BRANDON'S POV

ONE YEAR LATER

The white roses clinging to the vines as decoration outside added a hint of sweetness into the air. Windows were wide open, and the scent penetrated from the garden, through the house and to us. It was a refreshing morning, a bright and cloudless sky as I looked out, and so far, not a thing was out of place. At least, that's what we hoped.

Lisa Sawyer—my mother who didn't take no for answers—was proving to be a difficult task. With a sigh, I adjusted the black bow on my collar and brushed off any residual icing sugar from my black tuxedo. Three seconds. That's how long the silence lasted when she broke out into another fit of flurry, and sent the four of us to do an endless array of tasks (they seemed to pop out of nowhere) and made our asses get back to work. I snuck a glare at her and attempted to slip out of the door, but she caught me with a snort. "Are you sneaking away to meet Ty again?"

I winced as she grabbed me by the collar, and made me stand in front of her. Next to me, Liam, Seth, and Leo snickered. Wait till it's their turn.

"No. Just going to pee."

My mother narrowed her eyes, not believing me for a second. Still, she said, "Fine."

Pursing my lips to hold back my grin, I gave a slight smirk towards the three dumbfounded comrades (not anymore) beside me and rushed out. That had been easy. The moment of elatedness was cut short when a voice called out from behind me. "Where ya going, handsome?"

The husk in the voice was unmistakable. My advancing steps halted, and I registered the familiar tone of teasing. With my lips pulled taut into a smile, I turned and made a cute pose in response to her jest. Her laughter was music to my ears. At last, I got to see her. She wore an off-white dress, her fiery red hair resonating with her amused twinkling eyes and passionate personality, and those red-clad lips pulled into a seductive smile. Unable to help myself, my feet moved towards the woman who had been dominating my life for the past one year and released a contented sigh. "Tyler."

"Is our baby okay?" she asked.

That wasn't what I expected right off the bat. It was funny how priorities changed in a matter of seconds. My eyebrows went up with her question, and I motioned back to the room where the others were. "Wanna see for yourself?"

Tyler nodded. In her mumbling voice, which I had nicknamed I-thought-aloud-again-shit, she whispered to herself, "Can't trust with Seth and Leo in the room. They can manage to build a bomb with nothing but pure wicked luck."

She smiled like she hadn't said that aloud, and too accustomed to her habits, I shrugged to myself and followed her behind to the large drawing room everyone was waiting in.

The four of us had moved the furniture around in Tyler's home, and the resulting space was satisfactory for my mother to carry out her plans. Right before we entered the room, Tyler stopped me. I frowned, looking at her inquisitive expression, with her mouth formed into a cute pout. It was as if she was luring me to kiss her right this moment. The timing wasn't right though. I shook my head and went back on track. "What?"

Her teeth pressed on her lower lip, and she tilted her head, the curve of her luscious neck calling out to me enticingly. She wore a deep neck dress, and averting my eyes from her neck to her bosom did not help my case. Before my thoughts turned me into an overly-sexualized male, Tyler asked her question, "You have the wedding ring safe, right?"

I patted my right pocket and winked. "Right here."

Tyler fluttered her eyelids. "Can't I see it? Just once?"

Had it been before, I would have let her see it, but not this time. "Nope. At the altar only!" I held back my laugh as she tried to act even more cutely. Her wish might be sincere, but her attempt was outright forced with her face scrunched up into a fake smile. It was downright comedic.

"Please?" Her expression changed when I didn't relent. I could see the light bulb lighting up in her head as she was struck with another idea. "Well, you know, my room is empty upstairs and no one is around..."

The words perked up my ears, and I cleared my throat. She instantly registered the change in my stance. A closet vixen, I tell you. Not wanting her to gain the upper hand, I decided to play dumb. "What's an empty room got to do with this?"

"Oh." She made an 'o' with her face. "I thought you might like this other deal better. Never mind."

"I haven't said no. You can elaborate on this deal." The words were out of my mouth and I looked away, disappointed at my own action.

I always take her bait.

A knowing smile lit up her face. She walked forward, bunching up her dress in one hand and baring her smooth legs. One of them hooked around my calf, keeping me close to her. "My mother is on the first floor. The others are busy with the preparations. It'll be quite easy to sneak into my room for a while."

Blood rushed to my manly parts at her suggestive words. She knew how this affected me. Yet, she did it every time and opportunity she got. I gulped, trying to calm myself down and let her see reason. "Right before the wedding?"

She shrugged, giving me a half-smirk. "Do you have a problem?"

I could see a big problem coming in the near future if she kept up with this once-in-a-while-I'll seduce-him attitude. It always seemed to manifest out when she needed me to do something for her. Despite knowing that, it was obvious what controlled my emotions in such periods. Not giving a shit about who saw us or what they thought about our disappearance right before the wedding, I unhooked her leg from my calf and toppled her body over my shoulder.

"What?" she hissed, hitting my back with light punches.

"Shh," I whispered, walking to the stairs and steadily climbing them up to her room, "Free service to your room."

With one hand, I opened the door and burst into the empty room. A second later I had placed Tyler on the bed. I was breathless, and she too with the whole ordeal. Tyler tried to sit up, but I pushed her back, climbing up on the bed, and resting each knee beside her waist. She looked up at me as I removed the cufflinks from my tuxedo and placed them on the bedside table.

Tyler grinned. "I should have expected this."

"What about this?" I asked, leaning forward on her horizontal form and kissing her forehead and pulling back.

"Expected it."

Surprising me, she got a hold of my collar and pulled me back to her face. Blood rushed to the part-that-shall-remain-unnamed and I groaned in response to her sudden movement. Her loose hair fanned out in all directions in front of me, her eyelids hooded with passion. My throat turned dry as I followed her lead and pressed my lips to her. Each time it was different. Even after a year, a sudden thrill shot through me, spiking my heart rate in a matter of microseconds and making me lose myself in her touch.

Her hand detached from my collar, wounding up around my neck and in my styled hair, her fingers roaming through the strands and making me hot in the pants. Wearing a tight black pant with the tuxedo in this situation was suffocating, but it was the least of my worries.

One hand holding her face, my other hand traveled up her leg and over her dress, driving the flimsy chiffon material up to her thighs with it. I couldn't believe we were doing this right now. Hell, I didn't even know if we had locked the room or not. Or how much time was left before the ceremony started. Our lips moved in synchronization, molding our face into one. Tyler turned her face away for a quick breath, and I rested my lips on her neck, not able to lose the contact even for a second. She whispered, "Fuck, I think we ruined my makeup."

"Do you want me to stop?" I murmured against her skin.

Her body vibrated with a laugh, bringing my mouth back up to her. "Hell no."

A soft moan from her lips sent goosebumps down my body, and my hand began to roam on dangerous territories. Beneath the base of her breast, I paused, unsure. She put her hand over mine and pressed. Her hand was warm as she guided me above that hurdle to rest it right over her breast. While kissing her, I gulped. If we were to stop right now—

"Guys, you have to see this!" The door banged open, and I shot up away from Tyler, startled and red-faced. Seth stood at the door, his eyes wide, and mouth hung open.

Tyler was frozen at her spot, and I quickly threw the blanket over her.

My face had murder written over it as I glared at Seth who cowered like a puppy. He deserved it. He deserved the whole universe emptying its junk over his head. I couldn't believe it. He had managed to interrupt us for the eleventh time.

Fucking. Eleventh. Time.

Then they teased me about how I was still a virgin.

"Seth, make a run for it, Brandon is going to kill you!" Tyler shouted, and Seth sprinted away.

I gritted my teeth, and without a thought, began to chase him. He was fast though. Climbing down the stairs two at a time, his iPad shaking in his hand, and him letting out a scream as he did so, Seth alerted the whole neighborhood that someone was behind him. He paused just before he entered the room everyone else was in. With a heaving chest, he raised his hands to distance himself from me. "Look, you don't want to come inside. You look like a joker."

"What?" I fumed, scoffing at his insult, and rolling my eyes. "You sure are fearless."

"I'm not kidding. You have got lipstick all over your face."

Those words made me narrow my eyes, and I quickly rushed to a nearby mirror. Seth took the opportunity to run away, and I thought of chasing him... but then I caught my reflection. Red lipstick was smeared over my lips and mouth, a disastrous look that screamed of a make-out session. Not a look I wanted to sport in front of our mothers.

I turned to the sounds of heels, watching Tyler walk the short distance to me. "You look funny."

"I wonder how," I murmured, looking over her neatly reapplied lipstick and stain-free mouth. She handed me a tissue and my cufflinks, roughly wiping off my lips with the paper to get the red stain off. Tyler motioned towards the drawing room. "Let's see what Seth was talking about."

We walked in together, hand in hand, Tyler a step ahead than me. She smelled of roses, and her 'special occasion perfume', a very pleasant combination that is. The chase had cooled me down a bit, but I still felt uneasy. Seth had been the target when we had entered the room, but our breath was taken away once more by the beautiful creation we had manifested out of own hard work.

"It's our second baby." Tyler cooed, looking at the pastel pink colors and adoring it from afar.

I nodded in agreement, peering at the delicate petals and handiwork with a soft smile. "Our baby."

"Can you guys stop talking about the wedding cake like it's your baby?" Liam's voice reached us from behind.

"I'm getting the goosebumps," Leo whispered right next to our ears and Tyler and I jumped apart, startled. He laughed, taking his cherry lollipop out of his mouth, and pointed towards both of our flustered faces. "The way you both act, tsk tsk. People will think it's your marriage or something."

Beside me, Tyler blushed at his words, and I sneaked forward to hit on his head. "Do you wanna get hit?"

Leo laughed, popping the lollipop back into his mouth while Liam chuckled. I sighed. Why were they my friends in the first place? "Seth!" I called out, catching the newly dyed head of blue color. Seth had finally moved on from his favourite bleached look to experiment with crazy colors. He had already gone through pink and this time blue had been the victim.

Seth stepped forward with the iPad. "I'll only tell Tyler."

"Okay," Tyler replied back.

"What?" I scoffed. "Not okay! Dude, come here before I whip your ass—"

"Brandon." My mother's stern voice made me stop and wince. "Seth, do what he says. He's the best man today."

Seth bowed. "Yes, ma'am."

"What is it?" Tyler hurried over to Seth. I ignored how her arm looped around his elbow as an instinctive reaction and how the blue head and red-head muddled together to look over the iPad screen. I tried to look away...

Hell, I can't ignore it.

Separating both of their heads away from each other, I offered a smile to their confused faces. "So, what is it?"

"A news about the legal battle between Francis and Bella," Seth explained, opening the browser to open the main article again. "Apparently there was a clause in that agreement she made Francis sign a year ago at the Fate. You remember?"

I nodded. "What was the clause?"

Tyler took the tablet out of Seth's hands and read it aloud. "If Francis exposes any degrading news about Bella than the contract is nullified, and Isabela's side gets the compensation."

"So, wait," I said, "Alard's company won't suffer now?"

"Doesn't look like it. Francis will have to pay up for breaching the contract." Tyler sighed, giving back the iPad to Seth, who looked at us expectantly.

Not understanding the situation, I mumbled, "Is this a good thing or a bad thing?"

"Good for us. Alard finally opened up to Bella a few months ago," Tyler replied, walking over to the wedding cake, and checking the details. "Getting the money back will give Bella more leverage and support from him."

"I don't get why she isn't marrying Giulia already."

Tyler rolled her eyes. "They're young. Bella doesn't want to rebel and wants Alard to accept Giulia. It'll take a while."

"Rose is ready! Tell the Priest to get ready," my mother announced, "Ty come with me."

Tyler and I shared a look as my mother took her hand and lead her away from the drawing room. She didn't look that pleased to be whisked away from me but it was hard to say no even for her. I gave her a thumbs up and waved as she went out of the room. Someone tapped on my shoulder. Seth peeked his head out from behind me with a sheepish expression. "Sorry about before. Didn't know it was your dessert time."

I punched his shoulder. "Stop referring to Tyler as a freaking dessert and I'll forgive you."

He rubbed the spot where my fist had hit him, and laughed. "You're such a baby. I brought the perfect housewarming present for you." A crinkling sound perked my ears, and I frowned.

"What is it?" I asked but I already had my doubts.

Seth gave a sly grin. His hands moved inside his pocket, grabbed whatever the housewarming present and slowly took it out of his pocket. A bright blue square shaped packet caught my eye and he opened his palm in front of me. "It's the Extended Pleasure line. XL will fit, right?"

My expression remained frozen. Seth and Leo chuckled as they shoved the bright coloured packet in my pocket. Leo leaned in closer to my ear. "I have cherry flavoured ones too if you're interested."

Condoms.

They were giving me condoms.

"Become a man now. High school is over." Seth nodded his head as if he was giving me a lecture in philosophy, and it was supposed to be the most important thing ever. He placed a hand on my shoulder, Liam and Leo looking at us from behind."It'll be easy now that Tyler and you are moving in together."

"What'll be easy now that we are moving in together?"

All of us snapped apart like we had been caught red-handed. Tyler stood there clueless and oh-so-innocent for God's sake. I cleared my throat and gave Seth a stare that meant he should remain silent. The packet of condom poked my thigh inside my pocket but I ignored it as I gave a reassuring smile to Tyler. "Nothing. He just meant it'll be easy for us to bake together from now on."

She grinned. "That's true. Come now, the ceremony is starting."

Liam raised his eyebrows and addressed Tyler. "Should we go and call the groom?"

She nodded. "I'll get the priest."

Twenty minutes later, Tyler and I stood face to face, right at the altar. We couldn't look away from each other. Her mother and Richard took the vows ahead, but I could only see her in front of me. The two of us. The best man and the bridesmaid. There was a smile on both of our faces. Even after all the drama and the hurdles, we were right here—together—and in love. Today was perfect. No, the whole week had been perfect. Right from the time we had graduated last week till now. My mother had become the official wedding-planner when Rose had announced she was getting married. Tyler had invited us for the weekend wedding, and the four of us had come back to her house in great spirits.

The week had turned better by the minute when I got the acceptance call from the college I wanted to attend along with a semi-scholarship. The fact that it was a small distance away from Tyler's culinary school was the icing on the top. Since then, we had worked hard and fast to convince our parents to let us move in together. They had been reluctant—specifically my father—but they had come around to our request (more like a demand) when we didn't budge away from it.

Our luggage was already packed and loaded into the car. Rose had insisted that we stayed longer before moving out of here, but classes started next week, though that wasn't the real reason. We wanted Rose to have some private time with Richard since they weren't going on a honeymoon or vacation and this was as close as it could get.

"Brandon!" Tyler hissed, startling me out of my thoughts.

"What?" I whispered back.

"The ring!" She pointed to the expectant faces of Rose and Richard as they waited for me to hand over the ring.

I gave a sheepish smile. "Right." Fumbling my hand in my pocket, I hurriedly took out the velvet box and handed it over to Richard. But that wasn't the only thing that came out of the pocket. I heard the crinkle of something dropping to the floor. I gulped. My eyes shot towards Rose but she hadn't heard it. Neither had anyone else noticed it. Except the one person standing in front of me...

Tyler raised her eyebrows, crossing her arms over her chest as her eyes assessed the bright blue packet. Her arms pushed her breasts up, emphasizing the soft curve, though that wasn't what I should be focusing on this minute. What was worse than letting your girlfriend see a condom dropping from your pocket? Dropping it right in front of her parent. I forced myself to not to stare as the rings got exchanged. Afraid of being caught, I bent down and quickly picked up the condom and put it in my pocket. From the opposite side, Tyler watched my every move, her hands moving mechanically as she clapped at the ring exchange. The way her eyes bored into mine, and the curve of her lips mocked me...my cheeks burned up in embarrassment. That stupid Seth created nothing but more trouble. 

"Why were you carrying that?" Tyler asked as soon as we got a moment alone.

I wished she