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“You know I do, baby.”
“Good.” Hayes then looked over at Joss, offering an upward nod. “Hey.”
“Hey,” he said, standing up and extending his hand. “I hope…is OK with you that I’m here.”
Hayes shook it briefly and nodded. “Of course. You’re Rook’s friend, so that makes you my friend, too.”
Joss smiled at him just as the door to the courtroom opened and the judge came out. “Next.”
“Damn. Didn’t know it was gonna be like a fuckin’ deli counter. Rook, what number did you grab outta the little red thingy?” Hayes joked in an attempt to hide his nerves, as he handed the marriage license over.
He was unable to hide them from Ryan, who grabbed his hand and felt him shaking as everyone got up and followed them into the room. “Hey,” he said quietly, squeezing his hand. “There’s nothing to be nervous about, OK? It’s just me and you...and, you know, the entire rest of our lives.”
“Yeah, no pressure or anything.”
“I love you, Hayes.”
“I love you, too, Rook,” he whispered, as they approached the front of the room.
The judge explained the procedure: he would start with a statement of welcome, then move on to the vows, the exchanging of the rings, a short concluding speech, and the kiss. “About 10 minutes, tops.”
“Fine by me,” Hayes said.
The judge told them where he wanted them to stand as everyone else had a seat. Ryan turned toward Luke and motioned for him to come stand with him, and Hayes turned toward Amara and did the same.
The judge began the ceremony, but neither Hayes nor Ryan heard a word of it, both of them lost in the other’s eyes as they held hands and tried to stop themselves from nervously laughing.
When it was time for the vows, Hayes opened his jacket, reached into the pocket, and panicked. “Oh shit…I mean, sorry. I just…”
Amara tapped him on the arm and handed him the backup copy of his vows she’d printed out for him because she knew he’d forget them. “I got you.”
“Thanks, babe.” Hayes took a deep breath, let out a lengthy exhale, and began reading. “Ryan. When I sat down to write these vows, it took me forever. I mean, for one, it’s me. But two, I wanted them to be perfect for you because that’s what you deserve. So, I rewrote them at least half a dozen times, and every time, I kept comin’ back to the same realization: the words don’t exist, anywhere, in any language, that could adequately express how much your presence in my life means to me. Aaaand there it is,” Hayes noted, as Ryan's eyes overflowed, causing almost everyone else’s in the room to follow suit.
“Sorry,” Ryan whispered, wiping his face.
“Don’t be. I’d be offended if you didn’t cry. Anyway, like I was sayin’. You’ve stuck by me through the hardest times of my life. Even though I messed up bad, you didn’t abandon me. You should’ve, and no one would’ve blamed you if you had. You’ve been patient, you’ve been kind, you forgave me when I was at my least forgivable, and you loved me when I was at my most unlovable. You’re the only person in the world capable of taming Tyler Hayes. And I? Don’t deserve you. Any of you. And despite that, you’re willing to give me all of you, and for some reason, you’re willing to take all of me. I don’t know…”
Hayes paused, finally giving in to his own tears and letting them slip. “I don’t know how I got so lucky, but I can promise you that there won’t be a day that goes by where you won’t know just how loved and appreciated you are. At your best, at your worst, checkered past, flaws and all. Ryan Ronald Baylor: I love you. All of you. And I’m gonna spend the rest of my life making sure you never forget or doubt it.”
Ryan shook his head and smirked. “You had to work Ronald in there, didn’t you?”
“Did you think I wouldn’t?”
“That was beautiful, Tyler. Ryan, your vows now,” the judge said.
“Oh, right. So, um,” Ryan said nervously. “I didn’t know…I was, uh, getting married today, and I don’t have anything written. So, I’m just gonna speak from the heart.”
“This should be good,” Hayes whispered.
“Suck it,” Ryan whispered back, as they smirked at each other.
“Right now? In front of everyone?”
Inappropriate banter for the current moment?
Probably.
But they were still 22 and 25-year-old immature hockey boys; they were doing their best.
