The sound of our footsteps echoed down the marble steps, uneven and breathless. My veil tore away somewhere between the doors and the parking lot, catching on the wind before vanishing like it couldn't bear to follow me anymore. The heels on my shoes slipped against the pavement, but Eli's hand never faltered. He pulled me closer, his grip steady, his breathing as ragged as mine.
"Lia!" Voices chased after us, scattered and panicked. "Stop her!"
But I didn't. I couldn't.
The world behind me collapsed into noise. My heart pounded so violently I thought it would shatter through my ribs. The white silk of my dress dragged against the ground, catching dust and petals. For the first time all day, I didn't care how I looked. I just needed to get away.
When we reached his car, Eli fumbled for the keys, his fingers trembling. He opened the door for me with the same quiet urgency he always had, the kind that made me feel both safe and terrified.
"Get in," he said, breath uneven.
I did.
The door shut with a final, heavy click. The sounds from the hotel. Inside the car, everything felt still. My chest rose and fell in quick, shallow bursts. The scent of roses and smoke clung to my skin, a reminder of what I just burned down.
Eli sat behind the wheel, gripping it hard, his knuckles pale. He didn't start the car right away. His jaw worked like he was chewing on words he couldn't yet speak.
When he finally looked at me, his voice was low, shaking. "What did you just do, Lia?"
I turned toward the window. The church doors were a blur in the distance now. Tiny figures are moving "I did what I should've done a long time ago."
He let out a quiet, broken laugh. "You really left him."
"I left everything," I whispered. "Him. Them. The version of me that kept trying to fit into something that didn't belong."
Eli leaned back in his seat, exhaling deeply. For a moment, the only sound was our breathing and the faint hum of the engine as he finally started it. The car rolled forward slowly, like even it was afraid of what came next.
"You realize," he said softly, "the world will know by now."
"I know."
"They'll call you a coward."
"I've been worse things."
That made him look at me. Really look. The silence that followed wasn't awkward.
"Do you regret it?" he asked after a long pause.
I met his eyes. "No. Do you?"
"Not even close."
His answer came too quickly and too sure. It made something deep inside me tremble.
I turned away, staring at the blur of trees outside. "I don't know what happens next."
Eli's lips twitched into a faint smile. "We never did."
The city stretched ahead, endless and bright, mocking our uncertainty. Somewhere, there was laughter. Music. Life continuing as if my world hadn't just split in two.
I pressed my palms to my lap, feeling the weight of the ring that was no longer there. "He didn't deserve this," I said quietly.
Eli's hands tightened on the wheel. "He didn't deserve you either."
My throat ached. "You don't get to say that."
"I know." He exhaled slowly. "But I will anyway."
I closed my eyes, leaning my head back against the seat. The adrenaline was fading now, replaced by exhaustion that felt like it was sinking into my bones.
"When you left before," he said after a while, "I told myself I'd let you go. That if you were happier without me, then maybe that was love."
"And now?"
"Now I think love's never been about letting go." His voice softened. "It's about finally holding on when it matters."
I turned to him then. He looked different but still him. The same eyes that saw me before I even knew who I was. The same voice that could steady me even when the world tilted.
"You shouldn't have followed me," I said, though my voice lacked conviction.
"Lia," he said gently, "I never stopped."
Without warning, simething inside me broke quietly again this time. I blinked away the tears that threatened to fall, but one escaped anyway, tracing a slow line down my cheek.
Eli reached out, hesitating only for a second before his thumb brushed it away. "You don't have to be brave right now."
I let out a shaky laugh. "Too late for that."
He smiled faintly. "You're shaking."
"I just ruined my own wedding. I think I'm allowed to."
He chuckled softly, the sound fragile but real. "You didn't ruin it. You saved yourself."
The car stopped at an intersection. The light turned red. For a moment, time stilled again. The world outside moved in slow motion. The cars are passing. The strangers walk life indifferent. I watched the people crossing the street, how ordinary they looked. I wondered if they knew how lucky they were not to be me right now.
Eli's voice pulled me back. "So… what now?"
I looked at him, then out the window again. "Now, I figure out who I am when I'm not someone's fiancée. Or someone's mistake."
"You were never a mistake."
I laughed under my breath. "Then what was I?"
He hesitated, then said quietly, "The one thing I never got over."
The light turned green. He didn't move. He just stared at me, like he was waiting for permission to speak, to breathe, to hope.
I broke the silence first. "Drive, Eli."
He did.
The road stretched out before us, wide and unknown. My heartbeat finally began to slow, syncing with the rhythm of the engine. For the first time that day, I felt air fill my lungs without it hurting.
"Do you think they'll find us?" I asked.
He smiled without looking at me. "Do you want them to?"
I thought about the chaos we left behind, the questions, the whispers that would never stop. Then I shook my head. "No. I just want a few hours where I don't have to explain myself."
"Then that's what we'll take," he said softly.
And for the first time, we did.
We drove in silence, the city slowly fading behind us, replaced by open skies and fields washed in sunlight. I leaned my head against the glass, watching the clouds drift by. Everything I thought I'd lost was all somewhere out there, waiting to be found again.
Maybe this wasn't the ending everyone expected. Maybe it wasn't even an ending at all.
Maybe it was just the first breath of a life I should've chosen years ago.