Chapter Text
Tahani remembered the day that Eleanor and Chidi got married like it was yesterday. For some reason, she took the day more seriously than Eleanor did—doing everything in her power to make sure that her best friend had the best day of her life.
Of course, no one threw a party better than Tahani Al-Jamil.
It was more than a party, though—it was the first time someone had picked Tahani to be a maid of honor, and Tahani hadn't realized how important she was to Eleanor until then. Afterall, the “Maid of Honor” role was typically reserved for the best friend, which means Tahani was the closest friend that Eleanor had in her life. Tahani now understood the name of that role, because it was the most honoring title she ever had, and she was titled “best neck” in 2009, for her inspiring work in the neck modeling industry.
None of her modeling stuff mattered in her personal life, though… or at least, that's what she was learning as she grew older and more mature in her life. All that mattered was her relationship to her friends and chosen family. Oh. And also her fiancé, Larry Hemsworth… the same fiancé she should probably focus on planning her wedding with, seeing as they've been engaged for years longer than Eleanor and Chidi had.
She had been told that being a wife would be the best title she could hold as a woman… but to her, being Eleanor's friend was enough—which was strange because Tahani had plenty of friends… but her friendship with Eleanor felt different.
Eleanor's wedding went swimmingly and she practically glowed in her wedding dress. Chidi looked great too, and he didn't take his eyes off of Eleanor all night. Tahani was sure that Eleanor was the most beautiful bride to ever get married.
-
Tahani cleared her throat as she gathered towards the microphone in the middle of Eleanor's wedding party, she was nervous; which was strange, because she has never been this nervous for a crowd of this size. It was mainly Chidi's family that took up the space in the room. Chidi had more family than Eleanor did, and Chidi's family had just started being more present in his life, seeing as it was big news to everyone that knew him that Chidi was now confident, and Eleanor was the reason he grew this way.
If Chidi’s confidence could impress his family, then Tahani could feign confidence for the duration of her speech.
“Hello. For those of you who don't know me, I'm Tahani, Eleanor's best friend,” she looked back at Eleanor and smiled softly, before turning back to everyone else. “I met Chidi and Eleanor at the same time, looking for help to grow as a person after a near-death experience shook me to my core and woke me up from an attention obsessed slumber. I would've never expected to click so much with Eleanor in particular, seeing as we are both way different than each other in every way possible, but Eleanor taught me what unconditional love means, after years of never knowing it for myself, and for that I will forever be grateful,” A pause for another smile at Eleanor, before turning back again. “And, I mean, just look at her, not only is she the most beautiful bride I have ever had the honors of looking at, she might be the most beautiful vision in general. Da Vinci wouldn't even be able to capture her beauty in a painting,” Tahani smiled, and turned back to her friend's now husband, and smiled at him. “Chidi taught me a lot about myself too. He taught me to value my friends above all else. I owe a lot of what I know about friendship to these two, as they were my first ever real friends. Chidi is the most selfless person I know, and he would choose his friends, and more importantly, Eleanor, over himself, over and over again. I know that she really found the love of her life with him, and I hope he knows how lucky he is,” Tahani let out a laugh, “Although, I do hope he keeps in mind that Eleanor will always be my best friend, not his, even though they're each other's forever person.”
Tahani raised her glass for a toast and the room followed her lead, all celebrating the happy couple.
-
Eleanor didn't just spend all her time focused on Chidi, and at one point, a slow song came on and Chidi's mom dragged him to the dance floor, so Eleanor looked over at her best friend.
When Eleanor's blue eyes met Tahani's brown ones, Tahani could've sworn she felt the world stop moving. Eleanor walked across the dance floor and took Tahani's hands in hers.
It was the first time they had time to speak all night, and Tahani took the time to gush about how pretty Eleanor looked in her dress, pulling her in closer and swaying the shorter girl to the beat of whatever slow song was playing in the background. Eleanor blushed and looked down, hiding her face between their bodies, before remembering she should say something back.
“You look great too, Tahani,” Eleanor said, and her voice alone was enough to make the hair on Tahani’s arms stand up. “You could show up in a dress made out of trash bags and still look prettier than me.”
“For what it's worth,” Tahani replied, taking a pause to twirl Eleanor around, making the blonde feel like a princess on her special day. “I think you're the most beautiful bride I've ever seen… and I literally went to Beyoncé's wedding.”
“Most beautiful bride for now, until you marry Larry, of course!”
Tahani didn't let her face falter, but for some reason her heart felt… cold…? at the mention of her fiancé's name. She felt awful for feeling that way so she couldn't ever express it, not even to her best friend.
The song slowly faded out and Chidi stepped near them, causing Eleanor to break eye contact with Tahani and focus on her now husband… but the look of love in Eleanor's eyes didn't change.
Chidi looked over at Tahani and smiled, putting his hand on Eleanor's waist. “Is it okay if I steal her?”
Tahani smiled, but on the inside she felt like her heart had formed little cracks in it. “I suppose so,” she smiled at him, pulling away from Eleanor completely and watching as the American got pulled into Chidi, gently but almost protectively, as the next song started.
She felt a hand tap her on her shoulder and remembered that she had brought Larry as a plus one to Eleanor and Chidi's wedding. “May I have this dance? That is… if you deem me worthy of dancing with such a beauty like you. I don't deserve you.”
Tahani wanted to laugh. She wanted to cry. She wanted to have a reason to be angry, even if Larry was being so kind and respectful.
Instead of laughing or crying or screaming, she chose lying.
“I uh… I'm afraid I can't dance with you at this moment, I have to use the ladies room,” The British woman explained, practically running out of his view and to the nearest women's bathroom. Looking into the mirror, all she saw were sad, tired, brown eyes. She looked like a scared animal. She felt her chest heave before it even started to, so she turned on the faucet and she was unfazed by her smearing mascara as she splashed water up at her face.
Suddenly, a toilet flushed and a stall door slammed open.
Crap, she hadn't realized she wasn't alone in here. And she certainly didn't look her best. She didn't bother turning around, so she stayed put, watching herself and her surroundings in the mirror. The scared animal looking at her with sad, tired, brown eyes now looked more like a raccoon because of the smudged make up.
The girl who had just finished up in the stall had walked out now. A brunette girl with a purple dress on. She smiled at Tahani, before stepping up to a sink next to her and washing her hands.
“You're the bride's best friend, right?” The girl asked, seemingly trying to start up small talk.
Tahani felt like she was stabbed in the heart at the words. She tried to smile anyway. “Yeah… we're really close.”
“Oh, that's cool. I'm just here as a plus one. I don't really know anyone here.”
Tahani smiled. “Well, now you know me.”
“Except I don't, not really anyways,” the brunette girl took paper towels from the dispenser, dried her hands, threw away the paper towels, and then held out her hand for Tahani to shake. “I'm Jan—- uh, Janice.”
Tahani shook Janice's hand in response and smiled. “Tahani.”
“This is going to sound super weird, but can I give you some advice?” Janice asked. Tahani tilted her head in response. Janice continued: “These friends look super important… you should try and keep them in your life.”
And before Tahani could even form a proper response, Janice was out the bathroom door, fading into the party and mysteriously never seen again… or at least, not for the rest of the night.
-
A year and some months flew by until Tahani's wedding creeped up on her.
There, Tahani stood in her wedding dress, staring at a mirror in front of her. The wedding dress flowed around her. She should be feeling like a Disney princess, instead she was more nervous than she had ever been in her life.
Suddenly, a familiar voice distracted Tahani from her thoughts.
“Well, I was right,” Eleanor said, stepping in the doorway. Tahani turned to face her. “You're the most beautiful bride.”
Tahani smiled, but it must've not looked as authentic as she thought because Eleanor immediately clocked it.
“How are you doing, Mrs. Hemsworth?” the blonde asked, taking careful steps closer to the girl and grabbing Tahani’s hands in hers.
“I'm doing alright—I'm doing great actually. It's nice to finally be a wife,” Tahani couldn't make eye contact as she said this, looking away from Eleanor completely. “At least if I'm married, someone has a legal reason to support me.”
Eleanor smiled. “Unfortunately, I don't think that's reason enough to get married.”
Tahani sighed. “No, you know what I mean. I love him. I do. But it's nice knowing that I get someone to cheer me on.”
“Even if you never got married, I would do that for you, Tahani.”
Tahani didn't know what to say, so she just pulled Eleanor in for a hug, taking a moment to kiss the smaller woman on the forehead.
“Seriously, Tahani,” Eleanor continued, pulling away completely and looking up at Tahani and smiling. “Someone's future husband is going to have trouble keeping his hands off of you.”
Tahani smiled to be polite, but deep down she felt this sense of guilt that she couldn't quite place. She laughed and winked at Eleanor “Most men struggle in that department.”
Eleanor smirked and then winked back, for some reason her wink formed butterflies in Tahani's stomach. “Women struggle with keeping their hands off of you too, don't worry.”
Speaking of women, Tahani was surrounded by a chorus of women, all helping her be prepared for the big day. Her parade of bridesmaids getting themselves ready, all in matching lavender dresses. Eleanor was wearing a purple dress that Tahani had picked out specifically with her in mind. It really brought out the blue in her eyes, and it hugged her body nicely—not that Tahani was looking…
The brunette's hair cascaded down her shoulders as usual and it was left the wavy way it normally was, but her hair stylist had put a light purple flower in it. Her veil was one with a tiara, and it should've made her feel more like a princess. Instead, it made her more nervous.
Normally, she liked attention, but she wasn't sure how to feel about the idea of being the main source of entertainment tonight.
Staring at her best friend in front of her, she kind of wished that everyone around them would disappear. Little did she know just how aware she'd be of them all night.
—
It was times like this that Tahani wished her dad hadn't died before she had gotten married. No one was there to walk her down the aisle. But with Eleanor behind her, holding some of her dress so she didn't trip over her own legs, she was confident she could take on whatever challenges lie ahead of her… like getting married, for example.
Larry looked handsome, and he had tears in his eyes watching his fiancée walk down the aisle. Tahani wanted to cry too, but possibly not for the same reason.
When Tahani finally took her spot across from Larry, her bridesmaids and maid of honor found their own spots next to her and the groomsmen and best man found their space on the other side of Larry, Larry whispered words of affection to Tahani once she got close to him, words like “you're beautiful” and “thank you” and “you're too good for me”.
She was used to hearing that she was too good for men, but she hadn't ever married any of the men that she was ‘too good for.’ In fact, Larry Hemsworth was by far the man with the least amount of status that Tahani had ever dated. He had only been in a few movies, and he only made it to those movies because he was deemed a ‘Hemsworth nepo brother’ in Hollywood.
It's not like Tahani wasn't painfully aware that she was mostly famous because of her sister, of course, but the thing was; people were at the very least aware of her existence for the most part. Sure, she wasn't exactly a household name like some of her friends, such as Anya Taylor-Joy and Bella Hadid, but she was, at the very least, a C-level celebrity. For crying out loud, Larry wasn't even brought up in his brother's documentary about their family and upbringing and rise to fame. Even Tahani was brought up in Kamilah's most famous documentaries about her life. Sure, it was mostly comparing the two, but at least she was mentioned!
“I am the luckiest man in the world,” whispered Larry again… and for once, Tahani had agreed with something he said.
-
“Happy hour” was an oxymoron at Tahani and Larry's wedding.
Larry watched in concern as Tahani downed shot after shot, trying to decide when would be a good time to cut her off. By the time she had realized Eleanor was sipping on a glass of water instead of a martini, she was already tipsy.
“Kamilah isn't here,” Tahani told Eleanor quite randomly.
“Who cares? Tonight is about you,” was Eleanor's quick response. She rehearsed for this, didn't she?
“Why aren't you drinking? You're usually the first one drunk at weddings,” Tahani laughed. “Who are you and what have you done to my best friend?”
Eleanor smiled and then glanced around the room, as if she were looking for something… or someone to share a secret smile with. She kept a straight face, though. “Tahani, this is your fault for having a wedding on a Sunday night. I have work tomorrow, I can not be hungover tomorrow morning. And you know me—once you get me started you can't get me stopped.”
That was true, Eleanor enjoyed drinking more than anything… which only made her being sober more suspicious.
And then it hit Tahani—like how spidey senses hit her good friend Andrew Garfield in the movie The Amazing Spiderman. The not drinking, looking around the room when Tahani asked about it—as if looking to smile sneakily at Chid about it—she was even fidgeting with her fingers nervously as Tahani raised her eyebrow at her with suspicion.
“Okayyyy,” the British woman hummed, but they made eye contact in a way that meant mutual understanding.
-
After happy hour, members of the wedding party were instructed to give their speeches if they had any, and so of course, Eleanor went first.
Eleanor clenched the microphone so tightly in her hand that it looked as if she was scared it was going to run away from her.
“Wow,” Eleanor said, looking around the room in genuine amazement. “I used to think Tahani was lying about all the name-dropping she famously does, but I literally met Rihanna tonight and she still isn't the most famous person here. No shade to Rihanna though, I love Umbrella. Fuck, I'm getting sidetracked. Sorry,” Eleanor looked down at her feet before turning slightly around to somewhat face Tahani and smiled. Tahani smiled right back, grinning ear to ear. “I'm Eleanor Shellstrop, Tahani's maid of honor. As if being the cover of Vogue six times wasn't enough, as if outdressing everyone at the Met Gala three times wasn't enough, today Tahani holds the title for the most beautiful bride ever. I don't want to say too much, mostly because I'm kind of afraid of this crowd, but also because no amount of words can express how much and how loudly Tahani loves. Love isn't just a word to Tahani, when she loves you can truly feel it in your soul. She loves others like it's breathing, and I hope Larry realizes how lucky he is to marry a girl like Tahani.”
-
The rest of the night was miserable, Tahani grew more and more drunk as the night went on and she and Eleanor shared a dance (although it was a lot more clumsy than the one shared at Chidi and Eleanor's wedding) and soon Chidi wandered over to check in on Eleanor.
“Eleanor, are you doing okay, babe?” He asked, grabbing Eleanor by the waist, this time protectively.
Eleanor kept dancing even with Chidi's arms around her waist, but soon her dancing came to a stop and she was leaning against him, using him as support as she clearly grew tired from all the festivities.
“I think it's time to go home,” he kissed Eleanor on the forehead then, and Tahani had to force herself to pry her eyes away at that moment. “What do you think?” He asked the short woman.
Eleanor and Tahani made eye contact again, Eleanor opening her mouth to say something but stopped because Tahani interrupted her before she could get the words out.
“Go on, darling,” Tahani smiled, and then she turned to Chidi with a stern look on her face. “Text me to make sure sh—you guys get home safe, okay?”
Chidi nodded then and congratulated Tahani on getting married. Eleanor leaned in and called her “the most prettiest bride EVER,” after hugging her goodbye.
Hours later, the wedding ended with Larry carrying Tahani back to the house, bridal style, except it was only because Tahani was too drunk to stand, let alone walk to their car to get home.