May would have been a lovely month for a wedding. With everything in full bloom, but just after the "wedding rush". And most colleges were getting off for break (or graduation), so some of Garfield's friends who had taken a leave of absence for a year could have attended.
Unfortunately, May was out of the question.
Brooke and Garfield couldn't wait that long. December wasn't really great scenery-wise, but they figured six months would give them enough time to plan, as opposed to almost a year, which would just have been too long. Of course, they had no idea the amount of work that had to go into a wedding. Finding a place, finding someone to marry them, caterers, clothing, a band, vows...
Well, the one thing they knew they had to do together was preparing a guest list. (Then, of course, printing and mailing invitations, but one step at a time.)
"Okay, I've definitely got to invite Sarah and Alison. You know them," Brooke said, grinning a little. "And my parents. Oh, and maybe Ms. Cisewski, just because I haven't told her about me being a doctor yet either."
"Cisewski?" Garfield repeated. "Your old high school teacher? You really think she'll want to come?"
"I was only her favorite student! Of course she'll want to come! Now, uh. That's all I can think of right now," Brooke admitted, not really wanting to bring up the question that was on both their minds.
"Okay, well, I've got Greg and Scott – you know them, right?" He saw Brooke nod and continued. "And I was thinking maybe Glen?" He frowned a little. "Even if he is a little weird."
"Garfield, you have green skin and pointy ears. Besides, if I'm inviting my friends, you've got to invite yours. Or it's not gonna be balanced!"
"Okay, okay, Glen's in, fine."
The two of them traded off a few more names between each other before they started clambering for people to invite and the dangling question finally was spoken.
"...Should we invite them?"
"Can we even get in touch with them?"
"I think I still have a communicator lying around." A frown. "But there's no guarantee they still have theirs."
"Well, there's only one way to find out, isn't there?" The two of them stood up, her after him, and walked to the closet they'd designated the "junk place". When faced with five or six closed cardboard boxes, they shared a glance and she smirked.
"Get to work, then. If you're gonna be my husband, you have to do all the work while I sit around and get pampered."
"Fat chance!" He laughed. "Someone's gotta keep the place clean while I'm starring in Expire With Difficulty," he added, reaching into the closet and taking out the topmost box; Brooke took the one underneath that and their search began.
Four boxes and a lot of old notebooks and texts later, their search came to an end when Brooke found a small yellow disk wedged between a calculus and pre-calculus book. "Here it is," she said to draw attention.
The two of them looked at it as if it were the Ark of the Covenant or some sort of giant stone obelisk. Opening it wouldn't melt their faces, but it sure as hell felt like it would. "Do you... do you think he still has his?" Brooke asked hesitantly and didn't even bother clarifying who she meant; she knew Garfield had exactly the same idea.
A green hand reached out for it. "Like you said. Only one way to find out." A few button presses later and the call had been made.
For a while, nothing.
And then.
"Nightwing here."
The two of them had to hold back a laugh. Garfield started the conversation back up again.
"Nightwing? What, you get too much flak for using your real name?"
"...Beast Boy?"
"You know it. What's up, Dick?"
"Why are you calling?" the voice shot back authoritatively.
"Oh, you know, just checking in—"
"Garfield and I are getting married!" Brooke blurted out, barely able to contain it any longer. Garfield looked at her in fake anger.
"Married? You two? Congratulations. But if that's all you have to say, I have important things to take care of."
"No, no, don't hang up," Garfield urged. "We, uhm. We wanted to know if you wanted to come to the wedding."
"You and all the other Titans," added Brooke.
Static for a while. Almost too long.
"You need to know where everyone else is, I guess."
The two of them smiled together. "So is that a yes?" she asked.
"I'll send you their addresses." The couple could have sworn they heard him smirk. "Are you still beastboyistheman at yahoo dot com, Garfield?" Brooke had to laugh at that, especially because Garfield looked so embarrassed when he confirmed it. "You'll have to figure out mine from coordinates, though."
"That's definitely a yes, isn't it?" Brooke repeated.
"I think Batman can handle Gotham for a few hours."
"Great!" The two of them smiled broadly at each other. "We'll send out invitations soon."
"Congratulations again." Those were the last words they heard before the signal died.
They looked at each other in silence for a moment, their eyes seeming to ask whether or not this was a good idea, even though they both knew it was too late to turn back now.
-RN-
With the guest list all sorted out (except for one person they were still debating on inviting), the next thing to do was to decide on a venue. And since this wouldn't really be a huge thing – excluding the Titans, there'd probably only be about twenty or so people there – the couple had one fairly prevalent idea as to where they would hold the reception. It wasn't quite a church, but it certainly had enough history in Jump City.
The one problem would be getting it for the day from its current inhabitants. Which, of course, meant an impromptu visit to Titans Tower, which wasn't actually in a state of total disrepair. In fact, it looked a lot like the way it was left, except a bit more high-tech. Like it had been polished steadily over the years and now it was giving off a nice metallic sheen. Or maybe the two of them were just crazy and had forgotten what it looked like.
Regardless, after a brief show of powers from Brooke, the two of them arrived at the front door and, of course, knocked on it. Barely had their arms returned to their sides than the door opened, revealing a girl with green skin and a white skintight uniform. She looked up at Brooke and Garfield, then finally spoke.
"And Robin told us you'd never come back, Beast Boy. Who's the chick?" She smirked as Garfield blushed a little at Brooke's disapproving glance.
"Name's Brooke. I used to be a Titan, like Beast Boy over here." The way she said it almost sounded like a tease. "They used to call me Terra."
The green girl seemed mildly surprised at that and only hesitated a little before inviting the former superheroes inside and to the communication room. Ties ran deep, of course, and even though it had been years since the girl and Beast Boy had even last talked, they still trusted each other.
When the three of them arrived in the comm room, they were met by three other girls – one with blonde hair, one very tall, and one with blue skin – and one guy with gray skin. The blue-skinned girl was first to greet them.
"I presume these are our visitors, one of which is Beast Boy and the other is someone very close to him."
"Heh, uhm," Beast Boy started. "Her name's Brooke, or Terra, whichever you want," and a pause to glance in Terra's direction for confirmation stopped him only briefly. "She's my fiancée, Indigo."
"Hah!" the tall girl barked. "So your crazy stalking plan worked?" Again Beast Boy looked embarrassed and felt like sinking into the floor.
"There was nothing clinically insane about the plan, Grace." Oh, thank god the fembot could come to his defense. "Though he may have been stalking her." The gray-skinned man grinned.
"It's only stalking if you didn't want it to happen," Terra shot back, her attention still focused on the green girl. "I guess you guys would be the replacement Titans, then? I've heard so much about you." Okay, so maybe she wasn't done teasing him yet. "Beast Boy here just won't shut up about who all you are and what you can do. Really keeping me in the loop." Her words got a laugh from everyone but Indigo, to whom the man had to explain that she was being sarcastic.
"Just the way we remember him," the green-skinned girl prodded one last time. "I'm Jade. That's Grace and Thunder," she indicated the tall and blonde girls, respectively, "and that's Indigo. The only source of testosterone here is Shift." He waved a little.
"What brings you two around here after... god, has it been four years already?" Thunder asked.
"See, that's the thing. Since we're getting married and everything," Terra started, "we were thinking that maybe we could, y'know, borrow the Tower for a day or so for the reception."
Jade glanced around the room and saw a few unsure faces, one or two enthusiastic expressions, and of course the hope on the happy couple's. Before the leader could say anything, Shift jumped in.
"One condition. We're invited."
Terra looked over at Beast Boy as if to say "well, they're your friends", and smiled when she saw him nod in agreement. How much damage could five more people do, especially when the groom was missing a decent chunk of people to sit on his side?
"Deal," Jade said and extended a green hand – though it wasn't her own. It seemed to be made of energy that appeared out of no place that the couple could see.
Beast Boy reached out with a laugh. "Deal." Brooke just looked impressed. "See you in December."
-RN-
The invitations had long since gone out – a lovely grass and tulip motif despite the fact that the wedding was to be held in the middle of winter – and nearly everything was finished. It turned out Indigo was a damn good cook (like some kind of machine, even!), so that saved money on catering, though Brooke and Garfield still got a professionally-made cake.
The bride and groom weren't supposed to see each other before the wedding, of course, and that was one tradition they would keep. With Vic Stone as Garfield's best man and Sarah as Brooke's maid of honor, though, they damn sure wouldn't be keeping secrets. Not that Vic and Garfield had many secrets (aside from the government experiments at STAR Labs that Vic wouldn't talk about even if Gar would have understood them), but Brooke was long past due on filling in Sarah. And Alison, of course, but that would come later.
"I gotta say, this is a pretty big secret to keep from us, Terra," Sarah said, teasing with her words and Brooke's hair. "But I can see why you kept it from us, at least."
"Yeah, I kind of figured if you two knew, soon everyone at school would know." Brooke paused as Sarah worked through an unexpected tangle. "And then... that would have just been too much pressure. I mean, you don't know what it's like to have to keep a secret that big from your best friends."
Still looking into the mirror in front of her, Brooke saw Sarah walk away, presumably to get the veil. She looked herself over one more time. Their budget hadn't been as spectacular as she'd have liked, but with the money they managed to save on booking a venue, they could put more into buying a proper dress. The one they had chosen, Brooke realized almost immediately, was perfect for her. Its lack of shoulders meant that it was hugging her chest a little, but it wasn't like she'd never worn a strapless shirt before. This was just a strapless shirt that was white and lacy and had hints of floral patterns in the lace and... it was nothing like a strapless shirt. She couldn't even start to make that comparison. It was the most beautiful thing she'd ever worn, and she had to stop herself from thinking about what was to come or she would start crying and ruin her makeup.
Fortunately, Sarah returned soon enough and fitted Brooke with the veil – the final touch, and now she officially looked like a bride. Sarah just smiled quietly. "Knock him dead, Brooke."
-RN-
Garfield's breath suddenly decided it had somewhere else very important to be when he saw from the makeshift altar his bride-to-be walking down the aisle. The roof of the Tower had been used for many things, but never a wedding. As if seeing all his friends, all Brooke's friends, and even his former teammates weren't enough to intimidate him, just seeing Brooke wearing the dress and looking absolutely beautiful, even with the veil over her face, rendered him practically speechless.
When the time came to recite the vows they had written for each other – and, frankly, every other time he had to speak – he had no idea how he would even get the words out. But he had, of course, gotten a degree in memorization, and so the words still came, even if he got a little choked up near the end.
"Brooke... I've known you since we were just teenagers, back when your name was different and you were a different person. I fell in love with you as soon as I saw you. And we were only together for a year before... I lost you. But in that year we lived more than most people ever did, and I was ready to accept that. Until you came back. It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, but you didn't want anything to do with me." He laughed a little in embarrassment. "That didn't stop me, though, and I'm glad it didn't, because my stupid hanging on led to this. To you making me the happiest I've ever been.
"I've told you this so many times before, but whoever you want to be, I will always love you. We've lived more than a lifetime with each other and at this rate, we'll be together for eternity. And I can't wait to spend eternity with you."
Brooke was faring much less well when she had to give her vows. Just Garfield's words were enough to bring her to the brink of tears of joy, so she started off at nearly the same place emotionally that her future husband left off on.
"I decided long ago that I'd keep the name Brooke Reynolds. That I'd keep living my life as a normal kid. And even though 'normal' changed meanings for me more than a few times, I'm beyond glad that I stayed with it, because that course led me back to you. It was a chance I knew I wouldn't get for a third time, and it was something I knew I had to do. There were others, but you were my first love, and... and that I got a second chance is just something I can barely believe. But I know this time, it won't end the same way. I love you, Garfield Logan, and back then, my only regret was that I wouldn't get the chance to spend the rest of my life with you. But now that I have a second life with so many opportunities in front of me, I'm not going to waste it. The rest of my life can't start soon enough."
She realized she rambled a little at the end, but considering she was trying to force back tears, she thought she did very well.
What the minister said next barely mattered to them, since they knew exactly how they would respond.
"I do."
And after more of those words they had been waiting for.
"I do."
Garfield knew by kissing Brooke then that he would get her makeup on his face, but he really didn't care.
-RN-
"Congratulations!"
They didn't know they could hear that word so much in such a short amount of time, but if there were one place it could happen, it would be at the wedding. Everyone had long since moved inside, relocating to the communications room that had been redecorated to include a dance floor and enough food for an army.
The one person who hadn't congratulated them yet, though, was the one person neither of the wedded expected to show up at all.
"Congratulations, you two," she said flatly but with a bit of a smirk on her face. Of course, that could have been from seeing their shocked expressions.
"Raven!"
"You actually showed up," Brooke said, trying to conceal her surprise.
"I couldn't pass up the opportunity to see Garfield actually do something right for once."
"You haven't changed a bit, Raven," Garfield laughed. At least, he hoped she was joking. Of course, her expression never gave anything away, and she wasn't about to say anything to confirm or deny it.
"So have you grown a party gland in the past ten years?" the new bride joked.
"I still don't do parties. I just wanted to congratulate you on actually making the right decision. It was obvious you two were crazy about each other." When she saw them start to smile a bit too broadly for her liking, she added, "Try to keep the mushy stuff to a minimum until I'm at a safe distance."
Fortunately (or perhaps unfortunately, from Raven's perspective), the other Titans, new and old, chose exactly that time to show up. Congratulations and salutations were exchanged, and even a few smirks at how Dick had let his hair grow out, even though Kori's was much more spectacular.
"I'm just bummed we didn't get to throw you a bachelor party," said Shift. Kori, Raven, Brooke, Jade, Thunder, Grace, and Indigo didn't seem too amused at that suggestion. Vic laughed.
"I knew picking you was the right choice. You guys are doing a real bang-up job." Before Indigo could get literal on them, he continued. "As if we needed another reason to celebrate, whaddaya say? It's a party, so let's boogie already!"
As most of the Titans moved to the dance floor, the newly married stayed in place for a few moments more.
"You know, he has a point," Brooke said. "You never did get a bachelor party."
"Heh, well, y'know, it's not really a big deal..."
"Oh, no, it is. I understand entirely. And if you still feel like you missed out, then when we get home tonight, maybe I can fix that." He couldn't even help the powerful blush that flooded his face. As he stammered, all she did was giggle. "Well, come on. It is a party, after all. Shall we dance?"