I'm walking again to the beat of a drum

After she dabbed at her eyes, they exchanged their wedding bands. They’d picked out rings with rubies to match their wedding colors of red and gold rather than going with the classic diamond. Then Kurt, with the power vested in him by the internet, pronounced them husband and wife. She barely waited for him to tell Finn to kiss her before she threw her arms around his neck.

As she kissed her husband for the first time, it was somehow completely familiar and completely new at the same time. She heard the guests and the bridal party applaud them, but she didn’t need the applause to live anymore. All she needed was this man and his love.

When they broke apart Rachel lifted her arms over her head euphorically and shouted, “Finally!”

Everyone in the room laughed for a moment, then Rachel took Finn’s arm as Blaine began to play once more. They made their way back up the aisle, and Rachel made sure to take a moment to squeeze each of her dads’ hands.

They exited the room, and Rachel pulled Finn to the side, even as the wedding party was following them out. She smiled at him, wrapping her arms up around his shoulders again. She pulled her husband–her husband–in for a short kiss.

“Me either,” Rachel whispered back.

Finn’s face broke into a grin and he hugged her tightly, picking her up and spinning her around, watching as the full skirt of her dress spread and twirled with her.  Rachel laughed and swatted at his arm, joking that he better not do anything to ruin her dress before the evening was up until he finally set her down again

“I can’t believe that after 10 months of planning, it went by that fast,” Finn said, reaching down to smooth down parts of Rachel’s dress that had gotten a bit twisted in his excitement.

Rachel pushed up onto her toes to steal another kiss.  “It’s not over yet, you know,” she said.  “Now it’s time for the party!  And it’s time for me to make a costume change.  But you don’t have to wait to see this one.  Come on - I’ll need help getting out of this thing.”

She tugged him by the hand, leading him down the hallway and back towards their room.  Finn just smiled and let her lead him, being careful not to step on the long skirt of her dress.  “I’ve got you, no worries.”

Blaine was playing a beautiful version of the wedding march, which he’d arranged himself, and she did her best to walk in time with it, even though it felt like the aisle was getting longer and longer with every step.

When she finally, finally reached the top of the aisle, her dads kissed her on each cheek, then went to sit down. After a moment of silence, Kurt spoke up.

She knew what he was saying, he’d said it before when they’d rehearsed, and also because Rachel had wanted to hear what he planned to say beforehand. He added in a joke that made everyone laugh, and invited Finn and Rachel to say their vows. Rachel spoke first.

“Finn, I’ve loved you since before I really knew what loving someone was. You were the first person who really, truly made me feel loved in return. I have never been more happy than these past few years living with you, and getting to love you every day. You’ve supported me through my wildest ambitions, and believed in me even when I didn’t believe in myself.” Rachel took a moment to take a few deep breaths, and regather herself, as she’d begun to tear up.

“From the moment we met, it’s definitely been a roller coaster. I thought I was going to go crazy sometimes, but I always had faith in us. I knew I wanted you forever, I just had to wait until we were both ready for forever to start. And not we’re here, starting our forever, and I wouldn’t change a thing.

One by one their bridesmaids paired up with the groomsmen and headed down the aisle, splitting at the end to make way for Finn’s entrance.  The entire time he walked in, his mom’s arm tucked through his own, he didn’t remember breathing.  All his focus went on not tripping and on not just running down to the end of the aisle.  Now that things were underway, it felt like so much of his nerves and stress of planning melted away.  All he wanted now was to finally get to see Rachel in her sure-to-be gorgeous gown.

After a walk that felt like it took years, he finally reached the end of the aisle.  He hugged his mother and kissed her cheek before turning to take his place.

And then, it was time.

Rachel came around the corner, one of her fathers on each arm, and Finn felt all the air get knocked out of him at the sight.  Never had she looked more stunning than she did walking towards him, smile taking up her whole face and eyes already shining with tears threatening to fall.  They had waited so long for this day, and now they were a matter of minutes away from finally being married.

Everything Kurt said once Rachel joined him at the front was a blur.  All he could focus on was how beautiful his bride looked.  He wanted to take in every last little detail, so that he could remember this day forever; he wanted to memorize every last word of her vows that she spoke and how they made him feel.  He hoped that his own would make her feel just as amazing.

“I bet there are some people with us today who never thought we would get here,” Finn began.  A few chuckles echoed around the room, and he couldn’t help but crack his own smile.  “I know there were times when I was scared we wouldn’t either.  We were pretty much the definition ‘opposites attract,’ after all.  When we met, I was a scared kid who didn’t want to admit to anything that made him different, but you...

“Rachel, you’ve always been proud of who you are.  You’ve always been determined and ambitious and so full of life, and thank god I met you when I did so some of that could rub off on me,” he said, giving her hands resting trembling in his own a tight squeeze.  “I can’t imagine who I would have become, what kind of person I’d have ended up as, without you there to bring out the best in me and to love me when I wasn’t sure how to do it myself.”

Finn took a moment to take a deep breath.  He didn’t want to forget anything he’d planned to say, which seemed hard considering his heart felt like it might pound out of his chest at any moment.

When Rachel went to bed last night, she was engaged. When she goes to bed tonight, she’ll be married. Actually, she’ll be married in about half an hour.  Her hair was done, her makeup was done, her nails were done, her dress was on, her shoes were on. She was ready.

Her dads had taken her out to breakfast that morning, then she, Kurt, and all of her bridesmaids had gotten their stuff together and met in the hotel room she and Finn would be staying in that night to get ready.

Kurt had been hovering nearby all day, making sure she had everything she needed, and answering her phone for her, only asking her questions when it was absolutely necessary. She was grateful for all of his help.

Now she was standing alone in the bedroom of the suite, looking at herself in the floor-length mirror and… she was surprisingly calm. Everything was taken care of, everything was ready, and so was she. She’d been ready for this for years.

She looked down at the ring on her finger, excited to have another join it. She looked out the window at the city. She watched the people walking in the streets who had no idea that the beginning of the rest of her life was starting today. She couldn’t wait. After taking a look at the clock on the nightstand, she made her way out to the living room part of the suite where everyone was waiting for her.

Her dads, Kurt, Mercedes, Tina, and Santana were all there. The girls in their gorgeous red dresses and Kurt in his fantastic, fantastic tux. She took a deep breath.

“Thank you, all of you, for being here and sticking through all of this with me. And I don’t mean just today, or planning the wedding,” she said. “I mean all of it. I wouldn’t be where I am right now, I wouldn’t be as happy as I am right now without each and every one of you. So thank you. Thank you so much.”

She blinked back tears as everyone got up for a group hug, being mindful of her hair and dress. A few moments after they broke apart, Blaine popped his head into the room.

“Ready?” he asked.

He tugged at the sleeves of his shirt again, fidgeting with the cuff links, before a hand clapped down on his shoulder and stilled him.  Finn jumped, startled.

“You seem nervous” Burt said, not bothering to ask.  Finn only nodded in reply.  “Don’t be.  I’ve done this twice, remember?  I promise that no matter what happens, it’ll feel like the best day.”

Finn nodded, taking a deep breath.  “I hope so.  I feel like I’ve waited forever for it to get here.  I mean, I know we weren’t ready last time we were going to get married, but we are now.  I know we are.  I just want it to be the day she deserves.”

“It will be,” he insisted.  “And Finn?”

He snapped his head up to look at his step-father as he moved to stand in front of him.

“You deserve it too.  And you’ll get it.  Everything is going to go perfectly.  Now stop messing with those or I’ll go get Kurt back in here to fuss over them again.”

“Speaking of my husband,” Blaine chimed in, popping up next to Finn before he could reply to the threat of sending his step-brother after him, “I just got back from checking on everyone over there.  They’re ready when we are.”

Burt held a hand out to Finn and helped him to his feet, patting him once on the back.  “Let’s go do this,” he said.

Oh my god. Oh my god. 

Oh my god. Oh my god.