Rose had never had a panic attack before but between the trembling of her hands, the shortness of her breath, and her racing heart, she would hazard a guess that she was about to have one. The room around her was a blur of activity and Rose felt like she was lost in the middle of it; someone was behind her, pulling and tugging at her hair to make sure every curl was sitting just right, Mia was trying to wrangle Jeanine into a chair to get some makeup on her, and Viktoria was helping Sonja shimmer into her dress, while Karo fiddled with the flowers. The noise of it all was overwhelming, everyone just talking, to each other, over the top of each other, not seeming to notice that Rose was sitting in the middle of it all, feeling like she was in the middle of the hurricane.

Lissa's face swam into view, smile fading as concern clouded her features. She knew instantly that something was wrong, and she grabbed Rose's hands, squeezing hard.

"Rose. Rose. Just breathe, breathe okay? You're worrying me."

Rose, for once, followed an order without argument and gulped down a breath.

"Besides," Lissa added after a moment. "You're going to ruin your makeup."

It surprised Rose enough that she laughed, and Lissa smiled, relieved at seeing her friend returning somewhat to normal. But only momentarily until Rose caught sight of the dress out of the corner of her eye; the perfect dress, the perfect makeup, and the perfect hair, all for what was supposed to be the perfect wedding day. So why did it feel like she was going to cry?

"Oh god," Rose murmured, blinking up at the roof in an effort to stop the tears from spilling over, because Lissa was right, she was going to completely mess up her makeup if she didn't get a grip soon. "I don't know what's wrong with me."

"Really?" Lissa said gently, and although Rose was still looking determinedly at the ceiling, she just knew her friend was smiling. "You're about to get married, and you don't know why your emotions might be a little out of control? You're not… having second thoughts or anything, are you?"

"No!" The intensity, not to mention the volume of Rose's voice seemed to surprise them both, not to mention drawing the attention of the rest of the room. Rose hastily leaned towards Lissa, not wanting to alarm the rest of the room, the occupants of which included her soon to be in-laws. "Never," she said fiercely. "I- god I love him so much. And I can't picture spending my life with anyone else. But…"

Lissa smiled knowingly. "But everything's changing. And even as in love as you are, a part of you, even if it's tiny, will always be a little worried about change."

"So what do I do?"

"Trust that you know him, trust that you know yourself, trust in the relationship you guys have built. You guys are so great together, that even if it isn't all smooth sailing all the time, you guys can get through it."

Rose smiled, the last of her tears dissipating. "Yeah?"

"Yeah."

"Okay," Rose said, huffing out a breath and squaring her shoulders. "Okay, let's do this."