Finally happy with these two chapters. More surprises to come down the track, so you'll just have to stay tuned 
Hope you all enjoy!
Chapter 25: Wedding.
While in Melbourne, Brad and I had barely enough time to ourselves. Sarah had asked us ever so nicely to help with the wedding arrangements, as the stress was getting to her. Remembering with severe clarity how Sarah was when stressed, I agreed without thinking twice. Brad had nodded too, he had taken a liking to Sarah as she had welcomed him in so easily when he arrived with me in the city.
So true to our word we were off on the City Loop several times a day, stopping at Melbourne Central, Flagstaff and sometimes places like Fitzroy to pick up such items as Wedding Dresses, Cakes and various unknowns. I was thoroughly enjoying being in Melbourne again, and Brad seemed to enjoy it almost as much as me. Four days into our stay, I subjected him to the torture that was trying Vegemite. To my absolute surprise, he enjoyed it hugely and started having it on toast in the mornings for breakfast. Every single friend I had subjected it to back home either gagged, vomited or used some choice four letter words to relay their feelings of shock, distaste and anger to me.
On the Thursday, I vanished to our hotel room with Brad to plan Sarah’s hen’s night. Brad was looking forward to it as much as I was. We both knew that planning a woman’s hen’s night meant Male Strippers. We were done in little over three hours. I phoned Sarah to tell her of my plans, who thanked me quickly before screaming something along the lines of “thats the wrong fucking colour!” and disconnecting the call. I winced, the wedding was the following afternoon. I looked at Brad who looked purely bored for the first time in a week. “You okay?” I asked and he grinned. “Just thinking is all, I think I want to go home right after this whole debacle is over.” I nodded, solemnly and trying to convey my agreement to him without saying it aloud. We finished off the night with a game of “Who had the worst day” because we were too tired to do anything else, as we had been split up and dispatched to various areas of the city to pick up last minute items for Sarah. Brad won with a landslide as he had gotten lost, picked the wrong shop and had overridden his stop on the tram three times. I smiled, said goodnight and closed my eyes. “Boy, tomorrow is going to be biiiiig” Brad said, and I laughed before finally falling asleep.
“GET UP!” someone screamed at us. I opened my eyes to see Brad sitting bolt upright in bed, staring at the hotel room door. “WHO IS IT?” Brad called and a growl sounded, so we knew it was Sarah. “We’re both awake, we’re getting ready! It’s 6AM!” I called and Sarah groaned in obvious relief. “Can I come in?” she asked and I proceeded to open the door.
<Brad>
All I saw of Ben after he opened the door as Sarah stepping over the threshold and dragging him into our bathroom. He was in his immaculate tuxedo in about a minute, and was then dragged out of the room by a frantic-looking Sarah. I was all alone in the room. Sarah called back through the door and asked me to be ready in about an hour, Ben would be back soon. I dawdled getting ready, and made sure I was utterly perfect before I stepped out of the bathroom. I hadn’t realized how long I had been in there, until Ben came barreling through the door and told me to get a move on. “The wedding is in forty minutes!” he panted, and I grabbed my bag, and he his. We kissed briefly before heading out the door. The elevator ride gave us a small time to talk. “When we get married, I don’t know about you but I don’t want to bother about ANY of this! You and I can just wear old track pants and gym tee’s.” Ben said and all I could do was laugh in reply, nodding my head vigorously. The elevator door opened and Sarah pulled us from it, dragging us across the lobby to the limo her husband to be owned and used regularly. The desk clerk gave us a worried look, and I called out “We’re guests at her wedding!” The attendant laughed and then returned to her work. “DRIVE SAM!” Sarah called toward the driver, who immediately took off from the park, and began to make his way toward St. Patrick’s Cathedral on the other side of the city.
<Ben>
We arrived at the church with minutes to spare. Sarah hugged me and Brad, thanked us and sprinted into the little room where she would put her dress on. We took our allotted seats and awaited the bride’s arrival. After fifteen minutes had passed, the bride’s call sounded, and we waited for her to come. She didn’t.
<Sarah>
I was in my dress, carrying my bouquet and waiting at the door to the room. I could hear my call and people muttering, but I just couldn’t get out there. Steve’s best man walked in and all I could say was “I need Ben”. He ran off to grab him and I sat there struggling to get my breathing in order.
<Ben>
I sat there giving Steve a “she’s gonna do it” look, while turning my head to check every few seconds. The Best Man sprinted down the aisle and came straight to me. “She needs you.” I stood up, and ran back down the aisle with him.
<Sarah>
“BEN!” I whispered when he entered the room. “Sarah, what the fuck?” He asked and I shrugged. “I want to do it but I can’t! I’m too nervous!” I said and he rolled his eyes. “Come on girl you can do it.” He said, but I shook my head tears threatening to destroy my carefully applied makeup. “My Dad was supposed to be here but he’s sick, you know. I have nobody to ‘give me away’ or walk me down!” I panted, and he suddenly straightened up. “Well, if it will take ME walking you down will you be able to do it?” He asked. I nodded, before standing up and walking to the door with him.
<Steve>
I was staring imperiously at the double doors at the back of the room, waiting for my love to appear there. “Oh thank heaven!” I said a little loudly when I saw her appear there with Ben at her arm.
<Ben>
“Are you okay?” I whispered out of the corner of my mouth to her. “Yes” she said back, and we began the all too slow walk down the aisle. Mercifully, Sarah and I were both tall and therefore covered a lot of ground when we stepped. We were at the altar in about a minute, once there I handed her over to Steve and whispered “she was nervous, nobody to walk her down but me” in his ear discreetly. He smiled at me and thanked me in a whisper. I returned to my seat to enjoy the ceremony.
<Brad>
I cheered with everyone else when they finally tied the knot. I was so happy for them. I was equally as happy for us, because it meant some real free time in Melbourne before we went home. We all exited the church, some of the crowd heading to the reception and others heading home. I looked at Ben and we joined the queue to go ‘home’. We called a Taxi and it took us back to our hotel room for a cheap $4.50. When we walked into our room, we looked at our bags for a split second before packing them up, collecting every single one of our belongings and packing them also before calling the airlines. We wanted to go home, and badly.
<Ben>
I was on the phone for almost an hour, organizing our tickets back to L.A. I did it without difficulty, except for the incurably inept woman on the phone trying to refund $300 of my money into my bank account, who had failed miserably three times before a supervisor was called to perform the transaction for her. I logged into my Qantas account online and printed the temporary tickets, I would get the real things once I checked in. Afterwards, we headed out onto the street and boarded a tram which would take us to Southern Cross. It was there where we would catch the SkyBus to Melbourne Airport.
Chapter 26: Home.
<Brad>
The flight home was long and extremely boring. I slept on and off throughout the flight, not caring about Jet Lag in the slightest. Neither did my fiancée who sat next to me, holding my hand the entire way. We disembarked at LAX and collected my car from Long Term Parking. The drive home was filled with relaxed chatter and loud music provided by Tiësto, iiO, Gwen Stefani, Ace of Base, Infernal and several other bands which we both adored. One song came on, in which we both sang our hearts out to. Defeated by Anastacia was a nice powerful song that hit home with us both, so we loved it, naturally.
Arriving back at the apartment was something I intensely looked forward to. When we pulled into the car-park, headed up the elevator and opened the apartment door we truly relaxed. Kicking off our shoes, we walked upstairs to bed and literally fell asleep as soon as we hit the pillows.
<Ben>
I awoke when it was still dark. I turned, careful not to disturb my fiancée to check my alarm clock. It was three-thirty in the morning, and I was wide awake. “Aw SHIT!” I whispered, and Brad tapped me. “You too huh?” He asked and when I looked confused he grinned and continued. “I’ve been awake since three, I was waiting for you. When I felt you turn I almost shouted with happiness.” I giggled and cuddled into his arms. “Well, we’re both running on Australian Time, so what do you want to do today?” I asked and he made a face of utter concentration. “I would like to...............” “Get Married?” I asked and he nodded, with the expression of pure love in his eyes. “You wanna go to that chapel with the drive-thru in Vegas?” I asked and he shook his head. “Somewhere in L.A. California are OK with Gay Marriage I think...”, “Ok then, we’ll wait until things are open” I said, and we lay there in each others arms. I was so happy, I didn’t even know if I had fallen asleep again.
<Brad>
I was riveted. Sarah had just married, and now I was going to marry Ben. I had finally overcome my ‘one-side’ issue, and now I couldn’t care less what he gave me. I just would thank him, and if I ever left i’d just leave it all here. I pushed the thoughts of leaving out of my head because they brought tears to my eyes. I remembered all too clearly the face of my love when he found me in my tent. The desolate look in his eyes had been the source of many nightmares lately, although I would never let him know this. I was mulling things over and when I heard a little snore from Ben, I grinned and kept thinking how lucky I was before falling asleep along with him. Hopefully we would be de-jet lagged in the morning.
<Ben>
One of the advantages of living on the forty-second floor of an apartment building, was that nothing like Police sirens or Fire Engine alarms usually reached you unless they were right outside. At the same time as being an advantage, it was also a severe disadvantage. It was VERY difficult to avoid over sleeping, that was unless you had an infallible alarm clock which you hated more than anything in your life. “Get the fuck out of bed!” My alarm clock bellowed at about nine in the morning. I cast it a furious look. “Don’t you look at me like that!” It said, and I unplugged it before stepping out of my bed with Brad who looked utterly terrified. “What’s your problem?” I asked and he opened his mouth, shaping words with his lips but no sound was coming out. “Spill!” I commanded and he gulped before mouthing “Your alarm clock just spoke” soundlessly and carefully. I laughed. “It’s been here for a while, I just plugged it back in last night. I opened it up one day and customized the alarm sound myself, adding heat and proximity sensors so it could snap back at me with a retort when I glared at it before turning it off. I’ve always done that.” I said and Brad rolled his eyes. “Should have known it was you, but it’s cool nonetheless. Let’s go.” We walked downstairs but on the landing I stopped and tapped a discreet button on my mirror. “47 Missed Calls, 7 Text Messages and 1 Email” appeared in a glowing blue digital font on the panel. I groaned, tapping the button again to hide everything and continued to walk down the stairs. “You want some breakfast?” Brad asked me, and I shook my head before saying “Not just yet, wait for it!” I said, right next to the phone. “Ring, Ring, Ring!” The phone sounded and I picked it up nearly instantly. “Hello Sarah.” I said, and she giggled. “You knew it was me? Okay, now thats over....WHERE THE FUCK ARE YOU?” She shouted into the receiver, which I held more than a foot from my ear. “At home, why?” I asked and she made the tut noise which meant she had rolled her eyes and shaken her hair. “Duh, I know that! WHERE ARE YOU NOW?” She shouted again, and her voice was doubling up. “Hang on!” I called in the direction of the receiver when I ran down the corridor to my apartment door and wrenched it open. I was at least dressed, and there she was outside my apartment door with Steve. “Couldn’t you guys remember the floor number or something?” I asked and they both shook their heads. “I told him it was 42, but he insisted on me calling you first. Vegas is our honeymoon destination. I wanted to see you before we went there.” Sarah said and I grinned. “Come on in then newlyweds, have some breakfast. We have some news.” I said before pulling them inside and closing the door.
<Sarah>
“WHAT?” I said, my mouth falling open when Ben had announced to us that he and Brad were getting married, TODAY. “You guys have been engaged for how long now?” I asked and Ben just grinned, saying “Three months, but we’ve been together for eight now.” I just floundered around in my head, searching for words wonderful enough to say to them. “We’re off to Vegas in a few hours. Can’t wait. Steve’s booked us a suite in one of the huge Hotels.....” I said, trailing off when Ben made a face. “PLEASE don’t go into details about your sex life. Eeew. When we were teens maybe, but not now.” He said, and I laughed making Steve groan. “In turn, can you guys not mention the sex you perform?” he asked, and Ben nodded to him smiling. After breakfast, we lounged on Ben’s luxurious sofa. The apartment was huge. After our breakfast settled, I asked him to give us a tour. The last room that he showed us was his bedroom, which he obviously shared with Brad. I had to give it to Ben there, Brad was very, very, very attractive. But very modest about it, so he was a well-balanced guy. Two days into their stay in Melbourne, I had pounced on Brad and girl-hit him a few times when he told me he’d left Ben once. I felt sorry about that now, so I ran back downstairs, apologized, then ran back full tilt to the upstairs bathroom. “Okay lovebirds, we best be off. Our plane to Nevada leaves in an hour. Thanks for everything love!” I called, and we headed out the door. Ben saw us to the elevator, and stopped the door with his arm. “Ooooh, I totally forgot this!” He said, and called over his shoulder “Brad? Where’s the boxes?” Brad appeared carrying two small boxes in his hands, and one badly wrapped package. He passed the badly wrapped one and one of the boxes to me. He also passed an envelope to each of us, and told us to open the envelope first. We did so, and upon reading the card inside, screamed in unison. “THANKYOU!” I bellowed, running to hug Ben, then Brad. Steve was more controlled, although I could see he was flying. He shook their hands, thanked them and got back into the lift with me.
<Brad>
“What did you get them?” I asked Ben, and we walked into the apartment before he said anything. “Remember that ‘last-minute’ thing I had to do before we left for Melbourne?” He asked, and I nodded. “Well, that last-minute thing was organizing the shipment of a new Car to Melbourne. They’ll be able to pick it up from the car-yard on Lorimer Street. “So it’s a Subaru?” I asked and he shook his head. I paid them to keep the Car there. It’s a Lamborghini, like mine.”
I was reeling, I knew he had got them iPhones. But the reaction they gave upon reading their cards was all too extravagant for a small gift. So I knew it had to be something more. I didn’t really like it when Ben spent his money, I knew he had a lot to throw around but I just still didn’t like it. I would never tell him this. We returned to the sofa, before looking at the time and jumping up, running to get ready. “You want to take separate cabs, cars, limos, what?” Ben asked, and I just said we should travel together. “Sure!” He called, and I resumed putting my best casual clothes on. Ben walked into my room, looking so good I almost cried in defeat. His clothes were all new, or just hardly worn and he knew how to dress. When you were in a state like mine, everyone looked wonderful compared to yourself and you desperately wanted to get out. He must have seen the look on my face when he grinned, holding out a stack of clothes for me to try. “Thought you might need something to wear babe” He said before walking out of the room. I thanked him by shouting the word after him down the corridor and I threw them on. It looked good, but not brilliant. I turned around in the mirror, and saw Ben waiting by the door with a bemused look on his face.
<Ben>
“What’s with you?” Brad asked me, and I moved from my position by the doorframe to straighten his hat and fix his hair with some product I had in a tube inside my Bag. He loved the quick styling I gave his short hair. I pulled up the T-Shirt slightly, which he had pulled down until it was perfectly straight. Then, acting on whim I lifted the shirt again and kissed his abs before moving to his crotch and pretending to measure his in-seam. “You’re funny, but let’s wait until the honeymoon” He said and I laughed before standing up. He lifted my shirt and kissed me on my abs so quickly I didn’t see him move. I laughed and he stood up to kiss me. “I love you so much. I can’t wait for this, I really can’t.” He said, before appraising himself in the mirror. “Thanks by the way, these look great.”
I took his hand, and he tightened his grip before we walked out of the room figuratively ready to tie ourselves to one another in the most absolute of ways known to the human race.
TTYL, xx
