This fic is about Henry and Eliza's wedding day. Do you really need any more information?
Sunlight gushed through an open bay window as the wind gently pushed aside gauzy curtains whose material was similar to that of a wedding veil. Henry stood in front of a mirror besides the window, his fingers struggling with the black bow tie at his neck. He was wearing a slimming black suit that he had made sure was wrinkle free, and shoes that he had spent at least a gallon of shoe shiner on. Everything about his attire was perfect, from his gelled sweep of jet black hair to the soles of his very expensive designer shoes - except for his bow tie. In his first attempt to tie it, the right side was far too long. In his second attempt, it was the left side that was too long. In his third attempt, when his fingers were agitated with frustration, it looked like a six-year-old had tried to tie it like a shoelace. A combination of a growl and a whine escaped from Henry's mouth as he jerked the end of the bow tie to unravel it again.
"You, Mr. Bow Tie, are very close to finding yourself being thrown out the window," Henry grumbled, even though he knew he needed that bow tie to complete his outfit; after all, grooms did not get married without some kind of tie.
Henry shook his head, hardly able to believe the fact that in a few minutes he would be forever attaching his life to Eliza Dooley, a girl that had previously worn his nerves to frayed strings. Although sometimes she still did that, she also continually unleashed the part of Henry that he never wanted to admit existed until now. The part that got a thrill out of running into a lake stark naked, or screaming Blues Traveler lyrics until his vocal cords were shredded, or bungee jumping off a bridge (which he hadn't yet done, but he didn't put it past Eliza to try to coax him into doing it for the sake of an awesome selfie). Eliza could still be a little self-absorbed and rude sometimes, but she always worked hard to make things right when she made a mistake and to be there for her friends. She had even helped Charmonique with her son when he broke his arm falling out of a tree. Henry came to the hospital waiting room to find Eliza holding hands with Charmonique and whispering reassurances to her. That was the night Henry knew that he needed to marry her.
He wished his proposal to Eliza had gone better. A romantic picnic in the park rapidly vanished into a deluge of rainwater, mud-soaked shoes, and Eliza's high-pitched whine due to said mud-soaked shoes. When they had finally found shelter underneath a sagging blue awning and he fumbled out the ring, Eliza took one look at him and fled. Every step he took in trying to find her that misty day only succeeded in grinding his heart into finer and finer dust. He saw her name on the Caller ID of his phone the next day, and for a moment he considered sending her to voicemail and never thinking of her again. But of course with Eliza that would be impossible. His hand was hovering over the handset, when the ringing suddenly stopped, and somehow he knew that once he turned around, he would see a trembling Eliza looking through the glass wall of his house. A smile flickered on her face, but nervousness quickly killed it before it could take full force.
Henry opened the door and Eliza said, "Hi."
"Hi," Henry replied.
Eliza blinked and licked her lips.
"Why did you call if you were already here?" Henry asked.
"You told me that it's customary to call before visiting," she reminded him.
A small chuckle broke out before Henry could stop himself, and he opened his door wider.
"Won't you come in, then?" he invited.
"Thank you," she accepted, dipping her head before coming in.
Eliza sat on his couch, not in the usual slouching way that she adopted like she had been there for years, but in a painfully upright position that was more in line with his character. He sat next to her - too close, because for a moment her bare knee came into contact with his knee and catalyzed all sorts of reactions that Henry still didn't know how to deal with. Henry scratched his Adam's apple and scooted away from her, but he soon discovered that the effort was no good, because Eliza decided to take his hands in hers.
"Henry…" she whispered, before stopping and looking down.
This was it. This was the moment she was going to dump him. All of her pouty smiles, her quirky hashtags, her immature but still hilarious jokes, gone from his life forever. He couldn't imagine them being friends again after this; he had already fallen in too deep, probably from the moment he saw her on the day of Saperstein's daughter's wedding. Why did Henry think a relationship between the two of them would actually work out? Honestly, he should have been more realistic.
"Henry," Eliza repeated, louder and firmer this time as if she could hear Henry's thoughts.
Henry stopped his mental rant of despair and looked at her directly.
"I love you," said Eliza. "Before I say anything else you have to know that." Henry nodded. "I love you and I want to marry you."
Henry's eyes widened and the corners of his mouth quivered. "Wha-?"
"Please let me finish," said Eliza. "I'm sorry I ran away yesterday, but I was afraid. I had no idea you were going to propose. I hadn't even thought about marriage until you popped the question. I was a little caught off guard."
"I'm sorry if I rushed you," apologized Henry, tightening his hold of Eliza's hands. "We don't have to talk about it until you're ready - "
"No, I want to talk about it. I've been thinking really hard about this and before I put that ring on my finger (BTW, can I say hash-tag GORGEOUS, hash-tag HOWMUCHDIDTHATCOSTYOU?), I need to get something off my chest. I have no doubt in my mind that I love you, but you know that my home life was not that great. My parents had a really nasty divorce, and I don't even talk to my dad anymore. I just didn't want the same thing to happen…"
"To us?"
Eliza nodded.
"Well, I won't tell you that there's no risk in taking this step," said Henry. "But if you're willing to stick with me, and I with you, even when life doesn't look like the rose-colored filter you always like to use for your Instagram photos…" Eliza laughed, and Henry smiled at her before continuing. "I think we can have a successful relationship. So, I still stand by my proposal. But if you want to hold off for a while, I will respect your wishes."
"I know you will."
Eliza looked at Henry for several long moments with soft eyes, before a smile suddenly exploded on her face and she jumped onto Henry like he was the last miniskirt in the store. She kissed him hungrily, while he helplessly tried to remember what he was supposed to do with his mouth and his hands. When she finally released from holding his lips hostage, his puppy-dog face was painted with smears of glittering, hot pink lipstick.
"Uh…" Henry stammered. "What was that?"
"It was me saying yes, you dork!" Eliza said, before pulling him in for another kiss.
Henry shared the same heart-bursting feeling he had in that moment as he relived it in the cream-colored room in which he was preparing for his wedding. Henry sighed and looked again at the tie hanging around his neck. Eliza wasn't going to marry a guy who had an improperly tied tie; she had taken twenty-four hours before saying yes to his proposal, and he couldn't afford to do anything that would make her rethink this. Henry was in the middle of attempt number four with his bow tie, when a demanding knock at the door interrupted him. Frowning, Henry opened the door and revealed a woman with almond-shaped brown eyes, shoulder-length black hair, and a smirk pasted onto her maroon lips. Her hoop earrings danced as she leaned her head back and fluffed her hair for a moment, before she pointed to Henry's bow tie and laughed.
"You must have tied one of those things before at least a hundred times, and today is the day you can't do it?" she said.
"Leave me alone, Sally," Henry grumbled, ready to close the door, before her manicured hand held it back.
"Hey, I am a woman on a mission," protested Sally. "I just came from seeing your fiancé."
"Is she all right?"
Henry pressed his face towards Sally's with anxiety tightening his features, and Sally gently pushed against his chest to signal him to lean back.
"She's fine," assured Sally. "Is there a reason you're so worried?"
"No," Henry asserted.
Sally scoffed and dropped her purse from her shoulder. "I know my cousin better than that. Now real quick, let me fix your bow tie."
"I can do it myself."
"Clearly you can't, so let me do it."
Henry was ready to protest, but realized that his infuriating tie couldn't be done in his frazzled state of mind.
"Fine."
The tip of Sally's tongue split the end of the seam of her mouth as her fingers guided the black fabric into the appropriate loops.
"So tell me why you're worried about Eliza," Sally bade.
"It's nothing, I just…"
"Yes?"
Henry turned his attention to fixing his cuff before replying, "I keep thinking she might change her mind about marrying me."
Sally gasped and swatted Henry's shoulder.
"How could you think that? You're a great catch! You're hardworking, you're kind, you're sweet, you're sexy - "
"Okay, stop," Henry said, mentally begging his ears to stop turning red.
"My point is that Eliza is as thrilled about marrying you as you are about her," Sally said. "I saw it in her eyes just this morning."
"Did she tell you that she didn't say yes to my proposal right away?" asked Henry. "She ran away from me."
"She was afraid. Like you are right now."
Henry hadn't been looking Sally in the eye, but when she finished speaking, she sandwiched his face between her hands and brought his gaze up to level with hers.
"Eliza was afraid. Is still afraid. But she is serious about marrying you, and I have proof of it."
"What do you mean?" Henry inquired.
Sally let go of Henry and stuffed her hand into her small white leather purse to retrieve a shiny rectangular object. Henry didn't recognize it as Eliza's phone until Sally held it right in front of his face and he could see its bedazzled gold cover.
"Where did this come from?" he questioned, folding his fingers over the phone.
"I didn't come here because I thought you needed checking up - though apparently you did," Sally told him. "Eliza asked me to give this to you, because the only thing she wants to be thinking about today is you."
Henry stared down at the cell phone, which suddenly felt as heavy as a brick in his hand. He swiped the screen to unlock it and her background photo appeared; it was one of the pictures he and Eliza had once taken in a photo booth. Eliza sat on his lap, an action that she had done just seconds before the first picture was taken, leading to his bewildered but lovestruck expression that was now shining at him from the screen of Eliza's phone. That picture practically summed up Henry's entire relationship with Eliza, and Henry laughed in amazement at the sight of it.
"Now are you feeling better?" asked Sally.
"Much, thank you," replied Henry, before squeezing Sally with fierce affection.
"Okay, so you have your perfect bow tie, and the most obvious romantic token your wife-to-be could have given you… Are you ready to get married?"
Excitement bloomed inside his chest, and Henry grinned. "I am."
When the organ began to sing in its baritone voice the tune of "Here Comes the Bride," Sally gave Henry a thumbs up from the second pew, which Henry returned with an awkward smile. After a few moments, Eliza finally appeared at the end of the aisle, and Henry made a subdued gasp. Eliza's long red hair was wrapped up into a braided bun, with loose curls hanging on either side of her oval face. Her eyelashes formed a dark fringe around her large hazel-green eyes, which were glowing with a happiness that rivaled even Henry's. The skirt of her milk white dress glided on the floor as she slowly walked down the aisle, pressing the lacy gray belt at her waist for a brief moment. Henry guessed that Eliza was wishing her fidgety hands could hold onto something, namely the bouquet of pink daisies that he was currently carrying down the aisle to meet her. Her fingers were warm when she accepted the bouquet from him and laid her hand in the crook of his elbow. The pair walked each other down the remainder of the aisle, with friends, relatives, and co-workers all staring in awe. In all that time, Henry did not feel a tremble of hesitation from the beautiful woman he was locking arms with. When they reached the minister, Henry peeked at the inside of his tuxedo jacket before returning his full attention to Eliza.
Henry and Eliza had decided to recite their own vows, which could not come soon enough for either of them. Eliza was first. For a second Henry thought that Eliza had memorized her vows, since he didn't see a paper in her hand. Then she reached into the crevice between 'the girls' (as she called them) and his eyes momentarily bugged. Seeing his reaction, Eliza shrugged as if to ask where else she could have put it. As Henry tried hard not to think of the possibilities and consequently make himself turn red in the face, Eliza cleared her throat and began to read her heart-dotted handwriting aloud.
"Henry, when I first met you, I thought you were a means to an end," Eliza began. "I wanted to change my image and make some real friends, and I thought that you could help me do that. It turned out that you became my first and best friend, which you still are." Henry smiled and ran his thumb back and forth across the back of her hand. "So, I know I'm not perfect and I don't promise to be perfect, because I would totes - totally - be lying. Sorry Henry, habit. Anyways, even though I'll mess up sometimes, I vow to do what I can to make it up to you when that happens and to treat you fairly and faithfully. I vow to take time out of my day to not be looking at Twitter, or Instagram, or Facebook, or whatever the newest Internet craze is going to be in the next fifty years, and be looking only at you. I vow to make our relationship a top priority in my life, because I love you and I want to be with you for as long as we both shall live."
"You stole that last part," pointed out Henry quietly.
"Yes I know I did," murmured Eliza.
"Henry, your turn," said the minister.
"Yeah, Henry," whispered Eliza.
"Right," said Henry, fishing his paper out of his pocket and swallowing thickly before beginning. "Eliza, if I were to look at our relationship rationally - "
"Oh no," muttered Eliza, only half-teasing; several people who were close enough to hear laughed aloud.
Henry glared at her before continuing. "If I were to look at our relationship rationally, it would make as much sense as peanut butter and mayonnaise." Eliza wrinkled her nose in that adorable way Henry always loved. "Even though a sandwich with that kind of combination is supposed to be disgusting and out-of-place and send you running for the hills…" Henry stared into Eliza's round, childlike eyes, eyes that were unsure of what he would say next, but still trusting him. "It does the exact opposite for me. Because you're so different from me, you stretch me to new lengths and inspire me to new challenges that the old me would have shrunk away from. It reminds me of the day in the summer of 2014 - "
"Henry, I'm saying this with love," whispered Eliza. "Please don't bore everyone with one of your long-ass stories. The vows."
Henry would have been offended if he hadn't glanced at some of the people in the pews lolling their heads - was Larry drooling? Gross.
"Right," Henry said, clearing his throat. "So, Eliza, I vow to listen to what you have to say, even if I don't agree with it, because it will probably do a lot of good in the end. I vow to give and take with you as equally as possible. I vow to be your friend first and foremost, because that's how we started and that's how we should end. I vow to always love you, Eliza."
Several aw's from the audience made both Henry and Eliza blush.
"Then by the power vested in me by the state of California," began the minister, "I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may now kiss the bride."
Once their mouths melted into their most winning combination yet, Henry and Eliza couldn't have registered the applause from their friends and relatives even if they wanted to. They eventually pulled away, but when Eliza's hand tried to lead Henry with her down the altar, Henry stood in place.
"What's wrong?" asked Eliza.
"There's just one thing I want to do before we leave," answered Henry.
Henry brought out Eliza's phone from inside his jacket, wearing the most mischievous expression Eliza had probably ever seen him with.
"Post-wedding selfie," he said.
"Oh Henry!" squeaked Eliza.
Seeing the wetness in her eyes, Henry knew he had to act quickly. He pulled Eliza by the waist to his side, and she nuzzled her head in the crook of his neck like he was her favorite down pillow. Henry held out the phone straight in front of them, and Eliza adjusted his arm so that the camera was angled down toward them - the perfect selfie angle. A flash of the camera captured Henry with a small smile that had more joy than the hundreds of taut, polite smiles that he had honed for the professional world; it also captured Eliza, with copper curls tickling the corners of her eyes and a content smile showing a wide row of teeth, which she usually covered with her famous sultry pout that had won her thousands of followers. As they held each other close, their bodies fit together like the black and white pieces of a yin and yang symbol, different and yet symbiotic. The image of the two of them was posted twenty four hours later on Eliza's twitter page with the caption: "Meet the new Mr. Dooley, Henry_Higgs69! Don't be jelly, y'all. #LoveYouBae #BFFL #Mayonnaise". A few minutes later, Henry_Higgs69 retweeted and added: "Love you too. #PeanutButter".
I do not own Henry or Eliza. But Sally is definitely mine! For the record, I wrote this before I saw the episode where Eliza and Bethany talk about their parent's divorce. I totally called it that Eliza's parents weren't together anymore.