"Call me when you land."
"I will."
There's a pause, then Cory picks up her things. She shares one last glance with Chris, then turns around and heads to check-in. Chris watches, his heart breaking with each step Cory took away from him.
As he watched, Cory suddenly stopped.
What was it? Did she forget something? Or was she...?
Cory then kept going.
Chris took a shaky breath, then decided he couldn't watch anymore. He turned around so that he didn't have to see Cory disappear. And literally just as he was about to walk out of the airport...
"Chris, wait!"
Chris turned around to see Cory running to him. She jumps into his arms and wraps her arms around his neck, beginning to sob. Chris holds her close to him, confused. He rubbed circles on her back and tried to console her. Cory breaks the embrace.
"I can't do it."
Chris' eyes widen, "What? What are you talking about?" He asks.
"I can't do it, Chris. I love you too much. I can't leave you."
"But, Cory, the school -"
"There will be other schools, Chris."
"But this is such a big opportunity for you. This scholarship -"
"There'll be other opportunities, other scholarships...But there's no other you."
Chris just stares at her, his head swimming, "Are you sure about this?"
"More sure than I've ever been of anything in my entire life." Cory confirms, "I love you, Christopher Cerulli."
A smile creeps its way across Chris' face, "I love you too...Corianne Cerulli."
Cory smiles, then stands on her tiptoes and kisses her new husband. This felt right. This was the way it was supposed to be. As their lips danced across each other, they knew that this was how everything was supposed to be. This was it. And they couldn't ask for anything more.
x
Chris' fingers traced random patterns on Cory's back, along her butterfly tattoos. He couldn't believe that she had chosen to stay with him, but he was absolutely overjoyed about it. He didn't know how he was going to survive with her being so far the way all the time. Sure, she was far away from him when he was on tour, but at least when she was in Pennsylvania, Chris knew that he'd see her the second he got home. That was what he always looked forward to the most; and now, he'd have it forever. His beautiful new wife lay next to him, smiling up at him.
"I love you." She whispers.
"I love you too." Chris says, smiling.
"Have you told anyone that I decided to stay yet?"
"No, not yet. I wanted to have you to myself for a while."
Cory gives a small laugh, "God, how are we gonna tell them we eloped last night? How do you think they'll react?"
"Well, let's find out." Chris says, reaching for his phone.
"What are you doing?"
"Telling the guys and Mandy to meet at Balz's shop."
x
Cory and Chris walked into The Strange and Unusual. The guys and Mandy were all there, talking amungst each other. It was almost like any other day.
Balz looked up from the front desk, "Hey, Chris. Hey, Cory."
Everyone glances at them a second...
And then they all do a double take.
"Cory?!" Mandy exclaims.
"Hi." Cory says, smiling.
"What are you doing here? Didn't your flight leave hours ago?" Ricky asks.
"I decided to stay!" Cory says.
Mandy runs over and hugs Cory, "Thank God! I need my sister to help me boss people around at the store again!"
Cory laughs and hugs Mandy back. All of the guys hugged her back.
"So what changed?" Ryan asks.
"Yeah, what made you stay?" Vinny asks.
"Well, at the party last night, I realized I'd be leaving some pretty amazing people if I left for that school in Texas, and that my friends were more important. And then after the party...something else happened..."
"So sex made you stay?" Ghost asks.
Cory laughs, "No!...Well, yes, but that's not what I was talking about."
They all laugh. Cory then brushes a strand of her hair out of her face with her left hand, accidentally-on-purpose showing off her rings.
"See, Chris and I sort of..." Cory trails.
"Wait." Ryan Ashley says. She walks up to Cory and looks at Cory's left hand. She then looks at Chris'. They each had matching silver rings on their left ring fingers. Cory's was below her promise ring.
"Shut up. You did not." Ryan Ashley says.
Cory nods and smiles, "We did."
Chris puts his arm around Cory, "We got married last night."
Everyone's eyes widen. Some of them gasp. All except Mandy.
"But, how...When?" Balz asks.
"Mandy knows a guy." Cory says.
They all turn to look at Mandy.
"You knew?" Ricky asks.
"Yup. A friend of mine hooked 'em up. Did you know you can get registered to marry people online now? It takes like three minutes." Mandy says, "Congratulations, you guys."
Everyone else just stares at them
"You all think we're crazy." Cory says, stating the obvious.
"Um, yeah!" Ryan says.
"Well, we're not. For once, I am thinking perfectly clear." Chris says.
Vinny gasps, "Are you pregnant?"
Chris rolls his eyes, "No, she's not pregnant." He says. He looks to Cory, "Right?"
Cory laughs and lifts her shirt slightly, "Birth control patch. We're good."
"Good. I don't think we could handle any more surprises." Ghost says.
x
Chris and Cory lay in bed, tired after another round. Cory pulls the sheets up to her chest to cover herself. She looks at the two rings on her left hand.
"You know...the whole reason we got married last night was to ensure we'd be okay after I left," Cory starts, "But now that I've chosesn to stay...Well, I guess I'm just worried that -"
"No no no no no no no. You don't get to be worried. I love you, I love that you stayed, I love that I'm with you, and I love that I married you." Chris confirms, "We're gonna be okay."
Cory nods and gives a small smile, "Okay." She says, quietly.
Cory grabs her glasses off the nightstand and throws the sheets aside. She finds Chris' shirt on the floor and throws it on. She then throws her red and black hair into a sloppy bun on top of her head. She goes to walk out of the room.
"Where you going?" Chris asks.
Cory stops, then turns around, "I was going to go call your mother and ask her to lunch tomorrow." She says, sitting on the edge of the bed, "We've gotta tell your family we're married eventually."
"Fabulous." Chris deadpans.
Cory laughs, "It'll be fine." She says, moving closer to him and kissing him. However, as it always did, the kiss grew more heated. Chris wrapped his arms around his wife and brought her down with him as he lay back down on the bed.
"Mmmm...I'll call her later." Cory says.
Chris chuckles, "I love you."
"I love you too."
Chris kisses Cory again, happier with her than he ever thought he could be.
The End.
A/N: Of COURSE Cory stayed! And of COURSE they got married because duh! It's fanfiction! Not the best ending but whatever.
Behind the Scenes Chapter next ;) give me lots of votes and comments and I will publish it TODAY.
Chapter Title From: Devils Night by MIW.
xoxo, Scissorhands.