"幸福 跳进你的河流 一直游到尽头 跳进你的河" — yellow, katherine ho
The day has finally arrived – Tina and Artie are getting married! It seems like all of Lima has been bustling with excitement for the past weeks in anticipation of the big event. The original New Directions have become Lima's pride and joy (despite torturing them for years) so the entire town is joining the celebration of this momentous occasion.
The ceremony will be taking place in the local chapel with the reception being held in a hall nearby. On their way to the chapel, Brittany and Santana decide to make a stopover at Mike's childhood house before going to fulfill their bridesmaids' duties.
Santana pulls up in his driveway to find him walking out of his house with his bags. "You're leaving already?" Brittany asks as she steps out of the passenger seat.
Mike jumps slightly and furrows his eyebrows at their presence. "Shouldn't you two be at Tina and Artie's wedding?" he wonders and silently hopes that maybe something happened to postpone (or even cancel) the big event.
"Yeah, but we wanted to check on you first," Brittany responds and Mike gives her a small smile in appreciation.
"I thought your flight wasn't until tonight?" Santana clarifies as she watches Mike load his luggage in his car.
"It is," Mike confirms before shutting the trunk of his car.
"And you're already going to the airport?" Santana questions with an eye roll. "I know you don't like being late to things but come on, even you have to admit that's a bit much."
"I was just putting my stuff in the car," Mike explains slowly. "I'll see you guys back home."
"Are you sure you don't want to come?" Brittany probes, her eyes wide with pity for him.
He can't help but scoff and shake his head. "I'd rather die than watch them get married."
"You think we want to watch them get married?" Santana retorts with a grimace.
"Aren't Tina and Artie supposed to be your friends?" Mike counters, narrowing his eyes at them teasingly.
"Yeah, that's why we're going, but you know we're team Chang-Chang," Brittany replies with a shrug.
"Always have been," Santana adds.
Mike smiles appreciatively at his two best friends for their concern before sighing deeply and shoving his hands in his pockets. "If I go, there is no stopping me from causing a big scene and ruining everything," Mike remarks. "But it's Tina's big day and as much as I want to be with her, all I really want is for her to be happy. And if she thinks that she'll be happier with him, then I'm not gonna get in the way. I don't want to be the one to ruin what's supposed to be the happiest day of her life."
"If you say so," Santana supposes, frowning at his obvious pain. The married couple gives Mike a hug goodbye before going back in their car and heading for the big wedding.
There are only thirty minutes left until the wedding and the guests are starting to arrive. Tina is in the dressing room with her bridesmaids while her mother and sister welcome the guests downstairs.
Tina stares at herself in the mirror as Mercedes helps zip up her wedding dress. Her makeup is done and her hair is curled in flowy waves and even she has to admit, she looks absolutely stunning. But the longer she looks at her reflection as Mercedes bends down to adjust her train, the more she feels an overwhelming need to cry and like the air in the room has disappeared.
She tries to convince herself that she's just being her usual emotional self – just feeling so much joy and excitement that she could cry – but her stomach is twisting in knots and she knows that something is wrong. "Oh boy," she mutters to herself and tries to take a deep cleansing breath.
Oblivious to her inner turmoil, Mercedes stands back up and hugs Tina from behind, resting her chin on her shoulder. "Oh, Tee, you look so beautiful!" she exclaims and beams at the bride through her reflection.
Tina shoves away her unsettling thoughts with a laugh and turns around to hug Mercedes properly. "Thank you."
"We've got a little something for you, by the way," Quinn alludes with a wag of her eyebrows as she guides Tina away from the mirror to sit on the sofa in the middle of the room.
Tina watches with piqued curiosity as her bridesmaids loom above her with huge grins on their faces "We know you already have your something old, new and borrowed, so, we decided to get you your something blue," Rachel explains and pulls out a clip-on blue hair extension similar to the ones that Tina would wear in high school from behind her back.
"We know your hair is already done but it only felt right that this be your something blue," Mercedes reasons as she squeezes Tina's shoulders.
The bride smiles appreciatively at her friends and accepts the hair extension in her hands, running her fingers gently through the strands. And that's when the pent-up tears from earlier begin to pour out as she remembers a time from 13 years ago.
After their first official glee club meeting welcoming the three boys from the football team, Tina has never forgotten what Mike told her. "By the way, I really like the blue streaks. They look good on you," his words echo in her head and they've stuck with her long after they started dating.
While donning her gothic attire, Tina loved putting different coloured extensions in her hair, allowing her to display her inner, colourful nature. But it wasn't until she and Mike got together that she chose to exclusively only wear blue streaks in her hair.
She didn't do it consciously at first. Initially, her blue extensions were the only ones she remembered to bring with her to Asian camp, so she was stuck with them all summer. And when they got home, they became somewhat like memorabilia from their time together at camp and she knew that he liked how they look on her.
It brought her comfort. Apart from them both being Asian, she knew that she and Mike seemed like an unlikely pair to everyone else at school. He was the popular football player and she was the weird goth chick that faked a stutter. It didn't make sense and she constantly felt insecure about their relationship. Then she noticed how he started wearing more clothes that matched the colour of her hair. She wasn't sure if he did it purposely but she appreciated it nonetheless. Despite how unsuitable they might have seemed to everyone else, they matched perfectly with each other.
As she stares longer at the blue strands in her hands, flashes of her relationship with Mike – all of their highs and lows – hit her suddenly and she's overwhelmed with how much she loves him and how wrong this entire thing feels that it makes her chest tight.
Mike Chang is not something she could ever get over. Not now. Not ever. He is the one. He is the only one.
The bridesmaids all look at each other with concern before turning back to the sobbing bride. "Do you not like it?" Brittany asks as she takes a seat beside Tina and wraps her arms around her shoulders.
"No, I love it. It's a wonderful gesture and I appreciate it so much," Tina affirms, wiping the tears from her face and sniffling. "I appreciate all of this and all of you for being here."
"But?" Santana probes, her eyebrow quirked up and her arms crossed over her chest.
Tina looks down at her fidgeting hands and whispers, "It all feels wrong."
"I really don't think the blue extension would clash with your dress that much," Kurt quips, trying to lighten her mood.
"Not the hair extension. This whole wedding," she corrects with her eyebrows furrowed in deep thought. "I think I'm making a huge mistake."
"What do you mean, Queen T?" Blaine inquires, taking a seat on her opposite side.
"You know what I mean," Tina retorts while rolling her eyes before releasing a shaky breath and shrugging. "I'm in love with Mike. I always have been and I always will be."
She can't help the laugh that comes out at the collective gasps that escape her friends' lips, excited and unapologetic. "There's still time for you to catch him," Brittany points out as she clutches Tina's hands in hers.
Tina chastises herself for the hopefulness and fluttering in her chest at the thought of reuniting with Mike. "But Artie…"
Santana interrupts her with a shake of her head. "Artie will be hurt now but eventually he'll understand that Mike is the person you want to be with."
"And it's better to do this now than to get married and have some messy divorce later," Blaine adds. "Trust me."
Tina looks around at all her friends as they give her encouraging smiles and she nods in response. "Okay, yeah, I think you're right," she concedes before standing up from her spot on the sofa, determinism written all over her face. "I just have to find Artie first – it's only right that I let him know."
They all watch with excitement as Tina exits the dressing room, still in her flowy wedding dress, in a rush to find Artie. They know that this will not be a great moment for Artie and they sympathize with him but they can't help their enthusiasm for Tina and Mike's impending reunion.
It seems like an endless walk until Tina finally reaches the end of the hallway and knocks on Artie's dressing room door. She is greeted by Sam who furrows his eyebrows at the sight of her, ready to berate her for sneaking a peek at Artie before the ceremony but her wide-eyed, guilty expression immediately shuts him up.
Sam just nods at her and Tina feels eternally grateful that he knows her well enough to understand without words. "Um, hey guys, I think they need our help dealing with something downstairs," he calls over his shoulder to the groomsmen in the room.
Pausing from their conversations with Artie, the boys all glance towards the door as Sam moves aside to let Tina inside the room. There's a sudden air of tension in the room and the groomsmen leave hastily to let the bride speak with the groom.
Artie is adjusting his bowtie in the mirror and he smiles when he catches Tina's reflection. "Hey, you couldn't wait two more seconds to see me? You know it's bad luck," he jokes but his laughter quickly dies down at the sight of her solemn expression. He takes a deep breath and clears the lump in his throat that has suddenly appeared. "We're not getting married, are we?"
Tina shakes her head in response and begins to cry once again. "I really am sorry, Artie," she laments, her voice breaking through her tears. "I wish that I could love you the way that I'm supposed to."
"But you don't," Artie acknowledges as he spins his chair around to face her. "You love Mike."
"I have tried so hard to ignore it, thinking that it would go away eventually over time, but it hasn't and I don't think it ever will," Tina confirms as she carefully approaches Artie, "And it wouldn't be fair to you if I kept pretending like my feelings for Mike aren't there. Because I do care deeply about you and I never wanted to hurt you."
"I know you didn't," Artie recognizes.
Tina looks down and fidgets with her fingers. "Do you hate me?"
"No. I don't hate you," Artie responds with a shake of his head and a humourless laugh. "I kinda do hate myself though. I knew how you felt about him – everybody does – but I guess was also hoping that you would eventually get over him and grow to love me instead."
This makes Tina break down into even more tears. "I feel so terrible for wasting all your time and taking advantage of your love for me, all because I was afraid of being with Mike. Hell, I don't even know if Mike would still want to be with me after everything that's happened."
Artie scoffs at her in response. "It's Mike Chang we're talking about here. He'd be insane to not want to be with you."
"I hope you're right," Tina says before she gasps as she realizes something. "Oh God, what are we going to do? We spent so much money on this wedding and all our friends and family came all this way. And JBI is camped outside, hoping to get an exclusive for his blog and everything will end up on the internet within the next hour – I'm sure—"
Artie interrupts her ramblings with a wave of his hand and grips her wrists firmly. "Go get him, Tina," he instructs, "I'll handle everyone else."
She releases a breath of relief and pulls him in for a tight hug. "Thank you, Artie," she whispers in his ear. When she pulls away, she slips off her engagement ring and places it in his hand. "I really do want nothing but the best for you."
"That's what I want for you, too," he responds. She squeezes his hand one last time before promptly exiting his dressing room.
Lifting the train of her dress, Tina runs through the halls of the chapel and down the stairs toward the entrance where she finds Kurt, Blaine, Brittany, Santana, Sam and Mercedes gathered and chatting amongst themselves in anticipation of what is going to happen next.
"Somebody, take me to Mike!" Tina demands, slowing down her sprint once she reaches her friends.
"I'll drive!" Blaine volunteers as he proudly holds up his car keys.
Rolling her eyes, Santana snatches the keys from his hand. "Uh, no, I'm driving."
Blaine grabs the keys back from the former cheerleader and furrows his eyebrows at her. "Santana! I am perfectly capable of driving Tina to see Mike!"
Tina pinches the bridge of her nose, not having the energy to deal with their arguing. "Okay, both of you are the worst drivers I have ever known but in completely opposite ways. Blaine, you drive so slow that it feels like my life is slipping away while Santana, you drive faster than the speed of lightning," she points out, "And even though I might be risking my life in saying this, Santana, I need that speed to get to the love of my life before he flies out of my life forever."
Santana smirks triumphantly at Blaine, raising her eyebrows at him and holding her hand out. With a grumble, he reluctantly places the car keys in her hand. "Thank you," she responds teasingly.
They start to make their way toward the front door when Sam grabs Tina by the arm before she could get far. "Hey, wait, if you and Artie aren't gonna use all this wedding stuff, what do you say if Mercedes and I use it?"
Everyone gasps in surprise at the suggestion and even Mercedes is taken aback. "What? We're not even together!" she reminds him incredulously.
"You said you were ready to settle down," Sam recalls, speaking slowly in that way he does like he's talking to a child.
"I didn't mean right this second," Mercedes retorts, her eyes wide.
"What better time than now?" Sam asks with a faraway hopeless romantic look in his eyes.
Mercedes draws her bottom lip in between her teeth, considering his proposition, and after a moment, she just shrugs. "I mean… I guess—"
"Woah, woah, woah," Tina interrupts, waving her hands in the air to capture their attention. "Let's get something clear – if you two get married without me, I will murder you."
And Sam knows Tina well enough to recognize when her threats are empty or not and this one was definitely not, so he just cowers in response and raises his hands in defence. "Okay, completely understand. We will hold off for when you come back."
"Thank you," Tina responds, before turning back towards the door, her expression determined. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a man to catch."
She manages to take a couple of steps closer to the front door but the sound of multiple footsteps coming from behind her makes her stop abruptly out of curiosity. Tina slowly looks over her shoulder to see all her friends trailing closely after her, practically vibrating with anticipation. "Do you all really need to come with me?"
"We have to be there to witness you and Mike get back together!" Blaine insists, bouncing in his spot with glee. Tina just shakes her head in dismissal – there is no getting rid of them and she doesn't want to waste any of her time on them.
She reaches to push the front door open when someone opens it from the other side causing her to crash into them, landing right in their arms. The hands gripping her biceps and holding her up firmly are unmistakeably familiar. Her heart starts to race as she regains her footing and slowly looks up at the person who's caught her.
"Mike?"
His face is apologetic and shocked and frenzied at the sight of her. He wasn't expecting to bump into Tina so suddenly. His hands ghost her frame as she takes a step back, to prevent her from falling but also because he years to touch her again.
His breath is taken away as he takes in the sight of her. He's already seen her in the wedding dress but that combined with the way her hair and makeup are done and the strange optimism in her eyes, she simply looks radiant and bright and just beautiful.
After finally realizing that he's been staring at her for a while and that she's waiting for him to explain his presence, he clears his throat and looks deeply into her eyes. "I had to try one more time."
With that, Tina can't hold back the wide grin that graces her face before she grasps the back of his neck and crashes her lips onto his. His hands immediately find her waist and he pulls her in impossibly closer as their friends cheer for them in the back.
When they run out of air, Tina pulls away and rests her forehead against his. "I'm sorry for being so stubborn, okay?" she apologizes against his lips. "When I picture the person that I want to spend the rest of my life with, it's you that I see. It's always been you. You are my only choice. I love you."
Mike beams at her, his eyes welling with tears, and he reaches up to cup her face, praying to any and every God out there that he wasn't dreaming. "I love you, too," he declares before reclaiming her lips once more, finally becoming whole again.
a/n: woo happily ever after! but wait! there's still an epilogue coming next week because i'm not an angst monster — i need fluff too!