AN: Wow I can't believe it took me so long to get this up. It wasn't like I didn't already have the entire thing plotted out in my head. For some reason I just couldn't get it to move from my head to the page. But here it is in it's completed form, fresh from the word processor (I literally just finished it three minutes ago.) Thanks to everyone who stuck it out with me from the get-go and to all of the new fans we picked up along the way, you've guys have been absolutely fantastic to me and supportive even with my fickle muse.

Minor spoilers - well not so much spoilers as allusions - for the start of Season 2. (Yes, I actually found a way to make this story canon compliant! I didn't think I could pull it off either, but I hope it works out for you guys, so let me know what you thought of the tie-ins.)

Epilogue – The Wedding

I'm pretty sure I've never been this nervous in my entire life, which is pretty stupid considering it's just a wedding. And not even my wedding at that, because I figure I'll probably be nervous that day, but that's a long way off and I don't even want to think about that because that just makes me even more nervous. Dear God, I'm even rambling in my own thoughts now.

I take a deep breath to try and steady myself, and then glance over at the driver's seat of the car. Tina is steering with one hand, the other hand twisting a curl of violet hair around her fingertips while she hums to the music on the radio. She looks amazing. I think I nearly fell over when she showed up on my doorstep this morning to pick me up. I've seen her in dresses before, she wears them all the time, but I've never seen formal-wear Tina before. Her dress is sleek and fitted, black and blue and violet, with just a dash of her Asian vampire goth thing tossed in. She's always been beautiful to me, Corpse Bride look and all, but this is just – wow. And the fact that she matched her dress with a pair of black and purple Converse is just so perfect I can't stop smiling.

We've been on the road for about a half hour, and the closer we get to Columbus the more nervous I get. I've been air-strumming Beatles songs in my lap since we got onto the highway to keep myself focused. Thinking about it logically, today shouldn't really be that big a deal. So my best friend-slash-girlfriend and I are going to my other best friend's wedding together. Big deal, right?

Except it kind of is. Hayden and Tina, they've always felt like they come from two separate lives for me. Hayden is from the Before, from the time when my life was still shaky and fragile, and from the time when I needed someone to be my strength and to lift me back onto my feet – metaphorically speaking. But Tina, she's from the After part. She's from the time when I got myself together and I know who I am and who I want to be, and I've even been strong enough to help her and guide her back onto her feet. They've always felt like such separate times to me, and now, for the first time, I'm bringing those two parts of my life together.

So this wedding that isn't even mine suddenly feels like the most important day of my life.

"Hey Artie, you okay?" I blink and look around at Tina, and she's watching me curiously.

"Hmm, yeah, why?" I say.

"You're just not talking," Tina says. "You sure you're okay?"

"Yeah, fine," I say. She's still looking at me and I know she doesn't believe me, so I add, "I just haven't seen him in a while. We've talked on the phone a few times, but I haven't actually seen him since last summer. You know, a lot of things can change in a year."

Tina gives me that sweet little smile and reaches over to take my hand. "He's your best friend. It'll be okay."

I nod and we lapse back into steady quiet, but this time I join in as Tina hums to the radio, and I'm surprised how much it relaxes me. I'm suddenly very grateful I told her the story about me and Hayden, and that she's here with me now. Somehow, as soon as I can muscle through the embarrassment around whatever life secret I've just divulged, it always helps to have Tina on my side.

We manage to find the greenhouse where the wedding is being held – thankfully Tina is a lot better with directions than I am because I had no idea where we were going. She gets my chair from the trunk of her car while I stare up at the building. I can't believe they actually rented an entire greenhouse for the wedding, and not just a little garden hothouse but a greenhouse the size of an auditorium. Personally, I'm just glad that they didn't go for an outdoor wedding. I hate rolling over grass.

Once I'm out and situated in my chair, Tina and I go into the greenhouse behind a few other people that are heading in from the parking lot. I see the adults in front of us cast curious looks over their shoulders at Tina and me, but I try to ignore them. We find a place to sit near the back of the lines of folding chairs near the aisle so I can see, on the side designated for the friends and family of the groom. In the very front row I can see Hayden's mom, an older woman with his same face, standing up and talking to someone else that I don't recognize.

Tina and I spend most of the time until the wedding starts just talking. I tell her about my plans for a three-day-long Halo marathon with my friends Greg and Jake from AV club, and how I'm going to a baseball game with my older brother in a few weeks. She tells me how if we're having another movie night this weekend then she gets to pick the movie – what's that supposed to mean? – and how much she's not looking forward to the camp where she'll be spending the rest of her summer. Just as we're going to get into making plans for all of the free days we have left before she leaves, the wedding music begins and everyone falls quiet.

The priest is standing at the end of the aisle now, and I see Hayden walk up next to him. He's not using his cane, but letting his best man steer him by the elbow out to the right place. When they've all settled into their places, the music picks up even more and the doors at the back of the greenhouse atrium open. A tall, energetic-looking young woman with sandy blonde hair walks out in a pale green dress. Even if I hadn't met her before, it would've been impossible not to guess who she was; Nikki's resemblance to her twin brother Hayden is so close it's almost disturbing.

Behind her comes the bride, on her father's arm. I've met her before on more than one occasion, but she looks so different it takes me a minute to really recognize her. The girl I met wore faded jeans and sneakers and a braid; this girl looks like a princess in her white dress and jewelry, with her hair swept up into a fancy twist. The thing that makes me sure it's the same girl is that smile, the one she always wears when she's looking at Hayden. My mom would call it a happily ever after smile.

The actual wedding is pretty much just a typical boring wedding. It's kind of hard not to fall asleep, and the only reason I don't is because Tina is leaning her arm on my chair and she's tapping her foot at a supersonic speed and I can feel it making my chair move. Apparently I'm not the only one who gets bored at weddings.

It's a relief when the ceremony ends and everyone migrates into a larger, open greenhouse that's decorated for the reception. There's a cluster of little tables set up off to one side, with refreshments and a towering white and green wedding cake, and the rest of the room is cleared out to form a dance floor. At the moment everyone is filtering through a line to congratulate the newlyweds but Tina and I hang back at the edge of the room, since neither of us is fond of crowds. Besides, I figure we'll congratulate them whenever we get to talk to them later. Instead we entertain ourselves with a whispered, highly sarcastic color commentary on the various other wedding guests until they announce the couples' first dance.

Hayden and Emma walk out into the middle of the open dance floor, but they don't face each other and the music hasn't started. Hayden clears his throat and then raises his voice. "Hey everyone," he says and grins. "Ems and I wanted to do something special for our song, but due to a lot of complications and wedding chaos distractions, we sort of put this off 'til the last minute. So I had to call in a favor yesterday, and thankfully I just so happen to have a really great friend that also happens to be a really great musician and he agreed to help us out. Artie, where'd you get to?"

Tina makes a noise of surprise and turns to look at me, and I just smile back before pushing myself forward through the crowd. I notice that Emma touches his hand lightly and whispers something, and Hayden then turns in my general direction. "There you are," he says. "It's all set up for you." I nod and say thanks, and then push myself over to the raised platform where there's a waiting band. They've set up a ramp along one side and I roll myself up and onto the stage, while Hayden says to the other guests, "For those of you who don't know, that's Artie Abrams. We've known each other a long time, and long story short, he's basically my little brother."

One of the musicians in the back hands me an acoustic guitar, so I settle it in my lap and dig one of the picks from my pocket while he adjusts the microphones in front of me. "Okay Hayden, ready whenever you are," I call and he nods. He turns to Emma, drawing her into a dance position, and I play the opening chords.

"Some day, when I'm awfully low, when the world is cold, I will feel a glow just thinking of you, and the way you look tonight…"

It's a good thing that I've gotten used to performing for an audience, because I can tell that the wedding guests are staring at me just as much as they are at the newlyweds. I can only imagine what they're thinking; the cripple kid playing wedding singer for the blind guy, how many more handicaps can we get into one ceremony? I try to ignore all of the stares, focusing on the song. Then my eyes pan over and find another familiar face. Tina is watching me with rapt awe, a soft, sweet smile on her lips as she sways slightly to the music. I find myself singing a little louder and with even more conviction.

"Never, ever change, keep that breathless charm. Won't you please arrange it? 'Cause I love you, just the way you look tonight."

I play out the last few notes of the song, and as I do the people on the dance floor all stop in their dancing to applaud. Over the noise I hear Hayden let out an appreciative whoop, his sister Nikki is wolf whistling from where she was dancing with her two-year-old son, and I can see Tina bouncing up and down on her toes in the corner, laughing and clapping enthusiastically. My cheeks are pretty much burning like fire as I hand the guitar back to the musician, smile shyly to the wedding guests, and then roll myself down the ramp off the raised platform.

The band has just started up on a new song, a slightly faster eighties' ballad, and Tina pushes her way through the handful of people lingering at the edges of the dance floor to meet me at the bottom of the ramp. "Artie, why didn't you tell me you were gonna sing?" she asks.

"I only found out yesterday afternoon myself," I admit sheepishly. "He called me to ask if I would sing it for him. It's his favorite song, but they'd forgotten about picking a song and then they realized that the band they'd chosen only specialized in eighties classics and wouldn't have the time to learn the song. So he called and asked if I would do him a favor."

"So that's why you were so quiet on the way up here," Tina says, laughing. While this isn't entirely true, I just let her think that because I'm too embarrassed to tell her the truth. "Well you did a really great job. Sinatra, right?"

"Your date has a good ear for music." I glance past Tina with a grin and see Hayden, holding onto his new wife's elbow, stopping behind her. "Hey there Artie, still looking as sexy as ever I see."

"And you're still taller than me," I respond with a laugh. Tina looks between us for a minute and then gets a knowing smile; she's apparently just figured out where I learned to make jokes about my disability. Hayden holds out a hand and we exchange our customary, nerdy handshake. "And hi Emma," I add to the new Mrs. Hayden West. "You look amazing. And congrats."

"Thanks Artie," Emma says sweetly, swooping down to kiss my cheek lightly. "It's great to see you again, it's been so long."

"And the girl with impeccable musical taste is Tina," I say, reaching back to nudge Tina, who took partial refuge behind my chair when they approached. She takes a short, hesitant step up to stand beside me.

"Oh so we finally get to meet this infamous Tina," Hayden says with a grin that reminds me just how many things I've told him that have the potential to embarrass me. "It is a pleasure to finally meet you, Tina. Artie has waxed on about you in great length the last few times we've talked. And I must say, you really are just as beautiful as he said."

Emma rolls her eyes and I'm torn between laughing and being thoroughly embarrassed. Tina's face turns brilliantly pink and she simply mutters a timid thanks as she shakes his offered hand.

"Thanks again for the song, Artie," Hayden says, more seriously. "You really saved my ass with that. I'm pretty sure Emma would be filing for an annulment right now if we'd had to have our first dance to The Police."

"It's very possible," Emma agrees off-handedly with a playful smirk.

"Yeah, well you owe me one," I laugh. "So I expect a very long list of great new movie and music recommendations."

"Did you watch the other one I told you about?" Hayden asks excitedly. "Coming Home?"

Tina lets out a small chuckle. "Only about twenty times," she says. I glance sideways at her curiously because something sounded weird about the way she said it, but she looks normal so I figure maybe I just can't hear her right over the music.

"I told you that you'd like it," Hayden says smugly. "So Tina, Artie tells me you're a pretty fantastic singer yourself."

"I'm okay," Tina says, shrugging self-consciously.

"And that you're modest," Hayden adds with a short laugh. "You know I taught Artie absolutely everything that he knows about music."

"Yeah, he told me," Tina agrees.

Hayden looks surprised for a moment and then laughs. "Wow, he actually admitted it?" he asks, raising his eyebrows. "You must be something special. He tried to convince Emma here that he taught me about music before I told him that she'd known me since we were four and knew he was bluffing. I can hardly ever get Artie to 'fess up about himself and we're practically family."

"Hay, you're embarrassing them," Emma cuts in, giggling. I glance up at Tina and see that her face has gone nearly as pink as mine.

"Alright, sorry," Hayden says, lifting his hands in surrender. "I was just saying."

"Hey happy couple!" The shout comes from a man hoisting a professional looking camera and Hayden groans.

"That sounded like Clark," he says and Emma murmurs an affirmative. "Damn, that means it's picture time. Okay, sorry Artie but we've gotta roll." He pauses and grins when I chuckle at the little joke. "Really, if I knew that a wedding would've been such a bother, I'd had just kidnapped her and driven her down to Vegas to elope."

I laugh. "With your driving, you two'd be dead before you got out of the city," I retort and he nods unconcernedly.

"True, but at least we wouldn't be subjected to photo op after photo op," he says wistfully. Emma makes a noise of protest and he groans again. "Alright, let's go and get this over with. We'll catch up with you guys later, okay?"

Tina and I both call out "Later," as Emma leads Hayden over to the man with the camera. "He's – not quite what I expected," Tina admits thoughtfully.

"Yeah, he's a little different," I agree with a shrug.

"He's nothing like you said in your story," she says.

"It has been almost nine years since then. Think of how much you and I have changed in just the last year. People change. Especially when they grow up," I say, watching Hayden and his wife walking away. I've always seen him as the guy I've known for years, the angsty wreck victim with a passion for music who took a scared little boy under his wing at a time when they both needed someone to rely on. For most of my life, he's been like a big brother to me, (I already have one, I know, but Hayden is several years closer in age to me.) I stare at his retreating figure and try to see him the way someone would on meeting him for the first time.

He's tall and attractive, apart from the ghost white scars on the side of his face and neck. And the unfocused eyes are a little unnerving if you aren't used to them. He has opened up a lot more since leaving rehab, especially with the help of Emma and his sister. He's become almost overly extroverted, to the point where he probably comes on a little strong, but once he's comfortable with someone he becomes relaxed and more himself. The more I can think about it, the more I can understand why Tina was expecting something different.

"He's nice though," Tina says simply. "Really nice. He reminds me a lot of you. You're both a little weird, but in a sort of charming way."

I glance up at her and grin. "You're calling me weird?" I ask curiously, arching an eyebrow. "At least I'm not the princess of the Lima vampire clan." Tina snorts and slaps me playfully in the back of the head, but she's smiling. The music switches to another slow song, and as couples start drifting out onto the floor I look up at Tina again. "So, Princess Tina, you wanna dance?"

"I think I could do that," she agrees and I follow her out onto the dance floor. When we stop she turns around and looks at me expectantly, so I hold my arms out and let her climb into my lap. She makes herself comfortable, her arms draped loosely around my shoulders and her face nuzzled into the curve of my neck. She fits perfectly right there and it makes me feel warm all over.

With one arm wrapped around her waist, I use the other to slowly rotate my chair in a tight circle. A few of the couples around us are casting us strange looks but I ignore them. This moment just feels good and it's what I needed. The past few weeks have felt a bit strained, with both Tina and I caught up in our own things, but tonight feels right again.

"Thank you for coming with me today," I say and I feel Tina smile against the side of my neck.

"Thanks for inviting me," she responds. "Hayden's so important to you, I'm really glad I got to meet him." She pauses for a moment and then asks, "Does he always do that thing where he makes comments about seeing things even though he's blind?"

I laugh a little. "Yeah, he picked that up a long time ago," I explain. "He thinks it's funny. People always feel so uncomfortable when he makes comments like that. The way he said it to me, he says that since he always feels a bit awkward meeting people, not being able to see who he's meeting and all that, that by making them uncomfortable too it puts them both on even ground. Personally, I think he's just sadistic or something."

Tina chuckles quietly into my collar and nuzzles her head in closer. "I like him," she says simply, but that little declaration makes my heart jump. Tina likes Hayden, and I can tell that Hayden likes Tina too even if he never actually said anything about it. I've managed to merge the two halves of my life without any sort of apocalyptic explosion and it makes me feel, well, kind of peaceful in a way.

"I'm really gonna miss you when you go away to camp next week," I admit quietly. I feel Tina's arms tighten slightly around me and she makes a sad humming noise. "We only have six more days – three of which I've already got plans for – and then we're not going to see each other again until the first day of school. Do you have to go?"

"I told you, I'm already obligated," she says but I can tell she's not entirely pleased about it either. "Mom signed me up for it clear back in the spring. I can't drop out now or they'll be down a counselor and have to shut down the arts section of the camp. You don't want me to deny those little kids the chance to be introduced into the arts, do you?"

I sigh heavily. "No, I suppose not," I say grudgingly. Doesn't make me any happier about losing the rest of my summer days with my girlfriend so she can go teach a bunch of weird little Asian kids how to sing and dance, not that I'm going to tell her that. Because as much as she pretends she doesn't want to go, I know she's actually excited about being able to share her love for it with those little kids. She just won't admit it.

"Just think though, maybe now you can finish that video project you've been talking about doing all summer," Tina suggests, sitting up to look me in the face now. I nod in agreement, even as a questioning look shows up on her face. "So wait, did you say that Hayden suggested that movie we're always watching to you?"

"Yeah, he's really good at picking out a decent movie," I answer, knowing immediately why she's confused. "I know, blind guy giving out movie recommendations is weird, but he's really good at it. According to him, the best movies are the ones that can be enjoyed by anyone. He knows a lot about movies. He's actually the one that first got me interested in AV and film too."

Tina's eyes go wide in surprise. "No way. Seriously?"

"Yeah, seriously," I agree with a smile. "Of course, that's a whole other story entirely."