Andrew Kirke (tuned_in) wrote in the_colony, @ 2010-12-13 20:46:00 |
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Entry tags: | ^ week 23, analise gordan, andrew kirke, | ana and drew |
Week 23: Saturday
Characters: Andrew Kirke, and presenting Analise Kirke.
Location: The farmhouse
Summary: Ana and Drew tie the knot.
Rating: G
There was no aisles were for churches or outdoor weddings where people released a dozen with doves, but Ana had never wanted a church wedding and she definitely didn’t see the point of white doves. She’d never been sure she even wanted a wedding because she’d never pictured herself getting married. Drew had forced her to consider the idea when he proposed in Vegas, but the only thing she knew was that she wanted a big party where everyone got roaring drunk and spent the next day nursing their hangovers and talking about what a wonderful time they had. They’d never gotten far enough to have that. She and Drew were too young and she wasn’t ready for that kind of commitment and part of her thought she might never be.
And then the world ended. Not when the death toll expanded, not when the power went and the streets were filled with an eerie silence, like the ghosts of conversations that should have been had by happy smiling people. No. The world ended the moment the officer in charge of evacuation told them that she was being sent to one camp and Drew to another.
People were sick and frightened and she was alone. When she finally caught the flu, she’d thought she was going to die. Mason saved her, carrying her out and into the truck. They made it out, found other survivors and tried to carry on. Every day Ana spent recovering from her illness was another day she tried to convince herself a little bit more that Drew was dead.
As she grew stronger, she tried to make him diminish. Yet he called to her and his memory drew her like a magnet. Drew was her first thought in the morning and her last before she went to sleep. Did it hurt when he died? Had he missed me? Was he angry I wasn’t there? What if he wasn’t dead? I lived. I promised to meet him in Vegas. He could have lived too. Maybe he made it out. Maybe he was waiting for her. Maybe, maybe, maybe...
Finding Drew in Vegas had been staggering. She’d felt like the moon, drifting alone through the vastness of space until he pulled her back into orbit. They fit like they’d been made for each other.
Now they were here and there was no aisle. Just the walk from their bedroom into the parlor. Ana’s heart pounded in her chest. She felt like a cupcake. The dress was pink, ‘50s vintage with a sweetheart neckline and a full ruffled skirt that reminded Ana of pieces of tissue paper hanging from a wire frame. She was paper mache like a parade float. Why did she insist on something that resembled a real wedding? All she and Drew had to do was find each other in the dark of their and say they belonged to each other. This was ridiculous and scary and everyone was looking at her and for once, being the center of attention made her stomach twist with nerves.
Drew was also looking at her.
He looked wonderful in the shirt she’d picked out for him and she was sure she’d never loved anyone as much as she loved him right now, not even her parents. The part of her that was panicking winked out like a candle in a strong wind. Ana smiled, the expression only for him and not everyone else watching them. Her cheeks were pink and her eyes bright.
The set-up was entirely simple: just a little round table in the center of the room with a wine glass and a small piece of paper. Drew’s eyes were fixated on her from the moment she came around the corner, his pulse off at a gallop. This is real. We’re doing this. We’re really gonna do this, he thought, all the words jumbled together in his head so it became one long mess with her at the center.
“Hey you,” he breathed out when she was finally within earshot, his face split with a smile.
“Hi, baby,” she answered back.
Drew took her hands into his, leaning in to rest his forehead against hers. “Y’ready?”
His hands were warm and Ana was suddenly afraid of her hands sweating. “Yes.”
God, he wanted to kiss her. But he’d be doing things out of order if he did, and he needed to get through the steps if he wanted this to be authentic. Taking a slow breath and brushing his thumbs over the back of her hands, he started reciting the words that had taken four sheaths of paper to work through:
“Ana, I take you to be my friend, my lover, my wife, for all that you are and all that you will ever be. I will be yours in times of plenty and in times of want, in times of sickness and in times of health, in times of joy and in times of sorrow, in times of failure and in times of triumph, in this life and after. I promise always to love, honor, and respect you, to comfort and encourage you, and I give you my hand and my heart from this day forward for as long as we both shall live.”
Ana blinked and swallowed nervously. Her throat was tight. “Drew, you are my best friend and findin’ you again was my miracle. I love you and I promise to be your wife and take you as my husband. I give you everythin’ I am and to support you in everythin’ you’re goin’ to be. I promise to take care of you, to be your friend and your lover and I will love you and be with you for the rest of my life.”
Drew choked back a sudden swell of emotion, giving her hands a light squeeze before letting go of one to pick up the wine glass. He brought the glass to her lips. She drank and then repeated the action, holding the glass up to him. Without rings to exchange, this was the most symbolic thing they were doing. They had talked about finding rings in the city, but Drew had felt the chances of finding jewelry in stores would be nonexistent. Anything else would have belonged to someone else, and he didn’t want something that had belonged to someone else.
Once the wine glass was returned to the table, he wasted no time pressing his lips to hers. Ana wrapped her arms around him, kissing Drew more enthusiastically than what was probably traditionally appropriate, especially in front of the kids, but she didn’t care. The moment the kiss became more than polite he wrapped his arms around her, lifting her straight off the ground. The room filled with clapping, but he barely registered it. All he knew and felt was the woman in his arms.