Milkshake Hearts

Chapter 70: Wedding Party

A/N: Without spoiling too much - I had to make a choice in this chapter to name a series of characters for something in particular. I made the intentional choice to mostly go with names that, so far, haven't been in this fic much - assumed non-work friends of our couple, as you will. I just didn't want it to be all Smosh people.

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She makes a point of buying him flowers on the way home the next day. Her mood had taken a rapid 180, so she'd elected to stay late and finalise a handful of the scripts Monica was telling her about the previous day when she was getting completely overwhelmed.

"Was I putting too much on you yesterday? Kinda seemed like your guy swooped in to distract me on purpose there," Monica asks her, although there's no pressure in her tone.

"Yeah, look, wasn't a good anxiety day and I was not at full capacity so I nudged him to step in- but all good, I'm good today," she brushes Monica off before she can say any more, turning back to the scripts.

She loves the idea of directing and taking on more responsibility in parts of her role – she's said as much to the relevant people at work, it's why it's starting to happen – and just as equally, she loves the way Shayne's face lights up in surprise and he grins widely when she presents him with a bouquet of flowers when she arrives home a while after him.

"Fuck gender roles, and also I know you love flowers and I love you, so..." she trails off in explanation, meeting his happiness with her own grin as he carefully locates a vase she didn't even know they had to put them in, and then pulls her into a tight hug.

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They end up meeting with a wedding planner the next weekend. They don't want to employ someone to do it all for them, but they need a little bit of guidance, and she's someone they knew through a friend of a friend or something along those lines, introduced to them at an event some time ago – they still haven't actually told anyone in their personal lives they've suddenly jumped into this whole wedding planning thing in the slightest – and she's helpful. She gives them a plan of how to plan, and it sets them on a clearer track.

The first step, of course, is confirming the wedding party, because they're flexible on dates to make sure everyone they want to be in the bridal and grooms' parties is able to be there. Courtney settles on Kari as her maid of honour after some deliberation, conveniently doing so the evening before they're due to have lunch with her another week later.

"Hey guys! How've you been?" Kari greets them with exuberance when they meet her at a café in Silver Lake – her suggestion, unsurprisingly, given it was full of hipster crystal vibes and, y'know, in Silver Lake – for Saturday lunch, and they both respond positively before turning the question back on her. They dive into a conversation about her latest boytoy – there really wasn't a more appropriate word for it, she'd finally ditched the redhead accountant boy not long after their engagement back in April and had now moved back into her regular cycling through guys she didn't care about enough to keep around more than a few weeks - as they decide on and order food, before Shayne leans back in his seat, arms crossed in front of his chest.

"Sooooo, you know how we've been engaged since April..." he trails off, grinning, watching as Kari's eyes light up with intrigue.

"Oooh, please tell me this is going where I think it is?" she grins, and Shayne laughs, looking to Courtney to keep talking.

"Yeah, we've kind of started wedding planning a little," she admits.

"When are you thinking?" she asks.

"May next year, not firm on the date yet – we'll float a few options to make sure that everyone we want to be actually involved in it is available," Shayne confirms.