Husband fluff? I gotchu, fam. How’s about their whole wedding? 👀
Nick was pacing back and forth, back and forth, rubbing his hands together nervously. It had all been done - his grey tuxedo was on and he was dressed impeccably with a white rose in his lapel. His hair was slicked back perfectly, he was clean shaven and wearing that aftershave that Ellis really liked on him. Once or twice during his pacing, he would catch sight of himself in the mirror and be tempted to touch himself up in his nervous state. But no - he looked perfect, as Ellis would've told him if he were here. But he wouldn't see Ellis until they walked down that aisle together.
Last night had been hard; Ellis had stayed at Keith's while Nick spent the night at Rochelle's. The gambler really wanted to see his little lover just so he could calm his nerves, but Hell, they had to do things 'by tradition'. It's what Ellis wanted. Whatever his lover wanted, he would get. Nick had always been adamant on that front.
A knock at the door jarred him from his thoughts and suddenly there was Coach poking his head inside. "They're ready for you, young'un." He grinned and stepped inside, wearing a smart dark blue suit of his own. The elder man put a firm hand on Nick's shoulder, trying to keep him grounded. "You good?"
Nick gave a long exhale and then turned back to the mirror, eyeing his reflection one last time as a single man. The conman nodded. "Let's go."
Ellis meanwhile was in another room of the hotel, his toes curling a little inside of his shiny black shoes. "Ro, is it normal to be nervous as all shit?" the mechanic whimpered whilst his long-time friend, a woman he considered the big sister he'd never had, straightened up his wonky neck tie.
"You'll be fine, sweetie," Rochelle gave a small smile and placed a comforting hand on his face, patting it lovingly. "This is your wedding. Nothing could make old Suit love you any less."
“I know, I know,” Ellis sighed, placing his hand over hers. “Jus' don't wanna make a fool of myself if I screw up my vows or somethin'.”
Francis, who was across the room leaning against the wall, let out a chuckle. “Honestly, I've got my money on Colonel Sanders messing up somehow. You don't even need to worry, pipsqueak.”
Ellis threw Francis a small smile, knowing that the biker was only trying to cheer him up.
At that moment, Keith knocked on the door and shouted out to his best friend. “El! It's time to get hitched, let's go!”
“Aw, Lord,” paled the mechanic, his fingers curling together in nervousness. “O-okay, alright.”
"Ready?" The dark-skinned woman asked him, her chestnut eyes glinting with eagerness.
Ellis smiled at her determination and nodded, taking in slow and deep breaths. "Ready as I'll ever be, Ro." With that, they walked out into the corridor and began to head down to the event hall in the hotel.
Their guests were already in place, sat in their seats and murmuring between themselves as the time fast approached. Keith slipped into the room and went to find Dave and his other friends near the front. Nick peered inside from the door at the far end of the aisle as he and Coach waited for the second groom to arrive.
“I'd better go take my place,” Coach said, glancing down the room at the space where he would be standing in order to perform the ceremony. “When you hear the music, that's your cue, all right?”
“Yeah, yeah, sure.” Nick let out a half-breath and looked back, anticipating Ellis to walk around the corner any minute. The football coach simply chuckled at him and then entered the main hall, being sure to close the door behind him and leaving Nick to his own thoughts.
The gambler had been a complete jumble of nerves from the moment he left Ellis's side the previous day. It wasn't just the wedding, it was getting married again. Despite the fact that becoming Ellis's husband was something he'd wanted for years before this point, he couldn't quieten the harsh voice of this past that told him that he would ruin this all over again. Okay, sure, his last marriage hadn't been based on love per se, but that only made it worse; Nick was about to step into the unknown and that scared him more that facing off against a million zombie hordes.
But when he turned and saw his fiancé, the voice was easily silenced.
Ellis was wearing a light grey suit that brought out his eyes, a yellow rose pinned to his lapel. His hair was loose as usual but something about the way the soft hotel lights bounced of the dusty blond curls made it almost resemble a halo. Nick instantly felt a wave of relief wash over him that accompanied a quake in his knees. He managed to stay standing, just about, and willed himself to move toward him.
“Ellis,” he smiled widely, barely acknowledging Francis and Rochelle who had entered behind his partner. Ellis stepped forward also until he could meet Nick in the middle, reaching out to hold him the second he got close enough. He crushed the man in a hug and for a moment could not tell if it was Nick who was shaking or himself.
“Nick,” he whispered back as the scent of Nick's favorite aftershave was suddenly filling his head like Opium and allowed him to relax against the warm weight in his arms. Francis and Rochelle slipped past and went to take their seats right at the front of the procession, leaving the happy couple to a moment of quiet together before the ceremony began.
“Sweetheart, you look amazing,” Nick murmured against Ellis's shoulder. When he pulled back, not moving too far from his fiancé, he cupped Ellis's cheek and brushed a gentle thumb just under his eye. “I mean, you always do, but...”
“Shucks, Nick, so do you.” Ellis felt the heat from Nick's palm and knew he was blushing something furious. “Baby, I gotta tell ya, I'm a nervous wreck right about now. I dunno if it's because you ain't been with me or because I know what we're about to do, or…”
Nick would usually prefer to shut Ellis up with a kiss, but that wasn't an option at the moment. He always knew what Ellis wanted, and one of those things would be for their next kiss to be the kiss – their first as a married couple. For now, he had to rely on just shushing him gently.
“It's gonna be fine, El. Nothing to be nervous about.” Nick was in that same boat, however he knew he needed to be calm for Ellis's sake. At that moment, just as Nick was trying to level out his breathing, a soothing and slow violin began to play from the main room. The gambler swallowed. “That's our cue.”
Ellis swallowed and turned to the door obediently, all the while not letting go of his fiancé’s hand. He wanted to say something else, but all he could do was bite his lip and try not to babble on like he tended to do when excited. Nick stepped forward, and Ellis followed at his side, as they opened the doors and stepped beyond the threshold together.
Their guest were standing by their seats, all eyes turned towards them with bright smiles to accompany them. They hadn't made all that many new friends since the apocalypse, so the guest list wasn't exactly huge, but everyone who was here were the only people that mattered.
The one side included Dave, Keith and the latter's two brothers, all of whom had big toothy grins at watching their best buddy walk down the aisle. There was also Louis and Zoey, who they'd come to be great friends with – Nick had even worked with Louis for a while in Atlantic City when the Infected was still a subsiding threat.
On the other side, Rochelle, clad in a black and pink dress, was stood beside her boyfriend Francis. The biker was looking at them proudly while keeping one hand delicately on Ro's arm. Near them, one row back, was a very special guest: Nick's mom, Angela.
Ellis had reached out to her without Nick's knowledge not long after they had first moved in together and had surprised him by flying her over. It had been a staggering moment for Nick who, up until that moment, had assumed his mother absolutely did not want to see him. After a reconciliation, in which Nick had been proved thankfully wrong, he had made an effort to bring her back into his life. She hadn't even known about his first marriage (he was relieved about that), so it was an incredibly proud moment for her to watch her son get married. Nick caught her eye as he passed and felt a lump in his throat.
And, finally, there was Coach. He was waiting for them at the end of the aisle with a large grin and carrying a closed book. When Nick and Ellis had learned that Coach had been previously ordained in order to officiate his sister's wedding a few years ago, asking him to marry them had a no brainer. Nick in particular was not keen on having a stuffy old minister who would rattle on about Bible passes perform the ceremony.
Once the two grooms had walked their way hand-in-hand to the end of the aisle, the woman playing the violin at the side closed off the gentle song and the hall fell into silence for a second before the room shuffled and took their seats again. Coach cleared his throat and opened his book.
“Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to bear witness to the union of Ellis and Nicolas. These two guys are very important to me, as I'm sure they are to all of you, and we count ourselves truly blessed to be here to share their special day with them.”
As Coach carried on reading his sermon, Nick squeezed Ellis's hand, feeling the younger man squeeze back. He glanced over and noticed those baby blue eyes were on him, already shining with anticipatory tears. 'You got this,' he tried to tell him with his smile alone, and he could've sworn he saw Ellis gave a slight nod back to him.
“If anyone here has a reason to object to the forming of this union, speak now or forever hold your peace.”
Nick felt pinpricks on the back of his neck. Ellis's fingers tightened around his partner's. Luckily, there was no such objection from behind them, and Nick had to smile at Coach's face in that moment – he looked about ready to unleash thunder on anyone who dared. With that out of the way, Coach continued.
“Nicolas and Ellis will now vow themselves by body and soul to each other and have chosen to do so in their own words. It is by these vows that they will continue their lives together. Please, face each other, now.” The two grooms turned, taking each other's hands. “Nicolas, if you would.”
The ex-conman took a deep breath, looking Ellis in the eyes as he began to recite the words written by his heart.
"Ellis… wow, I can't believe we're here. Ever since I was small, my life was nothing but uncertainty and running away, never looking back. When we met… I was at my lowest point. But you were a light that I could follow to escape the darkness. You were everything I needed and wanted. Not only did you teach me how to love and trust people again, you taught me how to love myself. And for that, I want to pledge the rest of my life to you – there's no one else in the world I would trust with something so important to me."
Ellis had to hang his head for a moment and Nick could tell he was starting to lose his battle with his tears. A number of the guest already had, judging by the sniffling he could vaguely hear behind them.
Coach had to clear his throat again, something Nick found highly amusing, and then turned to Ellis. “Ellis? Off ya go.”
As the mechanic's head rose once more, there was a single tear running down his cheek. He reached up to wipe it away, swallowed, and chuckled into a smile.
“Nick. For the longest time in my life, I thought I had everythin' figured out. Then, after it was all turned upside down in the blink of an eye, you were there to make it right again. You… you guided me and kept me safe, you showed what it meant to be brave and strong but most importantly, you made me feel like everything was gonna be okay. No matter what came our way, we would face it t'gether. Right now… with the rest of our lives stretchin' out ahead of us, I cannot wait to take it all on by your side. My badass zombie-killin' husband.”
Just hearing Ellis say that final word was like unleashing the floodgates in Nick, who had been doing a pretty good job so far at keeping the tears at bay. He suddenly felt them pool in his eyes, all ready to spill. He could've sworn he could hear Francis sniffing over his shoulder, which made him chuckle.
The rings were then exchanged. Nick's was a silver band that he had carefully chosen so that it would stand out against his usual gold ones if he decided to wear them. Ellis's ring was a vibrant gold to match his hair, something that Nick was pleased about at the time they'd picked them out. Once both bands had been snugly fit onto the fourth fingers of both grooms, they joined hands as per Coach's instruction.
“Ellis and Nicolas have exchanged the vows that will carry them on into the next stage of their lives and have also promised sacred wedding bands to each other as a physical proof of their union. Now, I gotta ask you both one last thing.” He turned to Ellis. “Ellis, do you take Nicolas to be your lawful wedded husband? Do you swear to love him and support him through sickness and health, so long as you both shall live?”
Ellis gazed into the calming green of his lover's eyes, in doing so more tears rolled down his face. “I do.”
Coach was grinning, but still tried to remain professional in his role. “And do you, Nicolas, take Ellis to be your lawful wedded husband? Do you swear to love and support him for richer or poorer, 'till death do you part?”
Nick had to smile at a thought that came to him just then; how he had gone from telling Ellis how he really felt being the hardest thing he'd ever had to do, to being the easiest when he spoke those two important words. “I do.”
Beside them, their eldest friend shut the book – he didn't need to read for this part.
“Then… it's with a great honor and pride that in the presence of all those who love you, by the powers vested in me by the state of Georgia, I now pronounce you both as lawful beloved husbands. Now kiss each other b'fore I start cryin'.”
Smiling widely, the grooms kissed at last to loud applause (mostly from Ellis's over-excited Savannah buddies) and Nick could vaguely taste the salty tears on the edge of his husband’s lips. But had they been El's tears, or his own?
As the music started once more in order to begin the recession, Nick and Ellis turned to their guests just as Coach announced behind them. “Mister Nicolas Devlin and Mister Ellis Miller!”
Rochelle was dabbing under her eyes with a tissue all the while absolutely beaming at them. Ellis could swear he saw Francis with a tissue curled up in his hand while he was clapping. On the other side, all his friends were still cheering him on, Louis giving him a cheery thumbs up as he passed by. Nick meanwhile briefly left Ellis's side to hug his mom who was nothing short of a wreck with how delighted she was. Ellis was looking forward to spending more time with her, and especially Nick spending more time with her.
The guests all filed out behind the happy couple as they moved into a larger event hall adjacent to the first. This one was lined with tables adorned with place mats, fancily-folded napkins and large flower center pieces. Nick and Ellis had a brief moment to themselves before greeting their guests and Nick took Ellis in his arms for a few sweet kisses.
“I love you.” He couldn't stop smiling. “God damn, you ruined me back there.”
“I ruined you?” Ellis retorted and shook his head, unable to resist more kisses.
It was time for the guests to join them, and the grooms stood by the door to chat to each of them before they found their seats. Rochelle gave them both hugs and smacked them on the shoulders for ruining her make-up, then Coach reiterated again how proud he'd been to officiate for the pair of them before getting hugs of his own.
Soon enough, once Nick and Ellis had taken their seats at the head table and everyone had been poured a glass of champagne, it was time for dinner to be served. Ellis was tempted to keep the main meal light so that he could have more of the wedding cake – it sat on a table at the side, a three-tiered chocolate dessert, and Ellis had been thinking about it ever since they'd picked it out of the catalogue at the baking company.
“We'll cut it soon enough,” Nick whispered to him, placing a hand over his when he caught Ellis staring.
Ellis blushed and picked up his champagne for a quick sip. “Would ya believe I married you jus' so I could eat it?”
Shaking his head, Nick leant in for one more kiss of many and grinned. “Not a chance.”
Once the main course had been served and eaten amongst the jovial conversation of everyone in the room, Zoey began to clink a fork against her champagne glass. Other gentle chimes began to join and caused a flush to creep around the older groom's neck. Eventually, Nick relented, nodding slowly, and grabbed his own champagne flute before standing up.
"Yeah, uh... a speech..." he said, scratching his face. "Uh... well, first of all, thanks to everyone for coming today to share this special day with us. It really means a lot to see so many of you here and thanks for the well-wishes and gifts, we sure appreciate them. And, uh... Ellis, why don't you finish up." He picked Ellis up by his forearm, grinning as the room chuckled around him.
Ellis leant against Nick briefly and gave a sideways smirk at him. “Yeah, what Nick said! Its been such an amazin' day so far. We wouldn't be nothin' without each and ev'ry one of y'all. So thanks!”
Coach lifted his glass beside them. “To Nick and Ellis,” he toasted, cuing everyone in the room to join the chorus and then started a small applause.
Ellis nudged Nick with his elbow. “Now, I think it's cake time?” He looked up hopefully at his handsome husband being met with a roll of his green eyes.
“Alright, sport. Let's go.”
The young mechanic practically bounded from his place and tugged his husband's hand towards the cake table, the guests also standing and moving closer to watch the moment for themselves. They took the knife in hand and carefully cut into the bottom cake to another round of applause. As Nick continued to cut out slices and hand them out on plates to the guests, Ellis got his husband's attention while he ate his own slice. Nick had just turned to him when suddenly Ellis smeared a glob of chocolate icing on the end of his nose.
Rochelle gasped and started to laugh at the look on Nick's face, a mock of both annoyed and amused, and then Nick decided to retaliate by leaning in to kiss him and purposely rubbing his nose against El's. That was all that came from the teasing – no sense in wasting good cake. Especially with Coach in the room.
With dinner eaten, it was time to party. The room in which the ceremony had been performed had now been cleared and converted, the resulting dance floor ready to see people into the rest of the evening.
The chattering guests gathered around the hardwood floor in anticipation for the happy couple's first dance. Nick could feel a little nervous at the expectant stares, but Ellis's hand in his grounded him as they both stepped forward. Having his lover by his side was always enough to quell any nerves.
Ellis placed his hands on Nick's shoulders close to his neck, and Nick's rested upon Ellis's waist. From the DJ's podium at the one end of the room, the man started the song he'd been told to play for the first dance.
The Midnight Riders. Ellis's choice, of course.
“How did I guess?” Nick chuckled. Ellis just gave a half-shrug.
“It's one of their slower songs,” explained the mechanic as he hummed along to the intro of 'Save Me Some Sugar'. Their feet began to move across the floor in short steps, not so much dancing as shifting in place together while turning slowly. Everyone's eyes were on the pair of them, but they didn't care to notice when their gazes were locked to each other and nowhere else. “We've done it, darlin'. After all that waitin'...”
“Yeah,” Nick murmured to him. “My husband. God, that feels so good to say, doesn't it?”
“I know what'cha mean. Still don't feel real.” Ellis sighed. “Prob'bly won't sink in for a while, neither. Maybe after we get back from the honeymoon. Hey… ya still ain't said where we're goin'.”
“Sweetheart, I told you,” smiled the gambler, having already addressed this line of questioning a hundred times before. “You'll find out at the airport.”
Ellis pouted, his fingers curling a little more around Nick's neck to twine into the loose hairs at the back of his head. “You ain't s'posed to keep secrets from your husband,” he said matter-of-factly.
Nick kissed him; that new name he could give Ellis was doing all kinds of good things for him. “I fucking love you, El.”
“Love ya more.” Ellis repeated Nick's kiss with one of his own, and before they knew it, the song was starting to die away and their first dance was over. The crowd around them cheered and Nick obliged them with another sweet kiss to his husband's soft lips.
Then the party truly began with some cheesy pop music. Rochelle all but dragged Francis onto the floor with her and laughed as he tried to find his feet. Ellis moved and danced with Zoey, Keith and Dave danced with each other (although it was more like failed break-dancing) and Nick went to dance with his mom, pretending to know how to ballroom dance.
The party lasted well into the night with plenty of dancing, drinks and good cheer for the happy couple. Ellis could tell it was getting later without needing to look at a clock because their guests would one-by-one catch him on their way out to give their final wishes and goodbyes. Once the night had turned into the wee hours of the morning, Nick and Ellis decided to retire for the night themselves. They made sure to thank the hotel staff before retrieving the key to the honeymoon suite, very generously gifted to them by Rochelle and Francis as a wedding present.
By the time they reached the top floor, there was only one thing on their mutual minds. Nick had an arm around Ellis's waist, fingers teasing the lip of his belt whilst his other hand unlocked the hotel room door.
“Should I carry you in?” Nick teased him once he'd managed to push the door open.
Ellis just smirked up at him, and maybe it was the buzz of the evening that powered his next choice of words. “Nah, man. I got this.”
Ellis bent over, grabbed Nick around his legs and hauled him over his shoulder in a fireman's carry. There was only a moment or two of annoyed noises behind him before Nick began to laugh. “Ellis! Put me down!”
The mechanic was strong enough to make his way over to the plush couch on the other side of the living space with his tall husband over his shoulder before he fell forwards, Nick falling open armed across the cushions. Ellis was half on the couch and half on top of Nick and he couldn't quite tell where he ended and his husband began.
“You idiot,” Nick laughed breathlessly as he tried to sit up.
Ellis grinned at him and backed up to give the man room. “You married this idiot,” he challenged.
“Yeah, what was I thinking?” teased Nick as he met the hick in the middle for another kiss. This was was sweet at first, though soon turned a little more heated with thoughts of what came next. “Y'know, El, this marriage won't be official until we consummate it.”
“Well, what're we waitin' for?” The mechanic rose to his feet, extending his arms in order to pull the other man up with him. “I've always wanted to sleep with a married man.”
Nick laughed once more as he fell into his husband's embrace and kissed his forehead, knowing that the warm swelling he could feel in his heart whenever he looked at Ellis would be a consistent effect for a long, long time.