As anyone would guess the next two days were spent nursing hangovers all around. On the first day after The Unfortunate Tequila Incident, Will and Samantha didn't even bother to leave their apartment to have breakfast with Sydney and Francine. Although this might be called The Other Unfortunate Tequila Incident, but let's not go there. Luckily everyone was sober and recovered by the third day.......the wedding day.
Everything was set up in the church out front and the first few guests were just starting to arrive as Sydney wandered boredly through the hallway of the back offices.
"Hey," Will said as he stepped out of the room that had been designated for the men in the wedding to change in. He smiled sheepishly and gestured to his navy blue tuxedo, "How's it look?"
Sydney smiled, "You look great Will. Are you nervous?"
"Insanely," He laughed.
She laughed too and went over to straighten his collar, his eyes smiled at her as he pulled her into a tight hug. "You'll be fine," She said as they broke their hug.
"Thanks," He said and went back into the room. Sydney sighed and opened the door to the garden in the back for some air. It was already occupied however, she pretty much knew who it was before he even turned around. They both stopped and stared at each other for a minute.
"Hi," He finally said with an attempt at a smile.
"Hi," She said back.
He swallowed, "Listen about what happened that night. I wanted to apologize, I was insensitive. I'm sorry"
She shifted around uneasily. "No, no........it was my fault. Let's just forget about it okay?" she said and regretted the words the moment the passed her lips.
"Okay," He wasn't sure that he could just forget it though. They stood silently, the tension was enough to cut with a knife. Sydney sighed, it was awful. She would have preferred for none of this to ever have happened, for them to have been friends, colleagues, hell even momentary acquaintances would have been better than this awkwardness.
"Well, I suppose I better go change," She said making an attempt at a chuckle to lighten the mood that came out sounding more like a squeak, "The isle awaits."
His eyes feel to the ground and he nodded slowly. "Yeah.......good luck, Syd," He whispered softly.
'What?' she thought to herself 'surely he doesn't think being a bride's maid isn't that difficult.'. "Don't worry, this'll be an easy mission," she laughed and turned back inside, missing the confused look he sent after her.

"I got those safety pins you wanted," Sydney announced coming into Samantha's dressing room.
"Oh great!" Samantha said. Sydney knelt down and began pinning the bottom hem of her dress up. "Listen, Syd, Amy told me what she said to you the other night."
Sydney stopped was she was doing and slowly looked up, "Sam, Will is my best friend-"
"I know!" Samantha interrupted, "Believe me I ripped into her big time! Among other things I basically told her that thinking you suddenly decided you were in love with Will was an idiotic assumption and that she should apologize."
Sydney looked at her compassionately, "Sam, Will loves you."
"I know he does and I know that he used to be madly in love with you, but I love Will and I trust him, and of course I trust you........we've known each other since that last year in grad school, you were the one that introduced is even," Samantha said and leaned forward to hug Sydney, "Thank you for all your help with this wedding."
Sydney laughed, "You're welcome." Their moment was interrupted by a knock on the door.
"Honey, we're getting ready to start," Samantha's mother said peaking her head in the door.
Samantha smiled at Sydney nervously, "This is it."
Sydney smiled back reassuringly, "Let's go."

Vaughn sat resignedly in the pew as the wedding began, his mind going back over and over again to Sydney's last words about how marrying Will would be "an easy mission". Ouch! That had definitely been a dagger through the heart. It was almost as if she was trying to rub it in that she was spoken for. Of course that was ridiculous, he never knew Sydney to try intentionally to hurt someone, then again he never knew her to kiss another man when she was engaged either. Music starting and people standing reminded him of the wedding that he had not been watching. He stared intently at the back of the man in front of him's head until the music stopped and everyone sat back down. He took a deep breath to steady himself and raised his eyes to the alter.
"We are gathered here today to witness the joining of Chase Barenger and Amy Tippin, and William Tippin and Samantha Suttle......" the minister recited off the traditional beginning of the ceremony, but only two words could be heard in Vaughn's mind, 'A bridesmaid?!?!'

Sydney stood up at the alter with Francie and the girls in identical lavender, A-line, dresses. From the march down the isle to the final kiss it was all around the perfect double wedding. The two couples turned the face their audience as they stood and clapped proudly. Sydney also turned to smile at the audience like a good bridesmaid. Even though she didn't want to she found her eyes scanning the audience for a certain person. When she found him he was standing to applaud along with everyone else, but he was staring straight at her with a blank look on his face. No, actually he wasn't staring at her, he was staring next to her........Will and Samantha.
'What the heck?' she thought to herself, two seconds before an A-bomb of realization hit her.

Under an overcast sky of rain packed clouds that threatened at any minute to brim over and spill their contents, cars carried a wedding party the five miles across town from the church to the ballroom where the reception was being held. Two of the passengers sat in frozen disbelief. All of this because of a misunderstanding? How's that for irony?
As they arrived and the reception started Sydney walked around mechanically chatting with guests, congratulating the happy couples, and so forth. After some aimless wandering she ended up standing in front of a big glass window in the front of the bar staring out at nothing. Someone bumping into her eventually snapped her out of her stupor, and she spotted the figure standing at the top of the hill in the park across the street.
She didn't any memory of leaving the ballroom, but knew that she eventually ended up at the top of the hill. They stood side by side without speaking or even acknowledging that the other was there.
"You thought I was marrying Will," She said more as a statement than a question.
"Yeah, pretty much," He said.
She nodded slowly and added bluntly, "I thought you were mad about my mother."
"Your mother?" He said, this time turning toward her, " No! Not at all. You thought..........you could have just asked me."
"You could have too," She pointed out.
He looked forward yet again, "True."
"Why didn't you ask me?" She said.
He shrugged, "A lot of reasons, stupidity mainly...........and I figured there wasn't anyway I could ask without making it blatantly obvious how I felt about it."
"And how's that?" She asked.
"Surely you must know?" She gave no answer and kept her gaze firmly in front of her, "Sydney, I felt like I was going insane. I don't know which was worse waiting for years to see you again or coming back and thinking you were with someone else. I know what sounds incredibly selfish, but I can't change how I feel about you. You were what got me through it."
She slowly took in an released a silent, but shaky breath, "Not selfish..........stupid, yes but not selfish."
He nodded, "Well, I'm not arguing there. If whatever has happened in the last few days hurt you in anyway, I'm sorry, I never wanted to see you hurt again."
"Well it did!" She yelled angrily, "And 'sorry' really doesn't do anything to help me, Vaughn."
"I don't know what to say," He said.
"There's nothing you can say," she said bitterly. She watched his devastated expression out of the corner of her eye, and waited for a few more agonizing seconds. "Although...............the part where you said that I got you through it was nice," She said, ending her torture.
He turned to her with a confused look, as she let a big grin spread it's way across her face. "That was not funny, Syd!" He said shaking his head.
She could no longer hold back her giggles at that, "You should have seen your face."
He rolled his eyes at her, but laughed all the same, "Yeah well.......you're just lucky I love you so much-"
His statement was cut off by a loud thunder clap in the background, Sydney's expression feel into a challenging look. "So now you love me huh? That's one hell of an assumption Agent Vaughn."
He responded, "Yeah it is, but..............it's also the one thing that we both assumed correctly."
She studied him for a few minutes as more thunder claps cut through the sky and the first few raindrops began to fall. "Good point," she nodded and asked softly, "so do you love me?"
His smile faded as he sent her a gaze that seemed to pierce strait into he soul. "I think you know the answer to that," was all he got out before they were in each other's arms, all of their passion flowing free in a tide of long overdue kisses.