At the End of the Road

Part V

Although we've come to the end of the road
Still I can't let you go
It's unnatural, you belong to me, I belong to you
Come to the end of the road
Still I can't let you go
It's unnatural, you belong to me, I belong to you

-Boyz II Men "End of the Road"

She was breathtaking.

It was all he could do to hold himself together as she floated toward him.

The long white dress flowed out behind her like an angelic shadow and the small tiara on her head sparkled like diamonds.

Never in all his life had he ever seen anything so beautiful.

And it was killing him.

Tearing his gaze away from Carrie as she made her way up the aisle, Austin looked over at Sami as she took her place across from him on the dais of the altar and flashed her a weak smile.

She smiled back, but he didn't miss the tears in her eyes.

And then Carrie was there in front of them, and Roman was handing her arm to Lucas, and Sami closed her eyes, visibly trying to compose herself.

How she ever found the strength to smile as Carrie handed her the bouquet, Austin didn't know.

She was a stronger person than he was.

Lucas and Carrie turned to face the priest together, and Austin looked away, not wanting to catch Carrie's eye by accident lest she see how fragile his composure was.

To his right, Phillip shifted slightly, effectively shielding Austin from her view, and Austin let out a small sigh of relief.

It had been wise of Lucas to make Phillip the best man.

Austin knew that Phillip didn't agree with Lucas' decision to marry Carrie, but Phillip was a good brother and kept his mouth shut. He'd only ever tried to reason with Lucas once or twice, right after the engagement came out, and then he'd let it go.

But Phillip knew neither of his brothers was truly happy with today, and he was doing his best to support them both at the same time.

"Dearly beloved," the priest began, smiling out at the crowd of guests. "We are gathered here today to join Lucas and Carrie in holy matrimony..."

Swallowing back the lump that had risen in his throat, Austin steeled himself for what was about to happen.

This was it, there was no going back.

In a few minutes, Carrie would belong to another man.

To Lucas, of all people.

And Austin would have to quietly fade into the background, watching her start a new life with someone else. Sami had been right the night before, when she said that he wouldn't be able to bring himself to ruin Carrie's happiness- if this was what Carrie wanted, he would suffer in silence.

As the priest droned on, Austin couldn't look at Carrie or Lucas.

Instead, he looked everywhere but in their direction.

Phillip, he observed, wasn't looking at the happy couple, either, but rather at Sami.

And he wasn't the only one, Austin realized.

Everyone in attendance was watching Sami instead of Lucas and Carrie, holding their breath.

All of Salem expected her to object when the priest asked if any present knew a reason why Lucas and Carrie should not be joined, and Austin could have sworn he saw Carrie look at Sami out of the corner of her eye, as well.

It was probably just wishful thinking on his part, though.

Sami just smiled thinly, gazing at the priest as he continued his part, pretending not to notice the way everyone was staring.

A few murmurs went through the crowd, but the ceremony kept on.

And finally it came to the moment Austin was dreading.

"Do you, Lucas," the priest finally turned to his brother. "Take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife? To love and to cherish, in sickness and in health, for better or for worse, rich or for poor, as long as you both shall live?"

"I..." Lucas actually hesitated.

From where he was standing, Austin could see Lucas' adam's apple swell as he swallowed, and Lucas licked his lips, seeming to stumble over the simple two words that Austin would have said in a heartbeat.

"Lucas?" the priest urged.

Austin glanced at Sami, who was frowning at Lucas, and then back to his brother.

What was going on?

Was this what it looked like?

He didn't dare hope, terrified that he was wrong.

"I... I, uh..." Lucas stammered.

"He doesn't."

Nearly every head in the church snapped around to stare at Carrie in disbelief, and Austin felt his heart stop as he took in the sheepish smile on her face.

"And neither do I," she announced.

Sami dropped the bouquet Carrie had handed her.

Gasps went up throughout the crowd, and Austin thought he heard his mother wail.

"Carrie," Lucas said, looking at her in confusion, his dark eyes searching her gaze for an answer Austin wasn't certain even Lucas knew how to find. "What are you doing?"

"Lucas, we can't get married," Carrie told him, rueful smile still in place.

"Why not?"

"Because," Carrie said with an ironic laugh, not without a hint of sadness. "I'm still in love with your brother-"

"Oh my God!" someone gasped in the crowd.

Austin couldn't help the dumb grin that lit up his face, and he was in such a daze that he barely made out the rest of what Carrie was saying.

"-and you're still in love with my sister."

This time, Austin was positive he heard a shriek from his mother.

Kate was groaning, her head in her hands in the front row of the pews, shaking her head from side to side as if she could make this all go away simply by blocking it all out.

"You're wrong," Lucas was arguing, shaking his head. "I don't want Sami- I can't trust her. I want you, Carrie. I want to marry you."

"No, you don't," Carrie replied gently, and gave him a weak smile. "Listen to your heart instead of your head for once, Lucas. Stop worrying about what other people want and other people expect, and just do what your heart tells you to do. Don't let your pride cost you the love of your life, because Sami won't always be waiting for you."

Before Lucas could object, Carrie turned away from him and picked up the bouquet that Sami had dropped.

"I think this belongs to you," Carrie told her softly. "Among other things."

Sami was staring at her sister in disbelief, but Carrie was already crossing the dais and suddenly Austin found her directly in front of him, a shy smile on her face.

"Hi," she said nervously.

Austin swallowed, giving her a shaky smile. "Hi yourself. What are you doing?"

"Making things right," Carrie whispered, and leaned forward to press a soft kiss against his lips. "In my heart, there wasn't never a choice, Austin. It's always been you."

Unable to formulate the words, Austin took her hand in his and laced their fingers together.

Carrie smiled, and then looked back at her ex-groom, who was facing the altar with an unreadable expression on his face as his eyes bore holes into the back wall of the church. For a long moment Lucas didn't move, didn't blink, didn't so much as breathe.

C'mon, Lucas, Austin found himself mentally willing his brother not to be an idiot. Don't be a coward now.

Carrie had already done the hard part for him, now all Lucas had to do was...

Slowly, Lucas turned to Sami, who had not moved so much as a muscle since Carrie handed her the bouquet, and Austin saw the vulnerability in her eyes, the gaping wound that was exposed between her and Lucas, and all the innocent hope of a schoolgirl waiting to hear if the boy she liked had a crush on her, too.

"Sami," Lucas rasped at last. "I..." he trailed off helplessly.

He wasn't going to get any help from Sami on this, that much was clear. She remained silent and just looked at him patiently, listening.

"Kiss her already, Roberts!" someone shouted from the crowd.

Austin glanced up in time to see Bo Brady tug his son back into his seat irritably, and he couldn't help grinning.

"Shawn's right," he told his brother. "Kiss her already."

For once, Lucas had the common sense to listen to good advice, and Austin put his arm around Carrie, squeezing her close to him, as Lucas and Sami got lost in a tender, blissful kiss that was long overdue.

"Lucas, you stop that this instant!" Kate shouted, stomping toward the front of the church. "I will not- oh!"

Tragically, Abby Deveraux's foot was innocently in her way, and Austin watched as his mother went toppling to the ground, arms and legs flailing. Jennifer Deveraux tried not to laugh as she scolded her daughter, but young Abby just rolled her eyes and gave her cousin Will the thumbs up.

"Sami," Lucas croaked, and Austin caught a glimmer of tears in his eyes. "I... can you ever forgive me for...?"

Wordlessly, Sami placed a finger to his lips and smiled, with tears of her own already streaming down her face. "Someone once told me," she said in a shaky voice. "That love means never having to say you're sorry."

Lucas opened his mouth to reply, but seemed too overcome for words.

And so Sami kissed him.

In the front pew, Will looked as if he was about to cry.

But unlike the past few days, the tears welling in his eyes were tears of joy, and delirious relief, and Austin could practically see his nephew's heart soaring.

"Excuse me for interrupting," the priest said, and Sami and Lucas broke apart sheepishly as the priest gave them all a mildly exasperated look. "But is anyone actually going to be married here today?"

In an instant, Will was on his feet.

"They are," he all but shouted, stabbing a finger in his parents' direction.

Both Sami and Lucas started, looking at one another with symmetrical expressions of hesitation and confusion.

"Dad did pay for this big wedding," Carrie pointed out to Sami. "One of us really should get married."

Sami opened her mouth, faltering, and looked at Lucas.

"Over my dead body," Kate snarled, climbing back to her feet in outrage. "There is no way I am going to let that cheap little bitch dig her claws back into my son ever-"

"Grandma," Will said, turning on her. "Shut up."

And with that he stuffed the handkerchief from his tuxedo pocket into her mouth.

Before anyone could so much as blink, or even really comprehend what was happening in front of their eyes, Will had his grandmother restrained and both Abby Deveraux and Chelsea Benson- who Austin hadn't even realized was here with Billie- were assisting him.

It happened so fast, and without warning, that Austin couldn't help wondering if his nephew hadn't planned the whole thing with his cousins ahead of time.

Apparently, he wasn't the only one who thought so.

"Better hurry up, Father," Phillip told the priest lightly, as if this was all perfectly normal and happened all the time- which, it kind of did, Austin realized, this was Salem, after all. "She'll chew through the gag soon enough."

"I, er, yes," the priest cleared his throat uncomfortably. "I suppose there's no need to start over, I can pick up where I left off..."

The priest suddenly looked to Lucas and Sami with wide eyes.

"You do want to get married, right?"

"Yes," Lucas said before Sami had a chance to open her mouth. "We want to get married."

"You do realize you'll need to get a marriage license so-"

"I believe that's been taken care of," Julie Williams spoke up, and in her hand was a manilla envelope that seemingly appeared out of thin air. The older woman smiled slyly at Lucas and Sami. "One should always be prepared, just in case. Oh, and Chelsea, dear, watch your toes, I do believe Kate is trying to smash them."

Sure enough, Kate was struggling wildly to get free from the three teenagers, and her foot was poised to crush Chelsea's toes.

"Here," Bo Brady sighed, and pulled a pair of handcuffs from his blazer pocket. "I was afraid we might need these. Of course," he added as he slapped one end onto Kate's wrist and the other to his own. "I thought it would be Sami I ended up chained to- no offense, sweetheart."

"None taken," Sami told her uncle, dazed.

"Very well, erm, let's see," the priest, clearly flustered, cleared his throat. "Do you, Lucas-"

"I do," Lucas said before he finished.

Sami smiled, and the look of complete adoration on her face as she beamed up at Lucas was almost as nauseating as the lovestruck expression on Lucas' face.

"Do you, Sami-"

"I do," Sami cut the priest off breathlessly.

"Yes, um," the priest tugged at his collar. "Well then, I... I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may..." he trailed off as Lucas and Sami fell into one another's arms, lips meeting in a fiery kiss that made the priest blush. "Yes. That."

Will and the girls let go of Kate, whose screams were muffled by the handkerchief in her mouth.

Austin laughed as his nephew ran past him up the dais past him and flung himself at his parents, who broke apart in order to allow Will to wrap his arms around them.

"This is how it was meant to be," Carrie whispered contentedly.

"Yeah," Austin agreed, leaning down to press a kiss to the top of her hair. "Everything's just about perfect now."

"What about us?" Carrie asked him, eyes wide as she looked up at him. "What happens now?"

"We'll take things slow," Austin replied with a smile. "But let's worry about that tomorrow. Right now, we've got a reception to go to. I think I need to rewrite my toast, the old one might seem a bit out of place now."

Carrie laughed, and rested her head against his shoulder, a smile on her face as she watched her sister and Lucas with their son.

She was right, this was how it was all meant to be.

"At the end of the road one finds that there is no end, there are only new roads and new beginnings, new journies just waiting to begin..." -Elizabeth Astor "The Road to Finding Abbington"