"Does every wedding have disasters like this?" he asked. It wasn't like him to get out of work early. It was quite the surprise to his boss too. But Sunshine had called him sounding so upset. That was why he raced over there. Looking at the building, it was completely trashed. There was no way that they could recover in time, not with the rain that never ceased to end. That always postponed construction. It just seemed like the whole wedding was holding on by a single thread. The wind shifting ever so slightly could have it all tumbling down.
And these were supposed to be fun?
"Not entirely," Mir chuckled. "But I had a feeling that something might happen."
They were staying behind to try and figure out the finer details the rest of the day. Sunshine and Nikita had already left to go see about the tarps. They might need more than Sunshine's parents had, but that was okay. Those were easier to come by if you knew the right place. And Valentino delved in this kind of stuff a lot.
"Why?" he asked curiously.
"When things go wrong," he shrugged. "It tends to happen close to the wedding date. That's why I like to come up with a back-up whenever possible."
Well, it wasn't exactly possible to have a back-up venue planned. Those took ages to arrange, and they only had two weeks. Unless they were considering using someone's backyard, that was out of the question. And he knew that Sunshine would hate that. Nikita didn't care how they got married. He just wanted to marry already. It was Sunshine that had dreamt all this up.
And it made this even worse when he looked at the mess that the church had become and the look on her face when she thought that her dream wedding was going to be taken from her. He was glad that Mir could find some solution. This was a long shot, but at least it gave them a fighting chance with this wedding.
Valentino looked up from his work, stopping when he noticed the man staring at the building. The way he looked at it was as if it was brand new, just built and as glorious as ever. That was one thing that Valentino couldn't understand about Mir. He could always see the potential that each building had. He would look at all the ones that they would walk by and smile as Valentino told a story about it. No matter how dingy or beat up it looked, he always looked at it the same way that he was watching this building right now.
He was the only one he had met that thought the same way as him. Valentino loved old buildings, because it didn't look shiny or just built, but it had its own beauty through the time it spent on this planet. And he loved that someone finally saw the same thing he did of this small town.
"Alright," Valentino put his pencil in his pocket and turned the drawing around to show him. "What about this?"
Mir had wanted him to see if he could make a design that was both elegant and practical. The only material they had were the tarps and the flowers that were supposed to be set up. The owner of the facility was willing to help set up the tables and chairs outside. It was the least he could do for not demanding a refund. He had his own expenses to deal with just to fix this ancient church up.
Using tarps wasn't something that he was used to as a material for designing a building, but he wasn't opposed to the challenge. His job always focused on building from the ground up, or rebuilding old historical structures. His boss was obsessed with it. But this made for a great way for his creativity to shine. When he was in college, the professors loved giving their students challenges using different types of materials to see what they could come up with. It actually made collaborating with his peers fun for once.
This was just like those times, only they were being put to the test to solve a real problem.
"If we get a high enough latter to get to the archway on top," he pointed towards his drawing. "We could hook up the tarps on these three points right here, the strongest on the building that's left, and cascade them down in layers and different directions. Hanging them at an angle adds to the elegant design that Sunshine wants. It also gives the material extra room to hang down from the beams that are going to be holding it and protect and flowers or lights that we want to put up."
"It looks beautiful," Mir smiled at him. "You really are talented. I didn't think it could look that good."
"It's all about presentation," Valentino said proudly. He was always happy getting a compliment on his work. He was dedicated to perfecting his skills as much as possible. Which was why challenges like this was always appreciated. It helped when he had a purpose too.
"Are you sure you don't want something like this one day, Darling?" Mir sighed and put an arm around him. He looked so happy just pulling him closer.
"And deal with something like this happening?" Valentino shook his head. "I'll pass and save myself the heartache."
"That's where you'd leave it all to me," Mir pulled him closer. "It is my profession, after all. I can make it to where you wouldn't have any worries at all."
"And what makes you think that if I ever did marry, it'd be with you," he teased, raising an eyebrow.
"What do you mean by that?"
"You never know what the future holds," he shrugged, still staying close to him. Even though it was starting to heat up, he liked the warm that his body gave off. It was comfortable. And he had grown too used to it. "For all we know, we might not be with each other after a few years."
He hated to think about it like that, but that was the sad truth. You never knew what the future held. Valentino didn't even think he was ever going to marry. He didn't really have a reason to. He didn't know whether it was because of Mir or the fact that he played such a great part in this wedding that he was starting to even contemplate it. Mir's romantic words were getting to him, he guessed.
"Is that a challenge?" he could feel the chuckles coming from the man as his chest was pushed up against his back. He loved when he did this to him.
"A challenge for what?" he asked, holding the arms that were around him.
"For me to ask you as soon as possible?" he started to spread some light kisses on his neck. Valentino was glad at that moment that no one was around. Mir always found the perfect time to try and ignite his body.
"In your dreams," he shook his head, trying to get the man off him. Instead of pulling free, those arms just went around him tighter. He'd fight against them more, if he didn't enjoy being the prey for this man.
"I'll never get you to see just how wonderful something like this can be, can I?"
"Nope," he laughed. "Never."
"Maybe if you actually witness a good one, I can change your mind," Mir said, continuing to kiss just about everywhere his lips could get to at the moment. Valentino couldn't help but soak all of it in. He loved every time he did this.
"I highly doubt it," Valentino elbowed him a bit. "Come on, we better get out of here before it starts to rain again."
As nice as the moment was, it had to end. Valentino and him had a lot of work to do, even though he had gotten the day off. There was going to be lots of planning and trying to figure out just what kind of man power they were going to need for it. He was sure that some of Nikita's cousins would love to help. They were just happy to be anywhere but the snow whenever they came down for a visit.
The next two weeks were as busy as could be. They had fun finding out the layout of the church and where everyone was going to sit now that it was going to be outside. They even had extra tarp that they could use to cover the tables a little more, just so no rain would get on the food or chairs. It worked out pretty well. Casimir even found these nice umbrellas to hand out as party favors. Adding some lace on it for the women and a black fabric for the men made it look great. Valentino was surprised at his craftiness.
Things were looking up for everything, and Valentino could actually say that he was excited for it. He didn't think he was going to be. Honestly, he thought he was going be regretting that he accepted to be the best man for the wedding. He thought that he was going to just be trudging through all of this. He was pleasantly surprised.
And then something else had to happen. After trying to make sure that nothing physically could get worse, they all failed to think about what else could go wrong.
"I can't believe this shit," Valentino muttered.
"Yeah, dude, I know," Leo said, the both of them walking towards the house. "Leave it to Stacy to be the cause of even more bullshit."
It was the weekend of. They just finished the bachelor and bachelorette parties the night before, and, of course, someone had to be hungover and pissy.
"Let's just get this over with," Valentino sighed. He twisted the door open to Sunshine's house. Nikita was over at his parents, recovering from his own hangover. They had a load of fun with Nikita's cousins. Those guys knew how to party. Valentino wound up having to get Casimir drive him home with how trashed he got. But there wasn't time to nurse his hangover when he had this to deal with.
"I'm not dealing with this anymore!" Stacy's voice blasted through right as he opened the door. "I'm not going to stand here and watch as you let that druggy 'livin up' the wedding!"
"I was joking!" Daniel yelled over her. "Holy fuck, Stacy, can't you take a damn joke?"
"Bullshit!" she hollered back. "You just want some excuse to get back to that shit!"
"Stacy," Valentino cut her off from her rant. She looked shocked that he was there. "Can we solve this without the yelling? Please?"
Sunshine was already in tears. He didn't know what she said to her, but it wasn't making him any happier seeing her like that. This was supposed to be about her, not Stacy's fight to never have anything to do with Daniel. Valentino didn't know why he had dropped by, but he couldn't have done it at a worse time.
"And why the fuck are you here?" Stacy put her hands on her hips. "To be the mediator and defend all the druggy idiots around the world?"
"This isn't about any of that, Stacy," he told her. "This is about a wedding. That's it. Nothing more, nothing less."
"You know," she started. "I knew you were going to say that. You changed a lot Valentino. I thought you would be on my side with this. But ever since you got that asswipe boyfriend of yours, you've been nothing but a fake!"
"What the fuck are you talking about?" he knew that she was going to start some shit from the moment she first started talking. He had tried to prepare himself for it, but there was just so much that he could take.
"What's going to happen now, huh?" Stacy egged. "You going to forgive your druggy dad now too?"
Valentino took a deep breath as the room got silent. He was so pissed that he swore the whole room could feel it. He hoped it felt freezing to everyone in that room, because he was about to bring Hell.
"You really think you have me all figured out?" Valentino walked closer to her. "That you know every single thing about me? I'm just the kid who's dad ran away because he was too high to care....right?!" Raising his voice for that one instant made everyone jump. He was too pissed to care.
"Come on, Valentino," Stacy said. "You got rose tinted glasses on if you think that everything's going to be a-okay with this guy here!"
"We will," Valentino told her. "Because the only person who's caused Sunshine and Nikita any problems during this whole thing has been you."
"What are you-!"
"What the fuck do you think this is, Stacy?!" he interrupted her. "A damn soap opera?! One of those reality TV shows where you can get your fifteen minutes of fame? We're talking about a wedding that you didn't even have to play part in! You could have just said no in the first place if you were going to cause all of this shit! And they shouldn't have to choose between the people they want to have around on their wedding day. That's some bullshit."
Silence filled the air as she just looked at him. The anger in her eyes was nothing compared to the rage he felt. He didn't like what she had said about him. No one would. But him especially. Because her saying what she did truly showed how little she knew about him.
"You really have changed for the worst," she said.
"No," he told her. "I didn't. Because you might have dealt with Daniel when he was tweaking and destroying your shit, Stacy, but you never had to fucking live with one! You didn't have to raise yourself because you didn't have anyone but your sibling! No. You had a nice place and two parents that both loved you and still do. I don't blame you for not experiencing any of that shit," he said. "I don't blame you for being pissed off at Daniel, even if you choose to for the rest of your life. But if I could deal with my dad coming over for the holiday, even after all the shit he caused me, you can handle one fucking day at a wedding where you don't even have to look in his own direction!"
Now she really was speechless. He didn't think he was too strongly spoken, but he knew that he hit a cord with her. Hopefully, he got her to realize something, at least. He didn't remember going off on any of them like that. He tried to just stay calm through all the shit that happened with his friends. But this was too much. At this point, all she was doing was trying to cause drama. Why, he didn't know. All he knew was that if they didn't want to go to this fucking wedding then they shouldn't. It was as simple as that.
"Oh, and one more thing," he said before opening the door back up. "My 'asswipe' boyfriend has been there for me more than you and Ned have ever been. I haven't changed for the worst, Stacy, you have."
He slammed the door shut and walked off.
So much for a good fucking wedding.
Author's Note: Hi guys! Stacy and Ned were originally based off from characters that I had made up before, but...well, they kind of took their own form as the story progressed. Especially in this chapter. The characters they were based off from were a lot happier than these two, but it just didn't seem like that was going to happen as I started writing them. It's kind of strange how characters do that.
Of course I couldn't end this book without some wedding drama! I swear there's always some kind of crazy things that happen, and not just in the movies! We'll see about the conclusion to this in the next chapter.
Thanks for the votes and comments!
-Saturn