I'd Give Up The World For You

Daisy froze when she heard what the priest said. She and Leo had only kissed one other time when he was going off to war. That had been a rather emotionally charged moment and they had an audience so she had been able to largely dismiss it.

Their audience was bigger this time so it would be highly suspicious if they didn't do it but she was totally panicking. She didn't want to kiss him when she was already so conflicted!

But it happened anyway. He leaned forward to initiate it and pecked her once softly and sweetly. She wanted to cry. Last time all she had felt was desperation since they were both worried about what he was setting off to do and there had been a chance they would never see each other again. Now she could feel his affection for her…and his restraint.

Leo was holding himself back and doing the bare minimum so he wouldn't upset her even though he had to want more than that and would be able to get away with it given the circumstances. Not doing that proved the depth of his feelings for her.

He would never do anything that would make her uncomfortable. He said so himself before and she knew it was true because of things like this.

Daisy had to pull herself together for him and everyone else watching. She smiled to reassure him she was fine and he nodded before they went out to thank their guests for coming and direct them to the house so they could all eat cake.

"Congratulations, Veronica! You were a beautiful bride," Nia gushed. "I love what you did with the extra flowers! I never would have thought of making a crown or giving something for the groom to wear but it really helped bring the whole thing together."

She replied with a small laugh. "Never underestimate flower power. Thanks again for letting me use them…and for coming. I really appreciate it."

Her comment was addressed to both Nia and Miette, who smiled at her. "You only get married once! We couldn't miss it. The shop will survive being closed for a few hours."

Miette paused before speaking again with a teasing twinkle in her eye. "You caught yourself quite a man. He's handsome, respected by his peers, and completely smitten with you. How did you meet him, anyway?"

Daisy glanced out to where Leo was talking to a few of the soldiers who had come to the wedding. They did all look at him with something akin to hero worship aside from Conrad, who was the only one daring enough to tease him. She supposed it was because they were the closest out of all of his army friends.

She blushed thinking about the other things Miette said. Leo WAS handsome but she still thought of him as the gawky twelve-year-old boy he had been when they met. And with the way he looked at her it was incredible she hadn't noticed his feelings sooner. Everyone else could see it!

Suddenly she felt rather stupid. But what had she been supposed to think?

"We're cousins," Daisy lied. "After my entire family died he came out to my farm to support me and we got close. He didn't want to be a farmer long-term though, which is why he joined the royal army."

Miette laughed. "Ah yes, childhood sweethearts. My husband and I grew up together too. He used to be such an annoying little twit and sometimes he still is but I knew early on I couldn't live without him, which is why I said yes when he proposed."

She couldn't live without Leo either even if it was in a very different way than Miette was insinuating. He was her only real friend here. If she was being perfectly honest, the only real friend she had ever had.

Being apart from him the past few years had been miserable a lot of the time because she didn't have someone there she could truly share her thoughts with who cared enough to listen. Ira was more of a talker than a listener. She felt more like his parent than she ever had Leo's because of their personality differences and the patience she had to exhibit a lot of the time.

Though Daisy had treated Leo as a child since he was one they had also become friends helping bear each other's burdens. That never happened with Ira since the boy's head was up in the clouds much of the time.

Not that she minded. She hadn't expected Ira to be another Leo. He was one of a kind.

"I can't live without Leo either. I'm glad we don't have to be apart anymore," she said honestly even if no one present understood her true meaning.

Nia clapped a hand on her shoulder. "Don't look so sad on your wedding day! I know you were separated for a long time but you're together now and that's what really matters. Come on, let's go get cake!"

Daisy hadn't realized her wistfulness was showing on her face. Her emotions might be a jumbled mess right now but she needed to hold it together until everyone left. Then at least she could hide away in her room for a while and try to get a handle on things.

They all headed out of the church after collecting the marriage certificate and to the house where the blueberry lemon cake she had made was waiting. Since there were so many of them everyone got a rather small slice but no one seemed to mind. That was a common practice here since only nobles had fancy tiered cakes.

The house was completely crowded with so many people so they moved out into the yard, where they at least had the benefit of being able to breathe fresh air. They all stood around eating their cake and chatting with each other for a while.

She noticed Nia talking rather enthusiastically to a handsome young soldier who seemed a bit older than Leo and smiled and shook her head. She didn't have a beau so being surrounded by young men right now had to be exciting for her. Seventeen was a very romantic age, after all.

Everyone was busy talking to each other right now except for her. It was her wedding day and she was still the odd one out.

Daisy stood to the side watching it all until Conrad approached her. "Do you regret not having more of your friends here? I know May was worried about that."

She shook her head. "No, I wasn't thinking about that at all. I understand why they couldn't be here. It's a long way to travel and none of them could afford it. I sent them letters though letting them know we got married."

She had gotten Ira's reply two days ago and he expressed disappointment that he couldn't be there but wished her happiness. He, like everyone else, thought she was actually in love with Leo.

There was no doubt she would be happy in some capacity since she was always happier when he was around but it wasn't the same sort of happiness her well-wishers were imagining. Plus it would be dampened by guilt that she couldn't give him what he wanted.

If things had been different…if she had truly been Veronica May, a fourteen-year-old girl, when they met…would she have fallen in love with him?

It was hard to tell. The reason they got along so well was having somewhat similar life experiences. The real Veronica wouldn't have had those in common with him so they might not have become so close.

"I see. I knew you were his only family but I didn't realize he was yours as well until recently," Conrad said.

Daisy cracked a smile, though it was tinged with mixed emotions. He was her only family discounting her foster son but now it was official. In a very different way than she had ever expected. Her little brother figure had become her husband.

"Technically speaking. I also consider the ward I had back in Cloverfield as family. Though I'd say he has found more family in all of you. I didn't realize he had so many friends out here because his letters didn't talk about people much."

Conrad laughed and shook his head. "You misunderstand. All of these people are here because they care about May not the other way around. He's their hero—he's saved the life of every person here either directly or by prematurely ending the war in Aveleen.

"I don't mean to say that he doesn't care about them at all but it's a generic sort of caring. He's guarded and keeps things close to his chest but you probably already know that about him. He won't goof off with the others but he will drop anything to help them if they truly need it.

"I'm fairly certain the only person he truly enjoys spending time with is you. I haven't seen the two of you interact much but when you do he's like a completely different person. A happier one. I'm glad he has you.. He needs someone to lighten him up."