Disclaimer: I don't own.

A/N: So, I think I was unintentionally unclear with the ending of the last chapter. They were just calling some random other person for the standby seat, and the name ringing out was supposed to be, like... he couldn't change his mind. They did their last call and then moved on, so he was stuck with his decison. Sorry if that was confusing. :( Mea Culpa.

So... after you read this chapter, please remind yourself, once again, that this is a GSR story. I promise. Cross my heart. ...And I very much doubt that it will be twenty chapters before we get there. Ten at the very most, I would guess. And I understand that this story and Viagra are mutally exclusive, however, I make no promises regarding the year. :) (If you don't understand, read the last page or so of reviews... Oh, I love my reviewers and their demands!)

...I'm going to go hide now.

Chapter Twenty-Nine:

I just didn't think about it.

I went to lunch, I tied ribbons on wedding favors and tried on my dress and fooled around with any number of other exhausting details my mother-in-law-to-be laid before me, and by the time I had to change for the rehearsal dinner, I felt like nothing in the world would make me happier than four shots of tequila and my bed.

We did the rehearsal, we talked to the minister, we went to eat with his parents and our wedding parties… and at the end of the night, after giving a million hugs and smiling for a million pictures, Jace went with his sister, and Rachel, Kyleigh, and Michelle followed me home. Only Rachel was spending the night, but as soon as Kyleigh and Michelle had discovered that none of Jace's sisters would be there, they saw no harm in coming to talk with me.

And once again, I went with it. I laughed, I joked, I teased my friends, never letting them know that I might not be getting exactly what I wanted the next day, because I had so thoroughly convinced myself that it was what I wanted. But when I laid awake in bed, Rachel curled up on Jace's side of the bed, I couldn't help the tears that came.

And Rachel, of course, couldn't help but notice them. Within minutes I had spilled my entire week to her in between sobs and she hugged me and calmed me down, and made me talk reasonably.

"Do you love him, Sara?"

"No! …I don't know!"

"Do you love Jace?"

"Yes! Of course I do!"

"…Well. I mean, doesn't that answer your question?"

I sniffled. "But I keep thinking… I mean, you can love a lot of people without them being 'the one,' you know? What if I love him but… but he's not 'it.'"

She frowned and thought for a moment. "…If Dr. Grissom weren't in the picture, would you still want to wait for 'the one'?"

"N-no." I stuttered out over a sob. She smiled.

"And he said he'd be there tomorrow, right?"

"R-right." God, why couldn't I keep my voice steady?

She shrugged. "If he's there… You pull Jace aside before the ceremony and tell him you're sorry, but you're not sure about this. You take some time to explore what's there with this Dr. Grissom. …You know Jace would take you back if you were honest with him. He's… just that nice of a guy."

I frowned. That seemed… an impossible proposition. "What if… he's not there?"

She gave me a half-smile. "If he's not there, he really isn't Mr. Right, is he? I mean, you said he's gone back and forth how many times… if he can't be sure enough he wants to be with you to simply follow through and do what he said he'd do… he's not the one, sweetie. He's just messing with your head and it'll screw things up with a great guy."

I frowned and stubbornly wiped my eyes. "This doesn't… answer anything. He will be there, I know he will. And then in less than an hour before I'm supposed to walk down the aisle, I'll have to make this life-altering decision."

"Decision made—if he's there, honey, you tell Jace you need time. …You shouldn't marry someone if you're not sure."

I don't know how, but the relief of having a plan lulled me to sleep, and while I had vivid, tangled, confusing dreams that had my stomach churning, I slept through the night, waking to my alarm the next morning… and beginning the mess of pre-wedding preparations.

Despite Rachel's words, I wasn't sure if I would actually cancel the wedding minutes before it was due to begin just because Dr. Grissom was in attendance. I mean, it helped to have a plan… it kept me calm through getting up and ready, going with an entourage of women to get my hair done, doing make up, and driving to the church. Jace's mother was running around, double-checking everything while my bridesmaids and I were dressing. Around three-thirty, Rachel came and whispered that she would check if he were here, because apparently they were seating people.

I took pictures with each girl and my mother-in-law and my parents-in-law and my wedding party and I posed for obnoxious ones in which I was pretending to put on make-up in front of an ornate mirror… Rachel had gone out and come back several times, each time shaking her head. My resolve was strengthening. I knew it. I knew that Jace had been the right choice.

Just before the wedding was about to start, she ran out a final time, and though she was gone longer than usual, I assumed it was simply because she now had more people to look at. She shook her head, again, when she returned, and I sighed, feeling perfectly content in my choice. She was right—'Mr. Right' would have been here.

We gathered our bouquets, lined up outside the big double doors and when the music started, began walking into the sanctuary, down the aisle. I was giving myself away, so I straightened my head and watched and counted for my time to enter… and then did, watching everyone stand around me. I smiled at the people on the ends, but for the most part kept my eyes on Jace. …He was looking at me like I was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen, and under his gaze, I felt that way. I blushed and beamed and sighed happily when I reached him, turning to face the minister while everyone sat down.

I noticed several things, when I should have been listening to the man describe the sanctity of marriage and the depth of the commitment we were undertaking. Though our bouquets were real, the flowers on the alter, and actually, on the end of the pews too, were plastic. …Could the love be real, if the flowers weren't? …It had been one of only three requirements.

And come to think of it, I was certain we hadn't paid for flowers at all except for boutonnieres and bouquets. …So despite wanting the whole wedding to be in budget, my mother-in-law had paid for fake flowers on her own. …Outside the budget. …Fake flowers.

The minister instructed us to take each other's hands, and I watched as Jace repeated the vows to me with a growing sense of dread. When he turned to his best man to get my ring, I found myself frantically scanning our guests, hoping for a gray-haired entomologist to run to. This wasn't right…

He wasn't there. I wanted him to be there. In that moment, I was frantic enough to throw convention out the window and actually run from the alter, but he wasn't there.

The minister asked me to repeat after him, and I did, thinking about everything I loved about Jace, convincing myself that it was not his fault that his mother had absolutely no regard for my wishes and that he would be a good husband. …Better than a man who would string me along, perpetually changing his mind. Jace said his 'I do' and after a brief intake of breath and final flick of my eyes out to where he wasn't, I said mine as well.

I heard a door in the back open and turned to see who was entering or exiting, but the minister had just pronounced us Man and Wife and Jace had pulled me to him, kissing me deeply. It was not the kiss from the day before, against a tree, and filled with emotion. But it was soft, and nice, and warm and comfortable. We were turned towards the pews and I scanned the people again, thinking perhaps he had walked in late… but he was nowhere to be found.

The minister said it was his honor to present Mr. and Mrs. Jace Wendt, not Mr. and Mrs. Wendt or Jace and Sara Wendt, and it took everything in me to smile and not burst into tears. Everything had been wrong.

I came in about five minutes before the wedding was scheduled to begin, clad in the only suit I'd brought and sitting in the back, but along the aisle. I wanted to make sure she would see me. A bridesmaid who I vaguely recognized as one of the girls from the bar hurried up to me not a minute later, pulling me out of the earshot of anyone else and saying that Sara had told Jace about our kiss, and she had sent her out to make sure that if I came, I was out of sight of Jace. She didn't want a confrontation.

"If he can't see me, she won't either…" I argued, thinking I would gladly take a punch if it meant I got Sara in the exchange, but not wanting to ruin her wedding if she didn't want that. …Clearly she had thought I would be coming. She knew I wouldn't get on the plane, despite telling me to. That had to mean something, didn't it?

"I'll tell her you're here. Seriously, Jace spent all last night screaming at her…"

So I reluctantly moved to the far end of the back pew, situating myself behind a woman with ridiculously large hair. The wedding was nice, but not what I would have imagined Sara planning. From what I knew about her, my instinct was something on a beach, at sunset… She would be so beautiful.

When she walked in, I realized that my imagination had not done her justice. The dress was simple—spaghetti straps down to a simple white dress, fitted below the bust, and flowing out from there, falling straight and in a classic, simple, elegant fashion to the floor. She straightened her chin, and did not look around for me as she walked down the aisle, smiling at people but… it didn't seem like it met her eyes.

I held out hope that she would change her mind, especially when I saw her begin to scan the crowd, a frown creasing her eyes and forehead, despite the grin fixed perpetually and falsely upon her lips. I wanted to stand and announce my love to her, but I held back. She knew, and she knew I was here. She had a choice, and I had to let her make it.

She hesitated before saying 'I do,' but said it she did, and I bolted from the church, not wishing to see their first kiss as husband and wife. I felt nauseous, and thoroughly wished I had left yesterday when I had the chance. At the very least, I didn't have much time. By the time I got through security, there should only be a half hour before boarding. At the very least, I wouldn't have to stay here long. …At the very least, I could put her behind me, once and for all.