Authorâs Note: Wow, itâs been a long time since Iâve done this but here goes. I originally wrote this as a writing exercise with different characters in mind but decided it would be the perfect piece to test out my fic writing skills again. Please be kind but also donât be shy with the criticism or love.Â
âI never imagined myself in a wedding dress,â you say. You study your reflection for a moment in the floor-length mirror before your eyes drift towards Calum. Heâs kneeling on the floor in front of you, pushpins balancing dangerously in between his lips. You can tell heâs trying not to look up at you, his eyes trained on the hem heâs working on. You stifle a sigh and push on. âI always thought if I got married, Iâd just show up at the courthouse in jeans and a t-shirt. Oh! Maybe a bikini fresh from a dip in a hotel pool!â
The pushpins scatter, flying in all different directions as Calum lets out a hearty laugh. âYouâre something else, you know that?â He drops the hem of the gown and runs his now free hands through his hair.
âYouâd be so bored without me,â you pipe.Â
Bored doesnât even begin to describe it; he thinks as he steals a glance at you for the first time. He thinks back to the moment he first laid eyes on you, all those years ago. You guys were seven, and you were hanging upside down on the monkey bars, pigtails grazing the wood chip-covered ground in the breeze. He was drawn to you instantly, even when you let out the most menacing, Wicked Witch of the West style laugh.
Calumâs so lost in the memory he doesnât even have time to process what youâre doing until itâs too late. Youâre on your hands and knees, helping him pick up the stray pins. His heart nearly stops when the delicate lace on the bodice catches on the crystal appliquĂŠs of the floor-length mirror.
âWould you please just stand there and look pretty,â Calum hisses, shaking his head.
His words may be harsh, but you know thereâs nothing but love underneath them. Thereâs never been anything but love underneath his words. Even that time he told you to âfuck offâ when you barged into his dorm room freshman year, moments before he lost his virginity. You shake your head, willing the memory to go back into its box in the deepest, darkest corner of her mind.
You stand, looking down at Calum with a pout forming on her face. The Y/N Pout⢠as Calum has come to refer to it as. âAm I not always pretty?â
Calum lets out an exasperated sigh. This is what he gets for asking you to fill in for a bride-to-be who had to cancel her fitting for a âvenue emergency.â As if the wedding venue was more important than the wedding dress that cost the same as several monthâs worths of rent at his shitty studio apartment.
âYouâre gorgeous, Y/N; you donât need me to tell you that.â
âDoesnât mean I donât like hearing it,â you say, sticking your tongue out. Truthfully, heâs the only one who has ever called you gorgeous, but youâre not about to tell him that. Itâll just make him blush. And if thereâs one thing you canât resist, itâs a blushing Calum. Instead, you make a big show of getting back onto the pedestal, picking the bottom of the gown up as if youâre an eighteenth-century Princess who has just let the love of her life walk out on her. âHow does she expect to dance in this thing?â
Calum reclaims his spot, kneeling in front of you. One hand holding the delicate fabric, the other working a pushpin through it for the seamstress. âShe wonât. Thatâs what the reception dress is for.â
âA reception dress?â you choke out. âBut she spent,â you pause, looking at the receipt on the small side table. â$10,000!â You fan yourself and turn around. âTy, I donât think I should be wearing this dress.â
Calum grunts in response, pushpins back between his lips. If thereâs anyone who should be wearing this dress, itâs you. He quickly shakes the thought away, steadying his hands as he works the pushpin through.
âWhat kind of monster spends $10,000 on a dress sheâs not even going to wear the whole night! I think Iâm going to be sick.â
âDonât you dare,â Calum warns, working the final pushpin through the fabric, securing the hemline. He stands, wiping his hands on his pants before offering you his hand. âCome on queasy, letâs get you out of that dress before you do something stupid.â
âI donât think anything is stupider than spending $10,000 on a wedding dress,â you say, accepting his hand. You try to ignore the static shock that jolts through your body at the contact. Heâs helped you up millions of times, and this should be no different. Before you have time to dwell, you carefully make your way back to the small dressing room.
Calum cleans up as you wrestle with the gown in the dressing room. A thread of profanities falls from your lips before you emerges a moment later in a bright pair of jeans and a polka-dotted sweater. You gently hand the gown to Calum, who gingerly hangs it back up on a rack full of white dresses â none of which sparkle quite like this one.
âI feel human again!â you shout, dancing around the room. âNext time you need a fill-in bride for a fitting, do me a favor and donât call me.â
Itâs Calumâs turn to pout, brown eyes growing three times the size. âBut whatever are best friends for if not for trying on ridiculously expensive wedding dresses?â
âFine,â you say, giving in. âBut I expected a proper proposal next time. None of this five am emergency text nonsense.â
Calum grabs your hand and immediately drops to his knees; a playful glint dances across his eyes. You look at him wide-eyed, lips tugging up at the corners. âY/N Y/L/N, will you be my fake bride from now until eternity?â
You clap your free hand over your mouth. âOh, Calum,â you say, taking on a British accent for reasons not even she knows. âIt would be my honor.â
Calum laughs so hard he loses his balance, sending you both tumbling to the pearly white floor. âWhat was that accent?â Calum manages to get out between laughs and gasps for air.
âI donât know!â you shout, eyes brimming with tears from laughter. âIt sort of just popped out.â
âDonât you mean it, popped out?â Calum says, delivering the last part in his own take on a terrible British accent.
You shove him away before quickly pulling him back towards you. You bury your face in the crook of his neck. âI hate you.â
âHate you too,â he says as his smile spreads across his face revealing a dimple on his cheek.
You stay like that for a moment. A tangled web of limbs, laughing and enjoying each otherâs closeness. Itâs been a while since youâve just reveled in each otherâs company even though you both live in the same city. Calumâs been busy, working crazy hours to prove himself at Something Blue, the wedding gown boutique that specializes in outrageous, occasionally blue-dyed wedding gowns. And youâve been holed up in random libraries, working on your dissertation. You do text throughout the day. You send him various gifs of a person jumping off a bridge, and Calum responds with various pictures of glorious diner food items youâd miss if you did it. And you try to FaceTime at least once a week, but itâs not the same as being in each otherâs presence. When the two of you are together, itâs almost like youâre two sides of the same person. You complete each other.
Neither of you is ready to pull apart, but your stomach doesnât get the memo, sending an echoing growl through Something Blue. You move from the crook of Calumâs neck and instead muffle your laughter in his chest. Calum does his best to keep his heartbeat under control.
âCome on. I think I owe you and your Hungry, Hungry Hippo stomach breakfast.â
âFrankieâs breakfast extravaganza?â you ask, pulling away from Calum so you can look up into his eyes. It takes all your might not to reach out and poke the dimple on his cheek.
Calum gasps dramatically, âIâm offended you have to ask!â
Just as quickly as you fell, youâre back on your feet and standing a safe distance away from each other. The loss of contact is immediately felt between both of you but neither wants to admit it, out loud or to yourselves. Calum runs a nervous hand through his hair as his cheek dimple disappears. You tug at your sweater that had ridden up before you turn towards him, smiling again.
âShall we,â you ask, British accent back in full force.
Calum shakes his head before offering you his arm, âLead the way, mâlady.â