But Daddy I Love Him

Lover

"All's well that ends well to end up with you/ Swear to be overdramatic and true to my lover/ And you'll save all your dirtiest jokes for me/ And at every table, I'll save you a seat, lover/ Can I go where you go?/ Can we always be this close, forever and ever?"

Ariel and Warren did not need an elaborate wedding, nor did they have the time for one. Instead they decided on a simple ceremony on the beach. The band was there, minus Daisy who no one could get in contact with, and some of Ariel's friends. Teddy and his boyfriend came, which was the closest thing Ariel had to having family there. Karen sat with Ariel while she got ready as Camilla readied Julia to be the flower girl.

"Are you nervous?" Karen asked as Ariel secured her earrings. The bride paused for a moment to consider the question. 

"No," she shrugged. "I'm not. It just feels right. I would've married him years ago so I guess it's just about time." 

"How can you be so sure though? Aren't you a little scared for how something like this can change your life?" Ariel realized that Karen was asking more about her own relationship with Graham than Ariel's with Warren. 

"Well, how I feel about Warren is the one thing I think I've always been sure about, even when I tried to convince myself otherwise. And I'd rather live any version of my life with him than without him... So, that's how I know." Ariel smiled thinking about the life she's already shared with Warren. "Karen, when you know you know, but you can get in your own way too. I spent a lot of time telling myself that Warren and I wouldn't work, that our lives had become too different but at the end of the day I was just scared to let myself be happy."

"You're not still scared of that?"

"I'm trying my best not to be. And when I do get scared, when I want to run or self sabotage I talk to Warren about it and we figure it out. That's what makes us work, we communicate." 

Ariel wasn't sure if her message was getting through to Karen. She really wanted to see her and Graham happy, all she ever wanted was to see those she cared about happy. 

"Well," Karen shrugged off the moment. "I think it's time for the ceremony to start." 

...

Ariel walked down the aisle to God Only Knows by The Beach Boys. She couldn't stop the tears the sprang to her eyes as she looked at Warren standing at the makeshift alter. A grin broke out on his face as he saw her and Graham had to put a hand on Warren's shoulder to stop him from walking down the aisle to reach Ariel.  When she did reach him, when they stood there together, Ariel was certain she had never felt so loved in her life. Then came the vows. 

"Dear Ariel," he started and she had to hold back a laugh. He had chosen to do his vows like the letters they once wrote to each other, without knowing that she had done the same. "Since the day I met you I knew I wanted you to stay in my life. And if I could go back in time and tell my fourteen year old self that one day he would get to marry his best friend," he shook his head at the thought with a small laugh. "I wouldn't believe my own luck. But here I am and I vow to show you how lucky I am that you chose me everyday. I vow to respect you, to love you, and to be by your side. Maybe everybody thinks that their relationship is perfect, but I'm pretty sure ours is. Yours, forever, Warren." 

For a moment he thought the vows were too cheesy. That the letter style was dumb. Until Ariel started speaking and he knew he was standing with his soulmate. 

"Dear Warren, I don't know if I've always believed in fate but when I think about us I have to. Of all the boys to run into in Hazelwood, I met you. Of all the places for us to both end up as adults, we came here and found each other again. You're my best friend, my rock, and the love of my life. I vow to love you and care for you for the rest of our lives. I vow to stand by your side and support you as you have done for me. For me, it'll always be you. All my love, Ariel."