Hey everybody =) I don't have much to say about this installment, except I wrote it in a bit of a haste and I haven't read through it more than once so I hope it's in okay shape. Hope you'll enjoy the read!
Blair almost skipped inside St. Patrick's Cathedral on the twentieth of December, squeezing Chuck's hand tightly before clapping her hands with excitement. He chuckled at her exhilaration and even had to admit to himself that the cathedral looked rather nice in anticipation for the big holiday coming up. It would look even nicer with the candles and the floral arrangements Blair had decided upon for the wedding.
He could see Father Matt over by the altar, speaking to the deacon, and he spotted Harold at the far end, giving Roman a tour. Seeing the man who would be his father-in-law in just two days made it all seem more real. For the first time he started to feel a bit nervous. He cast a glance at Blair, who was so excited she was practically vibrating.
"Finally!" she beamed.
"Yes, good thing we don't have to wait any longer to rehearse walking and standing" Chuck teased.
"You're being a jerk and I don't care" Blair grinned. "Come, I see Daddy. Let's go say hi."
"No, let's hang up our coats first. We're fifteen minutes early, there's no rush."
She grabbed his hand and led him quickly over to the hangers, more or less pulling his coat off of him when she didn't feel he moved fast enough. He smiled and instinctively leaned in to kiss her, but she leaned away and shook her head. She could see his eyes rolling into the back of his head as she grabbed his hand again and dragged him with her to go say hello to her father and Roman.
"Daddy!" she squealed, throwing her arms around Harold. "So glad to see you! I wish you had stopped by my dorm last night when you got in!"
"Darling, we got in at midnight" Harold said and hugged her tight.
Chuck gave the two men a nod and a smile before shaking Harold's hand. He attempted to do the same with Roman, but got a big hug instead.
"We will all be family soon" Roman told him. "Families hug, they don't shake hands."
"Actually in my family, even shaking hands is considered unnecessarily intimate" Chuck said dryly, but kept the smile on his face.
"I see Serena" Blair chirped. "Be right back!"
"And off she twitters" Chuck remarked.
He couldn't help but laugh as she more or less skipped towards Serena, who was trying to shake the snow off her coat before hanging it up. Eric, Andy and Lily were with her, but Blair barely noticed them. They could see her grabbing a hold of Serena's arm and setting off on another long monologue about something wedding related.
"It is going to be such a relief when this whole thing is over" Chuck admitted to his future father-in-law.
"That's what you think" Harold scoffed. "Then comes the tying up of all the loose ends after the party, the whole gifts bit, the sending out of the 'thank you' notes, getting the ads in the papers, all of that…"
"Harold!" Roman scolded. "Don't say anything that might scare him off so close to the wedding."
"Not to worry" Chuck said. "If I could survive the past seven months then I can surely survive a few straggler issues in January. Trust me, I haven't gotten cold feet yet and I can't see myself getting them before Saturday. The only thing I worry about is something happening that will prevent the wedding from happening."
"Luckily it's not snowing as much anymore" Eric said, overhearing his comment as he came over.
Chuck nodded and greeted his best man. They spoke briefly about the rehearsal and Eric demanded to know how wound up Blair was on a scale from one to ten. After telling him she was at an eight, Chuck left Eric talking to Harold and Roman when he saw Nate walking inside the cathedral. He went over to his best friend and dragged him aside before Nate could even get his coat open.
"Did I get any calls to the penthouse after I'd left?" he asked.
"No, why?"
"I'm still trying to work out some kinks with the honeymoon" Chuck sighed. "I was hoping they would call today. I've had to leave them the number to the penthouse since Blair isn't setting foot there this week, and I want it to be a surprise."
"Dude, please, keep the kinks of your honeymoon to yourself."
"No, nothing like that. I meant something non-sexual. We'll be honeymooning on Christmas, so I wanted to try and get them to ship all our wedding presents to us, so we can open them on Christmas morning. I think Blair would like that."
"You're probably right. They didn't call though, whoever they are, so you might want to call them once we're done here."
Chuck nodded and left Nate for the moment to join the crowd that had begun to assemble far back in the cathedral. All of Blair's bridesmaids were there, Dorota beaming as widely as Blair, but Eleanor hadn't shown up yet and neither had Serena's Tom, who had ended up being a groomsman after all.
"What is taking them so long?" Blair fretted.
"Relax B" Serena said and put an arm around her shoulders. "We're not supposed to start for another ten minutes anyway."
"Ten minutes from now we are supposed to have this show on the road" Blair said. "Chuck and crew by the altar, me and posse here, everyone ready to go. We're not supposed to be watching your slacker of a boyfriend and my stupid time optimist of a mother hanging up their coats, cooing about what a lovely place for a wedding this is."
"I count myself lucky that I won't be seeing Blair on Saturday until she walks down the aisle" Chuck said, earning a death glare from his fiancée.
"They will be here in time, B" Serena said reassuringly.
"If they don't take the rehearsal serious then how can we trust that they take the ceremony seriously?" Blair griped on. "What if they're this tardy on Saturday?"
"But this isn't the ceremony" Nate reminded her. "It's just the rehearsal. It's no big deal if it starts a couple of minutes late."
"On Saturday I expect everyone to be in their proper place, at the proper time. Today we are rehearsing that."
"Well look on the bright side, B" Serena said. "Chuck is inside an actual holy building and he's not sizzling. Things are already going better than I had hoped."
"That was so funny I forgot to laugh" Chuck said dryly.
The doors opened and Tom came wandering in, waving hello to the assembled group as he worked on unbuttoning his coat.
"Thank God" Serena sighed. "At least he's not the last to arrive."
She hurried over to him and led him off to hang up his coat. The others could hear Serena say something, and Tom's surprised voice stating that he thought he still had a few minutes before the rehearsal started.
"I hate people who think it's okay to be fashionably late" Blair griped.
"Which you've never been" Eric said, voice dripping with sarcasm.
"Who gave you permission to snark at the bride, little van der Woodsen?" Blair asked.
"You'll have to excuse her, she's very high strung" Chuck said.
"No kidding…" Eric mumbled under his breath.
Serena came back with Tom on her arm as Father Matt came up to the crowd and shook hands with Chuck and Blair. Chuck gave him a brief introduction to everyone else while Blair stared at the doors as if trying to will her mother into appearing.
"Are we ready to begin?" Father Matt asked.
"We're still waiting for the mother of the bride" Harold told him.
"I've checked my watch" Blair said. "It's one minute past. We're getting this started, with or without my mother."
"Alright then" Father Matt said. "Why don't we all start by sorting out who will be standing where?"
"Camille!" Blair said.
Camille appeared and quickly began pairing off bridesmaids with groomsmen. Blair kept throwing looks at the doors, finding it harder and harder to keep a smile on her face with each minute that passed without her mother appearing.
Eleanor chose the moment when Father Matt had just started giving them a general walkthrough of what they would be doing to make her entrance. Blair gave her mother a look that could kill, which Eleanor ignored completely.
"Is tardiness a sin, Father Matt?" Blair asked.
"No."
"Tell the guy upstairs I petition for it to be one."
"Relax Blair bear" Harold said and put an arm around her shoulders. "Your mother hasn't missed much."
"Tell her that on Saturday we will lock the doors at precisely one o'clock" Blair griped. "Anyone who arrives after that will have to watch the ceremony by looking through the windows."
"Or by buying the DVDs later" Chuck smirked.
"Alright, now that everybody as arrived…" Father Matt said. "Like I was saying, we will then go over who will be standing where and doing what up at the altar. After that I will give you a run-through of exactly how the ceremony will progress. You don't need to remember what happens when since I will be taking care of all of that, but it's helpful to have heard what will happen in what order. Also we will go over details such as who goes where to do a reading, who holds the bouquet for the bride and so forth."
Chuck shot Blair a nervous smile which she returned. It had never seemed more real than it did at this moment.
"Some people like to practice walking down the aisle" Father Matt said.
"Seriously?" Aaron piped up.
"Since there are no flower girls," Father Matt continued, ignoring Aaron, "the bridesmaids will be walking first, in the order the wedding planner has given you. And then, of course, the bride, escorted by her father."
Over the next couple of minutes Camille demonstrated the preferred pace and way of walking down the aisle. Serena, who had been a bridesmaid three times before, rolled her eyes and muttered something about "America's Next Top Model", earning her a smack on the arm from Chuck.
Camille then ushered them down to the altar, efficiently moving them around like they were dolls in a dollhouse until she had everyone where she wanted them, while the priest patiently waited for his turn to take over. Chuck was soon parked on the right side of the altar with Eric next to him, then Nate, Andy, Aaron and Tom. Camille then had the bridesmaids walk a few yards down the aisle and then take their designated places. Last but not least, Harold escorted Blair three yards down the aisle and up to the altar before taking his seat.
Blair felt a pang of excitement when she took her place next to Chuck and her eyes met his. The cathedral was decorated for Christmas but not decked out the way Camille had organized for the wedding. Almost all seats were empty, save for a few taken by Blair's parents, Lily, Roman and a few passersby who had come to pray or had some other business in the cathedral. There was no live music, the priest wasn't clad in anything ceremonious and her hair was in a simple pony tail while her face was nearly free of makeup. She was wearing everyday clothes, and Chuck wasn't even in one of his suits. There was nothing ceremonious about any part of it. But it was their wedding, in its light version.
"Now," Father Matt began, ignorant to the looks on Blair and Chuck's faces, "once the bride has arrived at the altar, I will begin the ceremony with the opening prayer."
Chuck let his hand reach out and grab Blair's, gently stroking the back of her hand with his thumb.
"After that, we will have the first reading. Who will be doing the honors?"
"Maid of honor does the honors" Serena said, raising her hand.
Camille hurried up to Serena and led her over to the microphone she would be reading into. Serena rolled her eyes again. While she hadn't done a reading at a wedding before, she had seen other people do it, and knew the basics.
"And you will be reading from Ecclesiastics" Father Matt concluded.
"I haven't memorized it yet" Serena sheepishly admitted, casting a worried glance at Blair.
"Use your eyes S" Blair sighed. "You have a Bible right under your nose."
"Right" Serena said, feeling a bit foolish as she opened it and took a glance. "Two are better than one because they have a good return for their labor" she read. "Et cetera, et cetera."
She made a little curtsy for an imagined audience and went back to her place.
"Then we sing a psalm" Father Matt went on. "After that, we do the second reading."
Without missing a beat Nate walked over to the microphone, found his right page and read the first two sentences from the passage he would read from I Corinthians. He then walked back to his place, giving Chuck a pat on the arm as he passed him, and gave a nod to Father Matt to go on with the rundown.
As the priest did, Blair cast another sideways glance at Chuck, whose thumb was still caressing the back of her hand. When they had first been to meet with Father Matt Chuck had seemed uninterested, like he didn't care much about the details. Right now he was listening carefully, even more carefully than she was. In her mind it was already Saturday, and she was standing here in her wedding dress. She was at their wedding. He was in the moment.
It occurred to her that in the movies they usually rehearsed before they shot a scene. She smiled a bit wider when she thought that in the movie of her life, this was when the players rehearsed the most important scene yet.
Chuck cast a glance at her, and then his thumb nail gave her a slight pinch and she realized she had let her mind wander. She blushed slightly, feeling ashamed that she hadn't been paying close attention to her own wedding rehearsal, and turned her full focus back on the priest.
"After the homily comes the pledge, followed by the recital of the vows."
Blair laughed, a mixture between nervousness and happiness, and gave Chuck's hand a squeeze. He smiled at her for a brief second, then his face turned serious again.
"Once you have said your vows to one another, the best man will give me the rings" Father Matt went on.
"I, uh, don't have them with me" Eric said.
"Don't worry, son. I've done this before, I don't need to rehearse the blessing of the rings."
The joke was lame, but it earned him a bit of laughter from most of the people present. Chuck was the only one who didn't even break a smile.
"Relax Bass" Blair said in a low voice, a slight smile playing on her lips.
This finally made him chuckle, and he looked away for a moment, sporting a bit of a smile when his eyes met hers again. The wedding had never felt more real to him than it did right now, and it had struck him just what a huge commitment they were about to make to one another. It didn't seem like the time to be laughing or goofing around. He saw the look on her face and wondered if she really knew what an enormous step they would be taking.
"I assume you will be having a bouquet?" Father Matt said to Blair, who nodded. "Some brides insist on holding the bouquet throughout the ceremony, but it tends to get in the way when you want to be holding hands with your groom, and when it's time to exchange rings. So at this point I recommend you hand the flowers over to someone. Maid of honor for instance."
"S?"
"I've got you covered B" Serena smiled, and gave her the thumbs up. "I've done this before. I can hold your flowers."
"Then the bride and groom will light the Unity Candle" the priest continued. "Tradition holds that they light them from candles lit by their parents, but since the groom's biological parents have gone to their rest, his adoptive mother will be doing the honors."
Serena looked over at her mother, who was sitting next to Eleanor on the front bench. Lily smiled at her and waved a little. Serena couldn't help but feel that it was weird for her mother to be playing an active part in Chuck's wedding. Six years ago the two of them had barely said two words to each other and now she was acting the role of parent. She looked over at Chuck to see if he had any immediate reaction, but his face was serious and his eyes fixed on the priest. She realized he had already known Lily would be involved, otherwise her mother wouldn't even be there.
Father Matt continued on with his rundown, with Camille jumping back in charge once they had gotten to the end of the actual ceremony. She set off on a long monologue about how Blair and Chuck would want to face the wedding guests for a while before walking back down the aisle. Blair cast a glance at Chuck. When they turned around he had let go of her hand, so she now stuck her arm under his.
"You okay there?" she asked quietly.
He leaned in closer, talking into her ear, not wanting anyone else to hear.
"This is big, Waldorf."
"As big as it gets" she agreed.
"And do you realize just how big?"
"You mean how we will be bound together for life, no matter what happens, hell or high water, no matter how angry we might get at each other, no matter how difficult the road might end up being? Yeah, I realized that the moment I saw you down on one knee in the limo seven months ago. That's the whole point, isn't it? To declare to the world that we belong together and will fight as a unit, having no closer ally than each other come what may? After the 22nd you won't be able to get rid of me, Chuck. And I was really hoping I wouldn't be able to get rid of you either."
He looked at her with surprised eyes. There had been times when he had been worried that it was all about the wedding for her, with little thought to what would follow, a lifetime together. He didn't realize until know that she had been fully aware of the enormity of their upcoming commitment every single moment. Probably even more aware than he was.
She leaned in and kissed his cheek, bringing him back to the present. Camille was clapping her hands to get everyone's attention to rehearse how they would exit the cathedral, but Blair was nodding towards Father Matt. The priest walked off down the aisle and Blair followed, leading Chuck along with her. Camille continued to drill their wedding party up at the altar while Blair and Chuck followed the priest into another room.
"After you've walked down the aisle," Father Matt said, "go in here and wait for me. Give your guests a chance to walk outside and greet you when you make your exit. While you wait, I will hand you your marriage license."
"Thank you" Blair said with her loveliest smile.
"Excuse me for a moment."
The priest walked off, leaving the soon-to-be bride and groom alone. Blair jumped up on the writing desk and looked at Chuck with a smile. He was busy taking a good look at the first room they would be alone in as a married couple. A crooked smile appeared on his lips. When his eyes met hers the smile turned wider and he walked over to her. She let her fingers play with his hair while he let his arms wrap around her, but when he leaned in for a kiss she placed her hands firmly on his shoulders and pushed him away.
"Two more days…" she said.
"You can't be on your guard all the time" he said. "I will catch you off-guard and steal a kiss before Saturday."
"You can kiss my hand if you'd like."
He took her left hand in his and kissed it teasingly. His efforts to tease her went by unnoticed however, since her mind was elsewhere.
"You know, a lot of countries don't have the tradition of the father walking the bride down the aisle" she said.
"I bet you would have hated living in one of those countries."
"If I've understood it correctly the people in those countries believe it's an outdated, anti-feministic ritual for the father to give his daughter away, stemming from the time when the woman was literally taken from her father's custody and placed in her husband's on the day of the wedding."
"You googled wedding traditions around the world?"
"In these countries the bride and groom walk down the aisle together, to signify that they are together in this, and that the bride is doing it out of her own free will."
"Meanwhile in America people are more likely to wonder if the groom is doing it out of his own free will. Did you also know that the tradition of carrying the bride over the threshold was originally intended to make sure she couldn't run away from the consummation of the marriage?" Chuck asked, tired of this wedding trivia.
"I can't help but think it would be so great if we could have done the same thing…" Blair said. "Walk down the aisle together."
"What? Seriously? No Harold giving you away? No seeing the groom's face when he sees the bride walk down the aisle? How does that work by the way, with the ban of seeing the wedding gown prior to the ceremony?"
"Well, I do want Daddy to give me away… At the same time though, these people who walk down the aisle together, they have each other in those moments before the wedding starts. Who better to spend those nerve-wrecking moments with than the person who's supposed to stand by your side for the rest of your life? The person you're celebrating your love and committment with!"
"I still like it better our way" Chuck said. "True we won't have the direct support of one another at those moments, but… that's what the groomsmen and bridesmaids are for. And isn't that part of the whole symbolic hoopla? To be alone, without each other, and then once we've been united at the altar we're at each other 's side?"
"I guess…" she said, and slowly rubbed his shoulders. "Still, sharing those last moments before the wedding with you… I would like that."
"How about a webcam?"
She laughed.
"You want a laptop up by the altar? Wouldn't that kill the mood during the ceremony?"
"Good point" he grinned.
"By the way, what time is it?" she asked and lifted his hand to get a look at his wrist watch. "Oh crap, we'd better hurry. I have to go home and take a shower and change before the rehearsal dinner. And no offense Bass, but you could use a shower too."
He helped her down from the writing desk and put an arm around her waist.
"Okay, let's just go find the others and tell the priest we won't be back until Saturday" he said. "And after that, he'll be rid of us for good."
"Unless he's the one to baptize our children."
"One thing at a time, Waldorf."
They walked back out to where the others were and Chuck went to find Father Matt. Blair gave Serena a hug and almost felt herself welling up.
"Only two more days" she said.
"Two more days and you won't ever be able to be maid of honor again" Serena teased.
"When you get married I'll be happy to be your matron of honor" Blair replied. "Oh, what is wrong with me? Why am I feeling so… jittery?"
"Well you're smiling" Eleanor said. "Which is a good sign. Otherwise those jitters can be cold feet. But with a grin like that on your face I'm guessing it's more about excitement."
"Yes I'm glad to see he's making you so happy" Harold said.
"I still can't believe two of my friends are going to be married forty-eight hours from now" Serena said and put an arm around Blair's shoulders. "And I haven't even decided what I want to major in yet."
"We should get going" Tom said with a glance at his watch. "We haven't got that much time before the rehearsal dinner and if I know my girlfriend as well as I think I do it's going to take some time for her to get ready."
"Yeah you're even worse than I am S" Blair said.
"We should all get going" Harold said. "Blair do you want to wait for Charles?"
"No he knows I need to get a jump on things" Blair said.
"I'll wait for him" Nate said. "See you all at the rehearsal dinner tonight."
"Bye for now" Blair said, with a small wave.
She walked with Serena over to get their coats and both of them burst out laughing at the same time.
"Seriously S, can you believe any of this?" Blair said. "St. Patrick's Cathedral, me and Chuck Bass, married at twenty-two?"
"He's only twenty-one" Serena pointed out. "And no, frankly I can't believe it. Wasn't it just weeks ago we watched 'Four Weddings and a Funeral' and then stole white fabric from your mother's office to wrap around us as pretend dresses?"
"Actually yes, that was weeks ago" Blair giggled. "Mother did not appreciate that little revisit to childhood games."
They laughed together as they got their coats, and Blair couldn't help but skip around a bit. She was so full of excitement she could hardly contain herself. Two more days, and she would be eternally bound to Chuck. She thought back to senior year and how impossible it had seemed to get him to tell her he loved her. Back then she had been convinced that even if he did admit to having those feelings, which she after a while assumed he would only do under severe torture, he would never in his life go as far as marriage. But once he had said those words to her he had been hers completely. In two days she would have the ultimate proof of that.
The next chapter will be up sometime during the week. Have a good weekend everybody!