Dan and Phil Imagines

The Man Who Could and The Man Who Couldn't

~A/N~ Bonjour! Time to get back to writing again, I felt 'the urge'! So, here is an imagine set at a wedding... with Phil... but it isn't what you'd expect. Check me out, all mysterious.

Em :P

You walk up the aisle slowly, one foot in front of the other in time to the wedding march. Your face is solemn as you look ahead to the man waiting at the alter, and the priest beside him. He is smiling in your direction, many people in the congregation do the same. They sniff audibly, muttering 'Isn't she beautiful?' and giving watery grins once you have passed.

Once you reach the alter, you give a strained smile to the groom and step aside, letting his bride stand in front of him while you take your place in the line of three bridesmaids behind.

The people weren't talking about you, and he wasn't smiling you, because you aren't the bride. You aren't the one they're all here to see. This isn't the most important day of your life. And, above all else, he isn't yours. He can never be yours.

You've been in love with Rick for as long as you can remember. The first time you saw him he had been on your sister's arm, and from then on you have been besotted with him. Now he stands there, looking into the eyes of your elder sister Dia, and you know that he can never be yours now. Your faintest sliver of hope died the day that he got on one knee and she said yes.

At home you'd imagined the ceremony to be the worst part. You realise you were wrong when you enter the gazebo where the reception is taking place.

People don't understand why you aren't smiling more. In a steady stream of about seven people per hour they have approached you, under the premise of offering you a drink or an hors d'oeuvre, or just saying hi to you. However, you know that they only have one thing on their minds when they come up to you: why aren't you happier? After all, it is your only sister's wedding, and you are her maid of honour, and you do know how happy Rick makes her. So why are you looking so down? So blue? So (I kid you not, your great aunt actually used this word) glum?

Obviously you can't tell them exactly why you look so sanguine, as they might feel a bit uncomfortable, even shocked, at the real answer of 'I've been in love with the groom for almost ten years so forgive me for not running to catch the bouquet'.

Almost every member of your close-knit family is loud, boisterous and brash. Harmless, but can you imagine the chaos at family get togethers when the hosts ply the guests with alcohol? It is not a pretty sight. That's why you're surprised to see, from your perch in an undisturbed corner far from the dance floor (current song: The Time of My Life), someone who isn't swaying along to the music with a beer in his hand and his own personal interpretation of the lyrics issuing from his mouth. In the opposite corner of the large gazebo is a man about your age, with black hair and an awkward look about him. Fortunately his eyes are fixed on something beneath the table, as you realise that you have been staring at him for a few minutes.

The song changes to the Hopelessly Devoted To You (y'know, that one that Sandy sings in Grease that everything thinks they know the words to?), and you realise, with a sigh, that you're going to need a drink to have a chance at surviving this reception, which is likely to last into the wee hours of the morning. Evidently the Man in the Corner has had the same thought, as he has also stood and is making his way through the crowd towards the drinks table.

Just as you are about to reach out of the throng of people dancing and wailing along to Olivia Newton-John's voice and grasp a glass of white wine, your loud and obviously drunk (which is an achievement even for your family, as it's only 5pm) second cousin Janet grabs you by the arm with a squawk of laughter.