Oh boy do I expect to be in the doghouse with this one… Welcome to an attempt at a new world record in author note length!
I do seem to have quite the talent for skipping over stuff that people want to read about… Which is usually unintentional, since by the time I read reviews I have usually finished the next chapter and I go: "Uh, oops, people found that interesting?" Clearly I'm a moron. So how does this tie in to this chapter? Well…
As the title of this chapter gives away, this chapter takes place after the ceremony. I decided to skip the actual ceremony, which probably seems extremely odd/stupid/pointless given what this whole story has been about. When I first started I intended on ending it with a chapter about the ceremony but obviously that's not how it turned out in the end. I discovered that… well, I didn't have much to tell about that particular part. In fact, from a writing standpoint it's effing boring, since basically all the dialogue is already pre-determined and there's only so much you can add in about looks and feelings etc without getting far too fluffy. Plus I've only ever been to protestant weddings and don't know all that much about how catholic ceremonies go (and googling it only made me confused since there seem to be like a hundred different variations of how it's "traditionally" done) and I don't want to end up getting everything backwards. So I made up my mind to simply skip it and move ahead to the aftermath.
I made that decision back in 2009… And then people started saying how much they were looking forward to the wedding, and by the time I got closer to it I started feeling really bad about skipping it altogether. If people have been following so far it seems kind of rude to just pass it by completely (honestly I didn't expect people to be that interested in this story, so I'm really flattered that people care). So I tried writing a chapter for the ceremony and I just couldn't make it work. Not as one smoothly flowing chapter at any rate. So then I went back to my original plan of jumping to post-ceremony, thinking to myself that if I ever write those missing bits for the other chapters I could give the ceremony another shot.
Then last night I decided, what the heck. I'll try something. I'm guessing people will either love this or hate this, I really have no idea if it will work. I have this chapter, taking place directly after the wedding ceremony, and I'm probably going to split the reception into two chapters (maybe more, we'll see how much I end up coming up with for it), so that's at least three wedding day chapters. I decided to take the bits and pieces I had for the ceremony and throw them into these post-ceremony chapters as, I don't know, flashbacks? Something like that. That way I can use them without killing myself over how to make the ceremony flow and work as a whole. It might be my worst idea yet, but trust me, it will likely work a lot better than the alternative. Well, there was the idea of having them watch a wedding video later giving more detail to the ceremony, but in that scenario I wouldn't be able to give much insight into anything so I ditched that.
Okay, with all that said… I hope people won't feel too disappointed, and that you will stick with me till this is finished (rough estimate is another five or six chapters). The last thing I want is for anyone to feel cheated having read 24 chapters and not getting a ceremony one. If anyone does feel that way then I apologize, it was definitely not my plan going in. It's just the way it turned out… And seriously, thanks a million to all of you who have stuck with this story. I hope you will find it enjoyable to the end =)
End of super-long author's note! On with the chapter!
They stepped inside the empty room and closed the door behind them. The next second they had their arms around each other and their mouths pressed together. After only a few seconds Blair broke the kisses with a joyous laugh.
"We did it!" she laughed. "It's real. It's official."
"I half expected you to throw your hands in the air and yell: 'Yatta!'" Chuck said with a laugh and caressed her cheek.
"Yatta!" Blair cried, throwing her hands in the air and then wrapping them around his neck with another laugh. "Yatta… I locked down Chuck Bass."
"And I finally un-Waldorfed you" he said, kissing her again.
"Lucky me…" she mumbled against his lips.
They had just walked down the aisle together, newly married, and were now waiting for Father Matt to come and hand them their marriage license. Once they had gotten it they would be heading outside to the waiting crowd, to be showered in rice, petals and bubbles and pose for a few pictures before getting into the limo to go take their official pictures.
"I can't believe it was over so fast" Blair said between kisses.
"I know… Even with all the singing and the reading and the Bible quoting it felt like it only took like five minutes."
"How's my mascara? It hasn't run, has it?"
"No" he laughed.
They kissed again, only stopping when the door opened and their priest entered the room.
"Sorry" Blair said, moving her hand up to her lips. "I don't know what God's official stance is on tongue in a cathedral."
"I've seen newlyweds do worse" Father Matt chuckled. "And if you were paying attention out there you would know that God rejoices in love."
Blair laughed a little and grabbed Chuck's hand to play with the ring on his finger. She wanted to lift up his hand and kiss the finger, and the ring on it, the way he had so often done with her engagement ring, but she didn't think it would be proper in front of the priest who had just married them.
Father Matt gave them a smile and walked over to the writing desk to get them their marriage license, all in proper order.
"Thank you" Chuck said to him and shook his hand when he handed over the license. "The ceremony was all we had hoped it would be."
"We especially liked the 'I now pronounce you husband and wife' part" Blair added with another little laugh.
"Best of luck to you both" Father Matt said.
"Ready to go?" Chuck asked Blair.
She nodded and leaned close for another kiss before grasping his right hand in her left and following him out to the waiting crowd.
-
"Are you ready, Blair Bear?" Harold asked, extending his arm.
Blair answered with a beaming smile and tried to stop herself from shaking as she took his arm. The music could start at any second now, and she had never been more nervous in her life. This was it. She couldn't decide if she wanted to savor it or if she wanted these last moments to be over already. Surely her nerves would calm down once she started walking down that aisle?
The bridesmaids lined up ahead of her. Serena turned and flashed her a beaming grin along with a thumbs up. Dorota also turned, giving Blair a little wave before carefully wiping away a tear from the corner of her eye.
"Get a hold of yourself" Blair mouthed to her.
She went over her appearance in her mind one more time while she waited for this whole thing to start. Her makeup was perfect, her hairdo was exquisite and her dress was gorgeous. She hoped the groom would approve. She knew he always found her beautiful but today she wanted him to think she looked better than he could ever have imagined.
"You look ravishing" Harold whispered as the first bridesmaid walked down the aisle.
"Thank you" Blair said, her voice trembling slightly.
One by one the bridesmaids began their walk. Serena turned once more before she began to walk and blew Blair an air kiss. Blair blew her one back with the hand she held her flowers in but Serena was already moving.
Blair glanced at her father, took a deep breath and smiled.
"I'm ready" she said, just before the wedding march began.
With her flowers in a firm grip in one hand and a steady grip on her father's arm with the other Blair took her first steps down the aisle. Smiling she tried to spot family members and friends in the large crowd but soon gave up on trying to make eye-contact with anyone. She couldn't think straight, let alone focus on the crowd.
Finally she saw Chuck. Her smile widened. He had never looked better and she had never been more sure.
-
Luckily the weather was good. No wind, and the temperature was relatively mild. A light snow fell from the sky, just enough to add a nice touch without causing logistic problems. Though Camille kept a frown on her face, worrying that the snowing might increase.
When they stepped outside the newlyweds were immediately accosted by an entire crowd of people wanting to take pictures, to congratulate them and to get to talk to them for a moment. Blair moved closer to Chuck, in a combined effort to not be dragged off in a different direction by some enthusiastic guest, and to steal some of his warmth. She was very happy to be wearing a jacket in this temperature, but it was a light one merely designed to cover her shoulders while inside the cathedral and it was still too cold to be outside for more than a few minutes without wearing a proper winter jacket.
Chuck let go of her hand and wrapped his arm around her, pulling her even closer. He then placed a finger on her chin and gently made her face him so that he could kiss her again. She wasn't big on kissing in public, but today he knew she didn't care if the entire world was watching.
"Alright people" Camille's voice cried. "I'm sorry to break up the fun, but the bride is starting to turn blue, and she and the groom really need to get going if they're going to make it to the photographer's."
"Where are my manners?" Chuck said and began taking off his suit jacket. "Letting my wife stand out here freezing? I'm off to a good start."
He wrapped the jacket around her and she gave him a loving kiss.
"Just one more round of pictures!" Serena cried, bringing them back to reality. "You'll want one with the entire wedding party outside the cathedral."
She skipped up next to Blair, trying to hide how much she was shivering, and beamed at the newlyweds. The bridesmaids and groomsmen quickly assembled and posed for a few pictures, before they all began to move down the steps.
"Wait!" Dorota cried. "Must have picture with you and family."
"We can take those pictures at the reception" Blair said, but obediently stopped.
"No come on, she's right" Serena said and with a wave ushered Blair's parents up the steps. "You'll want a picture of this too."
Chuck moved behind Blair and wrapped his arms around her to help keep them both warm. Obediently they posed for pictures with Harold and Eleanor, then with Cyrus and Roman added to the picture, then Lily and finally Serena, Eric and Aaron as well. After that Camille came up and grabbed a firm hold of Chuck's arm, prepared to drag them off to the waiting limo.
"Thanks Camille" Chuck said in a low voice. "One more round of pictures and I would start to worry about pneumonia on the honeymoon."
When they reached the limo Chuck ignored Arthur waiting to open the door, and instead opened it himself. Blair turned and flashed the assembled crowd her brightest smile, waving with her free hand. She then gave Chuck another kiss and handed him the bouquet while she stepped inside the limo. He handed the flowers back to her before getting in after her.
-
"What is taking so long?" Chuck sighed up at the altar. "I can't remember having to wait this long for the bride at any other wedding I've been at."
"It's been roughly two minutes" Eric said with a chuckle. "Relax."
"Easy for you to say…" Chuck mumbled. "At this point everyone is looking at me. It makes me nervous. More nervous. I can't wait for her to show up so they can start ogling her instead."
"You mean you can't wait to see how she looks in her dress" Nate said.
Chuck managed a smile but didn't comment. He hadn't gotten nervous for real until he walked inside the nave and saw all the people who had gathered. He couldn't see an empty seat, and Nate had had to nudge him and whisper to him not to look so stern. He couldn't help it. He wasn't the type who smiled when he was this nervous. And this was serious business. It was really happening.
"Hey if you're nervous, how do you think Blair's doing?" Nate asked.
"Hopefully she's excited" Chuck said, fiddling with his sleeves.
"Stop fidgeting and stand still" Eric whispered. "And I know you're nervous, but smiling won't kill you."
"I think I'll save my smile for when I see her" Chuck said and took a deep breath. "Seriously, what are we waiting for?"
"They are women" Nate said. "There are six of them. Did you expect them to all be ready on time?"
"I would say that's a sexist remark…" Eric said. "But I know my sister."
Father Matt came in and took his place and Chuck threw a dutiful smile his way. Hopefully now the wait would be over. He hadn't known it would be this nerve-wrecking to be standing up at the altar, waiting for her. He had lost track of the number of times he had wanted to talk to her this day, and now more than ever he wished he could just fish out a phone, dial her number and get her to help him calm down.
Finally music started to play. Chuck turned to look at his groomsmen and managed a weak, nervous smile. Eric gave his arm a little nudge, Nate flashed him his most encouraging smile along with a wink and the other three settled for just the smiles. Taking another deep breath he turned towards the aisle again just in time to see the first bridesmaid.
It seemed to take until forever before Serena finally came into view. After her Blair would follow. Finally the bridal march began and everyone rose from their seats. An instant annoyance, since they were blocking his view.
"Can you see anything?" he whispered to Eric.
Eric shushed him. Chuck glanced over at the bridesmaids and caught a glimpse of Dorota's teary beaming grin and saw his stepsister give him an encouraging smile. Looking back at the aisle he still couldn't see Blair and he had to fight the urge to lean over to get a better view.
The first thing he noted when he did see her was that she wasn't wearing the veil over her face, thank God. He had been a bit worried that he wouldn't get to see the look on her face, see her beauty when she came down the aisle towards him. The second thing he noted was that he had trouble breathing at the sight of her. She was stunning.
He realized his earlier prediction had been right, and he was indeed smiling now. In all likelihood sporting a foolish grin rather than a dignified smile but he could care less. Her smile was far more interesting than his anyway and right now she was sporting one rivaled only by the way she had smiled when he first told her he loved her.
Harold gave her a kiss on the cheek and whispered something to her. Chuck took his eyes off his bride for a second and let his eyes meet her father's, sharing an almost invisible nod. Then he reached out his hands to her and she let go of her father's arm and let her bouquet-free hand meet with his.
-
When the car door closed he gave a little sigh of relief and turned to look at her. Her teeth were clattering but she looked happy. He grinned.
"Come here" he said and nodded for her to move closer. "I can't stand to see my wife freezing like this."
She obediently moved closer and let him wrap his arms around her. She put the flowers down on the seat next to her and carefully leaned her head against his shoulder. She had both her bun and her veil to worry about, not to mention the little crown on her head, but somehow she managed to make it work.
"Here we are…" he said. "Back in the limo."
She laughed.
"I know what you're thinking. No, we're not going to consummate our marriage right here, right now."
He laughed.
"Believe it or not Bass, that wasn't what I had in mind" he said.
She looked up at him with a smile.
"You just called me Bass."
"I have a habit of calling people by what their names are."
She grinned and carefully not to ruin her makeup wiped a tear from her eye. He shook his head at her and chuckled.
"I never thought I would see you weep over being called Bass… Okay, that's not entirely true. But I never thought it would be tears of joy."
"Oh shut up, you're as bad as I am" she said, wiping away another tear. "You were worse than I was up at that altar. I was standing very close to you, I know those pauses you kept making weren't for dramatic effect."
He smiled and kissed her forehead but didn't deny it. He hadn't thought he would get too emotional during the ceremony, but seeing her had taken his breath away and once she had reached the altar and taken his hand he hadn't been able to stop the wave of emotion that had come over him, and he'd known he didn't want to either. But since they were in the center of attention with a large cathedral full of people watching them, a lot of whom were prominent people, he had at least made an effort to keep his composure.
While silence fell between them in the limo he replayed every second of it, but with no sound. All he could see was her, her face, her smile, her eyes. He had always wanted her to be happy and he had never seen anybody look happier than she did up at that altar.
Everything had gone just as they had hoped. The flowers by the altar had been missing but there were enough flowers in the cathedral anyway so it didn't really matter. Camille had managed to find a soloist in time and there had been no malfunctions of any kind during the actual ceremony. The smile Blair had sported when he first caught a glimpse of her had only grown wider, not faded. He replayed the whole thing again in his mind. He couldn't get enough of the mental image of her smiling face.
Blair's mind was further ahead, already anticipating the reception. She felt confident that she, with Camille's help, had planned everything perfectly and all she would have to do now was to sit back and enjoy. And she planned on doing that, as much as humanly possible.
As for the ceremony itself she had hardly any clear memories of it. It was almost like a dream in her mind, with only a few moments in perfect clarity. She had been so caught up in the moment and yet it somehow hadn't seemed real. She couldn't remember a word she herself had said or how she had said them, only the words that had come out of Chuck's mouth. She thanked herself silently for making sure they had people filming it. She would have to sit down later and watch the whole thing to get a clear picture of what had actually happened.
She carefully turned her head up to look at Chuck, whose eyes were looking out the window of the limo. He seemed miles away.
"Hey…" she said gently. "What's on your mind?"
A smile appeared on his lips and he turned to give her a look.
"You" he smiled. "The way you looked up there at the altar. It feels good to know that while I'm bound to see countless gorgeous brides in the future, none of them will be able to hold a candle to my wife."
"You are such a sap" she grinned. "Why don't you stop looking out that window and kiss me instead?"
He obliged and felt her respond eagerly. Her hands were soon on his cheeks and she turned so that she was almost straddling him. They had seven days worth of kisses to catch up on and the way it felt to kiss now reminded him of the way it had felt that day when he waited for her by his limo, the day they first got together as a real couple. It was something out of the ordinary.
"We'd better stop this…" he mumbled between kisses, even though stopping was the last thing he wanted to do. "Your lipstick is going to end up more on me than you… Neither one of us will look presentable for our wedding photos."
"Spoil sport" she whispered with a smile and gave his cheek one more caress before sitting back down the way she had been before.
"You know me, Blair" he said, placing a kiss on the top of her head. "That's going to be one of very few times when I suggest we stop kissing."
"I'll take that as a promise."
They rode the rest of the way in silence. Blair had once dreaded having silence between them, remembering it as a negative when she was with Nate. When she and Nate were silent it was usually because they had nothing to say to one another. It had taken her over a year to learn to appreciate silence with Chuck. The change had come one afternoon when they were lying on the bed, staring at the ceiling without saying a thing for almost an hour. Chuck had broken the silence to tell her he liked how comfortable their silence was. Since then she had appreciated it. They didn't need to communicate to be connected. It felt good to know.
They reached the photographer's studio and Chuck smiled at her.
"Ready to go?"
She nodded and took his hand, stepping out of the limo. She was more than ready for their future to begin.
So how did it work? Let me know, and don't be shy to tell me it worked horribly if that's what you think.
I've barely started on the next chapter so it will likely be a few days at the least until I've posted it. But thanks for reading this one!