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Alexis isn't a nervous person, generally speaking. In fact, she's normally quite the opposite. Between her penchant for spiritual self-betterment and her history of making miraculous escapes from seemingly impossible situations, Alexis has developed confidence in spades. However, the thought of getting serious with Ted -- like really, actually, properly serious -- makes her heart race and her stomach flutter.
She feels like the entire population of Adele's entire butterfly garden has taken up residence in her ribcage. She wonders if this is what David feels like all the time.
No wonder he's so tetchy.
Her throat tightens as she catches sight of herself in the tinted windows of the building -- draped in white and holding a bouquet of flowers plucked from an overgrown lot.
She hadn't fantasized of marriage a lot when she was younger, but when she did, it was always draped in glitz and glamour. She would be a bride in her late thirties, finally settling down. The blinding flashbulbs from cameras would be almost overwhelming as both the paparazzi and her guests fought each other for the best shots to sell to TMZ. Expensive jewelry would cling to every curve of her body, and elegant lingerie would be tucked away beneath her dress, ready for a long night.
She doesn't have any of that anymore.
Well, she might have splurged on the lingerie. It's her wedding, after all. She deserves at least one selfish on her special day.
But even with that mischeivous little secret tucked away beneath her dress, she is no longer a socialite, no longer rich, no longer the subject of envy and gossip, and yet, despite all of that, her heart is so full that it's fit to burst.
She has her family and the love of her life, and that's all anyone needs, really.
Alexis meets her father outside of the doors to the wedding venue. He's in his best suit -- the one he managed to salvage during move -- and his brow furrows with fatherly concern as he asks, "Are you ready, Alexis?"
He probably thinks she's going to run away -- leave Ted at the altar or something crazy -- but she's not the old Alexis anymore. She's not getting kidnapped by princes or drug running in Canada. She's the new Alexis -- the best Alexis -- and she wants to prove it.
So she clutches her flowers a bit tighter, takes a deep breath, and does her best to hide her nerves as she smiles. "Yeah. Let's do this thing."
As she slips her hand into the crook of her father's arm, the doors swing open, and she finds herself stepping into a fantasy she didn't know she had.
And at the end of the aisle stands the kindest, most patient, most fun person she knows. And she wouldn't have it any other way.