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𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗣𝗧𝗘𝗥 𝗙𝗢𝗨𝗥.
❝ 𝙬𝙚 𝙜𝙤𝙩 𝙢𝙖𝙧𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙙 ❞
𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗟 𝗟𝗜𝗙𝗘
𝖣𝖠𝖭𝖨𝖤𝖫𝖫𝖤 𝖡𝖫𝖠𝖪𝖤 !
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THE NEXT MORNING WAS HELL FOR DANIELLE. she woke up with a pounding headache and an arm wrapped around her waist, both of which alarmed her. danielle didn't enjoy getting drunk, especially when she couldn't remember the night before. she also didn't enjoy waking up to someone she didn't know, which meant her double whammy was going to be her doom.
"mm, stop moving." the person mumbled
she tried her hardest to gently move from the bed. it made her relax to know it was just ross, and the two had ended up in this situation enough that it didn't faze her. however, as she moved to run a hand through her hair, something else did.
"holy sh- ross." danielle said
she sat up, practically shoving him off her.
"get up." danielle said
he made no move to do so, leading to her genuinely shoving him off the bed.
"ow! what the hell was that for?" ross exclaimed
he rubbed his head as he sent her a glare.
"please tell me we didn't do something stupid last night, ross. i don't remember anything, so i'm really hoping you do-" danielle started
"elle, what is this about?" ross asked
he raised an eyebrow as he stood up, going to get aspirin from his luggage.
"ross, there's a ring on my finger that definitely wasn't there before lilah got married, which means-" danielle started
"you got married?" ross asked
he grinned to himself.
"you, the most careful person, got married? oh, no one is going to believe this, i have to tell ryland-" ross started
suddenly, his face paled.
"wait, i was with you all night, i remember that much, and i would have stopped you, which means-" ross started
"we got married." danielle said, in disbelief
finally, it clicked for the both of them, and the look they shared was straight up panic. danielle almost automatically started hyperventilating, leading to ross gathering his wits pretty quickly.
"hey, elle, calm down, it's just a vegas wedding. those are easy to back out of-" ross started
she cut him off as he sat down next to her, taking her hand and rubbing circles on the back of her palm with his thumb. in his experience, it always calmed her down.
"that doesn't change the fact that it happened, ross, and god, i am too hungover to deal with this." danielle said
ross chuckled, handing her the aspirin bottle and wincing as she dry swallowed them. he never understood how she managed that; it seemed horrifyingly painful. but looking at her do so gave him an idea. it would be semi-painful, no doubt, but it was better than nothing.
"hey, elle, i have an idea." ross said
"no, your ideas are never good. no." danielle rejected, automatically
he rolled his eyes- granted, it only made him wince.
"listen to me, elle. we just stay married. just play the part, yeah? everyone's been thinking we're together anyway, so there's no harm." ross said
"no, ross, that's actually insane-" danielle said
"so, you'd rather explain a divorce to your mom than a marriage that we could easily pass as a long time romance turned into something permanent?" ross retorted
that effectively cut off her protests.
"if you breathe a word of this to my mom, lynch, i will-" danielle started
"kill you. yeah, i got it. you've got to come up with something else there, elle. besides, is that any way to talk to your husband?" ross said
he grinned at her, chuckling as she threw a pillow at his face.
"what? it's true. plus, 'danielle lynch' has a nice ring to it." ross said
"yeah, whatever, i hate you." danielle mumbled
she fell back on the bed and immediately regretted it.
"and hangovers. i hate those too." danielle said
"but you're going to stay married to me anyway, aren't you? we can make it fun, like a bet." ross said
"a bet? what is this, middle school?" danielle asked
she glanced at him in disbelief, laughing to herself at his offended face. he laid down beside her, intertwining their fingers and looking over at her with a grin.
"it'll be fun, elle. i bet you can't last a year being married to me." ross said
"oh, do you? you're on, lynch. so on." danielle said
she shoved him lightly with her free hand, but another thought raised her eyebrow.
"we'll have to act the part." danielle said
"of course." ross replied, as if it were obvious
"i mean, in public, ross, the whole shebang. holding hands, kissing, moving in together..." danielle said
"and we'll do it. we'll make it work, elle. my elle, now. it really does have a nice ring to it." ross said
"you're way too confident about this, ross. have you done this before?" danielle teased
she turned on her side to face him. he chuckled, shaking his head as he mimicked her movement.
"of course not. just sure in our friendship. now, we could lay here forever, or we could focus on having a flight to catch, in which we'll have to figure out how to break the news to literally everyone we know." ross said
"ugh, don't remind me." danielle replied
she shook her head.
and that's how the rest of their day went: packing, getting on a plane, and planning what they would tell everyone. danielle found it amusing that they had ended up in such a situation, despite being slightly annoyed. and ross? well, he couldn't be happier. he had no idea what was in store, but he was excited.
besides, it wasn't like they were in love. it was just a bet and a friendship... right?