“Hello?”

Reese pulled her key out of the door and kicked off her shoes, waiting for a response. No reply came, so she assumed everyone was out.

Justin was setting down their bags and following suit. He was a long time visitor to the Bennington household and knew the rules as well as anybody. Elizabeth clipped him around the head enough times as a child for the message to sink in. Picking both pairs up, he put them on the rack before shrugging off his jacket and hanging it on a peg.

“What we get for springing ourselves on ‘em,” he said.

“Not a bad thing, you have a phone call to make remember.”

“True. Want me to take these upstairs?”

They were interrupted by pounding feet on the landing. At the top of the stairs appeared Clark, looking shocked to see them.

“Reese?”

“Hey kid,” she said with a smile.

“What are you doing here?”

“Surprise visit. So you gonna come give me a hug or what?”

“Oh, umm…”

Justin gave a knowing grin. The kid was far too flustered. “Sorry, did we disturb you?”

“Oh, umm, no…”

“Ohhhhh.” She was not slow on the uptake. “Busy, were you?”

Clark flushed, jogging down and flinging himself at his sister as if to prove her wrong. “Just surprised. Good to see you.”

She kissed his cheek, rubbing his back briefly in the hug before releasing him. “Yeah, yeah. Who’s the girl?”

Clark involuntarily gulped. If that hadn’t proved it, the girl did by appearing on the landing with a face redder than his. Descending the stairs, self-consciously pushing her hair behind her ear, she smiled tightly at Reese. The silent acknowledgement was the best hello she could manage. When her gaze hit Justin she blushed even more and avoided his eye. Sadistically he loved that – people’s reactions to him could be very entertaining. Fame had to have some perks.

“I’ll see you in school,” she said to Clark. “Umm…nice to meet you both.”

“Hold on…” Reese said. The girl froze. “Before you go I’d like to know who you are and why you were alone upstairs with my baby brother?”

Justin had to work to keep his face deadpan. It was tough to decide who was more embarrassed – her for the challenge or him for being referred to as the baby in front of his new girlfriend. Clark quickly hustled her out, whispering that she should ignore his sister. His next move was to turn and give her the filthiest look he could muster. A kinder person would have let her go quietly. Would have left it until next time when she wouldn’t take it so seriously – but then his family didn’t tend to be kind when they could be mocking each other instead.

“Clark, honey…” Folding her arms, she looked at him. “Hate to be ticking you off already when we barely said hello, but you know that’s not allowed.”

“And?” He tried defiance but the bravado was false.

“I might have to tell Mom about this. Rules are rules.”

Clark’s face paled. The rule was no dates in the house unsupervised, but so what? He was pretty sure all four of his elder siblings made a mockery of it in their day. “You wouldn’t.”

“I should,” she said with a concerned gaze. “I mean, you know how she’d feel. You let a guest wear shoes in the house.”

Justin’s hands made an involuntary clap, a snort escaping. Reese’s mouth curved into a wide grin and Clark knew he’d been had. First his shoulders sagged with the sheer relief. That didn’t last long before it made way for extreme annoyance. Stomping past, he jogged back upstairs.

“Hi to you too!” Justin yelled, struggling to get the words out through chuckles. Slinging his arm around Reese, he kissed her temple. “You’re evil, baby.”

“He’s getting off easy. If I actually told Mom his ass wouldn’t see daylight for a month.”

“Still evil.” He dropped his lips on hers before playfully smacking her denim clad backside. “You get the bags and I’ll get on the phone.”

She started to but then paused. “Oh, are we set with Trace?”

“For the hundredth time, yes. Relax, peanut, he’ll come through.”

“Really, you trust him after yesterday’s screw up?”

“I trust him to know what you’ll do to him if he fails.”

**

Bennington family car journeys were not, as a rule, quiet affairs. With five children clamouring for attention and picking on each other it got noisy. That made it strange when everyone was quiet, though they weren’t ill at ease. Tonight there was expectant tension in the air.

Reese and Justin supposedly made a spontaneous trip home. On any normal occasion everybody would accept that at face value. It would hardly be the first time. Neither had been back since the previous family disaster (which nobody talked about these days). John and Elizabeth had visited them in LA since, but this was their first trip back to Shelby as a couple. She hadn’t seen any of her brothers since she moved so a visit was overdue. The mere fact of being back didn’t raise suspicion.

It was the insistence that they wanted to take them out for ‘a nice dinner’ and everybody needed to dress up. That was unusual enough, but they’d been positively strange about the arrangements. Justin was driving his family to the restaurant. Reese similarly insisted with hers. Dean followed behind with Jenna and the kids - the only one missing was Oliver who was on deployment. Reese’s resolve meant that John was squeezed in the back with Elizabeth and Clark, since Sam and his long legs needed to ride shotgun. All this rather than reveal the location? Everybody had been staring doggedly at Reese for the entire journey. They knew something was brewing, but her face remained so impassive she might as well have been marble. 

Dean tried to bet Sam fifty dollars that the dinner was to announce an engagement. Sam declined on grounds that only an idiot would bet against it. It wasn’t until they pulled into the parking lot that he started to wonder if he should have taken the wager.

“Well this doesn’t look like a restaurant,” Clark said.

“Doesn’t, does it?” Reese said cheerfully. She opened the door and stepped out before anyone could question her.

Looking around, she saw that the Harless car was already parked up. They’d clearly got here on schedule. Trace’s parents’ car was there too, so the Ayalas were accounted for. Her face fell a little when the third car wasn’t there, but she supposed she couldn’t be surprised.

Doors were slamming all around, until everybody was out and clustered together in a group. Every face turned to look at her.

“So…” John stuck his hands in his pockets. “Something to tell us, sweetheart?”

Reese gave a dainty shrug of her shoulders. Folding her hands behind her back she twisted from side to side. “Just that I lied to you all. Sorry. Though I promise we are still feeding you after.”

“After what?”

She braced herself. “Our wedding.”

Time hung in stillness for a moment. Identically dumbfounded expressions marked the genetic trail across her father and brothers. Her mother’s hand had flown to her mouth.

“I’m glad you didn’t take that bet now,” Dean muttered in Sam’s ear.

The moment broke when Elizabeth ploughed forward to sweep her daughter into a hug and suddenly everyone was upon her. Exclamations filled the air. Jenna was so shocked she even forgot to reprimand her husband for the swear words in his (Will was at the age of repeating).

“When did this happen?” Sam asked.

“Few weeks ago,” Reese replied. “I’m so sorry for springing everything on you like this but the only way to keep everything quiet was to just not tell anybody. Not even you.”

Opting for such a simple celebration with the cloak and dagger routine had multiple reasons behind it. The first and foremost was to avoid paparazzi intrusion. There was a flip side – a bigger splash when the story did hit - but they wanted to skip the months of speculation about the big day. Next there was the eagerness to get on with it. All things considered the ceremony was late in coming; they should have been married some time ago but the break up put them behind schedule. Even after getting back together they needed time to reconstruct before rushing back into an engagement.

Reese also had a personal reason. She simply couldn’t stomach the idea of getting into another bridal gown. It was still too humiliating to remember the previous attempt down the aisle. She didn’t want any reminder of it today, her real wedding day. The mere thought of the ‘hope she makes it through the door this time’ jokes made her queasy. She preferred the idea of it just being her and Justin in their own damn clothes with family and a spot of dinner after. That felt a lot better.

The downside was that there was no chance of getting Ollie there. She’d sneakily called to let him know.

When the explanations stopped and the rest of the family scurried in, John was left outside with Reese to give them a minute or so to get in their seats. He eyed his daughter warily. After the trauma of the last occasion (which was embarrassing for everyone and very hard on his wife, who blamed herself for not seeing it coming) he was nervous. More than that, it was never what he’d imagined for his baby girl. He wasn’t generally an old-fashioned father but he and Liz often talked about getting to throw a fancy wedding for her. Even the previous attempt hadn’t altered that picture.

Still, there was something to be said for reality over dreams. Reese wasn’t in the fairytale gown this time – she was in a white strapless tea dress with black polka dots, the white her only concession to tradition. She looked less bridal but a heck of a lot happier. More than the organisational headache or neighbourhood gossip, what grieved him about the previous occasion was the photo album. The photos were paid for so the photographers delivered (though there were legal arguments once they turned up in the press). His daughter looked lifeless in them. John didn’t know how he failed to notice. If ever anyone doubted her decision, those photos ended the argument.

There was no hint of that now. She was smiling. She looked nervous yet bright. Instead of hesitating she’d already taken his arm. This was how brides were supposed to behave, even if not how they were supposed to dress. She didn’t even have a bouquet.

He was about to start moving when the sound of a car hitting the gravel gave him pause. They both turned to see the new arrival, and Reese’s face lit up. Out of the driver’s seat tumbled a harassed looking Nadine, clad in an electric blue dress that made her hair look even redder.

“Sorry, sorry, crisis at work! Am I late?” She asked.

“Right on time.” Reese released her dad’s arm to hug her best friend tightly. For a moment there she’d thought she wasn’t coming.

“So you’re really going to marry the asshole, huh?”

That was exactly why she’d thought she wasn’t coming. “Yep.”

“That’s fine, but I’ll need my own separate wing of his mansion when I visit.”

Reese laid a smacker of a kiss on her friend’s cheek, then having to wipe away the pink lipstick. “I’ll give you the furthest guest room, promise.”

“Okay, good luck… if you hear any muffled yelling ignore it, that’ll be me trying to contain my objection.” Nadine winked and raced inside the church.

“Always an interesting girl,” John said mildly before offering up his elbow once more. “You ready, sweetheart?”

“Let’s do it.”

**

“Well would you look at us,” Dean said lazily to his sister as they watched the other members of their party on the dance floor. “Who would’ve figured it’d be you and me as the respectable married ones?”

Reese gave a slow grin, slumping sideways closer to her brother. The music in the club was so loud it was hard to talk otherwise. Jenna was dancing with Sam and Trace, while Justin was at the bar getting more drinks.

“We were supposed to be the bad asses but I guess now we’re upstanding citizens. Lame.”

“Nobody ever saw us after a few rounds would call us that. Don’t worry Reesey, we’ll always be trouble.”

“I’d drink to that if my husband would get back here with my beverage.”

He tried not to roll his eyes too hard. She was abusing the word ‘husband’ that evening but then she was a freshly minted newlywed. He supposed he should let her off.

“You made a rookie error sending him, sweets.” Dean learned long ago not to. So many people stopped him for photos or autographs that you were lucky if he made it back before the ice cubes melted.

Originally they’d planned to go straight home after dinner and stay with her family (they wouldn’t be alone, but a hotel would have felt weird). This plan was demolished by their now unified family. Sam protested that they needed a proper celebration and nothing ‘so boringly God damn civilised.’ Then Lynn cooked up a plan to swap with the happy couple - she and Paul were now in the Bennington guest room, giving them the Harless place to themselves. Paul even promised to drop off their bags.

So one ceremony and a rowdy family dinner later, the Bennington children and their spouses were now partying it up at a Memphis club. Trace joined them, though the parents called it a night. Nadine also politely declined, claiming tiredness, but Reese suspected she’d had her fill of Justin’s company. That was okay. All credit to her, she’d behaved extremely well and even managed to say something vaguely congratulatory to him. She’d cared enough to button it for her big day and that was enough.

“It’s fine. I always get him back eventually.”

Dean snorted. “No kidding.”

“Shut up.” She elbowed him, knowing full well that was a shot at her previous dramas.

“Hey, at least it gives me a break from all that lovey dovey crap.”

“This is our wedding party and we’re paying for your drinks, so deal with it.”

Reese didn’t need his kiss on her hairline to know her brother was only teasing. She still flipped him a finger anyway.

The comment was justified but she was unapologetic. Most of the dinner was spent with Justin’s arm around her shoulders and her hand on his knee. At the club they were surgically attached. There were squeezes of waists and hands, plentiful kisses. It was all manner of nauseatingly cute stuff that would have had Oliver complaining as well as Dean. She didn’t care. They kept up the touchy feely newlywed stance throughout. As far as she was concerned, anybody who thought they were too cutesy could go jump. She’d earned this happiness.

The wonderful day felt like compensation for the previous trauma. Getting to this point was a struggle. Several hearts were broken in the process – hers, Justin’s, Drake’s – and there’d been a whole lot of soul searching and self-realisation to do. Getting back together was only part one. Breaking the habits that helped split them up was a whole other challenge. There were a few slip ups, and she’d had to learn not to hark back to their time apart when she was mad at him. The past took a while to leave in the past.

That wasn’t all of it. She’d also lost dear friends, not only Harmony but Drake too, and she’d had to mourn that. Out of the blue she received a long note from him (she suspected at Nadine’s prompting) which was both healing yet sad. It acknowledged that they weren’t the right fit and forgave her everything; even so it was clear the wound ran too deep to rebuild a friendship. That was understandable but painful nonetheless. Getting the career side of her life fixed was also full of setbacks, though she finally had a permanent job to start after their honeymoon. Life was emotionally tough going for a while there.

Today all that hardship felt over and done with. She’d had an amazing evening alongside the people she loved best, celebrating the best things in her life. She felt good.

“I’m going to go grab Jen, back in a sec.”

Her brother disappeared at the wrong time; not thirty seconds later Justin was back with a waiter in tow. Another round of drinks was set down on the table.

True to Dean’s prediction Justin was waylaid first by some old acquaintances and then by some fans who wanted pictures. He had no idea if any of them noticed his shiny new ring. If they did the story wouldn’t take long to hit.

Sliding into the booth, he waited for the server to depart before putting an arm around Reese and pulling her to him. She propped her legs over his lap and snuggled up. His spare hand fell to her knee.

“You alright there, wife?”

“Perfect.” She tipped her face up to brush his mouth with hers. “How’s my husband?”

White teeth flashed in a broad smile before he returned the smooch with one of his own. He was in a better mood than he could ever remember. Initially he’d been a little disappointed that she wanted to avoid the traditional wedding. As it turned out it didn’t matter. His day was spectacular enough purely because they’d finally sealed the deal. He was still keenly aware of how near he’d come to wrecking that for himself, so however it happened was fine by him. Small and intimate felt good (besides, he was sure he could talk her into a fancier celebration for all their other friends who were still in the dark). 

“Pretty damn pleased with myself. Couldn’t have picked a better first marriage. Oww!”

She’d pinched him, though the way her hand was now stroking his stomach told another story. “There’s still time for an annulment, you know.”

“Sorry, no can do.” He gave her a peck on the nose. “You’re stuck with me ‘til you die.”

“Oh that’s real romantic. Way to make it sound creepy.”

“Hey, never let it be said I’m not romantic. Do you see the champagne?”

“And only two glasses. Seems kind of mean,” she laughed.

“They’re busy anyways and I thought we deserved our own private toast,” he said, “for finally managing to get ourselves hitched.”

“Good call.”

Justin picked up one of the flutes and handed it to her before taking the other. “Though if I’d been smarter, this would’ve been the perfect moment to give you your ring too.”

She frowned. “Uhh, didn’t you already? Remember, during that whole secret wedding ceremony we masterminded? Minor thing we did today?”

Trace had managed to pick up and deliver said rings as instructed, and thus escaped any bodily harm.

“Your engagement ring, been waiting to give it to you. If not for the secret you would’ve got it after I proposed. Or re-proposed, I guess I should say.”

“Oh!” She hadn’t even thought about it. The fact that he did gave her yet another warm and fuzzy moment. It seemed a promising start that there were so many of those today. “Is it the same one?”

“Yep. I thought about a new one but…” He gave a shrug and then grinned at her. “Figured it was fine all along. Just needed a little clean up.”

Reese grinned back. “I see what you did there.”

Justin raised his glass. “To my beautiful wife and to us, finally married. I love you.”

A shiver ran right through her, to the very tips of her toes. When he said it like that the enormity struck home; it was hard to believe it possible. Everything had by all appearances been irretrievably wrecked and yet they weathered it. The thought was overwhelming.

 “I love you too. To the wait being over.”

Her glass found his with a light tinkling sound. Their eyes met as they took their first sips.

“Nice line, Mrs Timberlake,” Justin said, the arm around her shoulders squeezing. “I see what you did there.”

“Hey, you don’t have all the moves. I still got a couple.”

“Do you now?” A wicked gleam sparked behind his eyes. His features took on a roguish quality.

“One more reason you should be glad we didn’t do the big wedding.” Reese’s expression was equally devilish. Casually she sipped, dragging out her response. “Can’t wear some moves under a corset.”

There wasn’t much, only a tiny widening of his eyes. “Dangerous thing to say to me.”

“Don’t know what you mean,” she said, batting her lashes in faux innocence.

Justin shook his head before pushing his lips to hers again. This time the kiss was harder, longer. “Consider yourself lucky we’re not in private right now.”

Before Reese could come up with a suitably coy response, Trace was sliding in on her other side.

“Get a room.”

“Get lost.” Once again Reese’s actions gave the lie to her words. She’d pulled her legs down and twisted around so she no longer had her back to him. She hooked her hand around his bicep and was rubbing it affectionately.

“You’d wither and die without me.”

That was somewhat true, she thought. Previous experience proved she muddled along better with than without him. “You’re lucky I like you, Ayala. I was trying to have a moment here.”

“You say moment, I say gratuitous PDA. Po-tay-toe, po-tah-toe.”

Justin leaned down to Reese’s ear and whispered. “See why they don’t get the good booze?”

“What?” Trace asked as Reese’s face slid into another smirk.

“Nothin’, babe,” she said. “Hey, somebody grab my phone, group selfie is in order.”

“Really?” It was hard to judge which of the men looked less enthused.

“I haven’t had a good picture of the three of us for an age, shut up.”

Obediently Trace shifted in closer and Justin accepted the proffered phone. With the longest arms  it was always left to him. The first was a nice, normal one where they all sat together sensibly and smiled. The second saw Justin mugging at the camera while Trace smugly accepted the kiss being planted on his cheek by Reese.

“Satisfied?” Trace asked. “Because I ain’t doin’ that again.”

“Hey, consider yourself lucky. If my ring wasn’t visible I’d put them on Twitter.”

Flicking quickly through the resulting photos, she gave a self-satisfied nod. That was her husband and her best friend, right there. The three of them were still together. With the guys in their white shirts and black ties and her monochrome dress, they even looked synchronised - like they all fitted.

“Okay…” She picked up Justin’s glass and handed it back to him before giving Trace one of the beers that had just arrived. “I feel another toast coming on.”

“I thought the point of not doing the big wedding was I didn’t have to suffer through endless toasts and speeches and crap,” Trace said.

“Yeah, it was all about you.” Justin rolled his eyes.

“Shut up, the grown up is talking.” She ignored the disbelieving guffaws in order to take up her own flute and raise it to them. “To my boys, to us, still the TN trio - I love you both, dumb asses.”

Their glasses met in the middle.

“So long as we establish that you love me more.”

“Which is why she just took my name and legally tied herself to me.”

“She’s gotta get the cash, I understand.”

“Yep. Dumb asses,” she said as she sipped her champagne.