by Amiee Louise
She squeezes it reassuringly as my hair is being curled and styled by the bands hair stylist and make-up artist, Blu. Sam paid a wedding planner a ridiculous amount of money to make sure everything was perfect. We are getting married in a chapel aptly named The Angel Wings Chapel of Love. We ditched everything traditional and have gone for an alternative style. After Sam made a few calls and pulled a few strings, I have the most beautiful wedding dress. It is a simple, strapless, white tea length dress with a full skirt and a black sash around the middle. It also has a black rose in the centre and is embellished with diamantes and skulls. I have a black rose in my hair, instead of a veil, and my make-up has been kept natural. Ruby, Addison, my sister Eden, and Willow are my bridesmaids. They are all wearing simple, black, bridesmaid’s dresses, and each of them have white roses in their hair.
Half an hour passes, my hair is finally done, and I have my dress on. As I look in the mirror, the reflection staring back at me is far from the woman I was. I have my glow back, my cheeks are rosy, and my hair is glossy and falling down my shoulders in loose curls. I feel beautiful. My mum lets out a strangled sob as she moves closer to me, holding Freddie in her arms. Freddie is dressed in a little suit, with a white shirt, a black clip-on tie, and a tiny trilby hat. He looks the mirror image of Sam. He giggles and claps his hands.
“Doesn’t mummy look, beautiful, Freddie? You look stunning, my darling girl.”
I smile, and my eyes are glazed. A heavily pregnant Ruby waddles towards me and points her finger at me.
“Don’t you dare bloody cry! You’ll set me off, my hormones are already all over the fucking place!”
We all laugh.
“We’ll be fine, as long as you keep your legs closed, babe!”
Ruby pouts at my joke, and I chuckle softly. I turn to my mum and hug her.
“Love you, mum.”
She kisses me on the cheek and strokes my hair.
“I love you too. The most important thing is that you’re happy, my darling. I know I told you to get to know each other again, before rushing into things, but I can see you love Sam. Now’s your time, Peyton, grab life by the balls and live it, with that handsome rocker of yours!”
I laugh, and the door taps softly. My dad, my brother, his fiancée Grace, Sam’s mum, and all of my bridesmaids come in. My dad stops in his tracks, he looks so handsome in his traditional black tuxedo.
“You look beautiful, sweetheart.”
He kisses me on the cheek, and Dexter nods with an impressed look on his face.
“You scrub up well, sis!”
I roll my eyes, and Grace hits him playfully.
“Don’t be so mean, Dex! She looks stunning!”
I laugh at her chastising him and straighten his crooked tie.
“Is that your way of telling me I look ok?”
He nods and bats my hands away.
“You look knockout, sis.”
He winks, and I smile at his compliment. Everyone greets me, and Addison bounds up to me and throws herself into me, almost taking my legs out from under me.
“Aunty Peyton! Aunty Peyton!”
I swing her up in my arms, and she idly twirls my hair in her fingers.
“Hey Addison. Wow, don’t you look pretty?” I say enthusiastically.
She plants a wet kiss on my cheek, and I find myself laughing. She flashes me a toothy grin and points to her teeth.
“Look, my tooth fell out and mummy said the tooth fairy is going to visit me! But if I’m not at home, how will she know where to come?”
I look at her, and I’m about to speak when Lori enters the room. She looks almost regal in a champagne trouser suit, with a matching fascinator in her perfect brown hair. I put Addison down, and Ruby takes her hand.
“Peyton, you look breath taking. My son is an extremely lucky man.”
She hugs me and air kisses me on both cheeks.
“Take care of him, Peyton,” she whispers, and I nod.
“I intend to,” I reply, and she smiles softly.
“You ready then, sis?” Eden says, and I take a deep breath.
This is it, the moment I’m about to become Mrs Peyton Leigh Newbolt.
35
Sam
I’m waiting inside the chapel with my older brother Brandon as my best man by my side. I never get nervous, but right now I’m shaking like a shitting dog.
“Fuck me, you look like you’re about to be thrown to the lions, little brother.”
I wring my hands and narrow my eyes.
“Prick,” I mutter, and Brandon chuckles to himself.
“You’re about to marry the most beautiful girl in the world, which I have to say, is a fucking injustice by the way. Is she sure she’s marrying the right brother?” he jokes, and I shake my head.
“I knew it was a mistake asking you to be my best man,” I mutter sarcastically, and he shrugs.
“You secretly wanted to torture me by making me wear a suit!”
We both laugh as he tugs on his tie. I am wearing a traditional black wedding suit, with a white shirt, black tie, black waistcoat, trousers, and black Doc Martens. Brody wanders over and slaps me on the back.
“You do realise you look like a fucking penguin?”
I fidget with my cufflinks which my dad gave me; they are shaped like old style microphones. I grab Brody playfully in a headlock.
“Is someone still wounded that you lost our stag night bet?”
On my stag night, which Brody and the boys organised, we took an overnight trip to Prague. After a night of drunken debauchery and ‘what goes on tour, stays on tour’, Brody and I made a bet. We bet that a girl in a bar we were in was a guy, and it turns out ‘she’ had a bigger cock than all of us put together. His forfeit was to get a tattoo saying, ‘Emergency exit’ and an arrow above the crack of his arse. Ever since that night, which was now two nights ago, we’ve done nothing but rib him about it. He narrows his eyes at me.
“I’ll get you back for that, you prick! But seriously, from the bottom of my heart, good luck man. You deserve it, both of you.”
I smile and nod.
“Cheers, dude.”
He goes back to take his seat next to Jax and Lucas as I turn around to look around the room, which is filled by our close friends and family. Even though I’m nervous as hell, I couldn’t be happier. I’m marrying the mother of my child, the woman I love, my best friend, and my soulmate.
Today is the start of our forever.
***
Peyton
After arriving at the chapel on the back of a Harley Davidson V Rod Custom, which is driven by my dad, we are met in the foyer by Marlowe. He looks handsome and distinguished in a grey suit, with a white shirt and silver tie. His green eyes, a mirror image of Sam’s, are framed by thick black-rimmed glasses.
“Peyton, you look absolutely ravishing, love,” he says, with more than a hint of awe in his voice.
He kisses me on the cheek and informs me that there is going to be a slight delay with the ceremony. I nod and walk into the main vestibule of the chapel. I smile my greetings to our close family and friends, who are gathered in small groups, talking amongst themselves. As I catch sight of Sam in his wedding suit, I fall in love with him all over again. All six feet four of him, dressed in a three-piece suit, with tears in his eyes as his green eyes lock with mine. I can’t take my eyes off him, and as I reach the altar, Sam wraps me in his strong, muscular arms.
To hell with tradition.
“Fuck, angel…I can’t find my breath…you look… incredible,” he rasps and his breath catches as he takes me in.
Our moment is interrupted by my phone vibrating inside the cup of my dress. I pull it out and I feel the colour drain from my face as I read the text message. The message is from an unknown number.
J.D didn’t cut your brakes
It was me
You’re going to fucking pay for this, bitch.
My vision is blurry from tears and my world starts to spin as I lo
ok up to see a mysterious figure who emerges from the chapel entrance. They are dressed from head to toe in leather and are wearing a motorcycle helmet. The figure is holding a box, and before I get a chance to register what is going on, the figure pulls out a gun and opens fire, spraying the room in a rain of bullets.
***
Breaking news just coming in. The wedding of Samson Newbolt, lead singer of the popular rock band Rancid Vengeance, and tattoo artist Peyton Harper, was today interrupted by a hail of bullets in a Las Vegas chapel. The bloodbath claimed the lives of eight people and left more than twenty injured. Close friends and family of the couple were gathered in the Angel Wings Chapel of Love, when a figure wearing a motorcycle helmet entered the chapel and opened fire. Newbolt and Harper both suffered serious injuries but are said to be stable in a nearby hospital. The names of the fatalities are yet to be confirmed. The reason behind this horrific act is still unclear at this stage. Our thoughts and prayers are with the families and victims of this tragic incident. More details to follow.
36
Sam
What the actual fuck is going on?
I can’t seem to come to terms with what has just happened and the sheer fucking insanity of it all. I can’t feel any one single emotion because of all the shit that’s steamrolling its way through my shell-shocked brain. The one thing that won’t leave my fucking mind is that sickening, wet, thudding sound of bullets ploughing into the people I care the most about. The metallic smell of blood permeating my nostrils makes my stomach roil. Every time I close my eyes I can hear it, and I can feel my mind trying to spiral out of control. It feels like I am reliving that single moment over and over again, on a constant fucking loop. The deathly silence that followed will forever haunt me, until the day I fucking die. The one feeling I find myself able to cling to, is one of pure numbness and disbelief. As I listen to the dull beep of hospital machines surrounding me, it’s then when the sudden realisation hits me like a ten-tonne fucking truck.
Our lives will never be the same again.
The door taps softly, and my head snaps up from my reverie. My dad enters the room, looking older than I’ve ever seen him.
“Cole has just come out of surgery. He’s stable, but the next forty-eight hours are critical. Peyton is still in surgery…they’re doing their best, but it’s not looking good, son”.
As he says those words, my world turns on its axis, and I can’t comprehend the scale in which this whole fucked up situation has impacted our lives in such a short space of time.
I can’t fucking lose her again.
Suddenly, the door swings open and Jax almost falls through it, but my dad manages to catch him in his arms. The strangled wail that rips from deep within him rocks me to my fucking core. He doesn’t speak, he just falls apart in my dad’s arms.
“It’s alright, son, I’ve got you,” my dad soothes, and Jax looks up.
The look in his eyes says it all, he doesn’t need to say the words for me to know what’s happened.
Ruby’s dead.
Jax’s fiancée, Peyton’s best friend, and welcome addition to the Rancid Vengeance family, is gone. This isn’t happening, this isn’t fucking real…it can’t be. This is a dream, a fucking sick joke, it has to be. I subtly pinch myself, and I’m definitely not dreaming. Shit.
Watching my best friend, my brother, fall apart in front of me took on a whole new perspective. He had watched as I fell apart, because I thought I had lost my fiancée and my baby. Now, I truly know how it feels…to feel helpless, useless, and knowing there isn't a fucking thing you can do to make it right. I can’t find the words, I’m at a loss for what to say to the broken man in front of me. He looks up, and the pained look in his eyes cuts me deep.
He swipes angrily at his tears, and he unexpectedly blurts out, “I’m a dad, Sam.”
My eyes widen in shock.
“Ruby…died, but they managed to save our baby…I’ve got a daughter.”
The impact of his words renders me speechless.
Jax is a dad.
***
I’m not sure how much time passes, but I am woken by another soft tap on the door. I look up, and the doctor enters the room.
“Mr. Newbolt, I’m Doctor Simon Etienne.”
He nods curtly.
“Call me Sam.”
I try to sit up straighter, but the pain is too much. Fuck me.
“Your fiancée is out of surgery, and we managed to repair her stomach. The next twenty-four hours are critical, but we’re positive that she’ll make a full recovery. You’re both very lucky.”
My shoulders sag with relief.
“Thank you. When can I see her?”
He moves further into the room to check my chart.
“I’ll have someone come with a wheelchair, and they can take you to see her.”
He smiles, and I nod my thanks as he leaves. I am left alone for a few seconds before Kai enters the room. He has a graze on his head, but otherwise he looks unscathed. His tie is missing, and he is clutching an iPad in his hand. He looks as if he has the weight of the world on his shoulders.
“Sam,” he greets me.
“Kai, how’s it going?”
The look in his eyes is grim, and I know the news he has come to deliver isn’t going to be good.
“There’s been a video posted online, it’s gone viral. I think you should see it.”
I beckon him into the room and gesture for him to take a seat beside my bed. He taps the screen a few times and turns it towards me, so I can see.
***
Peyton
I hear the sound of muffled voices speaking in hushed tones, but I can’t make out what they’re saying or who the voices belong to. I almost feel like I’m in the middle of a dense, heavy fog. Everything around me is unclear as I give in to the blackness.
I’m somewhere in between unconsciousness and wakefulness when I hear Sam’s familiar gruff tone.
“Please wake up. I can’t lose you a second time…I won’t survive it this time. The way I feel for you, it scares the living shit out of me. The year you were gone, I morphed back into the self-obsessed arsehole I was before I met you. I wasn’t a nice person. Fuck, if I met me, I wouldn’t have liked myself. Those first six months were the worst, I was an absolute wreck. I was so overwhelmed by grief, it consumed me. Everywhere I went, it was all people wanted to ask me about. In the end, I shut myself away and hid. I lost myself in writing lyrics, and I barely functioned most days. After I attempted suicide, they watched me more closely. The boys took turns watching me, making sure I was never alone. But all I wanted was to be alone. J.D was my rock through it all yet all along it was him; this is all his fucking fault. I should have ended him when I had the chance. I should be sad that he’s dead, but I’m fucking glad. I’m glad he’s dead. Wake up, angel, I need those beautiful blue eyes of yours.”
I feel him grip my hand and the feather light touch of his lips to the back of my hand. I struggle to open my eyes, to let him know that I can hear him, that I heard every word he said to me. My body won’t cooperate. My eyes feel as if they are glued shut, my limbs feel like lead, and my voice feels as if it is trapped somewhere deep within me.
“I need you, angel. Everything’s falling apart. Please, wake up, I can’t do this without you.”
The desperate need in his voice is apparent, and it breaks my heart. I want to reassure him, I want to look in his clear green pools and tell him everything is going to be ok. Inside I am screaming, I’m calling out to him, but no matter how loud I scream, no one can hear me. I need all the people I care about to know that I’m ok, that it’s going to take more than a psycho with a gun to finish me off.
“I’m struggling…this whole thing is too much to take in.”
Somehow, I manage to make my brain cooperate with my limbs, and it takes every ounce of strength I have in me, but I squeeze Sam’s fingers.
“Hey, it’s me, I’m here.”
I feel the fog begin to cle
ar, and the weight that was crushing my chest begins to lift. The dull beep of the machines rings in my ears, and as my eyelids flutter open, the bright light stings my eyes. It takes a moment for me to adjust, before I look into the eyes of the man I love.
“Angel.”
His husky voice breaks through my consciousness, and the relief is evident.
“You’re in the hospital. You’re going to be fine, I promise you. I’ll get the nurse.”
He pushes a button, and almost instantly my hospital room is a hive of activity. The doctor’s crowd around my bed, shining lights in my eyes, removing tubes, checking my wounds, and administering pain medication. Soon, the room has cleared, and we are left alone. I take in the sight before me, Sam is dressed in Batman lounge pants, a black v-neck t-shirt, and he is sat in a wheelchair. His hair is mussed, and he looks as if he hasn’t slept in a while.