“You’re real,” she whispers.
“So are you,” I say, my voice cracking.
Adam places my hand in hers. Her fingers are warm and slightly trembling. He makes his way to my side with Aryan and Victoria. I look toward our officiant, Mrs. Kim, who gestures for me to start my vows.
“I love you,” I say first, because everything else feels secondary to that. Her mouth curves slightly, but her eyes are already glassy. “I love you in the quiet moments, when it’s just us in the kitchen at midnight, when you’re painting and you don’t realise you’ve gone quiet because you’re thinking, when you reach for my hand without looking.”
My thumb moves slowly over her knuckles as I steady myself.
“I love you when you’re difficult, when you’re stubborn, when you push me because you know I can take it. I love the way you never let me settle for less than I’m capable of. You make me braver. You make me softer in ways I didn’t think were possible. You make me want to build things that last. I promise to keep choosing you, not just today, not just in moments like this, but on ordinary mornings, on hard days, in arguments, in everything.”
Her breath catches, but she doesn’t look away.
“I promise to respect you, to cherish you, and to protect you. I promise to love you without trying to win.”
That earns the faintest laugh from her and everyone else, and my hands tighten around hers.
“I choose you, every version of you, every future version too. And I will keep choosing you for the rest of my life.”
Mrs. Kim smiles softly before turning toward Juliette, who is openly bawling, and so am I.
“Juliette,” she says gently. “Your vows.”
Juliette doesn’t look away when she begins, and there’s no performance in her voice.
“I love you more than anything and anyone,” she says plainly, like it’s the simplest fact in the world. “And you know I don’t say things I don’t mean. You fixed something in me that I didn’t even know needed fixing. Not because you tried to and not because you came in and rearranged me, but because you stayed long enough and loved me steadily enough that I stopped bracing for something to fall apart.”
Her voice shakes slightly.
“You made it feel safe to put my guard down without feeling weak for doing it. You’re the only person who has ever argued with me and somehow made me feel more loved at the end of it, which is impressive, considering how committed I am to being right. You challenge me without competing with me. You hold your ground without trying to overpower me. You call me out when I deserve it and you hold me when I don’t. You made love feel stable, not something i had to earn.”
She swallows.
“You made forever feel like something I could actually believe in instead of something I needed to protect myself from. I promise to keep choosing you on ordinary days and hard ones, when we’re exhausted, when we’re stubborn, when neither of us wants to apologise first. I promise to protect what we’ve built and never treat it casually.”
Her hand tightens around mine and i can’t hold back any more of my tears.
“You are my equal, my partner, my safest place, and if we’re being honest, the only person I would ever willingly lose an argument to. I love you completely, without hesitation, and I will keep loving you like this for the rest of my life.”
Mrs. Kim’s voice is warm when she speaks.
“By the power vested in me, it is my honour to pronounce you wife and wife.”
There’s a pause.
“You may kiss your bride.”
Juliette doesn’t hesitate. Her hand moves to the back of my neck and she pulls me in. The first touch of her mouth is soft. Almost reverent. The world disappears, it’s just us.
Married.
And still completely us.
EPILOGUE
JULIETTE
Thursday dinners happen whether we’re busy or not. Kai and Victoria arrive first, as usual. They don’t knock anymore. Aryan and his husband, Zayn follow not long after, arguing about something political that they’ll both forget by next week.
