nick sat anxiously in the purple velvet chair that he'd been stuck to most of the morning. it made him feel safe and less anxious than he was feeling.
"nick, it's time." matt said excitedly from the door. nick swallowed the large lump that sat in his throat as he stood. he wobbled slightly as his legs turned to jello. if it weren't for matt quickly coming to his aid, he probably would've been on the ground.
"hey, it's gonna be ok. everything's gonna go exactly as it's supposed to, you have nothing to worry about." matt said comfortingly as nick wiped his sweaty hands on his suit jacket for the 50th time that hour.
"it's not that- it's just. how do i know i'm not making a mistake matt? how do i know that i won't regret this?" nick said looking into matt's eyes with complete honesty and raw emotion.
"nick." matt said placing his hands on nicks shoulders, "you have been living with max for how long now? 2, 3 years? and you still love each other as much as you did when you first met, wether that be when you were kids or 7 years ago. you guys haven't been apart since. you guys have a fucking kid! you didn't even think twice when you adopted mani, why are you second guessing marrying the person that you know you love with your whole heart and you've spent the past 3 years living with, not to mention you guys have been dating for 7 and a half years, engaged for 2 of those years, it's about time y'all got married."
nick felt a single tear fall from his eye at matt's words. he was right, he had nothing to worry about. he had no idea how he got so lucky to have such a supportive family who not only loved the guy he was dating but loved him for who he was.
"you're right matt, i have nothing to worry about. thanks for talking some sense into me." nick said giving matt a quick hug.
"cmon you two, it's starting." jimmy said sticking his head into the room. nick felt his stomach drop at those words, but not cause he was worried, but because he was so so excited.
all these people had come to see him and the love of his life get married. he never knew that all these people cared about them that much that they'd spend their saturday coming to watch them seal the deal.
he took a deep breath before stepping out of the makeup room and standing patiently behind the white curtain.
he had 1 bridesmaid and 2 groomsmen. kennedy, and matt and art, matt being nicks best man. for max, he had vincent, chris and audrey. chris was maxs best man. and of course, their little son mani was the ring bearer, he'd walk down with matt and chris. and matt and audrey's little girl, harlow, being the flower girl. she was only 1 and half so she'd be going down with kennedy and audrey.
they didn't care about the typical boys and girls being split between the "bride" and "groom". they didn't give a fuck about tradition, they're two men getting married for gods sake.
nick stood there with his eyes closed, taking in the environment around him. he could hear the chatter of his family and friends who were on the other side of thick white curtain. as their song of choice started to play, your song by elton john, he opened his eyes slowly as he saw his friends ahead of him talking excitedly. the song flooded his ears and the memories that they've shared over the last 7 and a half years coming flooding back. seeing each other again for the "first time". sharing their first kiss, moving in together, adopting a kid. every single time something significant has happened, your song has come up some way or another. wether it be from them dancing on the driveway as 9 year olds. or wether it be max playing it on the piano in front of crowd the night that max told nick about their forgotten past. or wether that it played on the radio as they were driving back from the adoption centre with mani in the back seat. or wether it be that it played as nick walked down the aisle at their wedding. whatever was happening in their lives, that song always brought comfort and joy to the couple.
art and vincent were the first one to walk out from the curtain, their arms linked as they revealed themselves to the hundred of people out there.
nick watched as the curtain shut on them, he only got the tiniest glimpse at what and who lay outside.
"you ready nicky?" his mum said supportively from beside him, her arm linked with his.
"i'm shitting myself." nick said making both his parents laugh.
"you're gonna be just fine, you look very handsome. i'm sure max is gonna fall in love with you all over again." marylou said kissing him gently on the cheek.
"thank you mum, i love you." he hugged her tightly before standing back up straight.
out went kennedy and audrey, little harlow holding audrey's hand with her chubby little fingers, wobbling her way down the aisle.
nicks dad was standing on the other side of him, his arm linked with nick as well.
"you're gonna do great kiddo." he whispered to him.
"thanks dad." nick replied sweetly.
nick wanted to talk down with both his parents. again, wasn't traditional but who cared about traditional?
chris and matt walked out of from the curtain, side by side, mani running up with a little blue box that held the rings. when nick saw his brothers disappear, he realised he was up next.
as the as the second chorus came around, nick took a deep breath in and gripped both of his partners arms as tight as he could. he gave the two women who were pulling the curtain back a head nod of approval and the curtain was pulled back.
his breath was instantly taken away. the amount of people there was a lot more than he expected. he kept his head facing forward, not wavering his vision off the prize.
and that's when he saw him. he saw max. and he swore it was the most gorgeous sight he'd ever seen. he had never seen such a fair sight. his face fairer than the sun itself, nothing but radiance and joy beaming off of him.
nick told himself he wouldn't cry but seeing max in his elegant suit, his hair styled in a way that made his eyes glisten in the light of the old church. he couldn't help but feel the tears fall.
when max saw nick walk out from behind the curtain he was sure he was going to pass away. nick looked like the most gorgeous boy he'd ever seen. no one could compare to nick sturniolo. no one ever would compare to him. no one.
as nick walked down the aisle, he didn't take his eyes off max once, that was all he could focus on. that's all he would focus on.
as the song came to a satisfying close, he thanked his mum and dad and hugged them one last time before he walked to the alter where his lover waited him.
"hi." nick said giddily wiping away the small tears that had fallen from his eyes.
"hi." max said happily. he grabbed nicks hands and ran his fingers over his knuckles. "you look gorgeous."
"thank you, you don't look too bad yourself." nick joked making them both laugh. "you ready?"
"ready as i'll ever be." max said comfortingly. they looked into each others eyes for a moment before the priest started to speak.
"we are gathered here today to celebrate the love that max solomon and nicolas sturniolo share for one another. a love so pure, so real, a love that some would say could only be found in soulmates. most don't believe in soulmates, which is something people don't really bat an eye at. but you truly cannot deny that soulmates are something so real, and so tangible when you see a love like the love these two share."
the priest spoke for only a minute or two longer before it was time for the vows. max was going first, to say he was nervous was an understatement.
"oh nick, where can i begin? when we met 7 years ago, i thought i was meeting someone i'd never known before, someone who i didn't know anything about, someone who i would take the pleasure in getting to know. and i did, but i didn't know that i already knew your favourite colour was purple, or that you didn't like pickles on your mcdonald's cheeseburgers, or that the stars are your favourite thing in the sky. i didn't think that the little boy that i thought of every single day was standing right in front of me. as i got to know you better as a person, i figured out that we had known each other all those years ago. and i couldn't help but fall for you all over again. but enough about the past, i wanna talk about the future. mani starts grade 2 next year, that's crazy. we're coming up on 8 years of our relationship. we are getting a dog soon, just letting you know." that made everyone laugh, "but nick i promise that throughout every trial that we face and every single challenge we face, i will never ever stop loving you. i will never stop loving your annoyed groans when the wifi drops out, or your little smile when your favourite song comes onto the aux, or how you love me and mani with your whole heart. i promise that i will love you for as long as i live. you're not getting rid of me now."
nick stared at max with a soft smile on his face and love in his eyes. he couldn't help but let small tears fall from his eyes. the room erupts in applause as nick laughs through the tears.
"wow, that's gonna be hard to top jesus." nick laughs, everyone in the room laughing with him.
"maximus solomon." nick started off, making everyone in the church laugh at the use of maxs full name. max scoffed as he laughed along. "you know that im not one to show my love with words, but im gonna try as hard as i can. these last 8 years have been some of the best years of my life. getting to know you better and better every day is something i will never take for granted. im sorry i stormed out of that restaurant all of those years ago, i promise i won't do it again. but i also promise to never leave you again. wether that be at a restaurant, or on the street that we grew up on; i will never ever leave you. i promise that with my whole heart. you and mani are the greatest things to happen to me. and i thank God everyday for the two of you. i pledge to love you everyday for the rest of my life. you fill my life with so much light and joy and i can't wait to grow old with you. and yes, we will get a dog soon, a cocker spaniel." that made everyone laugh. "i love you max solomon, or should i say, max sturniolo."
the room erupted into applause as the two laughed in the fluster of the others sweet words.
"we will now exchange the rings." the priest announced.
mani ran out to the alter from beside matt and handed the small blue box to priest. before he left to stand beside matt again, he gave both of his dads a big hug. that made everyone aww at the sweet interaction.
as max slid the ring onto nicks finger, he couldn't help but smile widely. he'd never smiled as wide as he did in that moment.
max felt his insides turn to goo as nick slid the smooth silver band onto his ring finger.
"by the power invested in me, i now pronounce you, mister and mister sturniolo! you may now kiss the groom."
the whole church full of loved ones erupted into applause as max pulled nick in by his waist. nick smiled slyly before pulling max in and kissing him passionately. nick felt himself fall back slightly as max dipped him, supporting his weight with his hand in the middle of nicks back.
max pulled away slightly, "i love you mr nicolas sturniolo." max whispered.
"i love you, mr max sturniolo." nick smiled before kissing him one more time.
the two stood back up straight and smiled at each other widely. as they turned to face the 250 people standing in front of them, they felt an immense amount of pride and gratitude for what they had. never in a million years did they think that this would happen to them. never. but yet here they were. stood in front of all the people they loved and cared for, who also loved and cared about them.
but they also stood next to the person who they loved the most, and who they knew they would spend the rest of their life with.
the two lovers
mr nicolas sturniolo and mr max sturniolo.
the love which they share is one that's not only real, but also familiar.
and that right there my friends- is how you finish a book.
i apologise if there is any spelling mistakes or grammar errors- this chapter is over 2000 words long and i'm not gonna pick up every mistake as it is 10 at night and my brain switched off about 3 hours ago.
i hope that you all enjoyed this charter and i'm so glad that you all LOVED this story- like holy shit i'm getting dms from ppl telling me how much they love it and it means the world to me <33
i mayyyyyyy or may not have some things planned that are related to this book that i mayyyyy or may not be publishing (that's genuinely a 50/50. i'm super busy with school so idk if i have time to write a new story and shit but i'm highly considering it)
i'm either gonna do a one shots book of max and nick or a book based on chris where it tells stories from his travels and yes it will be a chris x oc. but again this isn't official- but lemme know which one you'd wanna see the most.
but if you're interested in seeing that- make sure to follow me (cheeky promo😏) because i will be posting about it on my account updates on new books and stuff like that :))
i love you all and thank you so much for all the love on familiar, it means the world🫶
- e.