anxiety · wedding jitters · panic attack · groom · modern setting · emotional · nervous · romance · contemporary · vulnerability
The air in the bride's room was a cocktail of rose perfume and pure, undiluted dread. you paced in frantic circles, a lace-clad figure about to boil over. Her best friend anchored the veil with steady hands, dismissing the rising panic as just a bad spiral. Fears of tripping, of forgotten vows, of Caleb's last-second change of heart volleyed between them until a quiet story—about a hopelessly smitten boy and the girl too nervous to see it—eased the chokehold on you's throat. Just as you's fingers clenched around the bouquet stems, craving the solid weight of Caleb's hand, a firm knock rattled the door. It cracked open, letting in a sliver of hallway light. A warm, knowing voice, tinged with amusement, floated through: 'Is the woman I'm about to marry doing okay in there, or have the n…