Oh god. Why did I agree to this, again?

My heart was jumping in my throat, and I couldn’t stop fidgeting, tugging at the cuffs of my suit jacket or playing with my tie. My hands often settled on the filmy veil that fell in loose waves over my blonde hair; I’d thought it was too girly at first, but was quickly convinced it fit the theme. What kind of fairy tale wedding would it be if Rapunzel didn’t at least wear a veil?

And I had to admit, I looked a little dashing. The soft pink and purple hues of my suit made my skin look fair, instead of just pale. My eyes had been shining the last time I looked in a mirror, a wide smile lighting up my face.

The smile was gone, replaced by tight nerves and a growing fear. What was I doing? Only something I’d sworn to myself I would never do. Something that, if you’d told me a year ago I would do it, that I would have laughed so hard I would have passed out.

What was I doing?

I was getting married.

“Stop that, Joe, you’re going to pull it out!” Elizabeth reached out to smack my hands away from my veil, a sharp frown on her face. It faded into a warm smile when she looked at me- though I would have been completely blind to miss the jealousy she tried to hide. “Don’t worry. You look fine. Better than fine- I don’t think I’ve ever seen you look more handsome. Love has done you wonders, Joe.”

I felt the familiar blush rise to my face as she said it, and looked away, scuffing at the tile floor with my foot. “Sure, but don’t you think this is all-”

“Oh, the music! That’s your cue!” Elizabeth trilled as the typical bridal music began to play.

My heart was beating faster than ever as she pushed me toward the double doors. She swept them open, and I blinked against harsh sunlight. And my nerves weren’t any better when I stepped out onto the balcony.

My eyes caught on Kisten; my throat closed, and I could barely breathe. Kisten looked as beautiful as ever, his dark mocha skin set off by the gold and white of his suit, his dark curls just barely brushing the collar of it. His eyes were warm, full of the love I had seen in them so very often lately. He was made to be a groom, standing next to a minister with a broad smile on his face as he looked at me.

Up at me.

Ah god, why had I let him convince me to do this? We had hastily erected a tower outside the church, complete with live flowers twining up it, ivy that curled amongst it, all vibrant colors. I knew it looked gorgeous. But it was so damn high- and I was supposed to hurl myself off it as a sign of trust. That not only did I trust Kisten enough to let him touch me, but enough that I trusted him with my life, to catch me when I fell.

And I did. I really did. But it was so high!

We did our vows there. We would have a church ceremony later, for the public- since I was the favorite author of most of the country, and he was the CEO of a major business, it was required. But this little ceremony, it was for us, for the people close to us. Clint looked jealous, like he was sucking on a lemon as he stood next to Kisten, his best man. But the rest of the people from the apartment, the people at work Kisten was close to, the people from the publishing company who had known me for years- they were all smiling, some of them close to tears as I called my vows down from my balcony.

Rapunzel in the tower.

And then, it got to the end. The book was shut, and the minister pronounced us legally married, and said we could kiss. Of course- that was a little difficult considering I was twenty feet in the air above him. But that was, unfortunately, part of the plan.

“Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair!” His voice came out in a sort of singsong, and my gaze was drawn down to him.

Smiling at me, a look so full of joy that I could have cried, he raised his arms to me.

I didn’t want to do it. But I climbed on top of the railing. My body faltered there, teetering on the edge, heart bashing my ribs as my vision went dark around the edges.

So high.

“Joe.” Elizabeth’s voice was soft enough that I could barely hear her over the music. I felt her hand brush mine, though I didn’t look away from Kisten. “Jump. He’s waiting for you, just like he’s always been.”

I looked down at her for just a second, and her soft expression made my heart twist. Turning my gaze back to Kisten, I felt my doubts drain away. She was right. He was waiting for me, his arms held up, but that softness in his eyes telling me he wouldn’t hate me if I ran down the stairs to get to him. It would hurt him. But he would never push me into something I wasn’t ready for.

So I hurled myself off the balcony.

***

Joe was always lighter than he looked, but even I had to stumble back a step- twenty feet was a lot. But the mild irritation at that disappeared immediately, because Joe’s lips were on mine, and I was kissing my husband.

My husband.

That single word did ridiculous things to my heart. To think, to know, that the angel of a man who was laughing, his voice high and his blue eyes shining as I swung him around, belonged to me… there was nothing else in the world that made me happier.

At least, that’s what I thought until we migrated inside. Joe had insisted that instead of a bartender and an open bar, we hire a Starbucks barista- though I might have told the girl she could slip in some RumChata if people thought to ask. Seeing his grinning face, how excited he was at seeing that, I held him closer with my arm around his waist.

“This is great, Kisten. I’m so glad I let you do all the planning.”

My heart did its usual flips in my chest, trying to break out. And I bet he had not a single fucking clue what he did to me. For all those romance novels he wrote, he was incredibly dense.

“Mm, just wait until you see the cake,” I said, laughing when he made an excited sound, the idea of coffee mixed with sugar enough to have him almost vibrating at my side. And it made me even happier, to see him so open and ecstatic even though we were surrounded by people.

“Oh, you stupid son of a mouse.”

He was insulting me- in the best way Joe could- while he stared at the cake. But we both knew it wasn’t harsh. Because tears were gathered in his eyes as he covered his mouth with one hand. I came up behind him, my hands settling on his waist as I bent close to speak in his ear. “What do you think?”

Joe shook his head, unable to say anything, and I knew why. It was a perfect reproduction of the book. The book, the one that I had kept at my side, read it as religiously as if it were a bible in the year we had spent apart. The book he had been writing when I met him, the one I helped him with. Faked Halloween for, helped him stay awake until two in the morning for, caught him and held him in my lap when he almost bashed his head on the floor for. That book, the one that meant the world to us even if we never said it.

I felt tears drip onto my arms as he shook slightly in my arms. “Love you,” he said, his voice cracking. “And- I bet it’ll taste great.” He quickly teached up to wipe the tears away before tipping his head back to smile up at me.

“I bet it’ll taste better on your face,” I teased.

It did exactly what I wanted- it made him laugh. And it didn’t hurt that I was right; the icing was somehow sweeter when I licked it off his nose after I shoved the cake in his face.

“You get to toss the bouquet,” I said, as the night wrapped up and he was starting to yawn.

A blush dusted across his face, and he took the stupid bouquet of flowers from my hand. Neither of us cared about the tradition, but Elizabeth had insisted. “Ready?” he asked, turning his back to them where we stood just in front of the door.

They cheered in response, and he threw it. It was the usual clamoring and screeching- but Joe turned around just in time to laugh hard enough there were tears in his eyes. Clint was giving Elizabeth a very confused look as she perched on his chest, the bouquet in her hands and a wild grin on her face; it turned into blushing and stammering that were unusual for the calm, frightening woman as she scrambled off of him.

I caught Clint’s eye as he was getting up; when he raised an eyebrow, I simply winked at him, giving him full permission to try and win over Joe’s clingy editor. He started before we left- I could tell because Joe didn’t stop laughing, almost snickering as I guided him out the door.

There was a car waiting for us, and Joe made a beeline for it. I stopped him when we were a few feet past the doors, spinning him around and pulling him into my arms. “I love you, Joe Taylor,” I told him, perhaps a bit more firmly than I had to, drawing up his left hand so I could kiss the wedding band I had placed on his finger.

For once, he didn’t blush. He just smiled at me, curling his fingers around mine. “Love you too, Kisten Taylor.”

It sent a thrill through me, as if our marriage was only official when he said that. Then I gave him a wicked smile, scooping him into my arms and laughing at his gasping giggles. “Let’s go, my dear husband. I can’t wait to consummate our marriage.”

And that did make him blush, the endearing color spreading across his face even as his eyes heated and he drew me down for another kiss.

And that was the moment. My heart swelling with warmth in my chest, my husband in my arms as I kissed him. It was the moment, the happiest moment of my life.

The best part? I knew there were many more to come.