Work Text:
There was always something to panic about in David’s life. His family, the store, his hair, his clothing. There is always something to fuss about, to worry about, to over think about. But marrying Patrick? Nothing. Just a vibrating happiness deep within his chest that has been there since the day Patrick proposed. It was bizarre for him, feeling so calm, so at ease and for a moment he worried that maybe there was something wrong. But there wasn’t. It just made sense, marrying Patrick.
So he woke up in the morning with just a hint of sadness when he remembered he had slept alone the night before because of his mother’s ridiculous penchant for superstition.
“Not to place superfluous apprehension on your impending nuptials David, but I think it best we keep the both of you separate for the evening. We don’t want to risk the inauguration of your marriage with any misfortune.”
So David slept at the motel for the last time, tucked in his tiny twin bed, missing Patrick. He tossed and turned up until midnight before his phone began to ring, Patrick on the other end calling him after restlessly trying to fall asleep too. David tucked himself further into his bed, not wanting to wake Alexis up in fear of her snatching his one line of communication with Patrick away. They lay in their beds, whispering words to each other, not saying much and not having to. David doesn’t remember when he fell asleep, but he knows he fell asleep listening to Patrick’s breathing on the other line, a gentle I love you lulling him to sleep.
He stretches upward, lifting his arms towards the sky, letting his muscles and bones loosen and constrict. The sun peaks in through the curtains, the chill of the morning settling into his bones. He gropes around for his phone, finding it tangled between his sheets from tossing and turning after he fell asleep with Patrick on the line. It’s about a quarter to seven and David let’s out a deep sigh, falling back into his pillows. There is peace in his bones, the quiet morning keeping his heart steady. His eyes slowly begin to close again, hoping to catch just a little bit more sleep before his mother’s scream pierces through the air. David bolts up from his bed, eyes wide and alert. Next to him, Alexis also jolts awake, her hair flying upwards.
“Oh my God, what!”
Moira barges into the room, her hands gripping two of her wigs, her face flushed red.
“Juniper and Cassandra are ruined!”
“Oh my God,” David muttered to himself, sinking himself back into his bed.
“Moira, where did you put my tie?” John enters the room behind Moira. David thinks that if he’s quiet enough, maybe everyone will just disappear.
“Kids, you should be up by now, we need to leave by nine on the dot. David, son, it’s a big day today, you don’t want to be late.” David groans, putting his hands over his eyes.
“Yeah David, we know how scary this must be for you,” Alexis says with a teasing smile on her face.
“Alexis, why don’t you shove my foot up your-"
“Is no one concerned about the state of Juniper and Cassandra? How am I supposed to enjoy this splendacious day in such distress!”
“Moira, sweetheart, I’m sure we can find another wig to choose for today.”
“John, Juniper and Cassandra have been patiently waiting for this specific occasion, I cannot replace them! They have equity!"
“Ugh, can this like, be discussed in your room? David needs the space to get himself ready and decompress.”
“Alexis, I don’t need to decompress-”
“Yes of course kids, we’ll be in our room. Come Moira, let me help you with the wigs.”
“Cassandra needs more than help, she needs divine intervention!”
Moira and Johnny leave the room, slamming the door behind them.
David exits the bathroom after a lengthy shower, partly because he wanted to separate himself from his family for as long as possible.
Alexis is styling her hair in the mirror, humming loudly to herself. David retrieves his suit from the closet, laying it carefully on his bed before looking for a garment bag. All the while Alexis is watching him from her small mirror, a satisfying smirk on her face. David catches her eye in the mirror and stares at her. She stares back at him, her smirk unwavering.
“What?”
“Oh nothing,” she responds coyly, brushing her hair.
“Okay.” David resumes carefully packing his suit before Alexis’ voice chimes through the air again.
“On a scale between losing your phone in the limo of a Vietnamese ganglord and being stranded on the Prince of Denmark’s private island with a capsized boat, how stressed are you?”
“Choke on hairspray, Alexis.”
“I’m just saying this is such a big deal, David. You’re getting married . I know you’re panicking, but don’t mess this up. Patrick is too much of a cute little button for you to be flailing around.”
“I’m not panicking-”
“You should try this breathing technique I learned from the Buddhist Monastery I visited in South Korea. It’ll definitely help with the butterflies.”
David tries to feel for the butterflies, but all he feels is the vibrating, humming steadily in his chest.
"Alexis, for the last time-”
Before David can finish his sentence, Johnny strolls into the room.
"Ok kids, come on, we have to go now or else we’ll be late.” Alexis flounces out the door, but not before booping David on the nose. David growls at her, and begins to stomp towards her when Johnny places a hand on his shoulder.
“Just a minute David, I was hoping we could have a quick chat.”
“I don’t think that’s necessary.”
“I just want to tell you how proud I am of you. Your mother and I are so happy that you’ve found happiness in your life, especially with such a nice man like Patrick.”
“Okay, thank you so much-”
“And I know how nervous you must feel, but I promise you it’ll all be worth it.”
“But I’m not nervous-”
“Not to say I was nervous about marrying your mother, quite the opposite actually, I was very, very excited-”
“Okay, this has gone on for too long-”
“Anyways, let me know if you’re feeling apprehensive before the ceremony. I’ll be here to help you through it.”
“Mm I don’t think I’ll be employing you for the job, but thank you so much.”
“John, I need your help in here please. Serafina is not cooperating and will not get in her travel bag!”
“Coming sweetheart! Everything will be okay David,” Johnny claps David on the shoulder before leaving the room. “Moira, have you seen my tie?”
“I know everything will be- ugh! You were not helpful!”
They’re at the venue by 9:30 and everything and everyone is even worse there than they were at the motel. Alexis is puttering around, upset because apparently the florist delivered the wrong flowers in the centerpieces, his mother has roped Jocelyn and Twyla in her neverending tirade about her ruined wigs, his dad running back and forth, still not having found his tie, and Roland can’t be found anywhere which is a worry in and of itself.
And all the while this is happening, everyone still manages to reassure David that it’s okay to be nervous. Jocelyn tells him about how she almost drove to New Mexico before walking down the aisle at the Elmdale bingo hall, Twyla recants when her mother’s fourth fiance mysteriously disappeared after his bachelor party at the Seafood Shack in Elm Valley the night before their wedding, and Ronnie keeps asking if he was sure he wanted to marry a thumb, whatever that means. And whenever he tried explaining that he wasn’t nervous, they would shake their heads with a chuckle, clap him on the shoulder, and walk away while David was sputtering behind them.
He’s fixing his hair in the mirror when the door slams open. David turns towards the noise with surprise, his eyes wide and hands frozen in his hair. Stevie looks at him, her eyes equally wide.
“Roland lost the cake.”
“What?”
“Roland lost the-”
“No, I heard you. How did he lose the cake?”
“He made a stop at a gas station on his way here to use the bathroom and when he came back out the cake was missing from the back of his truck.”
“Someone stole our wedding cake?"
“Yes, but listen, don’t panic, I’m sure we can figure something out-”
“I’m not panicking.” Stevie looks at him with shock before her face settles into confusion.
“What?”
David waves his hand at her before turning towards the mirror again to fix his hair.
“As much as I love cake, that was really just a gesture. And this way I’m guaranteed that Patrick won’t shove it into my face even though I made him promise me that he wouldn’t. So this is really just an added precaution. And besides, Stephanie provided us with the artisanal chocolate and sea salt truffles, which I am really looking forward to because I know for a fact that she imported the chocolate straight from Brussels.” Stevie doesn’t respond and is quiet behind him. David turns around to look at her and she just stares right back at him, her mouth slightly agape.
“Uh, what?”
“I’m sorry, I just told you that Roland lost your cake and you’re okay with that?”
“I mean it’s not ideal, but the cake isn’t the whole wedding.”
“So this doesn’t worry you?”
David throws his hands up into the air. “Why does everyone keep asking me that?”
“I don’t know, maybe because panic and worry are weaved into your everyday life?”
“Okay, that may be true, but I’m completely and utterly fine today.”
“You’re fine today?”
“Yes. I feel fine.”
“Today? On your wedding day?”
“Yes, why wouldn’t I be fine?”
“It’s pretty common for people to be nervous on their wedding day. It’s actually something to be expected.”
“Sure, but not from me.” David walks over to where his suit jacket is laid out and puts it on. He’s tugging on the cuffs of his dress shirt when he looks up to see Stevie smirking at him.
“Okay, what’s that face?”
“What face? I’m not making a face.”
“Yes you are. You’re making a stupid face that says I love to shit on you. So what’s with the face.”
Stevie shrugs her shoulders and turns on her heel to walk out. “Nothing, I just think it’s gross how perfect the both of you are for each other.”
“What the fuck does that mean?” But the response David gets is the door slamming. He lets out a frustrated breath before continuing to style his hair.
David is walking out his room when Roland rushes towards him in a frenzy.
“Dave, I have to tell you about your wedding cake-”
“Roland, it’s fine, Stevie already told me-”
“I was held up, by knifepoint! By a farmer! And he wouldn’t let me go unless I gave him your cake!”
“Roland, it’s fine, don’t worry about it-”
“I’m so sorry Dave, it was either my life or the cake and as great as the cake looked, as mayor of the town I had to think of everyone else’s wellbeing.”
“How generous. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go look for my parents-”
“Dave, I know how stressed out you’re probably feeling. Getting married, concerned about my safety. I’m totally fine. But listen, let me go grab you a drink. It’ll help with the stress.”
“Roland, I don’t need a drink I’m fine-”
“It’ll help take the edge off. You know, I remember the day I got married. Woo! I don’t know how I would have made it through if I hadn’t drank those two beers. Or was it four? Let’s say six.”
“Roland, I have to go-”
“Don’t worry, I’m going to get you that drink right now.” Roland turns around and starts walking towards the reception hall before her turns back towards David. “It’s an open bar right? I don’t have to pay for it? You know what, no trouble, I think I have some cash in my truck somewhere. Good thing they just wanted the cake and not my wallet, am I right?” Roland turns back around and starts walking down the hall again chuckling to himself.
“Oh my God.”
David expected to walk into the room holding his family to be in some state of disarray given the handful of incidents that have occured. What he wasn’t expecting was a literal warzone to implode in front of him.
Alexis is still yelling into her phone, presumably at the florist. His mother is sitting in a chair with Twyla and Jocelyn flanked on either side as they hold up different wigs for her to try. His father is holding a tattered tie in his hands, waving it in the air frantically. And Stevie is sitting in the loveseat, nursing a beer and watching this all unfold.
“Where’s Roland! I can’t believe he burned my tie!”
“I told him to be careful with the iron. He’s burned a lot of my tupperware by accident,” Jocelyn responds with a sheepish grin, holding up a wig to his mother’s head.
“Why is he ironing tupperware? And my tie?” Johnny responds.
“Okay, sure, but like, the flowers we ordered were white roses, silver dollar eucalyptus and lemon leaves. Why are there peonies instead of roses!”
“Mrs. Rose, I really need to go help the caterers set up for the reception-”
“Twyla, this matter is of the utmost importance right now! How can you be thinking of hor d’oeuvres at a time like this!”
“Ugh! What do you mean our order is non-refundable? Our order is literally not here! ”
David makes his way to Stevie.
“Um, how long has this been going on?”
“They were like this when I came in fifteen minutes ago. At least your mom has stopped throwing wig pins at Jocelyn.”
“Hm. Well, I’m going to go anywhere but here. Call me when they’re done.” David makes his way out the door.
“See you in a year!” Stevie calls out.
David walks down the hall back towards his room, hoping to find some solitude there. As he turns the corner, he bumps right into Ted, who jumps backwards in surprise.
“David!” he says happily. “I’m glad I ran into you! I wanted to ask how you were feeling.”
David smiles tightly at Ted, not wanting to be rude, but also not wanting to talk.
“I’m fine. I’m feeling fine.”
“Good to hear buddy. I know how prone you are to, well you know, panic attacks. Just wanted to make sure everything was dandy!”
“Yes, thank you Ted. I’m feeling fine. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m just going to go somewhere to clear my head. And maybe find myself a plate of mini tacos from the caterers.”
“Of course! Well, let me know if you want to taco ‘bout it!” With that, Ted continues down the hall.
“Jesus Christ.”
After swiping some mini tacos from the caterers in the reception hall, David makes his way back to his room, fully intending on keeping to himself until the ceremony begins in about forty-five minutes. He did wish Patrick was with him at least. Once again, his mother demanded that they be kept separately, but given how pre-occupied she currently was, David wondered if he could sneak Patrick into his room.
But before he could send Patrick a text message, he was suddenly bombarded with messages from his family. His father asking him if he knew how to make an ascot out of a cloth napkin, Alexis reassuring him that peonies still matched the overall aesthetic of the wedding but the possibility of getting a refund was out, his mother needing his hairspray in order to tame one of her wigs, and Stevie telling him she sent something to his room. What she could possibly be sending him is pushed out of his mind as he focuses on texting Patrick and taking deep calming breaths. He was fine this morning, he really was. But with everyone telling him that panicking was fine, he now feels it creeping up his back, his shoulders tense. Patrick doesn’t respond back, which is bizarre, and David feels the impending doom he really wasn’t feeling build up in his chest.
“Fuck.”
David walks towards the door, swinging it open on a mission to find more of those mini tacos.
But he can’t walk out because Patrick is there in the doorway. David doesn’t realize he’s reaching for Patrick until his arms are pulling him in, his arms winding around his shoulders tightly. The door slams behind them, and it’s just them, wrapped up in each other and the calm that was beginning to leave David coming back full force, and he’s breathing steady again.
“Hi,” David breathes into his ear, nuzzling into it.
“Hi,” Patrick responds back, tightening his arms around David. He loostens them slightly to pull back and take David in.
“God, David. Look at you.” He pulls David in for a searing kiss. “You look beautiful,” he murmurs in between their lips.
“You clean up well yourself.” David rests their foreheads together, eyes closed as he listens to Patrick’s heartbeat. “You found me.”
Patrick places his hand on David’s heart. “Stevie told me that no one would notice if I snuck away to find you.”
The deep fondness he feels for Stevie increases in his chest, his lips curling into a satisfied smile.
“I missed you,” Patrick says, kissing David chastely.
“Missed you too,” David responds quietly. “I’m so glad you’re here, everyone has been driving me crazy .”
“Yeah, I passed Roland in the hallway on my way here. He mentioned something about grabbing you a drink to ‘take the edge off’ and headed towards the bar?”
“Ugh!” David untangles himself from Patrick and begins to pace. “He and everyone else have been insufferable today!”
“Why? What did they do?”
David stops pacing and crosses his arms. He makes a noise in the back of his throat, not looking at Patrick.
“David, what did they do?” Patrick walks up to him and rests his hands on his waist.
David rubs his hands on Patrick’s shoulder, needing something to ground him.
“Everyone kept telling me that it was okay to be nervous. And that panicking was perfectly fine.”
“But?”
“But I’m not nervous! I’m not panicking! Like, I get it, it’s a cliche for someone to be nervous on their wedding day. It’s in the rom-coms, it’s in the one hour television wedding special in sitcoms. But today is different. For me, for us. Today just feels, it feels-” David struggles to find the word and closes his eyes in frustration.
“Easy?”
David stops and looks at Patrick. He has a smile on his face that’s just for David and no one else. The same smile David sees when he looks up from organizing products at the store and sees Patrick staring at him. The same smile he sees when they’re eating together in their kitchen. The same smile David wakes up to every morning.
David lets out a harsh breath. “Yes.”
Patrick brings his hand up to David’s face, his thumb smoothing out the crease between his eyebrows.
“Everyone has been saying the same thing to me too. My parents keep telling me how perfect today will be no matter what goes wrong. But it already is perfect. And it’ll always be perfect. Because when anyone asks me if I’m worried about today, I’ll just say, ‘No, because I’m marrying David Rose.’”
David closes his eyes, the vibrating in his chest increasing tenfold, his eyes prickling with tears. He presses their foreheads together, his lips quirking up, relaxing into his smile that is just for Patrick.
“I love you,” he whispers.
Patrick rubs his thumb against his cheek. “I love you too,” he whispers back. They kiss with their arms around each other, swaying gently together in the quiet.
“Mm, maybe we should just get married without them.”
“I don’t think you want to deal with your mother’s wrath if we did that David.” David pouts and Patrick kisses him sweetly.
“We still have twenty minutes before I have to sneak back to my room. Want to make out until then?” Patrick wiggles his eyebrows at David, his hands sliding up and down David’s sides. David throws his head back and laughs, his eyes twinkling.
“That sounds like a great idea,” David murmurs before crashing their lips together.
Eventually they part, David whining as he tries to keep his arms around Patrick. Patrick laughs at him and kisses him on the cheek.
“Let me just make sure everything is set and I’ll come and find you. Why don’t you rally your family together?”
“Ugh, fine. But I doubt I’ll be able to do anything to wrangle them in.”
“I’ll come and help once I get everyone else settled.” Patrick kisses him, rubbing his thumb against David’s cheek. “I can’t wait to marry you, David Rose.”
David smooths his hands on Patrick’s shoulders. “It is a once in a lifetime opportunity.”
Patrick grins at him one more time and then he’s gone. David sighs, checks himself in the mirror, straightening out his suit, and makes his way back to the room with his family. He stands outside the door for a moment, wondering if he should just leave them in there, when the door swings open. In the door way is Stevie, her face flushed.
“Ah, there you are.” She pulls him in by the arm and shuts the door.
“What’s going on?” He takes in the room. His father is sitting on the loveseat fiddling with his ruined tie, Alexis is in front of the mirror fixing her hair, and her mother is sitting in a chair, her eyes closed and silent.
“They all have something to say to you.”
“Okay,” David says crossing his arms. “What is it?”
Johnny stands up from the bed and turns to David. “David, we all need to apologize for not thinking enough about you today. We know how nervous you must be feeling-”
“I’m actually feeling very calm-”
“And we’re here now to help you through whatever you need,” his father finishes. They all turn to look at him, waiting for David to respond.
“Um. I’m fine. More than fine. I really just want to get on with the ceremony.”
“Oh dear, it is commendable that you are choosing to be so brave, but no one will think less of you for having feelings of albatross,” his mother says from her perch.
“Um, I’m sorry, but while you were all falling apart, I’ve been calm and collected since I woke up this morning. So maybe you should be having this conversation with yourselves rather than pushing your mess into my space.”
“There’s no need to feel defensive, David. We’re all just trying to be here for you in your time of need.” Alexis said, looking at him through the mirror.
“For the last time, I am fine . I am only slightly agitated about all of this ,” David said gesturing his arms at his family. “Which is saying a lot given how terrible you all have been today.”
Alexis harumphs from her seat and his dad raises his eyebrows high.
“And what exactly do you mean by that?” Moira asks crossing her arms.
Before David can respond, the door bursts open and Roland rushes in.
“Dave! I found a bottle of scotch! It was stashed away in a cabinet behind the bar. Half the label is missing, but I’m almost positive that it’s scotch! Woah,” Roland stops taking in the Roses. “Who died?”
“Roland, not now we're in the middles of something- oh wait, Roland, what did you do to my tie?” Johnny asks.
“Oh, that. Well I saw it lying around the office and it looked a little crusty so I thought I should spruce it up for you. You know, it’s an important day and I just wanted to be there for my best buddy,” Roland responded clapping his hand on Johnny’s shoulder. “Although based on your faces, it looks like you all need this scotch more than Dave here. Why do you all look so stressed? There’s nothing to be nervous about. Oh and by the way, I lost the cake.”
A beat passes before everyone begins to talk all at once, their voices increasing in volume. David sighs and sits down on the loveseat
David can’t really bring himself to be mad at his family though, because the fact that they're panicking means that they just want to make sure everything goes perfectly for David, to seal in a happy memory. This is their way of showing him they care. A deeply unconventional and unnecessary way, but he appreciates them nonetheless.
The deep sense of panic that everyone tried pushing on him is gone, permanently replaced with the vibrating, its humming keeping David steady and his mind clear of everything other than marrying Patrick. As if pulled magically to his side by the mere thought, a body sits down next to him. David’s eyes take in his fiancé, a helpless grin on his face, eyes twinkling in amusement. David feels his own mouth quirk up, his ears drowning out all the sound in the world as he takes in Patrick’s face.
Marry me today. And tomorrow. Every day.
“Hey,” Patrick says as he kisses David’s cheek.
“Hi.”
“So, what are they fighting about?”
“A few things. Nothing really important.”
“The missing wedding cake?”
“Yup.”
“And your mom’s wigs?”
“Mhm.”
“I’m guessing your dad waving a ripped tie around also has something to do with it.”
“Yeah apparently Roland tried to iron it for him.”
“Huh. Perfect day to get married.”
There’s no malice in his voice, no apprehension. Just truth, and David feels it as well.
David leans his head towards Patrick, rubs his nose against his and lets out a sigh. Patrick shifts slightly and when David pulls back to see what he’s doing, a plate of chocolate covered strawberries appear in front of his face. Because of course Patrick brought him a snack while they watched his family fight. David laughs and shakes his head. Patrick picks one up and feeds it to him, his fingers brushing against his bottom lip as David takes a bite.
Together they eat chocolate covered strawberries, making a comment about the mess in front of them every now and then, watching it like a movie. Their eyes dart between watching Moira yelling at the air, Johnny waving his tie at Roland who is waving around a bottle of scotch, Stevie trying to take the bottle of scotch from Roland’s hand, and Alexis in the middle of all of them, going on a tirade about the aesthetic of the wedding being ruined by peonies and a missing cake, all the while the two of them are cuddled in the loveseat, the plate of strawberries between them.
The door suddenly opens and Ted strolls in. He's about to say something, but he takes in the sight before him and shakes his head and walks back out, closing the door softly behind him.
Patrick continues to feed the strawberries to David, whispering commentary in his ear. No one else notices them, and that’s fine. Because it doesn’t matter that their wedding cake was stolen. It doesn’t matter that the florist got the wrong flowers. And it certainly doesn’t matter what hairstyle his mother will end up wearing when the ceremony begins. Because Patrick is next to him, ready to get married. And eventually the fighting will die out, they’ll be ushered out of the room and they'll get married. Or maybe they can just get married like this, in this room, surrounded by his bickering family.
And maybe there will be something next week or even tomorrow to worry about. But not about this. Because he has chocolate covered strawberries, the strong beat of Patrick’s heart coupled with the steady vibrations that hums through David's body, and this is the one day David Rose doesn’t panic. Patrick wraps an arm around David's shoulder and brings his mouth close to his ear.
"What do you think will happen when I tell them they're short on red wine at the bar?"