Chapter Text
Octavia Blake looked at her reflection in the mirror.
Her bedroom had been turned into a bridal suite in the past five hours.
The hair and make-up teams had come, done a pretty outstanding job and left. Clarke – dressed in her golden bridesmaid’s gown – had hurried around the room, her meticulously prepared Wedding Planner in hand, making sure everything was perfect. But she’d left, too.
Now, she stood all alone in her room once again.
She took in her wedding dress. For the past few months, the idea of getting married had seemed so far away.
It was all coming true. It was real. She was a bride.
This was a wedding worthy of a princess. She should be happy... Every little detail was perfect – from the table placements to the monogram letters of the bride and groom’s initials everywhere. Clarke really had outdone herself.
Octavia knew she should be happy. It was her wedding day, for Heaven’s sake!
But she felt as if she were trapped in a gilded cage.
She tried to put on her best smile, but it felt too forced.
Why? she wondered.
Why was she marrying someone she didn’t love?
She did care about Atom. He had been a friend of the family for a while, he was even one of Bellamy’s closest friends and now even business partner. They had started dating in freshman year of college. They had gone out together, had a lot of sex… your run of the mill college relationship. Her fondness for his sweet-natured, kind, goofy spirit had kept her around.
After graduation, they had moved in together. It had seemed like the next logical step. And, after that, getting married just seemed to be the expected thing to do. So when Atom had proposed, she'd said yes.
“Look at you!”
Octavia smiled at the sound of her brother's voice. It was the first genuine smile of the day.
“You look so beautiful, O.”
Octavia was the person he loved most in the world.
And today – her wedding day, one of the most important days in a woman’s life – he would be the one to walk her down the aisle and give her away. In just a few hours, his baby sister would be married to one of his closest friends.
“Clarke’s the one to thank for all of this,” Octavia said, with a wide gesture at herself and the room. “She did everything.”
“But there’s something missing.”
His sister frowned and looked down at herself.
“What?”
“What’s the saying again?” he wondered aloud, as if he didn’t know the answer. “Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue.”
Despite recognizing the old wedding tradition, Octavia was still confused, but she let him go on.
“Well, you already have something new,” he told her, nodded at her gown. “Something blue,” he continued, taking her hand and examining her engagement ring – a gorgeous, big sapphire surrounded by diamonds. “And something borrowed,” Bellamy concluded, pointing to the Clarke’s mother’s broach that would secure her short white silk cape.
Bellamy reached into the inner pocket of his jacket and retrieved a small rectangular box. He handed it to Octavia.
She opened the box and was stunned speechless.
It was their mother’s necklace. It was a small, pretty thing. A shimmering opal in the shape of a teardrop hung from a delicate gold chain.
“Bell…”
Octavia was speechless.
“Now you have something old.”
There were few memories of her Aurora without her necklace.
“It’s yours now,” Bellamy told her. “I was saving it for a special occasion. Guess this is as special as it’ll ever get.”
No matter the hardships they’d gone through, Aurora had refused to sell her mother’s necklace. She’d pawned it once to feed her children, but as soon as she’d met their step-father, he’d gone out to get it back as a proof of his ‘undying love’. Octavia shoved thoughts of that man from her mind.
“I wish Mom were here.”
“Me, too,” Bellamy admitted. “She would’ve been so proud of you. I am.”
Octavia tried her best to keep the tears at best.
“Don’t you dare cry. Clarke’s gonna kill me if I ruin your make-up.”
“I’m not crying!” she laughed.
He held his arms open and Octavia walked straight into the, burying her face on his strong shoulder. The Blake siblings held each other tightly for a moment, letting all emotion flow between them.
Then, when they parted, Bellamy took the necklace in his hands and Octavia turned around, back to face the mirror. He placed the jewel around her neck.
The smile she’d had while looking at the necklace dimmed and faded.
Octavia still looked sad.
Deep down, he could feel it. There was something wrong with her. He knew his little sister, he’d practically raised her by himself after their mother’s death. Bellamy knew her heart and mind like they were his own.
“Octavia.”
“Hmm?” she answered absentmindedly.
“Are you okay?”
She was taken aback by his question. She should’ve known he would see right through her. Octavia tried to fake her way out of it and smiled.
“Yeah. I’m just tired. You know, I think the stress of it all is just getting to me.”
The wedding between Octavia Blake and Atom North was an event to be remember. There would be hundreds of guests watching them tie the knot. It would be perfectly normal for anyone to be nervous or agitated.
“Are you sure?”
The massive teal colored sapphire on her ring finger caught her eye. She studied for the millionth time. When he’d proposed, Atom had told her that the color of the sapphire had reminded him of her eyes. Just then, she was reminded of why she cared about him. Atom was the sweetest man. She would never find a better man.
Octavia nodded. “Absolutely.”
Bellamy took the carefully arranged bouquet and handed it to his sister. He held out his arm.
“Let’s go, then.”
***
Lincoln arrived at the luxurious house where he was supposed to pick up the bride and her brother to take them to the wedding venue.
He got out of the limousine and walked around it, waiting beside the car’s door, waiting for the passengers.
Not long after, the massive double wooden doors opened and a tall man came out. Lincoln recognized him as Bellamy Blake – the brother. He held out his hand, which was taken by a woman. Then, the bride exited the house.
The sight of her made Lincoln lose his breathe.
She looked like an angel.
A sad angel, he realized.
Weren't brides meant to be glowing on their wedding day? Octavia Blake looked like she was going to be sick. Was there something wrong with her?
He couldn’t help but wonder if this had been an arranged marriage, a business negotiation. Did those still exist?
Lincoln opened the door to let the beautiful bride inside. Her brother helped her enter the limousine and walked around the car to enter through the other side while Lincoln closed her door.
During the entire way, Octavia glanced out the window, feeling empty.
They arrived at the venue, where she would declare her vows and sign her life away to Atom too soon. Way too soon.
She and Bellamy waited inside until their chauffeur opened her door.
At the entrance of the venue, Bellamy helped her remove the broach and the silk coat that covered her shoulders.
Octavia took his arm again and looked down at the aisle in front of her.
On the other end, Atom waited patiently, a bright smile on his face.
She froze like a deer in headlights.
No.
She couldn’t do this. Not to him, not to herself…
“I am so sorry,” she whispered, her eyes fixed on the altar ahead. She looked terrified. She looked at her brother. “I can't do this, Bell.”
Despite his shocked expression, she could see the understanding in his eyes.
Bellamy nodded.
Trembling, she dropped the bouquet and ran.
There was nothing Bellamy could do to stop her, nothing he would do to stop her. So, he just stood there as he watched her flee.
***
After dropping off the bride and her brother at the venue, Lincoln took off his seatbelt and settled in into the driver’s seat.
He guessed the whole ordeal would take a few hours, so he'd brought his sketchbook along. The ceremony itself would take about an hour - from the time he dropped her off to the end of the vows, then he was to take the blissful newlyweds to the reception, and who knows however many hours later, he would take them away to the airport to send them off on their honeymoon.
It would be somewhere fancy, no doubt.
Lincoln had done some research on the family, like he always did for the families he worked for. He liked to know who he would be working for before he did the job. No idea when he might be hired by a mob boss or something similiar…
They were big money people. The bride was the younger sister of Bellamy Blake - the young and successful owner of the Blake Corporation. Atom, the groom, was his business partner and the heir to a giant fortune.
Between her family and her soon-to-be husband's, the bride and whatever offspring they might have were set for life.
Just thinking about so many dollar signs made his head spin.
Damn...
Lincoln had never been rich and he'd never yearned for money. What he had, no matter how little, has always been enough. He had always believed that the real value of people was on their hearts, not their wallets.
This side gig didn't pay a lot, but along with his main job as a car mechanic, it was more than enough to make ends meet and live comfortably.
His mind drifted to the bride as he sketched. Octavia Blake was the most beautiful bride he’d ever seen. When he focused back on the sketchbook, he’d seen that he’d drawn her. The smooth lines of her face, her sad eyes…
Lincoln was lightly drawing in his book when he heard the commotion outside. No sooner did he lift his head to see what was going on, than the door to back of the limo opened.
The beautiful bride got inside, a crazed look in her eyes.
Out of breath, she commanded: “Just drive!”
End of Chapter 1