Extended Epilogue
Rivals To Lovers
April 2026
“Wait, you guys are doing what?” Grant asks us, his face full of bewilderment as he looks between Ella and me.
“We’re eloping,” Ella says, kind of lying, since she has been planning this out since we all agreed to come to Vegas this April. It was mainly to celebrate Ella’s birthday earlier in the month, but it’s also a trip for all of us. Today is the last day, and when Ella came up with the itinerary for this week, she purposefully left the last day blank.
For our wedding.
The group of us plan a huge trip once a year, when all our schedules lineup the best, and this year, we chose Vegas.
The only thing we didn't tell our friends was that we planned on getting married while we’re here. It’s not a typical Vegas elopement with an Elvis impersonator and all that shit you see in movies, but an actual wedding.
The main reason we’re doing this is because we’ve been to our fair share of weddings together, since most of us are now married. Paige and Oliver got married first, then Hads and Grant. Grant’s friend Jack also got married, Amelia and Henry soon to follow. After the fourth or fifth wedding, Ella and I realized we didn't want this huge and flashy reception.
We just wanted to be one another’s as soon as we could. Thus, the elopement.
We’re not even worried about our families being here for this, since we planned ahead. When Alissa and I visit England in June, we’re going to have a small ceremony and reception with them as well—Ella’s father and sister included. I haven't told Ella yet, but I bought them tickets to come with us.
It’s going to be perfect. Not only do we get to celebrate with our families for the first time ever, but we also get to get married in front of all our friends.
I spared no expense for Ella to have the wedding of her dreams, and every single dollar I spent was worth it.
The girls throw their arms around her as Oliver, Grant, and Henry come over to me, patting me on the back with smiles on their faces. Even Oliver has a smile. God, that son of a bitch has softened out immensely because of Paige.
“Can you guys help me get ready?” Ella asks them, her eyes misty as they continue to hug her.
“Of course we can!” Paige shouts before she throws her arms around me. “I’m so happy for you guys.”
Grant hugs her as soon as she unwraps herself from me. “We totally called this, Paigey.”
“I know!”
Hads smiles at the two of them. “I hate to break it to you, husband, but Paige was actually first.”
I only cock my head at them. I distinctly remember both Paige and Grant shoving Ella and I together way back when.
“Don’t you guys remember?” Hads asks the girls, and they all shake their heads. “We were at that party at the beginning of my sophomore year. Grant had just stopped flirting with me, and when I came back over to ask where Ella was—”
Amelia’s eyes light up, as if she remembers. “Oh, yeah! She was arguing with Zimmerman about who knows what, and Paige told us she shipped them together.”
I tilt my head at my soon-to-be-wife, remembering that night very well. She cornered me at the hockey house and spewed a bunch of bullshit. I think she just wanted to chat with me. This girl has had the hots for me since we first met—no matter how much she denies it.
“I don't remember that,” Paige says. “But I am a genius, aren't I?” She looks at Oliver.
“You’re the smartest, love,” he says as he kisses her forehead.
“You don't remember because you were drunk after one drink,” Hads smiles at her.
“Oh, that makes sense,” she nods. “Ella, what time is this all happening?”
With that, Ella reaches into her purse and pulls out new itineraries for everyone. “It’s our last night, and this is how we’re making it count! So, everyone be ready by three!”
“Got it!” Paige says as she all but drags Ella into our bedroom while the guys and I remain in the main area of our hotel room. The eight of us all have adjoining rooms—our door leading into Hads and Grant’s room. Amelia, Henry, Paige, and Oliver have their own connected room across the hall.
“I’ll order some room service. Are you guys hungry?” I ask the guys as they all stare at me. “What?”
“Why don’t you let us take care of that?” Grant says, taking the phone from me.
“Why?”
“Dude, it’s your wedding day,” Oliver pats my shoulder.
Henry sits next to me. “Let us take care of this, and you can relax and think about your wife in the other room.”
Ella’s going to look beautiful no matter what, I’m sure of it. She did forbid me from looking at her dress, but I’m sure it’s going to be gorgeous. Ella has this annoying habit of looking astonishing in anything she wears. She’ll say it's the clothes, but I say it’s because of the girl wearing them.
“All I have to do is put my suit on and fix my hair,” I tell them. “It’s not too much, guys. I promise.”
“Well, then you have to actually get married,” Henry points out.
“That’s the easy part.” All three of them look at me like I’m insane. “What?”
“You’ll absolutely have a freak out at some point today,” Grant tells me.
“No, I won’t.”
“That’s the exact same thing Oliver said.” Grant smiles as he jams his elbow into Oliver’s side. “And then he worried about the color tie he was wearing all fucking day. It was hilarious.”
“Grant, you were the one who almost shaved your head before you walked down the aisle,” Henry points out.
Oh, shit. I remember that. Am I going to freak out ? I’ve known about this for months, and all I’ve felt is excitement, but these fuckers are making me second guess myself.
“It didn't look good enough! You know what? Save it, Hayes. When you get married, I guarantee you’ll have some sort of stupid meltdown like we all did.”
“Hey! I’m not a part of that statistic yet,” I remind them.
“Just wait,” Grant and Oliver both tell me.
About an hour later, as the four of us are sitting and watching a show, the food arrives, and the girls walk out of the room—half of their hair not done and only part of their makeup applied.
“You guys look…”
I cut Oliver off. “Beautiful. He was going to say beautiful.”
“Well, duh,” Hads says. “But you,” she points at me, “can’t see Ella until the ceremony. So, turn around.”
“Is this really necessary?” I ask them.
“Just do it,” Grant tells me, turning me around himself. “Come on out, Ells.”
I hear her feet pad across the floor and, a few seconds later, I feel her press a kiss to my back before she retreats again. When the girls are gone, I turn back around to the three men staring at me. Grant looks enchanted at me—bit weird, but normal for him—and Henry and Oliver have normal expressions on their faces.
“Why don’t you shower and then we can eat?” Henry says.
“Sounds good, mates,” I say, and as I walk toward the other bathroom in the suite, I hear them whispering.
“He’s totally going to flip out. We should place bets on what it’ll be about now,” Grant says. I don’t stick around to hear what they say before I hop into the shower and prepare myself to marry the love of my life.
A Few Hours Later
As we all stand in the beautiful red rock canyon, the sun just starting to set in the sky, I can’t help but feel a bit nervous.
Those fuckers have officially gotten into my head, and I can’t help but turn to them as we wait for the ceremony to start. The girls are around the corner, waiting for the music to play.
I know elopements are usually spur-of-the-moment, but nothing about this is screaming elopement. This entire day was planned out by us over these past few months, but now, it all feels wrong. My suit feels itchy, and all I want to do is grab Ella and make her my fucking wife. I’m restless, and I can’t bear another second of Ella not being my wife.
“Dude, are you good?” Oliver asks me, and I shake my head.
“She didn't run away, did she? Is she still around the corner?”
“Here’s the freakout.” Grant smiles. “Hads just texted me that she’s scared as hell you won’t be here when she turns the corner. God, you two are perfect for one another.”
“I just want to see my wife,” I tell them.
“Slow your roll there, dude. She’s not your wife yet,” Oliver says as I pin him with a glare.
“Can we just get this going?” I ask as Grant looks at the photographer. She signals for the music to start playing, and I suddenly feel better when I see the girls walking toward me a few moments later in what Ella picked out for them.
She didn't want to tip anyone off about our elopement, so we got all their measurements and picked out dresses they would all like. I did the same for the guys with suits. They offered to pay me back, but if they saw the price tags, they would take that kind sentiment back.
Plus, everyone needs at least one nice, expensive suit they can wear for things like this. I was basically doing them all a favor.
Then, the music switches to a song Ella and I both love—the instrumental version, of course—and I swear, my heart stops beating for a moment as I see her turn the corner and start to walk toward me.
She looks absolutely alluring, and I swear I have a hard time looking at her without thinking of the life we’re going to create as husband and wife.
This girl holds the key to my heart, our future, and everything in between, and I cannot believe I get to call her mine.
Her dress is fucking gorgeous. It’s a midi-dress, corseted in typical Ella fashion, sheer on top. The sleeves drape over her shoulders, her veil falling over her curly hair as she walks toward me, looking more beautiful than I could ever describe.
By the time she reaches me, I feel like I’m going to cry. I’m not an emotional person, but something about the scene in front of me, something about her, is making me emotional.
“Hi, darling,” I say to her, and she smiles.
“Hi, Leo. Are you ready for this?”
“As ready as you are.” I smile as I grab her hands in mine, needing to touch her. She grounds me in every moment when I feel overwhelmed, and today’s no different.
The officiant goes through all the usual shit before he asks us to say our vows, and I go before Ella, since I know she loves having the last word—she has always been like that.
I grab mine from Grant before I clear my throat. “My darling Ella,” I say as I try to make my voice less shaky. Why the fuck am I so nervous?
“I don’t think I could love you more than I do now. I’m going to spend every second of our marriage proving to you that the easiest thing I’ve done in my life is love you.”
A single tear falls from her eyes, and I already feel myself getting emotional as well.
“I know you worry about who you are sometimes, so I’ve decided to gather my own promises to you to go along with the usual ones—'til death do us part and all of that.” I take a deep breath before speaking again. “I promise you’ll never be too much for me. I promise you could never sparkle too much around me. In fact, I promise to pull more of that shine out of you when we’re married. But I want you to think back to this moment when you feel like you’re being too much.”
She sniffles in front of me, tears falling from her beautiful eyes.
“You will always just be the right amount of everything for me, Ella. I’ll spend every second of the rest of our lives reminding you that you are the most beautifully smart and amazing woman. If people say I’m a good man, it will be because of you. I love you, and I hope I piss you off for the rest of eternity and well after we’re both gone.”
I hand my papers back to Grant, tears on his cheeks, before I look back at my forever.
Paige hands her a few papers, wiping her tears and making sure her makeup is still intact. Ella takes a deep breath before she speaks. “Leo, I’m going to keep this short, because you know I always have a lot to say. When I sat down to figure out what to say to you in this moment, though, I could only think of one thing I wanted to tell you.”
“And what is that?” I ask, a huge smile on my face.
“That you positively annoy the shit out of me most of the time.” Everyone around us laughs. “There’s nobody else I want to annoy me for the rest of my life. There’s absolutely nobody else on this planet I want to ask for help when I need it.”
The laughter has now turned to sniffles.
“And there’s nobody else I want to run to when things get too tough. You may have started as someone I never envisioned being in my life, but you’re ending as my husband. Leave it to us to make our relationship more complicated than it needed to be.”
More laughter.
“I love you so much. I love you so much some days, I fear it might swallow me whole, but I know you’ll pull me out if that happens, or you’d jump in and let it swallow both of us.”
She folds her small paper and hands it to Paige, who pockets it.
Then, the officiant pronounces us husband and wife, and I kiss Ella with all the love that has been in my body since the day I saw her. All my emotions—the good, the bad, and the wonderful—leave my body, and when I pull back, I hear and see nothing but my wife.
My wife . God, that sounds fucking fantastic.
All I can see is her in front of me, the entire world ceasing to exist as I cup her face and kiss her again.
“I love you so much, Ella.”“And to think, I swore I’d never reconcile with you way back when.”
I smile at her, a laugh slipping from my mouth. “Rivals to lovers suits us, doesn't it?”
“It absolutely does, husband.”