distraction.

And I hope Bri never goes digging. I don't know what I'll do to anyone who dares hurt her.

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MR. COLE WALKS with his daughter down the aisle; The moon in his eyes as he gives his daughter away to her childhood best friend. It's funny how life brings us right back to the people that are for us, no matter what separates us. I feel Alex's hand hovering over mine and I inch closer to him. He squeezes and draws invisible circles around my knuckles. It's a small gesture but I know exactly what it means.

Nick and Bri are about to read their vows and the ordained minister nods at them.

"Nick." Bri starts. "I met you as a child and while my childhood memories of you are fuzzy and almost forgotten, I do remember one feeling you brought me. Peace. And now we're not kids anymore, and I still get that blissful feeling whenever you're around. I've never taken commitments to heart until I met you and I don't regret any single moment, the fights, the kisses, the letters, everything. The love you show our children, the way you look at them. I want to live forever with your big and beautiful heart, and your warm smile."

Nick's face almost cracks in half as a tear rolls down his cheek. He smiles as he opens the paper where his vows are written. "I hope what I wrote is as good as yours." He says and light chuckles move amongst us.

"You came into my life at a time unexpected. I remember having so many familiar feelings, like our souls were entwined in some other world setting. You drive me crazy— honestly speaking, you still do and in a good way I promise. My favorite thing was the way you looked at me, that familiarity all over again. Not many people get this chance to spend forever with their childhood best friend. But I do and I thank you for giving me that chance. Jasmine and Sapphire are so blessed to have you as their mother, I am so blessed to be married to you today and of course, forever. I promise to make you happy, I promise to cherish you, to keep you warm in the cold, to be the father you dreamed for our kids. I promise to shower you with love, I promise to love our little family of four and more if you'd like. It's forever with you Bri, and our two little queens."

Bri is tearing up by the time he's done. And right before the minister says it's time to kiss, they both lunge at each other, going straight for it and Mrs. Kelly has to cover Junior's eyes. We're all on our feet, clapping and clapping. Andreas is here and he claps too, a look on his face. Alex holds on to me before he claps and Nick and Bri are pronounced Husband and Wife. And I'm tearing up and Alex squeezes my hand gently.

Did I say that weddings are a special kind of torture?

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NICK AND BRI talk Alex into playing the piano and singing a song for their first dance. I won't exactly say talked him into it, I'd say bullied him into it.

"Alex, Alex, Alex, Alex, Alex." We all cheer him on. And for the first time in a while his cheeks turn almost pink and a shy smile plays on his lips.

"Alright, alright, I'll do it, but only because it's your wedding day and you get everything you want." He pauses. "And because I'm extremely happy for you guys, even though I don't show it enough."

He walks towards the grand piano owned by Nick's Dad, Jake Stones and he begins to sing and play Can't Help Falling In Love. We watch the new couple dance and my eyes tear up at the sight of Alex behind the piano, singing with all his heart. Four years ago, I asked why he loved to play the piano.

"Growing up, there was a lot of conflict and issues around me. I didn't always get to be with my family after my father passed. This was the only good thing that came out of all the bad. The music, the notes, the melodies and harmonies, the crescendos."

"I took a violin class in highschool, I haven't picked it up since then." I told him and he chuckled lightly, my favorite sound.

"Well if you ever decide to pick it up, just know I'm here for you, anything you need, I know a little about it."

I'd laughed. I remember asking him if there was anything he didn't know. He'd laughed too and with my head on his shoulder, he played a childhood rhyme that we both unapologetically sang along to, remembering a time when we were innocent to the harsh times of our world.

"We all know he's singing that to you." Ivy sits in Alex's seat beside me.

"And we wish he'd get out of his ass and make it a reality." Nadia Andrade, formerly Hudson's Agent, now Alex's and T's agent. No hard feelings.

"Um, thanks?" I chuckle nervously as Alex's eyes meet mine, roaming around my forest green dress. "You guys besties now?"

"Well it's not exactly easy to be a part of this family." Nadia says and I drop my drink.

"What do you mean?" I ask.

"You guys have a bond and from someone who spent all her childhood in different foster homes, it's enviable, and you're so many and you're bringing more kids into the loop, so of course it won't be easy for a new person to, you know, be apart." Ivy says, her hand clutching her red purse. "You guys are welcoming and all, but it's different when you guys are among you guys, if that makes sense."

"Ivy Martins, my therapist, Nadia Andrade, my Agent and Almost Manager." Comes Alex as he approaches our table. "Can I steal Miss Henning? She owes me a dance." He meets my gaze with a dark smile, another of my favorites.

"You don't have to steal me, Mr. Hidalgo." I stand to my feet and he takes my hand. I look back to see Ivy and Nadia smiling.

"Well then, lead the way, baby." I tell him and he ropes an arm around my waist.

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"IT'S BEAUTIFUL OUT here." Alex says. We left the wedding party for some time together. Alone. Nick's parents have an amazing lake house and we're in the backyard, a beautiful rose garden with a beautiful view of the moon and stars.

We stop at a bench and he sits first. Then he gestures for me to sit on his thighs, the closest to body contact we've come close to since four years.

I sit, my legs facing his left, his arms wrapping around my waist and his face resting on my cleavage. He looks up at me and we share a silent conversation where he rubs his palms on my thighs and feet and I lean onto his shoulder.

"I want us to come out of this alive." He says. "And if any of us is going to die, it's should be me—"

"Alex—"

"Not you, never you, you shouldn't be a part of any of this—"

"I get to choose what I want to be a part of, and I want to be a part of you, and everything that comes with you." He attempts to say something and I place my finger on his lips. He sucks on it and then he releases it.

"You almost died, your blood was all over my clothes, I almost lost you." He says. "I thought I had a plan, and now everything's crumbled, I'm in a fucked up position—"

"We will figure everything out together." I tell him and he sighs. "Isabella has signed the divorce papers, that's one part of the battle won, the rest with the Mafia and her family— I'm guessing— we will figure it out together, your fight is my fight."

"I love you." He says and my eyes water, my heart cracking on the inside. "I know I don't say it, I know I haven't said it in a long fucking while—"

"I love you, Alexander Mateo Hidalgo." I say and he draws my lips in a passionate kiss. And that awakens a fire in me. My fingers roam around his neck and his arms roam around my waist. It's burning, fatal, peaceful, not-so forbidden, it's perfect.

We're both silent for a moment, and then I do something crazy and a little reckless.

I stand to my feet and I lift my dress till it's at my thighs. I spread my legs and thighs around him, till I'm seated perfectly, him in the middle of my thighs.

His neck stiffens and his arms flex around my waist, "You're not wearing panties." He croaks. Anyone would think this is a casual statement, but I know better.

"Yeah." I lean closer into him and his hips thrust upward and I feel it. The hardness of his erection, harder than I remember it.

"What are you going to do about it, Mr. Hidalgo?"

A/N

Alex and Jo finally kiss and touched!!!! And Nick and Bri's Vows Ahhhh. Nadia and Ivy becoming best friends?! If you do remember Nadia she's made few appearances in AHLT & ASLT as a sports agent and her dad is the manager of the Hockey Team.

Yes I made it a cliffhanger because I want y'all to wait for the spice, sue me haha.

Early update, yes, I was feeling epic. Next update will be Saturday or Friday again, probably.

Favorite moments of Today's Chapter? I wanna know!

See you next update!!!