After: The Toast
Nick
I held a flute of champagne up. "Everyone who knows me these days knows I'm all about making sure that you say what you feel because you don't always get a second chance..." I said, "They're so rare. And because of that, I have something I've wanted to say for a very, very long time." I turned to Ashley. "Dogface," I said, "I... am so... incredibly... head-over-heels, gut-wrenchingly, painfully, over-the-moon happy for you."
Ashley's mouth broke into a wide smile and she took a hold of Chris's arm and snuggled into his shoulder, biting her lower lip. Tiny tears flecked the corners of her eyes. Chris reached over and patted her hand on his bicep. A couple people gathered around the table said aww, and I raised my glass higher. "To true love," I said, "And the happy couple."
"To true love," everyone repeated.
We all sipped from our glasses.
I sat down, shuffling my seat in until my chest was flush against the table. Ashley smiled at me, reached over and patted my hand as I put the glass down. "That was beautiful, Nick," she said. "See, you're silly for thinking you'd mess it up."
That's because she didn't know how insanely close I'd come to saying in love with you instead of happy for you.
"Yeah, good speech, Carter," Chris called. He waved his hand for a waiter to put some crab cakes on his plate and he eagerly shook shrimp cocktail sauce over them. Ashley took a couple crab cakes, too.
"You like crab cakes, don't you, Nick?" she asked absently, unfolding a napkin onto her lap.
"Yeah," I answered as the waiter dropped them onto my plate, too.
"We're having lobster tomorrow," Chris said enthusiastically.
"I know, I helped finalize the menu, remember?"
Chris grinned, "Oh yeah, I forgot, maid of honor." He shook his head, "I still can't believe you gave up best man for maid of honor, but okay dude."
"I needed someone to walk me down the aisle," Ashley said, slapping Chris playfully on the shoulder. "Be nice."
"I am being nice. It just isn't traditionally a man job." Chris said, shrugging. "You understand, right, Carter?" he grinned.
"Dude if you were a maid of honor I'd be making fun of you like nobody's business, I get it," I agreed.
Ashley rolled her eyes, "Boys." She looked around. "Where's the tarter sauce?"
"Down by AJ," Chris said, pointing down the table, where AJ was trying to get Ava to try a piece of a french fry.
"Excuse me," Ashley stood up and glided away, her purple dress crunching from tafetta as she walked.
Chris watched her go, grinning, then turned back to his plate. He shovelled a forkful of crab cake drenched in cocktail sauce into his mouth. "I just can't believe how much has changed in a year," he said, shaking his head. "Man, if you'd told me last year that I'd be sitting here on the eve of my wedding talking to a single, celibate Nick Carter and my beautiful fiance, I would've thought you were insane."
"I would've, too," I answered.
"Hey no hard feelings, right?" Chris asked.
"Hard feelings? For what?" I asked.
Chris shrugged, "I don't know. I feel like I owe you for Ashley being as wonderful as she is. I mean you put in all the work, all those years, and she ends up with me? I must be the luckiest bastard in the world."
"You must be," I agreed, finishing off my champagne.
Ashley
"You look damn good, have I said that yet?" AJ looked up from Ava. He'd said it about a thousand times.
"Thank you," I said. I reached for the tarter sauce.
"I love that dress," Rochelle said. She waved her hands at her arm, "I can never pull off a print like that though with a sleeveless dress. My tattoos clash." She grinned. Her nose piercing glinted in the light.
"You look amazing in anything," I replied. "Thanks again for helping with my make-up and stuff tomorrow."
"It's what I do," Ro grinned.
AJ glanced over at Nick and Chris, who were talking. "So... are they getting along okay?" he asked. Rochelle smacked him and gave him The Look.
"Getting along okay?" I said, confused. "Why wouldn't they be getting along okay?" I looked between AJ and Rochelle with concern.
AJ looked at Ro, like he was asking her permission to speak. She sighed. "They had a fight last night," she confessed, "At the bachelor party."
"A fight?" I asked. I looked back at them. Now they were looking opposite directions. "What sort of fight?"
"Nick almost kad a TKO," AJ said.
"If Nick hadn't been drunk he would've beat him down just fine," Rochelle intoned.
"This one's still sore because she almost lost ten bucks to Howie when Nick went down."
"Went down?!"
"AJ, I think it'stime to shut up," Rochelle said.
AJ looked at Ro, then glance up at me. "Sorry," he said, "It was the first time I really got out with the guys since Poopy McGee here started waddling." He waved at Ava. She grinned up at me, cooing.
"What were they fighting over?" I asked.
AJ answered, "Well actually they were fighting over y--" Rochelle literally stomped on his foot so hard AJ stopped mid-word and let out a howl that attracted attention up and down the table.
Rochelle, again, gave him The Look.
"Me?" I said. He'd gotten enough of the word out that when he howled, he'd kind of said it anyways. I raised my eyebrows. "Why on earth would they be fighting about me for?" I asked.
AJ looked at Rochelle nervously. Now he didn't want to talk, now that he'd gotten himself into it. Rochelle looked up at me. "Did either of us mention how good you look tonight?" she asked, smiling sweetly.
I looked back over at Nick and Chris. Chris was eating his crab cakes and cocktail sauce. Nick was ripping the label off the bottle of champagne. "Excuse me," I said to AJ and Rochelle. I walked back around the table to my seat and sat down.
"You're back," Chris said. "Baby, you gotta have some of these crab cakes, they're incredible." He waved his fork at my plate, "I kind of stole one from your plate, I hope you don't mind."
"I don't care," I answered. I looked at Nick. He looked up at me. "Did you guys have a good time last night at the bachelor party?" I asked, raising my eyebrow.
Nick licked his lips. "Yeah, it was great."
Chris mumbled his agreement, too.
I nodded and shifted in my seat. Clearly, if I wanted this story I was going to have to work for it. I cleared my throat, lifting my champagne glass, "You know what we all haven't done for a long time?" I asked, taking a sip.
"What's that?" Chris asked.
Nick was looking slightly queasy.
"Gone to the boxing ring. Remember when you guys took up boxing as a hobby?" I laughed, "And Nick broke that rubber dummy you're supposed to punch?"
"I wouldn't say he broke it," said Chris, "More like... kinda knocked it over..." he looked at Nick.
Nick raised an eyebrow. "I broke it," he said.
"You didn't break it," Chris said, chuckling. "You can't break a rubber dummy."
"When it's head comes clear off," Nick said, nibbling his crab cake, "I would call that mother fucker broken."
I stood up. "We need to talk." I said.
Chris and Nick both stood up and said, "Okay," at the same time. They looked at each other, surprised. "She was talking to me," Chris said.
"She was talking to me," Nick replied. "She was looking at me."
"I was talking to both of you," I answered darkly. And I walked away from the table.
Story Notes:
This is the sequel to my story "Launch".
