Chapter 24 - Take It On Faith

One Week Later – Andrea’s wedding

Justin sighed as he squirmed in his seat next to Piper’s mother. He hated wearing suits, he hated huge weddings, and he hated waiting; but most of all, he hated the feeling of not knowing what was going to happen.

It had been two days since he had flown from California to NYC; two days he had spent roaming the streets, trying to calm his racing heart and attempt to get his chaotic thoughts in order. Nothing seemed to help. He had even dropped by Joey’s for an afternoon, but all his friend provided him with was a few encouraging words. Not exactly what he was looking for.

Now, the day was here. This was the day where he would either make everything right with Piper, or completely lose her forever. The thought of that made him shudder.

“Justin, dear, are you alright?” Julia Saunders questioned as she noticed how the young pop singer couldn’t seem to sit still.

“Fine,” he mumbled. Julia almost had to bite her lip to keep the knowing grin from her face.

“Well then, if you’ll excuse me, I think I’m going to go and see what is keeping everybody,” Julia commented as she stood up, smoothing her skirt in the process.

“Okay,” Justin softly replied as he stared at his hands, his knee rapidly bouncing and betraying his frayed nerves.

With that, Julia walked off, leaving the pop star alone with nobody but Piper’s father for company. And right on cue, the older man leaned over to the younger and began a conversation. Julia smiled as she turned away and went in search of the bride for a few last-minute notes.

Piper stared at herself in the mirror. It was amazing what a little make-up, a great hairstyle, and a beautiful dress could do to a person’s appearance. Why, she hardly even recognized herself.

She only wished that Justin was here to see. As much as she hated him at the moment (for he had utterly and completely broken her heart), she desperately wanted to see him one last time. Maybe it was the pretty dress that gave her the sudden burst of confidence, but it didn’t really matter. Justin wasn’t here.

“Psst…Piper,” Andrea suddenly whispered from the bridal room.

“What?” the young woman whispered back as she walked over to the door, which was cracked just the slightest bit.

Without another word, Andrea pulled her cousin into the room and shut the door. Piper gave her a weird look as there was nobody else in the small room but the two of them.

“I have a little, itty bitty request,” Andrea began as she grinned. Piper immediately became suspicious.

“What is it?” Piper asked in a cautious voice. After all, this was Andrea, the girl who had tricked her into knocking down a hornet’s nest when they were kids.

“Well, you know the song that Trent and I have picked out? Well the band’s singer doesn’t do a very good job of singing it, so…I was wondering if you would,” Andrea managed in one breath. Piper’s jaw dropped.

“What? You’re joking, right?” Piper demanded; Andrea shook her head no, “You’re completely insane, you know that? The last time I sang was in high school with the damn choir. High school! And I wasn’t even that good.”

“Please?” Andrea pleaded, pouting at her younger cousin.

“Drea…” Piper whined, “You know how nervous I get in front of crowds. You’ll just have to find somebody else because there’s no way in hell I’m going to embarrass myself like that.”

“I wouldn’t ask this of you if I didn’t think you weren’t capable of doing it,” Andrea commented as she raised an eyebrow, “You love the song, you know all the lyrics, and you’d do a hell of a lot better job than the band’s singer. Please? For me?”

“Ugh! Alright, fine,” Piper consented, “But one song, that’s it. No encores or I swear, I’m going to kill you and then run away to Timbuktu.”

“Alright, no encores,” Andrea agreed, then excitedly hugged the younger woman, “Oh thank you, thank you, thank you! You have no idea what this means to me.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Piper retorted, rolling her eyes as her cousin practically suffocated her with hugs, “I know, I’m wonderful.”

“Geeze, somebody has a big head,” Andrea teased, grinning as the two women stepped apart.

“Oh whatever, I think your’s takes the cake,” Piper shot back.

A knock on the bridal room door interrupted their light-hearted teasing and Piper quickly went over to open it. She was surprised to see her mother, who was dressed in a beautiful pale green skirt and matching jacket, standing there.

“Mom?” the younger questioned.

“Hi dear. I just need to have a quick word with your cousin before the ceremony begins,” Julia stated as she slipped past her daughter.

“Alright,” Piper agreed as she gave her cousin one last hug and a quick kiss on the cheek, “Good luck hon. You look beautiful.”

“Thanks Pip,” Andrea responded before the young woman left, shutting the door behind her.

“So?” Julia prompted as soon as they were along. Andrea broke out grinning.

“She agreed to do the song,” the younger woman told her aunt.

“Perfect,” Julia gleefully stated, “And Justin is out there with your uncle, completely miserable. God, I can’t wait to see the look on his face when he sees Piper come walking down the isle.”

“Does he even know that she’s a bridesmaid?” Andrea questioned.

“I conveniently forgot to mention that little detail,” Julia said with a sly smirk, “He thinks that she’s going to come walking in any moment and he’s going to have to sit by her for the entire ceremony.”

“His eyes are going to pop out of his head,” Andrea commented, grinning, “Piper looks beautiful, there is no way any man could resist her, much less one that is in love with her.”

“I couldn’t agree more,” Julia agreed, sighing, “I just hope this entire scheme works out, especially after all the trouble we went through and how many people are involved.”

“Tell me about it,” Andrea agreed.

“Andrea, sweetie, it’s time,” Julia’s brother and Andrea’s father, Jack stated as he knocked and opened the door.

“Well that’s my cue to get back to my seat,” Julia announced, hugging her niece and giving her a quick peck on the cheek, “You look beautiful sweetie.”

“Thanks Aunt Julia,” Andrea concluded before the elder lady left the room.

“Ready?” Jack questioned his daughter.

She rewarded him with a dazzling smile and quickly took his offered arm. Music began to play through the large church as the bridal party began their march down the isle. Secretly, Andrea kept her fingers crossed for Piper, knowing somewhere out there, Justin was probably staring at her.

Justin sat there, trying to pick his jaw up from the floor. Nobody had bothered to mention the small fact that Piper was a part of the bridal party. Lord, she looked gorgeous, his angel, walking up the isle in a beautiful green dress, her hair swept up off her face.

His eyes desperately sought her’s. But she seemed oblivious to his stares, her attention solely focused on the uniting of Andrea and Trent. The pop star, however, noticed a few tears trickle down her cheeks, and cursed himself.

He was the cause of her pain; there was no doubt about that. If only he could go back in time and change things; maybe she would be smiling and those tears would be happy ones, instead of sad. But time travel was impossible, so the only option left to him was to apologize and try to win her back.

“Doesn’t she look gorgeous?” Julia whispered to the young man a few moments later, thus interrupting his thoughts.

“Uh huh,” Justin breathed, his eyes glued to Piper. Julia held back yet another smile, knowing full well that the young man’s mind was fixed on her daughter instead of the bride.

“I was talking about Andrea,” Julia clarified.

“Uh, yeah, I know,” Justin lied as he finally tore his gaze away from the young woman who had stolen his heart.

“Okay,” Julia concluded before turning her attention back to the wedding.

And so the ceremony passed by in a blur, at least in Justin’s eyes. He was too busy trying to figure out the best way to go about winning Piper back to even notice the two people being married. He was actually kind of surprised, therefore, when Julia nudged him to his feet.

He looked around, shocked. The church was quickly emptying out, the bride and groom, and Piper for that matter, nowhere in sight. With a sigh, he bid goodbye to Piper’s parents and promised to meet up with them at the reception. With that, the pop star exited the church and made his way to his car.

The drive to the reception hall was short and uneventful, though Justin’s thoughts were racing altogether too fast for his liking and, amazingly, keeping pace with his quickly beating heart. He parked his car and just sat there, his courage fleeing with the turn of the key that shut the automobile off.

What was he supposed to do? He had imagined every scenario, played out many apologies and ways to approach Piper. But he could never see how it ended; couldn’t even guess what her reaction would be. And that scared him.

With a sigh, he sat there a little longer, watching other guests enter the hall, envious of their carefree smiles. He was going to have to face Piper sooner or later, but for now, he was going to sit there and try to calm down and make his hands stop shaking. Then, only then, would he go in and win back the heart of the woman he loved.

“Where is he?” Julia whispered to her husband as she gazed around the room, “He should have been here by now.”

“I’m sure he’ll be here, don’t you worry,” Jacob assured his wife as he watched his daughter animatedly talking with a fellow bridesmaid and her date.

“Well Andrea can’t exactly put off the dance with her husband any longer,” Julia pointed out.

“Everything will work out fine,” Jacob soothed the distraught woman, “It doesn’t matter if he misses that song; he loves her. That means everything. Just look at us.”

“You’re right,” Julia agreed with a smile. The two quickly leaned in for a kiss, knowing all too well how loved worked in mysterious ways. And in their case, as a savior.

“Attention ladies and gentlemen, the bride and groom would like to share their first dance. Please clear the floor,” the band’s leader said into the microphone, “Their song is ‘Looked Into The Wings’ by Billy Gilman.”

With a sigh, Piper quickly took the microphone from the man and tried to calm her nerves. Andrea gave her a quick encouraging smile, which the younger woman half-heartedly returned. She had never sung in front of so many people before, and certainly not by herself.

She just hoped that she wouldn’t make a complete fool of herself. Why oh why had she agreed to do this? She wasn’t sure of her voice, even less sure of her ability to sing in front of so many people, but she had promised her cousin. She never went back on a promise.

The opening chords of the song began and Piper took a deep breath. It was now or never.

Justin quickly walked into the reception hall, intent on finding Piper and telling her precisely what was on his mind. He stopped in his tracks, however, when he entered the room and noticed her standing on the stage, singing as the bride and groomed danced. Granted, her voice wasn’t perfect, and he could tell that she was nervous, but to him, she was gorgeous.

The light fell on her in just the right way that it highlighted the little red specks in her hair and gave her a somewhat ethereal glow. The beautiful melody of her voice spoke to him and he felt his heart beat faster as his feet slowly took him forward, closer, ever closer. He couldn’t tear his gaze away as she continued to sing, oblivious to his presence.

Julia nudged her husband as she noticed Justin walking in. Jacob looked over and smiled an all-knowing smile as the young man stood and stared at their daughter. Love shown from the depths of his blue eyes and a small smile played on his lips.

“I think your little plan worked out after all,” Jacob commented as he pulled his wife closer and kissed her temple.

“I think you’re right,” Julia said in a whisper.

Piper could feel her knees shaking as she continued to sing the song, just praying for it to be over sooner. Thankfully, most everybody was staring at the bride and groom and weren’t giving her a second glance. That gave her a little bit of confidence.

Yes, she could get through with this. Then she could get off the stage and go get roaring drunk, no matter what her parents said. Hell, she deserved it; she was about ready to collapse from nerves, a couple glasses of wine would do her some good.

Suddenly, she felt a pair of eyes boring into her, despite the fact that the main attraction was the newly-wedded couple. She about dropped the microphone when she saw who it was. Justin.

What was he doing here? And now, of all times? God, she was going to puke; no, she was going to pass out. He was…smiling at her? What on earth?

The last chords of the song finally faded and the guests erupted into applause. Whether it was for her or the newlyweds, she didn’t know, but Piper didn’t stay to find out. She flew from the stage, wanting to get as far away from Justin as she possibly could.

“Piper!” Justin cried, running after her as she disappeared into the hallway. Damn, she was fast. “Piper!”

“Leave me alone Justin!” she cried over her shoulder as she sought refuge in the ladies restroom. Justin reached her before she got the chance.

“Would you stop?” he demanded as he grabbed a hold of her arm and brought her to a stop in front of him.

“It looks like I don’t have any choice,” she angrily spat, trying to slip past him. Justin refused to let her go so easily.

“I understand you’re angry,” he began, but got no further.

“Of course I’m angry! You show up here, unannounced after not speaking to me for almost four months. I told you that I loved you and all you said was that you ‘couldn’t do this right now’,” Piper cried, “You expect me to be happy?”

“No,” Justin said in a quiet voice.

“Just be honest with me Justin, what are you really doing here?” Piper demanded, crossing her arms as Justin blocked her path of escape.

“I came here to try and win you back,” he softly told her, stepping a little closer; her mouth fell open in surprise, “I know I don’t deserve a second chance, but here I am, begging for it.”

“Wha…what?” Piper stuttered, confused, “But what about Mindy?”

“Who’s Mindy?” Justin responded, now confused as well.

“Mindy Gosling, your girlfriend,” Piper said, frowning, “Why aren’t you with her right now?” Justin wanted to laugh.

“Who told you that bullshit story?” he questioned, smiling.

“Mindy herself. Now what on earth are you smiling about? I don’t find anything funny about this situation,” Piper scolded, backing up a step as Justin came even closer.

“Piper, Mindy Gosling is my cousin,” Justin said before breaking up into laughter.

“Are you sure we’re talking about the same Mindy?” Piper returned.

“Tall, blonde hair, legs for days, toothy grin? Has a habit of tapping her foot when she’s talking to you?” Justin supplied. Piper’s jaw fell open. “Yeah, that’s what I thought.”

“B…but why would she tell me that?” Piper asked, shocked.

“Beats me. Maybe it was to make you feel better about dating Lance,” Justin suggested, shoving his hands into his pocket as he suddenly remembered Piper’s new squeeze, “Where is he by the way?”

“Lance?” Piper incredulously asked, “What on earth gave you the impression that I’m dating Lance?”

“Well that’s what Chris and Cameron said,” Justin began.

“Justin, I’m not dating Lance. We went out as friends once, but that’s all that ever happened. He’s actually become a really good friend to me,” Piper explained, brow furrowed, “I don’t understand how everything could get this mixed up.”

“I know what you mean,” Justin agreed, then his eyes narrowed, “Wait a minute…I’m suddenly getting the feeling we’ve been set up.”

“What?” Piper cried.

“Think about it. Chris and Cameron were the ones who told me you were dating Lance, which made me insanely jealous. Then my cousin pretended to be my girlfriend to make you jealous as well. Your mother somehow called at just the right time to make sure I was coming to your cousin’s wedding, whom I only met once. It can’t all just be coincidence,” the pop star rambled.

“I think you’re right,” Piper agreed, then stared at the floor, “So…”

“So…” Justin trailed off, not quite knowing what to say next.

Piper sighed and bit her lip as she continued to stare at the carpeted floor. Was he not going to say anything else? Maybe she should just take her chances and try a run for the bathroom again.

“Piper,” Justin quietly began, tilting her chin up so she looked him in the eye, “I love you. I have for a long time.”

“Justin…” she began, but he silenced her.

“I know I haven’t given you any reason to want to be with me. Hell, I’ll be honest, I was a complete jackass and I’m sorry,” Justin continued as he took Piper’s hands in his own, “But I know if I let you get away a second time, I’m going to regret it for the rest of my life.”

“But…”

Justin only silenced her yet again as he pulled her into his arms and began to sing softly in her ear, echoing the words of the song that was currently playing in the reception hall. It was strange that the song said exactly what he was trying to say, but at that point, he couldn’t have cared less. Piper was in his arms – willingly – and that was all that mattered.

Hey, I didn't mean a thing I said last night.
I swear I didn't mean a word I used.
You don't have to listen, baby; you have every right
To feel that heart of yours has been abused.
I know I've used up all my chances a long, long time ago
And I really don't deserve to call you mine.
But, if I told you that I loved you,
Could I lay back down beside you?
Could you take it on faith one more time?

Piper clung to him as she breathed in his scent, getting lost in the strength of his arms and the beautiful voice that was singing just for her. How could she tell him no? How could she look him in the eye and tell him that she never wanted to see him again?

Look at me I'm crying... imagine me crying.
Well, it's time I learned to anyway.
'Cause if you're really set on one of us leaving,
I guess there's really nothing left to say.
It seems like such a shame,
But baby, I could never blame you, baby,
For leaving this old story far behind.
And if I told that I love you,
Could I lay back down beside you?
Could you take it on faith one more time?

Justin wanted to freeze time so that the moment could last forever. She felt so good in his arms that he never wanted to let go. He was stupid to let his fears get in the way of what his heart had blatantly been telling him all along. Now he could only hope that he had somehow managed to change her mind.

I know I promised to you before
I wouldn't do anything to hurt you no more.
If I could take it all back and start again...
Take it all back well maybe then;
I could tell you that I love you.
I could lay back down beside you.
I could tell you that I love you, lay back down beside you.
If I told you that I love, could I lay back down beside you?
Could you take me on faith one more time?

The song slowly came to an end, yet the two of them still stood close, swaying to a nonexistent melody that only they could hear. The whole world had slipped away around them, leaving a man and a woman, in need of love, in need of each other.

Justin felt his breath catch in his throat as Piper turned her beautiful green eyes up to him; eyes that were filled with tears. He quickly used the pads of his fingers to brush away the few that had already crept down her cheeks as he searched for some sign of what she was feeling.

She smiled tremulously at him as she placed her hands on his cheeks and brought him closer. Their noses touched, their mouths mere inches away, and Justin felt his breathing becoming ragged at her nearness. He brushed away a loose tendril of hair before uniting their lips in a sweet kiss.

It was a sweet kiss that bespoke the love they both had been too prideful to admit to. Now, however, they were holding nothing back; pride was flung aside as two hearts sang as one.

“I think I can take you on, just once more.”