April 8, 2012

It had been three hours. Allison sat in her small dressing room area and waited. Patiently waited. She wasn't supposed to be there until about half an hour before the wedding, but she fussed (in the sweetest way possible) and the Vow gave her one of the extra rooms. She still had a few minutes until she had to be completely ready, so her dress wasn't on yet. She couldn't get it too wrinkled before the biggest moment of her entire life happened. Her dream was coming true. People had said that before, but this was legit. She had worked for this moment, waited for this moment, and it actually happened. Either luck was on her side, or she was actually meant to be with Deon Matranga. Without batting an eye, she always leaned on the side of destiny. Deon was a busy guy and had other things to worry about besides finding your soul mate and making sure you ended up together, so it was on her. If she hadn't moved here and put her name in those pools, he would be stuck with someone that didn't appreciate him or love him the way she did. No one loved him the way she did. She knew that and she knew he deserved to be with his soul mate after everything he had been through. This was his light at the end of the tunnel.

Alli made sure, for the eighth time, that every hair was in place and each bobby pin was going to hold. It held for this long, so in reality, it should stay for another hour, or however long this wedding would take. It would be her dream wedding in the sense of who would be waiting for her at the end of the aisle, but she had always kind of envisioned a much larger wedding with her family present and a huge reception afterwards. But this was better for Deon. In fact, when she peeked through the blinds on the one small window she had, she could already see a couple paparazzi showing up. Another reason her hair needed to be perfect.

She stood up and examined herself. Standing there completely topless (because that dress had no room for a bra and it was just too much to deal with), with her white wedding day panties, complete with a small blue bow that matched the small blue bow on her garter, she checked each strap of her garter belt that held up her slightly white thigh high hose. This was the other view Deon would get later after she let him rip that dress off of her. Smiling, she turned around to look at the back view. It's a good thing all that working out wasn't going to go unnoticed tonight. From how good Demetri was back at the bar, she was ready to get a taste, and feel, for the other Matranga. If she wasn't living her own life, she would be completely envious.

Before she could get too hot and bothered with her own thoughts, she glanced at the clock on the wall. It was time. After her dress was on, fitting perfectly, she slipped on her shoes that were on the verge of being completely ridiculous. They were sparkley and tall and she loved them. It was her wedding day, she was becoming Mrs. Deon Matranga. She had to look celebrity worthy. Grabbing her bouquet of simple white daisies, she headed out to meet the chipper Vow employee and stood in front of the double doors that separated her from this life to a completely different dream life she was more than ready to start. Through the front doors of the chapel, she could hear faint talking and saw a rush of flashes from the few paparazzi cameras. She wondered where those pictures would go. Los Angeles? New York? She wanted to turn and smile for them, but knew there would be plenty of time later for all of that. Now, she had to focus on moving forward towards the opening doors.

Shockingly, Deon was there on time; men of Matranga blood were notoriously easily distracted, so this clearly had to be some miracle designed solely by the heavens that he had been able to wrangle up both himself AND his twin an hour before the ceremony was supposed to start, convince him to, you know, put on clothes (he actually felt a little bad for interrupting his brother's first day with his new wife by banging on the front door yelling that he either he could put on a pair of pants or miss the thing entirely, which probably did nothing to endear him to Demetri's neighbors) and somehow still make it to the church without any major disasters or insisting on stopping to take a picture by a town landmark or punching any paparazzi in the face. The last two came close, but fortunately didn't happen in their entirety.

Deon was too hungover to be nervous about the wedding itself. Stupidly, he'd taken some caffeine pills earlier that had yet to kick in as well as an unidentified capsule he'd found in his suit pocket, and instead it had left him feeling decidedly in an odd headspace where he felt about two feet higher than he was really was. Wait, was this one of those weird lucid dream things again? Aw hell, he didn't know. He was pretty sure at this point that if he HAD turned into Giraffe!Deo, they would have informed him. But what if they didn't? What if he was Giraffe!Deo and everyone was too polite to say anything because he was getting married today and they didn't want him to have a freakout like that one time he and Demetri wandered into a party at Chuck E. Cheese's and got into a fight with the animatronics - OH GOD WHAT IF ALLISON WAS AN ANDROID JUST WAITING FOR HER SWEET, ROBOTIC VENGEANCE?! HE DIDN'T WANT TERMINATOR CHILDREN SOMEDAY. HE SHOULD HAVE WRITTEN THAT DOWN SPECIFICALLY.

"Demi, I'm freaking out man," Deo said, seizing his brother-slash-best-man by the lapels and staring intently at him. He looked terribly serious, and to onlookers it might have had all appearances of a heart-warming interlude between two men that had once shared a womb, complete with the sort of expression that clearly stated 'this is it and I have something very important and possibly very touching to say to you'. Nope. "Please, I really need to know that I'm not a giraffe right now."

This was exactly why it was bad luck for engaged couples to see each other before the wedding. One of them could turn out to be Deon.

The pastor, who had eyeing him as if expecting him to suddenly burst into flames either by virtue of how easy it was to mistake (the decidedly NOT like a giraffe) Deo for the antichrist or simply the fact that Mr. Matranga was being kind of an idiot, cleared his throat; Deo stared at him for a good few moments before realizing that the ceremony was about to start. Evidently Allison Phifer had shown up, unless they were going to have some The Vow Inc. employee come down the aisle and inform him that she'd rather decided that she didn't want to marry him (which Deon really couldn't have argued with - he wouldn't want to marry himself either), and he needed to be standing over there instead of that weird off-to-the-side thing he was doing now. Shuffling over, he took a deep breath to steady his nerves and tried desperately to compose himself, fiddling with the keys in his pocket. Right. Wedding. Kind of supposed to be the most important day of his and this mysterious lady's life, wasn't it?

With that thought, the bridal march blared through the chapel and he glanced over a shoulder in time to see the doors swing open amid a myriad of flashes, offering him a first look at his bride. Hooooooooooooly shit, was there a girl there underneath all that bling? He liked what he saw, anyway, and that was probably a good sign - this Allison Phifer chick was a babe (at least from a distance) and he found himself beaming at his own luck. Uh, hell yes? Three billion ladies in the world and he got Wedding Barbie. Life 28135, Deo 1.

As she neared, however, Deon was struck with a moment of clarity and realization; he knew that face. It was a pretty one, definitely, but he'd seen it, what, three times before? Four? He'd shaken her hand a couple times, taken a couple pictures, had a nice, milquetoast chat with her once or twice like he did with anyone that came up to him at those things. More importantly, he'd seen her at the bar two nights before... or at least he thought he did, since Deo didn't exactly trust his mental state at the moment. Of COURSE. WHY DIDN'T HE FLIPPING REALIZE AJSDHAJSDHALS HE FELT LIKE AN IDIOT. Er. Even more of one than usual, even.

Once she'd made it close enough to warrant it, he closed the gap of a few steps to offer his hand. "Allison?" Yes. She'd introduced herself as Alli - of freaking course it was starting to make sense, why the hell wasn't he more attentive when he was drunk? Why hadn't she TOLD him? He would've bought her so many drinks! Despite his confusion, he smiled warmly at her. "Wow, you look... wow. You up for doing this?"

He was seriously going to be so pissed if she turned out to be a Terminator.

Carefully stepping forward, Allison balanced on her heels like the regular pro that she was. She didn't want any doubts in her own balance to jinx herself. Looking down to the end of the aisle, she saw Deon... and Demetri. Why did she think it would only be Deon here? Of course his twin would be here as his best man. Of course the man she fucked in the bathroom stall during their bachelor party would be there, standing next to the one she was marrying. It didn't matter. Really. It was a one time thing and it was before they were married. Demetri's face saw her, and his smile and excitement seemed to drain from his body. Oh boy, he did remember that night. Her eyes quickly left his. Allison tried to focus on Deon. The music blared behind her and she felt like a princess that was finally marrying her prince before the happily ever after began. She was like Cinderella... except for the whole being poor and not having a dad thing. He was known by everyone and she was just simple girl that always dreamed of being with him.

Did he recognize her? She bit her lip and looked down briefly, feigning some bashful tendencies. The look on his face was sending chills down her spine. He liked what he saw. She had seen that look before. A real smile graced her face. He looked so handsome. Him and Demetri both looked fantastic in their jackets and ties. Deon, focus on Deon. Who now had the face of realization. But only slight realization. Maybe he just remembered her from the bar when she introduced herself, but left out the fact that she knew she was marrying him in the next 24 hours or so. Why did she leave that part out? Well, so she could be with Demetri of course. It all made sense in her mind and that was all that mattered. She played her game and she won. That was that. Honestly, she was proud of herself. At least she made it discrete and didn't take him all the way home so they could have multiple rounds. Mild regret was covered with the fact that her last name would soon be Matranga.

Allison's heart melted as Deon stepped forward and offered his hand. Her breath left her chest completely as her full name escaped his lips with that tone. It was just his voice, but it was enough. Then that smile. Oh that smile. The smile that made her knees weak. And this wasn't just a smile from a poster or a picture saved on her computer, no, this was in person, and aimed at her. And it wasn't just that polite one she was so used to seeing. Not the smile he gave all his fans before he signed their posters (or boobs...), no, this was a different smile. A smile reserved for only special moments. And it was all for her. Her smile was still on her face and it widened even more. She nodded, assuring him that she was, in fact, Allison. She lifted her hand and placed it in his. As their hands met, she breathed in quickly. She had touched him the previous night at the bar, shook hands with him, everything, but that was just like another meet and greet. It was artificial. This was somehow different, again. Everything seemed hazy around him and only Deon was in focus.

This didn't seem real, but she knew it was. She had planned for this moment for years. YEARS. Her hand in his as he's greeting her at the alter and now he was complimenting her looks without being able to find words? Success on the dress front. She looked him up and down, the real Allison showing herself slightly, "You are also...Wow." And what a ridiculous question from him. Was she still up for this? She had been here for three hours just waiting. She was more than up for this. "Of course!" She stepped forward slightly, joining him at the alter with what seemed to be a mildly annoyed minister. Was he annoyed at them, or just the fact that he had to do more than enough of these weddings to drive him clinically insane? Maybe he'd lost all hope in this 'sanctity of marriage' shit. Either way, he better buck up and get her married to Deon.

She handed her flowers off to some helper girl because Alli was, at the moment, without a maid of honor or anyone else on her side. Her parents weren't going to come to some wedding they were sure she made up, and her friends kind of felt the same way. Jokes on them when all those paparazzi outside print the pictures of her with Deon. The minister droned on and said the words he had probably already said eight times that day. She took this time to study Deon. He was close and right in front of her. There was no rush of girls around her, they weren't at a bar and he wasn't drunk. She didn't think. He was probably hungover with the state the twins had actually been in when she met up with them. His eyes seemed to dart around and might be slightly glassy. His pupils were fairly dilated, but that could be from anything. He had his history, but she couldn't pass judgement so quickly. She was going to be his wife, so she had to support him and be there no matter what. It was a little soon to start the for better or worse stuff, but she could handle it. Being with a Matranga wasn't going to be a walk in the park by any means.

Every time their eyes met, she didn't break the gaze. Her eyes were locked on his. Before she knew it, the minister was silent except for a clearing of his throat. Her eyes were big and innocent, playing it up a little bit, and she looked up at him. 'Please... repeat after me...' Her heart jumped a little and she nodded once while smiling up at him, ready to do as he said. "I... Allison Tallulah Phifer... Take you Deon... To be my lawfully wedded husband..." She couldn't help but smile a little wider when she said his name and then again at the word husband. She got through the entire ordeal before it was his turn to say the same. Amazing how she had watched weddings and wished it was her, but now it seemed boring. It was like all this hullabaloo was just in the way of her being married and getting him back to the bedroom to begin their marriage.

Fortunately oblivious to what had transpired between his bride and his brother an evening or two before, Deon didn't even notice the obvious change in stance and expression on Demetri's part; while he would've never said it out loud, today wasn't about him and there would have been something seriously wrong with Deo if he was more concerned with his sibling's change of color than he was about checking out about the girl was marrying. It was hard enough to concentrate when his heart started racing, which was less a result of her than the pills he'd taken before he'd made it to the church, but he was willing to believe at this point that it was Allison's presence that was able to elicit such a physical reaction. It just sounded so much better that way.

As the officiant started with his speech, Deo found his eyes moving to Allison's pretty blue ones and felt a little awkward whenever they locked. It wasn't a BAD awkward or anything. He was always grateful of his fans, especially when his brother had earned more accolades and attention once it'd become apparent that Demetri had received all the sylphlike, hairless genes while Deon, by his own admission, was built more like a mix between a tree and a relatively attractive yeti. That didn't mean that he'd ever actually thought he'd marry one of them (fans, I mean, not yetis). Maybe when he was older and Allison had been bumped up a couple years, in another time and place and universe where they weren't doing this 'getting married' thing right now, he'd have asked her out. Maybe. It didn't change a thing that she looked beautiful - although he had to wonder how old exactly she was - and that if he wasn't standing in front of an altar with her he would've at least hit on her a little regardless of the fact that she couldn't have been a day over 22. It was totally fair game if she was allowed into a bar without an adult present.

Granted, this was a rather moot point since Deo was here with her now and churches didn't card as far as he knew.

When it was Allison's turn to talk he listened, smiling warmly at his bride half because he was thrilled, really, by his good fortune on the Wife Hotness scale, and the other half because he was afraid that if he looked anything less than totally cool with this she'd realize that he was on something and that he wouldn't have been able to tell her exactly what. Not really the best way to start off their marriage. Oh well - nothing he could do about it now. Other than, you know, not mess up any further. Yeah.

She finished and Deo, more than used to saying his lines, repeated back with every ounce of sincerity in him, "I, Deon, take you Allison to be my lawfully wedded wife-" He could do this; no froo-froo declarations of love or promises he didn't know if he could or even wanted to keep, no unity candles or anything overly complicated or symbolic. Sure, he could improvise some vows if he wanted to, but he got the feeling that he was already on thin ice with the minister at this point and didn't want to push his luck by freestyling. Just words and rings and a signature and bam, done. Simple. Even he couldn't fuck this up. "- to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, or at least until you get bored-" HEY HEY HEY LET'S STICK TO THE PROGRAM HERE MISTER, "-for richer or for poorer, and in sickness and in health, til death do us part."

Suitably satisfied by the responses, the officiant moved onto the next step and Deon turned to take Allison's ring from his brother - or, rather, bit back a grin as Demetri reached into one pocket for it and came up empty, then frantically checked the other. He allowed this to go on for a few seconds further before he let go of Allison's digits to ask in a loud, worried whisper, "Did you eat it?" Sadly, Deon was legit serious and even more sadly he had reason to assume that this was the issue. When the circle was procured out of the first pocket Demetri had checked, Deon gave his brother a relieved thumbs up in exchange and turned back to Alli.

He poised the ring at the appropriate finger, raising an eyebrow at her as if to say last chance, kiddo. This only lasted for a moment before it was slipped past her knuckle and nestled with some finality there. "With this ring, I thee wed."

Allison's eyes didn't leave Deon's for the rest of the ceremony. Their eyes would meet, and he would break it in the cutest way. It was surreal seeing him this close, having him look directly at her. At every fan meeting, they boys would look at her, but wouldn't really look at her. They would just kind of look through her. They were being polite, because that's what they did. But they didn't look at her the way Deon had been looking at her. It helped that he was, ya know, marrying her at that moment. She felt good about how she looked, and had reason. It left an impression and kept his attention. It didn't look like he wanted to run, but she hadn't even thought about that. The thought of him wanting to leave didn't even cross her mind. It was pointless. She new she was an attractive girl, and she used that to her advantage. She got all the sex she wanted, for the most part, and life just kind of seemed to fall into her hands. Everything she ever wanted just happened. Just the previous night she had Demetri in a bathroom stall and rocked his world. She knew she rocked his world. Even with a touch of Whiskey dick, he didn't seem to take too long. And now she had Deon. Forever. For better or for worse.

Technically, she didn't have him yet. They were still repeating words from the leader of all random marriages who stood in front of them like they were all going through this for no reason. Honestly, though, she didn't completely notice. All she could do was watch the way Deo's lips moved with each word, the way he said her name, the way his eyes darted around, thinking no one really noticed the edge he clearly had. If anyone knew his past, it was her. It wasn't a huge surprise. Hell, she could have used something to calm herself a little bit. For all she knew, he took something just so he could feel normal. That's how these withdrawl things worked, right? In sickness and in health was really going to be put to the test. However, she felt like she had already been put to that test. After hearing everything Deo had been through, she still loved him. She didn't totally know him, but she felt like she did. He needed this. She was proud he chose the Vow. It would keep him grounded. She would keep him grounded. She had a duty now. She wasn't just a fan, she was going to be his wife, too.

Alli's eyes widened slightly as her smile broke into a laugh. "...or at least until you get bored..." Her teeth bit down on her bottom lip as her eyes slowly looked up to the minister who was slightly frowning. She gave her best little innocent shrug to him, eyes big and apologetic, trying to win him over. It was in her nature. She always seemed to turn on that innocent sex appeal when she was in trouble, and it just so happened that it always got her out of trouble. Her mind wandered slightly and she was a little curious as to just how sexually frustrated this minister was. Was he tainted by all of these meaningless marriages he did every day? Maybe he needed to take his aggression out on someone. She always did like to get spank- NO. She was getting married. To Deon. Deon Matranga. She had to stop that now. She couldn't seduce every male she saw anymore. As Deon whispered something to Demetri, her eyes broke this connection she managed to make between her and this man of God, just in time to see Demetri look relieved. Her mouth nearly dropped open at the sight of the ring that Deon presented.

She had a feeling that the ring would be pretty intense, but Lordy! Her holy shit cakes expression met his questioning, last chance connection before she felt the ring slide on to her thing finger. It felt like it belonged there. It was giant and didn't let her other fingers touch, and she loved it. Staring at it for just a moment, she heard the minister clear his throat slightly. Her attention jumped up to the minister before he smiled and suggested she get his ring ready. So, she did just that. She slipped the large ring off of her opposite thumb and held it out, mimicking his previous eyebrow raise to her before slipping his ring on. In all reality, her 'last chance kiddo' look probably made more sense than his. "With this ring, I thee wed..."

Then, came the big moment. They turned towards the front and another lecture of words started again. Thank God they weren't doing a real ceremony. These were just the basics, but still seemed just a little too long and boring for Allison's tastes. She felt like bouncing in anticipation. Even her feet felt like they were holding on to her shoes so she wouldn't just float away with all her giddy, happy, emotions filling her up and making her feel like a little cloud. "I now pronounce you..." He paused, that bastard. Then he winked at her! What was this?! Get on with it, gramps! "man... and wife." A small squeak of elation came out before she turned and threw her arms around his neck, kissing him before they were given permission. With part of her fangirl coming out, she tried to redeem herself, moving her hands to the sides of his face, breaking the kiss slightly, before giving him another, more romantic, kiss. Mrs. Matranga. It felt like it took forever to get there, but here she was.

She had him fooled, she really did. If he'd known for a second that the whole 'innocent' thing was an act, the wide eyes, the bashful lip chewing that inexplicably had Deo's gaze focusing on her mouth, even the angelically virtuous way she seemed to be standing up at the altar with him (although that might have been attributed to her enormous Loboutins and the fact that she seemed to be under a hundred pounds of dress, which would make anyone look like a tiny slip of a thing) he'd have had to commend her acting. He was generally rather slow on the uptake as it was, of course, and compounded with the effects of his pills there was nothing that would have lead him to believe that this girl he was marrying wasn't anything less than the sweetest thing he'd ever seen. She was cute. Ridiculously cute. Even better, she seemed excited to be there with him, and that helped to settle his nerves a little - it felt, maybe just for a couple moments, that this was exactly where he was supposed to be.

Inexplicably pleased with her reaction to the ring (and possibly the fact that they had been able to locate it after all), Deon watched her as she stared with a fairly relieved grin on his face. He really had no idea what people used at these things - if they just got the plain band or if the groom was supposed to man up and buy an engagement ring anyway, despite the very short duration of said betrothal - and had been worried about as much as Deon ever got worried about things that maybe she wouldn't like it or denounce it as horribly gaudy or look at him with those pretty blue eyes and ask why he didn't get her goddamn proper wedding set like a normal person. But no, they didn't move to him in silent demand of something better and instead they'd flicked to the minister, proceeding with the ceremony. There was something funny about her mimic of his expression and the corners of his mouth twitched in an indication that he would've outright laughed at least a little if Mr. Officiant didn't look like he wanted a reason to be kick him out and, like, kidnap Allison for his own or something (he just looked like the sort of dude, okay?). Deo allowed his hand to be taken and the ring to be slid on. Bam. Just like that. Loading marital status 90%.

The last few moments felt something like waiting for the results of an exam - Deon didn't really care for the lecture and really just wanted to know the final score, but he really didn't want to ruin it for his little bride by fidgeting too much because how often did he get married? Uh, NEVER. His mind, however, had already skipped ahead to wanting to get to know her better, possibly via helping her out of that dress as soon as possible later. He found himself holding his breath as the ceremony wound down into its last verses, and he exhaled - luckily - at 'pronounce', and had shifted to turn to seal the deal with The Kiss just in time to catch Allison's lips full on, totally unprepared. Which was totally a hell of a lot more exciting than the mostly clandestine peck he would have gone with given the fact that his very Greek mother was sitting less than ten feet away from them.

"AHAHAWOW," Deon laughed the moment they parted, his hands having settled at her waist. Okay, so Demetri might have married a leggy brunette, but damn him if Deo didn't feel the least bit jealous at that moment; while Allison had always struck him, in the vague, detached way people who fell into the category of fans often did, as a very sweet, pretty, underage girl, it was legitimately one of the most refreshingly spontaneous (and appreciated) kisses of his life. Which he supposed meant something considering she was the newest Mrs. Matranga and she was stuck with him until death or very expensive divorce preceedings did they part, yadda yadda yadda. If he didn't at least feel a few fireworks there was probably something wrong with him, because damn.

Not about to be outdone by his wife - holy hell, his wife - and still buzzing with adrenaline, Deon glanced to the minister, who seemed slightly taken aback by this sudden display. Or maybe he was jealous that Deo got to marry a hot blonde and he didn't. "So I'm allowed to kiss her now, right?" He recieved a nod in return and in a fairly smooth motion shifted his arms up and dipped her as best her could given her monstrous dress (without warning, naturally - Allison didn't strike him as the sort to mind); the kiss he gave her was short and sweet but every bit as genuine as their first, all of thirty seconds ago.

Still held at this slight but very personal angle, Deo looked thoughtful (as thoughtful as Deon got, anyway) and added somewhat matter-of-factly, "I think I liked yours better."