A/N: I am not good at declarations of love and mushy stuff like that but I tried. If writing this has taught me one thing it's that if I ever get married I'm happy to go with traditional vows because good lord writing them is HARD. Anyway. Standard disclaimer, not my characters or story but by god do I love 'em.
Take a deep breath. This is it. After all the months of planning, the fighting with her mother over details, the reassuring her family that yes, this was what she wanted and yes, she was indescribably happy with the way her life was going. After the year of bliss that had started to descend into impatience until the question was finally asked (she could deny it to the world all she wanted but it turned out that, deep down, she was her mother's daughter after all). After the chaos and confusion of their beginning, riddled with drama, distress and endless misunderstandings that neither of them liked to dwell on. Everything they had been through had led up to this moment, and when she stepped through those doors it would be the last time she ever entered a room as Miss Elizabeth Bennet. She exchanged a tearful smile with her father and took his proffered arm. Squaring her shoulders, she took the first step toward the rest of her life. She was ready.
As Mr Bennet guided her into the room, her eyes immediately sought out the back of his head with laser-like precision. She could read him perfectly now without even seeing his face – his shoulders were tense and she could tell his chin was dangerously close to disappearing into his neck. He was nervous, and yet he stood with a confident air that Past Lizzie would have written off as arrogance or snobbery, but she knew better now. She noticed Fitz leaning over to whisper something in William's ear, and he turned to look at her. As soon as they locked eyes there was nothing else in the room that mattered. He wasn't even trying to rein in his emotions, or he couldn't, she didn't care. All she cared about was that he looked as happy and excited and nervous and totally, completely, and wonderfully in love as she felt. She wanted to kick off her heels and run into his arms, ceremony be damned, but she knew her mother would have a fit. Besides, her dress wasn't exactly engineered for sprinting.
When she finally (finally!) reached the altar, she was practically jumping with anticipation, but she did her best to appear dignified for the time being. Passing her bouquet to Jane, she smiled at her four bridesmaids – two sisters, one best friend/almost sister and one sister to be – before turning to take William's hands and become his wife.
She could barely concentrate on the minister's words as he talked about sacred bonds and lifelong commitments. She had heard all of that when he had met with them to talk about marriage last month, and right now she was focused on her very soon-to-be husband. She wouldn't take her eyes off him, wanting to share every moment of the day with him and worried she might miss a quirk of his mouth or a crinkle at the corners of his eyes. Staring into those beautiful eyes, she almost didn't notice when it was time to read each other their own written vows. They'd kept them secret from each other until now, so not knowing what to expect, she opened her ears and concentrated.
"Lizzie," he began with an intense look in his eye, "I promise for the rest of our lives that every day I will be amazed by you. Your intelligence, your sense of humour, your beauty and your fine eyes will always keep me captivated. No matter how many books you get, or how many times we move, I promise to always carry them all. Every time. I promise to always take care of you, to comfort you when you need comfort, and protect you when you need protection. I promise that I will never stop trying to be the man that is worthy of you, and even if I never make it I will do the best that I can. But most of all, Lizzie, I promise to always appreciate the difference you have made in my life. You truly are illuminating, Lizzie Bennet, and I love you."
Lizzie bit the inside of her cheeks. She wanted to both laugh and cry and she didn't know which would come out first. Running her thumbs across the backs of his large hands, she let a breath of laughter escape and brought a hand to her mouth as her eyes filled up. A quick glance around the room told her she was far from alone, although the words meant so much less to anyone else than they did to her. Her turn. She took another deep breath and looked back into his face.
"William. I wouldn't have believed when we first met that this is where we'd end up, but let me tell you I wouldn't have it any other way. And from now on, I swear I will always treat you with respect, kindness and appreciation. I will tell you when you're working too hard and I'll always try to even that out with some silliness – newsie cap optional. Wherever we go, I'll be there, holding your hand and telling you 'I love you'. Because I do, William Darcy, and I can't wait to see how the rest of our story goes. Let's make it… illuminating."
They both laughed at that. If they hadn't known they were made for each other, they did now. They pushed their matching rings onto one another's fingers, eager to have them on so that they could never take them off again. Grasping hands once more, both immediately felt for the cool band on the other, smiling at the foreign but by no means unpleasant additions. At long last, the magic words were uttered.
"I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride."
It was more invitation than William needed. Their lips met, and it was like their first kiss all over again. His hands on her waist, hers on the back of his neck, it was new and exciting yet comforting and familiar. It was perfect. The applause of their friends and family rang out around them and they turned to begin their procession out. Exchanging smiles, they stole another brief kiss before taking their first steps as Mr and Mrs Darcy. Yes, they were definitely going to enjoy this.