July 23

Alan had been keeping tabs on the mail, waiting for another letter from the Vow, inc. It was a recent thing because at first? He hadn't even bothered to sign himself up again. Matter of fact, he'd fallen into old habits. The kind that he'd done when he wasn't living in Evergreen. Before he met his sister. Before their mother had died. And he was all about the casual sex. Or more accurately, a brief fling.

The irony was around the time he discovered that his lover at the time entered herself into the pools. Combine that with all the persuading Carrie was trying to do and Alan figured now was as good a time as any to do so. After all, it wasn't like he would be hooking up with Quinn ever again.

When he did so, he hadn't expected to get any match so quickly. I mean, what were the chances? What was most unexpected was the agreement he and his new wife had come to. And that entailed getting married without even seeing each other's face. He could barely believe it. I mean, he'd met Kamryn and things didn't work out. Wouldn't this make things chanicer?

Still, here he was. At the chapel, waiting for Isabel to come down the aisle. Alan couldn't say that he was especially nervous. But guarded? Maybe a little.

If there was anything Isabel was good at, it was last-minute decisions.

Fifteen minutes was how long it'd taken her to decide she was going to open a hot-dog stand on Tybee Island with a man who looked like a cross between Jimi Hendrix and Yoda. That had been one of the best years of her life, culminating in a brief, mad affair with Yoda Hendrix's son (who must've taken after his mother) and enough money to cover half her Vow expenses.

She straightened her gown, taking a deep breath. It wasn't anything truly fancy; the simplest thing they had in the Vow's dressing rooms, white and plain and just swishy enough to make Isabel giggle and spin, once, in front of the mirror. So sue her. She was allowed one girly moment, wasn't she?

The hot dog stand had, up until this point, been the most impetuous decision of her life. But the decision not to meet her husband until she met him at the altar definitely surpassed it by leaps and bounds. There was no use, she figured, getting all worked up beforehand about insecurities and incompatibilities, though. That would just complicate things. Every person in the world had things that made them compatible and incompatible with everyone else. Seeing as The Vow had deemed Isabel and Alan to have enough in common for marriage, she had decided, for now, not to worry about the incompatibilities.

As she stepped through the doors and down the chapel aisle, she couldn't help it. She winked at him, letting a grin spread across her face.

Whatever else this was going to be, it was an adventure - and Isabel loved adventures.

He let out a small breath of relief to see a woman come out in a wedding gown. Well, that was the first hurdle. Thank fucking God. All right, so he really had been anxious this go around. Well, better to admit it. But funny thing. The last thing he was expecting was to see Isabel wink at him. And before he knew it, he returned her grin.

She appeared strangely giddy today and that was adorable. Also gave him a burst of pride to think she was so ready and willing to marry him. Without even seeing his face or knowing his personality. Which wasn't very sensible, truly. Neither of them had any idea what would happen once they got to know each other. If anything would change. But... it seemed nice to be optimistic.

Alan stood then, waiting for her to join him at the altar, straightening himself up so that he wouldn't slouch. Not that he was a sloucher but you never knew. It wasn't too much longer that both participants were where they needed to be and the minister began the ceremony.

The "I dos" were more than a little bit of a blur to Isabel, honestly. She spent most of the time examining her new husband. He was really quite cute, she decided - she definitely could have done a lot worse. One parts little-boy adorable, and she was sure there were a couple parts smoulder in there that she might be able to coax out later.

The thing she liked the most about him, at that very moment? He was a complete unknown. In fact, the only thing she did know about him was that he was crazy enough to leap without looking, just like her. That struck a chord somewhere deep down.

It wasn't until the bit about kissing the bride that Isabel actually returned to reality. Everything had been a bit fuzzy, and then came into clear focus. She didn't have any relatives in Evergreen, but she did look over at Devin - the one friend she had here - and smiled.

"Well, are you gonna," She looked up at him, a smirk curving her lips. "Or am I gonna have to do all the work?"

For his part, Alan didn't focus too much on the whole vows thing either. Because he'd already been at this part before. Quite recently, even. Not even a year ago. It wasn't like he needed to hear it again. He still remembered from the last time, after all.

Instead, Alan spent time focused on other things. The people around. Carrie who he appreciated showing up. Wondering if there were another place they could have had the wedding that the Vow could have paid for. But doubting it very much. And of course, checking out his bride. Because why not?

He wasn't at all displeased by her appearance. Not that he would have let her know it if he had been. But she was very pretty. She had a mature, exotic look going for her which was impressive. Because he was pretty damn sure she was younger than him to a degree.

Eventually, it all came to a close and the man snapped focus. Which wasn't hard as he had been at least half listening, waiting for a tone and all. And that had been the "you may now kiss the bride" tone.

Any thoughts Alan had of trying to be a gentleman found themselves unneeded when Isabel spoke before he had a chance to move. And her words hit the mark going straight down to... where you can guess. His flared nostrils the only sign that he'd found her confidence so fucking hot, Alan continued smiling like a gentleman.

Then he leaned in, pulling her forward and kissed her. And it was certainly not a gentleman's kiss. But he made it quick because people. Now he did smirk, wanting to see her reaction.

Oh, but the man could kiss.

Her brain was, momentarily, blank, so she did what any self-respecting bride would do. She ran her hands up his chest, into his hair, and she, in the most indecent manner possible, kissed the hell out of her hot new husband.

When conscious thought returned, she was breathing a little heavy - and turned to offer Devin a cheeky smile. Most likely, it was oxygen deprivation, but there was a happy sort of buzzing in her head, and she took a deep breath.

When she turned back, Alan was smirking at her like he'd just won some sort of contest. She couldn't help it; she laughed out loud and gave him her most dazzling smile. Well, it looked like this was going to be a hell of a lot more fun than she'd anticipated. If he thought it was going to be easy, though, he had another thing coming. If he wanted her admiration, he'd have to earn it. And she could certainly think of a dozen electrifying ways he could do just that.

"Not bad, Rookie," she said, as the music started for them to head back up the aisle and to their reception. "But I'll have to..." her eyes flickered over his body. "Run some tests, later."

He'd aimed to make the kiss quick because he was trying to avoid indecency. At least in public and everything. But Isabel had pretty much made it pointless by her response.

Jesus Christ, it was all he could do to just limit his hands at her waist. Because he wanted so much more. His last true thought before he pretty nearly lost himself was to try and hide the effect she had him. In such a short time...

And with admirable will, he pulled away before he did something stupid and horribly embarrassing. Put the smirk on his face... And let her laughter distract him and cheer him. It was a great laugh. And that smile...

When she called him "Rookie," Alan was speechless for a mere moment before letting out a bark of laughter of his own. Brief but there. And then his body warmed at the way she looked him over.

This was the last way he'd expected this to go. He brought himself back down, knowing that just because it seemed he had more chemistry with her than he'd gotten with any of his previous matches didn't mean he should relax so easily.

"Look forward to it." He stated simply, before taking hold of her hand so they could move down the aisle together.