Snapshots

16. Heathcliff

When Finn and Piper will finally get married has been a hot topic amongst their friends for years. Lily was convinced they would get married as soon as they turned 18, but Amy disagreed, insisting that Piper wouldn't want to get married until she was sure of who she was as a person and established in her chosen career.

Clearly, none of them should ever doubt Amy again because she obviously knows her best friend better than any of them.

Finn doesn't propose at high school graduation like Lily thought he would. He doesn't propose on Piper's 20th birthday like Summer thought he would. He doesn't even propose at college graduation like Heath thought he would.

No, it's a random Saturday night in April a couple of years later, when Finn's 24 and Piper's 23, that he proposes. They're away at some cabin in the middle of nowhere, claiming they need alone time as if they don't already get enough of that in the apartment they share in the city. (Sure, Heath and Ozzy live a floor below them and come over a lot because Finn's a better cook than either of them could ever hope to be, but it's not like they're over all the time.)

Piper sends a photo of the ring to Amy as soon as the question's been asked. They're all sitting in the bar of a restaurant they frequent, Heath squeezed against the wall on one side of the booth with Ozzy and Winnie, and Amy, Summer, and Izzy across from them. Winnie and Summer squeal so loudly, they attract the disgruntled looks of several other patrons.

Ozzy simply gasps. "Don't tell me you knew this was happening tonight," he says to Amy, who pointedly looks away, taking a long sip of her margarita with a sly smile.

"Why wouldn't he tell us? We're his best friends," Heath says, gesturing between himself and Ozzy. He's slightly offended, but not as much as Ozzy. They were Finn's roommates in college. They've nursed each other through hangovers and heartbreaks and everything in between. All of that bonding, and Finn didn't even tell them when he was proposing?

Granted, they knew he had the ring and that it was coming soon, but how were they supposed to figure out that soon = tonight?

"Maybe he wanted to- I don't know- keep it a secret?" Izzy suggests while crunching on a nacho chip.

"We can keep a secret!" Ozzy insists, but then Heath remembers the time they accidentally spoiled the big date surprise Finn had planned for Piper on their fifth anniversary and grimaces. Maybe Izzy has a point.

Looking her brother dead in the eyes, Izzy deadpans, "Christmas 2014," and he groans, throwing his head back against the booth.

"Fine. I see your point," he admits in defeat. Izzy smirks, catching Heath's eye from across the booth and taking a victorious sip from her club soda.

The wedding is originally planned for next spring, but then they find out Finn's mother's breast cancer is back, and it's moved up to November, two weeks before Finn's birthday. Moving the wedding up means a lot of scrambling to rearrange caterers and flowers and whatever else a wedding entails, but Piper handles it like a champ, at least according to Finn. It also probably helps that Amy is on top of her Maid of Honor duties. When Amy and Piper are working together, they get stuff done.

Heath and Ozzy are the best men, of course. Finn didn't want to choose between the two of them, so he just gave the role to both of them. Part of Heath likes to think he feels bad for not telling them the day he was planning on proposing so he's compensating in this, but he doesn't mind. He's never been in a wedding before, hasn't even really been to a wedding since he was a little kid, so he's just excited to get to be a part of the big day at all. Finn's always been like a big bro to him, having taken him under his wing when he first joined A-Troupe as an alternate, so it feels like the biggest honor to be included in his wedding, even if he has to share Best Man with Ozzy.