"You ready kiddo?" Spencer asked. He was standing behind Carly as she sat at the vanity in her hotel room adding a last minute touch up to her lipstick.
Carly looked up at him through the mirror and beamed. She couldn't believe this day had finally arrived.
It had been almost two years since she and Freddie had drunkenly gotten married that fateful night in Vegas and despite some of the stress it had caused in the immediate months afterwards she wouldn't have had it any other way. There was something so uniquely them about the way they had finally gotten together. Honestly, what would her life be without some chaos and bizarre circumstances?
"So ready," she said as she stood and wrapped her arms around Spencer for a long hug. She squeezed him and relaxed as he squeezed back.
"I wish dad could be here," he muttered as he pulled away, his eyes squinting slightly in what she knew was an attempt to hold back tears.
"Thank God for the internet," Carly said as she nodded in agreement. She had video-called her father half an hour ago and filled him in on all the plans for the day, even the ones no one else knew about yet. Although she would never understand why the Air Force insisted he spend so much time underwater on submarines she was glad that technology had advanced over the years and they now had a reliable and frequent method of communication, the same could not be said for her childhood.
There was a knock at the door and Carly turned just in time to see Sam enter.
Sam crossed the room and pulled her into a hug, "You look beautiful."
Carly felt beautiful, she was dressed thanks to Harper's careful styling and her hair and makeup up had been impeccably done by one of Harper's colleagues.
"I was just with Freddie, he is weirdly calm, it's unnerving." Sam added as she let go of Carly and took a step back. "Guess this one's meant to be, remember how much of a mess he was at the other weddings?"
Carly nodded and tried to hold back a grin, she knew Freddie would be calm, they had both been incredibly calm ever since the night they had agreed to stop listening to others and stressing about the wedding and just do things their way. Carly zoned out slightly as Spencer and Sam continued to talk, excitement building at the knowledge it was almost time to see Freddie.
"Hey," Sam clicked her fingers in front of Carly's face. "You there? C'mon it's time to go."
Carly followed Sam and Spencer out of the hotel room. She was glad Harper had jumped at her vision to dress more casually then the usual bride. She couldn't imagine how difficult and uncomfortable the day would probably have been if she was trying to navigate around everyone in ball gown or a figure hugging, corseted mermaid dress. If she had needed to worry about bustling a train, or holding it on a cord around her wrist she would have inevitably become irritated. She was dressed in a simple lace dress, with plenty of room to move and dance, her hair pinned up effortlessly with small flowers carefully placed and makeup styled to accentuate all of her best features.
"Woh woh woh, stop, what are you doing here?" Spencer asked as they rounded the final corner and came face to face with Freddie, waiting patiently by the door. "You're not meant to see her yet," he added as he stepped in front of Carly, his arms waving around in an attempt to block Freddie's view.
"Get out of here," Sam agreed as she walked towards him, pushing him towards the door.
But Freddie side stepped out of her way and ducked around Spencer. He took one of Carly's hands in his and gave her a swift kiss on the cheek. "You ready?"
Carly nodded, her eyes resting on his for just a moment before they turned back to Spencer and Sam. "We're actually going to walk in together, you guys can head in now."
"I thought I was walking with you!" Spencer said, disappointment evident in his voice
"You're not about to run away on us are you?" Sam asked, suspicion growing across her face as her eyes bounced from Carly to Freddie and back again.
"Promise," they both said in unison before turning to each other and chuckling slightly at their moment of synchronicity.
Sam shrugged and turned, heading into the room and after just a little more persuasion Spencer did the same.
"I love you," Carly said, turning to face Freddie. She grabbed his other hand and held onto both, their hands swaying slightly between their bodies.
Freddie traced over the back of her hands with his thumbs, a well practiced habit at this point, "I love you too."
She leaned forward, meeting him in the middle as he did the same, sharing one last kiss before entering the crazy that was sure to soon develop on the other side of the door.
He dropped one of her hands as his fingers intertwined with hers on the other, grinning at her as he spoke. "Let's do this!"
They pushed the door open together and were greeted by a crowd of guests, many who were hovering awkwardly and seemed uncertain as to where they should be. The room was not arranged how one might imagine a wedding venue to look, there were no rows of chairs, no aisle, no alter. The room was arranged with comfortable couches, chairs and tables scattered around the edges, the bar was open with a variety of choices, their favourite food would soon be available and the room was decorated in bright, happy colours. At the end of the room sat a small stage which Carly and Freddie made a beeline for, the crowd parting to let them through.
As they reached the stage Millicent, who had insisted she be the MC for the day, jumped in front of the microphone and spoke. "We're all here today to celebrate the marriage of my dad, Freddie and Carly, who, and I'm only going to say this once, is actually pretty cool." The crowd laughed politely as they waited for her to continue. "So I'd like to invite you all put your hands together to welcome Mr and Mrs Benson in their first public appearance as husband and wife."
A scattering of hesitant clapping slowly built into applause which promptly stopped the moment the Carly grabbed hold of the microphone.
"We can see you're all very confused right now," Carly started, glancing at Freddie with a mischievous grin. "So let us explain."
"This isn't our wedding, we actually snuck off to Vegas on Monday." Freddie leaned over, talking into the microphone.
"But don't worry, we have plenty of to photos and videos to share! This time we even hired a professional to avoid any accidental Snapchat incidents."
They heard a groan from Harper somewhere in the crowd before she called out, "I was drunk, I can't be held responsible for my actions."
Carly rolled her eyes briefly before turning back to her husband. Freddie reached into his pocket and pulled two wedding bands from it, offering his to Carly before taking her hand and slipping her ring onto her finger. Carly mirrored him and turned to their friends and family, flashing their hands at the crowd.
The lights dimmed and a screen beside the stage started to play a video from their actual wedding which they had paid extra to have prepared in time for their reception.
They were two months into wedding planning and Carly was sick of it. It was too much, too stressful, too many expectations and opinions from others, much more expensive then it needed to be. The whole thing was filling her with anxiety and she didn't know how they were supposed to go through another five months of this before they finally got to their wedding day.
"Is it always like this?" She asked as she lay across the couch, her head in Freddie's lap and a bridal magazine in her hands.
Freddie glanced down at her, placing the wedding magazine he was half heartedly flicking through to the side. "Like what?"
"Just so much stuff to think about, stuff I would never even notice if I wasn't the one getting married."
Freddie shrugged, "In my experience, yes."
"I don't get it. I always thought I wanted a big wedding but now that we're planning one it just seems like such a chore."
"I've done the big wedding twice already, and I would do it a hundred more times for you" Freddie said. "But people say it's the best day of your life and, with the exception of the actual ceremony both times, I always found the most exciting and meaningful parts were the short moments we got to be alone."
"So what's the point?" Carly asked, throwing the magazine to the ground.
"Getting to celebrate our love with everyone we care about."
"I wish we could do that without your mom explaining in detail with me the benefits of violet over lavender bridesmaid dresses or Harper sending me images of a new gown every ten seconds."
"We could always head to Vegas again," Freddie joked.
Carly paused, turning his words over in her head. It didn't seem like a terrible idea.
Freddie's hands dived into her hair, playing with the strands and lightly massaging her head. "What are you thinking?" He asked, tugging playfully at the hair by her ear.
"Let's do Vegas," Carly said.
"Huh? I was joking, we don't need to run away."
"No, I'm serious! We could go back to the same chapel as last time."
"Do it in secret," Freddie added.
"Rock up to our wedding and tell everyone we're already married." Carly sat up, turning to come face to face with her fiancé. "Is it crazy that I'm actually seriously considering this?"
"No," Freddie shook his head. "Or maybe it is and I'm just crazy too… Look if you want to go ahead with a big wedding I'm all for it, but I'm also a hundred percent in on this idea too. As long as I get to marry my best friend I'm happy."
"You still think of me as your best friend?"
"My best friend, lover, soon to be wife, the girl across the hall… I think of you as many things" Freddie said as he pulled her over to sit on his lap, wrapping his arms around her waist and resting his head against hers.
"Considering we've lived together for almost a year now I hope you don't still think of me as the girl across the hall," Carly argued.
"no no, you're right. You're my roommate! I forgot, sorry."
"Do roommates do this?" Carly asked as she turned to kiss him, her hands beginning to wander and all thoughts of wedding planning officially forgotten for the night.
They had their real wedding planned in a matter of two days, flights and accommodation booked, a photographer found and plans in place to sneak away the Monday before what would now be their wedding reception day.
They only told Millicent about their plan ahead of time. Freddie simply hadn't felt comfortable keeping the news from his daughter again and she had proven to be an important team member, plotting to keep their secret diligently.
They instructed their bridal party on a colour to wear but never gave them specific styles as they agreed that not having a bridal party would raise eyebrows while they were pretending to still be planning a traditional wedding, but they still wanted to avoid a clear, cohesive look on the day.
The only real hurdle they had faced was when the bridal party had turned up, as planned, the night before for the rehearsal and Carly and Freddie lied to them and claimed they weren't allowed to enter the venue as an error had been made and it was double booked. Sam had been insistent that they let her go in and 'talk' to the manager. But they had eventually convinced everyone that the day would go smoothly even without a rehearsal.
"Ok, I have to admit, this was a pretty good idea," Spencer said as he came to join Carly and Freddie at the bar.
Their guests had all been incredibly excited after they had adjusted to the news that they weren't attending a wedding ceremony after all.
"This is maybe the best wedding I've ever been to, none of the boring bits! Just a great big party." Spencer added as he caught the bartender's attention.
"Yep, that was the plan," Freddie said as he sipped on his drink.
The plan had worked perfectly and Carly was thrilled. The lead up to their wedding had been stress free, they had simply smiled and agreed whenever anyone had offered a suggestion and focused on their own excitement behind closed doors. The day they had flown to Vegas she had expected to feel slightly nervous, but the nerves had never come. The only feeling had been a disgustingly mushy feeling of love that she was happy she had only had to share with Freddie.
"Hey!" Spencer suddenly yelled, "remember when you were kids and Freddie used to say he would be your second husband? I guess that sort of happened after all." His drink now acquired Spencer thanked the bartender and left.
"What did you do to my first husband?" Carly asked, her face pulling into a look of shock.
"You can't prove anything," Freddie answered, pulling her off the stool she was perched against and into the dancing crowd.
A/N: Happy Valentine's Day everyone! It's almost as if I planned to post the final chapter today. (I totally didn't just a happy coincidence.
Any way, thanks four joining me on this journey, it's been fun!