Sam shuffled his feet, waiting for the music to start. To be honest, he never pictured himself doing anything like this. Eloping? That was…well… not like Sam. But then again, it was so not like Jess. At all. But still, it was her idea, and Sam was secretly exited to be getting married, even if it was in a cheep church with a priest who barely looked qualified to say grace at the local pot-lunch. But none of that mattered. It was to be with Jess.

When the wedding song began to play on the record player on the other side of the chapel, Sam's worries were erased as he saw Jess step into his view. She was beautiful. Jessica's hair still up from their dinner, little ringlets escaped from her up-do, falling gracefully on the nape of her neck as if planned that way. Sam didn't know where she found the dress, but it looked gorgeous on her. It wasn't anything fancy, but Sam didn't care about the dress and in his opinion, Jess looked amazing in anything. Just seeing her walk down the isle towards him, a glow to her face and a warm smile on her lips, made Sam forget about the cheep church, the cheep tux, the cheep dress. This was what he wanted. As Sam looked into Jess's eyes when she stepped up to the altar, he didn't even notice the music fading away in horrible timing, or the priest looking disapprovingly at the cuts on his face.

"Dearly beloved," the priest looked around the empty room. Dean and dad are going to be pissed I didn't invite them, Sam thought to himself, but this is something I needed to do for me. They will understand. "We are gathered here today, to join in holy matrimony, Samuel Winchester and Jessica Le Moore. Now, this is supposed to be my day off, so we are going to do the improvised version. Any problems with that, you two?"

Sam kept his remarks to himself, shaking his head, and Jess did the same.

"Now," The priest continued, turning to Sam. "Do you Sam, take Jessica Lee Moore to be your lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death do you part?"

"I do." Sam's voice was steady, still looking into Jess's eyes.

"And Jessica, do you take Samuel Winchester to be your lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, or better or for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death do you part?"

"I do."

"Do you have rings?"

Sam took out Jessica's ring from his pocket, and looked to the priest.

"Now Sam, repeat after me." The priest droned on, and Sam gave Jess a hint of a smile, their inside joke. "I, Samuel Winchester..."

"I, Samuel Winchester…"

"Give you this ring,"

"Give you this ring."

"As a symbol of my undying love."

"As a symbol of my undying love." Sam slid the ring onto Jessica's finger slowly, repeating the phrase.

"Now Jessica, repeat after me…"

Jessica finished the phrase also, sliding Sam's ring onto his finger, and they looked to the priest to continue.

"Now for the vows, do you want to make your own, or use the contemporary version?" The priest asked the both of them.

"Make our own, I think." Jess looked up to Sam in question.

"I think we can wing it." Sam agreed, smiling.

"Alright Sam," the priest nodded. "You first."

Sam hesitated for a moment, choosing his words, then looked down into Jess's eyes again. "I, Sam Winchester, take you, Jessica Lee Moore, as my soul-mate and companion. Together, we can accomplish anything. We will be better together than we could be alone. We will share our love with the world. Together, our love will grow into a bond too strong to break. I promise to be there for you on your good days and your bad days. I know that what we have is real, and I promise to be there for you for all your life, come what may. When you need a helping hand, I want it to be me. When you need a shoulder to cry on, I want it to be me. When you need a protector, I want it to be me. With you by my side, I have nothing to fear. I promise to do stand beside you, to my best to make our lives better and better from this day on because I love you…

"This is my solemn vow." Sam didn't know where all the words came from, but he knew he meant them. He really did. Across from him, Jess's smile was as bright as the sun as a silent tear strayed down her cheek.

"Jessica," The priest looked over to Jess "Your turn."

Jess hesitated also, and Sam felt himself subconsciously fidgeting, as if he was getting ready to hear the winner of a noble prize. "I… Jessica Lee Moore," Jessica started, after she found words of her own. "Choose you, Samuel Winchester, to embark upon this great journey of marriage with me. We will have both our easy and hard times, but we can make it through them together. Through the good and bad, I want you to always know that I will be by your side. I will be there for you in the ups and downs of life. Though life may not always be as perfect as it is at this moment, I vow to always keep my love as pure and strong as it is today. When you need someone to encourage you, I want it to be me. When you need a helping hand, I want it to be mine. When you long for someone to smile at, turn to me. When you have something to share, share it with me. I will always be standing beside you, no matter what the circumstances, and I will always be there to support you in good times and bad. Nothing in life can possibly be as scary as marriage, and if I'm going to be scared of anything, I want you to be the one there beside me. I pledge my all to you.

"This is my solemn vow."

Sam couldn't help but smiling and he felt his own eyes get watery, and he cursed himself inwardly for being such a wuss. But maybe that was the whole point, sacrificing his pride for Jessica's love. It was a fine trade.

"Well then," The priest nodded at their words. "With God as my witness, I hereby do pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride."

Sam pulled Jess into a lip-lock, pulling her closer as she wrapped her hands around his waist. After a moment, Sam saw the flash as the priest took a picture, and as they pulled away, the camera disposed a single picture, which the priest handed to Sam. "Congratulations," he said dryly, and Sam nodded in thanks, stuffing the picture in his pocket as he and Jessica walked out of the chapel, hand in hand.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Nope." Sam held out a hand as Jess got out her keys to the apartment, stilling her. "Don't do that. You're forgetting something."

"Wha" – Jess was cut short as Sam pulled her into his arms, and she laughed. "Carry me across the threshold? Could you be any more old-fashioned?!"

"Shh…" Sam laughed, pushing the door open with his foot. "You're ruining the moment." Sam went to carry Jess through the door, but halted as she bumped her head on the edge of the door.

"Ouch!" Jess raised a hand to her head, and Sam winced, getting through the door properly and setting her down. "No, I think you just ruined the moment."

"Ahh… Sorry." Sam kicked the door shut, and then pulled back her hair, checking the bruise, and kissed the top of her head. He pulled away, smiling at her until she smiled back. "Not the best move, huh?"

Jess pretended to think about it, and then shrugged. "I think I might be able to forgive you… maybe."

"How can I convince you?"

"I don't know…" Jess half-smiled. "I'm sure you can think of something."

Sam was about to state a come-back when his cell-phone rang, vibrating in the chest-pocket of the inside of his tux-jacket. "Hold that thought." He pulled out the phone, taking a few steps back. "Hello?"

"Hey man," Dean's voice greeted on the other end of the phone. "I just wanted to check up on you after today. How are you feeling?"

"Oh, hey Dean," Sam greeted, walking to the other side of the room so he could talk with Dean a little more openly. "Oh yeah, I'm fine. Feeling great."

"You sure?" Dean sounded un-satisfied.

"Positive," Sam sighed. "I'm okay. I promise."

"Well you had us pretty worried this afternoon," Dean admitted. "Scared me shitless, to be honest."

"Yeah, sorry about that." Sam admitted. "I don't really know what happened. But I'm fine now."

"Okay, well I also wanted to ask you about" –

"Um Dean," Sam interrupted. "I'm going to have to call you back. I'm – uh – kind of in the middle of something."

Dean hesitated, and then laughed. "Oh, I get it. Little quality time. Gotcha."

"Bite me."

"I'm not the one you need to be biting here, Sammy-boy." Dean laughed again.

"Bye Dean." Sam hung up the phone, shaking his head at his brother. So much for privacy.

Sam looked up to see that Jess had left the room. Making his way into his room slowly, he loosened his tie, almost tripping on the wedding dress that Jess had rented. Looking around, Sam noticed that the room was empty, but the bathroom door was slightly open, the sound of running water coming emitting from behind the door.

Sam collapsed on the bed, closing his eyes and folding his hands behind his head. He hadn't been this tired in a long time outside of a hunt, but it was worth it. As of an hour ago, he was a married man. To Jess. Sam allowed himself a hint of a smile at that thought. He still couldn't believe it. The fact that Jess had wanted to be anywhere near him after what happened with the demon was amazing. Sam was so grateful that everything had turned out the way it had. Jess was beautiful, smart, and she actually loved him despite his past, despite –

Drip. Sam felt his head twitch to the side gently. Drip. Sam's head jerked to the other side as something hit his forehead again, and he felt his heart skipped a beat in recognition, his eyes opening in shock and a gasp escaping from his lips.

"Why Sam?"