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Almost

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Chapter 29: Almost (Emilia's POV)

"Okay." I stopped and then spun around to face him. 

"Done?" he asked, glancing at the three dresses draped over his arms. 

I spent so long looking and choosing and contemplating and I could only narrow it down to three dresses. 

God, maybe I am really picky. 

All three dresses I chose were blue. I would have taken an emerald green but that was the color of the dress I wore to the engagement party and it's too dark for Remy's wedding. She asked me to try taking subtle and softer colors. So I have one navy blue dress which isn't too complicated, so it looks very elegant. A pale blue and sparkly dress which I liked the best so far. And the last one was a bit brighter than the second but followed the shape of a mermaid dress and was strapless. It felt like a typical bridesmaid dress, so I wasn't too sure of that one. 

"Yeah," I nodded, answering his question. "You should change and try your tuxes on. All the changing rooms for the ladies are full, I have to wait anyway," I shrugged. 

He gave my dresses to an employee and asked her to hold onto them for me. "Do you want to come?" he asked. "You can judge each tux." 

"Tempting but no. I don't want to go in there. I'll wait out here," I chuckled. 

"Then I'll come out here and show you," he replied and then went into the changing rooms before I could say anything. 

I bit down on a smile and sat down on the couch, waiting for him to come out wearing the first tux. 

He came about a minute later with the bow tie loose around his neck instead of tied. I watched him in amusement as he glanced at himself in the big mirror on the main wall and then turned to me. "What do you think?" 

"I think you still don't know how to tie a tie or a bow tie," I laughed. 

"Well, you could always just tie it for me." 

I stood up and stood beside him, glancing at him in the mirror. "I know you can't tie the best ties but you remember the steps. Someone will fix it for you. Hopefully," I shrugged. 

"You can. Whenever, wherever." 

I met his eyes in the mirror and realized he was saying all the same things from the night we went to prom. "Oh..." I said in amusement, "because you'll bring me around just to fix your ties?" 

He nodded. "Because you'll always be there," he mumbled, glancing at the tie, attempting to tie it. 

"Are you sure I will?" 

"Obviously, where else are you going to go? You're with me for life, Rubes," he smirked. 

"Sure, I am," I chuckled. 

Just like this, he tried on the next tux and the next and we decided that he looked the best in the first one, so he asked the employee to take it to the counter for him and he'd pay for it in a while. 

By then, one of the changing rooms had opened up for me, so I went there. Before I could though, Aspen came out after finalizing his suit and called my name. "Yeah?" I asked. 

"Is there a rule? Can the groom not see the wedding dress or something? I heard someone say that." 

I paused, "No? I mean, at least not in our family. From what I know, the groom can't see the bride twenty-four hours before the wedding. But Dad saw Mom's wedding dress when she bought it," I shrugged. "Why? You want to see her?" I grinned teasingly. 

"Yeah," he admitted sheepishly. 

"Let me check for you, I'll be right back." I went into the women's changing room area and saw that at the very front of the room, there was one big mirror, and right next to the entrance, there was a couch where Mom was sitting. I stopped beside her. "Hey, Mom." 

"Hi, baby," she mumbled, watching Remy who was analyzing one of her dresses in the mirror. 

"So um, Aspen's asking if he can come see Remy try on the dresses. Can he?" 

"Oh, yeah, sure. Of course. Remy! Aspen's coming in, okay?" 

"Yeah!" she replied. 

"Bring Adam too," Mom said. 

"Hmm?" I asked, my brows shooting up. 

"Let him see you too," she grinned. 

"Um... yeah, uh. Okay." I went back out and told him he was good to come in. Adam, who was sitting on the couch, stood up when I waved him over. "You've been invited into the women's den. Come on in." 

He chuckled, following me inside. Aspen and Adam sat with my Mom on the couch while an employee told me which room my dresses were in. 

I locked the door behind me and unbuttoned my own dress, hanging it on the back of the door. I took the navy blue dress first. It had an almost square neckline with fitted full sleeves that had patterns in navy blue but with transparent netting in between to make some space. The upper half of the dress hugged my body tightly with little diamonds along it and then the skirt puffed out just a little bit. I checked myself out in the mirror and the dress looked really pretty but I don't know if it's suitable for Remy's wedding. 

"Em, are you done yet?!" Remy's voice came through. I unlocked the door and walked out. She stood there with Mom wearing a wedding dress but I doubt it's the one she chose because it's not her style. 

"Why aren't you focusing on your dress?" I asked while Mom fixed the sleeve for me. 

"I have time," Remy shrugged, eyeing the dress I wore. "Do you like it?" she asked.

I watched her for a minute before letting out a quick laugh. "This is unbelievable. It's your wedding and you seem more worried about my dress. Remy, go pick your dress, I'll be fine on my own. Plus, Aspen's here to see you trying on your dresses too. I'll get your approval at the end, promise." 

"Really? Because I mean, I know it's my wedding and all but it's..." She shrugged nonchalantly with a forced chuckle. "It's really not a big deal." 

Oh... she's nervous. 

"Remy, it is a big deal," I replied, turning her towards the big mirror. "Do you like your dress? This is about you. I'll pick my dress just fine on my own, don't worry," I reassured her. 

After that, Mom took her to try on the next dress and I went in to try the other one. I saved the one I liked for the end and tried the other one first. It looked nice but it didn't fit right around my waist and chest, so I took it off and slipped on the last one. A small smile tugged at my lips when I saw myself in the mirror. I reached behind to zip it up but froze when I realized instead of a zip, the dress had classic, corset-style laces that had to be tightened and tied up. 

I unlocked the door and stuck my head out to ask one of the employees for help but when I took a look, one of them was just entering a changing room to help somebody else and the other one was nowhere to be seen. 

Maybe I should ask someone else. 

"Emma." She glanced at me from where she was looking at herself in the big mirror while her Mom fixed up the straps on her dress. 

"Yeah?" she asked. 

"Have you seen one of the employees?" 

She paused. "Oh, one of them's helping Remy, the dress she's trying on is huge, and the other one's helping Georgia. Her dress is really... strappy. Why? Do you need help?" 

"Yeah," I sighed, taking another look around. I frowned in confusion. "Where's my mom?" 

"She's trying on her own dress now. So Aspen's with Remy inside, helping her." 

"So everybody's busy then?" 

"Except Adam," she said, pointing to the couch where he was still sitting, his eyes hooked to his phone. 

I shot her a pointed look. "I can't ask him to help me with my dress. He probably won't even know how to." 

"Try him," she smiled. 

"Mom!" Ava called out from a changing room. 

Emma skipped over once she was alone and went and sat beside Adam, tapping his arm and then nodding towards me. 

It can't be that bad if he helps. That is if he can. 

It would take forever for an employee to find the time, there are so many people in this room. He looked up at me, lifting his brows. I stuck out a hand, waving him over while Emma went back into a changing room. He walked over, tucking his phone into his pocket, and then stopped in front of me. "Yeah?" 

"Can you... help... me?" I gritted out. 

He glanced around. "You want me to call an employee?" 

"The employees are busy. But the dress is complicated." 

He hesitated, "You want me... t-to help you?" 

"If you could, that would be great." I forced a smile. 

"Uh..." He took another look around the chaotic changing room. "Sure." 

I took a breath and stepped aside, letting him in. 

He locked the door behind him while I held the dress up before spinning around, turning my back to him. "Oh wow, yeah, definitely complicated," he mumbled. 

"Sorry I'm calling you to do this," I mumbled, staring at the ground while heat crawled up my neck. 

"Oh, that's fine. That's okay." 

"Do you know how to work a corset?" I asked. 

"I do, actually." 

"How the hell do you know how to work a corset?" 

Do I want to know?

"I don't know. But it doesn't look too difficult. Let me try." 

"Okay," I said softly, taking a peek at him in the mirror. 

He brought up his hands, grabbing each string and pulling it tight. He started tying it and I was surprised that he didn't complain once. 

I guess he does know how to work a corset. 

"Tight enough?" he asked, glancing at me in the mirror. 

"A little tighter," I mumbled, holding his gaze. 

He tightened it even more and I took in a quick breath, the room suddenly feeling too small. "Tighter?" he asked, suddenly taking a step closer. 

My heart started pounding beneath my ribcage and I felt knots in my stomach. "A little," I whispered. 

He tightened one last time before he tied the knot, slowly pulling his hands away. Instead of taking a step back, his eyes came up, looking at me in the mirror while I forced myself to tear my gaze from him and look at the dress instead. 

I really liked it. I spun around, glancing at my back to see how he tied the corset and he actually did it perfectly. "Hey, you do know how to tie one. What do you think?" I faced forward, looking at him, and blinked, my body completely freezing when I realized how close we actually were. 

He blinked, his eyes traveling across my face, lingering on my lips for a minute before he glanced down at the dress, his eyes going all the way down before coming back up to my own. He nodded softly. "You look beautiful," he whispered. 

"Really?" I asked, surprised at the way I sounded. I sounded giddy, like I was waiting for him to call me beautiful. Which I totally wasn't. Not that I knew of anyway. 

"Yeah. Really," he replied, he took a small step forward, erasing whatever small distance was between us. 

I had to tilt my head up to look at him now with his body leaning into mine. Trying my best to hold his gaze, I didn't look away from him but I couldn't stop my eyes from falling to his lips when I noticed him doing it first. 

He took in a small breath and brought a hand up to the nape of my neck. He leaned in slowly, his lips coming in closer to mine. My breath hitched in my throat as his lips brushed against mine and my eyes closed instinctively but he didn't kiss me. He pulled back as if to see my reaction and my eyes fluttered open. He leaned back in, satisfied with whatever he read on my face but before he could kiss me, there was a loud knock on the door. 

We both jumped away and I stumbled back a bit. Luckily, he steadied me, catching my arm while sighing in frustration. "Uh, yeah? Yeah, who is it?" I called out. 

"Honey, are you done yet? Remy finalized her dress, she's waiting to see yours." 

"I'll be out in a second, Mom!" I whispered to him, "Sneak out when you can." 

"Sneak out?" 

"If everybody sees you walking out with me, they'll assume things. Won't that bother you?" 

He paused. "No. No, it won't. Will it bother you?" 

I thought for a minute, surprised by my own answer. "Actually, no. It won't." 

He almost kissed me. Almost. And I really liked it. 

Almost. God, I hate that word.

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Chapter 29

Almost. I HATE THAT WORD.

It's the saddest word ever istg

next chapter: hike