"What's wrong, Genny?" Lizzy asked, her voice melodious, lilting with the knowledge that there was something wrong.

"Nothing's wrong. Why would you say that something was wrong?" Geneva asked quickly as she continued to text the DJ furiously.

It was T minus 6 hours before the wedding and they were having a peaceful spa morning. Lizzy sat on her back with her favorite mud mask on her face, and two cucumber slices over her eyes. There was a woman massaging her foot and calf because Lizzy knew she'd spend a lot of time on that foot tonight, dancing her ass off.

"You're normally...chattier than this," Lizzy replied.

"It's a spa...I'm relaxing," Geneva lied. She was still texting, which meant that, even though her face was covered in goop, she was not relaxing. In fact, in order to see what she was texting, she stuck her cucumber slices to her cheeks, and wiped some of the gunk from her eyebrows.

The DJ was backing out because he was sick. He had found a replacement for himself, which was really nice of him, but the replacement was a friend of his who did old school mixing and didn't like to use MP3s. So that meant that Geneva had to verify whether or not he had any of the latest music on LPs, and if not, how she could get her hands on something with only 6 hours left before the ceremony, and 2 hours before the dancing!

"Mmhmm," Lizzy murmured, unconvinced. "Can I help you in any way? Want me to call the wedding planner?"

"What? No! You're not lifting a finger today, Mrs. Bride. That's why we're at a spa, so someone else can lift your fingers for you," Geneva began. "And as your maid of honor, I insist that you believe every word I say because I am honorable and would never, ever lie to you about anything ever. The end."

That managed to get a laugh out of Lizzy but she didn't press the issue further. "Okay, Cupid. I'll let you handle it."

And handle it, Cupid fucking did.

Well, actually, it was a joint effort. Geneva sent out a mass text to all the Cupids in the area who got in contact with their own networks, to find Geneva's list of songs. Five contemporary vinyl records found their way to the wedding via Dot leaving and coming back right before the ceremony. There was still one vinyl missing from Death Cab For Cutie. The ever important first dance song.

"Are you sure this musician made an album like this? It looks antiquated. Didn't you tell me that everything was digital now?" Adrian asked her as he turned the Beyonce vinyl cover over in his hands before handing it over to the wedding planner because it was time. 

"Yeah, they still make vinyl records. It's a niche hipster thing now. They're a very nostalgic generation, a good balance between hyper fast instant gratification and slowed down appreciation for certain aspects of the past. Like vinyls and rebooting old movies." She smiled at Adrian. "Brian is a total hipster on the inside."

"You...look very beautiful, Cupid," Adrian said softly just as the commencement music began in its first delicate notes. He reached a black gloved hand out to touch her cheek and before taking her hand to tuck it into the crook of his.

"For a dead guy, you look pretty good yourself," Geneva replied. Her tone was gentle too, but there was always humor in her eyes. There was always something to smile about.

"Ready?" Adrian asked. And when Geneva nodded, he parted the soft curtain of blush colored roses densely strung together with invisible fishing line and showed her the beautiful rows of white and blushing roses decorating the aisle. There was a chaotic burst of flower petals on the grass and standing at the altar was Aphrodite playing the officiate, and at her feet, Bilbo the corgi and an empty basket of petals covered in dog drool. Brian was there, facing Aphrodite, not yet given the cue to turn.

Geneva walked slowly with Adrian down the aisle, smiling at family and friends from both Lizzy and Brian's side. It was a small wedding, just barely over sixty people, so they all fit together under six pergolas that Aphrodite erected. Beautiful roses grew from the ground in a single hour, wrapping around the structure and blossoming into fragrant shades ranging from white, cream, and a salmony pink. It was so beautiful, Geneva felt her eyes tear up. She was an eternal romantic and this wedding was a magical dream of an affair, thrown together with the aplomb that only an expert wedding planner and a Goddess of Love could manage.

But all that beauty was wasted when Geneva separated from Adrian to stand on either side of the altar. She turned to face the guests, and right there in the front row, sitting next to Brian's grandmother, was the God of Death himself. He was still barrel chested, but his face was different, sharper somehow, angled, and almost friendly. He smiled at Geneva, then wicked, and Cupid realized that she recognized him by his eyes, which were dark and peaceful, and promised to envelope her in that black emptiness. Eyes like Adrian's eyes. Promises like Adrian's promises.

She knew then that her own eyes must look like Aphrodite's. Bright and loving, warm and sweet.

"It'll be okay," she heard Adrian whisper and Geneva took a deep breath and tore her gaze away from Hades so that she could stare right down the aisle toward Lizzy. They had expected him today and had planned accordingly. In fact, they'd been training for a year. 

Lizzy, so golden and pretty. Her blond hair was piled up on top of her head in messy wisps, pinned in place with dots of pearls. Her dress was short because she didn't want to trip on it, so it hugged her from her knees up to her small, perky breasts. She wore one gold high heeled shoe, and a gold curved prosthetic on the other leg. She looked beautiful and sexy, and the loveliest thing she wore was her enormous smile.

Aphrodite gestured and Geneva watched Brian turn around slowly. Then she watched him lose his breath.

"Remember..." Adrian warned him and Brian nodded stiffly.

Lizzy met Brian at the altar and Geneva gave Lizzy the same reminder, but through a simple and lingering touch when it was time for her to take Lizzy's bouquet of blush colored roses.

"Do you promise to honor and care for one another, till death do you part?" Said Aphrodite at the end of her ceremony.

"I do."

"I do."

*****

Hades settled beside Geneva, taking Adrian's seat when he went to get her drinks. He didn't talk at first, choosing instead to just watch Geneva with a lazy and amused expression. His face was different again, almost soft and pretty like a boy, but bearded now. Geneva didn't speak either, because there was nothing left to say to him. He'd lost. 

"I gave them a year," Hades began as the world dissolved around them. They were no longer outside in the temperate early summer air. They were sitting at the table, set up as it was, in a void of blackness. Just a few feet away was Brian and Lizzy and the bright red, glowing string of their eternal connection. "That was generous enough." Brian and Lizzy didn't seem to notice anything, still lost in their romantic bliss. She held him by his tie and pulled him closer to her and he obediently leaned down for a kiss. Their red string glowed brighter but Geneva knew that Hades couldn't see it. 

"It's not about time, Hades. It's about words. How do you even know that they love each other?" Geneva questioned him again, the same line of questioning he'd received a year ago at the Kinkfest.

"Look at them, Geneva. Someday soon...they'll say the words. And when they do, I'll take them from you," Hades promised. "They can't keep up this stupid little game of yours."

"They've kept it up for a year now. It'll only get easier from here," Geneva said with conviction.

Hades laughed and pushed a large flat square toward her. The cool edge of it caused her to look down and she gasped. When she threw her arms around him and pulled him into a hug, he seemed momentarily surprised, then hugged her back briefly in the only way a person can when they feel awkward. He patted her on the shoulder, unused to being touched. 

Geneva pulled back and grasped his hand. Nothing. Her eyebrows rose with shock.

"How can I touch your hand but not Adrian's. Is it because you're a God?" Geneva asked.

"When Aphrodite claimed you as a Cupid just moments before you killed yourself, I...hid your soul in limbo. I returned it after the ceremony. Consider yourself officially fortified by the Goddess of Love."

Geneva covered her mouth and felt her eyes well up with tears again. What a gift! To be able to touch Adrian and have him touch her. She swallowed and opened her mouth to say something to Hades.

"Let's get you back. I think the couple has an important dance or whatever custom this millennia burdens marriage celebrations with."

And just like that, she was back and he was gone. Adrian was walking back to her with a smile and two drinks in his gloved hands as if nothing was out of the ordinary. All the guests were chatting and having drinks while the bride and the groom were with the photographer out by the meadow..

Geneva stood and ran the vinyl over to the DJ and he set it up immediately. An inconsequential song played, giving Geneva enough time to tell the couple to wrap it up.

After about five minutes, they returned beneath the pergolas and Lizzy guided Brian by the hand out onto the dance floor. She was grinning at him and he returned her smile with one of his own.

Love of mine

Someday you will die

And I'll be close behind

I'll follow you into the dark

They were pressed together, temple to temple, and rocking gently in their own little world.

Lizzy's voice was distant but clear to Geneva because she was listening and watching them. Lizzy pressed her lips to Brian's ear and began the words.

"Brian...Olive you..." She whispered.

"I loaf you too," Brian replied.

And even though the puns were stupid, they loved each other enough to give up the words. Because they had the chance that few couples ever had. A guarantee to live a long and loving life together so long as they never uttered...

...I love you. 

https://youtu.be/NDHY1D0tKRA

AN:  WAIT! 

There's still an EPILOGUE left! I want you all to know that I have struggled with this chapter like nothing else. In 2016, I got married myself, and I didn't have this much trouble planning my own damned wedding. 

I love you all for your patience and your comments. They were very encouraging when I really just wanted to give up on this whole story. Now, I'm almost done!

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