who was i to make you wait?
Characters: Gray Fullbuster, Lyon Vastia, Ultear Milkovich, Sherry Blendy, Jura Neekis
Summary: Hopefully it won't be too late.
Dedication: For Jackie because I made her 'kinda' ship it.
The punch sent him staggering backwards and as he felt blood running down from his nose, he idly wondered if this would leave a stain. (It would.) But rather than punching back, he raised his head and looked at his little brother.
"What do you want."
No question, just boredom.
"You let her marry that guy."
"It's what she wants. Everyone told me to do hat's best for her. You told me that. I let her marry the guy she wants to marry and now, you punch me?" Lyon Vastia snapped, searching for a handkerchief. He had never understood Gray and he did not think that he ever would either.
"You are not doing what's best for her, you are doing what is the most comfortable for you! Coward," Gray hissed, running a hand through his black hair in frustration. He, too, had never understood his brother and he, too, would never understand him either.
"Don't call me a coward. I saw her picking out the dress. She looked happy. So why would I ruin that for her? I am not that selfish, Gray," the older one said, stepping away and looking at his wristwatch. "It's too late, anyway. The ceremony starts soon."
"I have Ultear waiting in the car and Juvia waiting in the curch. One word from you and we can stop this wedding for long enough to get there," the black-haired man sighed, wondering (not for the first time) why he was doing this for his brother. The answer is ridiculously easy: because Lyon would do the same for him.
"Why would I stop her wedding?"
"Because you love her."
His brother's words shook him to the bone because damn, this had never been meant to happen and he did not want to face this thought because he has been running from it for so long and he had been so successful and - shit, he did love her.
But he loved her enough to let go, to let her choose her own happiness even if it meant to sacrifice his own. He had done this before, had let go of Juvia and let her choose Gray over him. He had survived it once. He could survive it again.
But this was about Sherry, amazing and bubbly Sherry. The one with a tongue sharp as a sword when someone insulted her or her friends and a voice like a song. Sherry had always been everything and she would continue being everything. She still was the outcast with her ripped up black jeans although she had been wearing pencil skirts for nearly half a decade now. She was still the wide-eyed girl that laughed at his stupid jokes and who believed in him far more than he could ever believe in himself. Sherry who had always had a heart bigger than herself and who would never ever abandon a friend in need - or not. Sherry who was so much smarter than people gave her credit for. Fuck.
"Mom is going to murder me for this," he groaned as he nearly tore out his silver hair.
"Let's blame it all on Ultear," Gray smiled, patting his brother's shoulder. "Plus, she always says that we gotta speak up and stuff. Yell out what we wanna say – being brave. Let's go then."
"I fear that she will not be happy at all," Lyon said as he nearly ran down the stairs, his heart beating hard against his ribcage. "This is not like standing up to a bully, this is wittingly trying to ruin a wedding, she will murder me. Perhaps you too.
"At least I will get to annoy you a little more, then."
"Urgh."
Their sister's car came in sight, Ultear behind the steering wheel snapping her phone shut as they get in. "Called Juvia," she said as she started the engine. "She's going to step onto Sherry's trail. That should buy us the necessary minutes. But seriously, Lyon, you could have come around a little earlier - or do you want the big confrontation?"
"Perhaps?"
"You are crazy," the woman groaned, her purple-black hair slipping off her shoulder. "Let's go."
And so they raced through town, Gray desperately attempting to straighten his own tie after loosing it on his way to Lyon's apartment. Trice. Lyon's mind was weirdly calm for a man who was about to crash a wedding. Then again, the only things he had to lose were his life and his dignity. Ultear was silent but she had never been one to share her feelings with the rest of the world and if she were to share, then hardly with her brothers but probably with her mother or with Meredy, the little girl who followed her everywhere.
"We are here," Ultear said, getting out of her car and smoothing out wrinkles in her crimson dress. "Well, Lyon, your very last chance to back down. Once we are in there, I won't let you leave unless you confess."
"It's okay, 'Tear," Gray said, patting her shoulder. "He won't be a coward now. Let's go."
And although Lyon felt like a lamb led to its slaughter in a way, he walked ahead of his siblings and straight into the cathedral. This was madness and he knew it. But backing out was impossible. Ultear and Gray would never let him live that down. So he had to get through with it, no matter how much he wished for it to be obsolete.
And he was just in time.
"If any person here can show cause why these two people should not be joined in holy matrimony, speak now or forever hold your peace," the priest said just as the doors closed behind Gray and Lyon looked over his shoulder, looked at Ultear who gave him a thumbs-up.
"I object!" he said and silence reigned.
Everyone was there.
His old friend and Sherry's foster brother from old days Jura was towering over the crowd, his eyes holding either dismay or amusement (it was hard to say with him sometimes). Gray's friends were there, of course. Natsu looked just as much as a fool as always, his mouth agape and disbelief in his eyes. Lucy looked shocked and as if she wanted to leave her lace to kick him where it hurt for interrupting the wedding. Erza did not look much different, only that she seemed to have designs on hurting him for taking so long (she would never hurting someone for dramatically interrupting a wedding, having dreamed of seeing this sight many times before). Thankfully, his mother was not there, right, he remembered Ur saying something about being out of town for a while, something about meeting old friends.
But he was not scared, not anymore.
His eyes were fixed on Sherry who had turned around at his sudden exclamation, her face unreadable behind her veil. Shit. He had no idea on how to proceed from there. This was not some sappy movie after all and Sherry was not some heroine who could be won over with a simple confession. He had to open up his mouth and let it out, or so it seemed.
He could not surrender to fear now. He had to tune out the whispers ("I think he's the bride's ex or something." "No, her best friend." "She liked him all the time in school." "And he interrupts her wedding now?" "What a man!") and to focus on his heart because this was all he could do now.
"I wish I was a better person," he muttered and heard how Gray slapped himself, obviously frustrated once again. "I wish I was a kinder person, too. More like you, Sherry. Because you … you love and you love and you love. You have such a huge heart and no matter what you do, you do it for love and you are always content with what you do because you do it with the best intentions. This is something many, including me, envy you for."
"He is messing it up," he heard Ultear muttered somewhere behind him. "That's it. Goddammit, Lyon, just spit it out. She isn't going to eat you. Mom might, though."
"I wish … I was not this cold and practical all the time. It has to be nice to be able to embrace things, never holding back. It surely makes one more vulnerable but it makes you more honest, too," he went on, biting his lip. "But as you know, I am a coward, especially when it comes to myself and to how others see me. I have gotten very talented at keeping up a mask, haven't I? But I am done pretending. I am no perfect man, no super hero to save the day. You know this by now. You know what I am like, right? But you stayed. Always."
"Just say it, Lyon," Ultear hissed, now right behind him, her fingernails digging into his shoulder.
"And while I have been a fool and probably don't deserve this-"
"Damn straight, you don't!"
"Oh, shut up, Dragneel," he sighed. "Anyway, I do care. And I do love you."
(Thankfully, Lucy's glare kept Natsu from saying anything embarrassing.)
Lyon looked down. He had said his piece, had opened up and now, he had to face the judgement. He was unsure as of how Sherry would take this. She was one of the very few persons he did not understand because she thought so differently than him. She thought with her heart, he judged solely with his head. He still hoped that they would be okay afterwards.
The bouquet of roses in his face answered this question; she was furious.
"Lyon Vastia, you goddamn bastard," she hissed, stalking towards him and picking up the bouquet, before straightened her spine and doing her best to tower over him. (Even with heels, this was a pointless thing to try.) "You show up to my wedding half an hour late with the most stupid, most heartfelt confession ever and you - what do you even expect now? That I throw myself into your arms and we run off into the proverbial sunset?"
"Uh, yes?"
The slap did not hit his face. Jura had stepped in, holding her wrist and shaking his head sagely.
"Let go, Jura," she said softly, trying to free her arm but her struggle was in vain. "Jura, for all that's love, I beg you to release my arm, now."
"I will not," he said as he sighed deeply. "Sherry, stop this. You are hurting yourself."
Behind her veil, her face contorted into a mask of anger and sadness and bitterness because she had heard the silent 'again' just as loudly as Lyon had heard it. "Jura, you promised," she whispered as she looked up to him. "You promised to let me do this."
"Not when it hurts you, Sherry. Never when it hurts you," he said before turning his head and smiling thinly at the man in black who stood frozen behind the altar. "I, dear priest, have objections as well. Mine may be not as fancy as my friend's but … I will not stand for this wedding."
Sherry's face was one of a woman who had been backstabbed, twice. "You … I hate you!" she hissed under tears. "You are my brother, Jura, you are not supposed to humiliate me like this!" she cried out before she rushed out of the cathedral.
"She is madder at me than at you, Lyon," Jura muttered with a sigh. "Use that."
"Thanks, man," Lyon sighed as he followed the fuming bride and found her on the stairs before the sacred building. "Uh, Sherry, I am sorry," he said as he sat down behind her.
"You should be," she snapped. "You - why did you do this to me?"
"Because I'm a selfish bastard?" he suggested with a smile.
"That you are indeed," she muttered, ripping off her veil and cradling her head in her hands. "Jura and you both, what were you thinking? Well, I know what he was thinking. But you? Were those words even true?" she added bitterly. "Who am I kidding, they aren't."
"They were," he said, carefully resting his hand on her shoulder. "You know that I am not some perfect Prince Charming. I have screwed up quite a few times, nearly got my mom killed once as you may remember. But I never ever meant to hurt you. I am a fool and I do things I am not proud of but … I wanna learn to be a better person. Someone more … more like you."
She was silent and he went on.
"Look, you probably want me to leave so … well, before I fulfil that wish … you are a amazing woman. That's something I should have said years ago, I know. You make me want to be a better person than I am. Thank you for being such an inspiration."
And now he would leave her alone and somewhere in the next twenty years, he might learn how to live with the guilt of having ruined her life.
"Don't leave," she said. "I, uh, I cannot go back there. I cannot face all those people."
"Shall I take you home. Although, I came with Ultear and she seems to be still inside, probably trying to calm the people," he said as he rose to his feet. "How about we hail a taxi and get you out of that dress and what some movies."
"Like the Runaway Bride?" she snorted as she got up and grabbed his hand. "Perhaps it was for the better," she mused aloud. "Jura … he never does things without a reason, no?"
"He would never allow you to get hurt, no," he confirmed as they took up walking. "You are his sister. I wouldn't want you to get hurt either. I didn't want to do this either. Gray and Ultear kind of talked me into this. So, uh, sorry for ruining your day."
"You have done worse before."
"Ahaha, sorry," he muttered, a little insecure. "We can take my car and drive to the sea, too," he then suggested. "Some sudden vacation … me making up for your ruined wedding."
"That would be nice. I think I like this."