Author's Note: I wrote this short as a request from my sister, also known as the Ghost Peacock on deviantart. It is the "missing portion" in the Little Shop of Horrors musical film, Seymour and Audrey's wedding. I have to thank her for being my ever faithful beta reader, so here's a little "reward", you might say. I admit, also, to taking the title from lyrics used in the cut song "We'll Have Tomorrow". In this cut love duet, Seymour and Audrey sing, "Roses are red, love, weddings are white..." I like this song a lot, and I really wish I could hear a re-done version rather than the all-male demo.

*S. Snowflake

Roses are Red, Weddings are White

-by Laura L

* * *

"Marry me, Audrey," the man with the glasses quickly blurted.

"Seymour this is… so sudden!" the blond girl exclaimed in visible shock as she stood across from him.

"Well, will ya?"

There was a long pause between the lovers. The girl looked down at her feet, as if she were questioning the path that she was taking, and then she looked back into his desperate, but honest, gray eyes. He would marry her, and take good care of her if she said yes. Deep in her heart, she knew that was what she wanted all along.

She smiled radiantly and replied with a quiet, "Sure."

Seymour grinned widely. "That's it then! We'll go get married, right now! Tonight, if you want to."

Audrey's eyes lit up, and it seemed that they were shining green orbs for a moment as she hugged Seymour tightly. "Oh Seymour!"

* * *

Those words revolved in Audrey's head a few times as she sat in front of the mirror, brushing her platinum blond hair. It was funny that Seymour had proposed to her without kneeling to the ground or bearing a ring as she envisioned her future husband would do so romantically. Then again, their relationship was far from traditional in how it was forged and simply what sort of people they were by social standards, but something foolish like their stereotypes as a beauty and a nerd could be forgotten when they were protected by love. However, Audrey could hardly take time to think about the sentimental values of romance as she combed her hair with fury.

"Stop messin' up your hair, Audrey. You look beautiful," Audrey's friend and bridesmaid Chiffon snapped and complemented in duality. She stood by her friends Crystal and Ronnette in the back of Audrey's apartment, all three wearing identical pink bridesmaid dresses.

Audrey paused and put down the purple hair comb at last. "Really Chiffon?" she asked in her helium tone. "Do you really think I look like a bride?" She looked at her face again. "Ooh, maybe just a little more makeup and…"

"Don't you touch that stuff!" Crystal interjected. "You look fine. If you put on any more a' that, you'd look all wrong."

Audrey chuckled, stood up and walked over to her closet where her wedding dress was hanging. She thought that she would be getting married the night when Seymour proposed, but that horrific flytrap Audrey II had changed those plans. She had to admit that it had not been the smartest choice on her part to walk over to the blood-eating monster and try to give it water just because it asked her sweetly, but it had an unmistakable power that made people do strange and often terrible things. The monster had her pulled her into its great, toothy pod in no time at all, and thus ruined her dress as it tried to eat her. Thankfully, good seemed more powerful than evil, as Seymour rescued her before the plant's teeth had torn through the more tough parts of her dress such as the pillow-like ruffles and heavily beaded torso. This gown that had (in that sense), helped save her life was all repaired now, and looked possibly prettier than it had before.

Only Audrey knew the story of the dress' original owner and why she wanted so desperately to save it after that night. It once belonged to her sister Julia, but her groom got a case of cold feet and left her at the altar on their supposed wedding day. It was unfortunate that Julia had never lived long enough to find a man that would love her too. The poor girl died when a car hit her, and so the dress belonged to her sister.

Audrey paused for a minute, but forced herself to put that painful thought out of her mind for the moment and stroked one of the dress' ruffles. "Do you girls mind helping me put this on? I'm worried I might not fit after I got it repaired," she said.

Crystal, Chiffon, and Ronnette nodded. "Sure thing."

As her friends assisted her in putting on the lovely white gown, Audrey decided to not reflect on anything at all except for her relationship with Seymour. That was what kept her going; that she was truly loved by someone. Once the bad reflections disappeared, dream-like visions began appearing in her head. She knew that she would not have to live in this miserable part of the city any longer. There was always that little fantasy that flickered in her mind: Having a nice warm house to just she and Seymour. A life that didn't involve the horrid discomforts of being practically a whore at the Gutter or being a sadistic dentist's punching bag. Maybe they might one day raise a family together. The ideas seemed so wonderful that she almost felt as if she did not deserve this immense dream come true. This is how it's supposed to be, she tried to convince herself. This is how you're supposed to feel today.

* * *

The church stood alone and dilapidated in Skid Row. It was a humble place to say the least. The church was hardly any better on the inside with the main beam in the chapel broken long ago after the fine bark rotted away. The sole pastor walked around in the chapel and shook his head at a wino sleeping in the back of the room, then headed into the room behind the altar with a cough. His eyes fixed upon a young man with his brown hair combed as best as it could be and bulgy black glasses resting on his face. This man would be getting married today, and seemed just as nervously excited as anyone would be, if not more so. The young man toyed with his pink carnation corsage, plucking at the petals to encourage their showiness.

"Are you ready to start, Seymour?" the pastor asked with his raspy voice that made Seymour jump a little.

"O-oh, um, yes sir," Seymour replied after regaining his air. "You know she's comin' then?"

"Yeah, her friend Crystal ran down a minute ago. Come on, we don't have time to talk. Let's get this over with."

Seymour chewed his lip silently and his hands twitched as he followed the pastor. He did not frankly like his tone, but it did not matter to him. What was one more Skid Row jerk on his last day in this horrible side of town anyway? All that mattered now was living in the moment. He took in the scene of the old church with dappled appreciation and shame. This was not the grand, romantic wedding he had hoped to give Audrey. Far from it. The broken beam was the main accent of the old church, but also the shattered windows and dusty, twisted organ pipes made up a macabre scene. Still, he and Audrey had done the best that they could to make their wedding memorable. In each window sat an arrangement of lilies, mums, and other flowers along with the traditional altar arrangements, all of which were white.

Seymour recalled something his boss Mr. Mushnik had said about arrangements that pleased customers, "Roses are red, weddings are white. Learn it Krelborn and yeh'll be all right."

Seymour smiled at that thought. Flowers were, in a way, what brought he and Audrey together, being that they worked in the same flower shop, and so they should have an important role in this big day. Today would be a celebration of love, but tomorrow was a somewhat intimidating prospect. It frightened Seymour at only age twenty-four to be making this decision, but he would follow his heart, and his heart belonged to Audrey.

Presently, the sound of the old organ's music rang through the church and snapped Seymour out of his reverie. He covered his ears with his hands and shook his head from side to side. Once the great instrument had finally tuned up, the pastor began to play a tune that Seymour remembered as "Here Comes the Bride" and the church doors opened. Chiffon entered first in her sparkling pink dress, followed by Crystal and Ronnette. They all looked quite attractive and lovely as they walked coolly to the side of the altar opposite Seymour holding their white bouquets, but nothing could quite compare to what came next. There she was, an angel in a white wedding gown, slowly advancing toward him. Even beneath the veil, Seymour could see those stunning green eyes looking back into his. She was lovelier than the loveliest lily and prettier than the prettiest petunia. She was really only one describable word: beautiful.

At first, Seymour felt that he must have been in the next life, but then reality came back to him. This beautiful flower was Audrey, and there was a reason for her wonderful attire. Nothing bad could come across his mind then, and he smiled shyly as she stepped up the stairs and took his hand for a moment. They both made a chuckle of utter astonishment, and then turned to the pastor that was still playing the organ for them.

The pastor coughed bitterly and hopped off of the seat to come toward the couple. They watched him hobbling about as if he was ready to keel over, and Audrey smelled cigarettes on his robe. Once he cleared his throat again, he opened a Bible and began reading a passage. "Friends, we are gathered here today to witness the union of this man and this woman in marriage." He coughed shortly and shook his head again. "Pardon," he wheezed out. "Ahem, may the Lord bless…"

Both Audrey and Seymour stared at the gasping pastor with respect, but slight disgust. Skid Row life was anything but classy, so they should have known that their wedding service would be no different.

Seymour's hand began to shake involuntarily. Audrey noticed and took a hold of it, instantly relaxing him with her touch. They smiled at each other. Everything worked when they were together. The two of them just fit. When they looked at each other, their eyes spoke for them, and no verbal communication was necessary.

Are you nervous too? Audrey's eyes asked.

A little.

Audrey glanced down at her feet and then back at Seymour. The message clearly said, We don't have to do this.

Seymour smiled and looked back at her. But I want to.

Audrey's eyes lit up. Really?

Seymour chuckled in his throat and whispered, "I love you."

The pastor then began another coughing fit, and one of the girls grunted in disgust. After nearly passing out from an asthma relapse, he asked in a half gasp, "Audrey Fulquard, do you take Seymour to be your husband?"

Audrey beamed beneath her veil and said, "I do."

The pastor nodded and turned to Seymour. "And do you, Seymour Krelborn, take Audrey to be your wife?"

Seymour looked back into Audrey's eyes one more time and knew his answer before he said it, "I do."

"And the rings?" the pastor wheezed.

The couple looked to each other and pulled out small chrome rings from their pockets before placing them on the other's finger. They both laughed slightly when Seymour scrambled to keep from dropping his ring, but luckily, everything went fairly smooth.

The pastor waited for a little while and continued, "I now pronounce this couple husband and wife." He looked to Seymour as if he were teaching a young schoolboy. "You may kiss the bride."

Seymour grinned before turning over Audrey's veil and gently wrapping his arms around her waist as he pulled her close for a kiss. It was not very long or exceedingly passionate, but enough to express what both of them were feeling. They heard few sounds locked in their kiss, but they did catch the clapping of their friends Crystal, Chiffon, and Ronnette, and the wino in the back stirring awake with a start and falling into drunken sleep again. The coughs of the pastor, however, were ignored. At last, the couple walked down the aisle hand in hand and out the doors. Crystal, Chiffon, and Ronnette followed them, and the church was silent once more

The pastor smiled. "Anotha' happy couple," he thought aloud, then looked over at the snoring wino in the back and sighed. "I need a cigarette."

* * *

"Good luck, you two," Ronnette said to her friends as they walked over to their wedding carriage: a cutely clunky 1957 blue Volkswagon bug that Seymour had found.

"Aw, thanks," Audrey replied and hugged all three of her friends. "And thank you for, well, everything you've done for us." She smiled at Seymour who stood beside her. "We're really gonna miss you girls, aren't we Seymour darling?"

Seymour nodded shyly before answering, "Sure are."

"Yeah, we'll miss you both too," Chiffon replied and tried to hide a small tear in her eye to be the tough girl she was. She indicated to the other girls that they would be leaving. "Well, hope that house a' yours is what you're lookin' for."

"You deserve it," Crystal added.

The newly established Krelborn couple smiled and agreed with their friends. The girls said some last goodbyes and started to walk away. Suddenly, Audrey squeaked loudly to catch the girls' attention. "I almost forgot, catch!" she said.

She threw her bouquet of white flowers to her friends and they all fought over who would catch it. Ronnette and Chiffon tried to knock each other down while Crystal cunningly leaned over both of them and caught the bouquet in one hand. Once she did that, the other two girls smirked and tackled their friend, smashing the arrangement to mere fragments of what it once had been in the process.

Audrey giggled, then sighed at her bridesmaids. "What are ya gonna do?"

"Not to interrupt, Mrs. Krelborn, but your ride awaits," Seymour told Audrey.

Audrey did not respond at first, but then thought over his words and realized that she was Seymour's wife now. As she climbed into the passenger seat, she muttered, "Audrey Krelborn… I like it."

Seymour started the car and it puttered slightly. "I hoped you would."

Audrey leaned over and kissed her new husband's cheek. "So, where are we headed next, Seymour honey?" she asked childishly.

Seymour had barely recovered his composure from that surprise peck on the cheek, but it had given him a boost so-to-speak. "I'll tell ya' where. It's goodbye Skid Row and hello the rest of our lives!" he declared.

The little blue bug rumbled as Seymour drove it out of the space and started driving on the road. Audrey waved one last time to her friends and they waved back longingly. It occurred to Audrey that she might never see these friends ever again, and that made her dreadfully sad, but she looked over at Seymour and remembered the path that she was taking and who she was taking it with. With steady puttering, the car traveled beneath the shadows of the great skyscrapers and toward the sun moving westward overhead. The home that Audrey and Seymour had always hoped for was just beyond the horizon, but what they were truly embarking on was the start of their new life together. This white wedding marked the beginning of a new adventure.

The End

For The Ghost Peacock, Respectively.