The day had finally arrived.

Jess had been incessantly crossing off each day leading up to her big day on her calendar. And finally, it was here.

As cliché as it sounded, it really was the day that Jess had been dreaming of ever since her childhood. She'd always been prone to rummaging through her parent's bedroom drawers in search of their photo albums containing pictures of their wedding day.

They'd looked so satisfied, cradling one another in their arms. The word happy was too mediocre to describe the emotions that the photos conveyed. Jess had only hoped that she and Elijah could share a fraction of the contentment that her parents' had seemed to share on their own big day.

In Jess's mind, her marriage to Elijah had always seemed inevitable since they'd first become boyfriend and girlfriend at the tender age of sixteen. It was almost indescribable how close they'd been; two hearts beating as one.

And today would mark the start of something new. The birth of their new life together.

Pattie and Cody sat waiting in the lounge of Pattie's home. The mother and son sitting in impressive silence as they awaited the arrival of the bride-to-be.

With the wedding being just over an hour away, the limousine that had been pre-ordered would be arriving in approximately fourty-five minutes to take Jess safely and promptly to the Church venue.

The two had yet to see the young bride in her wedding attire as she had been being beautified by the array of make-artists who had arrived nearly two hours prior. But Pattie could barely contain her excitement. She'd arranged the entire day precisely to ensure that there'd be no slip-ups.

The only thing that hadn't quite gone to plan had been the arrival of Jess's maid of honour; Kylie. Or the lack thereof.

Although Pattie hardly believed this to be a setback. It'd probably be for the best if the girl didn't turn up at all during the wedding ceremony.

Pattie kept her hopes high, if Kylie hadn't bothered to show her face during the hen night, then surely that meant she wouldn't show up during the wedding either? Jess had said that she was still grieving for the death of her older brother and as heartless as it may sound, Pattie was glad. It gave Kylie the perfect excuse as to why she couldn't show up. And finally, Pattie was glad that the girl had lost someone whom she'd loved and was suffering, just as Jess would have had suffered if the truth about the affair had been revealed.

Pattie and Cody heard the sound of a heel meeting the glass tiled floor and both their heads jerked upwards in response.

The bride-to-be was finally ready.

A very traditional creamy-white gown clung to Jess's petite frame.

The soft, satin-like fabric curving around her bust, providing a rather shy sneak-peak of cleavage. The dress enveloped inwards at her waist, exemplifying her toned body and giving a strong impression of an hourglass figure. The gown floated down her legs in a mermaid-like trail set behind her.

Her burnt orange hair had been scooped upwards in an elegant bun, a few soft spirals lining the sides of her face.

Natural was what she'd told the make-up artists before they'd begun painting her face. And natural was what she got.

Minimal eye-shadow was visible, a slight tinge of pink sat upon her cheekbones, her eyebrows were carefully filled to amplify her natural arch and a peach toned lipstick sat upon her lips.

"Oh, Jessica! You look so beautiful." Pattie whispered, overcome with sudden emotion as she wiped a tear from the corner of her eye.

"Yeah...you really do, Jess." Cody nodded in agreement as he gazed up at his sister. He'd never been the best brother so it'd come as more than just a bit of a shock when she'd asked him to walk her down the aisle instead of their mother.

"Thank you." Jess grinned in return, obviously pleased by the compliments. She moved further into the room. Lola and a couple of other bridesmaids helped gather the trail of her dress as she moved forwards.

"Thanks for staying with me, but you guys should really go. I'll see you at the reception." Jess nodded at the girls behind her, as they heard the horn of the first car sound from outside.

"I can't believe it's actually happening. This is everything I've been waiting for, for the past few months. And now that's it here...it feels surreal." Jess murmured once the girls had left, her face turned towards her mother and brother, an unexplainable expression painted across her face.

"Surreal in a good way, I hope?" Cody replied as he placed the tip of his index finger against Jess's nose and flicked it as they'd jokingly done to each other as kids before they'd grown apart for unexplainable reasons.

"Cody! Don't do that, you'll ruin her makeup!" Pattie nudged the boy hard, as she dabbed tissue at Jess's nose slightly ensuring that nothing looked out of place.

Jess laughed, "it's fine, mum. Relax. And...is it bad if I say I don't know? I feel as though...I don't know if I'm making the right decision anymore."

"Jessica honey, what on earth are you talking about? This is everything you've wanted, you've been waiting for this for so long and now you're saying that you're not sure what you want any more? The car will be here in half-an-hour. Now is not the time for cold feet."

"Mum, honestly. You're already in control of everything, stop trying to control Jess's emotions too. If Jess is getting cold feet and wants to call this wedding off, then that's her decision to make. Not yours." Cody said sternly.

"I didn't say that I want to call the wedding off. I just...I feel like something's missing."

"What do you mean?" Pattie and Cody spoke simultaneously.

"I don't know...like I'm missing something that's right in front of me. I don't know how to explain it, it's just this weird feeling. I love Elijah, I really do. But I can't shake this feeling, mum."

"Jessica, if we let our feelings control every decision we make in life, we'd never get anywhere. I thought I'd raised you well enough to know that. These silly little feelings are what makes us weak. What you need to do now is go to that Church and marry the man that you love." Pattie explained, tactfully.

"...You're right, mum. I'm going to marry Elijah today if it's the last thing I do." She beamed up at them both. Pattie appeared rather pleased with herself as she'd convinced her daughter whilst Cody appeared unsure, still wallowing over his sister's last words.

"Do you think Kylie will turn up at some point? Maybe she's already at the wedding reception?" Jess mumbled, wistfully.

"I hope so," Cody smirked.

Pattie glared over at Cody, "I wouldn't hold my breath, Jessica. All Kylie cares about is Kylie. She's probably rolling out of bed with one of her latest conquests as we speak."

"Mum, that's really not fair. Elijah said she'd taken Jax's death really badly...if she doesn't turn up, that'll be the only reason." Jess answered defensively.

"How does Elijah know that?" Cody asked, his eyebrows raised in question.

"He visited her once or twice after the engagement party."

"Did he now?" Cody quizzed his older sister.

Pattie noticed the increased tension within the room as well as the questioning look plastered across Cody's face and decided a change of topic was needed, "Oh well, who cares about any of that now. What matters is that you and Elijah are happy together and that you're getting married, whether Kylie bothers to show up or not is irrelevant." Pattie almost commanded.

"Oh, actually that reminds me." Jess murmured, picking up her phone from the table in front of her, "Kylie left me this really weird voicemail yesterday, I didn't get to finish listening to it because I was at my hen party, but she was apologising and crying...maybe she was telling me she couldn't make it tonight?" Jess spoke aloud to nobody in particular.

"Doesn't sound like Kylie to cry because she couldn't make it to your wedding." Cody laughed, his face the epitome of confusion.

"Give me that. I'll listen to the voicemail you don't need to be worrying about Kylie on today of all days." Pattie attempted to grab the phone out of her daughters' hand.

"Mum, it's my message. I'll listen to it." Jess answered sternly, the phone placed firmly in her palm.

"Wait, Jessica! It's probably nothing, just give me the phone. The limousine will be here soon, we don't need any unnecessary delays!" Pattie nearly shouted, the panic beginning to become evident as she desperately tried to plead with her daughter to give her the phone. Could Kylie have finally have told Jess the truth about the affair? Or worse, would she dare to tell her about Pattie being the one that had pushed Jess down the flight of stairs that night?

No, she was sure that Kylie didn't have the bottle to be able to do that but she certainly wasn't going to wait around to find out.

"You're hiding something, Mum. I can tell." Cody said quietly, standing behind the two.

"Don't be so preposterous Cody! I'm just trying to make sure my daughters' big day is perfect. All Kylie's ever done is ruin everything, I'm not having her ruin my daughters' wedding day too." Pattie yelled back at her son, her state of cool obviously disrupted.

Cody scoffed, "You think you're so good at lying, mum? Maybe you've got Jess fooled, but you've never fooled me. Maybe that's why I'm the fuck up of the family."

"What are you guys even talking about?" Jess asked, baffled.

"Ignore him, Jessica. You know what Cody's like. Just give me your phone, please!"

"No! Look, if you're that interested in what she's got to say, I'll put the voicemail on the loudspeaker for you guys, okay?" Jessica replied. And before Pattie had any other chance to argue, she'd already clamped her finger down on Kylie's message.

"Hey Jess, I'm really sorry that I haven't been replying to your messages. And I'm even more sorry for what I'm about to tell you next...I've done something so stupid, that I don't think you'll ever be able to forgive me for. But I owe you the truth." As Kylie's voice sounded, Jess glanced over at her mother and noticed that her face had lost its usual colour and her hand was clutching onto the table.

"I've been lying to you for a while now. I've been having...I've been doing something behind your back." Kylie took an audible deep breath and sniffed before she spoke again.

"Me and Elijah...we've been having an affair. Jax was right...he was cheating on you, with me. I know there's nothing I can say to make this..." Jess felt the phone drop from her hand, and Kylie's voice came to a stop, the remainder of the message lost.

The truth was impaling and Jess felt herself wretch as she heard her best friends' words play over and over in her head.

"Jessica..." Pattie spoke suddenly, but she stopped short as her daughter put her hand up, indicating for her mother to stop talking.

"You knew, didn't you?" Cody asked his mother accusingly.

"No, don't be ridiculous Cody!" Pattie shrieked.

"Elijah...and Kylie." Jess spoke, her voice a mere tremble compared to the voices of Pattie and Cody, "all this time...I was right. I knew Elijah was with someone else...but I never thought with her."

"Jessica, darling. You can't let her win. You have to marry Elijah." Pattie explained.

Jessica felt her stomach turn at the sound of her mothers' words. The adrenaline in her body pumping so much so that she was sure she'd explode before their eyes.

"Elijah and Kylie." She mumbled, "Elijah and Kylie."

She repeated the names of the two people who had single-handedly ruined her life as she'd known it whilst Cody and Pattie watched the bride-to-be breakdown in front of them.

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Authors Note: So the truth is FINALLY out! Jess knows about Kylie and Elijah's affair but what will happen next? :o

As always, thanks for reading and please do vote! Love you all x