Year 21: Bells

Kelsi paced up and down the hall of the Evans' house in a pair of jeans and a tshirt, shushing her four month old son, Jayden. Ryan had gone for his stag night with Troy and Chad the night before, so the house was now strictly a girls-only area. It was Christmas Eve. She and Ryan had wanted to get married on Christmas Day, but there were no churches willing to let them, so they settled for the next best thing. As Jayden continued to wail, Kelsi sighed.
"Shh baby you need to sleep, mommy has to get ready..." She whispered into his ear, bouncing him up and down in an attempt at getting him to fall asleep. Coming out of one of the rooms, Gabriella, already in her bridesmaids dress quickly rushed over and took Jayden from her. "Gabriella, I can do it, I just--"
"No, I'll take care of Jayden and Natalie, you need to start getting ready!" Scolded Gabriella. "Sharpay's ready to do your hair and Taylors got the makeup brush armed and ready."
"But..."
"No buts, seriously." Smiled Gabriella, putting her hands on Kelsi's shoulders. "The twins are fine, they just want their mommy to start getting ready for her wedding." Kelsi nodded, rubbing her eyes. The stress was getting to her, and part of her would be happy when this day was over.
"Thanks." She said, quickly giving Jayden a peck on the forehead, before going to find Taylor and Sharpay."

Ryan meanwhile, was wondering around Chad's apartment, muttering and groaning to himself.
"Chad, I'm actually going to kill you for letting me drink so much..." He muttered, reaching out for the Tylenol that had been put in front of him.
"Hey, what else is the best man for?" Joked Chad. "Besides, we're 21, it's legal! That was more than enough reason to go on a trip around all the bars in Albuquerque."
"You do realise if Taylor finds out how drunk you got Ryan she will actually murder you, right?" Said Troy, raising an eyebrow. "Some of us know when enough is enough."
"Some of us." Chad smirked, looking at Troy. "Are under the thumb of our girlfriends."
"Oh please, like you're not! Taylor has you wrapped around her little fi--"
"Guys can you like...do this later at the reception or something? Where's my suit..." Muttered Ryan, holding his head. "And when will the room stop spinning?" Chad looked at Troy in a panic, not remembering where he had left the rings, or Ryan's suit. Troy rolled his eyes.
"See this is why Ryan needed me to be second best man, you're an idiot." He joked, turning to Ryan. "Suits hanging in Chad's room. Chad, the rings are in my pocket." Chad muttered something about Troy, but Ryan didn't hear him, heading towards the bedroom.

"Kelsi, stop turning your head!" Scolded Taylor, who stopped in the middle of applying eyeshadow.
"For once I'm going to agree with Taylor, keep still!" Said Sharpay, holding up Kelsi's hair, ready to twist into a bun.
"I'm sorry! I'm just nervous! And I keep having to look at the twins..." She whined, looking over to her left again where Gabriella was busy keeping them occupied. Neither Jayden and Natalie had wanted their naps in the end, so Gabriella was busy dressing them in their little outfits.
"Gabriella, take them out of the room or this is never going to get done." Said Taylor.
"Nono I promise, I'll be good." Said Kelsi, focusing on the mirror. She stared into it, still not believing that this was really her wedding day. "....I'm not going to be a good wife."
"You're talking crazy." Said Taylor. "You and Ryan have been best friends for 20 years, give or take a year or so. There is no way you're going to disappoint him."
"But what if he regrets getting married so young! What if he regrets Jayden and Natalie and ends up leaving us for someone more interesting."
"Oh Kelsi, stop it!" Snapped Sharpay, her former bossiness quickly resurfacing. "Ryan adores you, and you love him back, so stop being so stupid! There's no way he's going to leave you, I don't think he'd be able to function without you."
"Wow...that almost sounded kind..." Muttered Gabriella. Sharpay shot her a look, and Gabriella smirked. "Just kidding. But Sharpay's right. He pretty much worships the ground you walk on." Kelsi sighed, the butterflies still flying around her stomach.
"Thanks....Good to know I have three wise bridesmaids." She said, and Taylor shrugged.
"Better than any three wise men." She suggested, before pointing to the mirror. "Okay Kels, I think you're ready."

Troy found Ryan sitting in Chad's bedroom, just staring into space. He'd changed into his suit, but the jacket lay on the bed.
"Hey...you okay?" Asked Troy, and Ryan jumped. "Sorry, didn't mean to scare you, just thought you might have been eaten or something." He shook his head.
"....This is like....really big." Was all Ryan managed to get out.
"What is?"
"Getting married. It just...makes everything so...official."
"...Please tell me you're kidding? Ryan, you and Kelsi have two kids together. You can't get much more official than that." Laughed Troy.
"No I just mean...Me and her'll officially....yknow....She'll be an Evans. She'll have that part always linking her to me. She'll actually be my family, not just my friend." Troy smiled.
"That a good feeling?" He asked, and Ryan nodded.
"Yeah it's an...amazing feeling. I'd recommend it. Better than...any drug or any amount of alcohol."
"Well I'll remember that tonight at the reception." Ryan looked at Troy, confused. "Well...it's not just yours and Kelsi's ring I'm keeping a hold of." Ryan gasped.
"You're proposing to Gabi?" Troy blushed, and nodded. "She isn't....yknow....pregnant, right?"
"No, no way. We're not even thinking about kids until we're both earning money and paid off any debts from college and bought our own place. Not that it's bad you and Kelsi didn't wait, you've got your parents. And I mean....if she wants to wait until after college to get actually married I don't mind...."
"You're as mushy over relationship stuff as I am." Ryan laughed. "Come on, Chad'll wonder where we are."
"Yeah sure. I've just got one thing I wanna ask you to do..."

Hours later, and the church was full. Ryan stood silently at the front, Chad standing next to him reassuring him that Kelsi was indeed going to turn up. Kelsi and Ryan's moms had taken the twins ahead with them to the church, leaving Gabriella, Taylor and Sharpay to deal with Kelsi's final freak out in the car on the way to the church.
"I don't have anyone to give me away!" She suddenly realised. "Oh my god, how can I have forgotten something like that! I mean...with studying, and exams, and calling the caterer and the photographer, and the florist, and then the caterer cancelling on me..."
"Kelsi, breathe. Don't make me slap you." Warned Gabriella. "The flowers are fine, I checked them at the last minute this morning. I called Zeke and he said he and his friends from college had the catering covered, so it's fine. The photographers already there. Everything is fine. And you don't need someone to give you away.
"No I do! Everyone else does!" Said Kelsi, as the car pulled up to the church. "No I can't do this we'll just have to...call it off!"
"Kelsi, seriously, breathe. Please." Said Taylor. Sharpay finished fiddling with a loose piece of Kelsi's hair, then checked that the gold tiara that finished off the wedding dress was on straight. Just then, the door to the car opened.
"Come on Kelsi, you don't wanna keep Ryan waiting." Smiled Troy. Kelsi shook her head.
"I don't have anyone to give me away, I can't--"
"Why else do you think I'm here." Smiled Troy, helping her out of the car.
"YOU?!" Said Taylor. "But...You're not her dad!"
"Ryan asked me to do it. He said you'd never have come out of your shell as much as you did if it wasn't for me and Gabriella doing the show. He figured that if anyone was going to hand her over to married life, it should be me." He gave Kelsi a quick hug. "That alright with you?" Kelsi nodded, tears of joy threatening to spill.

The wedding ran perfectly, with no hitches, with Chad even remembering the rings. To top things off, as they stepped outside to take the official wedding photos and the church bells rung, it started to snow. There wasn't anything else that could make the day anymore perfect.