Affliction | ✓

iii | them | 3

him

"you look devastatingly handsome, honey." andrea comments whilst fussing around him.

"she's right. i'm a little gay for you right now, my man." elio remarks from the side.

he gives a breathy laugh and tries to quieten the panic rising in his body. "is everything okay out there? how's she? did the cake arrive? i'm so goddamn stressed, elio, why the hell didn't you let me elope?" he stresses as he paces from one end of the room to the other. with surprising strength, andrea manages to wrestle him down on a chair.

"shut up and sit," she orders with her firm voice. "everything's alright. her parents arrived and her mom's with her." she licks her thumb and fixes the mess atop his head.

"remember how you had to convince her parents that you actually weren't gay and madly in love with her?" elio remarks, grin etched on his ridiculously handsome face. andrea laughs and he'd laugh too except the whole memory gives him a headache. her parents could be such a nuisance.

"oh my, yeah." andrea laughs, "mrs. richardson was convinced that her own daughter was converting into a man to suit your needs." elio and her laugh out loud whilst he massages his temples. he's still infinitely nervous and he appreciates elio and andrea's effort to quell his queasiness even though, it didn't really help.

his mind was running a mile a minute and he didn't know why he was so nervous. "i swear i've never been more nervous in my life."

he feels a heavy hand rest on his shoulder, "hey," elio says, "you already did the hard part and got her to agree to marry your dumb ass. now, sit down, drink some champagne and look pretty because she's out there for you, man and soon, you'll be married with the love of your life."

before he could retort back, samuel pokes his freshly dyed blue hair in. "hey guys, hey baby." he said, smiling at them. elio pecks him on the mouth as samuel enters in. "t-minus 30 minutes until you have to go out, you ready?"

he exhales and then nods and samuel gives him a chaste kiss on his cheek before smiling at him, "you look wonderful."

"thanks, sam." he's pleasantly happy to note that his queasiness had died down.

now, they wait.

•••••

it was a little daunting to be standing at the podium, facing a crowd of people, everybody's giving him reassuring smiles and elio shoots him a thumbs up and a wink.

at least he doesn't look like a total dweeb, dressed in his best suit with his hair slicked back and his freshly shined shoes. he wasn't nervous anymore, not really but he had a jumpy energy, a certain excitement. he couldn't wait to see her.

the band they hired starts playing the musical prelude and everyone stands, eyes trained towards the entrance.

his breath catches when he sees her. she's breathtaking, beautiful even when she's wearing sweats and hasn't bathed in a couple of days but she's downright angelic dressed like this. her caramel hair's coiffed up, a couple of tendrils of her hair escaping out. her dress is simple, elegant, cinched at the waist and he can't stop his face from breaking into the biggest smile when they lock eyes.

"I love you," he mouths to her, smile permanently etched on his face.

she grins back and it's like everything else fades away except for her. she mouths something to him that he can't catch but she's close enough now that he can see the tiny freckle on her cheek and he's so hopelessly enamored.