They probably made an obscene sight.

But as Sehun pressed Luhan up against the wall, his mouth plunging against Luhan’s, hands groping everywhere, the both of them hard and hot and seconds away from ripping at clothing, there was a thought in his mind that it wasn’t his fault.

It really wasn’t.

Because Luhan was young and ridiculously attractive. He was the man who’d given Sehun another shot at family, and great . The . Seriously. It was seriously the best.

Weeks after Luhan had been cleared for , they’d been having it as if it were the only thing important in the world. They were tearing at each other in-between Youri’s feedings, the second she went to bed, and every other possible second.

Sehun couldn’t get enough of Luhan, and there’d be no complaints from Luhan.

“We’re going to burn,” Luhan groaned out as Sehun yanked one of his legs up, grinding them together in a delicious way. “In hell, I mean.”

With his mouth wet and sloppy, Sehun captured Luhan’s lips to stop him from talking again. They were free from the responsibility that was their daughter for at least a little bit longer. They had to capitalize on it.

“Don’t care,” Sehun said. And he didn’t. All that mattered was how fast he could get Luhan’s pants off and the small tube of lube from his pocket.

Heavy thudding on the door jarred Sehun so severely that he dropped Luhan back fully to his feet.

“Oh crap,” Luhan said, his face flushed and eyes wide.

“Sehun,” Suho’s heavy voice carried through from the other side of the door. “I know you’re in there.”

Sehun groaned unhappily as Luhan ran quick fingers through his hair, trying to make it look like he hadn’t been seconds away from . The action only made him look more debauched, and the sight was tempting Sehun to ignore Suho completely.

“No I’m not,” Sehun said, trying to palm down the bulge in his pants. “Go away.”

“Very funny,” Suho replied right away, voice muffled. “But I’m here to save your immortal soul. You are not about to have in this church.”

It had … seem liked a good idea at the time?

That was a lie. Of course it was a lie. But for the past couple days Chen had been camped out in Sehun’s living room, and Sehun had found himself honor bound to be there with his best friend just before his marriage. That meant Sehun hadn’t been able to see Luhan for more than a couple hours a day, and never with any kind of privacy.

Therefore it seemed a bit like the universe was attempting to do the right thing that morning when Chen had gone off to make his final wedding preparations, and Suho had arrived in from the airport more than happy to watch his niece.

Sehun hadn’t exactly planned to lose all self-control in one of the church’s many back rooms. It had just happened, with Luhan looking especially classy in his dress clothing.

“Open the door,” Suho said again, and Luhan was the one who gave Sehun a pointed look this time.

“Fine,” Sehun huffed out. He finished making himself presentable and flipped the lock on the door. “Hello, Suho.”

Sehun knew the that whole situation was lost the moment that the door opened to reveal a displeased Suho with Youri in his arms. Luhan brushed past Sehun without a word, pulling her up into his arms and she reached for him instinctively, a smile on her face.

“Hi, Suho,” Luhan said, cradling Youri in a way that told Sehun he wouldn’t be in the mood for anything frisky for quite some time again.

Sehun tucked his shirt back into his pants and asked sharply, “Aren’t you supposed to be spending some quality time with your niece? Not interrupting me when I’m about to--”

“Have in a church?” Suho asked lowly.

Eyes narrowing, Sehun said, “I basically practiced abstinence for well over a year.  I think god might forgive me. I’m only human, after all.”

Suho tapped the back of his head painfully. “Don’t be blasphemous.”

“Sorry,” Sehun offered, ducking his head.

“So,” Luhan said, hefting Youri a little higher in his arms, “is something going on? I thought you were good to watch Youri for a few more hours.”

Sehun had actually been counting on Suho to keep Youri preoccupied until at least half an hour before the wedding started. That would have given Sehun at least another hour with Luhan.

“You could say that,” Suho said with a sigh, playfully poking Youri.

For just a second Sehun was distracted by Youri. When he and Luhan had dropped her off with Suho she’d been dressed in her wedding outfit, a lilac and white lacy dress that Sehun had almost had a over the price of. Luhan had also managed to get white socks on her feet, but she’d been wildly protesting both the shoes she was supposed to wear and the complimentary headpiece that Luhan had tried for a half an hour to get her to not pull at.

At just over five months Youri was absolutely developing her own unique personality, and it was becoming quite clear that she was fiercely independent. Youri rarely liked being cajoled into doing something she didn’t want to, was far more happy to crawl off and explore on her own than sit and cuddle with Sehun or Luhan, and had no patience at all for the people around her.

Youri, Sehun could tell, was going to be a spitfire. She was going to be strong willed, and headstrong and determined. She’d grow up knowing what she liked, what she wanted, and what she wasn’t willing to compromise on. She’d be one hell of a force to be reckoned with, and Sehun couldn’t wait.

“Is this you?” Sehun asked, gesturing to Youri. Now she had the lace trimmed headpiece that was fitted with tiny pearls, threaded into her hair expertly. And equally surprising were the tiny Mary-Jane shoes that she was kicking out with.

“Miracle worker,” Luhan laughed.

“I did my part,” Suho admitted, “but Baekhyun helped, if you can believe. I held her steady while he got it all on, but all he had to do was stare at her.”

Sehun wasn’t sure if he should be concerned with how much his daughter seemed to like Baekhyun. She more than liked him. She was enamored with him, and he was easily her favorite person. Luhan thought it was hilarious, but Sehun was already feeling the grips of overprotective urges that came with being the father to a daughter.

Luhan reminded, “There might be a problem?”

Youri was turning over in his arms which meant that she wanted to be put down immediately. She couldn’t crawl yet, but she’d completely mastered dragging herself across the floor on her and rolling around. She seemed desperate to be mobile and Sehun knew none of them were looking forward to that.

Suho gave a serious nod. “It’s Chen, Sehun.”

“He’s not running, is he?”

Luhan gave Sehun a concerned look as he knelt down to sit Youri on her . “Running? Sehun, you don’t really think he would, right? Suho?”

“He’s not running yet,” Suho said, looking between the two of them. “But he’s vomited twice in the last hour alone, is refusing to get dressed just yet, doesn’t want to talk to the priest who’s trying to calm him down, and does look like he might make for the door at any time. Sehun, he’s your best friend. He was there for you when you were nervous and unsure on your wedding day to Jae. I think you need to be here for him on his.”

Giving a serious nod, Sehun said, “Of course. I know he wants this marriage. He’s in love with Eunji and wants to have a family and a future with her. This is just him being nervous. I’ll go talk to him.”

As Sehun bent to give Youri a parting kiss, Luhan asked, “How is Eunji?”

Sehun thought of how he and Luhan had seen her two weeks earlier at Youri’s five month checkup. She’d seemed perfectly fine, but that didn’t mean much. In all the time that Sehun had known Eunji, he’d learned that she was fiercely personal, and rarely let cracks below the surface show.

“Fine as far as I know,” Suho said. “But she’s not even at the church yet. I’m more worried about someone telling her how flightly Chen seems right now. The last thing we need is the both of them freaking out.”

“Luhan,” Sehun said, giving him a serious look. “Promise me that when we get married there won’t be this kind of drama.”

Luhan tucked an arm under Youri’s bottom and ignored the unhappy sounds she was making. “Sehun,” he said with a roll of his eyes, “when we get married it’ll be me, you, our closest friends and family, and a lot of good food. There won’t be a single reason for either of us to be nervous, and we’ll be so ready for marriage, something that we’ve thought about and talked about and planned for, that neither of us will have it in our mind even slightly to run.”

Sehun moved from Youri to Luhan and kissed him squarely on the mouth. “I love you. I’ll be back, okay? Let me just go stop my best friend from giving up the perfect girl for him. Half an hour, tops.”

“Go,” Luhan shooed him playfully. “I’ll go take Youri and go make sure that no one spills the beans about Chen’s momentary lapse of confidence.”

Sehun flashed him a smile. “You’re the best.”

As Luhan went in the opposite direction with a struggling baby in his arms, Suho trailed after Sehun saying, “I’ve got Chanyeol basically sitting on Chen right now, making sure he doesn’t crawl out the window.”

“Good,” Sehun said, trying to retrace his steps to the main portion of the church. This certainly wasn’t the church that Sehun had attended with Jae, and even now went to once in a while with Jae’s parents. This was Eunji’s church, and it was nice, but Sehun couldn’t help but wonder if that was part of the reason why Chen was feeling so nervous.

“You know,” Suho said, pulling open a door in front of them, “I missed this.”

“This?” Sehun snorted. “The endless amount of drama?”

“This kind of drama,” Suho replied, “is the kind that keeps you on your feet. And it makes people closer to each other when it’s done. None of the people I’ve met in America yet and become friends with have this kind of drama.”

Sehun thought it was a very good sign that up ahead he could see more people in formal clothes standing around. And none of them looked panicked, which meant it was probably unknown to them that Chen was probably having a meltdown.

He told Suho, “I refused to believe that Americans don’t have drama in their life. That is not what their movies have taught me.”

“Meh,” Suho said. “It’s just not the same. If you ever take me up on my offer to come stay for a short vacation, you’ll know what I mean.”

Sehun almost told him how much he wanted to. The past five months, at least since Youri had been born, had been hectic and crazy and downright amazing. Sehun had been tested time and time again with his patience and ability to endure.

Now Youri was sleeping through the night. He and Luhan were closer than ever. And a vacation was starting to sound very nice.

“I’ll talk to Luhan about it,” Sehun said. “Now, where’s Chen?”

“This way,” Suho said, and led on.

They headed down another side corridor, this one wider than all the others, which branched off in several more rooms. It was only now that Sehun was starting to realize how huge the church actually was.

“It’s up on the left here,” Suho said.

Sehun stopped in his tracks, annoyance flaring. “Suho, I thought you said Chanyeol was watching him.”

Up ahead it was easy to see Chanyeol leaning casually against a wall as he chatted to a handsome man in a royal blue dress shirt.

“Chanyeol!” Sehun called out, storming towards him. “You’re supposed to be keeping an eye on Chen.”

The man Chanyeol had been talking to ducked under Chanyeol’s arm and dashed past them, looking even more attractive as he gave Sehun a bashful smile.

“It’s fine,” Chanyeol said flippantly. “Everything is fine. But seriously, did you see that guy? He’s super hot.”

Suho crossed his arms. “Are you picking up guys at Chen’s wedding?”

“Hopefully!” Chanyeol said. “All the girls brought dates. But the pool of bachelors in this wedding is substantially better stocked.”

Sehun pinched his brow. “You should be focused on Chen right now, not getting a date.”

Chanyeol headed straight to the nearest door and turned the lock. With a raised eyebrow he said, “Chen’s still in here. I made sure I locked it from the outside, the window inside doesn’t open more than three inches, and I slipped Chen a Xanax. Everything is fine.”

“You idiot,” Sehun said, deliberately brushing by Chen as he headed through the door.

Suho asked flatly, “How is Chen supposed to get married in a couple of hours if he’s messed up on a Xanax?

Chanyeol defended, “It was like half a Xanax, and Suho, he was crawling up the wall. I had to do something.”

“Chen?”

Sehun called for his best friend the second he was in the dark room. His hand reached for the nearby switch and the lights came on immediately, showing that most of Chen’s clothing was laid out on a nearby table, there were grooming products for his hair next to the clothing, and Chen himself was curled up sleeping on the sofa underneath the window.

“Chen,” Sehun said softly as he knelt next to him. He put a hand on Chen’s shoulder and shook him briefly. “Wake up.”

“Is he okay?” Suho asked from behind them.

Chen’s eyes cracked open. “Sehun?”

“Yeah,” Sehun said, looking back to Suho. “Could you get Chen some water? And how about something to eat, too? I’m going to get him up and moving. Hopefully after he eats something, he’ll stop doing his best impression as a zombie. Here’s hoping.”

Suho jammed a finger into Chanyeol’s chest firmly. “You come with me.”

It was a bit of an effort, but eventually Sehun got Chen sitting up firmly. “There you go,” Sehun said. “You okay, Chen?”

Chen’s fingers were shaking as he laced them together. His head dipped and with a rough voice, he asked, “What am I doing, Sehun?”

Sehun moved to sit next to him on the sofa. “Getting married?”

Chen’s eyes were red, either from stress or sleep, and they made him look worn out when he turned to look at Sehun. “But why?”

“Because that’s what people who are in love do.” Sehun tried to give him a calming smile. “I married Jae. Baekhyun married Taeyeon.”

Chen let out a low breath. “I just keep … feeling like I’m doing the wrong thing. Eunji and I … we have something really good going. For years now. What if this messes everything up?”

“Why would marriage do that?”

“Because marriage wrecks thing all the time,” Chen snapped back. “Isn’t that why you haven’t married Luhan?”

Sehun frowned. “That’s not … Chen. Luhan and I are not the same as you and Eunji. You know that isn’t a fair comparison at all, or even one that makes sense. You and Eunji did all the right things at the right time, and took your relationship slow. Luhan and I … plunged head first into a complicated relationship that didn’t always work the way we wanted it to. We’re going to get married, we just … want the timing to be right.”

Chen asked, “What if Eunji and I don’t get married? Why should we have to? People don’t have to get married if they love each other. We could just keep going the way we are. That’s better than tying ourselves to each other and wrecking this.”

“You could,” Sehun supposed. “But relationships are all about moving forward and progressing. You don’t want to get stuck in the same place. Chen, do you think Eunji would have agreed to marry you if she didn’t want to? There’s nothing about that woman that tells me she’d do that just to spare your feelings.”

“You’re right,” Chen said with a chuckle.

Sehun let his hand cover Chen’s. “It’s okay to be scared, you know. Most people are scared before they get married. Marriage is a scary thing. It’s absolutely life changing.”

Chen rubbed a hand across his face. “Eunji and I don’t know how to be married. Before this we spent years spending time together, but also spending a lot of time apart. She’s got her career and so do I. How are we supposed to know if we can do this marriage thing? What if we drive each other crazy? What if we fall out of love? How do we know that we can balance a family and everything else?”

“Do you think Luhan and I had any idea if we could pull off having any kind of relationship and being parents to Youri?” He nudged Chen’s shoulder with his own. “You think we did okay?”

Chen looked startled, “You and Luhan are a great team. Youri is the happiest baby I know.”

“And I know you,” Sehun said. “I know what kind of a man you are. So if you want to be worried about what kind of husband you’ll be to Eunji, that’s okay. But you should also keep in mind that I’ve got all the faith in the world about you and Eunji, and the two of you getting married.”

They sat in silence for a few moments, then Chen said, “Thanks, Sehun.”

“For what?”

Chen gestured between them.

Sehun smiled and sank back on the sofa. “This? This is nothing. You remember those hours before I married Jae?”

“You were sweating buckets,” Chen said with a fond grin of remembrance. “You were pale, shaking, and looked like you might wet yourself.”

“But you were there for me,” Sehun said. “You tried talking sense into me, and told me I was going to be just fine being a husband for the first time. And when the talking wasn’t enough, you took me down the street to that frozen yoghurt shop and bought me my weight in watermelon frozen yoghurt.”

Chen laughed out, “You ate so much you could barely stand up and say your vows. Jae never blamed you, you know. He kept giving you these looks of concern like you were the victim. But me? I thought he was going to roast me alive where I stood. It’s like he knew, Sehun. He just knew.”

When Sehun thought of his wedding day, he only had the best of memories. From the way Suho had hugged him tightly and promised to always be his family, to eating yoghurt twenty minutes before he was supposed to get married, to kissing Jae for the first time as his husband.

“I bet he did,” Sehun said. He added seriously, “More than once I considered that Jae might be omniscient.”

Chen leaned back next to Sehun. “You’re not putting off getting married to Luhan because of Jae, right?”

“Honestly?” Sehun barely waited for acknowledgment from Chen. “I would have married Luhan before Youri was born if he’d let me. And we’d have been married months ago if we’d let ourselves. The truth is we want to be married. We want to take that step and trust that things will work if we try. But we need the time to be right. We have to be absolutely sure because we’re not going to mess up anymore than we already have. We’re going to do it right.”

“Then how do I know that this is the right time for me to marry Eunji?”

Sehun asked, “How long did you think about asking Eunji to marry you before you actually did?”

Chen winced. “Around two years.”

“And how long did you know you wanted to marry her?”

There was a silly, almost childlike expression on Chen’s face. “Since about the very first second I saw her.”

With a groan Sehun launched himself up to his feet and then held a hand down to Chen. “Then you should stop worrying completely right now. You’re ready to get married. But there’s something we have to do first.”

Chen reached out and let Sehun pull him up. “What’s that?”

Plainly, Sehun said, “We have to go get some frozen yoghurt.”

“You’re not serious,” Chen said. “You can’t be serious.”

With a shrug, Sehun said, “It’s kind of a tradition, right?” He waved a hand at Chen’s things in the room. “All your stuff is here, and be honest, we can get you ready to go in about five minutes. I say we get out of here, get some frozen yoghurt, relax, and then come back here and get you married. That sound good to you?”

Chen warned, “We’ll have to sneak out and be super stealthy. If anyone sees me leaving, they’ll freak Eunji out. I don’t want her to know about this. God, I don’t want Xiumin to hunt me down thinking I’m bailing on his sister. He keeps a baseball bat in the trunk of his car, you know. He’s had it in there ever since Eunji and I started dating.”

Sehun gave a nervous chuckle. “I kind of believe that, you know.”

“So? Frozen yoghurt?”

Seriously, Sehun said, “Follow me.”

It was a bit like they were children. Or ninjas. Or child ninjas. In any case, they crept through the church as stealthily as possible, taking all the back passageways and keeping their heads down until they finally burst out into the street. Then they were running across the parking lot, making for Sehun’s car with focus and precision.

“Get in!” Sehun shouted, hitting the door unlock on his car remote.

Sehun was rounding the car to the driver’s side when he heard a voice as flatly, “Sehun? Why exactly are you escaping the church with the groom in tow?”

He was terrified that when he turned around he’d see Xiumin or even Luhan, maybe Suho or any other number of people who simply wouldn’t understand why Sehun had to get Chen out of there for a short while.

But it was Lay. He was finely dressed for the wedding, looking handsome in his black slacks and pale green shirt. He had a curious look on his face, but not a judgmental one.

Slowly, Sehun said, “I’m … we’re …”

Lay cleared his throat. “Will you be coming back? In time for the wedding?”

Chen’s head poked out from the car immediately. “Yes!”

“And Luhan’s inside?” Lay asked, pointing to the church.

Sehun confirmed, “He is, with Youri. But … ah … if you see him, don’t tell him you saw us? I’m going to text him in about five minutes. I promise.”

Lay shrugged. “Okay. I’ll see you at the wedding. It starts in just over an hour now.”

“I know,” Chen said, slipping back in the car.

Sehun got in the car himself, turned it on, cranked up the radio, and blew out of the parking lot with Chen laughing and Sehun feeling like he was the best friend ever. Or the worst. It was probably debatable. But he wanted to hope for best.

At least until they discovered that there were no frozen yoghurt places within a reasonable difference.

There was, however, a shaved ice cart that had children clustered around, their fingers and tongues stained red and blue from the food coloring.

So Sehun and Chen ended up sitting on the roof of Sehun’s car, cones of shaved ice in their hands, eating in silence and enjoying each other’s company.

“Maybe it isn’t what we eat,” Chen said, head tipping back against the warm sun shining down on them. “Maybe it’s just that we’re together.”

“You old sentimental bastard,” Sehun chuckled. But he completely agreed. Sometimes comfort wasn’t dependent on the variables. Sometimes it just came down to the people who were sharing in that comfort.

Sehun’s phone vibrated next to him on the hood of the car and he snatched it up, reading the message with a sigh.

“Time to get back?” Chen guessed.

Sehun nodded. “Luhan said that Eunji’s on her way to the church. She’ll go the traditional route and not see you before the wedding, but if she gets there before you, it won’t be good. We need to head back.”

As they climbed back in the car, Chen aid, “You should think about tying the knot with Luhan sooner, rather than later. Technically you’ve known Luhan a lot longer than most people who get married.”

“I told you,” Sehun said. “Luhan and I are waiting until the time is right.”

Chen gave a scoff. “You know what John Lennon once said?”

Sehun gave him a deadpan look. “Are you seriously about to quote John Lennon at me? You don’t even listen to music in English.”

“He said,” Chen continued on, ignoring the incredulous look Sehun was giving him. “Life is what happens when you’re busy making plans.”

“Thanks for that gleaming pearl of knowledge, Chen.”

“Think about it,” Chen shot back.

By the time they got back to the church the parking lot was almost completely full, with people clustered all around.

Sehun rushed Chen straight past anyone who might have tried to stop them, got him into the backroom they’d left Chen’s things in, and helped him dress.

“You, mister, have some explaining to do.”

Just as Chen was slipping his shoes on, Sehun looked over to see Luhan in the doorway. He had his arms crossed in a not pleased way and a frown on his face.

“I sent you that text,” Sehun said slowly, wondering if this was what it was to be completely whipped. “Don’t be mad at me. Chen and I needed to talk and just relax for five seconds.”

“Suho was convinced that you’d helped Chen fly the coop, Sehun.”

Sehun winced. “No. And I brought him back.”

Chen pivoted in his seat and said, “Don’t be mad at Sehun, Luhan. This was all me. I needed to breathe, and Sehun made that possible.”

Luhan’s face softened. “Okay. As long as everything’s okay now?”

Chen gave a nod. “For sure.”

Sehun made the quick trip to Luhan’s side and kissed his cheek. “I love you. Thank you for being understanding. But also, where’s our daughter?”

Linking their fingers, Luhan said, “Playing with Ahra. Baekhyun’s watching the two of them, probably trying to stop our daughter from influencing his in Youri’s bid for world domination. But we should go get her. The wedding is due to start very soon.”

Sehun wondered, “Do you think she’ll even sit through the ceremony?”

Laughing, Luhan said, “Not a chance But if we’re lucky she’ll make it fifteen or twenty minutes before screaming for attention.” And considering Eunji and Chen were having a staunchly catholic wedding, it was sure to run longer than twenty minutes.

From where he was styling his hair, Chen said, “Just put her down on the ground and let her crawl. That’ll make an otherwise boring ceremony pretty interesting.”

With another kiss delivered to Luhan’s cheek, Sehuun said, “I’ll have Chen up and ready in five minutes. Buy us that much more time?”

Chen was ready in three, and standing up at the alter by the time those five minutes expired.

And for all the drama that had led up to the day, the wedding proceeded flawlessly. And it was beautiful, too.  Eunji looked pristine in her white fitted dress, and no matter how nervous Chen was, he stood with impeccable confidence as he said his vows in front of his friends and family.

Sehun stood up at the alter next to Chen as best man, holding the rings as he waited for his moment to hand them over, but mostly his attention was on Luhan who was seated near the back with both Taeyeon and Baekhyun in case any of them had to whisk their babies away.

The whole affair, with the way Luhan’s eyes were shinning with affection and unspent tears, made Sehun question what they really were waiting for.

It seemed kind of foolish now to wait, not when they had their whole future ahead of them, and there’d been no indication that they’d fall back into any of the habits or behaviors that had caused them friction before in the past.

Youri, for the most part, made it almost halfway through the ceremony, distracted by graham crackers and toys. Sehun was surprised it took so long or him to see Luhan lifting a squirming, complaining Youri out of the pew as he headed for the exit.

And then the wedding was over. Eunji and Chen shared a sweet kiss, and that seemed to be that.

The after party, the party that Sehun had honestly been looking forward to the most, was held at a banquet hall nearby and was in full swing by the time he and Luhan arrived with a freshly changed Youri.

“She needs a nap,” Luhan said kindly as he rocked a fussing Youri. The food was starting to come out. “I may need to take her to the car for an hour or so.”

Sehun slid a warm hand around the back of Luhan’s neck. “I don’t want you to miss the party.”

Luhan shrugged. “We’ll see how it goes.”

Youri’s tiny fingers came up to clutch at the material on Luhan’s shirt and she looked like the angel Sehun absolutely knew she wasn’t.

“She did good today,” Luhan said, kissing her brow. “I think we underestimate how much patience it takes for a kid to get through a wedding. Sometimes it’s hard for an adult.”

Sehun brushed his fingers down her arm, laugh a little as she turned further into Luhan, eyes closing. “She may just fall asleep against you, no car needed.”

“That’s okay,” Luhan assured. “She can rest for as long as she needs.”

Luhan was such a good father Sehun barely knew what to do with himself.

And everything seemed to work out perfectly as Youri slept through most of the meal, drooling against Luhan, which left Luhan and Sehun to enjoy themselves at the table they were seated at with Suho, Baekhyun, Taeyeon, and several of Eunji’s wedding guests.

As far as weddings and after parties seemed to go, it was definitely the best that Sehun had been too in a very long time. The food was excellent, the music and dancing was superb, and there wasn’t a single problem as they partied into the night.

The whole affair left Sehun feeling extra comfortable when they finally climbed in the car at the end of the party to go home. Chen and Eunji were off on their honeymoon and Sehun already had plans to meet with Suho for lunch the next day and eek out as much time with his friend as possible.

So they were barely halfway home by the time Sehun blurted out, “Chen and I talked about some stuff today.”

Youri was dozing again in her carseat and Luhan was looking sleepy himself as he said, “When you two left the church?”

“Yeah,” Sehun said. “He was nervous about his life changing after he got married, and he didn’t want to mess up what he had with Eunji. And honestly, I was helping him, but he got me thinking, too. The whole wedding did.”

“About what?” Luhan leaned towards him.

Sehun pursed his lips for a second, looking at Luhan. Maybe it was wrong to say something. Maybe he’d ruin everything.

“Sehun?”

He burst out, “What are we waiting for?”

Luhan looked taken aback. “Could I have come context for that outburst?”

Sehun deflated a little. “Us getting married.  What are we really waiting for? Look, I know we said we’d wait until we were both ready, and that made sense when we weren’t sure, but I’m so sure now. I’m beyond sure.”

“So you think we’re ready to be married now?”

Sehun nodded almost reverently. “We are so good together, Luhan. We’re the perfect parenting machine, and none of that has detracted from how good we are as a couple. We’ve never been stronger or more loyal. We’re good at working our problems out with words, and I have never been in a better place.”

“That is true,” Luhan admitted.

“And,” Sehun pressed on, “we’ve known each other for fourteen months. I mean, really we’ve only been in a committed relationship for a little over half a year, but we’re solid. We’re so solid, Luhan. We’re going to raise our daughter together and love each other and I think we’re ready to get married.”

Sehun’s heart was beating so hard in his chest he felt physical pain from it. If Luhan didn’t say something soon, Sehun was certain he was going to have to pull the car over and just breathe for a couple of minutes.

“Sehun,” Luhan murmured, voice low so he didn’t wake Youri, “You’re not very observant, are you?”

Sehun frowned. “Huh?”

As they eased to a stop at a red light, Luhan leaned over and kissed him lightly. “You’ve been very distracted today, so I’ll let it slide.”

“I’m very confused,” Sehun admitted.

Luhan tapped his fingers against Sehun’s leg. “Honestly, I’ve been ready to marry you for a while now. I just wasn’t sure you were ready. I was hoping this wedding might jar you. I was waiting for you to either tell me, or notice.”

The light clicked over to green but they were on a side road and there were no other cars, so Sehun kept them idling in place. “Notice what?”

Luhan tapped his thigh more firmly. “That I’m wearing it.”

Sehun’s eyes jerked down to where he could see Luhan’s hand with its pale with long delicate fingers. And the ring that Sehun had bought around Christmas, a thin band of gold that was stylish and practical, was on his finger.

“You’re …”

Luhan was wearing it. He was wearing the wedding ring.

“You,” Luhan said, pressing their lips together lovingly, “are the father of my daughter, one of my best friends, and the man I am very much in love with. We have been through hell and back together, made mistakes, but also learned from them. We’re ready to be married to each other.”

Voice at a whisper, Sehun asked, “How long have you been wearing the ring?”

“Since last night,” Luhan said with a grin. “I certainly thought you’d notice in the shower this morning … or in that storage room at the church … or--”

“I’m horribly inattentive,” Sehun said, but there was a huge smile on his face, so wide it was making his cheeks hurt. “And I really, really love you.”

A car horn sounded behind them and Sehun let off the break, taking them once again towards home.

“I love you too,” Luhan said, reaching for Sehun’s free hand. And this time when their fingers linked, Sehun could feel the ring on Luhan’s finger. He wasn’t sure how he had missed it before.

Sehun took in a deep, satisfying breath, and said, “So … we’re getting married.”

Luhan settled back into his seat and squeezed Sehun’s hand. “We’re getting married.”