AN: In my quest to find any of my lost notes and chapters for another one of my stories I came across this one. It might be a slow update, but I am dedicated to finishing it since it refuses to leave me alone :)

All POV is Eric unless otherwise noted. I hope you enjoy!

I fidget nervously, standing next to the groomsmen in my new suit, tugging gently at the collar to give my sweaty neck some relief. I hear a chuckle from my left, and I glance over at my friend Tobias and roll my eyes. It's not like any of us standing up here want to be in these ridiculous suits. I glance across the aisle at the ladies, all decked out in their pretty long dark purple dresses. I shift my weight from one foot to the other, silently begging my stomach to stop doing somersaults.

"Eric, I'm about to punch you. Quit moving." Tobias whispers without looking at me.

"Bite me." I growl.

"Nervous?" He asks.

"I hate having all these people look at me." I reply.

"Once my sister starts making her way down that aisle, there won't be one damn eye on any of us." He whispers as he chuckles softly.

"I bet she looks beautiful." I whisper back.

"She really freaking does. Almost as gorgeous as Lauren on our wedding day. Lucky bastard." He replies softly with a grin and we hear the music change.

All eyes in the church turn towards the back of the aisle, where Tris Prior stands gripping onto her twin brother Caleb's arm. It was a toss up between Tobias and Caleb as to who was going to escort her down the aisle, and Tobias being the oldest of the Prior kids was the obvious choice, but he relented to Caleb explaining that the twins bond would trump age any day of the week.

She looks absolutely stunning, and I swear I can feel my breath actually hitch at the site of her. Her long blonde hair has been pulled up, with ringlet curls framing her face. Her dress is strapless, in a shape that I heard Christina explain as a mermaid style. It hugs her modest curves before flaring out at the bottom. Her tattoos in memory of her parents are on full display, the two black ravens in flight a contrast to her milky white skin. She's carrying a bouquet of purple and white flowers, and her veil is placed perfectly over her face, which is unfortunately obscuring my view of her.

As she and Caleb make their way slowly down the aisle I can feel the moisture gather in my eyes, and I internally curse myself for being so weak in this moment. I watch her carefully as she approaches the front of the aisle and the pastor begins to speak.

"Who presents this woman to be wed in holy matrimony?" He asks in a clear voice.

"Her parents Andrew and Natalie Prior in spirit, her brother Tobias and I do." Caleb replies in a strong voice. He kisses his sister on her cheek before taking his place alongside the other groomsmen. Tris and I look into each other's eyes briefly as the pastor begins speaking again.

"We would like to welcome all of you, honored guests, and thank you for being with us today." The pastor begins. I can see the emotions evident on Tris' face, and her eyes flit anxiously from mine.

"We are gathered here this evening, in the presence of God and of His company, to join Beatrice Natalie Prior and Peter Grant Hayes in Holy Union, and bear witness to the miraculous power of love." The pastor continues. I watch as Tris' eyes flit from mine to Peter's, and once again I swallow down my own emotions.

She doesn't want you. She doesn't love you. These words have become my mantra. I repeat them as often as necessary to force the idea into my mind. Except, I don't believe them for a second.

"Love is our purpose in being here; it is the essence of who we are." He continues. Love. What a funny word. I wouldn't exactly call what they have love, but what do I really know?

"With love as their foundation, marriage offers Beatrice and Peter the opportunity to become their essence with one another." Really? Love again?

"Marriage is an art form that brings profound joy and demands great responsibility, awareness, and commitment." Oh, commitment, right. That thing that they don't have to each other. For the last year of their year and a half long relationship, Peter has been fucking numerous women on the side. How do I know this? I was his wing man for part of it, until I realized not only did he have a fiancée but she was also my best childhood friend's sister.

"We who partake of this occasion bind ourselves as witnesses to the journey of love that they are undertaking here." Here's that love word again.

Love shouldn't hurt. Love shouldn't leave bruises on her in places he thought no one would ever see them. Love doesn't mean locking your fiancée out of your shared home so you can continue fucking whatever whore you had there and then tell her you accidentally fell asleep and locked the screen door without thinking. Love doesn't mean you "forget" to pick her up from the airport after she's finally home from a two week long business trip, when you're really fucking someone else in her bed.

Tris has managed to successfully hide most of Peter's transgressions from her family and friends. Caleb has been away attending college in Virginia, Tobias and Lauren live about an hour outside of the city, so their visits while frequent aren't spontaneous so Tris is always well prepared. Her best friend Christina has been suspicious of Peter for months, the girl may as well be a human lie detector and her criminal law studies put her in a position of paranoia anyway. Unfortunately, she's also attending college, and while she lives locally her work and school takes up the bulk of her time. What little free time she has she spends with her fiancé Uriah.

I moved back to Chicago eight months ago, and with most of my friends dispersed across the miles living their own lives I fell back into a friendship with my best friend's sister. It didn't take me long at all to figure out that not only was her fiancé cheating on her, he was also an alcoholic who got very violent when drunk. I've tried everything in my power to get Tris to leave him, and even as recent as two nights ago she had called me and asked me to come get her, promising she was finally ready to leave. Once again, I believed her, and once again she backed out.

Tris doesn't love Peter, she fears him, for good reason. The violence he's shown to be capable of while drinking is loathsome. I've called the cops on him myself when I heard him rip her cell phone from her hands while she was on the phone with me and proceed to hit her with it. That wasn't the first night she had stayed at my apartment, sleeping wrapped up in my arms all night, but it was the first time I thought we might actually have a shot. I held her in my arms while he was safely locked away in a holding cell downtown. For a few short hours I thought it was finally over between them, I felt that she had finally had enough and that she could begin to heal from the physical and emotion damage he'd bestowed on her for months.

I was wrong.

Tris refused to press charges against him the next day, and I later found this was due to a phone call she had received from Peter's best friend Drew, threatening to finish what Peter had started if Tris didn't cooperate. Tris refused to tell me anything about the conversation with Drew, and I only heard about any of it after a drunken night out for Peter led him to my door after he fucked some girl in the back of her car outside the club he spent his evenings in.

The thing about Peter is he was a braggart when he was drunk. I heard all about his conquests, all of the girls he bedded in his own fucking shared home with the girl I much later learned was one of my good childhood friends. I knew about the hookups in the bathrooms of the club, the parking lot, and the nights he spent out "working" where he'd actually stay overnight with the one girl who seemed to be more than a random hookup for him. I knew Molly, and I watched him have a pseudo relationship with the girl even though he was engaged to Tris. I never knew that the fiancée he bragged about cheating on and the girl who I was trying to rescue from her own hellish relationship were one in the same. Peter didn't use her name, instead always calling her the ball and chain, and Tris wouldn't tell me who her boyfriend was out of fear of what I would to do him if I ever found him.

I'd reluctantly agreed to be one of Peter's groomsmen, even though he was a disgusting prick I had managed to develop a forced friendship with him since I was friends with his grandparents. Imagine my surprise when I finally met his fiancée.

I'm pulled out of my thoughts by the pastor speaking again.

"If anyone has any objection to Beatrice and Peter's union, may you please speak now or forever hold your peace." He says, pausing for affect only. I watch as he opens his mouth to speak again and then realize the voice I'm hearing isn't his, it's mine.

"I object." I say quietly, but loud enough that everyone on the stage can hear me.

Tris looks at me with panic in her eyes, and Peter slowly turns to face me.

"The fuck did you say?" He whispers so low that only I can hear him.

"I'm sorry, is there an objection?" The pastor asks.

"No." Peter replies.

"Yes." I answer.

"Eric, what are you doing?" Tobias asks from next to me.

"Are you drunk?" Peter whispers.

"No." I whisper back. My stomach is on fire with nerves. The guests are murmuring in the audience, and Christina is whispering desperately to Tris.

"Shall I continue?" The pastor asks.

"Yes." Peter answers loudly.

"I object!" I yell, causing both Tris and Christina to jerk their heads in my direction.

"You need to leave, now." Peter growls. "Pastor, please continue."

"If I leave she's coming with me." I reply.

"What is wrong with you? What's going on?" Tobias asks.

"Eric, what are you trying to do here?" Caleb asks.

I look back at the two brothers who were some of my closest childhood friends. I can't explain everything right now, but I offer two words I hope they will take to heart.

"Trust me." I say firmly and see the shock on Caleb's face and the stern look on Tobias'. I owe them so much more, but right now isn't the time.

I look at Christina and she nods. I turn my attention to Tris.

"Come with me. You don't need to do this Tris. I love you and you love me, I know it. Leave with me. He doesn't love you, he never has and you don't love him. Tris, come with me. I promise you I'll protect and love you with my all and I will give you the life you deserve." I plead.

Peter comes barrelling towards me, fist flying. I duck out of his way and Tobias and Caleb quickly restrain him. Christina, Myra, Lauren and Lynn are flanking Tris, all whispering in her ear.

"Tris, what is going on?" Peter yells. "Are you screwing him? You are, aren't you? You're fucking him!"

A gasp runs through the crowd, obviously embarrassed by Peter's crude words inside of a church.

I look over at Tris one more time. "Please. I'm begging you. This is the last time I'll ever ask. I will leave here Tris, with or without you, but believe me I don't want to walk out that door without you. Tris, if I leave without you, it'll be for good."