REVAMPED!

Mark VIII: The Bridal Party

"I actually did my research for this," Pepper says.

She holds open the door and she enters first, followed by Natasha, Betty, and Jane. The four women enter the boutique which smells like the finest floral perfumes, matching the bouquets and sparkling chandeliers. Surrounding them are mannequins wearing the latest wedding dresses, circled with mirrors and plush cushions for the entourage to sit on.

"Research?" Natasha questions. "It's a dress."

"Everything goes into research," Betty tells her. "There are endless designers and templates, and so much more. It would be easier to pick one if you narrow down your options. Wedding dresses are supposed to compliment the bride's body shape, her personality, her wedding theme, etc. That way, it makes the shopping process easier and faster."

Natasha blinks. "Of course you'd explain it like science, you microbiologist."

"Cellular biologist," Betty corrects.

"Cells are microscopic."

Betty grins as Natasha nudges her. True to her word, Natasha did have a point.

"What did you wear again when you and Bruce eloped?" Pepper asks just for fun.

"I honestly don't remember," Betty responds, causing the other women to laugh.

"This boutique scares me," Jane says. She is more of a tomboy, meaning that the jeans that she's currently wearing and have been wearing since her college days stand out in a place with decals of the finest pearls.

"You'll be fine," Pepper says, looking back at Jane to smile. "You could hold my hand if you want."

Jane mocks Pepper like a child as she holds her hand out for her to take. Pepper laughs as she takes her hand back and Jane calms down in a laugh.

They continue to look through the display of dresses, seeing all the different cuts and designs available (and those were the only ones in sight). Pepper eyes one of the mannequins in a ballgown and looks at the ring on her finger. In terms of what she and Tony have planned for the wedding, all they have is the ring. No date, no dress, no destination, just the diamond.

Maybe getting the dress wasn't the best idea since they have no other wedding details, unless they decided to base the entire wedding's layout on the dress. Honestly, that might not be a bad idea since that would give them a starting point.

Either way, today could just be an exploration of their options.

"What do you mean appointments are more than an hour long?" Jane asks, sounding like a whining child again.

Pepper playfully rolls her eyes as she looks over at her three girlfriends. She looks at Betty and Natasha to see who told Jane they would be here for a while and it was mostly Natasha with Betty's clarification.

"What do you even do at wedding appointments?" Jane asks.

"Haven't you watched those television shows?" Pepper asks in response.

"No," Jane responds with a bit of disgust in her voice.

"I have," Natasha responds. The other women look at her in shock. "What? I have to do something at 3 AM and there's nothing on television but reruns of wedding dress shows. I get peeved when they pick the dress I didn't like for them."

"Are you practicing for your future wedding dress decisions?" Betty asks.

Natasha scoffs. "You're thinking way too ahead of yourself, Betty."

"I told Bruce the same thing when he wanted to elope and now look."

Natasha rolls her eyes.

Pepper continues to smile and laugh at her girls. What she loves most is that these kinds of conversations could happen anywhere else, not just at a wedding dress boutique. This could be happening back at any of their places where they were just wearing sweatpants and drinking boxed wine. That's how versatile their bond is despite them being four incredibly different women who were brought together by The Avengers. Their friendship was supposed to be automatic since they would end up seeing each other a lot, but they actually love each other like platonic girlfriends.

"Are you thinking about having a bachelorette party?" Betty asks.

"Oh no…" Jane mutters. "I thought this was too girly for me."

Pepper thinks it over for a second. "Probably not, I'm feeling too tired for one."

"This could be your bachelorette party," Natasha says, referring to the wedding dress boutique situation.

"I'm in support of that," Jane states.

"They do offer champagne," Betty reminds her.

"They do?!" Jane exclaims excitedly, looking around for the bottle.

Pepper nods. "That's a good idea. How'd you come up with that?"

Natasha shrugs. "We're all here and this is the most mundane thing we have ever done as a group. Also, if you were to have one, you would only invite us."

Pepper is about to argue against that but she completely agrees. Besides, what other friends like them did she really have?

I actually didn't want to write a whole dress fitting and choosing chapter because, as much as I love watching those wedding dress shows, I thought that it would be really boring to write, let alone read.