"Doing okay, Liam?" his soon-to-be brother-in-law asked him as he adjusted his braces and navy blue tie. The blonde took one final look in the mirror and finally gave a satisfied smile, albeit nervous one to say the least.
"Can you ever feel truly ready in this situation?" he replied in a nervous voice although his smile was so big it reached his eyes as he fiddled with his pink rose sitting perfectly in his breast pocket. Liam's light brown eyes twinkled in the winter sun streaming in through the stained windows of the simple church, noticing that the sky looked thunderous and dark. He did wish the weather could be a little better but then again, he was marrying the love of his life so that seemed trivial.
In a way, Liam thought Marcus wasn't completely serious about marrying him all those years ago when they were just young adults in university. But when over a year ago, Marcus proposed to him at his favourite restaurant, he knew that he could certainly not live without him and accepted happily and readily.
Liam's mum and dad were still not the supportive parents he wanted them to be and declined to be part of their son's wedding. But when Marcus, his parents, Mia and Vincent, his brother, Ben, and his husband, Noah and Noah's and his brother, Robin were so happy for their engagement, Liam realised that his family was right there.
"You look amazing, don't worry!" Ben assured him, hugging him warmly, giving the newest member of the family a huge smile. A knock at the door appeared and Ben let go of Liam to open it, being sure that it wasn't Marcus trying to sneak a peek since he tried to do that four times earlier.
"Ah, Liam you look so wonderful and so handsome too!" An elegantly dressed lady called out, strolling up to him and pinching his cheeks lightly. Her black bob cut hair swung wildly as she hugged him tightly, her silver cocktail dress catching the light and nearly stunning Ben. "Easy Mia, the poor boy is probably wracked with nerves right now," An older man followed her, grinning slightly. He had smart glasses and balding hair with a black suit and tie.
"Oh, heh, hello Mr and Mrs Williams," the younger man smiled nervously. "Liam, please. We're family now, you can call us Mia and Vincent although we'd love you to call us mum and dad if you want of course!" Vincent laughed, patting his soon-to-be son-in-law with a gentle smile. Mia cooed at the two and Liam rubbed his neck awkwardly in response.
"Oh honey, I'm so glad we've got you for a son-in-law. You really are the perfect man for Marcus. Thank you for making us, his parents and now yours, the happiest we could ever be," Mia said cupping his face and kissing his forehead lightly. Right there, Liam felt the warmest he'd ever been. Even with his own parents, he didn't always get the same attention and love after he came out to them.
But this was different. And it was the best kind of different.
"Okay, okay, we've not got long until the ceremony." Ben clapped his hands dramatically, strolling over to the group. "Mum and dad, please go ahead. The priest will call for us any moment now. I'll just go and make sure Marcus is at the altar. Liam, will you be okay for a moment?" He asked gently. Liam nodded appreciatively.
"Great then. Noah will come and get you in about five minutes, alright? Okay everyone, let's getting this wedding started!" He cheered, gently ushering Vincent and Mia out of the room. They waved as they left and then Liam was left alone.
Looking into the mirror one more time, the blonde man was so grateful, so appreciative of everyone as he gazed into his reflection. He remembered all those times that his friends, Marcus and everyone made him feel he was loved and tears glistened in his eyes as he did. He owed it all to Caleb and Abby and the two friends were already sitting in the pews, waiting to be part of his special day with Marcus.
And Marcus? He'd been nothing but patient, kind and understanding all those years ago. Maybe a little bit stupid for not realizing the extent of his love towards Liam but then again, Liam was just as idiotic for thinking that it wasn't worth a shot. But in the end, everything, and he meant everything, was all worth it in the end.
Liam looked outside the window and the sky that looked like it was about to storm down earlier had now been snowing. Millions upon millions of snowflakes all came floating down and looking upwards, Liam thanked whoever could be sitting up there for all that happened prayed for the future to be just as happy, just as bright and filled with love.
The door creaked open once again and Liam turned to face a tall brunette who was well-built and stocky even in his suit but with just as much of a warm smile like his husband. He held a small bouquet of pink, red and white roses with daisies dotted around.
"Ready Liam?" Noah asked, giving him a thumbs up.
And then, Liam really did feel truly ready.
"Yes, I'm ready," he said with no hesitation. Taking the bouquet from Noah, he followed him into the main church hall where Ben was waiting for the two. Tears pooled in his eyes and dramatically brushed them away as he kissed Noah's cheek and stood on the other side of Liam as the security guards opened a huge and heavy door leading into the church.
And then, the wedding march on a piano and some strings played melodiously through the otherwise silent air.
This is really it...
Looping his arms through Noah's and Ben's, the three walked slowly down the aisle seeing everyone's faces gaze on the groom. And then Liam's gaze lifted towards the end of the aisle and saw Marcus's grinning smile as they walked over to the altar. Looking polished in his matching navy blue suit with a blue-patterned bow-tie, his eyes gleamed when he saw Liam. Marcus and Liam were both going to marry their first love and their hearts throbbed painfully against their rib-cages in the best way as Liam got closer.
Ben and Noah gently removed themselves from Liam when they reached the altar and each gave a supportive hug to the blonde who was now suddenly extremely nervous, gazing at his feet. Marcus took his hand softly, his ever-growing smile warming Liam's heart and he remembered why he was doing this.
"Hello, my love," Marcus whispered, interlacing his fingers with his fiance's. "Hello, my idiot," Liam whispered back, his eyes twinkling, gripping Marcus's hand a little tighter.
And they both turned to the priest who gave a friendly smile.
*
"And now ladies and gentlemen, let's give the wedding couple a big hand for their first dance as husbands!" The DJ shouted into the microphone to be met with more cheering and screams from the guests, friends and family. Liam and Marcus who were sitting at their table in the reception hall looked at each other and Marcus stood up.
"Well, shall we, husband?" Marcus said in a comically posh tone, extending his hand towards the blonde groom.
"Why, yes we shall, my dear love," Liam shot back with his own comedic voice, taking his husband's hand and letting himself be lead to the dance-floor. The red and white balloons and streamers were highlighted beautifully as the dance-floor was illuminated by a warm gold light. The music switched over to Michael Jackson's "For All Time" as Marcus held Liam by his waist.
"Wait, this is-"
"Yep. Your favourite song," Marcus cut him off, spinning him around and bringing him closer. "How did you know?" Liam asked him, gripping him a little tighter.
"Baby, it's not a big secret." Marcus grinned mischievously. "All I did was look at your love songs playlist. You're a hopeless romantic."
"So what does that make you if you decided to use one of my 'hopelessly romantic songs'?" Liam raised an eyebrow teasingly. Marcus suddenly swept him off his feet and Liam held him as tightly as he spun around with a mad smile on both of their faces.
"I'm the hopeless one for falling for you." Marcus kissed him deeply. And Liam reciprocated, cupping his face and kissing him back, almost not hearing the cheers and cries of the wedding guests as they did.
Abby and Caleb ran up to the two on the dance-floor and threw their arms around the newly wedded couple, followed by Ben, Noah, Robin and the rest of their friends and family. They both felt the love and support of everyone present and that was all they ever needed. Overwhelmed by the amount of people, Marcus and Liam cried a little out of pure joy, love and they both gave thanks to whichever deity would be sitting up in the sky, watching down at the two with the same happiness and love.
This was all Liam wanted. And now, there was no need to hide anymore.
Marcus was his. And Liam was his.
