AN: Disneybrony requested a wedding, so here you are! This takes place a couple of hours before Undone. And MakorraLove 97 has requested a one shot, so hers shall be up next. Any more requests or anything you want to see, feel free to leave them in the reviews!
Summary: Claire and Owen decide it's time to be married.
…
They decided, one day after work, that it was time. It wasn't planned, wasn't organized, wasn't something that they had spent hours agonizing over. It was what they wanted, what they 'needed' to do. And Owen nearly couldn't breathe from a happy excitement that seemed to be squeezing his chest, his thoughts filled with Claire and him, together, married.
Because that was why they were at this store, that why he was sitting outside of a dressing room, ignoring the stares of curious women who were wondering what woman had dragged the poor man along to a women's dress shop.
Owen tapped his foot anxiously on the floor, peering around the corner to see if Claire had exited her fitting room. Her door remained firmly shut, as it had been for the past fifteen minutes.
She hadn't let him see the dresses she'd picked out. That was their deal: Owen chose the rings, Claire chose the wardrobe. Not surprisingly, Owen had finished his task much quicker than his soon-to-be wife had finished hers, but that didn't bother Owen in the slightest. Claire was Claire, and he loved her. Even if she did take forever to try on clothes.
But now the door was being thrown open and Claire was holding a couple dresses in her hands, both of which Owen looked resolutely away from, knowing he'd receive an (albeit painless) smack on the shoulder if he were to see the dresses before Claire wanted him to. Her face was flushed, her eyes wide, her foot tapping nervously on the ground.
"I found everything," she said, and Owen could hear the doubt, the fear in her voice underneath the smile she had plastered on her face. Claire was scared of commitment, scared that she would let Owen down in some way and he'd abandon her, leave her alone with only herself for company.
Owen wasn't going to do that. Owen loved her, wanted her to know that he was going to stick with her through it all; the good, the bad, and everything else in the world. Perhaps Owen needed Claire's confirmation as well, needed to know she wasn't going to give up on him.
"Me too," said Owen, holding up the small box that contained their rings.
"Good," Claire said, reaching out to grasp his hand. Owen could see Claire swallow her fear when she saw him, when she saw the look in his eye. "Because I'm not letting you back away from this." She smiled, cupped his face with her soft had, letting Owen feel how much she wanted this, how much she loved him, even through her anxiety. "I hope you found good rings."
Owen grinned, sliding his hand into his pocket where the small package sat, waiting to be opened. "I did, and you aren't going to see them until I say so."
"So bossy," Claire murmured, pinching him on the shoulder. "I'm rubbing off on you, Grady."
Owen felt a laugh slide out of him, felt the slight nervous tension between the two of them break with her joke. "I guess you are," he said, pressing his lips to hers for the smallest of seconds before tugging Claire to the checkout station, ready to get out of the store, ready to make her his wife.
"Eyes off," Claire reminded him as the lady bagged up whatever Claire had picked out. Owen had sneaked a glance, catching a glimpse of some pale lace that matched Claire's skin exactly. He felt a swoop in his stomach at the thought of Claire in that lace, the image of him peeling it off of her, surrounding her body with his own.
Owen was so caught up in his thoughts that he barely noticed Claire dragging him out to the parking lot until she was tapping his wrist, silently asking him to unlock her car. Owen did, watching Claire smooth the dark garment bag perfectly over the backseat so as to keep everything inside perfectly smooth, without a wrinkle. Owen felt his lips twitch upward in a smile; that was Claire, always making sure everything was nice and neat.
"Claire?" Owen asked, his voice rough, like waves crashing over rocks. "You're sure about this? About me?"
She moved to stand in front of him, her forehead just reaching his chin. Her arms slid around him, Owen's hands naturally falling on her back, anchoring himself to her, not wanting to let go. And Owen supposed that was why he wanted to marry Claire; he'd never have to let go of her if he did.
Claire didn't need to say anything to make her answer known; Owen understood what she meant before she could speak.
"No more questions?" Claire asked, resting her cheek against his chest. Owen knew she could feel his hear beating against her, strong and fast.
"No more questions," he agreed, "except for one. Do you think we should tell Lowery?"
"He already knows," said Claire with a faint giggle. "He asked me where we were going in such a hurry and I told him."
Owen imagined the look that Lowery must've given Claire when she told him: a wide-eyed, shocked stare with eyes that never seemed to blink. It was comical enough to make anyone laugh, which usually made Lowery frustrated, which made the situation even funnier.
"Then there's nothing left to do but-" Owen started, but Claire cut him off.
"Get married," she said, her voice a mixture between happiness and nerves. "I'm ready."
Owen kissed her, pulling at the ends of her hair like he loved to do, feeling her sigh into his mouth, hearing a small noise break in her throat.
"Love you," he said against her lips.
"Love you too," Claire said, clasping her hands behind his back. "Let's go."
...
Claire changed in the courthouse bathroom while Owen tried to think of anything but the lace 'something' she was hopefully going to be wearing underneath her dress. His mind strayed there anyways, and perhaps he was standing a little awkwardly when Claire exited the bathroom, wearing a soft white dress that looked amazing with her pale skin and red hair.
"Beautiful," said Owen quietly, trailing a finger along Claire's neck, tracing the outline of the dress. He felt her skin break out in gooseflesh at his touch, his eyes taking in every inch of her that he could see, lingering on the outline of her hips under the light fabric.
"Not so bad yourself," said Claire, referring to the dress shirt and khakis he'd changed into moments before.
Owen shrugged, shivering a bit when he managed to slip his fingers underneath the lace that Claire was indeed wearing as an undergarment.
"That's for later," she reprimanded him, her voice just a bit lower than it had been before.
Owen muttered something that even he didn't understand, thankful that the tiny courthouse on the mainland was understaffed, and that they were alone in the lobby. "I'm sorry this isn't going to be fancy," he said, thankful that his voice had decided it was going to work.
"It doesn't need to be," said Claire, brushing a bit of dirt off of Owen's shirt. "Just you and me."
"Just you and me," Owen repeated, twining his hand with Claire's.
...
They were married within thirty minutes of arriving at the courthouse, by the on-duty preacher named John. Owen tried to savor the moment as much as possible, but all he could really focus on we're Claire's eyes boring into his and hearing her say, "I do," with a small, content smile on her face. Owen was pretty sure he kept up a silent prayer the entire "ceremony", letting his thanks for Claire be known to God.
"Did you want to do rings?" John asked. Owen barely heard him, so absorbed was he in that smile of Claire's.
"Uh, yeah," he said, stumbling over the words as he dug around in his pocket for that little rectangular package. "Here." Owen popped the lid open and dropped the box into John's open palm.
"Owen," Claire murmured, a faint flush spreading across her cheeks. She rose on her tiptoes and kissed him, even though they weren't technically supposed to yet.
"You like them?" he asked, stroking her cheek with his thumb.
Claire nodded, smiling that same smile that made Owen's insides turn to mush. The rings were simple; Owen's was a shiny silver band, slightly wider and flatter than the one meant to go to Claire. Hers was smaller, thinner, with pale green gemstones (that Owen thought matched Claire's eyes) lining the band.
John had them place the rings on the other's hand before pronouncing them man and wife. "You may ki-" began John, but Owen beat John to it, sliding his arm around Claire's waist and pulling her to him, kissing her in a way that was perhaps not appropriate for the public eye, but Owen didn't really care.
They were married. They were together.
AN: Review and I'll love you forever! I'll try to update this and Outlast as regularly as possible, but school's started and everything is crazy (I wrote the last part of this on my phone coming bag from my aunt's house because that was the only time I could!).
Love all of you! Don't forget to leave any requests in the reviews!