I'm praying that this chapter works since the site was finicky after my last update and I was genuinely scared it wouldn't work today. This was the one chapter I wanted out there the most.

We're finally here. I was crying before making this doc. This is my favourite chapter to date.

(There's no time indicated for aesthetic reasons.)

Chapter 149: X to Infinity

Wagner Cove

All that can be said is that the eight years were well worth the wait.

The Avengers, their kids, and their dates sit within the congregation. Everyone's here. Just like they wanted. Daniel's parents sit in the front row on the side where he stands while Pepper sits at the other, where she'll be joined by Tony and Emily once they make their way down. At the altar, in the centre of the gazebo looking over the water was Director Fury facing the congregation with Daniel turned to the side in front of him.

Fury looks a bit past the crowd and smiles a little when he sees them. "All rise for the bride."

Slowly, everyone stands and turns around. All eyes are at the end of the aisle and it's silent once they see Emily linking arms with her father and a fresh bouquet in her hands. Not one sound, not even nature or the background New York traffic interrupted them. With light snowflakes still falling from the sky, they land on her hair, her gown, blending in with the details of her dress, and the aisle to the altar.

Daniel's always thought of Emily to be too good for this world and now he gets it. She's ethereal.

She's the centre of attention. She's the bride. She's his bride.

Daniel almost faints seeing Emily for the first time. They were right. He would cry. He could feel the tears swelling, building, and he'd blink them out right away, not caring if anyone saw. Nobody would look at him since all eyes are on her. His eyes are on her. Besides, he doesn't want his tears to blur his vision because he wants to see her. He watches every step she takes because she's coming to be his wife.

When their eyes find each other, they become their own universe of skipped heartbeats. Neither of them look at the beautiful flowers, the river behind the altar, or the people gathered to watch. Emily and Daniel are locked in each other's teary gazes and excited smiles with every step she took closer to him. Through occasional side-glances at their friends, they see their tear-rimmed eyes, streaked cheeks, hand-holding, and sniffling.

Eventually, the bride and groom are eye-to-eye, right in front of each other. It's like they're dreaming. A childhood fantasy has finally come to life as Emily looks at her father one last time. He holds her arms and she holds him as he kisses her cheeks. Still holding on to her with one arm, Tony looks at Daniel and shakes his hand before taking a seat beside Pepper who now holds Emily's bouquet.

Emily turns to face Daniel. When their eyes meet again, it's impossible to see anything but the love they share.

"You look beautiful," Emily whispers, grinning with pursed lips.

"I've missed you," Daniel responds, wiping his tears. He wasn't sure if he whispered that.

They turn to look at Fury who smiles down at them as they turn towards him, backs to their loved ones.

"Friends, family," Fury starts, "we're gathered here today to share an important moment in Emily and Daniel's lives, a moment everyone saw coming even before they did. This union is witnessed by friends and family who collectively know every dimension of them. Throughout their many years together, their growing friendship and understanding of each other has grown into a love that made them decide to live their lives together as husband and wife."

Emily and Daniel glance at each other, smiling giddily like children.

"Marriage should be when men are men and women are women, and both people are quietly, pleasantly, and securely confident in each other and themselves," Fury continues. "They're beyond delighted to find themselves married to each other. Some people take a lifetime to find their soulmate but they've had theirs since the start. They were kids who fell in love without completely understanding love. They're still kids but they're so in love after fighting against all odds. Now, I understand that you two have prepared vows."

"Yes, I'll start," Emily says as she and Daniel turn to face each other. She has no papers, no notes, just her heart. "Our relationship was always a constant variable, despite being so young and coy about how we felt for the longest time. Then after a moment in a snowy forest that we both couldn't control, we lit a pre-existing spark that caused our love to warp ahead at the speed of light, leading us here to get married on a rare snowy day."

She smiles nervously, which is a feeling she rarely has. Despite being so confident in her words, saying them in her wedding dress and in front of all her friends and family, while looking at her groom's eyes hits different. Emily watches him react, listen, fall in love with her again.

"I knew I wanted to be with you forever, long before I kissed you for the first time," Emily continues. "I always knew that we'd be together but it's a dream come true that we'd end up here. Even if I spent my whole life in a workshop using all my resources to try and make the perfect man, he wouldn't even come close to you. I didn't realize how much I needed and loved you until the day I almost lost you. I need you. I need you to take care of me because I'm a drunk mess most of the time. You could tell me that your love for me is x to infinity and I'll only tell you that I love you more. So with that I say thank you, Daniel, for giving me my first and only love story."

Daniel's heart has been beating in his ears the whole time, taking in Emily's vows. He watches as she daintily wipes her brimming tears with her wrist. She looks at him with a relieved smile after having opened up her rawest, most genuine emotions. It makes him realize why he couldn't write vows on paper. He didn't have to prepare anything because he's had them from the moment he fell in love with her.

"I couldn't write my vows because I'm speaking from my heart," Daniel tells her. "Emily, I would never call you my first love because that implies that I have or will have a second and a third and so on. But that's not the case because you're my only love. We don't get to choose who we fall in love with. I'd tell you that my heart chose to fall in love with you but that's a lie because the brain is the one who states that you love someone. Mine's been telling me that I love you since the start, way before those ten years we were actually together. It's only a shame you're 113 days older than me because that's 113 days I haven't known you so I couldn't love you. I just want you to know that you've made me the happiest person in the world when you said yes to my proposal, and every time you visited the Academy with your oversized sunglasses and caramel highlights during our long engagement. My love for you is so full of passion that it led to marriage but it's also full of a friendship that will make it last."

Daniel was so distracted by his vows that he didn't realize he was crying. He looks at Emily and she didn't bother to wipe her tears this time.

He almost hunches forwards to explode in sobs but stops when Emily reaches out and cups his face to wipe his tears away with her thumbs. His glasses have fogged up and she isn't sure what to do with them.

"My love for you is x to infinity," Daniel whispers to her. He removes his glasses and wipes them on his sleeve.

"I love you more," Emily replies before looking at Fury as Daniel puts his glasses back on. "Can we have the rings now?"

Fury narrows his eye at her with a grin. "Only you would officiate your own wedding."

Emily smiles brightly as she hears laughter from everyone, making up for all the tearing up that went unnoticed while she and Daniel were exchanging vows. She and Daniel hold out their open palms as Fury hands them each their rings.

"I assume you know what to say," Fury prompts.

Emily winks at him as she takes Daniel's hand and starts sliding on his ring. "I, Emily, give you, Daniel, this ring as an eternal symbol of my love and commitment to you."

Daniel can't stop smiling when he sees a wedding band on his hand and he doesn't try to. Instead, he holds Emily's hand and starts putting her ring on, reminding him of when he was sliding on her engagement ring for the first time.

"I, Daniel, give you, Emily, this ring as an eternal symbol of my love and commitment to you."

Daniel holds his breath and he doesn't think Emily's breathing either. They're looking down at their linked hands, now wearing matching wedding bands. When they look up at each other again, still holding hands and seeing their future in each other's faces, they know they'll be alright.

Fury opens his arms. "By the power vested in me by the state of New York, I now pronounce you husband and wife. Dr. Banner, you may kiss your bride, Dr. Stark-Banner."

Instantly, Daniel and Emily pull each other closer, sealing their marriage with their first kiss as husband and wife. After eight years of being engaged, everyone in the congregation stands and cheers. Emily holds onto him tight when he dips her, kissing her again before they part, saying low but their foreheads are preset together. She didn't think he had a dip in him but that must be the effect married life has on a man. And it just started! They smile against each other as Emily holds his face close to hers.

"My love for you is x to infinity, Dr. Banner," Emily whispers to him.

"I love you more, Dr. Stark-Banner," Daniel responds.

"Oh my god, I'm really Dr. Stark-Banner now."

Daniel smiles, kissing her again. "Yeah, you are."

You know what, it's been three versions of A Thousand Years on loop, two Barbie songs also on loop, and I Can Hear The Bells to get through this chapter. How I made it through this chapter considering I cried making the doc? I'll never know.

I still remember writing Emily and Daniel pining, readers wanting them to get together, and their early relationship. SA will still let me write them still engaged but let me have this moment because it's arguably the biggest in the series. It'll be fun to write them still figuring things out knowing they're already married here.

Eight years. I've been writing these kids for eight years so far and they've been engaged in the story for that long. I wrote Emily and Daniel's engagement in 2015, published it in 2017, revamped it in 2019, and wrote their wedding now in 2020. That's a whole lot and I still can't believe it. I was honestly scared and felt a bit intimidated to write this chapter. After all this time, seeing my babies married is a groundbreaking moment. This is a little early to say but even when the story ends and I write my final AN, this chapter will be one of my most memorable to me.

Eight years of writing these idiots and now look where we are. And we still have the wedding reception.