Work Text:
I am not the kind of girl
Who should be rudely barging in
On a white veil occasion
But you are not the kind of boy
Who should be marrying the wrong girl
“I’m not going to ruin the wedding,” Luke insisted, looking down at the guitar in his lap that he had just been strumming. Alex and Reggie just looked at him near the door they had just barged into.
Alex placed his hands on his hips, “We don’t believe you.”
Luke sighed and set the guitar down against the couch and looked at his friends, “Look, I’m not the type to ruin a wedding okay.”
Alex and Reggie exchanged a look and shook their heads. “Bullshit,” Reggie countered.
Luke pouted his lips and nodded. “Okay, I am very much the type. But it’s Julie’s wedding. I would never ruin this for her okay. I’ve messed up already with her and I’m not going to do it again.”
Luke’s friends saw the desperation in his eyes, the little shine that indicated that he might start crying soon. They knew not to press anymore, they believed him.
I sneak in and see your friends
And her snotty little family
All dressed in pastel
And she is yelling at a bridesmaid
Somewhere back inside a room
Wearing a gown shaped like a pastry
Julie had asked the guys if they would be willing to play a set during the reception, including Luke. Although the two’s relationship had been tense and awkward following their breakup four years ago, the two were civil with one another when they had to interact. Their friends were still the same, not choosing sides in the whole ordeal, but both of their busy schedules made it so it wasn’t often that they would face one another.
That was kind of the whole reason they broke up anyway.
Along with the set, all four members of the band had been invited, seeing as three of them were still very close to Julie. Luke had thought about it but didn’t accept. He knew playing at the reception was going to be hard enough (they weren’t playing the first dance thank goodness) but going to the actual ceremony sounded like hell.
He wasn’t really welcomed anyways.
And it wasn’t even his exes doing.
Speaking of which, the lovely groom-to-be was currently throwing a whole tantrum in the hallway right outside the reception hall. Their venue was connected which was great for all of the guests, but bad for Luke. Even though he wasn’t attending the ceremony, he still showed up at the same time as the guys and told them he would set up all of their equipment.
Luke sat on the floor of the stage and pretended that he wasn’t eavesdropping on Nick going on and on to one of his groomsmen about how everything needed to be perfect, how nothing could go wrong, how this needed to be the best day ever.
How he couldn’t let Julie down.
He almost sympathized with the man, really he did. But if he actually wanted to not let Julie down he would take off that stupid hat.
This is surely not
What you thought it would be
I lose myself in a daydream
Where I stand and say
From the other hallway door leading to the reception hall, Luke saw Julie step out of her bride room to see what all the commotion was. She wasn’t in her dress yet, but her hair and makeup were already done.
Luke’s breath hitched for a moment at the sight of her but concern took over pretty soon after. She couldn’t see Nick, but his voice was echoing throughout the reception hall, making it easy for her to hear him loud and clear.
She looked disappointed, sad almost. Her frown was evident, and her brow wrinkled.
Pretty soon, Flynn came out and ushered her back into the room, but not before Julie’s eye met his. They grew wide, surprised that he was there, sitting on the reception stage. Quickly her face morphed from surprised to embarrassment at the fact that she knew he had witnessed all of that.
He tried to give her a reassuring smile, that it was all okay, that everything was going to be okay.
Flynn finally realized what was going on between the two of them and shot him a sad look. That caught him a little off guard, expecting her to be angry with him.
None of this should be happening.
Don't say yes, run away now
I'll meet you when you're out
Of the church, at the back door
Don't wait or say a single vow
You need to hear me out
And they said, "Speak now"
Guest started filing in and Luke went to close the reception doors. He didn’t want people peeking in on him, giving them those sad looks. He didn’t deserve their pity.
This all could have been avoided. He could have done a better job at answering her phone calls. He could have done a better job at making time to video chat with her. He could have done a better job at visiting with her.
He should have made time for her.
Their relationship lasted for two years, but they knew each other for a few years before that. They had met in college; freshmen year music theory to be exact.
Their relationship started right after they graduated while their careers started to take off. The guys had Sunset Curve and Julie had her solo career. Very quickly both of them were working on releasing their albums and all of the stuff that went along with it. Following that, they both went on tour, but not at the same time. When one was on tour, the other was working on their album or attending event after event and vice versa. They never seemed to be in the same city at the same time. Time zones and late nights became more and more of an issue and eventually they would go days without talking to each other and sometimes even months without seeing one another.
It became a problem fast and intensely. When they did talk to each other, fights ensued. Both were tired, exhausted, and missed one another.
Eventually, they had to call it quits. Julie wasn’t perfect but Luke was definitely the worse one in the relationship. She had given him an ultimatum, make more time for their relationship, or they were done.
Luke regretted it every day. He knew he should have given it a try, told her that he wanted to make it work.
But instead, he ran his mouth. At the time he thought his dream was more important than anything. He told her that he didn’t know if he could do that because of the band.
He was stupid. He was dumb. He was an idiot. He knew all of this. Because Julie was more important than his career.
But it took him a little while to realize that.
Once he realized all of that, it was too late. She had run crying into Nick’s arm, who gave her a shoulder to cry on. Eventually, they transitioned into a couple and then a year ago Nick proposed, and Julie accepted.
It had been the final nail in the coffin. Luke hadn’t been okay since then. He really hadn’t been okay since the day they broke up, but it got a lot worse once the Instagram announcement with the ring had been posted.
He thought every day about confessing to her. To tell her that he regrated everything and that he missed her and wanted to start over.
But he couldn’t do that to her. She seemed happy and he wasn’t going to ruin that because he had been too little too late.
She seemed happy up until a few minutes ago.
Fond gestures are exchanged
And the organ starts to play
A song that sounds like a death march
And I am hiding in the curtains
It seems that I was uninvited
By your lovely bride-to-be
Luke could hear the chatter die down outside the reception hall as he figured the wedding party was walking down the aisle. He held his breath knowing what would follow.
He prepared himself, he really did.
But his heart still dropped when the music shifted to ‘Here Comes The Bride’.
He couldn’t help himself. He moved without thinking, letting his feet step in line with the march. He made it out of the reception hall and towards the doors where the ceremony was being held.
He wouldn’t go in there, he had that much control. But he was able to peek through the small window that the ushers used to know when to open and close the doors.
She floats down the aisle
Like a pageant queen
But I know you wish it was me
You wish it was me (Don't you?)
He watched Julie walk down to aisle with her dad, her back towards him. He couldn’t take his eyes off of her. Eventually, she made it to the front and her dad gave her away.
She turned to face the guests and Luke was able to see her for the first time in her full glory. The tears prickled in his eyes.
She was so beautiful, more than he could imagine.
He wished that was him up there. He knew it should have been him.
He glanced at Nick and froze.
What was he doing?
He pushed through the ushers who were all peaking through the window and headed for the closest exit.
He needed to get some air.
He needed to get out of there before he did something stupid.
Don't say yes, run away now
I'll meet you when you're out
Of the church, at the back door
Don't wait or say a single vow
You need to hear me out
And they said, "Speak now"
Luke wanted to go back in there. He wanted to stop the wedding. But he promised Alex and Reggie that he wouldn’t.
Okay, that wasn’t why and he knew it. He did things he promised his friends he wouldn’t do all of the time.
He didn’t want to ruin this for Julie.
Don't say yes, run away now
I'll meet you when you're out
Of the church, at the back door
Don't wait or say a single vow
Your time is running out
And they said, "Speak now"
Luke knew it wasn’t the only reason why he wasn’t going to stop the wedding.
He was scared that Julie would reject him, and there was a pretty good chance.
For goodness sakes, she was marrying another man.
His time was running out.
But he already knew that he had already lost his chance.
I hear the preacher say
"Speak now or forever hold your peace"
There's the silence, there's my last chance
I stand up with shaking hands, all eyes on me
Horrified looks from everyone in the room
But I'm only looking at you
Julie looked everywhere around the room and the panic set in.
She saw Reggie, Alex, and Bobby sitting in the seats on her side. They weren’t supposed to be there. They should have been groomsmen, fighting over who would be the best man.
They weren’t even supposed to be separated. They should have all been mingled together so that it wasn’t obvious who had family there and who didn’t. There weren’t supposed to be crying parents on her left.
And there shouldn’t have been a stupid fight over a hat. It should have been over sleeves.
It shouldn’t have been Nick standing there.
She knew that it should have been Luke.
“If there is anyone present who can show just cause why these two persons may not be joined in matrimony, speak now or forever hold your peace.”
A collective breath was held throughout the guests. Everyone looked over their shoulder and Nick tensed.
No one said anything.
Julie looked down the aisle, towards the window and saw no one.
She didn’t see Luke.
The officiant was about to start talking again.
So she ran.
I am not the kind of girl
Who should be rudely barging in
On a white veil occasion
But you are not the kind of boy
Who should be marrying the wrong girl
Luke was pacing back and forth outside the venue, creating imprints in the grass. He wasn’t ready for the door to slam open.
He especially wasn’t ready for Julie to appear in her wedding dress, sweat starting to run down her face.
“This is all wrong,” she panted, trying to catch her breath. “I shouldn’t be marrying Nick. I should be marrying you!”
So don't say yes, run away now
I'll meet you when you're out
Of the church, at the back door
Don't wait or say a single vow
You need to hear me out
And they said, "Speak now"
“Julie calm down,” Luke put his arms out, trying to steady her. “What’s wrong? What’s going on? What just happened?”
“I couldn’t do it,” she cried, the tears replacing the sweat on her face. “The officiant asked if anyone had any objections, and no one said anything but I knew it was all wrong. Everything was all wrong. It should have been you up there. My dad should have escorted both of us down the aisle. It should have been Reggie, Alex, and Bobby up there standing by you. We should have saved seats for your parents next to my family and I should have been worrying the whole day that they would show.” Julie paused for a moment to catch her breath. “It should have been you,” she repeated.
“Julie are you sure?” Luke asked. “I want you and it was killing me to see you marrying him but I want to make sure that you are sure about this. You can go back in there. Everyone will understand. I want to make sure that you are making the right choice.”
Julie sniffled and tilted her face up to look him right in the eyes. “I’m sure.”
And you say, "Let's run away now
I'll meet you when I'm out
Of my tux, at the back door
Baby, I didn't say my vows
So glad you were around
When they said, 'Speak now'"
“Can we run away?” Julie asked a few moments later. “I need to get out of here. I know that I will have to deal with the consequences later but right now I can’t.”
“Yes of course,” Luke replied immediately. “You should probably let Flynn or your dad know what’s up though. Do you have your phone?” Julie rolled her eyes and motioned towards her dress. “Right, dumb question, we will use mine.”