Chapter Eight: Full Circle
17th November 2014. Their big day.
Brittany's nerves were off the chart, as she sent the bridesmaids off to find various insects and items that she had read about bringing luck, in multiple different traditions. She tried to regulate her breathing and calm herself, as she stood alone for the first time all day.
Santana was in the adjoining room going crazy. She hadn't seen Brittany since this morning, and it was killing her. Then when she finally would get to see her, she'd have to share her all day with everyone else. It wouldn't be until their wedding night, that they'd finally get time alone together. As someone who really valued quality time with Brittany, this wasn't good enough for Santana, and when she heard the bridesmaid leave the room, she opened the door to seek out her beloved.
"When I pictured my wedding day, I thought that I would be the most beautiful bride ever but…I was wrong, you are. You look amazing"
And for the first time, Brittany wasn't so touched by Santana's words, as she rushed around frantically to find something to cover her dress.
"Santana WHAT are you doing here? This is like the ultimate bad luck! God a bride cannot see her bride before the ceremony" she said, hurriedly pushing Santana out of the door "Why are you trying to sabotage this wedding!?"
"You know what?" Santana said firmly, pushing the door open again as quickly as Brittany had closed it "This was all adorable, but now I'm putting my foot down"
She walked over to stand in front of her wife-to-be, who was seemingly stressed out.
"Do you even know why a groom couldn't see the bride before the wedding?" she pushed
"Cannibalism?" Brittany shrugged, using sarcasm as a way to mask her nerves.
"No" Santana continued, her approach firm "It dates back to arranged marriages. People thought that if the couple had time to see each other before the wedding, they would change their minds and bail on actually getting married"
Brittany listened apprehensively, the blanket she had found still covering her dress, as Santana softened her tone.
"That's not us, okay? Because you love me, and I love you…and no silly superstitions are gonna change that"
And Brittany let out a small smile, as she thought about what they already knew. How sure they were of their love for each other now, and how far they had come.
"Hey" Santana continued, reaching out for Brittany's hand "I'm really sorry that I can't go an hour without seeing you 'cause…I'll just miss you too much. And me and you…rules don't apply to us, they never have, we make our own luck, so…I say that it's good luck to kiss the bride before the wedding, because then we can have that kiss that we can't have in front of our friends and family because they'll be too jealous" she shrugged, letting out a flirty smile.
And that was all Brittany needed to hear. She dropped the blanket with a laugh, that Santana shared with her.
"Come here" Santana instructed, as she pulled her beautiful bride towards her.
"Hi baby" Brittany whispered, before her lips landed on Santana's.
They kissed passionately, all the emotions for the day ahead were poured into it, and Brittany's nerves had finally stilled as she moved in Santana's arms.
"I love you so much" she said softly, when they finally pulled away.
And Santana didn't need to say it back, because Brittany could see it in her eyes.
Much to Brittany's delight, superstitions aside, the wedding had gone seamlessly. In fact, it had gone better than seamless, and beyond perfect. Santana's Abuela had even had a change of heart at the last minute and shown up at the nuptials.
As Santana walked towards Brittany, standing at the front of the barn which she had done an amazing job of converting into the perfect venue, they both looked at each other and felt a euphoric rush, one of the few times in their lives that they were so certain they were doing something so profoundly right.
Brittany could barely breathe, as she watched Santana draw closer towards her, and all Santana could think was "every fuck up in my life, every tear, every mistake, has all been worth it to lead me to this moment".
The vows were beautiful, as they had both taken the time to write them themselves. Santana 'lover of linguistics' Lopez, had gone first.
"Brittany, you are my best friend, my love and my rock.
We met six years ago. We were in the locker room after Cheerio's practice, and you gave me a smile so warm and captivating, that it intrigued me. I've been in love with you ever since.
And I know people think that you can't have love at first sight, that it's not possible. But with you, it must be possible. I know it's possible. And I never made it easy for us at first. I denied what we had, I pushed you away, I made you believe that our love wasn't real. But you kept breaking down these walls, not just because you wanted to be with me, but because you wanted me to find my inner happiness.
You loved me, even when I wouldn't let you. When I was hard to love, you made it seem easy. I've been bullied, outed and misunderstood, and I've experienced some of the hardest challenges since I've known you, but that's the best part. That I've got to do it with you by my side. You never let me fight a battle alone, and you are always there to share in every success and every failure.
And, I promise to do that for you for the rest of our lives. I will always be there to love you, to take care of you when you're sick, to remind you how much of a genius you are and tell you how beautiful you are, inside and out. You are thoughtful, you are funny, you are kind. You'd do anything for me, and you are the most romantic person I know. You are the world to me.
And if somebody was to ask me if I'd choose you in every lifetime, it's an easy question to answer. Yes. A thousand times yes!
Our start may have been rocky, but our ending is clear.
I love you so much Brittany Pierce. You are the best thing that's ever been mine, and I promise to love you this way forever"
And as Brittany wiped the tears from her eyes, she was scared her knees would buckle from the amount of love she was feeling at that moment. She had almost forgot they had an audience until she heard somebody blowing their nose. Clearly Santana's words had left most people in tears.
"How am I going to follow up with that?" Brittany joked, still hastily wiping the tears away. She took a deep, shaky breath to compose herself, her nerves getting the better of her again.
"Relax baby, just take it slow" Santana whispered "Pretend like it's just you and me here" she squeezed Brittany's hand, and Brittany let out another breath.
"Santana. My soulmate, my sweet love, my best friend.
Loving you was never a choice. It was a decision my heart made, and my brain agreed with. I know that you think sometimes you were hard to love, but hard doesn't even come into my vocabulary, when it comes to loving you. Hard was fearing that we'd never be together, hard was having you then losing you, hard was being without you. But loving you, has always been the most easy and natural thing in the world.
Before you, the world seemed so scary and confusing. It was just too fast, it made me feel dumb, just because my brain worked differently. But you were always there to make sense of everything. Every doubt I had, you rectified. Every fear I encountered, you fixed. You made me feel smart, in times where I thought I was stupid. You called me a genius, and you made me believe in myself.
You always know how to make me feel loved and supported. You encourage me, guide me and tell me every day that you love me. You make me feel like I'm the only person you see, and that I'm truly special.
I can't believe I get to call you mine and walk through life with you. You are beautiful, intelligent and generous. You have the biggest heart, and I'm so lucky that I get to hold that heart. And I promise that I will protect your heart and hold it tight for the rest of my life. I promise to be by your side through whatever life throws at us. I promise to wipe your tears when you're crying and laugh with you when you are happy. And I promise to continue bringing you breakfast and coffee every morning, to make the start of your day a little easier.
Our journey here wasn't always smooth. But even if someone had told me that it wasn't going to work out. And that at the end of all of our struggling and all of our work, it would just end in heartache. I would have suffered it all, just for the tiny chance to be standing up here marrying you.
I've never been sure about many things in my life Santana, but I have always been sure of you.
I love you so much. Since the day we met, and from this day forward, for the rest of our lives."
Santana could barely breathe, as Brittany finished off her vows, and she certainly couldn't speak, so she conveyed her love and gratitude with her eyes instead. Brittany had always told Santana she was the one good with words, but Santana was beginning to think it was the other way around.
As the ceremony continued and they said their I Do's, there wasn't a dry eye in the house.
And when they heard the words they had been waiting to hear, that they were officially wife and wife, and they could kiss one another, they crashed tenderly against each other.
"I love you" Brittany smiled simply.
"I love you, my beautiful wife" Santana whispered gently back to her, finally finding some composure after Brittany's vows.
As everyone applauded Santana turned to the window, signalling for Brittany to look out. As if on cue, Doves began flying out everywhere. Of course, Santana had to make sure she got at least one gesture in on their big day. It had proven difficult, considering Brittany hadn't let her do anything, but with some help from Artie, she had managed to pull it off.
"You did that?" Brittany gasped, hand to her chest.
Santana nodded excitedly, because seeing her wife happy, was the best feeling in the world.
As they arrived outside of their hotel room, finally alone together for their highly anticipated wedding night, Brittany pulled Santana back as she went to walk in the room.
"Stop right there Mrs Lopez-Pierce" Brittany smiled, and with that she scooped Santana into her arms and carried her over the threshold, as Santana giggled like an excited teenager.
She placed Santana down on the bed gently, pulling off Santana's shoes before her own, and collapsing on the bed next to her. As she sat, Santana pulled her in for a deep, meaningful kiss.
When they finally pulled away, Santana's eyes were sparkling, her face lit up with a radiant smile that mirrored Brittany's own expression.
"I know it's cliché but, this really has been the best day of my life" Santana said, feeling emotional all over again as the tears pricked her eyes.
"Mine too baby. I just…I can't believe we're here. Together. Married."
"Yep, this is us forever baby. You're officially my wife" Santana smiled happily
"And do you know how proud I am to be your wife" Brittany replied, pressing a hard kiss against Santana's lips.
"If it's anything as proud as I am to be yours, I have a pretty good idea" Santana replied, tenderly stroking Brittany's face with her finger.
"You know, I was thinking. When you walked towards me looking so unbelievably beautiful, all I could think about at first was how gorgeous you looked. But then I had this image in my head, of you walking towards me in the school hallway, the time when you first told me you loved me. All nervous and glancing around, checking nobody was listening. But…there you were today, walking towards me with pride. Promising to love me in front of all our friends and family. We really have come full circle San"
"It's weird because…I had the same thought. I remember that day so vividly. I mean how could I not, like you say, it was the day I told you I loved you for the first time. I was so scared as I walked towards you, but today as I walked towards you, all I felt was joy and pride" she sighed happily
"I love you San. I'm so proud of how far you've come"
"I love you too baby. I'm proud of you too. Proud of us"
Brittany leaned in, to kiss Santana again, in anticipation for the night they had planned ahead of them. She had it all carved out in her head, how she was going to make Santana feel so loved and so special.
As they stared at each other in the dimmed room, Santana stroked Brittany's face with a content smile.
"You are so beautiful Brittany. Tonight, is going to be all about you…"
"Absolutely not baby. I want you to enjoy our wedding night. I want you to be the one who feels special" Brittany interrupted
"You did all of the wedding planning pretty much by yourself. Please let me do this one thing for you?" Santana pleaded
"How about…we make it a night about both of us" Brittany suggested, and Santana broke out into a soft giggle.
"Ooh look at us being the married couple already, compromise"
"Start as we mean to go on" Brittany laughed
"I feel special every single day I'm with you Brittany. Tonight, will be no different. You're right, let's make this about both of us. Our night. Our wedding night"
And Brittany nodded with a coy smile, before Santana pulled her close once more.
"Come here…" she said softly.
They made love for the first time as wives that night, and it was nothing short of special and amazing.