Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who.

I rubbed my eyes once more, irritating them further. They were already red, and I would've rather taken the contacts I was wearing out. However, Riley had a different idea. I was to wear these contacts all night, or otherwise be murdered in my sleep. With anyone else, I would've ignored the empty threat. But this was Riley, and that meant that it wasn't a threat, but a promise.

So, here I was, forced to live the next few hours in pure agony. The wedding hadn't even started yet, and I was already tapping my foot for the moment I could go home.

"Cat, just use some damn eye drops!" Riley shouted from her place standing on a stood in the middle of the room, the other bridesmaids running around and fixing her up.

Normally, I would've chastised her for using such tone and language, but I knew it was just because she was nervous. She was about to be married to a wonderful man, who wouldn't be?

"If it'll shut you up, fine!" I seethed, slowly standing from my seat. I really did hate these heels she was making me wear. "Where's your purse?" She always kept eye drops in there. I didn't have a clue as to why. Maybe for Dave.

"In the corner, under my coat. Ow! Cassie, easy with the elbow!"

Rolling my eyes at the madness that Riley had created with this wedding, I slowly trampled towards said coat. My ankles rolled several times in the heels, but I eventually got the corner relatively unscathed and found the bottle of eye drops. With an agitated sigh, I spread my eyelids and dropped a single drop of cold liquid into each eye, blinking away the sudden stinging, and then feeling relief. I reached up to wipe the excess liquid away, and then tossed the bottle back into Riley's purse.

"Better?" Riley asked with an exasperated groan.

I nodded, and went to help the girls with the final details on her dress. She looked beautiful, even more so than normal. Her red hair was done up in a bun, and her makeup had taken half an hour to be applied. The dress flattered her slight frame, and her bright blue eyes stuck out against the pale canvas of her cheeks.

In fact, all of us looked lovely. I'd actually grown rather fond of the pale-gold dress that had been chosen for the bridesmaids. Tan silk wrapped around our torsos, and around the strapless neckline. The rest of the dress was made up of a flowing golden material, ending in a quaint hem just below our knees. Some of the other girls had worn necklaces and bracelets, but I refused to do so. I wanted to look as plain as possible, seeing as I was the one standing beside the bride. She was supposed to be the most beautiful woman in the room, and I was determined to make sure it ended up that way.

"Girls, the ceremony's about to start." Riley's father, an aging man that I often questioned the sanity of due to his choice of marriage, opened the door and stepped into the room. "You look lovely, my dear."

Riley grinned. "Thank you, Daddy." With that, she took his offered arm and they left the room.

The rest of us followed, everyone else ahead of me. I wanted to postpone getting there for as long as I could. Why, you ask? Well, I was the Maid of Honor, and guess who the Best Man happened to be. Yes, Travis was the Best Man, which meant he would be escorting me down the aisle.

However, I did have to eventually reach the hall that everyone was standing in. So, I decided to go forth and make a fool of myself.

"Cat, you look great!" Travis smiled softly at me, offering his arm.

I nodded, a blush creeping onto my cheeks. "Thanks…" I mumbled as I took the offered arm and stepped into line beside him. Riley was directly behind me, and one of the other bridesmaids in front. I didn't know any of them, seeing as they were friends from before her parents moved her to Minnesota in middle school.

"So," Travis's voice pulled my back down to earth. "How well do you think this'll go?"

I shrugged. "I don't know, but it better go well because, if it doesn't, Riley'll hunt us down and kill us off one by one."

"I'm right back here, you know!" I felt her fingers jab into my bare shoulder.

I ignored her. "What do you think?"

He grinned, showing off two rows of perfectly straight, white teeth. "I think it'll go perfectly."

"Bit of an optimist, there?"

He chuckled. "Yeah, I guess, but I like to stay hopeful."

I nodded, and then heard the processional music play. Glancing around, I caught a view of the Flower Girl, who was Riley's younger cousin Marie, and the Ring Bearer, otherwise known as Marie's brother Mark. They would jump in behind Travis and I at the last moment. Slowly, the line moved forward, and Travis and I were eventually left at the front.

"Deep breaths, Cat," He mumbled as he patted the hand resting in the crook of his elbow.

I nodded, and then we moved forward, slowly proceeding out of the doors.

Upon entering the large hall, I looked around for the one person I'd been waiting to see for the past few hours. I found him, his hands tucked into his pockets and standing tall in the corner of the room. When Riley and I had left the house early this morning, I'd told him that he could drive my car here as long as he didn't run it into a ditch. Apparently, he hadn't done so, which made me happy. I'd also told him to dress smartly, which I'd feared he'd take too directly and look like a geek. However, based on what I was seeing now, he hadn't done that either.

His long legs were clad in the black slacks from his tux, and he'd done as I'd suggested and gotten rid of the jacket and bowtie, and switched the shirt. He wore the light blue shirt he normally wore with his brow suit, along with the tie belonging to the same suit. He quite literally looked like a choir boy, only older and not quite so… innocent.

As we started down the aisle, I shot him a smile, and then returned to focusing on walking. With the help of a miracle, neither of us tripped or fell, and we found our places beside the altar. We turned just in time to watch the Flower Girl and Ring Bearer finish their trip down the aisle.

The music coming from the organ paused, and then Riley and her father emerged from the doorway. Her eyes were glued to Dave, and Dave's were glued to her. As always, their hearts went out to each other and no one else. With that thought in mind, I couldn't help but to glance towards the Doctor. He caught my look, and offered a small wave I wish I could've returned.

I turned back to the Bride and Groom, now staring deeply into each other's eyes and holding both hands between them. The minister stood beside them on the altar, a leather-bound book open in his hands, waiting to be read from. I never listened to what the minister said when I went to weddings because I felt that the emotions on the faces of the Bride and Groom deserved the utmost attention. Being an aspiring author, I felt the need to understand the feelings behind the face, and weddings were the perfect place to practice that.

Finally, my ears registered the ending of the vows, and they leaned in for the kiss. Riley had been going on and on about how perfect she wanted this exact moment to be, and I knew that it was. They'd kissed hundred, maybe thousands of times, but this was different. This was the kiss that bound them together for the rest of their lives, and the tenderness of the moment forced me to look down at my now aching feet.

Riley was no longer Ms. Riley O'Connor, she was Mrs. David Foxe, and I couldn't have been happier for her.

The Doctor and I were standing beside each other, waiting for Riley and Dave to come over. I wanted to give the both of them a large bear-hug, and an honest congratulation. The Doctor wanted to congratulate them as well, and I think he was seriously considering the bear-hug. At least for Riley.

"How do you walk in these?" He asked, pulling one of my heels from my hands. I'd taken them off after retreating through the aisle, thankful to be flat-footed again.

I shrugged. "I dunno," I mumbled. "Ask Riley, she's the expert."

He grinned with a nod, and then looked me randomly in the eye. He swiveled his neck a few times, and then frowned. "Are you wearing contacts?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Well," He reached up and tugged at his ear, blinking innocently a few times. "I kind of… liked the glasses…"

My heart leapt. "I agree," I strained to make the words sound normal. "We don't match anymore."

He smiled and reached into his pocket, pulling out his glasses and putting them on. As I snorted, he grinned and stood up tall, obviously proud with his accomplishment. In fact, he was so busy being proud that he didn't notice Riley and Dave, hand in hand, sidle up in front of us.

"Kitten!" Riley yelped, throwing one of her arms around my neck and hugging me tightly. I scrambled in surprise for a moment, and then gladly wrapped my arms around her as well. All the while I could hear her giggling and squealing words into my ear, most of them incomprehensible, but I caught a few like 'marriage' and 'babies'.

Finally, for some unknown reason, she released me and I was quickly taken into the large arms of Dave. His hug was a lot less surprising and rough as Riley's, but I didn't let myself get too comfortable. I'd made that mistake once, and Riley had given me several bruises. On accident, of course.

"Gimme a hug, alien boy!"

I smiled as Dave and I stepped away from each other and glanced at Riley and the Doctor. Riley, being strongly emotional at the moment, had wrapped her arms tightly around his thin frame. He opted to go along with it, and hugged her back with a large grin on his face.

"Riley!"

I cringed. That voice was one I heard rarely, but that small amount of time was still too much.

"Come along, your Great Aunt Madeline wishes to speak with you." Although speaking to her daughter, Mrs. O'Connor was staring at me with pure ferocity in her beady little eyes. "You as well, David."

Riley released the Doctor, shot me an apologetic look, and followed her mother obediently.

As the three retreated into the crowd, I crossed my arms and ground my teeth. "Do you think we could lock that woman in an abandoned room in the TARDIS?"

"I don't want her on my ship!" He disagreed, grabbing my arm in order to give him access to my hand.

I pouted. "Just for the night?"

That struck a chuckle to escape him, but he just shook his head as an answer.

Disgruntled, I frowned and began to angrily pull him towards the doors. "Fine, we won't lock her up so I can enjoy the evening, instead I'll just be miserable and annoying."

I was giggling. I know I'd said that I was going to be miserable and annoying, but the Doctor wasn't laying off the cute tactics to get me in a better mood. He was blowing ahead full steam, and I couldn't help it.

"Quit it!" I yelped with a smile, earning a few odd stares from the maintenance and wait staff Riley had hired, all of which were running around making last minute adjustments.

The Doctor grinned, wiggling the straws he'd put beneath his lip to make himself look like a walrus.

"Seriously, cut it out," I playfully slapped his arm.

"Oh, you're no fun." He pulled the straws out and tossed one of them at me.

A playful smile on my face, I jerked out of the way of the straw, apologizing when a young man bent down to retrieve it and put it in a trash bin.

"Let's get this party started!" I smiled and looked back over my shoulder at the entrance of the bowling alley. Riley and Dave, both still dressed in their wedding attire, were quickly moving towards the place the Doctor and I sat. Riley had a large grin on her face. "Seriously, where's the cake?"

I rolled my eyes. "Maybe you should go make sure everything's ready."

She poked her tongue out at me, and then turned to skip happily towards the kitchen. Dave looked after her, but eventually turned to me, shooting odd glances at the Doctor. After a moment, I understood.

"So, Riley told you about last night, huh?"

His black eyes fixed on me as he nodded.

"And she told you to call him John tonight?"

He nodded again, and then ran his hand through his hair. "And I thought the guy was just weird."

"Oi," The Doctor called. "I'm right here."

Dave smiled. "Sorry,"

The Doctor grinned, and reached out to clap his hand against Dave's shoulder before turning around and playing with the flower display at the center of the table we were sitting at. I couldn't help but smile at the manly gesture, and then turned back to Dave.

"How'd you react when she told you?" I leaned against the back of my chair, smirking up at my best friend's fiancé.

His eyebrow jumped, and he shrugged. "I didn't believe her, but then she told me about it," It was his turn to smirk now. "And we both know Riley doesn't have that sort of imagination."

I grinned, and opened my mouth to say something only to be interrupted by Riley's obnoxious voice.

"Dave!" She shouted across the bowling alley, causing several people to jump, including me. "David Richard Foxe! Heel!"

"Your queen beckons."

Dave shot me a smile, and then drifted away from us to join his wife. I smiled towards the Doctor, who just turned with a cheeky smile and a knowing glint in his soft, chocolate eyes.

"He's going to go through hell on the honeymoon."

I felt awkward, sitting between two girls that I'd been "frenimies" with in high school. I didn't understand why Riley had invited them, or why they came for that matter. Maybe they'd been told that the bride and groom were paying for all of the Michelob Light the guests could drink. That sounded like a rather plausible reason, and reminded me of the several parties we'd been to that left me the designated driver because I was the only sober girl left.

"Adam got better looking with age," The blonde whose name I barely recalled as Stephanie mumbled as she raised her third drink to her lips. "Don't you think?" She nudged my side.

I glanced towards the back of the room, where Adam Balonovik, another one of my school chums, stood with many other men from my school days. Adam was tall, tan, and dark. At one point in time I'd found his mysteriousness and dark nature endearing, but I'd grown out of that phase after my first year of college.

"Not really my type." I mumbled with a gentle shrug of the shoulders.

The other girl, a brunette named Alexis, crossed her slender legs and flipped her hair out of her eyes. "If he's not your type, what is?"

I glanced at her, and then moved my gaze to the Doctor. "Tall and skinny with a goofy side." I mumbled as I watched him kneel with Nicky in the darkest corner of the room.

The two girls didn't hear me, and were still staring in Adam's direction. "Wait," A smirk tugged at the corner of Stephanie's full, red lips. "Didn't you lose it to Adam?"

Faster than you could say 'danger' I was on my feet with a deep red blush creeping across my pale skin. "Be right back, I'm gonna go get something to drink." And without waiting for them to say anything else, I moved away from the table in the dark that we'd been sitting at and towards the Doctor and Nicky.

"But she's got cooties!" I heard Nicky cry as I stepped up behind them.

The Doctor snorted. "Do you have any ideas what cooties actually are?"

"Germs that make boys sick!"

"Well, you got the germs part kind of right," He grinned as he glanced back at me, and then focused all of his attention on my nephew. "See, cooties are actually a kind of bacteria that inhabit our cells and recreate the effects of nutrition."

Now, being a high school graduate, I knew that was a lie. Cooties were just a stupid excuse young boys had to hate girls.

"That's not right!" Nicky shouted, but his voice wavered and he didn't look very confident in his words.

"Sure it is, ask your aunt."

I blinked. "What?" The Doctor jerked his head towards my waiting nephew. "Oh, um, yes, cooties are bacteria, yeah," I blinked again, and then got a clever idea to mess with my brother. "You could go a week without vegetables if you had a bit of cooties instead."

At that, Nicky's eyes lit up. "No vegetables?" He grinned and then set off towards Riley's younger cousin Marie, obviously looking for cooties.

"What was that all about?" I asked as the Doctor got to his feet and brushed off his pants.

He reached up to tug at his ear. "He was looking at her all throughout the wedding and then through the entire reception, he just needed a good reason to go talk to her."

I rolled my eyes. "If you're playing matchmaker, you should find me a boyfriend."

He smiled and opened his mouth to say something, but my name was shouted through the crowd. I recognized the voice, but I needed to make sure that it was who I thought it was. So, I looked casually over my shoulder to catch sight of Travis and his golden locks headed my way.

I flashed back towards the Doctor with a look of pure panic no doubt extremely apparent on my face as the DJ announced a slow dance for all of the 'lovebirds'. After hearing the announcement, a quick scheme to avoid contact with the handsome suitor developed in my mind. Before I knew it, I was looking up at the Doctor and the worst thing I could've said spewed from my mouth.

"Do you wanna dance?"

A/N: Yes, there was a lot of jumping around this chapter. If I'd gone through everything that happened during and after the wedding, I've both lost myself and the story would've gotten incredibly boring. Plus, I like to think of this as a kind of time travel. The Doctor would be proud.

YES! I have left you a cliffhanger! I know, hate me as you will, but I think you all can guess what'll happen next. Then again, maybe not... I already know, so I can't really say. I'm a bit biased.

This will be the start of my final week of posting! Yes, everything is coming up sometime in the next six days! And, on Sunday, the sequel will be posted. I realize that Sunday is Christmas, but I'm sure a few of you will be spending the day with incredibly boring relatives, and will need something to do. Consider it the suckiest present any of you have ever received.

So... I think that's all I have to say. Unless you wanna hear about my day. If you do, continue reading. If you don't, thanks for coming! I love you!

Yeah, I had basketball today. And yesterday, too. I rolled both my ankles, nearly spraining the right one, hurt the pinky-finger I sprained last year, and cut my lip... again. Yes, basketball is a brutal sport. Yes, I'm a somewhat brutal person... Sometimes... Not really, I just get caught in the middle of things I ought not to be in at all. Sort of like the Doctor! Oh, that realization just made my day.

So, thank you for listening to my ramblings, and I think I'll be back on Tuesday with the next chapter. Then again on Thursday, and finally on Saturday with the epilogue.

I LOVE YOU ALLS! :D

Jazmine