Chapter 14: My Heart Is Yours
The hotel room is lit up by a dim light coming from a night light on Levi's side of the bed, it mixes in with a slight blue flicker from the television opposite them. Levi is wide awake after a long day, after the best day, and he is eyeing the sleeping Nico next to him. Nico Kim-Schmitt, his husband. The thought still makes him smile wide, and as he does so, he can feel his cheek muscles hurting from smiling so much that day.
He looks up at the ceiling now, feeling completely at ease as he allows his head to rest on the pillow. The blue flicker from the television makes some of the shadows dance on the white paint, and Levi follows them while losing himself into thinking about the day.
"I knew we shouldn't have worn ties, they are way too formal for a park wedding, anyway!" Levi had been freaking out to Taryn.
"Calm down, I've got this," Taryn said and flicked away Levi's fumbling hands from his tie.
"My dad wore a tie to work every day for 20 years. I can make a mean tie," she said confidently. Levi accepted the help right away, taking in some deep breaths while Taryn put her money where her mouth was.
"Can you believe this is actually happening?" Levi asked.
Taryn looks at Levi with kind eyes, a small smile spreading across her lips.
"Yes, Levi. I can."
Levi's lips curve into a smile at the thought and his heart fills with gratitude towards his best friend. He knows he had chosen the right best man for the job, he had needed Taryn's tough love on a day like today, being the nervous guy he still sometimes was. All throughout his panicking at her apartment since the moment he woke up, to feeling nauseous around food all day, to desperately trying to finish his vows in the car over to the ceremony, Taryn had been there to calm him, or sometimes slap him or force feed him in order to snap him out of it and see the bigger picture.
Levi's thoughts then wander to his mother. His mother was there, all day, happier than he had ever seen her. Seeing she had some trouble accepting him and Nico in the beginning, she had come a long way and Levi appreciates it more than anything.
Myrna's hand had been grasping that of Levi's way too tightly, as they were standing behind a tree near the ceremony spot.
"Mum! I'm gonna lose blood flow to my fingers!" Levi said and vinced while he tried to break free.
"I'm sorry, sweetheart, I just can't... I can't believe my baby boy is getting married," Myrna said and Levi could tell she was on the verge of tears. He reached in to hug her and kissed her cheek.
"Thank you for everything, mum. I would not be here without your help, and I really mean it," Levi smiled as a single tear escaped Myrna's eye.
It felt like slow motion, walking with his mother to where Nico was standing. The scenery was so beautiful, the weather was more overcast than what he would have liked, but the sun managed to peak through every now and then. Nico's eyes near the pond calmed Levi's mind when he felt nervous energy all throughout his body while walking to his destination. There were only ten guests and it wasn't a long way to Nico, but Levi could feel all the eyes on him and felt very warm at that moment. Finally, he was there, holding Nico's hands.
"Hi," Levi said and smiled.
"Hi," Nico said back.
They shared a nervous chuckle and then turned to look at Jo who was standing in front of them.
The blue flicker disappears all of a sudden and Levi is brought back to the current moment. The television had shut itself off automatically. Levi looks back at Nico who is still fast asleep, his left hand near his face on his pillow, with a new addition on it: his wedding ring. The black matte material of it looks so good against his soft black hair.
Levi gets up and walks to the balcony door, he quietly opens it and gets out to the warm summer air. There's some slight noise coming from the road underneath, but the sky has now cleared and he can see the moon and as many stars that is possible through the smog of city of Seattle.
"Nico. My sun sword. My guiding light," Levi had started his vows. He had been so nervous about writing them that he hadn't managed to finish them before the ceremony started. Taryn had suggested just to wing it, and that's what he did. It was funny how much he had been freaking out about his vows, but when he had been standing there in front of Nico, the words flowed naturally and he felt like he got everything he needed across in a rather elegant string of words.
Levi could hear his mother sob in the distance and after he finished speaking, both Nico and him looked at her and smiled gently. Levi saw how Casey who had been standing next to her had taken it upon himself to comfort her, offering her a tissue and an arm around her. Levi appreciated it, and he knew his mother did as well.
Levi cherished each word from Nico's vows to him.
"You are my candle in a dark room, you are my rock, my guide through life. I will love you forever," is what Nico finished with, and it had taken all of Levi's strength not to join his mother in sobbing right there and then.
And before Levi realised it, they had exchanged rings and were breaking the glass wrapped in a white cloth in front of them on the ground.
"Mazel tov!" the guests cheered and they both smiled from ear to ear. Levi's heart felt so full, standing there with their closest friends and family at a park in Seattle. Nothing too fancy, no frills, just love.
It was all so perfectly sappy, so perfectly personal. So perfectly them.
Levi jumps as he hears the balcony door open. Nico walks out, wearing nothing but his underwear, same as Levi.
"Hey you," Nico says, his eyes still sleepy but he is smiling.
"Oh no, did I wake you?" Levi asks and turns to face him.
"I always wake up if you're not in bed with me. I start to miss you," Nico smirks.
"You are so cheesy!" Levi rolls his eyes, but still has that wide grin on his face.
Nico just shrugs and smiles, looking happy with himself. He then joins Levi at the edge of the balcony and places his body behind Levi's, hugging him from behind so that they can both watch the city lights.
They stand there in silence for a bit, then Levi starts to laugh.
"Can you believe Link?" He chuckles. Nico starts to laugh with him.
Levi had noticed Link enjoying his champagne all through the reception at the down-town restaurant they had picked. Link was getting louder and louder after each glass, his smile wide and happy. Nico and Levi exchanged amused looks every now and then. When it finally came time for Link's best man speech, he took the microphone and walked next to the small centre table in the middle of a cleared space of the room where they would be dancing later. The wedding cake and some presents were placed neatly on the table.
"I could not be happier to be part of this day that shall henceforth be called the Kim-Schmitt Day," Link had started his speech with a somewhat lame joke, slurring a bit at a few words. He was holding champaign on his other hand, taking a sip every now and then.
He kept talking, managing for most of his speech to keep his composure. Levi made sure to observe Nico's reactions to the speech and being good at reading the other's facial cues, Levi knew that Nico was touched by what Link was saying.
"Anyway. Let's all raise a glass to the happy couple," Link said. The guests did as they were told, but right at that moment Link had decided to place the microphone on the table and in the process, ended up leaning on it with all of his weight due to losing balance, apparently trying to support his drunk body.
It all happened so fast. First there was a cake on the table, and then there was cake on the floor and on Link. Like, all over Link's suit. And all over some of their presents as well.
The silence was defeaning at that moment. Both Levi and Nico's mouths fell open, and Levi looked at Nico whose hand had flown over his mouth.
Levi doesn't know who laughed first, but he was laughing so hard by the end of it that he had tears falling from his eyes.
"I should have known karma would get me for ruining Dr. Karev's wedding cake," Levi laughed while Nico wrapped his arm around him and kissed his temple.
They are laughing now, too, at the memory of their wedding cake all over the dance floor. Link had apologised profusely, promised he would go to AA even though he didn't actually have a drinking problem, but eventually after realising Levi and Nico were not even angry, he had joined the laughter and made many jokes at his own expense through the night.
"It was a good day though, right?" Nico asks Levi and spins him around to face him.
"The best," Levi says. He shivers then as there's some wind coming through.
"Wanna go inside?" Nico asks and puts his hands on Levi's arms, rubbing them up and down a couple of times in order to warm him up. Levi nods, and they slide the door open and go back in.
"Your phone is ringing," Levi realises as soon as they enter.
"Who on earth is calling me at this hour?" Nico wonders and walks to his phone. Levi studies his face when he sees the caller ID.
"It's a..." is all Nico says before he answers the phone.
Levi gets a bit worried, but then very surprised as Nico starts to speak on the phone quietly. In Korean.
Levi's heartbeat increases at that, but he wants to give Nico his space and goes to sit on the couch instead and starts to scroll through his Instagram, liking pictures and stories from the wedding.
"I present to you, Mr. and Mr. Kim-Schmitt," Jo's voice comes through his phone speaker as he observes the event from a new angle. He loves the smiles on their faces, and on everyone else's faces too: they all seem so genuine.
After five or so minutes, Nico joins Levi on the couch, his gaze thoughtful.
"Who was that?" Levi can't help but ask right away.
"It was... my aunt. From Seoul," Nico says, still staring at the wall.
"What did she say?" Levi asks, frowning now.
"She... congratulated me... us," Nico says and finally looks back at Levi.
A small silence takes over, but it seems like Nico needs it in order to gather his thoughts.
"Nico, that's... that's great, isn't it?" Levi says and smiles tentatively.
Nico purses his lips and raises his eyebrows, "I mean, yeah. It is. I just wasn't expecting it, that's all," he says. "Apparently my mother had gone to her and told her what happened. My mother still wasn't happy about it. But Ji-Ho, that's my aunt, had tried to talk to her about it, to get her to understand. Apparenly she wasn't successful but... yeah."
Nico sighs but Levi can notice an expression of gratitude on his face.
"I guess I had resigned myself to the idea that I would not be hearing from any of my family today. But it's... nice," Nico says and smiles just a bit.
"It's more than nice. It's fantastic," Levi says and his smile grows wider now, he scooches closer to Nico so that he can take his hand. "You have family who support you. And maybe your parents just need more time, and now you have someone in your corner back in Seoul."
Nico nods. "Yeah, you're right. You're totally right. I'll introduce you to her when we go to Seoul for Christmas."
"Sounds great," Levi grins.
They raid the minibar after that, not caring about the ridiculous prices for each snack and drink. They chat about less serious things, go through some of the events of the day and exchange kisses and cuddles at every chance they get.
"Can you believe Link and Jo kissed on the dance floor tonight? It looked like it wasn't the first time, either," Levi says and eats some of his Snickers bar.
Nico bites his lip at that.
"What?" Levi asks right after he swallows. He then recognises the look of slight guilt and pride on his husband's face.
"It wasn't the first time, was it!" Levi says with a mock shocked and hurt face.
Nico just shrugs, "Link might have mentioned there was some... tension, between those two. Glad to see they worked it out. But then again, I'm a big sap today," Nico says and reaches his hand to hold Levi's chin, bringing him in for yet another kiss.
"Remind me to give Jo a piece of my mind for not telling me," Levi chuckles afterwards.
The two don't want the day to end, so they watch a movie together on the couch before a yawn escapes Levi's lips once it's nearly 4 AM. "I'm sleepy now," he says and nuzzles his face against Nico's chest.
"Let's go to bed. Come on," Nico says and takes his hand. They get under the covers.
"I love you, Levi Kim-Schmitt," Nico says quietly while they face each other in bed.
"And I love you, Nico Kim-Schmitt," Levi says with a sleepy smile on his face. Levi closes his eyes and breathes deep, enjoying the soft fabric of the hotel sheets covering him.
Levi feels himself drift into the stage between awake and asleep, his body relaxing and feeling heavy. He hears Nico's breathing next to him, the rhythm of it calms Levi down and the hand he has wrapped around Nico's hand covers his mind with a feeling of safety.
He's not quite sure if it's a dream, or how long he had been lying there, but eventually Devon's face appears behind his closed eyelids. Messy curls, innocent smile, kind eyes full of trust towards him.
"Nice to meet you, Dr. Schmitt."
"I am so sorry," is all Levi can say.
Devon shakes his head and smiles a bit. He looks down and then back to Levi.
"Just, have a happy life. In my honour. Cherish every moment."
Levi smiles at Devon before he disappears and the scene changes into the reception from their wedding. Their first dance. Their song is playing and Levi has his arms around Nico's neck, caressing the hair at the base of his neck. Nico is leaning his forehead on Levi's as they spin around slowly.
Levi opens his eyes and looks at Nico through his lashes. A calm smile takes over his lips and spreads on Nico's as well. Nico moves his hand on Levi's cheek and places a chaste kiss on his lips. Levi then feels Nico embrace him and bring his lips against his ear, softly whispering:
"My heart is yours."
*
The end.