"You took my hand, you showed me how, you promised me you'd be around, yeah uh, that's right, if someone said three years from now, you'd be ,long gone I'd stand up and punch them out, cause they're all wrong, I know better, cause you said forever and ever, who knew?"

Who Knew?

-P!nk

His palms were sweaty, his heart heavy. Practically shaking, he stood at the altar, how could he have told Mary those things? How could he have been so harsh, so horrible, to a woman he had promised he'd always be there for? He promised her everything; he told her he wouldn't let her raise Norah alone. That all went down the drain. He had to admit, Abigail did have a right to be insecure, the their relationship he had with his fiancé was shaky and unorthodox, especially when he had Mary to tend to.

Marshall wiped the sweat from his brow, his attention so stretched and expanded he couldn't focus on a single thing related to his wedding, this ceremony felt disastrous and Abigail hadn't even walked down the aisle yet.

He forced a smile, he knew if he convinced himself this was the right road, and that there was no mistake in saying "I do", the rest would fall into place. Right? He would be married to a wonderful woman, they could have a spectacular family, but those thoughts weren't comforting, they brought him no joy. Did they ever bring him joy? Did the thought of sharing the rest of his life with Detective Abigail Chaffee ever really make him happy? Maybe once. A few times at the most, but the past couple of weeks had been hell. Between wedding planning and his new position, everything was just a little harder to handle. And it was all because he didn't have Mary.

He smirked, this time, it wasn't forced, but it wasn't because the wedding march had begun and Abigail was gliding closer and closer to him, her hair up in red bunches, her hands gripping the flowers so much so her knuckles were white. He was thinking about Mary, a usual occurrence in his jumbled brain these days. It wasn't that he didn't love his bride to be, there was just so much more to it. There was so much he couldn't explain. His relationship with Mary went deeper than the usual bickering banter they exchanged, it meant more, it was something they had, 'indescribable' he called it that day on the balcony and it was just that.

So why now was he trying to define "them"?

Abigail. That was the only reason, she wanted Mary out of the picture, and he spent days groveling about the ultimatum after he made it. He fell apart each day he watched Mary arrive, her eyes dull, their liveliness having been drained during that whole ordeal with her father. He was more than capable of bringing her around again, but he couldn't, he wasn't even married yet and he made the ultimate sacrifice- his best friend.

The most horrid thing of all was that night at the bar. He had hoped he would be disappointed, that she wouldn't taste so sweet on his lips, but she did. He had actually convinced himself that he did in fact love her like a best friend, that strong bond that couldn't be broken. Well, the bond was ripped apart, to shreds really. Whether, before the kiss, after the kiss, he couldn't figure it out. It had been on his mind for days now, but he knew, he had definitely set any savable bits of their relationship aflame when he handed her that picture.

He didn't want to. The guilt from that dreaded night, that night he could have shamelessly went all the way out of drunken lust that had built up within him for so long, practically forced him to do it.

What had happened to him? When did he suddenly start fearing life? When did he just give up and into everything which was adult and right to do? He didn't want to wait forever for Mary that was why, but this- this was ridiculous. He worked with her, he loved her. Just because he married Abigail, he wouldn't stop loving Mary, what the hell was he doing? He was doing exactly what his former partner had done for years on end- running away from the right feelings.

If he had had a choice it would be on his desk, right beside that photograph of him and Abigail.

If he had had a choice it would be somewhere safe in his possession, but he knew, when the thunder rumbled and the lightning struck in his fiancés eyes, it was all he could do. Give the picture up, to the only one who could safely appreciate the picture.

He stood there, awaiting Abigail's arrival, as he wiped the thoughts from his mind, but as she was just inches from him, her father lifting her veil, his heart began to ache. It sounded horribly cheesy, and he hoped it was just a bout of badly timed indigestion, but it wasn't. He was more distraught about his wedding than he was hopeful, he no longer yearned for the stability of marriage, he didn't want the boring everything normal that he though he wanted.

Marshall wanted the irrevocable love that was his love for Mary to blossom; he wanted a chance to have it all with the woman he's loved for nearly a decade.

Abigail looked at him, her smile wide. He didn't smile back. He couldn't what was there to smile back for? He loved her, that was true, but not the way he wanted to love her, not the way he loved Mary. He loved Mary in the 'oh you want to move to New York City. Let's go tomorrow.' Kind of way, the 'no honey, I'll be late to work to give the baby a bath', Abigail was just… 'Don't worry honey I'll feed the dog after my run this morning.".

He reached up, to touch her face,

"Abby." He whispered, "I'm not sure…"

"Marshall?" she furrowed her brow.

"This isn't… right." He admitted, breaking his eye contact.

"What are you?-

"Come here." He pulled her aside, nodding to all the confused looks in the crowd, "I can't do this. I love you." He said this fiercely, because he knew he was well on her way to misunderstanding.

"What are you doing?" she questioned angrily.

"I kissed Mary, at my bachelor party- we had too much to drink, I thought it meant nothing, I thought it was just the alcohol sloshing about in my stomach that had me believing that she was more than just my best friend, but it wasn't… it wasn't"

She pulled him into the back room of the church, feet away,

"Excuse me?" she screeched.

"I'm sorry. I am. But this wedding, it just seems like a gigantic jump, significantly in the wrong direction. Not that I don't like 'us', I love 'us', but I don't want you to slide this band on my finger without you knowing what I've done, How horrible I feel about how right it felt for me."

"Marshall, spit out whatever you're trying to say!"

"This isn't the answer, our relationship will not change, marriage won't make 'us' right, in fact it will just-

"Make you love Mary more."

She had said it. Not him. She had broken her own heart with the words he had specifically been trying to jump around, not him.

He let go of her hands.

"You can leave." He stated.

He cringed as he told another woman he loved to 'leave' today.

Everyone had already begun to leave. He supposed they could have waited; they could have cleared out themselves and saved Marshall the embarrassment of telling everyone they had called it off. Well, he had called it off.

He took the rest of that weekend, to sulk, in a motel room, lying atop the covers of the unsanitary sheets, wondering if he had actually done the right thing, this could quite possibly render to be the worst decision of his entire life.

He didn't actually build up the courage to tell Mary until he walked through the door of the Sunshine Building. All of his promises lied within the confines of the WITSEC Office, he had promised her forever so many times within those walls it was only logical this is where he promised it again. And meant it.

Marshall didn't know much when he walked out of that church, through the front doors, still sporting his rented tuxedo. But, as he laid there, explaining the ordeal to his half-asleep former partner, he couldn't help but realize, he had made the right choice stepping out of that church….

(Okie dokie, this is poor, I apologize, but someone "asked" for a Marshall P.O.V. when he left the wedding- so I took this opportunity to kill two birds with one stone and do the Who Knew? Songfic…. Sorry, hope it's believable! 3 ENJOY! I appreciate reviews!)