Skye

“Skye?” Zayn asked surprised as he opened the door. He looked absolutely terrible. His hair was a complete mess and there were bags under his slightly red eyes. “What are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be getting ready for the wedding?”

“We need to talk.” I said sternly pushing past him into his flat. He followed behind me. I took notice of how messy his flat was. There were take out containers splayed across the coffee table. Liam probably came into clean as much as he could.

“What about?” Zayn asked wearily probably already knowing where this conversation was going to go.

“You’re not fighting for her.” I stated simply. Zayn looked at me waiting for me to go on. “You’re giving up and you might be okay with that. But I’m not.”

“She was the one who ended this okay. She was the one who pushed me away or are we forgetting that.” Zayn said shaking his head at me. “Why should I fight for her?”

“Because you love her.”

“Not everyone is like you and Harry. He fought for you that’s fine. But you weren’t engaged to someone else. You weren’t choosing that engagement over Harry. I’m not going to forgive Lacey for that.”

“Oh for God’s sake Zayn! Why can’t you forgive her? You’re not the most innocent boy in the world. Let’s not forget that. She didn’t choose him willingly. She thought she had no other choice. She pushed you away to protect you!” I tried to reason with him.

“And what I’m supposed to accept that! She should have told me what her father said. We could have figured it out together!” He replied hurt flashing across his face. I was surprised by the emotion he displayed, usually he was so good at hiding it. He was always harder to read than the others.

“She was scared Zayn. We’ve all been scared. You’ve both been hurt in this. Now today she is going to make the biggest mistake of her life and she is going to be miserable for the rest of her life because of it. Are you really going to just let her do that?” I asked him softly. He sighed and sat down on the couch.

“It’s her choice. She’s a big girl and she knows what she’s doing. There’s nothing I can do.” He muttered.

“That’s where you’re wrong. You can do something. Call her, text her, just do something to get her attention. Tell her you still love her. Convince her no to do this. Hell, go and convince her parents that you’re better than Edmund. Just don’t sit here and do nothing! You’ll regret it!” I warned him. He stuck his head in his hands mumbling something I couldn’t understand.

“If you love her as much as you say, you would have already tried everything to stop this. You wouldn’t have let her push you away instead you would have been fighting for her. You deserve to be happy Zayn. Why give up on it, when you came so close?”

I received no reply as he kept his head in his hands.

In disappointment I left his flat and headed down to my car. I tried and that was all I could do.

-

“I’m doing the right thing, right?” Lacey asked turning to me as I assured her dress was sitting perfectly. I sighed before meeting her eyes.

“No you’re not. You’re not doing the right thing. But you’re going to do it nonetheless because there are people out there waiting for you. So you are going to go out there and marry a guy that is not the man of your dreams because you think you are doing what’s right. But no Lace you are not doing the right thing,” I told her honestly.

“You’re supposed to be my friend! You’re supposed to tell me that I’m doing the right thing!” I watched as Lacey’s face turned to anger.

“If you want someone to tell you that go get Tamzyn. But I am you friend Lacey and I’m telling you the truth. But even though I don’t agree with this I’m still going to stand by your side because that’s what friends do. Even if they believe that their friend is making the worst mistake of their lives. But I’m going to be here anyway. I’m not going to lie to you, I am, however, going to walk down that aisle in front of you, then I am going to stand there and watch you as you marry that man out there. Then I will be by your side for the rest of it. I will not agree with what you are doing but I will be there beside you.” I reached forward to pull her into a hug as she hugged back tightly.

“Ready?” I asked her softly. She shook her head before pulling back and taking a large breath.

“Lets do it.” She nodded at me. I smiled at her softly before following her to the door picking up her trail the best I could to make it easier to move.

I stood to the side as Lacey’s mum began to fawn over her daughter. Tears in her eyes as she told her how beautiful she was. I felt like the moment would be magical if Lacey was actually happy.

We were eventually ushered downstairs and towards the large French doors leading out into the backyard. The whole house had been set up for the reception and I could only imagine how amazing the backyard will look.

“Okay, you girls ready?” Lacey’s mum asked us. We both nodded and I bent down to help fix up Luce’s dress. She was the flower girl and looked like an absolute angel. For a moment my mind slipped to my own child and I wondered what it would have been like to have them at my own wedding. Quickly pushing that out of my mind. I straightened up and glanced towards Lacey. She nodded at me, a strained look on her face.

I sighed, I guess Zayn had decided to give up on her after all. The music began and I directed Luce out through the doors. I waited for my cue, before blowing Lacey a kiss and stepping out of the doors. I almost froze in my steps at what faced me.

The backyard was absolutely beautiful. An archway had been set up at the end of the isle that was adorned with bright flowers. There were flowers placed everywhere you could look with fairy lights hanging throughout them. It was stunning. I forced myself to continue down the isle as the music continued.

I caught Harry’s eyes as I walked down the isle. He smiled widely at me showing his beautiful dimples. I smiled back happily. He sat with all our other friends, minus Zayn of course. I took my spot on the opposite side from Edmund’s best man while everyone else turned their attention back to the doors waiting for Lacey. I kept my own eyes on Edmund.

His face was calm, relaxed and without a worry. His face should have been worried, nervous and above all excited. This should be the happiest day of his life yet he was treating it like a normal day. He didn’t appreciate her as much as he should.

I happily took Lacey’s bouquet of flower’s from her before she faced Edmund. A smile was plastered on her face, too bad it didn’t quite reach her eyes.

Everyone took his or her seats as the minister began the ceremony. I watched as Lacey’s hand shook lightly as they clung onto Edmund’s. My heart ached for her knowing that this was wrong. This was all so wrong but this wasn’t my life and I couldn’t just interfere.

Lacey had to make the choice on her life. No matter what she chose I would be there for her.

“Please repeat your vows for each other.” The minister stated pulling me out of my trance. Something moved out of the corner of my eyes making me glance over. Harry and Louis had both stood up and began to move through the chairs. I looked on incredulous before glancing over towards what they were looking at.

“Fuck.” I cursed grabbing Lacey’s attention. I shot her an apologetic look. She looked at me confused as the minister looked at me disapprovingly. “I uh.”

Lacey continued to look at me confused from my stuttering before glancing out to the crowd of people where Louis and Harry had just succeeded getting out onto the isle and heading straight for Zayn.

Zayn who was standing at the bottom of the isle dressed in a suit. His hair, as always in public, was styled immaculately. His eyes stayed trained on Lacey. I moved my head between them both as they stayed frozen on the spot just staring at each other.

Harry and Louis reached Zayn and began to tug him away.

“No, no. I need to see her.” Zayn stated loud enough for everyone to here. I saw Harry hiss something back before Zayn pulled out of their grips and began to head down the isle.

“Young man. This is a private event. You have to leave.” Lacey’s father said stepping in his way.

“I have an invitation.” Zayn smirked up at him before training his eyes back on Lacey. Hushed whispers began to break through the crowd. Everyone knew who Zayn was and I knew they would be slowly piecing together why he was here.

I moved forward but Lacey grabbed my arm preventing me. Her eyes stayed trained on Zayn, her mouth hung open just a little. She was in shock, we both were. When I had told Zayn to do something I hadn’t meant in the middle of the ceremony.

“You can’t marry him Lace. You don’t have to do this. You don’t have to listen to them!” Zayn called out to Lacey trying to move past her father. Lacey’s hands tightened around my wrist, she was frozen in shock.

“I beg your pardon.” Edmund said stepping forwards, anger evident in his features. Zayn ignored him.

“I won’t let you marry him. Come with me.” Zayn pleaded with her, a smirk forming across his face as he stared at her. Her hand released mine suddenly and anger flashed through her eyes. This just made Zayn look more smug.

“Inside now!” Lacey commanded Zayn angrily.