Author: Rhine
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It was supposed to be your happiest day - a day full of nothing but love and light, carefree joy and ecstasy because you were finally marrying the man of your dreams. You were finally marrying Michael, and you were more than ready to pack your bags up and just run away with him forever; to claim him as yours in every possible way and to have the whole world know that he has your heart just as you have his.
But there was just one problem - you weren’t completely bliss-free on your special day. You had all your worries about the dress not fitting and tripping down the aisle or losing Michael’s ring or getting your dress dirty or looking strange in your photos. They all nagged at you, nipping at the corners of your mind every time you started relaxing a little bit.
But nothing worried you more than your guest list.
It was all rather fine and dandy for the most part, you think. It wasn’t too big of a wedding - you and Michael weren’t ones for a huge media coverage anyways - just a few of your closest relatives and friends on both sides. The total guest list was just shy of seventy people, and that was already quite big for you.
It wasn’t even that - it was just a few select people on your guest list. Rather, two select groups that tempted you to bite your perfectly manicured nails.
All Time Low and One Direction.
You were huge fans of both groups - you loved their music and respected them as people - and Michael was set on having them all be members of your guest list. You definitely weren’t complaining; you had met both groups a few times in the past and you got along with them all fairly well. Besides, you knew they were some of Michael’s closest friends and you definitely weren’t going to say no to him any time soon.
It was just that the two groups together - that might be a bit of a problem.
You knew that the two groups were extremely close with 5SOS, but there was always some sort of underlying tension between then. Michael always expressed a bit of his concern towards his two closest music groups not being as close as he’d hope, but he never did elaborate on why and you never asked.
Was it because of the music genre difference? The age gap? The position of 5SOS’ closest musical friends? Or was it just a simple clash of personalities?
It could be anything, and quite frankly, you weren’t very good at guessing.
However, you pushed the guest list - and the rest of your worries - away as soon as the ceremony started.
You didn’t even notice that the two bands were sitting on complete opposite sides of the church - you were too busy staring at Michael. At his smile and the faint glisten of tears in his eyes as you walked closer to him.
All your worries melted away as soon as you saw him. They always did.
You were walking towards your future, towards your husband. Nothing but thoughts of your love and the possibilities and of Michael was in the your mind.
This moment belonged to the two of you, and nothing could penetrate the little bubble of paradise that the two of you had.
You exchanged your vows, tears in your laughter and love in your eyes. The words echo loud enough for everyone to hear and respond with the appropriate 'aww', but there’s an underlying tone that’s only meant for your ears. For his.
He slips the ring on your finger, and you can’t help but to feel complete; his hands warm and gentle as they hold yours, a tender smile on his face.
You do the same for his ring, and you feel as if you’ve just given him a piece of yourself.
It’s alright though - you were always his for keeping.
When the five magic words were spoken - you may now kiss the bride - Michael doesn’t hesitate to meet his lips with yours, crashing on you like the cool ocean on a hot summer day, dipping you to the floor, his hands wrapped securely around you waist with one hand on the small of your back.
You hear the whoops and the cheers and the claps and the whistles, but it’s all in the distance, a million miles away.
What you hear is Michael’s breath and the beating of his heart against yours and his mouth pressed on your own, breathing you in as if you were his oxygen. As if without you, he’d die - or as if he’d die at any moment and wanted to make this one his last.
When you finally break apart for air, you see Michael smiling down at you. You were still leaning back, but with his arms securely around you, you knew you would never fall - least, not without him by your side.
"Why hello there, Mrs. Clifford." He teases gently, a tender look in his eyes. "You’re looking quite lovely today."
"Haven’t you heard?" You tease him back lightly, touching your forehead with his, a smile playing on your lips. "I just married the man of my dreams."
-
By the time you’ve reached the venue for your wedding reception, your worries started to bloom again.
This time, with the worries of the ceremony out of the way, you were mostly focused on the situation at hand with the two groups.
Michael, who was standing next to you, noticed the concerned expression on your face, despite your best efforts in trying to hide it.
Michael could always see everything in you - the good and the bad and everything in between - you were an open book to him, and you couldn’t shut him out even if you wanted to.
"What’s wrong, babe?" He whispers, his breath tickling your ear.
"It’s nothing - I’m just overthinking the whole thing between All Time Low and the One Direction boys." You whisper back to him, trying to give him a reassuring smile.
It was hard not to notice the tension between the two groups of boys. With so much fame surrounding both bands - fame of different kinds - they had garnered much attention from your other guests. You noticed how they chose to stay as far away from each possible, only meeting up when one of the 5SOS boys were there, talking to Calum or Luke or Ashton but disappearing with a slight frown once a member from another band decided to join the conversation.
The 5SOS boys clearly noticed the slight hostility between the separate groups, and were clearly a bit lost on what to do.
You had made sure that the two groups were seated in the far ends of the room, complete opposite of each other. This was supposed to be a happy occasion, and you didn’t want any drama to start up - at least not tonight. You didn’t want to deal with any of that tonight.
"Just married and you’re already thinking of nine other guys?" Michael teases you, giving you a mock gasp. You smack him playfully on the arm and he laughs lightly.
"Don’t worry about it, Mrs. Clifford." He kisses you softly on the forehead, careful not to ruin your hair. "Let’s just focus on us tonight.”
-
You and Michael walk around to every table when the guests are nearly done eating their last course, smiling down at all of your family and friends with Michael’s arm wrapped around your waist.
Each table is filled with various phrases of congratulations and praise for the two of you, with many wishes and blessings and gifts.
You squeal excitedly with your closest girlfriends, Michael grinning at your little group in the back as they all held your hands and fawned over you, talking over one another and running on enthusiasm and happiness.
You kiss the cheek of your mom and dad, hugging them tight as they whispered their I love yous into your ear. When they pull back, there are tears in their eyes because you were their little girl and now they were giving you away; you weren’t fully theirs any more because now Michael had your heart. They tell you how proud they are of you and make you promise to visit them every now and then.
You watch as Michael leans in to give your parents a warm bear hug, watch as your mom tries to straighten his ever-tousled hair, hearing your dad say gruffly take care of my little princess. You hear Michael say I’ll love her like a queen and you can’t help but to smile when Michael calls them mom and dad too.
You circle past your relatives and greet them all the same, making sure to pull Michael quickly away from your grandmother before she rambles on about grandchildren again.
When you reach Michael’s family, they welcome you with open arms, wide smiles on their faces and nothing but sweet words from their lips. They tell you how beautiful you are and welcome you into their family, marveling over how Michael managed to nab a girl as wonderful as you. Some of Michael’s cousins joke about you not reading the fine print to your wedding documents - there’s some gross stuff there, I mean it is Michael after all - and Michael merely smacks them a little too hard to be completely friendly, steering you away quickly.
Your last stop is the one with all the 5SOS, All Time Low, and One Direction boys. The circle is terse to say the least, and you can feel the anxiety start to kick in.
No one talks until they see you and Michael near, suddenly chatting to the two of you their blessings and congratulations, but there’s something a little off in their enthusiasm.
"Alright guys, there’s no need to hide the love you have for each other here." Michael announces when they’re all done with their wishes and talking, though their smiles never quite reach their eyes.
"I know we won’t be having sleepovers and doing each other’s hair for a while." Michael grins. "Which is a shame, because I’d love to style all of your hair.”
You see a flicker of fear pass through every single boys’ eyes, and you can barely contain your giggle.
"Listen, I don’t know what there us between us - it’s a complicated relationship, I know - and not everyone is as perfect as my lovely wife here." He smiles and turns to you, drawing out the word wife as if he likes the way it tastes in his mouth. “But let’s put that all behind us tonight. Just one night. Get drunk, kiss an aunt, dance with a plant - I don’t care what you do. Just none of this god-awful tension and awkwardness, okay?”
Everyone’s silent for a moment, all eyes on Michael. They’re slightly apprehensive as the two group members’ eyes flicker to each other, weary.
"If not for me, then for this lovely bride here." Michael kisses your temple softly, eyes lingering on you. "She deserves the best night of her life, and while I’ll mostly be responsible for that, it’d be really nice if you guys could contribute by having a little fun. That shouldn’t be too hard, right?”
Michael’s little announcement is quickly supported by the 5SOS boys, their enthusiasm evident in their bright smiles and nodding heads. The All Time Low boys and One Direction boys slowly nodded as well, mumbling their phrases of yeah I guess and I suppose one night won’t hurt and we could do that, sure until their mutters turn into small smiles that morph into something that resembled the buds of a blooming enthusiasm.
We wouldn’t want to see the beautiful bride frown, now would we? You’re too pretty for those worry wrinkles.
The boys give you small, apologetic smiles and you return them with a bright one of your own that said I forgive you. Seeing the groups relax and start to disperse without purposely avoiding each other made your shoulders loosen up.
When everyone went their own ways, the atmosphere no longer strained and tense but light and carefree like how it should’ve been - Michael turns to you, a grin on his lips.
"See? No need to worry." He murmurs, pulling you close for the thousandth kiss that night. "There’s that beautiful smile that I was looking for."
"Now let’s go enjoy our night, yeah?” You whisper to him, your mouth just millimeters away from his, smiling. “We’ve still got a few hours left.”
"This night and the next night and the next night will be ours, darling." Michael smiles. "A few hours is nothing compared to the forever I plan on having with you."