Chapter Text
The day of the wedding creeps upon Pyrrha suddenly. One day she’s waking up from her bachelorette party slightly hungover, Nora snoring gently beside her, and the next day it’s time for her wedding.
The constant in these things, at least, is the fact that Nora is in Pyrrha’s bed for both of these things. “Okay, beautiful, it’s time to wake up. We have things to do before you can get married to Jaune and officially be off limits to the rest of the world forever.”
Nora’s face is really, really close to Pyrrha’s. In fact, it’s all Pyrrha can see once she’s woken up a little more, finally managing to blink awake. “It’s early,” Pyrrha says, even though she’s overslept from her usual routine.
“I know. But you have to get your hair and nails done and then have your dress fitted one more time before we can take you over to the church. Oh, and give me your phone.” Nora holds her hand out expectantly.
Pyrrha reaches over to where it’s charging on her bedside table and hands it to Nora, who puts it in her huge pink purse. “Why?”
“Because it’s bad luck to see or talk to the groom before the actual day of the wedding, of course! And I know you, Pyrrha. You went and called Jaune while you were drunk off your ass at your bachelorette party. You’ll definitely want to talk to him sober.”
And Nora’s right, is the thing. All day long, all through Pyrrha getting her hair put up and her veil put into place, she wants to talk to Jaune. She wants him to reassure her for the millionth time that this is fine and that this is okay and that it’s good to want this. To be happy that it’s happening.
She doesn’t need that, exactly, but she does want it.
But she gets her hair done with all of her bridesmaids and when they get to the church she sees Jaune’s pick up truck, but he’s nowhere to be found. He’s probably already inside, with Ren, waiting for everything to begin, just like she is. Pyrrha wonders if he’s nervous. If he’s happy. If he tried to contact her at all.
Probably not, she thinks. It turns out that he’s even more of a stickler on this whole wedding traditions thing than Nora is, but still, she wonders if he wanted to.
The church is empty too, pretty and pristine and white. The church had been the one thing that Jaune’s family had requested, and Pyrrha felt like it was fair to do, even if she and her mothers were in no way religious.
The church is beautiful, though. White and simple for the most part, except for one pretty stained glass window at the back that makes a rainbow of light shatter everywhere that the light touches. In the empty church, with no one around, Pyrrha takes it in before she goes to get dressed and ready for everything else.
The church is completely full by the time Pyrrha comes out to walk herself down the aisle. She hadn’t asked either of her mothers to walk her, finding it unfair, and so she has to go it alone. When the Wedding March starts, Pyrrha can feel the butterflies in her stomach fluttering away.
It’s only when she looks at what’s waiting for her, who’s waiting for her, Jaune dressed in his suit with the scatterings of all that rainbow glass on his face, does she start to relax. Jaune’s smiling, actually smiling, and Pyrrha can feel herself smiling back, just because he is, and seeing Jaune happy has always, always made Pyrrha happy. She cares about him so much, is the thing. She cares about him so much, and that’s why she has to do this.
For a second, she contemplates going through with it. With letting the priest tie them together, seemingly for life, for as long as they both shall live. She wants that more than anything, and yet, when it’s time for Pyrrha to say her vows, she finds herself saying, “I can’t. I can’t do this. I don’t want this,” instead of the standard I do.
Pyrrha can hear audible gasps from the audience, and from behind her. Nora, she’s sure, is looking horrified. Ren, standing behind Jaune, certainly is.
“Pyrr-ha?” Jaune asks, voice cracking in two, splitting the syllables of her name. “What do you mean, you don’t want this?”
“What I mean is that I don’t want to marry you like this. Not when we aren’t in love. Because you deserve so much more than a marriage of convenience, Jaune. You deserve the whole world. You deserve to marry someone because you love them and they love you and you want to spend the rest of your life with them. You deserve to have children and to grow old with them, knowing that they love you and only you. And I love you too much-” Here Pyrrha has to take a deep breath, has to compose herself. “I love you too much to let you marry me, not like this. Not without anything between us. I’m sorry.”
The pastor had told them to clasp hands as they said their vows, and that was how Pyrrha felt the way Jaune squeeze her hands, his grip firm, and sure, and a little desperate. “When you say you love me,” he starts, and squeezes her hands again. Pyrrha lets herself squeeze back, a silent I’m here with you even though Pyrrha doesn’t know how much longer she really will be. Jaune clears his throat. His eyes are a little shiny. “When you say you love me, do you mean that you love me as a friend, or that you’re in love with me, because I’ve gotta say, I-”
Jaune finally stops talking when Pyrrha leans over and kisses him. She kisses him silent, kisses him until he kisses her back. “I’m in love with you,” Pyrrha finds herself having the bravery to say. “I’m in love with you and if we’re going to get married I want us to date first, so that we know that he have a stable foundation to stand on when and if we continue forward.”
“That’s fair,” Jaune manages to say, after a heavy silence. Pyrrha knows that every eye on the church is on them when Jaune turns and says, “Sorry everyone, the wedding is cancelled, because I want to start dating my fiance. The reception’s already paid for, so, who wants to go party? I think I need a drink.”
Pyrrha is pretty sure she hears Sun whoop when everyone else claps and starts to get up. Jaune looks back at Pyrrha and takes her hand again. “Come on,” he says quietly, just for the two of them. “Let’s go make our first date one of the best ones ever.”
“Okay,” Pyrrha says, and they walk down the aisle, hand in hand, not married, but Pyrrha definitely has hope.
“Well,” Ren says, coming to sit down beside Pyrrha. Jaune is across the room talking to Nora and Yang, looking mildly terrified and stressed, the way he always does whenever those two get together. Pyrrha watches him and drinks a sip of her punch, feeling fond, “I must say I never expected it to end like that.”
“Me neither,” Pyrrha admits. “But I realized that I needed that. That it was for the best.”
“I agree,” Ren tells her. “But I really do think that I’ve heard worse ideas than you and Jaune. I think you two are going to make each other really happy, and I’m happy for both of you.”
“Thank you. It means a lot to me to hear you say that.”
“Nora’s going to pretend to be upset about this, but I know she’s actually thrilled. She’s wanted the two of you to get together for a long time. Since college, if I remember right.”
“Really?”
Ren nods. “Really. I’m going to go find her now, actually, but congratulations again, Pyrrha, on not getting married.”
Pyrrha laughs a little. “Thank you, Ren. Glad you could make it to my not wedding.”
Jaune comes and finds her once Ren has literally picked Nora up and thrown Nora over his shoulder. Pyrrha would be surprised and alarmed if it was anyone but the two of them, but knowing Ren and Nora, they probably planned how the night was going to end up for them both. Whether or not Jaune and Pyrrha got married, it seems.
Jaune comes back over to sit with her. “So, I was thinking about our honeymoon plans,” he says, referring to their trip to Cape Cod. They were going to stay there for the weekend in an adorable bed and breakfast before coming back home, since Jaune couldn’t afford to miss more work than that. During his Winter Break, though, they had been planning something much more extensive, “and I was wondering if you, ah, still wanted to go? No pressure, or anything, I just think that it would really-”
Pyrrha reaches over and squeezes Jaune’s hand, relishing in the fact that she can do that now. “I want to,” she tells him, and absolutely means it. “I can’t wait to spend this weekend with you. Everything else, well, we can take it slow.”
“I’ll drink to that,” Jaune says, smiling at her, and lifts his plastic cup to clink it against hers. “To taking it slow.”
“To taking it slow,” Pyrrha repeats, and takes a sip, and leans on Jaune’s shoulder. The party goes on around them, and Pyrrha knows that everything is going to be okay.
They’re sitting on Ren and Nora’s couch when they say their vows.
This time, Ren and Nora’s couch is blue and green plaid, since they had decided to renovate their living room. Ren had gotten his license off the internet. Nora was their only witness.
Pyrrha is wearing a red polka dot dress that she found off the rack. Jaune has a sports coat and bowtie on. “You’re going to say yes this time, right?” Jaune whispers, leaning over to Pyrrha.
“She’d better,” Nora practically yells.
Pyrrha ignores her to lean in towards Jaune and presses their foreheads together. “I am,” she says.
Ren clears his throat. “Now then. Let’s start. Dearly beloved, and by that I mean, all three of you, since you're the only ones here-”