word count: 1653
requested by: none
pronouns: she/her
warnings: none
fandom: 5 seconds of summer
au type: wedding, best friends
summary: you finally gain the courage to tell your best friend how you feel, but it's not in a way anyone expected
inspired by: honeymandos on tumblr (https://honeymandos.tumblr.com/post/642514370087321600/infernal-hearts-chapter-nine-finale)
authors notes: none
other parts: none
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You never should have let things get to this point.
You should have confessed your secret before he told you he was seeing someone. You should have confessed before they were celebrating their one-year anniversary. You should have confessed before he told you he was going to propose. You should have confessed before the wedding plans were finalized. You should have confessed before you found yourself sitting in the church pew, watching the couple get married.
You should have just confessed to Calum that you were in love with him.
Realistically, you knew Calum would never let unreturned feelings ruin a friendship. There had been plenty of times he didn't feel the same as someone throughout the years you'd known him that could've made things awkward and uncomfortable if it were any other person. Any other person might have been told their friend wanted to be more than that, said they didn't feel the same, and let friendship fizzle out until they were no longer speaking anymore.
But then again, Calum wasn't any other person.
Calum was confident and bold and caring and kind and honest and charming and easy to talk to and offered the best advice and didn't mind being a shoulder to cry on and- Alright, maybe he was the kind of person you could go on about forever. You definitely didn't blame his fiancée for falling for him.
Sadie was just as sweet as Calum was, so you weren't at all surprised when they told you they were dating. You could never hate her – and God knows you tried – but she managed to find a way to become your best friend. You went to her for advice, to celebrate every victory, to vent about every stupid problem that she assured you was valid being upset over.
Maybe that was why you were beating yourself up over being too scared to confess your feelings for Calum – because you loved his fiancée just as much as him.
But it was unfortunately too late now.
You wouldn't be the last to admit the wedding was beautiful. Sadie had a knack for finding the most hole-in-the-wall places that ended up being a staple for your circle of friends. The decorations throughout the entire venue were absolutely stunning – the theme and colors being everything Sadie had been dreaming of.
You tried not to focus on the couple at the altar. You spent most of the ceremony looking at the decor and fiddling with the tiny pillow previously holding the rings that Michael had tossed to you so he didn't have to hold it the whole time. Your eyes met his a few times as you scanned the room, and it certainly wasn't lost on you that he was disappointed you never fessed up.
Michael knew long before you even did about your feelings for Calum. And boy, did he let you know how dumb he thought you were for bottling it up. He always told you you'd regret not telling him – that it would hurt to watch him be with other people. But you would never admit he was right.
You were brought back to earth when you heard the minister offer up the last chance the confess.
"Anyone who should object to this wedding shall speak now or forever hold their peace," Ricky – a long-time friend of Calum's father – announced.
You felt a small nudge in your side, making you look over. Mali subtly nodded toward her younger brother, signaling for you to make your move. You forced a smile, barely shaking your own head – Calum was happy and you weren't going to ruin that.
The silence lasted a bit longer than you felt like it should have, and you could have sworn the minister and Michael shared a look. And it was clear they had when he started speaking.
"Well, if they're not gonna object, I'll do it for them," Michael huffed from his spot at the altar between Ashton and Luke.
Your eyes widened as he stepped forward in the midst of the whispers around you, already knowing what he was doing. You felt sorry for Mali, truthfully – she had to be struggling with how hard your hand was gripping hers.
"You have no right to stand there and tell me that you really want to settle down – not when you wish it was Y/N," he stated.
You couldn't believe he was telling Calum how you felt. You told him everything in confidence! How could he think it was okay to just-
Wait, what? He wasn't talking about you? Did he just say Calum wished he was marrying you?
Alright, you definitely didn't see that one coming.
"And you-" Your heart felt like it was going to force its way up your throat when Michael turned and pointed a finger at you. "-Are you seriously going to sit there and pretend you're okay with this – that you're okay with Calum marrying someone else when you've been in love with him since we were sixteen?"
"Michael," you choked out softly, trying to hold back your tears, "Please don't..."
"You're both being ridiculous!" he continued anyway, glancing between you and Calum, "None of this would be happening if you two would just grow a pair and tell each other you love each other!" The moment your and Calum's eyes met, he finally broke his own silenced state of shock.
"I do," he murmured so quietly you almost didn't hear him, "Love you, I mean... Since the moment I met you..." You felt your eyes fill up again and Mali's hand squeeze yours as you finally admitted what you'd been holding onto for over a decade.
"I love you too, Calum," you choked out.
Calum didn't even glance at the bride before releasing her hands and rushing over to you. You stood up as he reached you, only to be engulfed in a bone-crushing hug. He let out a huge sigh of relief, the weight of harboring his feelings for you finally being lifted off his shoulders.
"Good God, you guys," Sadie let out an exasperated breath from where she was still standing at the altar, "You both really need to stop waiting until the last possible minute to do things."
"What?" you sniffled, your eyebrows furrowed as you looked at her through still-watery eyes.
"I might have been lying to you the past few months..." she laughed nervously, bringing her hand up to rub the back of her neck, "This isn't a real wedding."
"What?" you repeated, your brain unable to come up with anything else to say.
"Yeah... Every person here knows about it... Well, except for you and Cal, obviously..."
"I'm not even ordained," Ricky shrugged, "I couldn't have married them even if I wanted to."
"Not legally anyway," Michael chuckled.
"Wait, what is happening right now?" Calum breathed, just as confused as you were. Sadie sighed again, finally letting you in on what the plan had been all along.
"Calum came to me a couple years ago asking me to pretend to be his girlfriend to make you jealous," she informed you. You looked up at Calum, only to find a guilty smile staring back at you. "When you started asking when he was going to propose to me, he panicked and just went along with it," she continued, "And then Mikey came to me with this idea of actually setting up a wedding in the hopes that one of you would fess up before anything actually happened."
"But, of course, you two idiots had to go and not say anything," Michael rolled his eyes, "You know, you guys are lucky that everyone already knew or else we would have just wasted all their time."
"Already knew?" you wondered, looking around to find everyone smiling, "Everyone spent all this money on a fake wedding just to get us to admit our feelings?"
"Not really," Sadie replied, "I got this dress at a thrift store for like, 20 bucks."
"Same for our tuxes!" Luke chirped.
"That's why they don't fit right," Ashton shrugged, "We never intended on actually needing to wear them."
"Yeah," she giggled, "We thought one of you would admit it way before this."
"You guys are such assholes," you choked out a genuine laugh that time as you wiped your cheek, earning yourself a kiss to the temple from Calum. "And you're not off the hook either, mister," you frowned, looking up at him, "You tried to make me jealous instead of just talking to me?"
"I panicked!" he pouted, "I... You would always ask when I was gonna put myself out there and meet someone! I just thought... I thought you couldn't possibly love me the way I loved you..."
"I've been flirting with you since the day we met!" you exclaimed with a smile, "Don't tell me you didn't even notice!"
"I thought you were just how you are," he mumbled, though he couldn't deny how dumb he felt – you never flirted with the boys the way you did with him.
"Cal, please," Sadie rolled her eyes, "If I was some other girl, I would have been pissed with the flirty comments."
"I'm jealous Y/N doesn't flirt with me like that," Luke pouted. You giggled in response, causing Calum to kiss your head again.
You took a moment to take everything in – this was really happening and Calum loved you back and you didn't ruin a relationship and you didn't lose your friendship with Sadie. You breathed in deeply, squeezing Calum's waist as you exhaled. You could sense he was about to speak – no doubt to ask if you were alright – but you beat him to it.
"So did you guys also plan a reception? 'Cause I was kind of looking forward to the free alcohol," you said, making everyone laugh.