"Lookin' good, Birdman!" Dallas says (he still calls me that), slapping my shoulder blade roughly as Luke adjusts my pocket handkerchief in my tuxedo jacket. I flash Dallas a smile nervously. We're in a room of a really nice church that Maya says she likes. The room is probably for little kids, all decorated with numbers and letters and cartoons of biblical figures. But at least there's a mirror, and it's bigger than the men's washroom. Luke finishes adjusting my jacket and steps back.
"We ready?" Luke asks, catching my eyes in the mirror.
"We have like fifteen minutes before he's gotta be out there." Justin, my brother, says from the back of the room, messing with the stuff on bookshelves.
I turn from the mirror and face them. My groomsmen. That whole title makes them sound really stupid, but they were a lot. They pulled me through all the shit and struggles I've had. "Guys, I'm nervous." I say, my head turning to the floor.
"Trust me, Maya's ten times more nervous than you." Jake says, slipping his iPhone into his pants' pocket.
"How'd you know?" I say. I swear I'm sweating buckets now.
"Well, first of all, Katie nearly threw up on our wedding day, and if they came from the same blood, Maya's proabably going to do the same. And Katie just texted me that Maya's fancy-shmancy dress isn't zipping right." Jake says, laughing a little at the fact that Katie had to text him that.
"Really? I went to the dress fitting last week..." Tristan says, titlting his head slightly.
"It'll all work out, little man. Now, I suggest we get out of this room because it's making me uncomfortable." Justin says to me. Everyone laughs and I manage to chuckle slightly. We walk out to the hall and sit on the benches that rest against the wall. This wing of the church was empty. Everyone was piling up in the altar or Maya's bridesmaid's were helping her get ready or whatever. All the guys text their wives, well, not Tristan, but he was still dealing with the pale pink rose in his suit jacket. Dallas, I assume is texting Alli that we won't be long, Jake texting Katie to do the same, Zig texting Tori. I'm so glad Zig and I made up. I already have enough crazy hockey fans hating on me on my bad days. But today is a good day. Today I am marrying my one-and-only, the girl of my dreams, my best friend. Maya Matlin. It feels like just yesterday I asked her. It's been a year.
"Where are you taking me, Cheesy?" Maya said, craning her head every-which way as she looked through the window of our car.
Yeah, it was our car. We had lived together for about three or four months in a really nice house in a somewhat-urban-yet-somehow-still-suburban develpment.
"Now that, I'm not telling you." I said, moving one hand to Maya's. She smiled at me and looked back out the window. After a minute or two, she turned on the built-in stereo onto a Train album we both like. I set up the song "Drops of Jupiter" to play first. It was 'our song' as she called it.
"Aww, Cam! It's our song!" She said giddily, fiddling with her scarf. I told her to dress warm for today. She quietly sang along with the lyrics, and I smiled at her. Eventually, "Marry Me" was on. Perfect. I turn the car into a rather-full parking lot to the place I was going to ask her. The Toronto Public Ice Rink & Arena, the place I taught her to skate for the first time, back when I was in Grade 12 and she was in 11. We had gone back a lot of times, but most of the time, she was at university, or I was at hockey practice. The NHL really doesn't kid around with practices. . .
"Close your eyes." I said, before Maya had the time to realize where we were.
"Okay. . ." She said, closing her blue eyes and placing one hand over them. I stopped the car and get out and walked to the passenger's side to retrieve Maya. I took her hand and lead her to the entrance of the building. I took her wrist in my hand and I lowered her hand to reveal our destination. She smiled and looked at me. "You know I suck at skating, Cam." She said.
"I promise I'll hold your hand the whole time." I said back, lacing my fingers in her's. We walked to the counter to get skates. As much as I hated renting skates, I did it anyway. I quickly slipped mine on and helped Maya into her's. We walked to the ice and Maya hesitated. I took out my hand and she grabbed it. She struggled to stay on her feet, stumbling a lot, but I was there to hold her up. I ended up holding her waist the whole time, and she eventually got it.
"This is fun, Cam." She said, eyes focused on the ground. Her cluelessness made me smile. We eventually made it to the centre of the ice.
"I'm glad." I said, squeezing her waist with one arm to distract her from what I was doing with my other hand. Checking for the ring in my coat pocket. It was there, thank God. Dallas and Luke helped me pick it out two weeks before.
"I have a question, Maya." I said, probably sounding like a nervous mess.
"What?" Maya said, stumbling a little. I held her up for her to catch her balance and I let go of her. I turned swiftly on my skates to face her, and I knealt down and reached into my coat pocket. I took out the box and nearly everyone in the rink (which was quite a lot of people) turned to us.
"Marry me?" I say, looking up at her perfect face, staring into her royal blue eyes.
"Cam. . ." She says, smiling nervously, her dimples showing.
"Maya Matlin, I love you. You are the girl of my dreams, the sweetest person I've ever met, the most beautiful person in the world, and my one-and-only. So please, say you will?" I said, idling with the box, and finally opening it to reveal a gold-banded ring with a single diamond.
Maya wiped a single tear with an index finger and smiled. "Of course I will, Cheesy." She said, and laughed lightly. I smiled and let out a laugh of relief. I got back up on both feet, and slipped the ring on her finger. People around us 'Aww'd and some even clapped and cheered. Maya looked around and laughed.
"You see that one diamond? That's you. You're my only one." I said, resting my forehead against her's. I tilted my head and kissed her on the lips. We continued to skate for a while and ended up spending nearly the rest of the day wandering around Dowtown Toronto and going to Queen Street West. We even stopped by Degrassi to reminisce. It was one of my favourite days with her yet.
"'Kay we better get going, Cam. Katie just texted me saying they're all set. Let's go." Jake says to us, getting off the bench. I look up and compose myself. We all walk up to the altar door, and I look out to everyone. I see so many people, lots that I don't even know. Maya's extended family, I guess. I walk up to the platform where the string quartet (which is apparently Maya's orchestra friends) is, and I stand. The strings start to play and the guys came up with their other halves. First, Jake with Katie, then Dallas with Alli, Zig with Tori, Justin with his wife, Tristan with one of Maya's cousins (I'd met her before), and they all stand at their places at the platform. Then came Natalie Dallas (Dallas and Alli's two-and-a-half-year-old daughter) as the flower girl. And not to forget, Jackson Martin (Jake and Katie's three-year-old) with the pillow twith the ring attached to it. Jake and Dallas pat my shoulder as Maya walks down with Mr. Matlin, wearing a long, poufy dress and her blond curls flowing to her shoulders. I smile at her beauty. Maya lets go of Mr. Matlin's arm and he nods at me. I smile in return. I take Maya's hands and listen to the built-in vows the pastor had repeated a million times in every other wedding. Maya didn't know, but I made my own vows to share with her. I stop the ceremony and say "How about I share my own?" I take out a crumpled paper from my pants' pocket.
"Hey, Maya," I say first. That got everyone to laugh. "I really, really like you. A lot. I love you, Maya. You stole my heart the second I saw you and I knew you were mine, my one-and-only, from the first date. You're really special, Maya. You're really something and you have a bigger place in my heart than my old dog back in Kapuskasing," Everyone laughed again, "So Maya, Maya Matlin, I need you to be mine. I need you to be my Maya Saunders." I say, and heave out a breath. "So. Say you will?"
Maya smiles nervously and looks to the pastor. He nods, as if to say, Yes, that was legal, now just say 'I do'.
"I will, Campbell. I do." She says. We both look to the pastor in a moment of silence.
"Well, kiss your bride, kid!" He says. I smile and put one hand at Maya's back and the other at her neck and lean her down and kiss her. We come back up and I lace my fingers in her's. I whisper into Maya's ear, "Best day ever."
I wrote the first part, the flashback, and a sentence or two of the last section all before Bitter Sweet Symphony P2 (like seriously I was here writing til 8:55, then went up and watched Part 2 and a little bit of MuchTalks, came back to write at 9:45). I wanted to write more, but, man, I was pretty shaken after Cam's death. I mean, yeah, I knew it was gonna happen, but Maya's reaction at the vigil, like woah... I just need to say that suicide is never the answer, and if you ever need to talk to someone, find help. But in this, Cam lives, and he never attempted it. (Oh, and btw: What did Cam do, even? He killed himself in the greenhouse and Dave said his head was in something, I'm just confused. And OMG ECLARE IS GOIN TO THAA NEXT LEVELLL! Ohh my gahh.) And I also need to say, updating might be a little off for Here To Stay because I had an audition about two and a half weeks a go, and I didn't think I was getting the part, but I did, so know I have a mildly intense Dancing role in a new production and I have SO MUCH PRACTICE. But it's worth it. And I just need to say again, that if you ever need to talk to someone about issues and life, MuchMusic's site has a hotline on it, call it if you ever need help. And, as always (yeah shut up my A/Ns are too long, I know.), I hope you loved, loved, loved this! Probably the only Camaya fic I'll ever do, since y'know... the circumstances. (So sad :'(!) Fave if you loved it, and REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW! Love y'all! xxx