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“Are you still mad at me, babe?” he can’t help but ask cautiously as he sees you standing in the front of his bedroom. Your hair was wet and you were wearing a whole new, more comfortable outfit in the aftermath of showering due to Sam’s and James’ food fight. It wasn’t that that bothered you, but everything that you had struggled so hard with to be perfect had been ruined in some way or another – the restaurant had closed down prior to his birthday leading to moving it to his apartment, the food came in late, the cake was even worst with Borky written on the cover, Sam and Bucky had gotten into a fight leading to massive food fight in the kitchen.In the end, you ended up walking out of the room and crying in the shower. Bucky had had a panic attack as a result and everyone slowly cleaned and cleared the room out, as you ended spending all the hot water. It had been your first birthday celebration together in years, but it had been horrible. Bucky was sure with that blank slate of a stare that you were going to leave. He didn’t want you to, even if it was only temporary – the fear of your abandonment had always sunken deeper into his bones that he would ever admit to anyone – because he was slowly starting to realize that you had always been it for him.“Do you think I’d be standing at your door if I was?” you state in a way while walking over to him, that reminds him of when you had barely just started. Bucky always felt that he had to work twice as hard as anyone else that knew you now to get a reaction out of you – it hurt, though he knew why. Trust wasn’t an easy thing to gain back.“’m—” “I’m sorry, James,” you state sweetly and softly while placing a hand on his damp cheek, “I wanted this to go perfect and it got out of hand. ‘m not very good handling all that.”“Sweetheart–” he starts only for you to shush him with your thumb on his plush lips. You give him a weary smile and he comes to understand just how hard this might be for you.“I’m not mad at you,” you admit as he grasps your waist in his hands, “Just myself, at how it all went.” “Sweetheart,” he finally moved forward as he sees how red your eyes are getting from unshed tears, “This is the best birthday I’ve had in a long time.”You perk up just a bit, blue eyes staring into yours. Because while his family and friends (Nat and Steve with their married lives) spent some time with him, March 10th was always spent alone – you and all your friends and co-workers had filled his little apartment with such fun and joy. You alone made his life a whole lot brighter. “Really?” you croak out, trying not to break down right then and there. “Scout’s honor, darlin’” he laughs as you lean in and kiss the tip of his nose. He gives you a silly grin and you can’t help but let out a watery laugh. as he follows suit. His eyes crinkling and not noticing you take something out of your pocket until the little item is hanging right in front of his face. Blue eyes widen as he looks at your soft smile, “Really? You sure?”All you do is nod before dragging his face to meet yours as he pulls you onto the bed. The rest of the day is forgotten with slow kisses and giggles over pie and Netflix. However, Bucky’s heart grows with so much more love over the trust you have for him to give him the keys to your apartment – and Bucky can’t deny that it’s the best birthday thus far.
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“You’re the stupidest smart person I’ve ever met,” she laughs –easy and airy– from behind him and Bucky can’t help but pause. He turns and looks at her with wide blue eyes as she hugs her side for a moment. Bucky had heard her laugh before, used to be able to do it in a blink of an eye when they were younger with a well-timed joke or an easy remark. A huff of air and easy smile – that was what he knew. It wasn’t the laugh he heard –hearty but brief– her shared with others…with Jane, Thor, even Sam and Loki. Loki of all people got to make her laugh, but he had never gotten until now – with badly baked cookie and a messy fort made of pillows and blankets on what he wanted to make an easy Friday night. The small electrical fire was almost worth if she was there shinning and showing her a new side. He stands there with a grin on his face as he pulls her still laughing body closer into his, kissing her softly in the aftermath of the happiness flowing through them.He’ll be the biggest fool in the world if he got to see her smile and laugh like that again and every day she would let him.
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Peaches likes 50′s shows more than modern than ones, which Bucky enjoys the 90′s more. I Love Lucy is something they both agree on.
Cathy tends to chaperone their dates from afar in the beginning, she is just afraid what might happen to her grandmother (and slowly her own best friend).
Sometimes, Steve joins her. It’s kinda cute for Bucky and Peaches to see both of their friends in distress.
Sometimes, Peaches has some strange power that is the highlight of her tests, Bucky freaks out but she's just getting used to it. It subsides and all she has is healing and longevity.
Peaches really likes modern day fashion because it’s so versatile for her now, but sometimes she wears vintage clothing to get Bucky’s motor running ;D
Peaches is very studious and tries to get her degree, it’s a little scary to realize all the possibilities she has now. Eventually, she takes multiple online programs (Thanks to Tony) to Cathy’s pride and Bucky’s surprise.
Sometimes, they can’t sleep (due to insomnia and nightmares) so they watch food shows, sometimes they even try some recipes –for the Tower’s fire system to go off. But they get better at it.
Bucky ends up taking her multiple times to Coney Island and makes her dance to old music whenever they can especially spur of the moment, even going to vintage dance halls, to make up for old times.
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“What?”“Come on,” Bucky laughs as you give him a skeptical look from your place on the couch. James had tried to hold you halfway trough the movie and you had just jumped to the other side of the couch. It might have been a joke to him, but you were one that was easy to be held and such. After so many years of distrust, you were touch starved in certain ways with only certain people allowed to touch you and with advance notice. Bucky had seen in this action once or twice, but he didn’t think you would react to negatively to his touch. It hurt a little, but he understood why. “Just throw yourself at me,” he declares outstretching his hands and wiggling his fingers as you give him a dubious look – unsure of why he was doing this.Blue eyes met yours and there was nothing but patience in his eyes that made you a little more confident. He was always willing to wait and take things at your pace. However, the minutes tick by and he begins to lower his arms, ready to forget all this. However, that thought is stopped when he feels something solid on his chest.Your arms wrap around his waist, as his arms go around your upper back. You take a minute to breathe in his scent, a small shudder going through his body as you nuzzle yourself into his shirt and neck. “See that ain’t so bad,” Bucky smiles at your progress as you nod. A soft kiss on your forehead, as he leans into the sofa a bit more – the movie forgotten for each other’s touch.
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Bucky hardly remembers the past — the old days are a dead dream that Steve likes to remise on from time to time.He realizes, as he gets to know you a bit more, that you remember even less. For all the years you have lived through, you spend more days recalling and reminiscing on to come up with nothing. But unlike him, you aren’t haunted by the potential and unknown of it all — you move forward with trying to learn what you had lost and gained up on lost time.He almost wants to hate you for it, but as you tether into knowing all the Avengers — sharing time with Steve, making breakfast with Sam, and laughing it up with Wanda. You even talked to some lab techs, while seeming to have the best relationship with a certain insect trip, but in his observations, Bucky had noticed a little bit of yours.A subtle kiss on the cheek to anyone you greeted, it was a little odd at first but everyone got used to it — everyone except him, but you had never tried it on Bucky, simply stating that you knew he treasured his personal choices and personal space.It was all right for a time, but now as he recovered and gained more of his older memories. It ate at him, especially in those fuzzy daydreams that made him wake up and take up his confusion at the gym until morning.
“Trust me, darling, I can still feel every little kiss you pressed to my cheek.”
Pop!
The bag rocks of its hinges as a clear voice echoes in his head that sounds like his own, but so much younger and full of life. He freezes and notices that you are standing a few steps away, as he curses for a moment. You frown, scared that you did something wrong — you’re always walking on broken glass around him.“Is everything all right?” you ask hesitantly and for some reason, Bucky knows deep down that this isn’t supposed to be how you should sound like but he keeps that thought to himself.“Yeah, just ‘memeber something is all,” he states letting that old Brooklyn accent slip for just a second as you nod and smile without a care in the world.“Well, Sam told to me to get you. Breakfast is getting cold,” you state without a disregard for his current emotional state, and that seems a little bit more like you.He nods without another word being said and grabs his towel before following you out the gym (silently promising that he’ll clean the mess up later) unsure of his old memories like always.
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The first time Bucky ends up sleeping in your room is because you are sick and you’re pretty much a stage 5 clinger that doesn’t leave let him leave your room unless you want something. He ends of falling asleep mid-way through your second run through of some show you found on Netflix.There aren’t any dreams that night – no waking up mid-nightmare, cold and alone until he realizes that there is something clinging to his chest with an arm wrapped around his waist, as he looks down to see you sleeping, wrapped around him like some koala. He can’t help but let out a silent chuckle as he sees you rub your face close to his chest, though the moment is broken by the sound of your cellphone ringing due to an incoming message. Bucky reaches over, only able see in the preview that its from Maria.
Take it easy today.
Bucky is sure that the message isn’t meant for him, but he can’t help but take the advice, as he wraps his arm around you and easily falls back asleep.
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It’s one of those days where Rocio knows that you are going to be home. You had taken more time off for yourself since staring at your new workplace, well more like you had been forced to by your bosses every once and awhile. Like she always did, she opened the door to your apartment though was confused to see that she didn’t see you on your couch and eating pop tarts like always with Mousier at your side. Maybe, you were hanging out with Carter – the man had a tendency of taking you out into random events, he enjoyed the spontaneity, for dates since you started getting serious. Her thoughts are broken when she hears muffled voices:
“Walk out that door and we’re through”
“Well. Yell, scream, say something. Anything!”
Rocio’s “spidey senses” go off for a moment, as she walks down the hall that leads to your bedroom. She sneaks in softly, happy that she chooses not to wear high heels for once. The door is open, as she sneaks in a look to see a rather odd sight.“Please don’t cry. I can’t stand to see you cry,” you coo softly before giving Carter the tissues, though it looks like you are trying to hold in a laugh, while it looks like Carter is trying not to cry. She comes to realize its an odd, but an endearing. It looks like you two were about to go somewhere –since you are wearing a blouse and skirt and Carter is wearing slacks and a rolled white shirt– but ended up just staying in with popcorn between the two of you in and the orange tabby near the edge of the bed sleeping. “Shut up,” he sighs out and taking the tissue, “Why are we even watching this?” “You said you wanted to Netflix and chill,” you explain as Rocio tries to laugh right then and there, “I’ve been meaning to finish this series.”You give him a teasing grin, knowing what he really means but you aren’t willing to let him go that far yet. Everyone in the apartment knows you’re making Carter wait like he had after he left for Europe. “I hate you.” “I love you too, Car.” Rocio shakes her head before walking down the hallway and leaving the apartment, somehow she knew everything was going to be all right from now one.
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“Is there anything you wanna do today?” It’s a question you ask at least two times a week when you have your days off from working and the bookstore. Blue eyes look at you from the corner of the room satisfied but tired. It had been like this for a while since Bucky had come back from whatever the hell he has been doing since leaving college. It was a strange change, you were used to a young boy that all he could talk about what changing world, all the things he would achieve and do for himself and the people out there, but most of all his sisters and mom. You wonder how that had worked because sometimes you managed to get a glance a haunted look that clearly told that the world has snuffed out the child you had known so well once.“The Guggenheim has a good exhibit,” you remark coming closer to him and touching his warm, brown hair, “Or the Planetarium seems like a good idea too?”He lets out a low hum of appreciation as your fingers run through his shaggy brown hair. You can tell that the stress and the other heavy emotions have tired him more than a man his age should be, but there were still so many things to see – New York had so many things to offer him upon his return. “The star show sounds good,” he murmurs, light and slightly excited – almost like the boy you knew wanted to be an astronaut once. “Good, then we can have lunch or walk around Central Park,” you grin and plant a kiss on his forehead, almost surprised on how excited you sound about the whole endeavor. “Sounds like a plan,” he can’t help but laugh out. It was a tiny spark, but you knew the boy you loved was still there but there were still things you didn’t know about him - you just needed to be an optimist about the whole deal and love sort of made you that way. The world might have changed Bucky Barnes, but you would be there to remind him of the good things that New York still had to offer, that life did as a whole.
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Bucky asks once, when you’re between France and Italy, what you feel when your shoulder is in pain. “Fire, it always burns, ”is what you tell him, quite the opposite of his own pain – cold, freezing to the touch and sometimes like something should be there but it’s not. Phantom limb pain, is what you tell him it’s called nowadays. It’s by accident the first time it happens. The room you’re sharing is too cold, the two of you are huddling together for warmth on the single matters with your backs to each other, but seeking warmth ends up with the two of you knocking shoulders together. You hiss in pain as a cold shoulder knocks with the sudden burning You hiss in pain, as an arm wrapped around your waist – a cooling touch and a light brush on your shoulder have you calming down for the rest of the night.Neither of you remembers it in between a night of cold, fitful dreams.Next time it happens it’s in Italy. The weather’s too hot for the layers of clothes both of you wear most of the time. Linear scars line up where metal meets flesh. Acid scarring and spiders webs bloom on your right shoulder with stitching underneath the bottom of your arm. It would be daunting if you weren’t both asleep, instead, as hard as he tries to keep the metal arm away from you, the heat makes you seek out its cool effect. Bucky starts to clamp up near 3 in the morning, a sign that his nightmares are fully blooming tonight, but a simple touch and soft lips on the boundary calm him down – reminds him of where he is. Despite the heat, neither of you are haunted by nightmares that night, just the unbearable heat. It’s much later one, years actually when you and Bucky can laugh in your small kitchen and plant lovesick kisses on the most damaged and beautiful parts of the other without the need of being asleep.
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It probably takes Bucky a long time afterwards to come to terms that she wasn’t a figment of his imagination and that they went through all that together. He’s at the point once where he wants to talk and see her all the time, much to her embarrassment.
There’s an odd issues between her and Ross, and Ross and Bucky, and Steve and Ross – but, Ross knows her better than anyone (awkward best friends) and in his own change after Black Panther he tries to make amends. Her little trip abroad in forgotten and Sharon is there to help with the larger issues at hand.
She and Bucky’s first date is to a museum and it’s just them walking around and talking, and Bucky just loves to hear her talk about anything that comes to mind. It takes her awhile to get used to.
However, both of them still have a lot of PTSD issues, hers have largely been ignored, so there is a lot of tension in her dealing with that, but Bucky promises to be there to support her.
I think Sam helps a lot too in this regard and helps to get VA/therapist help.
I always thought something would come back to haunt her and Ross in regards to their past and her having to deal with something she has always wanted to avoid in regards to her injuries.
She learns to heal and gets a stable job and settles with Bucky (I don’t imagine post-BP becoming an Avenger if it wasn’t for AIW) in a less haunted life! Maybe, even get a cat or a dog.
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Bucky knows that there have been customers coming to the shop longer than he had been living/working here. That there are people who know you and interact with you more than he had, he shouldn’t be jealous of someone that was a paying customer, but it sent a silent simmer of anger down his spine when he saw that boy asking Maria if you were in for today. “Sorry, Pete,” Maria declares as she hands a bag full of pastries to the young man, “She went out early this morning for research again.” “The store has gotten a lot more popular in the recent months,” the blue-eyed boy smiles as if he’s proud of the achievement as Bucky rolls his eyes, ”I’m happy for her!” “We all are,” Maria nods, “I’ll tell her you came too see you and say hi to your Aunt for us!” “Sure, thanks,” Peter says a bit more bashfully before leaving with another wave. Bucky stares at the where the young boy was before turning up to glare at the ceiling, unsure of how he should feel over a certain baker being so popular because Peter was the only one that comes in to sat you throughout the day. Bucky Barnes had never expected competition for your heart, though he was certain you were to distracted by other things to take a relationship seriously at the moment. “You’re burning a hole into the ceiling, Barnes,” Maria declares as he goes to glaring at her. “I’m not jealous,” he states.“Never said you were,” Maria laughs, “But I’m rooting for Pete, though.” Cursing and laughing as Coulson and Fury soon join in, finding a soft spot to the old soldier.
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Be my queen, is one of the first things he tells her when she decides to stay in his land – she agrees.Don’t leave me, he screams between the nightmares and hours that plague at him, as she runs to his side and stays for the rest of the night. He wakes up with more energy than he has in decades at the simple sight of her face. Please, he states between kisses as they lay in bed together, need you. want you. She doesn’t deny any of his wants in the nights that follow, as they move closer together in both heart and body and he eagerly lets out soft whimpers of mine, mine, underneath her. I love you, he finally admits softly and ardently in the aftermath of it all as he sighs and sinks more into her body – pulling her closer and never wanting to let go, I love you, my queen. I know, she smiles and leans in more, saying it like she has known it the entire time since before she even completed the labyrinth all those years ago, I love you too, James.
And the Goblin King feels at eases for the first time in his very long life.
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Your powers may keep you young physically, but there is always the chance that your brain might age even further so because of it. Dementia and other memory related illnesses are possbile due to overuse.
You remember hearing that from one of the doctors a long time ago, as you should have been gaining wrinkles and appearing more the age of 53, than still looking like you were in your late 20′s. It’s how the whole cage idea come to being, though more on Peggy’s end then yours. Now, you were –when you should be the physically age of 100– are experiencing said side effects, though memory had never been your best friend since you came to your powers. Headaches. Fatigue. Memory loss. These were old things that you were used to, but now you couldn’t sleep. Old tunes were running in your head, as you were remembering people that you were sure that had been dead for years. “Hey, how are you feeling?” you look up and see Bucky Barnes standing outside of the small medical room they were currently checking you in. Neither of you were sure why, but he had been there every step of the way since the memory problems started. Maybe, because he felt of kinship over having to deal with his own, either way you were grateful.“They might have some medication for me,” you try to smile, but it comes out as a grimace, “But, I’m just tired and sad all time. I just wish I could remember them.” “Who?” he can’t help but ask as he takes a seat next to you. “My family,” you state, tapping at your temple, “All of my memories of them are fading, always had been and I hate it. I miss my ma, hell I can’t even recall what my version of LA looked liked anymore.” Bucky states quite as you let out a chocked sob, “’m so far from home used to be…that I feel I could cry.”“Hey, hey,” he tries to calm you down, not knowing you haven’t cried in decades, “Even, if you don’t get them back, you could always make new ones. They told me this was like a second chance once, and even if it might not feel like it now – one day, it will be.”
“—We see each other one day, I swear.”
“You’re so bad at this, James,” you let out a small trickle of a laugh, as blue eyes widen for a bit, though he is sure you don’t catch yourself calling him by his first name – that it sounds familiar to him.“I’m trying to help ya,” he starts, his old Brooklyn accent shinning through, “But, you’re killing, doll.” “I know, I know,” you laugh, calming down from your little tirade, “But, thank you, I’m happy.” “For what exactly?” “You’re just as old as me.”
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It’s hard putting feeling and thought together sometimes. Most of the time you can’t say what you are feeling or it comes out wrong, and with no real memories of your past life you’re only really half (even less at times, you think) of who you once were. You had a family, you had friends, but you choose something above all that because you were a fool—“I never loved you,” you pause and look at the coffee as if it has all the answers to life, “or did I?”You remember things about a certain boy you can quite name anymore, though you are certain it might have started with a J. Bright blue eyes, soft brown hair, and a charming smile that hid a devious side. It was summer and you were (might have been?) in love, though you doubt you could find him again, after all it had been 1938. All you had were fragmented memories at best of dining, dancing, and the almost kiss.
“Promise you’ll write.”
You aren’t sure if you did. You groan and lay your face on the cool counter-top. You close your eyes and your breathe begins to even out.“Can’t sleep again?” your eyes pop open at the sound of a familiar voice and see a familiar face laying on the counter-top in front of you. Blue-silver eyes, long brown hair, and a frown on his face and for a moment you wonder if Bucky has ever smiled. He certainly never had in front of you, though he looks more concerned than his usual brooding self. “Nightmares,” is all you can responded and he nods, understanding completely. He gets and turns around to make his own cup of coffee, as you sit there and watch. You didn’t really talk to Bucky outside of interacting with Steve, so it was a little strange to be spending so much time with him since the dreams began, not that you talked much either – it was more about keeping each other company about a subject nobody else really understood. You lull yourself a little at the sound of his shuffling and take an easy breathe. There is a song in your head, like most nights, that won’t come out but for once –with Bucky safely looking over you– you let your memories run. Dim lights, bright eyes, laughing, and that song. You hum it out and the words find you for a moment.
Jeepers Creepers, where’d ya get those peepers?
Jeepers Creepers, where’d ya get those eyes?
Your trance is broken at the sound of a cup hitting the floor and Bucky’s frantic cursing.
“You are absolutely awful at singing.”
You huff out an annoyed sigh as Bucky’s comment, as he goes about cleaning the mess he has made, whatever had bothered him a moment ago is forgotten. He takes out the dustpan from underneath the sink and laughs – hearty and rich, but it just makes your heart go on overdrive for a moment and your brain sink into a flash of a memory.
“Ya awful, darlin’.” he laughs as you pout from the your seat in the vanity. It’s way past curfew, but that didn’t stop him from slinking in when you were getting ready for bed. He was surely going to get to in trouble…again. It didn’t help that he came in laughing at your singing voice, though he did try to appease you with a cheeky grin and a kiss to your temple.
“Why don’t you go to Darce’s room instead? Go listen to her instead,” you mumble as he keeps laughing, his arms wrapping around your waist with his head on top of yours. Blue eyes alight with mischief.
“I like the noises you make better though,” he murmurs as you can feel the heat rushing to your face.
“Ya still a lame-brain, James,” you murmur without really realizing it and head out of the kitchen without another word, leaving a confused and disheartened Bucky behind.
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It’s a few decades down the road when you learn more about James and his past centuries alone, though not in the way you expect. It’s unexpected because in all the time in James’ land, in the fae world, in general, he is the strongest person that you had meet – he was the one that has taught you to control your powers the best he could and you really haven’t bested in a dual yet.But, to see him breathing heavily in the throne as the Ice Queen laughed. James crouched, close to groveling because he wasn’t strong enough, as the blonde woman started walking closer to him – all the goblins that were usually there to protect him had been removed from the castle grounds, at his behest. Well, that was a real shocker. You shouldn’t have been there either, he had specifically told you to leave when the woman had arrived at the edge of the Labyrinth but you were stubborn. “There is another being like us,” the blond woman begins,” But you refuse to let us see her. Why is that?”Her heel clicks on the stone floor, as the ice begins to reach his limp body. She laughs before adding, “What are they to you, my dear?” You don’t like how she addresses him, how she got to close to his bleeding and broken body with a simple cup of his cheek as if she knew him in another way.You feel the electricity run down your spine and through your arms. You can’t see your current self, but the two human-fae can feel the sudden energy in the room as James curses and the blond grins.
I will protect you with my life.
You don’t know why you think it that way. Sometimes, James annoys you more than anything else but he was also the one who gave you the freedom you have now and as you step into the throne room shinning like a star. “Excuse me,” you state in a voice that isn’t quite your own, as the blond turns to look at you, smug but also slightly scared, “But, I think you’re grabbing something that belongs to me.” And for all that James had given you…you were willing to do anything for him.
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Gosh! That’s real interesting.
I don’t think it’s something that Lance really thought through. He sort of has this image that they are going to be together for a while (maybe forever?), but he -the Lance Tucker- never has the notion of marriage being on the table for him.
They’re on a date, he takes her somewhere wintery because she wanted to see snow. But, just seeing her there laughing and enjoying the time they have together makes the idea pop out of nowhere.
“Marry me!” he declares in the middle of the snowy landscape.
She is dumbstruck for a good awhile as he grabs her hand and starts blubbering out wanting to be with her and he’ll get her the biggest rock if she wants it.
She just shakes her head but states she just wants a simple thing and Lance chuckles before hugging her.
You would think the Lance Tucker would announce to the world that he’s off the market, but no – the media doesn’t know he’s married until 3 three weeks after it actually has happened. He values his privacy now.
It’s a small thing with some of the gym girls you guys know being invited. Claire is the flower girl and Micah does your make up with a simple dress and flower set. Your friends and family are there in Norma’s backyard because that’s really where he knew he wanted to fight for ya.