FOUR MONTHS LATER:
“Uh oh.” Lacey groaned, staring down at her wedding dress with wide eyes. She tossed the Doritos bag she'd been holding onto the floor, and rushed over to the mirror to inspect the damage she'd caused, sheets of silk and lace billowing around her as she moved.
“What the hell did you do?” I asked in horror, taking in the bright orange streaks that ran down the front of her dress. I tossed the comb and bobby pins I'd been holding onto the counter, and hurried to her side.
“I may or may not have wiped my fingers on my dress.” she told me, and I sighed. Typical Lacey.
“Here, let me.” Aubrey ordered, materializing out nowhere with a spray bottle and a cloth. Her hair had been twisted up into a flawless bun for the occasion, her bridesmaids dress making her look like she'd just stepped off the runway. Mine on the other hand, made me look like I was wearing a sparkly blue paper bag. Awesome.
“Hartley, can you go check on the guys for me? I feel like they won't do anything unless you make them.”
“Aye aye, captain.” I told Aubrey with a little salute, heading off down the hall towards the dressing room where the guys were getting ready. Aubrey had flown over from New York on the first flight she could get, and had pretty much put herself in charge of making sure we didn't screw everything up. Which was good, since we were notorious for, y'know, screwing everything up.
“Can I come in?” I asked without knocking, pushing the door open before I'd even got a response. I was greeted by a full view of Mickey and Tristan standing in the middle of the room in their boxers, both of them waving casually as I entered.
“You look beautiful.” Tristan told me, taking my hand and twirling me around in a quick circle, causing my skirt to puff out around me like a parachute. Poe smirked at us from where he was lounging by the windowsill, a lit cigarette dangling out of the corner of his mouth. Bits of ash tumbled off the end of it as he inhaled, speckling the white fabric of his tuxedo, but I ignored him. Whatever snarky comments he had to say about us could be kept to himself.
“That would've been a lot cuter if you were wearing pants.” I told Tristan, getting a lopsided grin in return.
In the four months since Dallas's release dinner, Tristan and I had managed to bridge the gap that the distance had created between us. Although it had been awkward at first, we'd slowly started to return back to the way things had been before. Of course, it wasn't the same, and it never would be, but we were friends again, and that was more than I could ever have hoped for.
“You sure you're ready to get married, dude?” Quinn asked, pulling a piece of lint off of Gunner's tuxedo jacket, “I mean, a wife is like a really extreme version of a girlfriend. And since she's not pregnant, it's not like you have to feel obligated or anything anymore. Like, why rush it?”
“Wait, she's not pregnant? Why did she never tell me that?” I asked, taking a seat on the dressing room table that was now littered with various hair gels and cologne bottles. The whole room smelled like teenage boys, and it made me want to puke a little bit, to be honest.
“Yeah, it was just stomach flu or something, which is why I cant stress enough that YOU DO NOT NEED TO MARRY MY 18 YEAR OLD SISTER.” Quinn cried, raising his voice as he turned to Gunner, shooting him an intimidating look that only really possessive older brothers were capable of pulling off.
“Oooookay Quinn, why don't you go take a seat over there, and let Gunner worry about that later, okay? He's a busy man, he's getting married in less than an hour. Let him do his thing.” Seth told him, leading him over to the seat beside Poe.
Poe regarded them both with a raised eyebrow, as if he wasn't pleased about them invading his space, which he probably wasn't. So, I did the next best thing, and tried to distract him.
“So, do you have a plus one?” I asked, but Poe just glowered at me, dropping his gaze to Tristan's hand which was rested on the small of my back. Yesterday, Tristan had called and asked me to be his date for today, even though I may or may not have already told Poe that I would go with him. I could tell Poe wasn't genuinely angry about it, though. He just liked finding new things to be annoyed about.
“Well, I used to, but it's hard to find a replacement on such short notice, you know? The only girls who are attracted to me are the ones who only want to date me to piss off their parents, so it kind of puts a damper on things.” he told me, flicking his cigarette butt out the window.
“Can you two be quiet for like 5 seconds, I need help getting my jacket on.” Dallas muttered from his wheelchair, flailing around as he tried to get dressed. Poe was on his feet and across the room immediately, helping Dallas slide his useless arm into the sleeve of his blazer, adjusting his tie for him when he was done.
I couldn't help but smile at the scene in front of me, completely amazed by how far Poe had come. He'd finally found a purpose in life, motivating him to sober up: Dallas. The initial contempt he'd felt for him had vanished when he realized how much they had in common. For example, they both hated people, but loved Cheetos, and both of them god a kick out of picking on me. From there on out, Poe had made taking care of Dallas his ultimate goal, and he did a really good job of it, too. Dallas's recovery was faster than most, and after months of intense therapy, the doctors were starting to believe that it was only a matter of weeks before he could walk on his own again.
“Ready to go?” Aubrey called, poking her head into the room. Everyone glanced at each other quickly, as if to confirm that we were all ready, before swarming out the door behind her. Tristan fell into step beside me, and I glanced up at him, startled by the expression on his face.
“What's the matter?” I asked, my voice dropping to a whisper so that the others wouldn't be able to eavesdrop on us.
“Don't worry about it, I don't want to ruin your night.” he replied in a voice that was equally as quiet as mine, but infinitely sadder.
“Tristan,” I begged, grabbing onto his bicep and pulling him to a stop, “Tell me. Please.”
Taking a deep breath, he studied my face and said, “I'm going back to Arizona on Tuesday.”
*******************
“Do you, Lacey Carr, take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband?”
“Sure, I guess.”
“Lacey,” Aubrey hissed from her seat near the aisle, “It is literally your wedding right now, can you stop being sassy for like two seconds?”
Lacey just smirked, and the minister shook his head, probably mentally weeping for our generation as well as all of the others to come after us. I didn't really blame him, so far this wedding had been a train wreck. Not even half an hour ago, one of Gunner's friends had overdosed in the washroom, and about 10 minutes after that, Mrs. Carr had had an anxiety attack over her teenage daughters wedding, I assumed, and puked all over Poe's pants.
“And do you, Gunner Gacey, take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife?”
“Oh my god, his last name is Gacey? Does she realize her name is going to be Lacey Gacey now? That's terrible.” Mickey chuckled to himself, and I noticed that everyone within earshot of him was trying to hide their smiles now, too. I had to admit it though, that was pretty unfortunate for her.
“I do.” Gunner said, shooting Mickey a dirty look, apparently overhearing his previous comment, and the chuckles that had ensued.
“If anyone knows any reason why these two should not be wed, let him speak now, or forever hold his peace.”
“Yeah, I have one,” Dallas called, sticking his hand in the air since he couldn't technically stand up.
“Don't do it.” Tristan hissed, yanking his arm back down, but Dallas waved him off.
“I disagree with this marriage because she is a cheater and a liar and I mean, I don't know the guy personally, but he looks like he could use a shower too.”
“He did it.” Aubrey sighed, and there was a chorus of groans from the first few rows of pews where we were all sitting, and a series of dirty looks thrown in Dallas's direction.
“Ignore him. Are we married now?” she asked the minister, who just let out a long, sad sigh, and looked up at the ceiling as if it held all the answers he was searching for.
“I now pronounce you husband and wife.” he replied in a monotone, and Gunner and Lacey grinned, hi-fiving each other.
“Does it make you feel uncomfortable knowing that every single person in this room over the age of 10 knows you're getting laid tonight?” Grant called as she walked back down the aisle with Gunner attached to her arm, but she just shook her head and laughed, a genuine smile on her lips.
“You guys are such tally whackers, but I love you all to death.”
*****************
Hey guys, so yeah there's only three chapters left for me to write, and then we're done. I'm not really ready to let go of all the characters yet, but i have nothing left for this story, so I was thinking of maybe doing a really short spin off story involving one of the characters. If I were to do that, which character's POV would you want it to be from? Also, I posted a photobucket link on the external link at the side, where I posted pictures that I sort of imagined everyone to look like, but barely. Casting is actually really hard :( Also, if anyone has a certain fate that they want some of the characters to have, speak now or forever hold your peace. I'm actually really struggling when it comes to figuring out what to Lacey and Quinn, so if you have any ideas, you know what to do. Thank you my darlings <3