Time Stands Still

Things you said when you were crying

Grant is, by nature, a patient person. Usually he is not bothered by waiting. Not even by standing still for a longer period of time. But now?

Now he would like to check the time every second minute (even though he doesn't have his wristwatch on), he is unable to remain still, he keeps fidgeting, sneaking peeks behind his back, and just generally wanting to jump out of his skin. He's been in this state for about the last half hour, ever since Trip walked into his dressing room, stood next to him, put a hand on his shoulder, and with a shit-eating grin he declared: "I have seen her, and man…"

At that moment, he lost even that little sliver of sanity that he had left, and have been barely hanging on ever since.

Because it's his wedding day, he is standing at the altar and the music can start any minute now, announcing that Skye has started her journey down the aisle.

His heart starts beating even faster at the thought.

To make matters worse, he hasn't seen Skye since the previous day – for which, of course, he has only himself to blame. He was the one who insisted they did it in the right way, with a white dress, vows, a reception and all – if it were completely up to Skye, they would have signed a paper and be done with it. Only when he said this he didn't realize that the others would take him seriously – at least not this seriously –, put down their feet, and say that then they should do everything according tradition. Thus not seeing the bride before the wedding. Which sucks. More than he thought it would.

But, he has to admit, the wedding is pretty flawless so far, especially considering that they pulled it together in a little less than three months (doing the wedding in the right way was his condition; not putting it off for a stupid amount of time was Skye's). As for the venue, Coulson took matters into his own hands, and, making a couple of phone calls, got Tony Stark lend them one of his weekend houses (which was more like a small mansion) in South Carolina – apparently, Iron Man was more than happy to let them use the place as long as he was invited to the party. (Grant has heard some whispers that he also – jokingly or not – expressed his desire to claim the first kiss, but gave up on it when Coulson kindly reminded him the exact skill set of the groom.) Stark went even further than this in helping them – he hired a wedding planner, decorators, caterers (well, that might have been Pepper, but honestly, Grant got lost in the details early on), and in altogether was responsible for the whole thing coming together.

Not that he has a good eye for things like this, but he has to admit that the place looks amazing. They are having the ceremony outside, under the canopy of some old trees, their dark barks contrasted with cream colored drapes – a color that dominates the whole lavish, but not overdone decoration. The dinner will eventually be held inside, with the patio doors left wide open, letting the air in and the people out, allowing them to mingle. It's a small affair, with less than forty people attendance, but everybody's here who matters, and he wouldn't have it any other way.

Nervously, he reaches for his wrist again, realizing halfway through the move that he is still not wearing his watch. As a last save, he clutches his own wrist, crinkling the sleeve of his tux jacket a little. That's when he feels a hand on his shoulder.

"Hey, relax!" Fitz tells him with a calm smile. "It's not like she's gonna run away."

Well, he hopes not, but at this point his nearly fried nerves make him almost-believe a lot of things. Like that Skye'd get cold feet. Still, he gives his friend a tights smile, closes his eyes, takes a deep breath and tries to calm down.

That's when the music starts.

He whips around so fast he thinks he hears his spine crack, but he couldn't care less – because she is there, on Coulson's arm, now only mere meters from him, and she is breathtaking, and nothing else matters anymore.

He asked her to wear white for him, but beyond that, he never thought what she would chose – and when she did buy her dress, she didn't tell him about it, just smiled at him teasingly and told him he wasn't supposed to know. But now he sees it, and especially sees her in it, and he is having a hard time to breathe. The skirt is long, reaching the ground, gradually broadening from the waist until the sweeping hem. There is a sleeveless lace overlay studded with crystals over the bodice, the pattern of the lace reaching down to the skirt. Her hair is up in a careless bun, wild, free tendrils framing her smiling, excited face under the short veil. She is a vision, a goddess on Earth.

Time seems to slow down as she nears the altar, but no matter of the passing seconds, he can still barely believe what he's seeing, that she is there. With every step she takes his amazement grows, and he feels like falling in love with her again and again with every heartbeat.

When they finally reach him, he can barely keep himself from touching her, pulling her into his arms and kissing her, but he does, waiting for his turn with a smile so wide on his face that his cheeks hurt while Coulson lifts Skye's veil and kisses her forehead before handing her hand to him.

The moment their fingers touch and she looks up at him, happiness pooling in her eyes, he is done.

"Oh, Robot, don't you go crying on me now," she tells him, even though he can see tears forming in her eyes, too. "I can't have you all rusty."

He laughs, but she is right – up until now he didn't even realize that he was crying, even though there are tears streaming down his face. But he can't help it – he is brimming with love for this woman, and he just can't wait anymore. Her hands grasped in his, he leans down and captures her lips.

He barely gets a taste before the minister clears his throat and playfully scolds him, "Hold your horses, son, keep some of that energy for tonight!" making the guests laugh and Skye blush. He might feel a little bashful, too. "May we begin?"

He just nods, not really trusting his voice right now, and, not letting go of Skye's hand for a second, he turns towards the older man.

Up until today, he thought that becoming "the happiest man alive" through marriage was just an empty phase. Now he knows better.


A/N: Do you know what a pain is showing a wedding dress through a guy's eyes? I can't have him saying things like A-line skirt or sweetheart neckline. But I have a pic of the dress if anybody's interested.