Let's Get Hitched

Joe softly stroked Sydney's hair. She warmly smiled in her sleep and snuggled closer to him.

"Morning." Sydney's voice was muffled by Joe's chest.

"Happy anniversary."

Sydney looked up at him through half-lidded eyes. "I haven't been sleeping that long have I? It's still June, right?"

"Yeah, but three years ago today was when you came back to New York and we really started dating."

Sydney shook her head and chuckled. "That makes it Anna and Skyler's anniversary." She stretched out her body and rolled over onto her stomach. "Our actual anniversary is in January."

Joe kept his comments about Anna and Skyler to himself. He told Sydney he'd give Skyler a chance and let up on him and Anna. He knew that Skyler was a big part of Anna's life. Anna appeared happy with her relationship at least, but Joe knew that protective-big-brother part of him would never go away.

He loved Sydney and he also understood that Skyler was a big part of her life. Together, they'd become very successful dancers and choreographers. It was little annoying that he had to share her so much. There were definitely times that he wished he could have her to himself all the time. Getting married would be his best option for getting to spend more time with her. Actually, that didn't sound like a bad idea to Joe.

"I still choose to think of it as a special day for us. I was thinking we could go out and have a nice dinner. The Plaza is having a summer solstice ball tonight. That could be fun."

Sydney laughed again. "But it's Netflix night. I was looking forward to lounging around in comfy clothes. Besides, I'm still behind on Earth television."

"Okay. We'll watch some stuff now and then in a few hours we'll go out."

Sydney wrapped the sheet around herself and sat up. "No. I have a meeting today. And you need to get back to your dorm and grab an overnight bag because you forgot to bring one yesterday."

"I had other things on my mind." Joe pulled Sydney back down next to him and kissed her softly.

She happily complied. "What time is it anyway?"

"About eleven."

Sydney groaned. "Why do you do this to me? You know whenever you don't stay the night, I wake up at seven like a normal person."

"That is not normal. And it's not like you don't wear me out just as much."

Sydney smirked. "Not my fault you can't handle me."

"Is that a challenge?"

"As much as I'd like it to be, my meeting starts in two hours and I need to get ready. So you should get going." Sydney leaned over to kiss him. "But I'll see you tonight, okay? Sky will be gone and we'll have the whole place to ourselves. Is that enough of an anniversary celebration for you?"

"As long as I get to take on that challenge."

Joe walked into Sydney's penthouse to see a very comfy Sydney lounging on her plush sofa surrounded by her extravagant décor. After she and Skyler had moved to New York, they proceeded to decorate their place with the most expansive and trendy stuff they could find. They claimed that they were both too used to a life of luxury to live like average mortals. Joe knew that was only part of it. Sydney also enjoyed spending Draylon's money as a form of silent revenge. She only had the card for another year, so she was throwing some crazy expenses on there.

She was wearing black yoga pants and one of Joe's old high school shirts. Her hair was tied up in a lopsided messy bun. It was her usual lazy Netflix night attire.

Joe silently snuck up behind her to give her a surprise kiss. "Hello, beautiful."

Sydney laughed. "Hello you." She moved over so Joe would have room to sit down next to her. "So since you were in such a romantic mood this morning, I queued up some bad romantic comedies. I figured we could both laugh at the silly plot lines."

Joe grinned. "What are our options?"

"Our first choice is a stereotypical story about two high school friends who grew up together and never thought to be more than friends. But one night fate steps in and causes sparks to fly at prom." Sydney spoke the words overdramatically to add emphasis to their silliness.

"Tempting."

"Our second choice is about two people who catch each other's eyes from across the room at a wedding. They have a wild night of fun, but when they go their separate ways, they realize that they have fallen in love, but have no way to find the other person. They must search all of New York to find each other and risk it all for a happily ever after."

"Maybe."

"Our final choice is my personal favorite. It's a story of friends-with-benefits who get drunk one night and wake up married the next day. Just when they're about to get a divorce, they realize there may be more to their relationship than they thought."

"Why don't we get married?" The words came out of Joe's mouth before he could stop it.

"No, it's called Friends-With-Rings. Stupid title if you ask me."

"I meant you and me."

Sydney busted out into laughter. Joe just stared at her in response. Sydney noticed and paled. "Oh god, you're serious." She jumped off the couch and raised her hands in a 'calm-down' gesture. "Are you crazy? We can't get married!"

"Why not?"

"Well, for starters, I'm dressed for Netflix night, not a wedding." She gestured from her hair to her outfit.

Joe stood up and pulled her close. "You look beautiful as always." He passionately kissed her.

For a moment, Sydney melted into his arms and kissed back. She pushed him away when she remembered the situation they were in. "Joe, I love you, but we can't get married."

"But why not? You just said you love me, and you know I love you too. Didn't you ever picture us getting married?"

"Of course I have. I just always pictured it happening years from now. Like after you graduate college and we'd lived together for a while."

"We basically live together now. I'm always here or you're always back at my dorm with me. And why should age matter? All you need is love."

"There are plenty of times when we're not together, like when you're in class, or I'm at rehearsal, or when you're at book training with your uncle."

Joe titled his head and gave her a look that said he knew she was just grasping at straws now. "Look, if you didn't want to get married because you didn't like me that way, I'd understand, but you do like me that way, so why not get married?" He grasped her hands and held on tight so she wouldn't run away. He got down on one knee in front of her. He felt her tense up. "I may not have a ring on me, and this certainly was not how I was planning to spend my night, but I love you, Sydney. Will you marry me?"

Sydney sighed and ran a hand over her face. "Why do I feel like I'm going to regret this?" She looked down at Joe and smiled. "Yes. Let's get married."

Joe felt bad about not having a ring. He looked around the room for something to put on her finger, but all he saw was a black marker. He quickly drew a circle around her ring finger. "It's only temporary. I promise. I'll get you a real ring soon."

Joe jumped up and pulled Sydney in for a kiss. This time, Sydney let herself fully melt into it. "Let's go." Joe pulled Sydney towards the door.

It took a few seconds for Sydney to register what was going on. "What? You mean now?" She dug her heels into the ground to stop Joe.

"That's the plan. We're like fifteen minutes away from city hall. It can't be that hard to elope."

"Elope? Joe, most couples stay engaged for a while then have weddings."

"An ex-goddess and a boy who owns a magic book containing all of time? I don't think we qualify as a normal couple. This seems fitting for us. Come on, it'll be fun. Let's just jump into this headfirst."

Sydney rolled her eyes. "Let me grab my car keys."

Sydney anxiously checked her phone while they waited on a bench inside city hall. They had been told they could get married tonight, but they'd have to wait their turn.

"Expecting a call?" Joe caught that this was the tenth time Sydney had looked at her phone.

"Actually, yes. There's something I-"

"Five hundred seventy-three."

Joe glimpsed down at the slip of paper he was holding. "That's us." He stood up and reached for Sydney's hand. "Ready?" He winked at her.

Sydney smirked and took Joe's hand. "As ready as I'll ever be."

They were led into a small chamber where a stout women in a black dress suit patiently stood against the back wall.

"Good evening. I'll be your wedding officiant. This will only take about two minutes. So don't blink, or you'll miss it." She'd probably said that joke a hundred times today, but she laughed like it was the best thing she'd ever heard. Joe and Sydney awkwardly smiled and waited for her to calm down. "Now, I have to ask you two a few preliminary questions before I can wed you two. First, are you currently under the influence of any drugs, alcohols, or any other items that may inhibit your thought processing abilities?"

They both answered no.

"Good. Next, are you both here willingly and not forcibly by any nature?"

They both answered yes. They squeezed each other's hands, both impatient to get on with it. After a few more required and somewhat annoying questions verifying that they were sure they wanted to do this and were fully aware of what they were getting into, the woman finally got to the main event. She instructed Joe and Sydney to stand facing each other and to grab each other's hands.

"Now, do you, Joseph Arthur, take Sydney Myer to be your lawful wedded wife?"

"I do," he answered without hesitation.

"And do you, Sydney Myer, take Joseph Arthur to be your lawful wedded husband?"

Sydney shook her head in disbelief. "I still can't believe we're doing this." She smiled at Joe. "I do."

"Then by the authority invested in me by the state of New York, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may-"

Joe pulled Sydney in for a kiss before she could finish. The woman awkwardly smiled as the two had their moment.

They broke apart for a moment, leaning the foreheads against each other and letting their noses touch. "I love you."

"I love you too."

"Not that I don't love sweet moments like this, but we have other couples who need to come in. Have a lovely night you two. Congratulations!"

They thanked her and hustled out of city hall.

Joe looked around the street and bit his lip.

"Having second thoughts already? That didn't take long." Sydney smirked at him.

Joe gave her one his cocky grins. "Never." He tugged her in for another kiss. "I couldn't just abandon my wife like that, now could I?" He spoke the word wife with love.

Sydney blushed. "Well husband, what's next?"

Joe looked down. "I was trying to think if any jewelry places would be open this late, but I doubt there are any. I really want to buy you a ring. You deserve one." He ran his thumb over her empty ring finger.

Sydney gave him a sly smile. "I have a better idea."

"Tattoos?" Joe looked at Sydney with an incredulous look on his face.

"Why not? You said it yourself, we're not a normal couple. So why should we get normal wedding rings? Besides, these guys are great! It's where I've gone for all my tattoos and piercings in the past."

She absentmindedly traced her collarbone where Joe knew she had one tattoo. He was never sure if it was the silhouette or a dancer or a fighter. The black tattoo covered one of her many battle scars. She had another simple tattoo on her upper right rib cage of the word 'passion' written in a fancy, curvy script. She had made sure the tattoos were small enough that she could easily cover them up for a performance if she needed to. As for piercings, she'd only had her left tragus and her belly button done. That was all she had so far, but Joe remembered her saying something about wanting more.

Joe stared at her and shrugged. "Let's do this."

Sydney grabbed Joe's hands and pulled him inside the building. "Hello, Josh."

A heavily tattooed man at behind the counter and looked up when they came in. He grinned when he recognized Sydney. "How's it going, Sydney? Here to get those hip tattoos we talked about?"

"Not tonight." She held up her and Joe's clasped hands. "We just got married, and we're in need of some rings."

Josh nodded. "Well congrats on getting hitched. What did you have in mind?"

Joe's ring finger still tingled. The process didn't hurt as much as he thought it would. He slowly traced the design. The date, June 21, 2014, was written on the underside of their fingers. They had each other's initials on the topside of their fingers in an intricate script with wavy lines connecting on the sides of their fingers connecting the date and the letter. Joe smiled, the S on his finger had turned out really good.

"Thanks again, Josh." Sydney quickly paid with her Draylon card.

"Anytime. Congrats again!"

They walked out the store hand in hand and slowly headed back to Sydney's place.

Sydney leaned her head on Joe's shoulder. "I did not think this would be how I would spend my day. I got engaged, I bought a house, and then I got married. All in one day."

Joe stopped. "You bought a house?"

Sydney blinked. "Oh, yea! Everything's been happening so fast I forgot to tell you. My meeting today was to finalize all the paperwork. Now, I'm the owner of a house. Actually, I was going to ask you if you wanted to move in together. But," she looked down at their now-tattooed fingers, "I think I already know the answer to that."

Joe beamed down at her. "That sounds amazing."

Sydney grinned. "Glad you think so. I want to remodel parts of it, so we won't be able to move in for a while. They think everything should be done within a month though. It's four bedrooms, large open floor plan, and I'll have to show you everything once I get the keys."

"Why don't we go back to my dorm?"

Sydney gave him a quizzical look. "Why? My place is closer. And isn't Fred there anyways? We wouldn't be alone."

Joe put on a secretive grin. "I was thinking we could grab The Book and go on a honeymoon. That's usually what follows a wedding."

"We can't just disappear for two weeks, Joe. No one even knows we got married."

"Relax. We'll go on a honeymoon for as long as we want, and when we're done, I'll warp us back to tonight so we can tell everyone. Then, we could even go on a second honeymoon afterwards." He winked at her.

Sydney smiled. "Where did you have in mind?"

"There's this beautiful place called Corfu Island in Greece. There's an amazing cove there that's been untouched by people. I went there with this really cool girl once. You remind me of her actually."

Sydney suppressed her giggles. "Oh, really? Sounds fascinating. I can't wait to see it."

"I can't wait to show you." He paused and put on a flirty grin. "Also, I believe there was a mention of me not being able to handle you? I'd very much like to prove that wrong."

Sydney returned his flirty grin. "I'd very much like to be proven wrong."

A/N - So I could've divided this into two chapters, but decided to throw it all into one long chapter. And I know elopements don't exactly work like this in real life, but for the sake of this story they do. :P Anyways, if you enjoyed a favourite and a review would be very much loved! Thanks for reading!