Drive-Through Weddings

“Remember that one time you drank so much coffee that you actually started shaking, and you were convinced that you could see sound?” Jack's voice asked quietly through a small laugh from beside – well, more behind, since he's spooning me – me, his voice breaking the quiet that had settled around us.

I wasn't upset with him, even though its now creeping into being four in the morning, because I've just been lying awake. The hours seemed to drag on forever and turn the night much longer than it was ever intended to be.

I was glad he was going through the same troubles as I was, considering I'd gotten bored. I'd stayed quiet since I thought he'd fallen asleep. That's one of the things I love about Jack; he speaks his mind wherever and whenever. Sure, it can get annoying at times, but it's what makes him, well, him, and I wouldn't have him any other way.

“Remember that one time you decided to count how many mile markers were between each town?” I countered, to which he attempted to shrug.

“It seemed like a really good idea at the time,” he said as he nuzzled his nose into the back of my neck, his arm wrapping a little tighter around my waist as he did so.

“As did those six cups of coffee,” I pushed.

“Lex, I thought I was going to have to direct you to the nearest fucking hospital; those six cups of coffee were not a good idea, and I even told you so before you even finished your third,” he teased.

“You did not!” I exclaimed a little louder than necessary, probably waking up whoever was asleep in the hotel rooms neighboring our own. It also caused Jack to jump the slightest, which was insanely adorable, so I didn't care who I woke up. I did care, though, all at the same time.

“What? Sure I did,” he argued after he'd finally gotten himself repositioned around me, as he had been before.

“Last time I checked, saying, 'Hey, Lex, I think you should chill,' isn't considered a fair warning,” I huffed playfully.

“Ah, but I never said it was a fair warning; I simply said it was a warning,” he reasoned, and I guess he sort of had me there.

“Yeah, whatever,” I mumbled back as I buried my face into my pillow, hoping that would somehow get me at least a few hours of sleep so that the coffee incident wouldn't have to be repeated later on. “And for the record, I could see sound. I was like fucking Sound-wave Man or some shit."

Jack let out a soft chuckle as he pressed a kiss into my bare shoulder. “I know you could, babe. I don't doubt you in the slightest.” He paused momentarily before saying, “I'd just expect something like that from Rian instead, is all.”

------

“You about ready to go now, Lex?” Jack called from by the hotel room's door. I finished checking myself out in the mirror before flicking off the light and stepping from the bathroom.

“Hey, Jacky?” I asked sweetly, to which he leaned against the door, his arms crossed and his eyebrows arched questioningly. I took that as my cue to close the distance between us and drape my arms around his neck, my gaze through my eye lashes innocent and hopeful all at once.

Jack sighed as his hands moved to grip my hips lightly. “What's up, cupcake?”

“Well, I was just thinking we could spend the day here in Vegas instead of, y'know, heading straight home? I mean, I feel like you kind of owe me, considering what happened last time we were here..” I trailed out and leaned up to kiss along his collar bone. Usually when we do cross-country road trips, we go from Baltimore to the west coast of California, stay a week or so on the beach, and then head home, only stopping at night to sleep in hotels on the way to and back.

Considering what happened last time we were here for a day, he doesn't like to stay any longer than absolutely necessary.

“I don't know, Lex..” he said slowly.

“Come on, baby; what are the odds of you getting arrested again? Just don't fucking piss in any bushes and everything will be fine! Please? I wanna have at least one good memory here with you,” I begged, pulling back from his chest a little to pout up at him.

“Hey, I had a perfectly good reason for doing so last time!” he argued, but I rolled my eyes in response.

“Peeing in a bush because you can't wait ten seconds for a stall to open is the farthest thing from a perfectly good reason in the history of things far from perfectly good reasons,” I retorted. “Please, Jacky? We can leave tonight, I promise!”

He looked at me for a few minutes before he sighed again and nodded. I could feel my grin grow as I leaned forward to push my lips to his.

“Thanks, darling,” I mumbled into his mouth, getting a simple hum in reply.

We disconnected and I laced our fingers together before I pulled him from the door and threw it open. Thankfully, he'd already put our bags in the car, so we could just check out. When we were stood outside the hotel, I turned to look at him excitedly.

“What are we gonna do first?” I mused, to which he shrugged.

“I'm kinda hungry, I guess,” he answered, so I began to drag him down the sidewalk. “Where are we going, Lex? Car's that way,” he pointed over his shoulder and pulled me to a stop.

“I wanna walk,” I said with a pout. I tugged on his hand, thinking he would resist when he began to follow behind. My smile grew again and he picked up his pace so we were side-by-side.

“Thanks for doing this, Jacky,” I whispered as I moved in to kiss his cheek when we stopped to wait to cross the road.

He simply laughed and turned his head to capture my lips, mumbling a quiet, “You say that like you honestly think I could ever deny you anything.”

------

We spent the day walking around Vegas, simply looking at everything there was to see. It wasn't as great as I'd originally thought it'd be, but it was fun nonetheless. I liked walking around different places and showing off what was mine to people who didn't even know us.

I guess that's kinda bratish of me, a full grown man, huh? Oh well, I don't really care.

As the day started to turn into night, we walked by one of those drive-through wedding places, and I tugged Jack inside, simply saying, “I wanna see how these, like, go down.” Considering he'd said he couldn't deny me anything only a few hours prior, he figured watching one couple get married wouldn't do any harm.

That's where we are now: watching some drunk couple who've probably only known each other for the past few hours get hitched by Michael Jackson. He must be a new edition or something, because last time I checked, it was Elvis.

“Do you, Anna-belle, take Cristian to be your lawfully wedded husband?” Michael Jackson asked the drunk blonde rather boredly.

She giggled and nodded before squeaking out a, “Yep!”

“And do you, Cristian, take Anna-belle to be your lawfully wedded wife?”

“You bet your dead ass I do,” the intoxicated groom slurred as he vigorously nodded his head in agreement.

I could almost swear that I saw Mr. Jackson roll his eyes behind his giant aviators – which were definitely not needed since it was really fucking dimly-lit in here – before he was declaring, “Then by the power vested in me, by the state of Nevada, I now pronounce you man and wife.” He took a step back and allowed the two about thirty seconds of sloppy, uninterrupted kisses before he glanced down at his watch, shouting, “Next!”

It was actually kind of funny watching everyone else in the room flinch at the volume of his voice.

Suddenly, I turned to face Jack, a wicked grin spreading across my face. I could practically feel the mischievous glint in my eye. He turned to glance at me quickly, seeming slightly concerned, to say the least.

“What?” he asked quietly, even though I was already being pretty obvious about what I wanted, without even having to say a single word.

Leaning forward a bit, I pushed my lips to his quickly before pulling away to whisper rather urgently, “Marry me, Jack. Right here, right now.”

He simply stared blankly at me for a few moments before he shook his head no. I could feel my face fall as my heart shattered. Did he not want to marry me? “Why not?” I asked him, trying to be nonchalant about just being rejected. I mean, I guess it was a little too spontaneous, even for us, and I didn't even propose or anything.

His eyes widened as he shook his head, “No, I want to marry you, Alex, more than anything do I want to be your husband, trust me, I truly do, but.. its just.. Well, this is going to sound girly as all hell, but I want our wedding to be, like, romantic. I'm not saying it has to be a big deal or anything, but I don't want it to be in some sleazy, run down, drive-through wedding chapel in the middle of Vegas. I just want it to be special.”

I felt a little better – okay, a lot better because wow, how fucking cute is he? – about his denial when he said that. Even though he said he could never deny me anything, I guess an actual wedding is much better than a quick one here.

“Ready to go now, Lex?” he asked softly as he pressed his lips into my temple, and I nodded before reaching out to link our hands together.

We left the little chapel and began the walk back to our car, which took a lot less longer than I expected it to; apparently we were only around the corner.

“Thanks for today, Jay,” I said sincerely once we got situated in the car. Even though I knew it was a bad idea, I was far too tired to drive. Hopefully he'd at least pull into a hotel or something before he got to the point of passing out; if he weren't so stubborn, we'd just rent another room here, but he wants to get home.

Now that I know he'll marry me, I kinda want to get home too. I'll be able to find a ring and set up a reservation for a dinner date while he's at a JAGK photoshoot or something.

“Of course, Lex, anything for you,” he said, his right hand moving to rest on my left knee. My left hand snaked down to twist our fingers together, and he gave me a reassuring squeeze.

“Except eloping in Vegas..” I mumbled, only teasing him at this point.

“Oh, come on, don't be like that. Would you really have wanted to get hitched with the rest of the drunk, one-night stands in that establishment?"

I simply shrugged before replying, “I would've married you in Vegas had you given me the chance to say, 'I do.'”