Chapter Text
Xiao woke up earlier so he could prepare everything they would need for the wedding later.
When he walked out of the shower, he saw Venti lying on the bed, his whole naked body exposed, and the blanket was already on the floor.
Venti then moved to his side, showing his butt cheeks to Xiao.
Xiao sighed and picked up the blanket. He then pinched Venti's butt cheek to wake him up.
"Ow!" Venti sat right up. Xiao just went on on fixing their bed.
"Why'd you do that?!" he whined.
"Goodmorning," Xiao said and leaned in to give Venti a goodmorning kiss. "My butt hurts Xiao!" he continued.
"I was trying to wake you up. And it worked. I might actually start doing that from now on..." he said and placed the pillows in their place.
"Normal people don't pinch people's ass to wake them up!" Xiao just laughed. "Guess I'm not normal." He gave Venti a peck on the nose. "Get up. I need to fix the bed," he said and pushed Venti slightly away.
"Tsk. I'm gonna bite your ass next time," Venti said and walked inside the shower. "Babu I forgot my towel!" he yelled from inside. "Never mind I already got one here!"
Somehow Venti always forgets his towel and other necessities when he goes in the bathroom so Xiao always prepares it beforehand.
Xiao then placed their clothes on the bed. The beautiful white veils were spread out on the other side of the bed. Venti always wanted to try lifting up the veil of his spouse on the day he gets married so they bought two. Xiao too, wanted to lift the veil Venti was wearing.
"Whatchu looking at?" Venti was drying his hair with the towel and forgot to wrap his torso with another towel again. Or did he do it on purpose?
"Are you happy Venti?" Xiao handed him his undergarments and helped him wear his polo. "Yup! Very. I've been waiting for this for years. I feel like heart is about to jump out of my chest," he replied. Xiao kissed Venti's chest before buttoning up the rest. "We definitely can't let that happen. Youu still need to say I do later."
"You too okay? If you even attempt to back down or run away from me I'm gonna riot." Xiao nodded. "I never once thought of leaving you Venti," he replied and kissed Venti once again.
"You're seriosuly gonna suck my lips out of my face. You just love kisses don't you?"
"Yeah." He kissed him once again. "Your kisses are the best," he continued.
---
Its been an hour or maybe more since Xiao arrived at the ceremony but Venti was still nowhere to be seen. Almost everyone in the room tried contacting him but they did not receive any reply from him.
Xiao was starting to panic.
What if something happened to him? Or maybe just stuck in a traffic? But the world at present is not really that safe anymore...
He looked at Zhongli, his puppy-like face that's about to cry is visible through the veil. Zhongli just sighed.
Although he knew Venti was always late their gatherings, he was sure that Venti would not be late on his wedding. He heard that Venti insisted on entering the venue last just like how in most movies do. He said that he too would walk slowly on the aisle (he'd be too excited to meet Xiao so this might not happen).
"He's gonna be here soon don't worry," Zhongli assured Xiao.
Childe held in his laugh. He definitely knew what was going on but Xiao did not pay any attention to him. He was too worried to even have a fight with the orange hair asshole.
Xiao was about to cry when they heard a loud bang. The door was opened forcefull and there he was, in his white shorts and long veil standing as if he wasn't very late to his own wedding.
"Stop the wedding!" he shouted. Everybody started shaking their heads in disappointment (or maybe relief too) and faced front again. Xiao almost ran to Venti and was about to burst in tears.
"No! Stay there!" Venti exclaimed and Xiao stood there as he was told.
Venti tried walking slowly on the aisle but soon, his steps became bigger and walked a tad bit faster as he walked towards his babu.
Thank god he was wearing the veil- Xiao couldn't hold his tears back anymore and cried. He was suddenly feeling all kinds of emotions as he waited for Venti to come to him.
He was angry because Venti really decided to pull a prank on their wedding day. He was relieved as well because Venti doesn't seem to have ny bruises or wounds on him. He might have to check it himself later. He was afraid that maybe because Venti was late was because he was having second thoughts on their marriage. This made him sad and yet he was still happy. Venti's getting closer and closer to him, it looks like he's now running. He was happy that although Venti might have had second thoughts, he still decided to marry Xiao.
Meanwhile...
Childe was holding his laughter. He did not expect that Venti would actually do it and he can npt believe that it took Venti 2 hours to prepare that not even one minute prank. Zhongli tried his best not to smack Childe right then and there since his muffled laughter is louder than Venti's clacking shoes.
Hu Tao too, was trying her best not to kill Venti. "That literally was the most embarassing entrance I have ever seen," she whispered to Yanfei. "And he seriously had to it on his wedding day. Does he even know how much Xiao spent on everything??????" She was actually afraid that Venti was caught in accident or something but she was worried for nothing.
-
"Venti, do you take Xiao as your lawful spouse?" Zhongli asked.
Just like before, Zhongli once again will be the one who will help seal the contract they made together.
"Yes I do!" Venti was too excited, he almost shouted his answer. Venti held onto Xiao's hand tight. Xiao did the same too. He was aching to lift Venti's veil and kiss him immediately.
"Xiao, do you take Venti as your lawful spouse?"
"Yes I do," he replied.
"You may know kiss-"
They both couldn't wait. Venti almost ripped the veil off of Xiao.
Xiao then pulls Venti by the waist, and hid under Venti's veil. Although they both can't really be seen even though the veil is translucent, Xiao turned his back to the crowd anyway and kissed his spouse passionately.
He continued crying, happy that he was finally married to someone he had always wanted to be with the rest of his life.
Venti was crying too. After all those years of pain and waiting, his beloved is now squeezing his waist and sucking his lips out of his face. It was truly unbelievable.
Is this how the 'dreams come true' feels like?
Zhongli had to clear his throat to interrupt their kiss. They've been kissing for at least... 5 minutes.
When they faced the crowd, everyone was smiling and cheering for them. Even Hu Tao forgot about her anger and started kissing Yanfei too.
--
The wedding reception was... let's just say a bit chaotic.
The slow dance became a break dance when Scaramouche "accidentally" changed the playlist to another. Everyone was able to witness a drunk Childe which was rarely seen. Zhongli went feral when he saw Childe caressing his face on Diluc's hair- which was quite an unpleasant memory for him.
Venti too, started singing (or more like screaming) made up songs for Xiao. Xiao strictly told him not to drink anything alcoholic tonight but Venti somehow got himself drunk. And because of that, Hu Tao suddenly remembered her anger towards Venti and started beating him up.
Venti not wanting to look weak in front of his lover, he fought back. Only a few were willing to stop them. Lisa and Jean went back home in the middle of the fight since they too had a planned date tonight. Lumine and Aether were busy placing bets on who will win in the fight. "If I win, Paimon won't talk to you forever," Aether said. "What?! If I win, you'll never ever get to see Paimon!" Lumine answered back. Paimon just sighed knowing that neither of it will ever happen. The three of them are almost always together.
As for Zhongli and Childe... Zhongli was trying his best not to pull Diluc's hair while he was pulling Childe away from him. Diluc was this close to cutting his hair short. He doesn't even know why he kept it long.
In the end Hu Tao and Venti did not receive any scratches or bruises but their lovers did as they were the ones who held their partner to stop the fight.
Xiao was sulking on the way home. He refused to talk to Venti even though Venti was already sober.
Even after Xiao took a bath, he still won't talk to Venti.
"Are you just gonna be like this for the rest of the night?" Venti pouted. After drying his hair, Xiao lied down on the side of the bed, his back facing Venti, and covered himself with the blanket. "Come on! We just got married!" Venti whined and his lover immediately turned around to glare at him.
His glare sent shivers down Venti's spine. After staring at each other for a while, Venti finally saw the scratches on Xiao's face.
"Hmph!" Xiao went back to sulking.
Venti ran to get the first aid kit in the kitchen. He then wiggled his way inside the blanket to treat Xiao's wounds.
It was a dark under the blanket so Venti couldn't really see the wounds. "Can you put my hand to where it hurts?" he asked as he was preparing the cotton pad and the betadine. Xiao did not move.
"Come on Xiao. Hu Tao and I always do that," he said and tried to pat Xiao's face to find the scractches. If he flinched, that means the wound is there.
"I didn't want you to get hurt," Xiao finally talked. "That was a really harmless fight Xiao," he said and touched Xiao's left cheek.
'He flinched.'
"Yeah but I got hurt."
"You shouldn't have stopped me them."
"Then you would've gotten hurt."
Venti sighed. "That's the last time I get to fight her like that you know? Since they'll get married soon too and they'll be spending more time together. Just like us. I don't think I'll be able to go on coffee dates with her anymore because I'm stuck with you for the rest of my life." Venti then gave Xiao a peck on the nose.
"Its too hot in here," Xiao says and removes the blanket over them. Now that there was light, Venti was able to see where the wounds.
"If you say stuck like that... It sounds like its a bad a thing..." Xiao said in a soft voice.
He sat up so Venti could treat his wounds better.
"Being stuck with you is never a bad thing babu. What do you think being stuck with me sucks?" Xiao shook his head faster than the fly that flew by. "I love it," he replied. "Me too Xiao. Me too."
"Then are you ready for our honeymoon?" Venti threw away the first aid kit after closing it and straddled Xiao.
"Is this the reason why you're getting all sweet to me just know?" Xiao pouted. "What are you talking about? I always do that to you whether you're mad or not and besides... I can't stand it...ignoring me...." Venti looked away.
"Let's do this tomorrow. Today was a bit tiring." Xiao hugged Venti tight and lied down together. Venti wrapped his legs around Xiao tightly.
"I'm sorry I was late," Venti suddenly blurted out. "Its alright. I'm just glad that you still came."
"Aren't you gonna ask me why I was gone?"
"Well do you want to tell me?"
"Ask me first so I could tell you."
"Why were you late for about 2 hours on our wedding ceremony?" Xiao gave in to Venti's request.
"I saw an old friend. I haven't seen him in a while. Even way before I met you. I just panicked and wanted to greet him even just for a second. But it seems like he doesn't remember me. Oh and we look alike, like a lot. Just like Aether and Lumine. But don't you ever mistake him as me okay? Don't you ever bother him." Venti poked Xiao's side continuosly while talking.
"I'll never mistake my Venti to anyone else." Xiao kissed Venti.
"It was hard to find him in that crowd. There were so many people. I didn't even notice that 2 hours had already passed by then. I'm really sorry Xiao. I just wanted to thank him..."
"I told you its okay. I'm just happy that you still came and agreed to be my spouse."
"Oh and about that entrance a while ago- I don't know I just thought it would be fun to do that since most movies did it. Did I surprise you though?"
"Yeah my blood was boiling I wanted to squeeze and bite you right then and there."
He was actually really mad.
"You can do it to me right now!" Venti had his arms wide open ready for Xiao's love attacks. But Xiao just gave him a peck on the cheek. "What the heck." Venti pouted.
"I'm saving my energy right now so I can give you as much love bites and kisses you want tomorrow," Xiao said and Venti gulped.
"Not too much okay?" "Yeah."
Xiao closed his eyes and Venti just observed him.
"I had a dream," Xiao said. "Yeah?" Venti closed his eyes too preparing for slumber.
"You asked me to count the stars with you."
Venti's eyes were wide open. It wasn't a dream. Its a memory from the past.
"We were lying down, you were drunk and you asked me to count the stars with you. At first I couldn't understand it. But you were actually proposing to me," he continued.
Venti closed his eyes once again and tried to remember this memory. It was so clear and vivid as if it just happened yesterday. "Then?" Venti asked, waiting for Xiao to continue the story so he could continue imagining it too.
"I kissed you since I didn't know how to answer you. I was on top of you and you were hugging me tight. I told you I was heavy but your embrace just got tighter," he replied.
Venti smiled. He was feeling ecstatic.
"Will you count the stars with me Venti?" Xiao asked. "Of course. Even if it takes forever," he replied.
"I love you," Xiao said and pecked Venti on the lips. "I love you too," Venti replied.
On that night all of the stars were visible as if waiting to be counted. They were blinking and shining so brightly, wanting to catch the attention of the couple inside this little home, warm from each others embrace.