Mary looked over at her partner. Eleanor and Stan were on the other side of the room, planning her wedding, but Marshall had secluded himself away from the others. She needed to talk to him. She crossed the room, coming up behind his turned back. "Hey, Marshall, can I talk to you for a minute."

Marshall took a second to compose his face, pretending to be happy for Mary was taking a lot out of him. Then he turned around, "Yea, of course Mary, what can I do for you?"

"I know you had your heart set on being my maid of honor, but I can't have you up there looking better in a dress than me, so that's out."

Marshall allowed a smile to cover his features. At least Mary hadn't changed, yet. "Darn."

Mary forced a smile onto her face, she needed to keep this next part light. In thirty years, she had built up a few calluses. When it came to her broken family, she could keep her composure under most any circumstances. This was the one that always got her. "I know this is a lot to ask, but…OK, when I was little, I actually wanted the whole white wedding thing-the dress, the cake- the whole nine yards. But after my dad left, I kind of gave up on that dream. I actually kind of came to hate that dream. When I ran off at sixteen for my first marriage, I skipped the whole traditional thing. I came to pretty much hate the idea of a normal wedding, because I knew I'd never have the whole package. I figured I can have the perfect dress, the perfect location, the four tier cake, and the perfect center piece, but I'll never have someone who loves me walk me down the aisle, so what's the point?" She tried to discreetly wipe the tears that were building in her eyes.

"What exactly are you asking me, Mary?" Marshall had a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach that he knew exactly what was coming. Marshall put his hands on Mary's shoulders, as much to steady himself as to comfort her.

"What you said, in the toast, you're the first person who's said that to me since my father that I actually believe means it. I was wondering if, maybe, if you would walk me down the aisle?" Mary averted her eyes. She could feel the tears there. She didn't want Marshall to see just how much this meant to her.

It took Marshall a moment to find his voice. "Mary, I'd be honored, really. Are you sure?" Marshall tried to keep the pain out of his voice, but he knew he was failing miserably. Marshall's last piece of hope shattered.

She kept her eyes averted, knowing the tears were still there, and that they were growing because Marshall had not given the right answer. She had been so sure that Marshall wouldn't let this opportunity slip away. She had had enough though. She had put her heart on the line, asking him to walk her down the aisle, and he was leaving her hanging. She broke his contact with her shoulders, pushing him back. ""No, I'm not sure, you idiot. You aren't supposed to feel honored, you're supposed to be pissed. What the hell is wrong with you? Are you blind? Were you really going to give me away to another guy?" Her voice came out with all the exasperation of a woman who'd waited too long for a man to make his move. Finally, she snapped; she was through waiting. "Ya know, I spent almost eighteen hours in that damn basement and you're the only person I wanted to see when I got out. I sat by your hospital bed after you were shot for hours waiting for your stupid ass to wake up. I love you, Marshall, I'm lost without you. You're the first person I talk to most mornings and the last person I see most nights. You're the only person whose phone calls I don't dodge and, lord knows, if anyone else had ever tried to talk to me about my father, I would have laid them out. What do you think has been going on for the least two years?" Mary finished her rant breathless.

Marshall was speechless. He looked around to notice that both Stan and Eleanor had stopped their discussion and were watching the two partners. He brought his eyes back to Mary's and asked the only question he could think of. "Then why are you marrying Raphael, and not me?"

Mary let her anger take her, answering honestly, "Because you didn't ask. I've been waiting for you to make a move for ages. I was so sure you would say something after you got shot; we were so close in that gas station. And then I got taken, I was terrified that they'd kill me and I'd never get to see you again. But you saved me, which I knew you would. I thought maybe that would be enough to force you to admit you had feelings for me, but then I had my breakdown. And we both know you're too much of a gentleman to even consider making a move on me in that state. But this year has been one bad situation after another. What has to happen for you to open your eyes?" She let out an aggravated sigh, running her hands through her hair. "I thought maybe at the diner, you'd speak up. But no, you hug me and say congratulations. And then they ask you to make the toast, and you say the most beautiful things I've ever heard, but still you don't have the balls to step to the plate. I thought maybe asking you to walk me down the aisle would be the final straw for you but still you can't be the one to make the first move. Jesus, do I have to do everything?"

And with that she leaned forward and kissed Marshall. She threw everything that had been building between them for the last two years into that kiss hoping that he would understand. Accepting Raph's proposal had been a rash mistake, she knew that now. She had been second guessing herself since she'd taken the ring. But the final piece of evidence that she and Raph weren't meant to be had clicked while she and Marshall had been sitting in that diner. He had asked her if she was happy, and she had been unable to meet his eyes. Being in love with her partner wasn't a revelation, she'd known for ages. But she'd been afraid of being the one to change things. It was obvious that Marshall felt the same way, so she figured she could count on him to make the first move. A year and a half later, and she would have been better off doing it herself back in that run down gas station. She couldn't marry Raph, not when she loved her partner, but she couldn't just ignore her feelings for Marshall any longer either.

So she had decided to present him with this golden opportunity. What better time to tell a girl you love her than when she asks you to give her away? She had thought that would be the last straw for Marshall. Sure, it was manipulative, and bitchy, and sneaky, and mean, but she'd been waiting a very long time and she didn't have the best track record with patience. And still, he hadn't told her not to do it. She pulled back now, searching her eyes, suddenly terrified that she had misread some signals along the way.

But it was all there in Marshall's eyes, the love, the desire, the embarrassment. "I don't know I kind of like it when you do that." He pulled her in this time, showing her he was fully capable of making the required moves. She was the one to pull away, again. He stopped her, wrapping his arms around her to keep her close. "I was afraid that if I said something, you'd turn tail and run as fast as you could in the other direction. I was determined to keep you in my life no matter what, even if it meant settling for just your partner. I'm sorry."

Mary's eyes softened. Now that she'd finally gotten to really kiss him, she didn't care who had started it, she was just happy to be in his arms. "It's okay. I mean, to be fair, I'm not the most approachable person when it comes to feelings. But we're on the same page now, right?" She wanted to be sure he understood what she was saying.

"You mean the page where you give Raph back that ring and tell him to move out? Or perhaps the one where you and I ditch this party to go have one of our own?" He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.

Mary let the first true smile she'd had in awhile fill her face. "Yeah, that would be the spread. I'll meet you at your place in an hour." She leaned in and kissed him again. Then she was out of his arms and at the door. Just before it closed, she turned around and leveled a look of pure joy at Marshall. "By the way, now I'm happy."