Chapter Text
“No, it has to be magnolias,” Tessa hears Scott say from the other room. He pauses, waiting for the person on the other end to reply, and then she sees his eyes widen.
“There are different colors? Um, well, what are they?”
Tessa giggles to herself and after another minute she hears him calling for her.
“Hey Tess, do you want white, pink, purple, green or yellow magnolias?”
Unable to contain herself anymore, she transitions into full on laughter as she gets up from the couch in the living room and walks over to Scott sitting at the island in the kitchen.
“Here, just let me talk to them,” she says, stroking the back of his head lovingly as she holds out her other hand for his phone.
Reluctantly, he hands it over, looking defeated. She must admit, she loves him for trying. Scott didn’t want Tessa to feel too overwhelmed with all the wedding planning, and he was adamant about helping with it in some way, but Tessa had always been the better planner of the two. And plus, it’s not like she minded planning her wedding. At least, not her one to Scott.
She quickly gets the flower orders in place, and then hangs up the phone and looks at Scott with amusement dancing in her eyes.
Scott frowns, grumbling something along the lines of, “It’s harder than it looks, okay?”
Tessa laughs before perching herself on Scott’s knee. Instinctively, his arms snake around her waist and she can already see the annoyance leaving his body.
“You tried, and I love you for that,” she says, pecking him on the lips.
He smiles slightly, but sighs. “I just don’t want you to feel like you’re planning this alone, or like I’m not all in, or-”
“Hey,” she interrupts him. “Don’t say that. Of course I know that you want this.”
He furrows his eyebrows, looking down at the ground. “I know, I know. I guess it’s just this stupid, irrational fear of mine that one day you’re going to wake up and realize how much better you can do than me.”
And there it was.
Tessa knew that in the beginning of their relationship – the romantic part of it, at least – Scott had been a bit insecure. With good reason, she thought. She had almost married another man and it really put him through the ringer.
Tessa’s chest tightened with guilt as she thought back to that day.
“Scott,” she whispered.
His eyes finally opened, slowly, and Tessa could see the heartbreak, regret, confusion, relief, love and hope in them all at once.
“Tessa,” he croaked, and Tessa wanted to cry. Gone was the man who stood tall and strong beside her throughout their entire career. The one who pushed her every day to be a better skater and an even better person. The one who had stolen her heart at the age of seven and had yet to give it back. In his place was a broken man, one who looked impossible to put back together. But Tessa was determined.
“Scott,” she repeated, placing herself in between his legs, inching closer to him until every part of them from the waist up was touching. Her hands stroked the side of his face, trying to offer him at least a little bit of comfort for what she’d put him through the past few months.
“Don’t,” he said, and if it weren’t for his hands grabbing at her waist tightly, holding her to him, she would have thought that he was telling her not to comfort him.
“Don’t do it,” he continued. “Don’t marry him.”
And that’s when Tessa lost it. This was all she had wanted to hear from him since he had found out about her engagement. If he would have told her that, she would have ended things with Jake within the second.
“Oh, Scott,” she said through her tears, pushing herself even closer against him, if that were even possible. “I’m not. I’m not. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”
And they stayed there, in that position, for what felt like hours, but in reality was only minutes. They had inadvertently synched their breathing, bringing a familiar sense of normalcy to their otherwise messed up situation, and Tessa could finally tell that they were both calm enough to talk. She reluctantly distanced herself from him, and when she felt him squeeze at her waist again, she ran her hands up and down his arms and chest as if to tell him she wasn’t going anywhere.
“I should never have agreed to marry Jake. I never should have even started to date him in the first place. It was unfair to him, to me, and now I see, to you. I just…I didn’t see it at the time. I didn’t see that you…loved me.”
Scott let out a scratchy, humorless laugh. “I don’t know how you didn’t. Everyone else did, apparently.”
“Well, everyone else saw how in love with you I am. Even Jake. Only you couldn’t see it.”
His eyes widened, and Tessa finally got a glimpse of that boyish charm Scott was still able to emulate. “You’re what?”
Tessa rolls her eyes. “Come on, Scott. I’m out here with you, instead of getting married. Of course I love you.”
And now it was out. Tessa loved Scott. Scott loved Tessa.
He closed his eyes, smiling slightly. “Say it again.”
Tessa smiled sweetly.
“I love you,” she whispered, inching closer to him. “I love you, I love you I love-”
“I love you too,” Scott interrupts.
And then his kisses her. And as his lips mold perfectly to hers, because they’re Scott and Tessa so of course they fit, she can’t help but wonder how she’s gone all these years kissing the wrong guys when the right guy was always right there in front of her.
They break away, and she’s half crying and half laughing, and then Scott full on grins.
“There’s that noise I love so much,” he said before leaning in to kiss her again.
And even with the guilt from that period of their life still weighing on her, she can’t help but smile at the memory of it because although the lead up to it was painstakingly horrible, it still brought her him. And she would forever be grateful for that.
She takes his head in her hands, just as she did that day, and forces him to look at her.
“Hey,” she says with a serious, yet still loving tone. “Don’t ever think that. You’re it for me. I’ve known that for almost my entire life, and that’s not changing anytime soon. That’s not changing ever.”
She can practically see the worry leave his eyes as he smiles at her.
“And you know it’s the same for me, Kiddo,” he responds. “I love you.”
She smiles. “I love you too.”
And then she kisses him into oblivion.
***
The day was finally here.
Surprisingly, Tessa was extremely at peace. She just knew, she knew that today was going to be absolutely perfect.
Scott, on the other hand, was not.
“Man, you have got to get a grip,” Danny Moir says, watching Scott pace back and forth around his dressing room.
“I know, Danny! I know! I just need things to be perfect for her. What if something goes wrong? She’s had this planned out practically her entire life. If she’s disappointed by today then…” Scott trails off.
Danny sighs. “Scott, everything is going to be fine, okay?”
Scott doesn’t answer, so he continues.
“Look, you’ve got her grandfather. You’ve got the venue. You’ve got the flowers. You’ve got the intimate group of friends and family. But above all, you’ve got Tessa. And that should be all that matters.”
Scott takes a deep breath, letting out an airy laugh. “Becoming a Dad’s done you some good, man.”
Danny smiles and nods. “It absolutely has. Now let’s get you married.”
***
“You ready?” Jim Virtue asks his daughter. They were currently waiting inside the tent at the end of the aisle way. Since Tessa and Scott wanted an outdoor wedding, there were no doors to go through, but Tessa preferred this. It was simple. It was them. The venue, of course, was just as she’s always pictured it. An open area overlooking the countryside. The sun was getting ready to set, and Tessa could already picture the yellows and oranges in the sky.
Tessa beams back at him. “More than you could ever imagine.”
Jim smiles back at her. “I’m proud of you, sweetheart.”
Tessa laughs slightly. “For what? Getting married?”
Her father shakes his head. “No. For following your heart.”
“Dad,” is all Tessa can say before she wraps him in a big hug. “I love you.”
“I love you too. Now come on, it’s time.”
And so off they went, through the flaps of the tent. Tessa could feel her heart beating out of her chest just as it had when she was about to marry Jake, but this time not with anxiety or dread. This time, all she felt was a heart filled with excitement and love as she started her walk toward her future. Just looking around the venue made her start to tear up. Everything was just as she’d planned over two decades ago. It was all just as she had described.
But when she made eye contact with the man waiting for her at the end of the aisle, she quickly realized that none of it mattered. Because all of that faded away at the sight of Scott Moir, her fiancée, soon to be husband, looking at her like she was his whole world. And in that moment, she wondered what on earth she had done to deserve the wonderful life she’s been given.
Finally, she reached him, and she kissed her Dad on the cheek before eagerly reaching out toward Scott, just wanting to touch him, so that she knew this was real, and not another one of her dreams she had been so prone to having in her teens and early twenties.
She squeezed his hand, confirming that yes, this was in fact happening, and beamed up at him.
“This is real. We’re actually doing this.”
Scott laughed under his breath. “This is real. You still good with that?”
Tessa vigorously nodded her head. “Absolutely. You and me.”
He smiled back at her. “You and me.”
With that, they turned toward Tessa’s grandfather, who smiles lovingly at the couple before starting the service.
It was a simple ceremony, and before they knew it, it was time to exchange vows.
“Tessa and Scott have elected to take their love for each other and write their own vows. Scott, you may tell Tessa your vows.”
Scott takes a deep breath, turning to Tessa, taking her hands in his, stroking them lightly with his thumbs.
“Tessa. Tess. T. Kiddo. You’ve had many names to me through out the years. Skating partner. Best friend. Business partner,” that one earned a laugh from her and their guests. “But never in my life did I think I would be lucky enough for one of those names to be my wife. I already know it’s not going to be a problem loving you every day from here on out, because I’ve already done that for the past two decades. I firmly believe, wholeheartedly, that you are my soulmate. I was destined to love you. In the words of one of your favorites, Jane Austen, ‘you have bewitched me, body and soul, and I love, I love, I love you’, so much it hurts sometimes. You are my world, my everything, and I can’t wait to start our forever together.”
Tessa has tears threatening to drop, and it’s all she can do not to just kiss him right then and there. She settles for squeezing his hands, hoping to convey everything she’s feeling. He squeezes back, so she thinks he gets the idea.
“Thank you, Scott,” her grandfather says, and Tessa can see the tears shining in his own eyes. “Tessa, my dear, your turn.”
Tessa smiles. “Scott. I know that throughout our lives, you’ve always been pegged as the ‘emotional one’. But what most people don’t see is that you’re the one to keep me sane. When I was seven, and we first started skating together, I fell and scraped my knee. I was crying in the middle of the ice, and you soothed me until I had stopped crying enough for you run and get a band-aid and help put me back together. And I loved you for that. When I was ten, and you listened to my dreams and desires of a wedding that you had no interest in – but look at you now (cue laughter from Scott and the crowd) – I loved you for that. When I was fifteen and we were on our own, and you comforted me on the nights when I was sad and missing home instead of doing what normal seventeen-year olds do, I fell in love with you for that. And that love has only grown every day since. I used to not understand, when people said that they fell more in love every day. But I get it now. Because I do. I don’t know how, but every day I manage to fall a little bit more in love with you. And now I get to continue to do that, for the rest of my life, and I can’t wait to see where this next part of our life takes us.”
At this point, there was no stopping the tears. Not a dry eye was in the house as they exchanged their rings. And then…
“I present to you for the first time, Mr. and Mrs. Scott Moir. Scott, you may kiss your bride.”
Scott wasted no time – Tessa thinks she may have heard him mutter “finally” but she isn’t sure – takes Tessa in his arms and kisses her like his life depended on it.
Tessa is in tears, smiling through the kiss, and when Scott releases her, she lets out a little cry and laugh, which just makes Scott kiss her again.
They pull back, laughing together, and turn toward their friends and family who are all cheering.
Walking down the aisle together, hand in hand, Scott turns to Tessa and whispers, “Hi, Mrs. Moir.”
Tessa’s smile is so big it’s starting to ache, but she’s too happy to care.
“Hi, my husband,” she whispers back.
***
The reception was just one huge party – they allowed a few more people to attend the reception than the actual ceremony – but all Tessa and Scott wanted to do was be alone. However, they knew that they had an obligation, and there were some people who they hadn’t seen in a while that they were looking forward to, such as Meryl and Charlie – as much as the media tried to play it up, they were actually friends.
Throughout the dinner and party antics, Tessa didn’t let go of Scott’s hand. She couldn’t. She loved feeling that little gold band around his ring finger, symbolizing that he was forever hers.
“Not that I wasn’t already,” Scott had said when she told him her thoughts.
Scott truly didn’t mind the excessive hand holding. He’d hold her hand for as long as she would let him.
Finally, it was nearing the end of the reception, but Jordan, as the maid of honor, was very clear that no one could leave until speeches were made.
“I’ll start,” she had said. And her speech had been sweet and caring, everything Tessa would have expected from her older sister. “What the two of you have, it’s like nothing I’ve ever seen. Cherish it, because it sure is special.”
Danny, as the best man, had been the next speech, and his brought a humor only a Moir could get away with. “Tessa and Scott, it truly, truly has been a long time coming. I mean seriously, I’m pretty sure some of us were in physical pain trying to get you idiots to see what was right in front of you. I know I was.”
And the speeches continued, through other friends and family, and they were all touching, but the one that truly stood out to Tessa was her fathers.
“Tessa. My darling Tessa. Whenever I would think of this day when you were growing up, I dreaded it. I couldn’t stand the thought of a man whisking you away from me. Little did we know, he already had. Right from under my nose.” Everyone laughed at that, and Tessa looked at Scott as he kissed her cheek. “And little did I know, I had already approved of him before I knew what was to come. And although the term is supposed to be ‘giving you away,’ I don’t feel like I did that. I feel as if I merely returned you to where you belonged the entire time.”
Tessa smiles at him and mouths an ‘I love you.’ She thought her Dad was done, but then he turned to Scott.
“Scott,” he started. “A while back, we had a conversation. In this conversation, I said that I thought it would be the two of you up there together one day. At the time, it didn’t look like that was a possibility. But thank you, thank you, thank you, for not giving up. For staying strong. For sticking by my daughter, my most cherished possession. Because of that, I can now answer that question you asked me that day in the way you would like me to. And that answer is yes. I have never in my life seen her as really, truly, full on happy as she is right now.”
Scott pursed his lips and nodded, trying not to show how emotional he truly felt. He raised his drink in the direction of Jim, and Jim reciprocated, and he knew that Jim got his message. Thank you.
Tessa turned to Scott, confused. “What conversation?”
Scott smiled at Tessa. “It’s a long story. I’ll tell you later.”
***
Finally, finally, it was time to leave. Their friends and family sent them off in a car, “just married” decorations and all, and then it was just the two of them. They didn’t leave for their honeymoon until the next day, so they were spending the night in a hotel nearby.
Scott looked over at Tessa in the passenger seat, who was already smiling back at him.
“What?” he says with a laugh.
Tessa just shakes her head. “Nothing. It’s just, we’re married.”
Scott laughs and holds out his hand, which she immediately takes. “Crazy, right? Small town boy meets city girl.”
She shrugged. “Maybe a little. But if we’re being honest, we both know that this was inevitable.”
“Yeah, yeah. You’re right.”
They make it to the hotel, and it’s all Tessa can do not to drag Scott up to their room.
“Tess, we have to check in first,” he laughed.
She huffs, but says, “Fine, but make it quick. I’ve been waiting for this all night.”
Scott doesn’t need to be told twice.
They make it to their room and Tessa is on him the second the door clicks closed.
He can’t help but laugh, because as much crap as he gets for being the touchy one of the two, she sure has him beat tonight.
As soon as her lips find his jaw, however, he’s completely zoned in on her.
“Tess,” he whispers, taking control of the situation. He picks her up in his arms, bridal style, because of course, and carries her to the bed, laying her down softly.
“Slow down there, Kiddo,” he smiles down on her. “We’ve got forever.”
He sees Tessa’s eyes, filled with lust before, soften a bit.
“Forever,” she repeated. “I like the sound of that.”
He kisses her, slowly, as he lowers himself onto her, propping himself up with his forearms resting on either side of her head.
“I do too,” he replies, caressing her cheek with one of his hands.
As they lay there, with their legs tangled together and him hovering over her, she grabs hold of his waist, and it’s like she’s transported back in time to the day she had finally admitted to herself that she was in love with him. She had thought he was going to kiss her that day, but to her utter disappointment, and embarrassment, he didn’t.
But tonight, she was absolutely positive he would.
“Tess?” He muttered, his lips centimeters from hers.
“Yes?”
“Were you happy with everything today? The wedding, I mean.”
She smiled at him softly. “Scott Moir, it was the best, most beautiful, most perfect wedding of all time.”
Scott smiled triumphantly at her. “Good,” he said, leaning in to close the distance between them.
But Tessa stopped him.
“But not because of the venue, or the magnolias, or anything like that.”
Scott furrowed his eyebrows, confused. “But I thought that’s what you want-”
“It was beautiful, yes. But for the day to be absolutely perfect, all I ever really needed was you.”
Scott closed his eyes and dropped his head, resting it at the curve of her neck.
“I have no idea how I got so lucky,” he muttered, placing feather light kisses over her neck and chest.
“I know the feeling,” she whispers. “Now get up here and kiss me.”
He scoffed. “Rude,” he replied jokingly.
But because she was still Tessa, and he was still Scott, he listened to her anyway.