The Dress - an Iain de Caestecker Fanfiction

Chapter 16: Continued

"What?" Iain asks, he's stunned, having difficulty processing this unexpected turn of events,

"I know you probably want to be the macho man and do this yourself but—"

He cuts you off with a kiss, falling to his knees and launching into your arms, 

"What about what you said before? About not wanting to get married." You rest your forehead against his,

"Maybe I forgot about my fear of commitment." You tease with a wink. "Um, you still haven't answered. Do you actually want to do it yourself?"

"Of course. I mean of course I'll marry you, I don't care who does the asking." He smiles, his eyes tearing once more, and he pulls you in for another kiss, this one slow and deep, having lost the desperation and surprise from before.

"I love you." You whisper by his ear when you finally part, which makes him hug you to him as tightly as he can manage. You hear him sniff and his shoulders shake a little. You're about to ask if he's alright when you hear Elizabeth's door open quietly and she calls softly, 

"Y/N? Is everything alright?" 

"Yeah, you can come back now. Everything's great." You can't stop your growing smile, and you pull back and look Iain in the eyes as there is a quiet stampede of sneaking footsteps down the hall. He jumps up and turns to see all of your friends coming down the hall with hopeful smiles. You nod to them as he helps you to your feet, cuing uproarious cheering, hugs, pats on the back, and though B.J. still denies that he cried, there were some joyous tears.

"Congrats, you two!" "We're so excited for you!" "I'm so glad you are back together!" There were produced, bottles of wine and beer, soft drinks and food for a party,

"Wait, you all knew?" Iain asks,

"Yeah, Lizzy was having a little trouble keeping the news to herself," Chloe answers,

"And I needed a place you would go so I could talk to you. And then have a party after."

"But what if I'd said no?" 

"You already told me yesterday that you would always love me. That's the only reason I thought this might work." You wrap your arms around his waist and lay your head on his shoulder.

"Ew!" You hear Nicky come up behind you, whining like a child. You stick your tongue out at her, pulling Iain in for a melodramatically sloppy kiss. "Okay, get a room you two." You separate, chuckling, and she jumps in to hug her brother,

"By the way, Nick, I'm going to need help with the planning, if you're interested." You say, earning a bright smile from your soon-to-be sister in-law. 

"Oh, girl, you will have plenty of help, trust me!" Ming says.

"When are you going to tell mum, Iain?"

"Oh, right." He checks his watch, doing the math, "Hey, if I call her now I should catch her and dad at breakfast.", you check you're watch, it's just after 11pm and the party had been going for three hours already. Iain excuses himself to make his call in a quieter corner.

"And you? When are ya callin' your fam?" Your smile falters,

"No one really to tell." You pour yourself glass of wine, "Didn't you notice no one around when I got hurt?"

"Just figured they were busy." She starts to look sheepish,

"Even if I did tell them, they wouldn't have come."

"Oh, come on, if they knew you had basically died, I'm sure they would have done something."

"Nicky, I haven't talked to my family in six years. Not even around the holidays. Last time I saw my mom was my eighteenth birthday when I took off. And it wasn't a pleasant goodbye." She refuses to give up,

"What about your dad?" She asks carefully,

"Dead. And the world is better for it." Her eyes widen, "Haven't you ever wondered why I know how to take a hit?" She shrinks back a little bit, finally getting the picture,

"Figured maybe you had brothers..."

"One sister. She actually forgot to call on my eighteenth, so she didn't even get a goodbye. As soon as I walked out that door, I didn't look back. I never wanted to. It was a dark chapter that I wanted nothing more than to send through the shredder."

"Y/N, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to press."

"I know. But I can't exactly keep that all from you. We're going to be family, right?" She offers a half smile and throws her arm across your shoulder,

"So I'm thinking lime green taffeta for the bridesmaids."

"You're fired."

You both talk and laugh, keeping the subject off family for awhile. After another hour or so, people started to head out, the group slowly dwindling.

Promises of seeing everyone on set, and wishes for a goodnight were exchanged, and you helped Elizabeth clean up a bit before Iain took you home. 

"Iain."

"Hm?"

"Let's elope." He chuckles lightly,

"No, Y/N, we're having a wedding, we're going to party, and celebrate, and dance, and enjoy ourselves."

"And your mother would kill you, right?"

"Oh, you would never find my body,"

You love how this man can make you laugh. "Seriously, though, it will be alright, we can take our time with planning, it doesn't have to be huge, it'll be fine." He kisses the top of your head as you walk down the street. Being the weekend, there was still plenty of foot traffic, even though it was well after 1am. 

"How did your mom take it, by the way?"

"Oh, she's so excited. I've told her about you, plenty, and Nicky apparently talks about you a bit, too, but she is really antsy now to meet you."

You walk the last block your building and up to your apartment door in comfortable, exhausted silence. You can tell Iain is practically asleep on his feet when he kisses you goodnight. Before he turns away, you tug his sleeve. 

"You can stay the night, hun. You're ready to pass out, just crash here." He looks a little doubtful, and maybe a little mischievous "just sleeping, you dork." You giggle. Not like either of you had the energy for anything else anyway. You unlock the door and pull him in after you. 

Your last conscious thought that night, wrapped in Iain's arms, feeling his heartbeat and warmth on your back, 'I could definitely get used to this.'