Our eyes locked, and I decided I didn’t care if anyone saw us or judged us right then. I’d been waiting far too long for this, so I pulled him close and pressed a soft kiss to his lips. Instantly, Vic melted, and kissing him felt exactly as good as I’d always imagined it would—gentle, tender, and just perfect.
As we separated, he looked in my eyes and there it was—the smile I’d fallen in love with. Complete with the hint of mischief as he said, “I always wondered if a beard would be ticklish.”
“Did you?”
“Kinda.” He ran the backs of his knuckles along the edge of my jaw, skin hissing across my beard. “And it is.”
“Is that a bad thing?”
“Not at all.” He kissed me again, and when he drew back this time, his expression had turned serious. “I’m really sorry about this morning. And… I mean, about everything. I can’t believe I was so oblivious to this.”
“Don’t be. I should have said something a long time ago.”
“Why didn’t you?”
I shrugged, renewed heat rushing into my face. “I guess I was just afraid it would fuck up our friendship. I’d rather have you as a friend than not at all, you know?”
Vic’s eyes widened. “Did you think I’d end our friendship over this?”
“I hoped you wouldn’t, but I mean, this kind of thing can make things weird, you know? I didn’t want that happening with us.”
Vic was already shaking his head. “No. Not us. I’m your friend until the end of time. Even if we decide we don’t want to do the relationship thing after all, I’m not going anywhere.”
The relief that came from those words was so profound it almost made me choke up. “Really?”
“Of course.” He touched my cheek and traced his thumb along the edge of my beard. “No matter what, I love you.”
I hugged him and kissed his forehead. “I love you too. And I’m not going anywhere either.”
He embraced me tighter. “You better not be.”
We both chuckled, then shared another quick kiss. Amazing how fast that had become an easy, natural thing. I took that as a sign that we should have started doing this ages ago, but starting right now felt perfect too, so maybe things had worked out the way they were supposed to.
As I let him go, I cleared my throat. “So, um, should we get out of here?”
“Definitely. In fact I still need to check out of my room and grab my stuff.” He gestured at my bag. “Want me to carry that to the car?”
“Nah, I got it.” I slung it onto my back, then wrapped my arm around his shoulders. He put his around my waist, and we walked out of the train station together.
From here, we had a six-hour drive to Seattle, but I didn’t mind.
Because as far as I was concerned, I was already home.
Epilogue
Vic
I fussed with my tuxedo sleeves. For the millionth time, I checked to be sure my C-3PO cufflinks were on properly and hadn’t fallen off. They weren’t loose or anything, but at last night’s rehearsal, Dad had told a story about losing an expensive cufflink at his and Mom’s wedding. Considering these were a gift from the asexual/aromantic group where Dom and I had met—and they went with the R2-D2s the pair the group had given Dom—I did not want to lose them.
“You look awesome.” Casey appeared behind me, smiling as they adjusted the knot on their necktie. “Nervous?”
I blew out a breath. “Just a little.”
They stopped beside me, meeting my gaze in the mirror, and wrapped an arm around my shoulders. “Everyone’s nervous before their wedding. It’s all good.”
“I know. And I’m sure it’ll be fine.” I laughed, adjusting my bowtie again. “I always wondered what the point was of getting nervous like this. I mean, you know what to do, you know what to say, and it’s not like you’ve never met the person, right?”
“But you’re in front of a bunch of people and you want everything to go perfectly.”
“Eh.” I half shrugged. “I’m fine in front of people, and I don’t really care if it’s all perfect. The stories people tell about weddings are usually about the stuff that didn’t go perfectly, you know?”
“True.”
I took and released a deep breath. “I’ll be fine. Just…if I start to pass out, like, catch me or something.”
Casey smirked. “The story will be way funnier if we let you drop.”
“Dude.”
They chuckled and patted my arm. “Come on. We all know Dom will catch you before you even start wobbling.”
That made me smile. Dom so would.
And now, damn it, I was itching to get out there and do this. Nervous, yes, but I wanted to get married already.
I also wanted to see him, and I hadn’t since last night. Dom and I weren’t all that superstitious, but his mom had begged us to do the whole thing where we didn’t see each other until the ceremony. It hadn’t been a big deal to us, so we’d conceded because it seemed to be a big one to her.
“You’ll be glad you did,” she’d said during last night’s rehearsal. “I promise.”
I was patient, though. I mean, as patient as I ever am. I posed for the photographer for a few minutes, then went and mingled with some guests. Jack, Taylor, Shana, and Mandi had just arrived, and we chatted excitedly about the costumes they’d all brought for the reception. The six of us had stayed in touch after my cousin’s disaster of a wedding, and there’d been a number of across-the-mountain treks to nerd out with all of them over Star Wars marathons. When Dom and I had floated the idea of costumes at the reception, the four of them had enthusiastically egged us on and immediately started brainstorming what they’d wear. I was especially looking forward to Mandi’s Admiral Holdo costume. She’d come to my salon the other day, and I’d dyed her hair lavender—a color she absolutely rocked, by the way—and I was dying to see her dressed up.
“We totally should have done a Star Wars-themed wedding,” Taylor mused to Jack.
Jack laughed. “Your mom would have had a stroke and you know it.”
“But…” Taylor pouted playfully. “Star Wars.” Jack just chuckled, put an arm around Taylor’s shoulders, and pressed a kiss to their temple.
I smiled. As much as I was still a wee bit bitter about Wendy’s wedding, it had brought four amazing friends into my world. If I’d been slightly more petty, I’d have penned her a thank-you note and sent that to her instead of an invitation. Not that I’d invited her. There was no room for bigots at my wedding.
My friends and I chatted a while longer, right up until my mom came up and nudged my arm to let me know it was time to start. Instantly, my heart went wild.
“You ready for this?” Shana asked with a knowing smile.
I nodded. “Definitely.”
They each hugged me in turn, then headed for their seats because oh my God, it was finally time for Dom and me to get married.
Pulse pounding and stomach fluttering, I took my place at the beginning of the aisle so we could walk down together. Ahead of me, people were smiling and taking photos with their phones. Then they started looking past me, so I turned, and…
There he was.
It wasn’t the first time I’d seen Dom in that tux, but he took my breath away because this time, he was wearing it so he could marry me. This was really happening. As he came closer, we both smiled, and my heart was going wild. Okay, yeah, now I could see what my soon-to-be mother-in-law had been getting at. Superstition aside, there was something utterly breathtaking about seeing Dom like this. And yeah, I’d seen him in a tux before, but not with the yellow boutonniere and gold vest and bowtie, all of which matched mine, plus the R2-D2 cufflinks to complement my C-3POs. This was the very first time I’d seen him dressed to marry me.
He stopped beside me. “Ready?”
“Whenever you are.”
We exchanged smiles, laced our fingers together, and started down the aisle while our friends and family applauded and snapped pictures.
“You look amazing,” I said.
He caressed my thumb with his. “So do you.”
We glanced at each other, then kept walking.
Damn, he looked good in that tux. Of course we’d change into costumes for the reception, but we’d compromised with our moms and agreed to “normal” attire for the ceremony and photos. Once we were officially hitched and photographed, the jackets went away and the Jedi robes would come out. I wondered what our moms would think if they saw the matching Ewok socks we were both wearing under our fancy-ass trousers and spit-shined shoes.
At the end of the aisle, we faced each other. I couldn’t stop smiling as we joined hands and held each other’s gazes.
We’re really doing this.
Haley stood beside us with the printout of the ceremony we’d all agreed on. It was kind of ironic, I thought, having our wedding officiated by our aromantic friend who usually rolled her eyes at the whole concept of weddings. But even if she couldn’t relate to the desire to fall in love or get married, she—like Casey—had been overjoyed when we’d gotten engaged. Just because they didn’t want the same thing for themselves didn’t mean they couldn’t be thrilled when something made their friends happy. When we’d struggled to find an officiant we liked, Haley had volunteered, and we hadn’t thought twice before taking her up on it.
Now, with our friends and family watching and waiting, she said under her breath, “You boys ready?”
Dom and I locked eyes, both took deep breaths, and nodded.
“Yeah,” Dom said. “I’m ready.”
I grinned. “Let’s do this.”
Haley cleared her throat and started the ceremony. We’d opted for a traditional one—nothing religious, but also nothing from Star Wars, Deadpool, comic books, South Park, Rick & Morty, or any of the other sources we’d floated while brainstorming. Our moms hadn’t vetoed them per se, but they’d talked us out of it in that calm “I’m your mom, just trust me on this” kind of way that apparently still worked on us as grown men.
And I had to admit—our moms were right. The standard ceremony was getting me choked up enough. By the time Haley looked at me to say my vows, I could barely speak.
She smiled. “Do you, Victor Nelson, take Dominic to be your lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death do you part?”
I cleared my throat and shakily said, “I do.”
Dom smiled, his eyes welling up too, and he squeezed my hands. I squeezed them back.
“And do you, Dominic Lowe, take Victor to be your lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death do you part?”
Rubbing his thumb alongside mine, Dom said, “I do.”
Right then and there, I almost broke. How did it never occur to me before last year to marry this man?
Haley lowered the papers she’d been holding. “Do you have the rings?”
Dom looked at me and raised his eyebrows. We didn’t have attendants, so I’d promised him I’d hold onto the rings until the ceremony.
Right then, a familiar set of beeps turned Dom’s head, and just like I’d hoped, his eyes lit up.
At the other end of the aisle, an almost-life-size replica BB-8 rolled in, weaving a path and doing a couple of turns between our laughing, applauding guests. Alex, one of our friends from a Star Wars fan group, controlled the droid with his iPhone, and stayed unobtrusively off to the side, laughing along with everyone else as his droid came rolling toward us.
“No way,” Dom whispered as the BB-8 came to a stop at our feet. He looked at me, eyes wide. “You… This is…”
“You said you wanted BB-8 as a ring bearer.” I nodded toward the droid, who beeped again. It was seriously an incredible replica, complete with the beeps and sounds from the movie.
Dom stared at it in disbelief, and the droid rolled forward to nudge his leg.
I glanced at Alex and gave him a nod. Alex tapped the screen, and a little compartment on the droid opened. Just like in the movie, a small arm extended, but instead of flicking a lighter, it revealed our two gold bands.
“Oh my God!” Dom grinned like a little kid as he crouched. “This is awesome!” He carefully plucked the rings from the outstretched arm, and laughed as the arm retracted. The droid made a few more beeps and chirps, then rolled back up the aisle to the applause of everyone in the room.
Dom rose, rings in hand, and his enormous smile brought fresh tears to my eyes. I loved seeing this man happy, and the fact that he was this happy to be marrying me—to be married to me—was overwhelming.
Both trembling, we slid the rings onto each other’s fingers. Then Haley pronounced us married, and Dom wrapped his arms around me.
“I love you,” he whispered.
“I love you too.” We held each other’s gazes for a second, and then he pressed his lips to mine, and the whole room erupted into applause all over again.
We paused for a photo, holding up our joined hands, and as we walked up the aisle, a dozen of our friends stood alongside it, forming a tunnel with their glowing, buzzing light sabers.
Yeah, it was probably the dorkiest, nerdiest wedding I’d ever attended, but it was ours, and I loved it. There wasn’t a thing I would have changed.
After we’d made it through the doors at the end of the aisle, the photographer grabbed us for photos outside. We posed for about eight million, then another twenty million with his family, my family, our families, friends, coworkers, some random pair of joggers who happened by, and a few more by ourselves. Once that was done, we climbed into the back of the white limo to head over to the reception.
“Oh my God.” Dom leaned back against the leather seat and closed his eyes. “Now I can stop being so nervous.”
“You and me both.” I squeezed his leg. “Time go party!”
“Hell yeah.” He looked around. “Did they stock this thing with—ah, there it is!” He sat up and grabbed the champagne and glasses. He poured us each a little—there’d be plenty more later, so no point in overdoing it now—and handed one to me. We clinked them together, shared a kiss, and sipped.
As the limo took us toward the place where the reception would be held, we sat back and enjoyed the champagne and the downtime. Our Jedi robes were folded on another seat, and it would only take a minute to change. For now, we just caught our breath and relaxed.
Some of our friends had worried that we were rushing into this. After all, it hadn’t even been a year since we’d gone from friends to a couple.
It didn’t feel to me like we’d rushed, though. If anything, I wondered how in the world it had taken us so long to get here. Once we’d finally realized what we were, it was like this was who we’d been all along. We’d moved in together after a couple of months because we were spending so much time together, there wasn’t a lot of point in paying for two apartments. Especially not in an expensive city like Seattle. Moving in together had been easy. Living together had been easy. Dating had been easy. Getting engaged and getting married had been such natural next steps, neither of us could justify putting them off any longer.
So here we were, and it was amazing.
Of course it hadn’t been perfect. We were both pretty chill guys, and neither of us was difficult to live with, but it was impossible to live with someone and not butt heads at least once in a while. I didn’t like his habit of leaving socks on the floor, he didn’t like me hogging the bathroom counter with all my stuff, and we were both terrible about remembering to do the dishes.
For the most part, though, nothing much had changed between us. We were more physically affectionate now, and we never left the house or went to sleep without saying “I love you,” but we’d pretty much upgraded our friendship. Or, well, realized we’d basically been boyfriends all along and had finally admitted it.
So while
it looked to everyone else like we were getting married after a handful of months, it felt more to me like we were finally taking the plunge after ten years. Either way, I was happy, I was in love, and I couldn’t imagine wanting to be married to anyone other than the loving dork sitting beside me now. The loving dork who’d made my life better since day one, even when someone else did their level best to do the opposite.
And speaking of the damage Max had left behind, the therapist Dom referred me to had turned out to be a godsend. After our first visit, she’d said my ex’s abuse had definitely triggered an eating disorder. She’d been clear that things like this didn’t magically go away, and it could potentially be with me for the rest of my life, but that it was absolutely possible to improve.
With her help and the support of my family, friends, and the man who was now my husband, I was improving. We were still working on it, and it was a frustratingly slow process, but the improvements were definitely showing. In fact, I’d had a bit of a mini breakdown on Christmas because I realized in the middle of opening presents with Dom’s family that I hadn’t heard my ex’s voice once during dinner. That was a rare thing even now, and I guess I’d just been so caught up in the holiday—not to mention distracted by the ring burning a hole in my pocket—that my demons had fallen unusually silent. When those demons reared their ugly heads now, I could hold onto Christmas Eve and know that I was getting better.
“Hey.” Dom put his hand on my knee. “Still with me?”
I shook myself, then turned to him and smiled. “Yeah. Just… You know, been nervous all week, and now it’s all over.”
“The ceremony’s over.” He grinned, squeezing my leg gently. “Now we get a party.”
“True. A party with wedding cake.”
“Damn right.”
Chuckling, I leaned in to kiss him.
He touched my face. “Thank you, by the way. The BB-8 ring bearer was perfect.”
“You said it was what you wanted.”
“I did, but I didn’t think you’d remembered.”
“Like I could forget something as cute as wanting BB-8 as a ring bearer.”
Three Stupid Weddings Page 12