Arlo - Larry Stylinson

Chapter 17 - It has Always been You, Louis.

The priest smiled, his thick glasses glinting in the light of the sun. "Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today-once again-in the sight of the calm sea and dolphins around the ship, to join together this man and his bride in holy matrimony." Hanji smiled mockingly at the bride who kicked her wooden leg out to catch his shin. "I should ask just cause as to why these two should not be wedded, but I shall not. Instead I ask of you both to read your vows."

Hanji pushed his glasses up his nose and stepped back. Harry nodded and turned to Louis.

He put his hand out and pulled the fishing net veil from Louis' face and placed it over the exotic flowers of Louis' headpiece. He then took Louis' hand as if to slip a ring over his finger, but he did not do so. Instead, with no paper or words, he spoke.

"Louis, my love. I married you once but that was merely out of fear to lose you forever, but we are here now, and your touch is the realest thing I've ever held. There are some things that neither Heaven nor Hell can take; some people that are so real that they can't be stolen away. You, Louis, are one of those people. You're one of those people who did not ask for pain, did not deserve it, and yet you greeted it with open arms. You're one those people who now seeks revenge, feeds off of it, and therefore you gained your name as the Heartless King." Harry stopped and looked at Louis with a gaze that cut right through him. "But-you are not heartless, are you? You are not a monster. And if you were in a story like the ones told back in London, you'd be one hell of a character."

Louis blushed but he smiled all the same. Harry picked his head back up and brushed a finger over his cheek.

"I met you in the streets years ago, Louis, and I never told you until now, but I had seen you many times before then. Louis, my love, you were the first person that I ever saw in London, the first person to catch my eye. I came to your town at only seventeen years old and you were there, with Liam, by the railroads with a small fire between you. It was freezing, and you were so cold-and yet you didn't stop laughing. I swore to myself on that day that I'd find the little corset boy.. and that I'd marry him.
It has always been you, Louis. You'd always been the one that I wanted."

Louis looked at Harry with a wide eye that showed how surprised he was. After everything, Harry had fallen in love first, and he'd been in love since before any of it began. Louis smiled, a big, genuine grin, and then he laughed.

Everyone stopped to listen, no one breathed just so they could hear Louis, the little steampunk, express the joy that he'd only ever show to Harry. Harry cupped Louis' face and it took oceans of restraint to not kiss him right then and there. "Louis, my sunshine.. my mother and father would have loved you. I wish they could meet you. They'd all have loved you so, so much.." Harry smiled and he swore he couldn't smile any more than he was. "I love you, Captain. I love you, I love you."

He'd have confessed a thousand times but Louis believed him already. The little steampunk's hands came and his bandaged fingertips stroked Harry's cheeks. "I love you, too. I love you so much, in fact, that I might melt."

"Your vows, Louis." Hanji whispered as she saw Louis become distracted. Louis looked at her, "Oh yes, right." He fumbled in the fold of the torn sail wrapped and tied around his body, and he pulled out a piece of crumpled paper. Harry peered over it, wondering who'd written the vows and he saw Louis' own wobbly handwriting and spelling mistakes there. It must have taken hours for him to write that.

"Zayn helped me." Louis said, "But I wrote it on my own, don't peek." he said, pulling the paper away from Harry. He cleared his throat and and read, "Dear Gypsy-boy." He stopped, squinting at his paper, a pout on his face as he struggled to read the words he'd written. He finally looked back at Harry and put the paper away. "Dear Gypsy-boy." He said again. "I'm not an inventor like you, I'm not a tailor like you, and I'm not a writer like you so I can't do this as well as you could. I have so much to say but I don't know how to and that's quite frustrating. I want to thank you for staying here with me, after everything that's happened. Thank you for loving me even like this, for standing beside me, and thank you for saying I'm beautiful even if I've never believed you. I can't write poems or vows but I wrote a tragedy. However, I think that this tragedy isn't so sad after all. As long as you're here, and long as everyone is here, we can be happy.. and that's all I ever want you to be."