Chapter Eight
Harper glanced anxiously around their hotel room, trying to look anywhere but at Jax, who tossed his bag haphazardly on an armchair in the corner, and then slipped his leather kutte off, dropping it on top of his bag. With his hands on his hips, he glanced at her from over his shoulder and shot her a reassuring grin.
"I promise I'll get my ass back up when you need me to," he called out softly. With one more quick smile from over his shoulder, he plopped his body down on the king mattress, and punched the pillow under his head a few times before settling back with his eyes closed.
Apparently, he'd gotten absolutely zero sleep last night while she'd been passed out on the floor of his dorm. He'd also driven the last three hours and then stood in line with her for almost an hour a half at the courthouse to get their marriage license. Since they had a good hour before they had to be at the chapel, his request to check into their hotel room so he could take a quick power nap seemed like a pretty reasonable one.
She stood there, in their hotel room, next to the bed where Jax was already quietly snoring, and for the life of her, Harper just couldn't take her eyes off him. Her head tilted to the side as she studied him, letting her gaze drift up and down the length of him as he slept.
Her lips lifted up at the corners, and the longer she watched him, the longer something foreign tugged at her heart. His legs looked so impossibly long, all kicked out on the mattress like that, covered in baggy jeans that were about two sizes too big, and with the way he'd strewn an arm over his eyes as he slept, his black and blue flannel shirt jostled to the side, revealing a metal SOA belt buckle, the very tip of the waistband on his white boxers, and just a flash of tanned skin. As she tilted her head to the side just a little more, she fleetingly wondered if that flannel covering his chest was actually as soft as it looked and what else she might find underneath it.
But it was his face that reeled her in. Now asleep, his features had softened and relaxed, but he was still just as achingly handsome as he always was. He wasn't just a hottie boom body - that didn't even really begin to cover it. He was just...he was just gorgeous. And there had been a few times over the last few hours when she'd seen something in his eyes, and in the way they lingered on her hair, on her dress, on her lips, on her legs that warmed her and squeezed her tight. That made her wonder what he was thinking and that also made her focus on the way his lips curved up at her a little bit more than she was used to.
Harper swallowed tightly at that thought. All of those thoughts felt like pretty dangerous ones right about now. Those were exactly the kinds of thoughts that were just going to cause trouble, and she tended to avoid letting herself get carried away in anything like that in the first place. There was no real point in messing around with things like serious feelings and real, actual relationships that meant something true because life was just too short to tie yourself down that way.
She'd managed to escape by the skin of her teeth plenty of times without falling down that rabbit hole, and it just didn't make sense to fall down that hole now, of all times and with all the men she'd ever been alone with in a hotel room.
Catching feelings was ill-advised, and as far as she was concerned, completely against the rules. At least the rules she lived by.
Harper sucked in a shaky breath as she hurried to the bathroom and shut the door behind her with a soft click. She just didn't know what was happening right now. Her eyes burned with hot moisture - that was such a foreign feeling, and she couldn't remember the last thing she'd felt it. And now her throat felt like it was on fire too.
She flipped the faucet on to run the water just in time to muffle one desperate sob. With her head in her hands, she sunk down to the toilet seat, heaving in and out, letting her body just give in, for better or worse.
She could've died today.
She probably should've died today.
Those men out at the end of that long, dirt road - they all would've taken a turn shooting her in the head and then dumped her body in a shallow, unmarked grave. Maybe she would've had it coming because that was what she got for letting her curiosity get the best of her, for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. It'd been bound to happen eventually.
And now, as her eyes drifted around the stark white walls and slightly yellowed tile at her feet, she knew the only reason she was even in this hotel room right now was because of Jax.
She was so used to sneaking in and out of crazy situation after crazy situation over the years, but she'd always gotten away. She'd always been able to move on to the next adventure. But this was the first time she hadn't been able to talk her way out of a bad situation, if that's even what this could even really be called.
She'd gotten away, not through her own fast-talking, even faster-thinking, or just about any manipulation of her own, but because of Jax.
He'd saved her life this morning when he'd speed-walked away from the trio of grim reapers who'd wanted her head, got in the truck with her, and skidded down that long, dirt road. And he'd saved her life again at the courthouse, when she'd offered him an easy out, and he hadn't taken it. Now, he was napping on a lumpy mattress in a hotel room in Reno, an hour away from marrying her.
To make matters even worse, he was actually fun to be around - the way he teased her and tried to call out the stories he still couldn't accept were true...that was fun. She'd actually liked talking to him the whole drive to Reno, and she liked the way he'd started to look at her even more. He wasn't the big asshole she'd thought he was. After everything he'd done for her the last 20 hours or so, he was the opposite of an asshole. He was so much more than that...
He'd come through for her in a way that no one else in her life ever had.
In these last 20 hours or so, she'd gone from hating him to just needing to be near him. And somehow, someway, he'd wound up being the person she trusted more than just about anyone else in her entire life - because she had to, and because she wanted to. It was as simple and as complicated as that.
And now, those tears that streamed down her cheeks shocked her. She dipped her fingertip in one of the streams, and then held it up to her eyes to examine it because she just couldn't believe this was actually happening right now. She was sitting here, crammed into a bathroom, in a cheap hotel room in Reno, an hour away from getting married, and she was doing it all with tears streaming down her face. And goddammit, she was ruining her makeup too.
She blew out a deep breath, pinching her cheeks to get a hold of herself. When that didn't completely do the job, she fanned herself with both hands and squeezed her eyes shut. With another deep breath, she glanced in the mirror and grimaced.
Ugh.
Black mascara streaks and blotchy red skin was not a good look. Especially not for a wedding, even if it was in Reno, and even if it was kind of, almost literally a shotgun one.
"Okay, okay, okay," she muttered under her breath. "You're fine, you're fine."
Harper blew out another long, slow breath and then splashed her face with some water. That helped. Drying her face with a towel helped too. So, then she just sprung back into action, tiptoeing outside the bathroom so she didn't disturb Jax, grabbed the little bit of makeup she'd thrown in her overnight bag, and got to work to fix the mess she'd made.
After some foundation, a few layers of black mascara, some pink blush, and a little bit of pink on her lips, she nodded to her reflection.
There. That was more like it. Now she felt a little more like herself again too.
She glanced at her phone, and chewed on her bottom lip absentmindedly. Jax still had a good 15 minutes left to sleep, and she wanted to make sure he got that sleep. He'd definitely earned the nap. Figuring that another cup of coffee wouldn't hurt either of them, especially since she really had no idea where the rest of the day, and night, was going to take them, she grabbed a twenty from her little stack of cash in her bag, and padded across the room before closing the door behind her.
A quick Google search told her there was a Starbucks about a block away from the hotel, so she headed straight for it, glancing up at the dark clouds that had gathered overhead with a wince. They'd planned on walking to the chapel from their hotel, and hopefully they'd miss whatever storm was about to blow through - she'd literally just fixed her damn makeup.
Luckily enough, there wasn't much of a line, and the hardest part was trying to decide what to order for Jax. She had no idea what kind of latte he might actually drink, if an outlaw biker would actually admit to drinking that sort of thing, so she just winged it, grabbing a few scones too just because they looked delicious on the counter.
She'd just rounded the corner of that long, outdoor walkway back to their hotel room, much happier now that she had some more caffeine, glancing up warily at the thunder rumbling across the sky, when Jax burst out of their room in a panic.
His terrified blue eyes scanned the parking lot frantically, and his ringed hands tore at his sleep-mussed, long blonde hair. Her steps stilled in the walkway right around the time their eyes met. Jax's handsome face twisted with relief, with a little bit of anxiety still mixed in there, and he stalked toward her with his arms reaching out to her.
"Jesus fucking Christ," he muttered under his breath as he took the coffee cups from her and set them down on the ground. Then he shocked her by tugging her against his chest and wrapping his arms around her shoulders. "Don't ever fucking do that to me again."
"I'm sorry," she murmured. "I didn't mean to -"
"I woke up and you were gone," he whispered into her hair, wrapping his arms around her even tighter as he spoke. "I thought you made a run for it. Fuckin' scared the shit outta me."
Harper pulled her head back from his chest, and her eyes widened when she realized just how serious he was. The frantic, almost frenzied panic still hadn't completely disappeared from his blue eyes, and he swallowed hard as his eyes dropped to her lips.
"Don't do that again," he murmured.
Her heart clenched and stuttered away in her chest, which also happened to heaving a little more now than she would've liked. "I won't," she promised him. "I'm not gonna make a run for it, okay?"
His lips nudged up at the corners in a pained smile, and that panic, and that very real fear still hadn't waded out of his swimming blue eyes.
"I'm sorry," she tried again. "I figured we both needed some more coffee."
Jax huffed out a laugh, shaking his head a little even as his mouth lifted into a soft smile. "I woulda went with you, ya know. All you had to do was ask, babe."
"I wanted to let you sleep," she shrugged, even more acutely aware now that his hands still lingered on her body, and had now settled on the top of her shoulders. "And I guess I just needed a little walk to clear my head, you know? This has been...a lot today," Harper laughed at just how a lot didn't even begin to cover it, and then the words just tumbled out of her before she could stop them, "I was crying in the bathroom before when you were sleeping and I just…"
She trailed off when she saw the way his eyes flashed with some new panic, and she jumped to explain, pressing a hand to his leather-covered chest, and starting a little when one of his hands immediately covered hers.
"I almost died today, didn't I?" she smiled softly at him, swallowing back the way his eyes seemed to bore into her, but waited until she saw him nod. "And I didn't. And now we're here, and I think everything just finally caught up to me. You know what's weird? I didn't even cry when my parents died. Not when I broke things off Eddie. But today's the day I decide to start crying for some reason."
"I think that's fair," Jax murmured hoarsely. "You okay now?"
Now that he was standing here, with her hand pressed up against his heart, and his hand protectively covering hers, yeah...she was okay now. She worried that she was better than okay.
And just like that, the skies parted and dumped rain on their heads.
Harper shrieked a little on the impact, but Jax just barked out a laugh, making a mad dash for the coffee cups he set down before, and then they sprinted back inside their hotel room, shutting the door behind them with a laugh.
"And here I got my makeup all perfect and everything," Harper shook her head as she dragged her fingers through her tangled, damp hair. At this point, it wasn't even worth looking in a mirror. That was a futile effort anyway, it seemed.
"Aw, don't worry about that, princess," Jax laughed as he slipped his leather kutte on and tucked his wallet in his back pocket. "You still look pretty, a'ight? And I should probably point out that your dress is teeny bit see-through right now, and that's perfectly okay for our purposes today."
"Well, I'm going to look like a drowned rat in any pictures, just so you know," she shot back snottily, and he just huffed out a laugh. She wiped underneath her eye to catch some of the black smudges she was sure were already there, but again, that was just a wasted effort. The damage had been done.
His comments were needling away at her whether she liked it or not - he thought she looked pretty. Her dress was a little bit see-through, but that was okay. She didn't quite know what to make of any of that, so she chose to just set it aside. Instead of lingering too long on just about anything else, Harper busied herself with a quick inventory of everything they needed to bring with them.
"You have your ID?" she called out to him, shaking her head with a little grin as he nodded and downed half his coffee in two big gulps. She double-checked own wallet for her ID, just to make absolutely sure, and then murmured, more to herself than anything, "I've got some cash -"
"Don't worry, princess," Jax told her from across the room. "I've got my card. I feel like that's more important than the cash."
She just batted a hand in the air at him as she adjusted the strap on her heel and then started to meet him in the middle of the room. "Okay, I've got our license. My phone. Do you have a room key? I've already got mine, but you should probably take one too, just in case."
Jax scratched the back of his head in thought, and then held up a finger before grabbing the room key off the dresser that he'd thrown it on when they first checked in. He slipped it into his back pocket with a wink her way, and then gestured with his head toward the door.
"Come on, babe," he grinned, reaching out to drape an arm over her shoulders. "We're gonna be late."
She just laughed, pushing aside the butterflies kicking around in her stomach, and let him sweep the door open to reveal the downpour waiting for them outside. Then, with a quick inhale to mentally prepare herself for what they were about to do, she glanced up at him.
This man, who was grinning down at her like he might actually be a little excited about this too. This man, who'd saved her life by driving her away from the people who would've killed her and driving her here to Reno instead. This man, who'd just about had a heart attack a few minutes when he'd thought she left. This man, who was probably the most beautiful person she'd ever seen. This man, who was fun and flirty and maybe even a little bit goofy sometimes. This man, who was probably the best person she'd ever met in her life. This man...was about to become her husband.
And so, with one last grin, they sprinted out into the rain.
"Are you sure you wouldn't like a silk bouquet?"
Harper glanced up from the book she'd been flipping through, that her soaking wet hair was also dripping all over, and rested her chin on her palm as she leaned up against the counter. As she bopped her head along to "Chapel of Love" playing softly in the background, she eyed the sweet little woman behind the counter, who was really just trying to do her job, which just happened to be up-selling to soon-to-be married, and very gullible, couples right before their ceremonies. Then she shifted her weight to glance at Jax, who just shrugged.
"Um, no thank you," Harper smiled a little too sweetly.
They were almost ready to head back to the Lonesome Dove chapel setting, which was one of four options here at the Antique Angel Chapel, and honestly, she could not wait to finally see that hideous thing in person. But first, they had to get through this last part, in which the sweet little woman behind the counter tried to get them to buy a bunch of stuff.
Jax, for his part, stepped away from the counter for a moment so he could shake some water out of his hair, and then he resumed his position next to her, leaning down to the counter on his elbows. She flipped one of the pages in the book, snickering at a particularly inebriated-looking couple who'd dressed the part for their Lonesome Dove-themed wedding, and she gleefully pointed to the picture to make sure Jax saw it.
"Jesus fucking Christ," he muttered under his breath as he ran a hand over his mouth to mask his grin.
"Isn't it perfect?" she turned to him with a wide smile, resting a hand on his forearm for extra emphasis. "Like, so perfect, honey?"
"Sure, babe," Jax threw back dryly. "Anything for you."
"Aw," the woman cooed behind the counter. "You two are so cute together."
Harper tilted her head to the side with a sugary sweet smile, reaching out to tap the woman's hand across the counter. "Thank you! Aren't you just the sweetest little thing...so…" she looked a little harder at the woman's outfit, finally catching her nametag, "Marnie. Is there anything else we need to do or can we get started?"
Jax shifted a shoulder to glance up at her from his spot on the counter, biting down on his bottom lip to keep from laughing.
"Oh!" Marnie exclaimed. "Well, we haven't talked about music yet! Oh, and what about…" she flipped through a few pages in the book in front of Harper, and then pointed down at the page, "Here are all our tux and veil selections. Sir, are you interested in renting a tux instead of wearing, um -"
Jax coughed out a laugh, drawing a fist up to his mouth to cover it up as he glanced down at his leather kutte with a sly grin. "Uh, no. I'm not gonna be rentin' a tux."
Marnie's smile froze on her face for a moment, but she recovered just as quickly, shifting her attention back to Harper, who she must've thought was a better target for some reason. "What about a veil, miss? Or, here," she flipped another page, and pointed at a hideous selection of gaudy, plastic monstrosities, "these are the tiara selections if you're interested."
Her lips parted to respond, but Jax's light laugh cut her off.
"Aw, babe, get the tiara," he flashed her a smug grin, and then draped an arm around her shoulders to draw her in closer before unleashing that megawatt smile on Marnie. "She is my little princess, ya know."
Harper lifted a wary eyebrow at him with a snide grin, before shooting Marnie a syrupy sweet smile. "The tiara won't be necessary, thank you."
"No worries," Marnie smiled kindly. "What about rings? Do you need to take care of that as well?"
That made her pause because they really hadn't thought about that, let alone talked about it. She glanced at Jax out of the corner of her eye, who was still leaning an elbow down on the counter with his chin in his palm and his other arm still slung over her shoulders. He caught her gaze, lifted an eyebrow at her, and then just shrugged easily.
"Might as well," he leaned in to murmur. "Just pick whatever you want."
Harper chewed on her bottom lip as Marnie swooped down, and then swooped back up again with a velvet tray filled with simple silver and gold bands. She glanced at Jax again out of the corner of her eye, and he just gestured with his head toward the tray with a grin, rubbing a knuckle over his lips to hide that little grin too.
"Actually," Marnie informed them softly. "These are the men's bands. Usually, couples tend to prefer to pick out each other's rings. It's just good luck, sorta like rain on your wedding day, right? You know, they say rain on your wedding day is a sign of fertility."
When Harper and Jax both just blinked back at her, Marnie laughed heartily with a hand to her chest, but she didn't stop there.
"It's also supposed to signify that your marriage is going to last," she winked at them. "And that it represents a cleansing, so to speak, and a fresh chapter. So, I don't really know why people think rain on their wedding day is a bad thing when, in fact, it's really the opposite," then she bent down again before straightening up to set another velvet tray in front of Jax, "These are the ladies' bands, sir. Just let me know which one of these you'd like for your lovely future wife here, and I'll get her all sized up."
Jax's eyebrows lifted as he drew his eyes up to Marnie for a moment, and then dropped his gaze back down to that velvet tray. He chewed on the inside of his cheek absentmindedly, perusing the selection with some apprehension, almost like he didn't want to pick the wrong thing, and he lifted his chin to get a look at the simple silver band Harper had just picked up from the men's tray.
She turned over the price tag, winced at what she saw, and hurriedly set it back back down on the velvet.
"Just get it, Harper. Whatever it costs, it's not a big deal," Jax laughed next to her, shooting her a quick grin before he got back to work on his own choice, glancing over at the men's ring she'd now picked up again, and tapping his finger to his chin as his eyes scanned the ladies' bands. His eyes flashed when he found what he was looking for, and then he plucked up a band that matched the one she was handing over to Marnie.
"Aw, matching bands," Marnie sang out. "How sweet."
"So sweet," Harper cooed as Jax coughed back a laugh.
"Here," Marnie gestured to Harper's left hand. "Let's get you measured to make sure they fit."
Marnie made quick work of wrapping a measuring tape around each of their ring fingers, and then, once she'd unearthed their actual rings, in their right sizes, from another drawer underneath the counter, that was all set to go.
"And what about music for the ceremony?" Marnie pressed on, flipping to another page in the book and pointing down at the page. "Here are all the options we have available, if you'd like some music playing in the background while you walk down the aisle."
Harper gave it a quick once-over, ignoring the way her heart pounded a little in her chest, and then her eyes lit up when she stumbled across one particular song. She pointed to it, drawing Jax's attention down to the line on the page. He choked out another laugh, bringing his fist up to his mouth again to muffle his laugh, and he just shook his head with a grin.
He leaned in, murmuring in her ear, "You're fucking insane, just so you know."
"Aw," Harper scrunched up her face, mocking him every step of the way as she clapped a hand to his cheek. "You love me though, don't you, honey?"
"Of course, babe," he laughed. "But seriously, what in the fuck?"
She just cocked an eyebrow at him. "Well, I think it's a hilarious choice. Prove me wrong, Jax. Prove me wrong."
He immediately lifted his hands up from the counter with a laugh. "Hey, whatever floats your boat."
"I'm just disappointed they don't have the Jaws theme. Now, that would be pretty perfect, don't you think?"
"Alright," he allowed with a shrug. "Thatwould actually be pretty funny."
"Well," she informed him as she gestured for Marnie to look at the song she'd picked. "This is the one, and I'm not changing my mind."
Marnie, bless her heart, scrunched her nose a little at the choice, but then just lifted a shoulder. "Alright. We usually only get requests for that at Halloween, but I'll get it all queued up for you. And for the music during the ceremony, this is usually a popular choice," she pointed down to another line, and Harper just shrugged, and then she gestured to another line, "A lot of couples pick this one too for their recessional after the ceremony's over. What do you think?"
Harper glanced at the name of the song and just shrugged. Seemed fine to her, just as long as they could get this show on the road.
"So, unless you changed your mind on the veil, miss," Marnie pressed on. "I think we can probably get started. Your officiant, Carol, is right this way in the Lonesome Dove chapel."
"I don't need a veil," Harper just shook her head, but turned her head when Jax nudged her with his elbow. He leaned in again, and her chest tightened and warmed a little at his closeness.
"You sure you don't want that?" he murmured in her ear. "I really don't care about whatever it costs if that's trippin' you up. Nothin' here is really all that expensive anyway - those rings were like, 60 bucks a piece. Get it if you want, babe."
Her eyes narrowed at him a little playfully. "Do you want me to have a veil or something?"
"You didn't get the flowers," Jax just lifted a shoulder nonchalantly, pushing off the counter so he could shove his hands in his pockets. "You can get the veil...isn't that somethin' girls usually wear anyway?"
Harper eyed him carefully, chewing on her bottom lip in thought, but when he just shrugged at her again with another easy grin, he'd convinced her. Well, sure, for appearances' sake and everything, she should probably just get the veil.
After dropping her eyes back to the page Marnie had pointed out to her again, she picked the simplest one she could find - just some light tulle that would barely skim her shoulders, but she figured that was good enough. Marnie nodded to her with a warm smile, and then stepped away from the counter momentarily so she could retrieve that one last selection.
She dared a glance at Jax, whose eyes were on his feet with his hands still in his pockets, but then he lifted his gaze, almost as if he could feel her watching him, and when their eyes met, his blue eyes softened and his lips curled into a gentle smile. He was still watching her with that smile playing on her lips when Marnie reappeared by the counter with the veil in her hand. She gestured to Harper to lean back as she stepped around the side of the counter, and then set the veil's comb at the top of her soaking wet hair with practiced fingers.
Marnie fluffed the veil out a little, and then nodded to herself. "There. You're all set."
As they trailed after Marnie, who led them down a side hallway to get to the chapel, Harper's heart stuttered and kicked through her chest. Those butterflies dancing around in her stomach weren't helping either. And, because she just wasn't sure what she was supposed to do with her hands right now, she glanced over at Jax, who was walking shoulder to shoulder with her with his hands in his pockets. She linked her arm through his, just because that seemed like the thing she probably should do, suddenly feeling a tiny bit shy when his eyes flicked down to her.
Luckily, they reached the chapel's main entrance before they could do or say much else, and Marnie waved to the short, plump woman who was waiting to greet them.
"This is your officiant, Carol," Marnie told them, sweeping her hand out to the woman with the kind smile. "And I'll be your witness for the ceremony as well. I think we're ready?"
She looked to Carol now, who stepped forward with a black binder in her hand, reaching out to shake their hands. Once that particular formality was done, Carol gestured with her head toward the entrance of the chapel, stopping only at the entrance so they could go through one last thing.
"I understand you chose the basic ceremony?" Carol asked warmly.
"Short and sweet," Jax nodded to her with a grin, but then something flashed over his face and he held up a finger. "Oh, wait. There's somethin' you gotta add though."
Then he leaned in to whisper something in Carol's ear, snickering a little to himself when she barked out a laugh. He glanced at Harper with a sly grin, and just shrugged. "Don't worry about it, babe. It's an MC thing."
"Okay," Harper replied slowly, narrowing her eyes as Carol dipped her head to Jax one more time as he repeated whatever he'd just told her so she could scribble it into her binder.
Carol was still chuckling to herself as she finished making her note, and then gestured with her head toward the chapel with her eyes on Jax. "Alright, Mr. Teller, you come with me. Your bride is gonna wait down here so she can walk down the aisle to you."
Jax's eyebrows lifted again, just as Harper's heart pounded relentlessly in her chest, but he shot her a quick glance over his shoulder as he followed Carol and Marnie through the white French doors, leading to the chapel's entrance.
Harper watched him tilt his head up and glance around at his surroundings - from the aged wood paneling covering the left wall, the red and blue Southwestern carpet at his feet, the wagon wheels nailed into the wall by the altar, the short rows of gold antique armchairs lining the aisle, and finally, to the grand finale - the giant backdrop against the far wall, right at the front of the chapel, that looked like it had thrown up every Southern cliche, complete with hanging lassos, a beat-up guitar, a metal tractor thing that was somehow fixed to the wall, and a smattering of white country daisies and wildflowers all around it.
He glanced over his shoulder at her again with a cocked eyebrow, and shook his head, chuckling all the way to the front of the altar.
It really was perfect. Perfectly terrible in every way.
But the problem now was that she was standing here, at the end of this aisle, all by herself. God, she hadn't expected to feel so damn nervous all of a sudden. And it completely threw her off her game.
Everything was going to be fine now, especially once they made it through this part. Her eyes drifted down the length of the aisle, where he was standing next to Carol, with Marnie lingering off to the side as their witness. His hands were folded calmly in front of him with his eyes on the red and blue carpet, but from where she stood, she could see his chest rising and falling against that leather kutte.
And then the music started playing, with the familiar creak of a coffin opening, some chains clanking on the ground, and some potions bubbling in a beaker.
I was working in the lab, late one night
When my eyes beheld an eerie sight
The second their eyes met from across the room, their shoulders starting shaking with laughter. Even Carol was shaking her head at the song choice. Jax rolled his eyes to the ceiling, scrubbing a hand over his face to mask that grin. And then he flicked his gaze back down, meeting her square in the eye.
With a light smile curving his lips, and his eyes softening, her feet started to move toward him, despite the way her breath came in and out in shaky rasps, and despite the nerves fluttering around in her stomach, and she chose to just focus on the ridiculousness of the song. If they could laugh about it, they didn't have to think about it.
For my monster from his slab, he began to rise
And suddenly to my surprise
She anxiously batted some wet, still dripping hair off her shoulder, even as she still found herself laughing at the song. Right about now, Harper wished she really had gotten the bouquet, even if it was an ugly silk one, because she had no idea what to do with her hands. At least Jax could put his hands in his pockets or something, even though he chose to keep them folded in front of him, and so she found herself clinging to her purse strap for lack of anything better to do.
He did the mash, he did the monster mash
The monster mash, it was a graveyard smash
She had to bite down on her bottom lip to keep from completely losing her shit and laughing all the rest of the way down the aisle. That was just easier to focus on because now, although he was still shaking his head at the song, grinning through another laugh, it was his eyes that almost did her in. His eyes watched her intently as she closed the short distance between them, and she felt like she was practically tiptoeing down the aisle now, fighting back the smile that threatened to spread all the way across her face.
When she finally reached the front of the chapel, where everyone else was waiting for her, those butterflies hadn't ceased their skipping and hopping. Her heart still hadn't fully recovered from the way it had thundered in her chest just now, and she swallowed hard when Carol gestured for Jax to reach for her hand.
He obliged her, reaching out with a ringed hand and then there was nothing left to do but take his hand.
On pure instinct, Harper reached out to him with her other hand, and he took it with a soft smile and a wink. She fought back a laugh, biting down on her bottom lip to try to maintain at least a little bit of composure as Carol opened her binder and started to read from it. On cue, the music switched gears, immediately tapering off from the ridiculousness of the Monster Mash, and flipping over as Elvis began to croon softly through the speakers.
"As we begin today," Carol started with a smile to each of them, "I wanted to take a moment to revel in one of life's richest surprises - that accidental meeting of two life paths, from that first glance of acquaintance to this moment right here, at this chapel and at this altar, where your two life paths converge into one as you commit yourselves to one another."
Harper's eyes had been fixed on the vice president patch on Jax's chest, but her gaze drifted up to his face at those words. When their eyes met, Jax's lips curved up into that soft smile that warmed and filled her chest.
"At some point, you decided to marry," Carol went on softly. "And from that moment of yes, to this moment of yes, you have been making commitments to each other every step of the way. All those conversations that were held in a car, over a meal, over a cup of coffee - all those conversations that began with someday or somehow or maybe - and all those promises that are unspoken matters of the heart, they've led you to this moment. These symbolic vows that you're about to make are a way of saying to one another, you know all those things we hoped, and we dreamed, and we promised - well, I meant it all, every word. Look at one another and remember this moment in time."
Carol paused there, giving them that moment.
Harper's gaze drifted back to Jax's face, finding him watching her with a ghost of a smile playing on his lips, and she felt her own lips lift at the corners, even as her heart pounded, and even as tears pricked the back of her eyes. She swallowed that down, suddenly overcome by the weight of those words and the weight of what they were doing here with their hands clasped around each other. Jax squeezed her right hand, letting his eyes soften again and he blew out a deep breath.
"Before this moment, you have been many things to one another," Carol went on. "Acquaintance, friend, companion, lover, dancing partner, even teacher, for you have learned much from one another over the time you've spent together. In just a moment, you'll say a few words that will take you across a threshold of life, and things between you will never be quite the same. For after today you'll say to the world: this is my husband, this is my wife."
Harper inhaled sharply, clinging to Jax's hands for dear life, and she felt her chest heave again. This felt...this felt different than she'd expected. She felt it. Maybe that was the difference. All those words Carol was saying right now...she felt every one of them, right in the chest. And Jax wasn't any help - pinning those soft navy blue eyes on her and squeezing her hands almost like he felt exactly what she was feeling in this moment too.
"And now," Carol went on, nodded to each of them, "Jackson and Harper, will you take these vows here before us which symbolize the manifested vows you have already made and will continue to make to each other throughout your lives?"
Harper swallowed tightly, watching as Jax's Adam's apple bobbed in his throat, and then they spoke in unison: "We will."
With a light smile, Carol gestured to Marnie for their rings and handed one to Harper.
"Now, ladies first," Carol grinned, nodding to her. "Harper, please repeat after me -"
And as her eyes locked on him, she found herself repeating the vows Carol read out to her:
"I, Harper Claire Sullivan, take you, Jackson Nathaniel Teller, as my friend and my love, beside me and apart from me, in laughter and in tears, in conflict and tranquillity, asking that you be no other than yourself, loving what I know of you, trusting what I do not yet know, in all the ways that life may find us. With this ring, I give you my promise, to honor you, to be faithful to you, and to share my love and life with you, in all ways, forever."
Then, with trembling fingertips, she reached for Jax's left hand, pausing when she realized he was actually already wearing an NS ring on his fourth finger. She looked to him hesitantly for some direction, but he just nodded to her with a soft grin. So, she slipped that NS ring off his ring, and handed it to him so he could put it in his pocket. Then, she glanced up at him one more time, and finding him watching her with that lop-sided smile, she slipped the wedding ring on his finger.
Her breath came in and out shakily as Marnie stepped forward to give Jax the other ring, and then, he shifted his gaze back to her, biting down on his bottom lip while he waited for Carol to prompt him with his vows.
"I, Jackson Nathaniel Teller, take you, Harper Claire Sullivan," Jax told her in a deep, scratchy voice, pausing long enough to flash her a grin, "as my friend and my love, beside me and apart from me, in laughter and in tears, in conflict and tranquillity, asking that you be no other than yourself, loving what I know of you, trusting what I do not yet know, in all the ways that life may find us. With this ring, I give you my promise, to honor you, to be faithful to you, and to share my love and life with you, in all ways, forever."
He gripped her left hand again, and slipped the wedding ring on her finger, taking a moment to grab her other hand again too.
Then he cocked a sly eyebrow at Carol to prompt her.
"And," Carol nodded to him with a laugh as she shook her head a little.
"And," Jax's jaw worked around a cocky, gorgeous grin as he spoke. "I promise to treat you as good as my leather and ride you as much as my Harley."
Harper's mouth dropped open, her eyes widening in mock-horror, even as Carol and Marnie burst out laughing around her. "What?"
"I told ya, babe," he just shrugged through another grin. "It's an MC thing."
Carol, still laughing, wiped underneath her eye, and finally got a hold of herself, gripping that black binder again as Harper shook her head at Jax with an amused grin.
"That's really nice, Jax. Really nice," Harper told him, playfully narrowing her eyes at him, but he just winked at her and squeezed her hands again.
"Well, on that note," Carol laughed. "Having entered into this covenant of marriage by the exchanging of your vows and the giving and the receiving of your rings, by the power vested in me by the state of Nevada, I now pronounce you husband and wife, and Mr. and Mrs. Jackson Teller," she gestured to Jax, a wide, happy grin crossing her face, "You may kiss your bride."
Harper's lips parted shakily as her eyes lifted back up to face him, but he was already moving toward her. The calloused fingers that held her left hand slipped away so they could brush her cheek as he closed the short distance between them, hesitating just long enough to meet her in the eyes. She barely had any time to register what she found reflected back in his eyes, the determination, the genuine happiness, the tenderness - all of it, because Jax stepped closer and brushed his lips against hers.
He pulled back for just a moment, inhaling just as shakily as she did, and then they moved at the same time - sealing their lips together as Jax closed both hands around her face to draw her in deeper, and as she slipped her arms around his waist, dipping underneath his kutte, to bring him in closer.
Freddie Mercury's voice floated through the speakers now, right along with the guitar, as he sang about this thing called love, and her mind completely went blank.
Jax's lips were still moving over hers, as their witness and officiant clapped happily in the background, and she just couldn't bat down the way he made her feel. The way the feel of his soft lips against hers shot sparks between them, from their wet hair all the way down to his damp white sneakers and her soaked heels. She'd never thought fireworks were an actual thing people could feel when they kissed - but here it was. Right here on her lips, compounded by the feel of the smooth, rain-soaked leather underneath her fingertips and the heady scent of musk and gasoline wrapping around her and squeezing tight.
Her heart was still pounding when his hands dropped away from her face, slipping down to her waist, and he pulled back, breaking that spell and making her immediately mourn the loss of his warm lips pressed against hers.
But his eyes just about knocked her off her feet.
They were effing sparkling. Sparkling.
And then his lips curved into a sexy, lop-sided grin as she heard the soft click of a camera behind them.
"Look over here," Marnie called out to them, and so they turned, with Jax's arm slung around her shoulders and her arm wrapped around his waist, and grinning at each other until Marnie got their attention. "You've got all night for that now - just look over here for one second so I can get a good picture!"
They turned, obliging their makeshift and appropriately-priced photographer, and flashed her a grin so she could snap a couple more pictures of them standing at the altar, with that ridiculous backdrop and its aged wood paneling, and the wagon wheels right off to the side, and their arms wrapped around each other.
Once Marnie was satisfied, they were led back down the aisle and back to the lobby where they'd started - only this time, Jax draped an arm around her shoulders and she slipped her arm underneath his kutte and around his waist.
"Let's just get your marriage license squared away and then you'll be all set to go off and celebrate!" Marnie told them, clapping her hands together excitedly. She took a moment to sign on the witness line, and then Jax turned to her with his eyebrows raised and a smile on his handsome face, almost as if he was saying to her...is this really happening right now? Are we really fucking married right now?
Carol took her turn next, signing on the officiant's line before handing it back to Marnie, who stamped it with some kind of official-looking Nevada government stamp to really make it official, and then she scanned it into a computer. When the printer spit out a page, she handed it over to Harper with a happy smile.
Harper glanced down at the paper, and her heart squeezed in her chest.
"There's your copy! Your license is on file now, and that means you're officially married. Congratulations, Mr. and Mrs. Teller!"
A/N - So the wedding bells have rung, and now they're officially married. And now they have to figure out what all this means (not to mention how they were feeling during the ceremony). They could joke about it and not take it lightly right up until the ceremony started, right? Then they had to get serious ;)
Thoughts on their wedding? Predictions about what's going to happen in the last two chapters? As always, thank you for reading!