A/N: I wrote this long one-shot as a wedding present for Lunar_Penguin from the LJ board and I've waited a couple of months to post it on here. The story takes place right after the episode 'Father Goes West' - in which Mary catches her shooter. Warning: this fic may cause you to have severe cravings for red velevt cake. My advice is to have some on hand before reading ;)

Disclaimer: I don't own IPS - if I did, we wouldn't need to write so many fix-it fics for M&M.

"A wedding is such a girl thing." –Selma Blair

"I need your help, Doofus."

The sleep cleared from my partner's eyes at the urgency in my tone despite the fact that I was standing on his porch in the middle of the night. "Mer? What's wrong?" He stepped back and let me brush past him into the house. "Did your altercation with Carmello earlier pop a stitch? Let me see-"

I slapped his hand away. "Get off me. I'm fine, I just – be a good little boy and pour me a drink, will ya?"

He frowned. "No, you're not supposed to mix alcohol with your pain meds."

"Marshall," I growled.

He crossed his arms. "Mary, just tell me what you need. Tell me why you're here at my house at-" his eyes flicked to the clock on the wall. "Two twenty-two in the morning."

I shoved a hand through my hair and began to pace. "Raph hired a wedding coordinator." Out of the corner of my eye, I saw my partner struggle to contain his laughter. "Oh, you think this is funny?" I whirled on him, ignoring the twinge of pain that such quick action still caused.

He pursed his lips and shook his head. "For most people, no, but you're not most people." He paused as he went to sit in his easy chair, stretching his long legs out in front of him. "Please, continue."

I snorted. "He picked his timing well, I'll give him that. He waited until after we'd had sex, so I was completely relaxed and unaware – you know, entering that post-"

"Mer," Marshall's voice interrupted me and I turned towards him in surprise. "I really don't need to know all the details of your sex life, OK? Skip down a bit."

I swallowed and nodded, seeing the pain in his eyes but choosing to ignore it because that's what I did. "Anyway, I was almost asleep when he told me that he had a surprise for me and you know how much I love surprises – I did so well with his last one," I waved my hand with the engagement ring on it in the air for emphasis. "My eyes snap open and stare at him in shock as he gleefully tells me he's hired a wedding coordinator to help us plan the wedding. He says: 'It will make things so much easier for you, Querida, with your busy schedule and all. We just tell her what we want and she takes care of all the details – doesn't that sound wonderful?'" I screamed in frustration. "Marshall, I wanted to bean him over the head with the lamp on the nightstand. What the hell was he thinking?"

My partner's eyes were twinkling as he carefully replied, "Well, I think Raph is trying to help you out, Mer. He knows you well enough to know that you're not into sorting out all the girly details of a wedding-"

"What the hell, Marshall? I'm perfectly capable of planning my own wedding, for God's sake!"

He held up his hand. "Let me finish. I didn't say that you weren't, all right? I just meant that you aren't the hearts and flowers, white dress and Cinderella princess."

I resumed my pacing. "That's for damn sure – and if Raph's expecting that kind of wedding, he's delusional."

He chuckled. "You've been engaged for six months and you've never talked about your wedding? The dress, the flowers, the bridesmaids' dresses – not even the food?"

"God, Marshall, I'm not you! I don't have a scrapbook somewhere with everything laid out and priced down to the last dollar." I screamed again as I finally flopped down on his comfy couch. "Help me. I'll buy you a pie every month for the next year if you'll go in my place."

The laughter that my partner had been holding in finally could be held back no longer as Marshall clutched his sides until tears rolled down his face. I didn't know if he was laughing at the sheer lunacy of my suggestion or crying at the pain my situation was causing him.

Or both.

"No, I won't go in your place," he finally gasped as he wiped away tears. "But if you ask nicely, I might let you borrow my scrapbook."

I lifted the sofa cushion and threw it at his head, but he ducked at the last minute and it went skittering across the floor. "Idiot! You're such a girl!"

He tipped his imaginary hat towards me. "I can assure you, ma Cherie, that under these airplane pajamas, I am all Mann."

And just like that, the air in the room shifted. I could feel the desire in his voice and I shivered as I realized that we were both sitting in his living room in the middle of the night in nothing more than thin cotton pajamas. True, I had thrown a sweatshirt over my tank top, but I hadn't bothered to get dressed before leaving my house.

I cleared my throat. "Well, I just might take you up on that offer-"

Marshall's eyes widened and I blushed as I realized he thought I was going to jump his bones right there in his living room. My eyes raked his frame, noticing not for the first time how different it was from Raph's. What was it like under those PJs? Was he really that pale all over? Did he have hair on his chest or was he smooth? Did he have any-

"Mary," Marshall growled, low and intense, the tone making me shiver again. "Don't."

I jumped to my feet. "I – I shouldn't have come. It's late and I woke you and-"

He settled his hands on my shoulders as he stood and I looked up into his eyes, seeing the pain but also seeing the love. "You can always come here, Mer. We're partners and – you're my best friend."

"Only friend," I corrected softly. "I should go home."

He nodded. "Hey, any time you want to borrow my scrapbook, just let me know."

I rolled my eyes. "You do NOT have a scrapbook."

He waggled his eyebrows. "Only way to find out is to ask to borrow it."

I picked up the other couch pillow and chased him to the front door.

"I'm not wearing white."

"But, Mary, all brides wear white."

I glared at Raph as our wedding coordinator, Stella, tried to smooth the waters yet again. "That's not true, Mr. Ramirez. Many women today fly in the face of tradition and wear many different colors. Why, one bride I planned a wedding for got married just last week in a stunning red dress."

My eyes lit up as Raph groaned. "Mary, I beg you. My mother will have a stroke if you get married in a red dress. She will call you a harlot-"

I kicked him under the table. "Thanks, honey, for your support," my voice dripped disdain. "So when you said I could have anything I wanted, what you meant was anything as long as mama approves? Nice catch." I leaned back, folding my arms across my chest, glaring at him.

"But there are many different shades of white," Stella added helpfully. "Ecru, cream, off-white, eggshell, taupe, beige-" she pulled out fabric samples as her voice picked up speed.

"Look, Mary. This one is nice," Raph pleaded, as he held out one sample that looked pretty white to me.

"I'm not wearing white."

Stella sighed. "Let's move on then. What about the bridesmaids?"

I uncrossed my arms and leaned over the table to grab one of the groomsmen's swatches. "There's just going to be my sister, Brandi – and I want her dress to be this color."

"But – but that's gray!" Raph stuttered.

"Very good," I patted him on the head.

"Are you sure you want gray?" Stella asked gently. "Gray is wonderful for the men – but if it isn't done right, it can really be plain and drab. And I don't know your sister's coloring – the gray might wash her out."

"Yes, it will," Raph put in. "Mary, please pick a different color for Brandi."

"No," I shook my head. "I want gray."

"Whose fucking wedding is this anyway?"

"So how did it go?"

Marshall didn't look up from his computer when I stormed back into the office after the disastrous meeting with Stella and Raph. But his steady, calm presence was enough to bring my blood pressure down a few notches and I took my first deep breath in over an hour.

I grunted at his question, not bothering to answer verbally and stalked over to my desk. There by my keyboard sat a red velvet cupcake, the cream cheese frosting dusted with red sugar crystals. My mouth watered at the sight and tears pricked my eyes. There was a small card stuck underneath the plate and I picked it up, wondering what trivia Marshall had found for me today.

"Mer – I hope your first meeting wasn't too awful but just in case it was, here's a sweet treat for you. Did you know that the current popularity of red velvet cake is attributed to the movie 'Steel Magnolias' in which the cake was used as a groomsmen's cake? Perhaps you'll break with tradition and have it as your wedding cake. –M"

I laughed aloud and shook my head, marveling once again at my partner's knowledge of trivia and of me. Lifting the cupcake to my lips, I paused to inhale the delicious aroma.

"Wait - there's not a surprise baked in here, is there?" I asked suspiciously.

He snorted. "Actually, I did lick the frosting-"

I sighed. "I don't even care-" and took an enormous bite.

Marshall waited until I had eaten the entire cupcake before coming over, stretching his long frame out in the chair next to my desk. "So, how bad was it?"

Still purring with satisfaction over my treat, I filled him in on the meeting with Stella, using less colorful language than I would have fifteen minutes before. "I still don't understand why Raph got so upset about the color of Squish's dress – hell, at least I picked a color!"

Marshall grinned. "Yeah, but gunmetal gray? That doesn't exactly give people that warm, fuzzy feeling, Mer."

"What's wrong with – hey, I didn't say gunmetal – how did you know?"

Marshall rolled his eyes. "It's your favorite color – everybody knows that."

I sat back in my chair. Raph doesn't – he was genuinely dumbfounded – couldn't understand why I picked that color. And it isn't my favorite color. "No, it's not. My favorite color is-"

He looked up at my pause. "What? Your favorite color is what?"

I waved my hand. "It's not important. So, will you come to the next meeting with me?"

He frowned. "I already told you-"

"Its food tasting – Mom and Squish are coming and you know they'll side with Raph. I need someone to side with me. Please?" I rarely used that word and I knew I was practically begging but desperate times called for desperate measures.

He sighed. "Since you'll feed me – yes, I'll come."

"Wow! Look at all this food! There's no way we'll be able to eat all this!"

I poked Squish in the ribs. "We only have to take a bite or two of each dish, don't worry. We don't have to clean our plates to get dessert."

Jinx laughed. "Well, that's a relief. But I wonder what they'll do with all the leftovers."

I grinned. "I brought reinforcements."

Just then, we all heard Marshall's voice in the hall. "Yeah Stan, Mary and I can be reached on our cells." He hung up the phone just as he walked into the room. "Whoa, look at the spread! When do we eat?"

Brandi gave Marshall a hug, which he returned stiffly. "I didn't know you were coming!"

"Yeah well, your sister strong armed me into it – she's rather hard to say no to."

Jinx twittered. "I've had that problem since she was two, Marshall, welcome to the club."

I flashed a smile as Raph and Stella entered, talking animatedly about the church they had just visited. Raph came and gave me a quick kiss. "Mary! It's perfect, everything my mother- oh, hello everyone." He gave Marshall a slightly puzzled look.

"Hope you don't mind. Mary invited me."

There was a noticeable pause before he answered, "Of course not. Mary's in charge."

I leaned close to my partner and whispered, "Could have fooled me."

He smothered a laugh and lifted a finger to his lips as we all moved to one end of the table to begin the tasting. Starting with the appetizers, we moved swiftly through them to the main course and there things came to a crashing halt.

"I don't see any ribs."

Raph, Jinx, and Brandi all looked at me in surprise as my partner again struggled to contain his laughter. "I didn't know you wanted ribs," Stella was confused as she consulted her clipboard.

I turned on my fiancé. "I specifically told you I wanted ribs."

"I didn't think you were serious," he sputtered.

I turned and speared Marshall in my gaze. "Am I ever joking when it comes to food?"

"Never. You are always serious about your food. Food, guns, and the people you love and protect with your life – that's your list." Marshall's voice was crisp and absolute.

I turned back to Raph, who was frowning. "But ribs are so messy – people will get juice and sauce all over their dress clothes – mama would never-"

I gritted my teeth. "This is MY wedding, Raph. You said I was in charge – and damn it, I am in charge. If I say I want ribs, there had better be some fucking ribs at my wedding reception." I gasped and swore as pain shot through my abdomen.

Raph reached out his hand but it was Marshall who was suddenly by my side, cupping my elbow, as I sagged against him. "Take some slow, deep breaths, Mer. Just try and relax. You don't want to pop a stitch."

Brandi brought me some water and I drank it down in two large gulps. "I'm fine," I insisted as I stood up straight.

"Ok, ribs it is then," Stella said brightly, making a note on her clipboard. "Shall we pick the second entrée?"

I sat and watched as Jinx, Brandi, Raph, and Marshall tasted the entrees. Mom and Squish didn't really have an opinion but there was a hot debate between the salmon and the chicken Kiev.

"Salmon is much more elegant and since we're already having ribs-" Raph argued.

"Mary doesn't like salmon." Marshall's voice was quiet, sure.

Raph started. "Yes, she does."

Marshall shook his head.

"I've seen her eat it – we've had sushi before," Raph stuttered.

Marshall sighed. "She eats tuna sushi – not salmon."

I smiled and turned to Stella who was waiting for the final verdict. "Chicken Kiev."

Finally it came time for the cake – the course everyone had been waiting for.

"You don't have to stay, Marshall. Mary and I are grateful for your help but I'm sure you have witnesses that need you," Raph said pointedly as we walked over to the dessert table.

"Raph!" I whisper-hissed and pulled him aside. "You can't just make an announcement like that to the entire room. Mom and Squish don't know what we do. Besides, I told you what I do so that there wouldn't be any more secrets between us – but I didn't think about the fact that I was also telling you about Marshall's career. So lay off."

"Mary – I'm sorry. It's just – you two spend so much time together as it is. Why is he here?"

"Because he's my friend – and I want him to be involved in my wedding." I shoved aside the feelings that Raph's question brought up. "Besides, it's free food and Marshall loves food as much as I do."

I could feel Marshall's eyes on me the second I stepped back up to the table. "Everything ok?" he whispered.

I nodded, not trusting my voice at that second. "Let's just finish this and get out of here."

The cakes were light, creamy, and boring. Lemon, vanilla, a few had raspberry or strawberry cream but after awhile they all tasted the same. I was craving chocolate so badly and sneaking a glance at my partner, I could tell he was thinking the same thing.

"Oh my God!" Brandi squealed. "This is it! Mary, try this one!" she held another creamy white confection to my face.

I turned my head abruptly, my nose hitting Marshall's chest. He chuckled. "No more cake for you, Sunshine?"

"Not unless it's-" my voice broke off as I noticed a small table off to the side. "Stella, what are those over there?"

"Oh, those are the few samples of groomsmen's cakes we have available."

I met Marshall's eyes and we were both thinking the same thing: chocolate! We crossed the floor and stood looking down at the small assortment, drooling like kids in a candy store. There were only six small sample pieces.

"Did you bring your fork?"

I shook my head.

"Here," he quickly divided the pieces in half with his fingers.

I picked up the first half piece and waited until he had done the same. "Cheers," I mumbled around the mouthful, letting the chocolate coat my mouth and erase the memory of all the boring white cakes.

We chewed in thoughtful silence and I waited for him to swallow before I said. "It's a little dry."

"I agree. Next?"

They were good – really good, but none of them blew us out of the water until we reached number five. I could tell by the color that it was red velvet.

"Don't get excited – we've both had bad red velvet. Remember Mrs. Tomlinson's?" Marshall quirked a brow.

I shuddered at our former witness' name. "Please don't bring her up now; I won't be able to enjoy this!"

We had to wait until our giggling subsided before we toasted and popped the bite into our respective mouths. I think we both knew that this was the one the instant it hit our tongues. The cake was moist, but not too moist. The chocolate flavor was perfect and it had flakes of dark chocolate in it.

I moaned in delight. "This is orgasmic."

"Nearly indecent for a wedding," he agreed.

The moment was broken as throats cleared behind us and we turned to see Stella, Raph, Jinx, and Brandi staring at us. Mom and Squish were hiding grins but Raph looked ready to pop Marshall's head off.

"Are you guys done?" he demanded.

"Yup," I chirped, picking up the sample card. "This is the one I want."

Raph groaned. "But, Mary! That's a groomsman's cake!"

I shrugged. "So? Slap some butter cream on it and no one will know the difference!"

Jinx and Brandi collapsed in giggles while Raph went off in a huff. Squish went after him while Jinx pulled Stella aside to ask if we could have two cakes as well as two entrees at the reception.

I turned back to Marshall, who was grinning like an idiot. "That's my girl – flying in the face of tradition. Oh, and you have some frosting on your lip."

"You want to lick it off?"

He froze at my words and I inwardly cursed. What am I doing? I'm engaged to another man and here I am openly flirting with my partner, who I know has deep feelings for me. I can't do this. I shouldn't do this. But I think I could- I think I might-

My thoughts were arrested by the feeling of Marshall's thumb as it swiped the frosting off my upper lip. "There – it's gone now."

"Marshall, I -" my breath hitched in my throat.

"Don't." His expression was pained. "Thanks for inviting me – the food was delicious."

I grabbed his hand. "Don't go."

He shook his head. "I can't stay. You need to talk to Raph – and I need-" he swallowed.

"You'll be all right? I'll see you on Monday?"

He forced a small smile. "Bright and early."

I grunted. "Not too early."

"Isn't it perfect?"

"It's a Roman Catholic church, Raph."

"I know."

"I don't want to get married in a church."

I watched as Stella's smile faded and Raph deflated. "Why don't I make a few calls and leave you two lovebirds alone to talk?" Stella waved her phone and backed into the vestibule, smiling the entire time.

"I wonder if that's written into her contract: 'Client must never see you frown – always smile no matter what the situation'. Creepy."

"Mary!"

I jumped. "Sorry. What were we talking about?"

"You not wanting to get married in a church."

"Yeah, right. I thought you knew that."

Raph threw up his hands. "I feel like I don't know you at all! Gray bridesmaids dresses, ribs and chocolate wedding cake for the reception, and now no church? My mother is going to-"

I crossed my arms. "Is this our wedding or your mother's?"

"Ours, of course, but Querida-"

"Stop calling me that – I'm not anyone's honey or sweetie or sugar – my name's Mary, got it?"

"Except Marshall's."

My arms fell to my sides in shock. "What the hell does that mean?"

"Oh come on, I see the way he looks at you, I've even heard him call you 'his girl' and you don't slap him for it like you would anyone else. And the way you carried on at the tasting, feeding each other cake-"

"We were not feeding each other cake!"

"You might as well have been! It was humiliating, Mary! If my mother had been there-"

I screamed in frustration and Raph backed up a step. "What is it with your mother anyway?"

He hung his head. "She hired the wedding coordinator. I don't want to let her down. She wants us to have a traditional wedding."

I shook my head at him in frustration. "Your mother is an amazing woman, an excellent cook, and I'm sure she was a great wife, Raph. But I'm my own person and this wedding will go down the way I want it to or not at all."

His shoulders slumped. "I'm sorry, Qu- Mary. I love you so much and I admit I got crazy jealous yesterday. Just – please tell me you still want to marry me – that I'm still the groom in the wedding you're planning."

Visions of red velvet swam in my head and above it all, were my partner's ice blue eyes, my all-time favorite color. My upper lip still burned from where his thumb had touched me yesterday and I knew I wanted more of his touch. Somewhere in all these wedding details I had fallen for the real wedding coordinator – my partner.

I sighed. "Raph, I-"

My phone rang and I cursed. "I'm sorry, I have to get this – it could be a crisis." I turned away from Raph and answered. "This is Mary."

"Mary, its Stan. I hate to bother you on a Saturday but I knew you'd want to know right away. Marshall's been taken hostage-"

"What! Where – by one of our witnesses?" I was already running down the aisle of the church, heading for the front door.

"No, at his bank. Gunman's apparently not associated with us and there are five other people in the bank with him. SWAT is talking to the man now-"

I was unlocking my car. "Where are you?"

"Outside the bank."

"I'm on my way – be there in ten." I hung up the phone and saw that Raph had followed me out to my car. "I have to go – it's Marshall."

"Is he all right?"

I shook my head. "He's being held hostage at the bank-" my voice broke. "I've got to go."

Raph placed his hand over mine. "Let me drive you."

"No. Go home – I'll let you know as soon as I can."

Waiting has never, ever been my strong suit. Marshall has always excelled at it – has been the one that could wait and plan and think while I need to pace and grab my gun and be out the door in sixty seconds. In seven years of partnership, I've added fuel to his slow burn while a look or well-timed kick to my ankle from him has slowed my roll.

But I still hate waiting.

"How long has it been?"

Stan sighed. "Five minutes since the last time you asked. I got the call from APD that one of my Marshals was involved in a hostage situation three hours ago – I don't know exactly when it started, Mary."

I glanced at my watch. "Marshall likes to get to the bank as soon as it opens on Saturday – so I'm guessing this idiot decided to rob it right when it opened at nine o'clock. You say there are five other people in there?"

"Not counting the tellers and manager, yes."

"Any of them children?"

"I don't know, Inspector."

"Is Marshall armed?"

Stan shrugged.

"He doesn't go anywhere without his weapon – but it could be in the safe in his vehicle," I muttered under my breath. "Where'd he park?"

Stan shrugged again. I resisted the urge to swear as I told him I was going to go look. It would give me something to do. I found Marshall's SUV two blocks down and using my spare key, I opened it and unlocked his safe, finding his weapons secure inside. My heart sank but at the same time I knew they would have been a liability inside – the robber would have searched everyone and Marshall had other weapons at his disposal beside a loaded Glock.

Another hour passed and Stan knew I was getting jumpy. "Mary, why don't you go get us some food?"

"I'm not hungry."

"It could still be awhile yet."

"I know – I just – I'm not leaving, Stan."

He sighed. "Mary, he's going to be all right. Remember when you were stuck in that condemned building last year with Lewis?"

I gave him a funny look. "Yeah, why?"

"I couldn't stop Marshall from running into that building when it finally collapsed and for a few agonizing minutes, I thought I'd lost both of you. Don't do anything stupid, Mary. Your partner would never forgive me."

I snorted. "Don't be silly, Stan. If you remember, I also said I'd sell Marshall out for a twinkie. I'm not going to go running in there, guns blazing-"

Stan tilted his head. "You're not?"

"Of course not. I'll come up with a much better plan than that – I just haven't thought of it yet."

It was two o'clock and I knew that the people in there must be getting hungry. "Ok Stan, here's what we're going to do."

He groaned. "Here it comes."

I smacked him on the shoulder. "No, listen-"

A gunshot from inside the bank broke the stillness of the afternoon and I turned towards the sound, my heart in my eyes. Stan's hand was over mine instantly. "Steady, Mary."

"Marshall," I whispered.

SWAT was running towards the bank as two more shots were fired inside and they surrounded the front door yelling, "We're coming in!"

"Marshall!" I screamed, taking a step forward as Stan tried to hold me back.

SWAT burst through the door, APD right behind and I itched to follow but Stan breathed in my ear, "Wait- just wait."

Three minutes later, an APD officer came out carrying a little girl. A woman followed behind, talking fast and crying as she followed them to the waiting ambulance. I didn't see any blood but the girl wasn't moving and judging from the mom's face, her daughter was having some sort of medical crisis.

I turned to look at Stan. "I didn't see any blood-"

Stan shook his head but froze mid-movement. I swung back in time to see Marshall limp into the sunlight, his hands and shirtfront covered in blood.

"Marshall!" I screamed again, breaking from Stan's hold as I shoved my badge in the officers' faces and ran through the barrier between us. He looked up at the sound of my voice and tried to hold up his hands to keep me from him. But I would have none of it. I captured his hands and spread them wide so I could wrap my arms around his neck. "Where are you hurt?" I whispered against his blood stained shirt.

His trembling hands closed around me, drawing me closer. "I'm fine, Mer. It's not my blood."

Understanding swept through me. "The gunman?"

"Dead."

I pulled back so I could see his eyes. "Did you get everybody out safe?"

He nodded. "Everybody's alive – but I'm concerned for Sally. She's the little girl you saw leaving in the ambulance. She has type one diabetes and her sugar's been dangerously low for two hours – but she should be OK once they get her to the hospital."

I raised myself up to my tiptoes. "She will be – you got everybody out safe, Marshall." It was the same conversation we'd had a million times after our witness runs, but this time was different. This time hadn't involved witnesses – it had involved innocents and my partner had had to do it alone. I could feel him begin to shake, to fall apart, and for the first time I let him do it in my arms.

His head fell heavily onto my shoulders. "Oh Mary," he breathed out.

"It's okay, I've got you," I whispered.

He clutched me tighter and after a minute, without letting myself think about the consequences, I reached up, lifted his head and pressed our lips together. I felt the shock run through his body at the initial contact before he groaned deep in the back of his throat and then I lost all sense of reality as he opened his mouth, his tongue licking at my lips. He kissed me like a starving man, a drowning man, like a man who was never going to get this opportunity again so he better make it a good one. I moaned and opened my mouth to his. Raph never kissed me like this.

"Marshall," I panted against his open mouth. "I lo-"

"Don't."

I jerked away from him, angry. "Why do you keep interrupting me? Don't you want me to say it? I know you love me."

"I do."

"Then why?" I stopped, my eyes full of questions.

He sighed and held up my left hand, my ring catching the light. "You're not free, Mary. You have a fiancé waiting for you at home. Don't throw away something wonderful for something that happened in the heat of the moment – because you were scared you were going to lose your partner today."

I backed out of his hold, breathing hard. "Is that what you think this is?"

"Isn't it?"

"If that's what you think, then you don't know me as well as you think you do, Marshall Mann." I turned and stomped off, leaving him standing there covered in someone else's blood.

"How's Marshall?"

"He's fine. He got the hostages out, the gunman's dead, end of story."

"Really?"

I stopped in the act of pulling on fresh T-shirt. "Yes. Why are you looking at me like that?"

Raph shrugged. "No reason." He flipped on the TV. "Today's top story is the bank robbery at First National which has a happy ending, especially for this couple – (screenshot of me and Marshall in a lip lock) – this and more coming up at five."

I gulped. "I can explain."

"Really?"

"Will you stop saying that? You're driving me nuts!" I sat down on the bed. "Look, you know this isn't working-"

"Do you love him?"

"We're not talking about Marshall right now; I'm trying to talk about us, Raph."

"So am I – he's a part of this whether you realize it or not. Do you love him?"

What the hell. "Yes."

"More than me?"

"I don't think you want me to answer that," I shook my head.

He sighed. "You just did."

"I'm sorry." I slipped the ring off my finger. "I do love you, Raph."

He kissed my cheek. "I know."

"I need your help, Doofus."

I bit back a grin as I saw my partner thump his head against the doorframe as I sailed through his front door. "Mary, is this going to take long? I'm really –"

"I know, you're tired. You've had a really long, hard day. You were held up at the bank – whoa, that sounds like something out of the Wild West days. I mean, who actually holds up-"

"Ma –ry," he grunted.

Oops, he's drawing out my name, which means he really is tired and not in the mood. "All right, all right. I need your help with my wedding."

I watched the pained look come over his face. "What is it?"

"I need to borrow your scrapbook."

He grinned. "I don't have one."

"I knew it!" I crowed. "I so knew you didn't have one!"

"Now that you got it out of me, can you please go home and let me get some sleep?"

I shook my head as I silently drank in his pajama clad form. "Can't. Raph's packing, Mom's crying and Brandi will just pepper me with more stupid questions like 'why did I let a good guy like Chico go' if I show up anytime soon so I was hoping I could-"

He glanced at my hands for the first time. "You broke off your engagement."

I nodded.

"Why?" he whispered, hope glimmering through the pain.

"Because the man needed a wedding coordinator to find out what I liked and wanted," I snorted. "I mean, come on. We've been dating for two years and the guy's clueless."

"You're not the easiest person to get to know, Mer."

"That's not true. You know me. Marshall," I whispered, stepping into his personal space, watching as his pupils dilated and the pulse point in his neck began to race. I want to give it a nip but I refrained, telling myself there was plenty of time for that later. "Do something for me."

"What?"

"Describe my wedding-" I grinned, deliberately leaving out the groom's name, waiting for him to fill-in the blank.

He groaned. "To Raph?"

I shook my head. "To you."

"Don't."

I lifted one hand and covered his mouth. "I swear that will be the last time you tell me to stop, Marshall. I promise you, here and now, both of us are done pretending. You are done pretending to be the good and dutiful partner and friend and nothing more. And I," I removed my hand, "am done pretending that I don't know how you feel and running from my own feelings. I love you."

My lips were back on his and I felt a hand fist in my hair, crushing my body to his. I swear, if I don't find out what's underneath his PJs soon, I'm going to self combust.

"We'd both be wearing gunmetal gray, which just happens to be our favorite color," he was murmuring the words against my hair and I was struggling to comprehend them as the feeling of his body against mine combined with his breath tickling my skin was extremely distracting. "Brandi would wear blue, the exact shade of my eyes, which is your favorite color-" he laughed as I started in his arms.

I peered up at him through heavy lids. "Cocky."

"Did I get something wrong?"

"No, keep going."

"We'd get married at the courthouse, in the middle of the week, but say our own vows. Then on the weekend, we'd have a relaxed BBQ for family and friends with chips and dips, ribs, and of course, red velvet cake."

"Careful, Doofus, you're making my stomach growl."

"There would be no flowers, presents optional, and I would make the ribs because you love the way I make them. We'd wear wedding bands, but I wouldn't give you a diamond engagement ring."

I pulled back, looking up at him surprise. "Why not?"

He reached up and cradled my face in his hands. They were shaking ever so slightly as he whispered, "Because you don't like diamonds. You think they're gaudy and pretentious and the one you had was always getting stuck in your clothes or your hair."

I smiled. "It looked so much better on you anyway, Precious."

He laughed. "You think so? Does that mean you'll buy me a diamond ring?"

"I'll buy you any kind of ring you want if you'll marry me."

His hands fell away. "What? Mary – that's not how this is supposed to go- I'm supposed to ask you and - I don't even have a ring-"

I silenced his protests with my lips. "I don't want a ring – diamond or otherwise. Just you."

He frowned. "I'm afraid I'm going to have to insist on the wedding bands – you have no idea how many men ask me 'is she seeing anyone'? I don't want to keep fielding those calls once we're married."

I scrunched up my face, pretending to be offended. "Oh, all right; it will keep the she-wolves from your door as well."

He snorted. "Like there are so many women pounding down my door – wait, was there a proposal in there? Are we really going to do this?"

I rolled my eyes and hit his shoulder. "You're such a girl. We don't have to do everything by the book, you know. Do I have to spell it out for you? You love me, I love you, and I asked you to marry me – if I'd waited for you to ask-"

"Hey! I would have asked – give me a second, will you! You just told me you loved me ten minutes ago! May I point out that you were engaged to another man this morning?"

"Try and keep up – that's water under the bridge now."

Marshall shook his head. "I'm dreaming. I have to be dreaming."

I looked at his Looney Tunes PJs and smiled. "Want me to tuck you back in?"

He tugged me to him. "I'm not going to get any sleep if you come in there with me."

I grinned. "Who said anything about sleep?"

He groaned. "What if I said I wanted to wait until our wedding night?"

I pulled back and looked at him in disbelief. "You can't be serious. Marshall, you've been in love with me for years. I nearly died two months ago and you could have died this afternoon. I don't want to wait."

He kissed me until both of us were breathless and when he pulled back I was surprised to see we were in his bedroom. "How?' I stammered.

"Magic."

I hit him again and he laughed. Watched as he lit a couple of candles and then joined me on the bed, sitting beside me and lacing our fingers together. "I'm sorry I ran off and left you standing there covered in blood," I shuddered and he pulled me to him. I rested my head on his shoulder. "Do you want to talk about what happened in there?"

He ran a hand through my hair. "Later. I'll tell you everything, but right now can I ask what happened with Raph?"

I sighed. "Did you know our kiss made the five o'clock news?"

He started and his hand fell from my hair. "No. Well, we'll have some explaining to do with Stan, won't we?"

I nodded. "Anyway, Raph showed me the teaser for the news story when I got home and things just unraveled from there. But I'd been thinking about things for weeks now – even before this process with the wedding coordinator started. You know, Raph kept bringing up his mother and what she wanted – and she was really the devil in the details – the catch in our wedding plans. He wanted to do everything to please her instead of me. And the more we planned, the more I realized he really didn't know me – and I realized you did. You're my devil."

Marshall's fingers tightened around mine as he laughed. "You're going to have to explain that one, Mer, because I'm afraid you've lost me."

"The devil in the details for me was you – you know my favorite color is ice blue, that I hate salmon, my weakness for red velvet cake, the fact that I won't wear a white dress, and so many more things about me-" I tilted my head up to look at him.

He flushed. "But that just comes from spending time with you-"

I shook my head. "No, Raph's spent time with me, too. The difference is I've let you in, Marshall. I haven't done that with any other man since my father – and I don't know how you got through my defenses."

"All I did was love you – and you let me."

Not able to resist any longer, I leaned up and nipped the pulse point of his neck. "And I love you."

He grabbed the sides of my head. "No more talking."

"Finally," I moaned in approval as he lowered me to the bed. "I take it we're not waiting for our wedding night?"

He grinned as he raised my arms over my head and wrapped my fingers through the posts of his headboard. "You fly in the face of tradition – why should we change course now?"

My body arced up to meet his as he began to rain kisses down my skin. Why indeed?

Ah, another way it SHOULD have ended. Reviews are LOVE!