A:N: Right guys, this is it! Took me about 2 weeks to finish it and its 24 pages long on word, but finally here it is! There wont be a sequel, but this is long enough to count for about 3 of my standard chapters! I was getting emotional, i fell in love with Mia and Drake over the last few months! I want to thank every single one of you for reading, voting and messaging on the chapters. All your lovely messages made me want to finish this story and i really hope the last chapter will do it justice! Thank you so much for sticking with me and reading this story, i literally love you all!

Here it is! Enjoy my lovelies!

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7 years later

She was having a breakdown. I mean a proper full on Britney head shave breakdown.

“Lacey you need to calm down and breathe before you give yourself heart failure.” I tried to calm her down, holding my hands out to attempt to somehow grab her to stop her frantic pacing.

“I can’t Mia everything is going to go wrong. I can feel it.” She was panting “I mean, the stupid caterers already messed up and made seafood for the buffet later. Seafood! Your Aunt Betty is like deathly allergic, we’re going to have a fucking crime scene by the end of today I can just feel it!”

“Okay, Lacey just breathe. Everything will be fine, I will warn Aunt Betty to stay as far away from the seafood as she can. I’ll tell her it’s literally a life or death situation.” I told her, trying to bite back the smile I’ve been wanting to let out ever since Lacey started having this meltdown. I know I shouldn’t laugh, but it was pretty funny.

She was fine up until about 10 minutes ago. We were happily getting ready, squeezing Lacey into her dress and then she took one look at herself in the full length mirror, and psycho Lacey came out to play.

I had to usher her mother and the dress fitting women out of the room, reassuring them I would have the situation under control. I felt like a city cop calming civilians down after a bomb threat in a town square. Pretty accurate metaphor I think.

“What if he does a runner? What if that bastard genuinely jolts me at the altar and I’m left there a mess with this stupid dress on while he’s catching the next flight to Mexico with another woman who he met at work or something?!” I swear she was about to hyperventilate.

“First of all, you know he would never dump you at the altar, he’d let someone know so you wouldn’t make it to the altar. Second of all, he hates Mexican food. I remember I made him that burrito once and he was held up in the toilet for 4 hours. And third of all, he works in construction. Not many women in that line of work, unless the one he’s running off with is 6ft 3 with stubble called Dave.”

I swear I may as well not have said anything, because she continued her hectic pacing. She placed her hand on her forehead as she came to an abrupt stop and looked at me.

“Mia, I am allowed to panic okay. It’s my wedding day!” Lacey yelled, but it wasn’t in the typical excited bride voice where she says it whilst jumping up and down on the spot clapping her hands. She said it like she just announced she was about to get penetrated by metal bat with barbed wire at the end of it.

I couldn’t help the smile that appeared on my lips as I shook my head in amusement. I guess she was allowed to freak out slightly, I mean she was finally about to take that big step. The step every girl probably thinks about when they’re little whilst watching ‘The Little Mermaid’ or ‘Beauty and the Beast’. Lacey however was acting like she was doing her wedding plans whilst enjoying the Exorcist in 3D.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I am proud to announce that my brother finally grew a set of balls big enough and realised that this little freak in front of me right now panicking in her wedding dress was in fact the right girl for him.

We all knew sooner or later it was going to happen. Those two were like magnets, or like a Virgin’s knees. They would always end up together.

They had been together now for 7 years, and on Lacey’s 22nd birthday Nate proposed to her. I knew he was going to do it because he asked me what he should do. Whether to do the cheesy on one knee thing, or put the ring in the champagne glass or something like that. I knew that one was a bad idea because I have seen that girl drink. She would chug the entire glass down without a second thought, ring and all.

Fortunately because I knew Lacey better than she knew herself, I told him the perfect way to propose to her.

He took her to Disneyland for her birthday. She loved it of course, but Nate just added the cherry on top of the cake when he paid (‘a shit load of money’, according to him) for Minnie and Mickey Mouse to do this whole act in front of them, in the middle of the park, where Mickey got down on one knee to propose to Minnie. Lacey of course being the child that she is was watching the whole show so intently that it took her a while to notice another two characters dressed as Mickey and Minnie holding a big banner up with the words ‘Want to Marry me Lacey?’ on them.

Of course, Lacey almost poo-ed out a baby with excitement and didn’t hesitate in jumping on Nate whilst screaming ‘of course I fucking will.’ Romantic right to the very end apparently.

So yeah, a year later and here we are.

Lacey looked beautiful in her dress of course. Her hair was down in loose curls and her makeup was flawless. She looked like the perfect bride.

Until she opened her mouth.

“Oh God, what if I fall over going down the aisle?” She tells me her next theory of how today will be ruined “I can just see it now. That stupid song playing, I walk down trying to look all respectable and shit and I trip, falling and cracking my head open and getting blood all over this white dress!”

I snorted a laugh “I still can’t believe you wore white…”

“How are you helping right now?!” Her voice went so high pitched I flinched slightly.

I sighed, realising I needed to do something and fast before the bride would end up getting whisked off in an ambulance for having a seizure. After a few minutes of thinking, a smile came across my mouth as I realised I had the perfect thing to calm her nerves.

***

Half an hour later, we were both sat on the big sofa in the bride’s changing room, downing Jack Daniels straight from the bottle.

“This was a really good idea.” Lacey commented, taking a mouthful of it before scrunching her eyes and handing it to me “Seriously I feel a lot better.”

I let out a laugh, taking a swig of it myself “I am such a good maid of honour they should built me a plaque.”

“You calmed my nerves by feeding me alcohol.” Lacey pointed out.

“Worked thought didn’t it?” I replied smugly, and I saw her smile before she takes the bottle from me. I let out a laugh as I watched her “There is nothing classier than seeing a bride on her wedding day, in her wedding dress chugging from a JD bottle.”

Lacey shrugged “I was never your run of the mill bride anyway. It took Nate about 3 days to persuade me not to wear Vans under this dress.”

I furrowed my brows in disbelief “You were going to wear Vans?”

“The heel’s that dress maker bitch brought me are so painful I swear she’s put some kind of voodoo spell on them. Honestly, it’s like she wants me to break an ankle on my wedding day.”

“You were going to wear Vans?!” I exclaimed again in disbelief.

“You wouldn’t have seen them, the dress is too long. Plus, they were white Vans?” Lacey said as if that would automatically make it better.

I shake my head in amazement. She really was one of a kind.

She took another swig of the bottle, and I grabbed it quickly “Okay, that’s quite enough for you bridezilla. Don’t want you hiccupping through your vows now do we?”

I pushed myself up to my feet, walking over to the full length mirror to make sure my hair was still in place. As I looked over my reflexion, I was so happy that Lacey had not done the typical bride thing and made all her bridesmaids wear hideous dresses that would make Lady Gaga’s meat suit look like reasonable attire.

The dress she picked was a sleeveless chocolate brown, with a cream material going around the waist. It came just above my knees and I had to admit, it was a pretty nice dress. The make-up and hair people had a field day earlier, and they did a pretty good job at painting my face. My hair was in an up do with the bits they had curled earlier falling at all the right places. All in all, they did a good job.

The Jack Daniels bottle I was currently holding probably ruined the effect slightly, but still I looked pretty nice.

“You’re saying I'm freaking out, you wait until it’s your turn I guarantee you’ll be a crazier bitch than me.” Lacey commented through a laugh.

I calmly shook my head “Nope, and do you know why?”

“Why?”

“I’m going to get so high I’m going to be floating on the clouds.” I informed her in a sing song voice, waving one hand in the air to back up my point somehow. “Plus I don’t think the whole marriage thing is for me. Actually I don’t think a priest can come 10 feet of me without me going up in flames.”

“I know that was a joke, but please stay as far away from the priest today as you can.” Lacey warned me with worry in her eyes. Jeez, she really was considering every possible scenario where today could go up in flames. Literally.

I took another drink out of the bottle before placing it on the side.

“Is Drake even here yet?” Lacey asked, not moving from the position she was in on the sofa.

I shake my head “Nope.”

“Where is he?”

“Prison.”

She narrowed her eyes at me “You know, if you keep answering that question so bluntly people really are going to think you’re dating an inmate.”

I couldn’t help the amused grin at my mouth. I loved saying that to people and watching the shocked expressions on their face. It was always a good way to find a funny 5 minutes when you were bored.

“He better get here soon though, the wedding starts in an hour.”

“Don’t worry visiting hours should be ending now. He’ll be here in about 15 minutes.”

She turned to me and gave me a faint smile “He wasn’t pissed you didn’t go with him today was he?”

I returned her smile “No of course not, he understood as a good maid of honour I had to be here from the start to make sure the bride doesn’t have a panic attack or bolt for the door. He was fine with it.”

“Thanks’ by the way. I know you hate missing a visit, but seriously thank you for being here. I think I would have been on that plane to Mexico myself by now if you weren’t.” Lacey laughed, and I couldn’t help but join her.

Drake was Nate’s best man today, but he had not arrived yet because he was currently visiting his father. He felt guilty for not being here for Nate this morning, but Nate understood that Drake had to do this. It was Andrew’s birthday today so he definitely couldn’t miss this visit. Normally I would go with him. Every couple of weeks we would visit Andrew, for almost 7 years without fail we have done this.

After all, Drake owed Andrew his life.

That night 7 years ago, Andrew O’Connell was arrested for the murder of Derek Black. A few months later, he was sentenced to 20 years imprisonment, not just for the murder but for the other charges, such as the drug dealing, fraud, GBH and a bucket load of other ‘skills’ shall we say he had used whilst working for Derek’s firm for all those years.

Andrew never complained. Not once. Throughout his arrest and throughout his court case not once did he pipe up and explain what really happened that night.

As far as the police knew, Drake and I were never in that garage the day Andrew killed Derek.

I didn’t know why he did it; he never explained why he did it either. There was no big ‘I did this to make up for all the years I wasn’t there’ speech. As soon as he put those 3 bullets into Derek’s body, he just turned and told us to get out. Drake never asked, but I knew for a fact he didn’t need to be told the reason behind Andrew’s action.

It was the most fucked up gesture ever to show someone that you do in fact care about them, but it was probably one of the most considerate things someone will ever do for us.

Because of Andrew, Drake could have a normal life. Because of Andrew, I didn’t lose Drake. We owed that man everything, and I made a promise the day he got sent away that I would make sure he knew how grateful I was because of it. We never discussed it, but judging by the fact Drake has visited his father without fail for 7 years, he made the same promise to himself as well.

Prison actually suited Andrew quite well. Every time we would visit him, the only thing he would complain about would be the fact that the only action he could get in there was either shower based with a cellmate, or his own hand. Other than that, he fitted in pretty well. No surprise there.

Apparently because people knew who he used to work for, and they knew who he was and what he was in for, they respected him beyond belief. They literally treated him like he was Lord Andrew and the entire prison was his empire. I knew from the smug, amused smirk on his mouth when he told me this he didn’t mind one bit.

Before we knew it, the hour had flown by and it was time to get my best friend down that aisle and officially married to my brother. I know it was very immature of me, but I was quite giddy about the fact after all the years me and Lacey referred to each other as sisters, she was technically legally becoming mine. In law, but still it counted.

I am well aware I am 23 year old woman, and not a pre-pubescent girl who still wears pigtails.

My stomach was starting to turn with nerves myself as we began to file out of the room.

Lacey and Nate were getting married in a Hotel. It was beautiful, almost like a castle. My brother however didn’t quite appreciate the beauty of it, especially after he handed over a cheque to pay for booking it. I’ve never seen Nate’s face paler than when he signed that cheque, and that includes that 2 weeks he was hospitalised from anaemia.

I could hear the chattering of people as we approached the big double doors that led into the hall. Lacey’s cousin was here as a bridesmaid, and so was Jimmy’s wife Valerie. They were both currently trying to straighten out her veil while Lacey was doing the very un-lady like task of sorting out her underwear, complaining it was cutting into her like a knife.

“Where the hell is my dad?!” Lacey almost screamed whilst looking around.

As if right on cue, a slightly overweight man in a tux comes waddling around the corner with a mouthful of some type of sandwich he was holding in his hand.

“I am so sorry, I didn’t realise it was already that time. I skipped breakfast.” He quickly explained, swallowing the mouthful. He actually went to take another bite of the sandwich, but Bridezilla had other thoughts.

She snatched it from him “No, I will not have you with ham breath giving me away. Enough sandwich!”

She actually turned to find somewhere to put the sandwich, and to my utter amusement once she realised there were no bins, she turned to one of the big (clearly expensive looking) plants by either side of the door and threw the sandwich in the plant pot.

We heard the music begin to play, telling us it was time to pull our acts together, sort our underwear out, throw all light snacks away and walk down this fucking aisle (without tripping, cracking our skulls open and covering these dresses in our own blood) before someone that worked here realised there was a ham sandwich in one of the plant pots.

Lacey’s cousin walked in first, and after a few seconds it was Valerie’s turn.

“Good luck Lace!” Valerie shrieked in excitement before she left us. I had to smile at her genuine excitement, I always liked Valerie. Jimmy did right by marrying her. It was obvious that Jimmy, the only sensible one out of the group, would be the first to get married. They had been together for about 5 years and got married 2 years ago, much to Sean and Luke’s protests who were claiming that they were never falling into the marriage trap.

They, and I quote, we’re going to bang their way through their 30’s, 40’s, and possibly late 50’s.

Then Luke met Tasha last year and they moved in with each other within 6 months.

The amount of fun we had with that was unbelievable. Sean felt a little betrayed, but vowed he would stick to being the best bachelor he could possibly be, making Hugh Heffner proud and every single other man slut out there.

So far, he has stuck pretty good to his promise. From the text I got from Jimmy earlier, he had already felt up Lacey’s cousin by the hotel reception when they were waiting to check in this morning.

Lacey looked up at me once she was done straightening her dress, a nervous but excited smile at her lips.

“This is it Mia!” she actually almost squealed, and I couldn’t help it I laughed. Her clear excitement was infectious.

“You’re going to do great, just don’t fall on the voodoo heels okay?” I quickly reassured her, and she gives me a guilty smile.

I narrowed my eyes at her suspiciously before glancing down at her feet. I couldn’t see them because the dress was so long, but I knew exactly why she looked so guilty.

“You’re wearing your Vans aren’t you?” I accused her.

Her response was a toothy, guilty caught out grin.

I shook my head and turned, not believing I was bridesmaid for a bride who was wearing actual Vans under a dress that cost over a thousand pounds. My brother was going to have a hernia.

As I walked into the room my eyes widened slightly as I took in the full room. Jesus Christ, I didn’t even know we knew this many people. Clearly this was Lacey’s doing and probably felt the need to invite every human she had ever met in her 23 years. I wasn’t positive or anything, but I swear near the back rows of seating, I saw Nate’s dentist.

I was smiling as I made my way down the aisle, glancing up to make sure my brother hadn’t passed out yet. My smile widened as I saw he was sweating slightly, the big gulp didn’t go unmissed either. My smile turned into a very different one as I noticed the man behind him whispering what I'm assuming were words of reassurance into my brothers ear. He looked mighty fine in a tux and I am not even going to deny it, I wanted to rip that tie off with my teeth while he was naked covered in baby oils and chocolate. Probably not the best thought to cross my mind as I was getting closer and closer to the Priest.

His eyes left Nate, and as they landed on me his brows instantly shot up as his eyes scanned me up and down, clearly not that far from my own train of thought. The dirty smirk I knew all too well was modelled at his mouth and I suddenly had the urge to object to this wedding just so I could have a quickie with the best man in any empty room of this hotel.

The filthy thoughts in my head quickly got wiped as I noticed stood next to the man I was lusting over stood my dad. If that doesn’t snap your legs together then I don’t know what will. He smiled warmly at me. Stood behind him were the rest of the squad; Jimmy Luke and Sean all looking mighty dapper in their tuxes.

I finally reached the end of the aisle and stood in front of Valerie, meeting my brothers nervous glance as I gave him a reassuring smile. Then suddenly, the expression on his face did a complete 180 as he turned back