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Francis Crozier was anxious, which was an unusual feeling for him. He’d been through plenty in his life, and very little left him feeling unmoored and vibrating with worry that something was going to go wrong. But if there was anything in his life worth being anxious over, it was the wedding of the young man he held very close to his heart. Thomas Jopson was the closest thing to a son Francis thought he might ever have, and he wanted this day to be as close to perfect for him as it could be.
Yes, he was anxious indeed.
Unfortunately his anxiety was manifesting as something close to unbridled rage at a single wedding guest.
James Fitzjames was here.
James Fitzjames and his stupid stories about his time in the navy as if it was some glorious pasttime. Francis had been in the navy too, for much of his life, and he had never treated it like his glory days. That was not how it had been for him. No, being at a party with Fitzjames was irritating at best. So knowing he was going to be here, having seen his name amongst the seating chart weeks ago, he’d had plenty of time to ruminate on it and let his anxiety about everything else settle on him.
Francis had gone out into the church to check on things before the ceremony, and he greeted some of the wedding guests gathering in the church. When he caught James’ eye, he gave him a stony smile. “Fitzjames,” he said curtly as he walked past, which earned him a furrowed brow quickly covered up by a haughty smile.
“Francis,” came the smooth reply as he walked past.
It was all he could do to keep himself from scoffing as he turned to one of George’s aunts, asking him about which side of the church she should sit on.
It wasn’t long before it was time for the ceremony and Francis found himself standing beside Thomas at the end of the aisle before the music started and he walked him down the aisle, giving him away to George. He stood behind him as the officiant started to go through the ceremony. They were about to exchange rings and Francis was trying to focus on keeping himself from crying in front of the gathered crowd of people (Fitzjames especially) when there was a shuffling from one of the pews, and a small man made his way out into the aisle, and began talking, prattling on about how much he loved someone, and then stepped towards Francis, plucking one of the rings from his open hand before getting on one knee and proposing to one of the other guests.
Everyone was frozen, staring at the two men, confused and dumbfounded by the turn of events. The two men sauntered out of the chapel happily, leaving stunned silence in their wake.
Francis watched another guest, Fitzjames, leave their seat near the back of the church and chase after the other couple, and Francis apologized to Thomas as he walked past to follow after all of them. By the time he reached the foyer, Fitzjames was returning, a slight frown on his features changing to surprise as he saw Francis there.
“Thought they might want that back,” James told him, holding out the ring to Francis.
It was Francis’ turn for surprise as he took the ring back and nodded a bit in turn. “Yes. Yes, thank you,” he said softly, nodding as he looked back towards the chapel, and then back to Fitzjames, offering him a small smile. “Thank you,” he said again, before turning back into the chapel.
By the second wedding, Francis’ anxiety had nearly doubled, what with the incident that had happened at the last wedding making this one a necessity. At least now he had James as something of a balm to some of his anxiety.
He poked his head into venue, scanning the crowd until his eyes landed on James. They were dressed in a pair of emerald velvet trousers, and a matching waistcoat. Under it was a gauzy white shirt with flowing sleeves, and a neckline that cut low, disappearing under the vest. It left a long, smooth sliver of chest on display, and Francis couldn’t help the blush that crept up his neck and cheeks at seeing it.
James must have felt his eyes on them, because they looked up from the conversation they were having, and met his eyes across the room, offering him a playful smile and a wink.
Francis was lucky he didn’t melt on the spot.
It was enough to keep him from grabbing an all too familiar looking man by the collar and throwing him out the door to the venue. He should have followed his instinct on that one. It wasn’t long before once again he was causing a disruption to Thomas’ wedding day. It was during the reception this time, and not nearly as distracting but it still cast a sour taste over the entire day for everyone involved, and he hated himself for not putting a stop to it before it had started.
It wasn’t long before he knew he wanted to marry Jamie. There was no version of his future he could see without them there. And he knew Jamie felt the same way, they had said as much one night when they had been laying together, legs tangled together as they waxed poetic about a long life together. In that moment, he knew he had to propose to them. He had gone out and picked a ring, and had been carrying it for weeks now, trying to come up with a moment he thought would be perfect for the two of them.
And laying in bed together, murmuring soft pillow talk at each other, he realized there would be no better moment than these ones, where they were soft and warm and wrapped up in each other like this. He rolled over to reach into his trousers on the floor, smiling as Jamie whined at him and tried to pull him back to them. He popped the box open and rolled over, holding it towards Jamie.
“Marry me,” he told them softly.
Jamie was stunned into silence, staring at the small sapphire set into silver, before looking up to Francis’ face. “Are you serious?” they asked with a small laugh.
“I’ve never been more serious,” he told them.
Jamie laughed at him, and practically tackled him, kissing him deeply before they pulled back, still laughing as they looked down at him. “Yes. Absolutely yes.”
Francis wanted nothing more than to be married to Jamie. But the prospect of a wedding, of standing in front of a room full of people and talking about how much he loved James…it made him almost nauseous. Every time they started to plan, he froze up, unable to contribute anything to plans.
It didn’t take Jamie long to catch on, and one night over dinner, they made a suggestion.
“What if we…elope. Take James and Thomas and Neptune, and Dundy to take pictures? What if we walk up a mountain, and James marries us, and it was just us and the people who matter most to us?” they offered up.
Francis looked up from his meal, his brow pulling together. “What? Would that make you happy?” he asked softly.
“All that really matters to me is marrying you. And I don’t think either of us are really suited to a traditional wedding. Would it make you happy?” they asked.
Francis shrugged and nodded a little bit. “Yes. It would. I can think of nothing lovelier,” he admitted.
“It’s settled then.”
They set a date. They started planning. James bought a dress.
Francis had to tell Thomas.
Of course, Thomas already knew that they were engaged, and in order to bring him with them to elope, Francis had to tell him that’s what they were doing. It made Francis nervous, because Thomas and George had been together for longer than he and James, and they deserved to have the wedding they dreamed of before he and Jamie did.
He took Thomas to lunch, explained to him what they had planned, that it was important to him that he was there with them, and in an uncharacteristically halting way, explained to him that if he wanted them to wait until he and George had been properly married, that he would.
Thomas of course laughed at him good naturedly and pulled him into a hug. He told him of course he would go with them, and that no, he wasn’t going to make them wait for him and George. That more than one person was allowed to be happy at once, and Francis had waited more than long enough to get his happiness.
A month later Francis, Jamie, Neptune, Dundy, Thomas, and James were walking up a mountain in Ireland. When they reached the overlook they wanted, Dundy and James disappeared into the trees so James could get ready, and Francis changed into the deep brown corduroys, and put his nice, thick gray cardigan over the softy green shirt he was wearing, before he let Thomas help him into a mustard silk tie James had gotten for him. He stood anxiously near the overlook, excited and antsy.
Dundy’s return, changed and camera out, was the first indication that it was time. Francis turned to look where he had come from, waiting for his betrothed to follow.
Francis’ first look at James took his breath away, and he was sure he looked stupefied in the pictures Dundy was taking but he didn’t care. They were wearing a dress, which Francis hadn’t expected but was thrilled to see. It was a layered, long flowing thing, chiffon over silk, ivory dip dyed a matching mustard yellow to his tie at the bottom. Their hair was pinned half up in a bun, the rest free. They had a huge bouquet of wildflowers in one hand that Francis didn’t know where they had stowed.
They looked up from holding their dress up as they picked their way over tree roots in sturdy hiking boots under the soft fabrics, and smiled at Francis as their eyes met. He held a hand out to them, and they dropped their skirt to take it, laughing as he pulled them close.
“You look absolutely beautiful. More beautiful than I ever could have imagined,” he told them softly, before they walked to the edge of the overlook, everyone following behind them. They stood, taking in the view for a few moments before they turned to face each other and James started to say the things he’d prepared for them.
They exchanged vows, and then rings. James pronounced them married, and they kissed, Francis holding Jamie tight to him.
They stayed at the top of the mountain for a long while, taking pictures, but mostly just drinking in the scenery and the feeling of being married to each other. When they began to make their way back down the mountain, they decided not to change. As they shouldered their packs, Thomas pinned little “Just Married” signs to their packs that he had brought with them. They started their hike back down the mountain, giddy and excited, stopping in a few more spots to take pictures.
They were nearly to the bottom when they stopped to take a rest where there was a small meadow, and Francis found himself laying on the ground, looking up at the mountains rising about them. It didn’t take Jamie long to join him on the ground, and Dundy snapped a picture of the two of them that would come to be Francis’ favorite from the entire day when he saw it weeks later.
Once they were home again, Francis and Jamie kept their wedding to themselves for a few weeks, reveling in their little secret. They knew they couldn’t keep it forever though.
The first person they told that hadn’t been with them was Blanky, and Francis was a little ashamed to admit that it was for fairly selfish reasons; Thomas and Esther threw the best parties, second only to James themself. Who better to help them put together a small reception disguised as a backyard party? Blanky laughed in his signature, whole body way, and scooped Francis into a tight embrace, saying something to the effect of “about damn time” and “told you you’d know it when you found the right one”.
James and Blanky set about planning the party, talking about food and drink and lights and music, and Francis was happy to sit beside his new spouse and hold their hand while they did what they loved to. He was glad very little was being asked of him, because he didn’t much have the mind for it, but he suggested a few songs for the playlist when they were discussing it.
A couple weekends later he found himself in Blanky’s backyard, surrounded by all of his favorite people under a canopy of soft string lights making the whole space glow while soft romantic music played from the speakers. There were several tables heavily laden with food and desserts, candles on all of the tables adding to the glow, and one tree near the back of the yard wrapped in lights, with pictures of he and James throughout their lives clipped to the lights. He knew that later, after the announcement, Dundy had several of their wedding photos to add.
It was all beautiful, and stunning, and perfect.
And Francis found he couldn’t take his eyes off of Jamie.
Even as more of their friends arrived and pulled them aside to chat, to ask how things had been and catch up, Francis found himself gazing at Jamie across the party, their soft satin dress the same golden color the bottom of their dress had been on their wedding day. They had to know how beautiful they would look in that color, in this light, the way their laugh and smile made the entire world seem to stop.
He was dancing with little Anne when Jamie came and found him, pulling him to the front of the party so they could make their announcement. He gripped Jamie’s hand and stayed close, keeping himself from wrapping both arms around them and pulling them close to him for a kiss. But before he could, they were tapping on their glass to get everyone’s attention turned towards them.
“Thank you everyone for joining us tonight. It means a lot to us to have you all with us while we celebrate something truly special. I think most of you know that a few months ago Francis asked me to marry him, and several of you have asked about our wedding plans this evening. I’m sorry to say there won’t be a wedding, because we already had it, a few weeks ago. When we took our trip to Ireland, we took a wander up a mountain and got married there,” James explained with a small smile as he looked down at Francis, who was smiling softly back up at them. “It was a magical day and I wouldn’t have wanted it any other way. Spending the last few weeks married to Francis has been some of the best weeks of my life…And now we’re ready to share it with all the people we love most. We wanted to tell everyone at the same time, and to have something of a reception, but we didn’t want gifts or cards, just to have everyone here. So thank you so much for coming tonight to celebrate with us,” they finished with a smile, and this time, Francis did pull them close and pressed a soft, mostly chaste kiss to their laps, while their gathered friends clapped for them.
When they broke apart they were practically swarmed by people coming to give their congratulations to them, shaking their hands and hugging them until they had drifted far apart in the yard again. Francis hardly found he minded, being able to watch Jamie from afar, and settling near the back of the yard to keep out of the socializing circles quite as much. The Ross children kept coming to find him, demanding to be picked up and spun around or danced with, and Blanky, Edward, Thomas and James all wandered over to him throughout the night to make sure he was alright.
Francis would occasionally make his way over to Jamie, and pull them away from whatever conversation they had gotten wrapped up in, or whatever story they were animatedly telling to dance under the lights with him, the two of them holding each other close while they swayed in time to whatever song was playing. When it was over, they would kiss and part again, melting back into the crowd.
As the night wore on, the crowd grew thinner, and eventually just Francis and Jamie were left in the yard by themselves as Blanky ushered the last of the party goers into a cab. Francis held out a hand to them, and they took it, pulling him close as they swayed again to the music, and Francis laid his head down against their shoulder, happy to have a moment of quiet celebration, just the two of them.
When the song ended, and another began, they stayed together, swaying through another, wrapped up in the joy of being married to each other, until they two were ushered out of the yard and into a cab by Blanky, giggling like children at the joy of being together, forever.