Sorry for the delay, I wrote a few chapters and forgot to post as I went, haha.
"So where're your mother's parents?" Mary asks, looking around.
Francis shakes his head. "They couldn't come. Nonno had a fall," Francis explains sadly. "But they might make it for the wedding."
"Okay," Mary replies with a smile as they head over to the drinks table. "I need a lot of alcohol if I'm going to get through-"
"Hey, here's more gifts for you," Claude cuts in, shoving boxes upon boxes into Francis's arms. "The table's full so Kenna said to take them upstairs to the main bedroom."
Francis glares at her. "She told you to, right?"
"Yeah but I need to talk to Mary so... bye!" Claude pushes him towards the direction of the stairs before she pulls Mary over to a corner. "Leith likes me."
Mary's brows rise. "Leith as in your older brothers' friend, Leith?"
"Yeah but... he also likes your friend..." Claude struggles to get out with a pout when they look over at Greer and Leith clearly flirting. "He might take things further with her since I'm always going to be seen as Bash and Francis's little sister. That means, he'll see me as his sister figure."
Mary rubs Claude's arm for comfort. "Don't worry about it. There is plenty of fish in the sea. Especially ones that don't know your brothers."
Claude chuckles wryly. "Yeah, I guess. Do you know any cute guys?"
"Okay, I'm going to go anywhere but here now," Mary replies lightly, finding Kenna talking to Lola and Greer. "Hello, ladies."
"Mary, we heard that Catherine's planning your wedding, you poor soul!" Greer teases her.
Mary scoffs, crossing her arms. "God forbid!" She cries out. "As if I'd ever let Francis's mother get an inch into wedding plan-" She cuts herself off when the women's eyes widen. "She's right behind me, isn't she?" They nod.
"Ahem."
"Catherine!" Mary cries out, plastering on a wide smile. "Francis and I just want to plan our own wedding. Don't take it personally. My mother's not even going to-"
"I heard her calling up contacts that specialise in wedding events," Catherine cuts her off with a raised eyebrow.
"I do not know what my mother gets up to..." Mary mumbles. "But be assured she won't have any role in the wedding other than the mother of the bride."
Catherine smiles. "Okay," she says but she's not entirely convinced as she walks away with her smile dropping.
"Good luck," Kenna mutters. "Thank goodness Bash's mother doesn't care enough about our wedding. As long as the alcohol runs, she's there."
"I think that's why everyone's coming," Lola mutters. "For the drinks."
"Rude!" Kenna says, laughing. "Photos?"
Mary nods, the quartet heading to the photo backdrop that is surrounded by gold balloons formed into a large heart shape. Kenna has really gone all out, hiring a professional photographer in the case of people wanting to update their couple photos or family photos and to take photos of the event overall. Mary can't fault her best friend's mad skills for planning grand events.
They take a good amount of photos before Kenna selects or rejects them, the other three waiting patiently as she frets about, her perfectionist side running through. They see her start to get flustered and Mary places a calming hand on Kenna's shoulder.
"The photos are fine," Mary says. "Stop worrying."
"I need a drink," Kenna mumbles, leaving the side in deep relief as Bash meets her halfway, her hand gripping his tightly as they speak in hushed, quick tones.
Mary sighs heavily. "She's getting worse."
"Why?" Greer asks. "What happened?"
"She wanted to quit everything," Mary admits. Lola and Greer are their best friends, she must tell them. "Acting, being a celebrity, everything. If not for me, Poppy White would have been killed off and Sasha Byrne would be in her place."
"Shit," Greer mumbles.
Lola shakes her head a little. "I'm sure everything will die down once the wedding happens. She's always been a perfectionist," she says, them agreeing. "Anyway, how are you doing?"
Mary laughs a little. "I'm great. Meeting Francis's family is a bit of a shock to the system but everything's going well. The party's great, the food and drinks are great, my fiancé's great." She giggles with them. "I can't believe I'm getting married!"
"Let us see that ring again," Lola says as Mary shoves her hand into their faces. "God, Cartier... Ooh, la la!"
Greer grins. "We knew you had something great when Francis freaking Valois asked you to be his girlfriend for real," she says just for their ears. "Who would have thought your mothers were sneaky so and so's!"
Mary bites her lip happily, shrugging. "I have to thank them during the wedding speech, urgh."
"If I was marrying Francis Valois, I'd thank everyone and then some!" Greer replies.
Lola cackles. "Greer!" She cries out. "Such a damn flirt."
"I think I've found myself a guy," Greer says coyly, gesturing over to Leith. "We are partnered up for the wedding."
"Ooh, he's gorgeous," Mary says, knowing how Claude feels about him. "He has kissed Claude."
Greer falters. "Oh."
"But he now likes you! Claude's even moved on from him," Mary quickly says.
Greer grins once again. "Great. Now, I can work up my charm."
"Someone find me a..." Lola trails off, spotting two guys who look similar staring at her. "Uh oh..."
"What?"
Mary snorts. "That's Julien and Remy, twins they are. Went to the same primary school as Bash and Francis. They're great and now they might be competing for the same woman..." They watch as Remy and Julien share a mortified look before beginning a game of 'rock, paper, scissors'. "Damn, I've never been 'rock, paper, scissored' for anything!"
Lola giggles, flicking her hair over her shoulder. "Well, this gal's going to enjoy whoever wins."
...
"Francis!" Mary giggles. "Your parents are in the other room."
"Why did you invite them?" Francis demands to know as he nips at her neck. "God, I need you."
"You had me earlier," she starts, moaning when he slides her dress down her body. "And that quickie during Bash and Kenna's heartwarming thanksgiving..."
Francis smirks against her skin. "I heard it before they said it anyway. Something along the lines of, 'thanks for making us more spoilt than we are already! We love the new toaster and the Pyrex dishes, you're so amazing!'."
Mary laughs, turning in his arms to kiss him before pushing him onto the bed. "Ooh," she says, holding a finger up and opening her drawer up. "I, uh, got some chocolate syrup for some reason..."
Francis raises an amused eyebrow. "And why do we have that in our bedroom?"
"I don't know," Mary mutters, squeezing some onto her finger and licking it.
"Oh..." Francis breathes out. "Can I have a try?"
She plops her finger out of her mouth, squeezes more chocolate syrup onto her fingertip before her finger reaches his face where his mouth surrounds and sucks at her skin.
"How's that?" She asks.
His eyes darken. "Delicious but it would taste better somewhere else."
"Why don't you show me where?" She asks, squirting some more onto her hand.
She yelps when he lifts her and dumps her onto their bed and her giggles are silenced by his lips before his parents can get an inch into realising what is going on in the bedroom next to theirs.
Mary's missed him all night. The party ended at one in the morning and the sneaky, brief tryst wasn't enough to sate her need for him. It's crazy, with other partners in the past, she never felt the need for their bodies. She was a good, little girl who never cared about sex but how Francis makes her feel. Like she's the only woman in the world.
Perhaps that's why she made him her first. Because he looks like her like she's his damn soulmate and he can't breathe without her. She gasps when he nips at her bottom lip, his fingers trailing down sneakily to her underwear.
Before they take things further, Francis looks down at her flushed face, chocolate staining her cheek and he's sure he's got a bunch stained on his since she cupped it with the chocolate-stained hand.
"I can't wait to marry you," he says softly.
"No?" She asks with a small smile.
"I know we said we'd have a long engagement but I want nothing more than to be your husband in every way and form," Francis tells her. "I want to be married to you as soon as possible, Mary. I don't want to wait."
Mary blinks in surprise. "God, we're so busy..." She whispers, biting her lip. "September?"
"Your brother's friend is stopping by to help me with my music and I've got a few booked gigs," Francis mutters, rolling onto his side to grab his phone and check his calendar. "October?"
"It will be tight..." Mary says. "I start filming late October for SoH. Filming's been brought forward."
Francis turns to her. "We can do it in October. Early in the month, we can get married and then have our honeymoon just in time for you to get back to work."
Mary laughs in disbelief, turning on her side to cup his cheek. "Are we really doing this?"
"I think we are," Francis breathes out in awe. "We'll have to cancel Australia if we want to plan."
"That's fine," Mary says. "I was thinking we could head down to Scotland anyway..."
Francis beams. "I'd love to."
"Okay," Mary replies before rolling on top of him and grabbing his phone. "Now, let's finally make this time last."
He laughs as she places his phone back onto the bedside table before he rolls them over so she's pinned underneath. They are staining the bed but they don't care as their lips meet again for a sweet, chocolate tasting kiss.