out of willumax madwise being the ones to get legally married out of pure spite and protest. the wedding is all three of them committing to each other but madwise have the paper.
when lucas brought up the topic of marriage to max neither of them felt it was right to get married without lucas and will also sharing that same commitment. lucas proposed to will a few months later and told him that this commitment meant just as much as his commitment to max and that they would figure it all out together. the two of them cried together for hours, sharing all of their love and grief and hopes and fears.
max had the idea in one of her small, sacred late night conversations with will, where they kick lucas out to the spare room and talk late into the night. “i still worry about you feeling left out, when it comes to legal stuff and, like, adult stuff.” “i know, max, but its okay. i’ve made my peace with it.” “fuck making peace, i’m writing your name on the paper instead of lucas’” it was a joke at the time but by morning she was more serious about this than anything.
will loves calling max his wife even though it confuses the fuck out of his coworkers who swore he was gay because of the fact that he is open about being gay. he has a running bet with nancy (who works in the same office) about when someone will be brave enough to actually ask about it. it takes until the day he’s leaving for someone to bring it up and he can’t even answer because he and nancy are in fits of tears over the fact that it took five years for someone to finally ask.
lucas is more subtle with his fuckery. he goes long periods talking about his wife and his best friend, then suddenly he will talk about his ex girlfriend (max’s idea because “it’s technically not a lie”) and his husband, putting names to both. he hears his coworkers conspiring about it when he’s not in the room and it fuels him for days. eventually he opened up to his deskmate that he has a wife and a husband and swears them to secrecy about it, not because he’s worried about facing bigotry but because he thinks it’s so damn funny.
the day gay marriage gets legalised in california will and max file for divorce. they get home and all three of them sit at the kitchen table, waiting for someone to speak. max finally does and she says something neither of the others expect, but as soon as she says it they can’t imagine her saying anything else. “you two are gonna get married. me and lucas don’t need it, it doesn’t mean anything for us.” a beat passes where no one else speaks and they look at each other, then they all burst out in screams and laughter and celebration.
they decide to have another wedding, just for lucas and will, and max officiates. in a quiet moment before the ceremony max also renews her vows with lucas, and renews her friendship vows with will. they’re all a blubbering mess by the end of it all even more so than their first wedding. it’s bigger than their first wedding, too, having lived more life and found more people to call theirs. the reception goes until the early hours of the morning, nobody wanting to leave the bubble of love and peace and joy that this little family unit has created.
decades on, will gets in an accident. he doesn’t recover from his injuries. it isn’t until a decade after that that lucas and max can even talk about the possibility of getting legally married, but they never do. instead they honour their husband and soulmate who they lost far sooner than either of them were ready for, and they talk about how glad they both were to have been married him.
