Before anyone says anything, I know this has been done before, but I really felt like writing it so I did. And now I'm going to bed.
My heart stuttered as I watched the beautiful bride walk gracefully down the aisle of the church, her whole body shining with happiness and a smile gracing her face.
As she walked slowly passed my seat in the front row, I could have sworn that Dana smirked at me. I threw the feeling off and glanced at the woman next to me to find her giving me an encouraging smile.
"I can't do it Mitchie," I whispered in a low voice, my hands tracing light patterns on my stomach. I had yet to look up at the couple. I could hear the Priest beginning the ceremony, asking us to sit, but I was staring at my feet.
"You can do it Cait! What's the worst that can happen? You won't be any worse off than you are now; he deserves to know the truth."
I opened my mouth to speak again, explain that I couldn't because this was their wedding, their big day and I wasn't the sort of girl who could ruin something like that, but the words from the front of the room cut me off and abruptly changed my mind.
"If any person present knows of a lawful reason why they should not be married today, you must declare it now." The Priest looked around with a bored expression, obviously not expecting anybody to protest. Let alone the girl sitting in the honoured front row, me, the Grooms's best friend.
"I know of a reason." I said in a voice much steadier than I had expected. Everybody in the room turned to stare but I was only watching Nate and Dana. The difference in their expressions was almost comical. Nate looked panicked and pleading, desperately begging me to sit down with his eyes, whereas Dana looked murderous, furious that I was interrupting her big day.
"Speak, child." The Priest gave me a comforting look as I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.
"I'm sorry, Dana, for ruining your big day. I'm sorry everybody for destroying this beautiful wedding, but I have to get this out in the open before it's too late." My hands dropped to my stomach again. "Do you remember, Nate and Dana, the night two months ago when you had that argument? The one that made Nate walk out?"
The pair of them nodded as people across the church began to whisper. The fight had been kept quiet from most of Nate and Dana's friends and family.
"I'm sorry Dana, I really am, but that night, Nate came to me."
My breathing stuttered and Mitchie squeezed my hand comfortingly.
"Go on Cait."
"I never meant to tell anybody, Nate, I wouldn't even have told Mitchie if I didn't have to." I could see the colour draining from Nate's face as I spoke, his putting that one night together with my actions. "I'm sorry Dana but Nate cheated on you. He was angry, I was upset and we slept together." The entire church fell silent. You could have dropped a pin at the back of the hall and I would have heard it. "That's not the problem though. Everyone knows I've been in love with my best friend for years. The problem is that I'm pregnant."
The gasp that rippled through the hall this time was one I had been preparing myself for. Dana's family were gasping in indignation at the idea of Nate cheating on her, my friends were gasping in relief that I had finally admitted my feelings and Nate's family were just disappointed.
I could see the anger radiating off of Dana. Her eyes were flickering between Nate and me; I was almost prepared to duck from a flying knife when Nate finally spoke.
"I am so sorry Dana."
"Sorry?" Dana's voice came out several octaves higher than I was accustomed to. "Oh, sorry won't work this time Nate. I've let you get away with a lot of things over the past few years Nate, a lot. I've let you get away with working overtime, going on holiday without me, going to clubs full of half naked girls, but this is really over the limit. You cheated on me Nate! With your best friend!" Her hand slapped across his cheek with a resounding cracking noise. Nate just stood there without saying a word as she continued. "You promised me there was nothing going on, that you were just friends, and I believed you. When were you going to tell me you had slept with her? After the wedding? Maybe during the honeymoon, wouldn't that have been nice! If there's one thing I thought I knew about you it's that you were certain about your feelings for Caitlyn, completely sure that she was nothing more than a sister would be."
Dana turned towards me and I flinched back automatically as she swung back her arm. My eyes screwed shut and my hands dropped instinctively to protect my baby.
I expected the sharp pain to come almost instantly but before her manicured nails could impact with my face, I heard a familiar, low voice, growling the words,
"Don't bring her into this."
My eyes flung open to find Nate standing just two feet away from me, his hand wrapped firmly around Dana's wrist.
"Don't bring her into this Dana."
"Don't bring her into this? Don't bring her into this?" Her voice was almost a screech now. "Nate, she is this! If it wasn't for this stupid slut, the girl who sleeps with her best friend and then brags about it at his wedding to another woman, we would be happily married right now."
"I don't think we would Dana."
"Excuse me?"
"Well first off, I would have divorced you as soon as I heard you calling Caitlyn any name's at all. She is most definitely not a slut. I happen to know for a fact that I am the only person Caitlyn has ever slept with."
I flushed a bright red. Did he have to bring this up here? In a church with two hundred witnesses?
"Really Nate? You think that she got to the age of twenty six without sleeping with anybody?"
"No. I never said that." At least he had the decency to use a low voice. Dana, on the other hand, managed to raise her voice even higher when she figured out what he meant.
"You've slept with her before?" The whole church gasped again, with the exception of Shane and Mitchie, who seemed to be finding this confrontation somewhat hilarious.
Dana took one look at the laughing faces of my best friend and her husband and her face suddenly crumpled. I almost felt sorry for her.
"It's over, Nate. I hope I never see you again." She yanked her wrist out of his grip and slipped off her sparkling engagement ring. I watched as she carried her layered skirts up the aisle, most of her guests following behind. "Have a nice life Nathan Grey!"
The church remained completely silent as half of the guests trailed out. When the door slammed shut behind them, I slowly turned around, speaking without looking up.
"I'm sorry for ruining your wedding Nate." I said meekly. His answer shocked me.
"Thank you Caity. You have just saved me from the most uncomfortable wedding ceremony of my life."
"But… I thought you didn't want me to say anything! You looked like you were trying to get me to stop."
"Only because I didn't want you to hurt yourself! I didn't want everybody leaving here with a bad impression of you!"
"Oh." I risked a glance up from the floor to find Nate standing directly in front of me. "About what I said: I don't expect it to change anything. You can just go on with your life as if you never knew, like you would have done before. I'll managed. Somehow."
I made to turn for the door, convinced I would have to leave this disaster of a wedding and raise out child on my own, but I felt fingers twine with my own.
"Don't go Caity. I have something I want to ask you first."
"No Nate, I'm not getting an abortion." I answered sharply. Nate chuckled.
"I was never asking you to." He let out a sigh and spun me around to face him again as he dropped down onto one knee. My eyes widened and I heard Mitchie gasp excitedly.
"Nate…" I whispered softly.
"Caitlyn Gellar. You know by now that I love you, or at least I hope you do. I've told you enough times. But if I promise to love you forever and be yours instead of coming to visit whenever I've had a fight, if I promise to love you and only you for the rest of my life, promise to take care or you and our child, will you marry me?"
I was unable to speak. Here was the man I loved, the man whose baby I was having, proposing to me in the wreck of his own former wedding. My eyes glistened over with tears and I nodded as Nate slid the still warn diamond ring onto my hand.
"I promise to get you another, personal ring as soon as possible." He whispered to me as the remaining guests burst into applause. Then, for the first time, Nate leant down to kiss me without the guilt of cheating on his girlfriend, without the worry of being caught, and I had never been happier.
"So," I whispered as we pulled out of the heated kiss and just stood comfortably in each others arms. "Do we make use of the priest and setting we already have here or do we wait a few months and plan this whole thing out again, only to end up back in the same building in six months time?"
"What would you rather do?" My fiancé asked, taking my hand.
"Well I'd prefer to get married now but-."
"Then what're we waiting for!" I had never seen Nate so excited. He spun to face the Priest and briefly asked the confused man if we could get married now, to which the answer was yes.
That was how I got married. Two months pregnant, four and a half minutes engaged, in a disgusting canary yellow dress and ten years after I had first met him, I married Nate Grey of Connect 3. And it was the best day of my life.
I don't like the ending (again!) but I'm tired so it'll have to do.
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328 sleeps til Santa!
~Spwarkle