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❛ ᴏᴄᴇᴀɴ ᴇʏᴇꜱ​​​​​​​​​​. ❜ ° . ༄
- ͙۪۪˚   ▎❛ 𝐒𝐈𝐗 ❜   ▎˚ ͙۪۪̥◌
»»————- ꒰ ɪᴛ's ᴀʙᴏᴜᴛ ᴛɪᴍᴇ ꒱


❝ I DO ❞

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Note: I thought this song went really well with Cory and Topanga's vibe so it seemed only fitting to include it in this chapter :)

Juliet flitted around Rachel, Angela and Mrs. Lawrence who were all working on Topanga as she took pictures with her Polaroid to commemorate such an important day. As she brushed her daughter's hair, Mrs. Lawrence sighed. "You're going to be a beautiful bride, Topanga."

"Thanks, mom. I just want everything to be so perfect for Cory," she said. "I love him so much. This whole day is just full of love!"

"I hate him!" Shawn exclaimed as he burst into the apartment with a shopping bag in hand. "He's a self-centered, whining, demanding, miserable little white boy."

He set the bag down on the kitchen counter and Juliet placed her Polaroid next to it so she could grasp his arm. "What happened, honey?"

He calmed at the surprise endearment and his expression softened slightly as he met her eyes. Unfortunately, his irritation quickly returned as he remembered the events that had happened not so long ago. "'Get the tuxedos, pumice my toes, tie the cans to the car!' I'm his best man, not his hamster!"

"But you got the tuxedos, right?" Topanga asked.

"You two deserve each other," he grumbled. He sank down onto the couch.

The redhead sent him a concerned look and joined him before she gently took his hand in hers. "Um, Shawnie, what's really bothering you?"

"Cory is really bothering me! I don't know what I ever saw in him."

"Shawn. . ." Topanga began as she walked over to him. There was obviously forced patience in her tone. "See, this is my wedding day and I would really appreciate it if there wasn't any tension," she finished. She carefully pet his hair with soothing motions.

"I don't care," he retorted. "If somebody abuses me, I lash out."

"Nobody is abusing anybody!" the blonde replied brightly. Her hand wrapped around the boy's throat to bring him to a standing position. "This is my wedding day. How dare you?"

As his back hit the door, he let out a pained sound. "Ah. Could somebody help me out here, please?"

"No, see, the best man cannot hate the groom. No, you're gonna ruin my wedding pictures," Topanga said as she hit his head against the door with each word.

Juliet leapt up from the couch and hurried over to her friend to place her hand on the blonde's wrist. "Topanga, you're killing him!"

"Dad! I'm comin' Dad!" Shawn gasped out.

Angela joined them and placed her hand on the girl's shoulder. "Topanga, if he dies then the best man is Eric."

"Then we don't want him to die," she realized.

"No, no we don't," the brunette agreed.

She finally allowed the boy to sink to the ground as she asked him worriedly, "you okay? Okay. Good boy."

The redhead crouched down next to him and watched her boyfriend with genuine concern as he panted out: "they're both psycho."

"How can there be anything wrong between you and Cory? You love him more than I do!" Topanga insisted before she turned to her mother. "It's true, but I'm okay with it."

"Our entire friendship has always been about him," Shawn complained. "How dose Cory feel? What is Cory thinking?"

"Come on, Shawnie," Juliet murmured. She reached out to rest her hand on his shoulder. "What's this really about?"

"You know," he said as he stood, "you think on his wedding day he'd realize how hard this is for me."

As he left the apartment, Juliet wasted no time in running after him despite hearing the start of Topanga's protest.

🌎🌎🌎

Although Juliet had eased most of his concerns, nothing could truly make the anxious feelings disappear except for talking with his best friend. Still, Cory seemed adamant about ignoring their need to discuss it. The boy's disregard for it only made his emotions fire up again and prompted him to quit as best man. But, as usual, his girlfriend's logical comfort (and how much a cared about his best friend) nagged at him to show up to the wedding in spite of everything.

The ceremony had already begun as he hurried down the aisle to meet Cory at the altar. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small box. "Hey, you're gonna need these rings."

"Shawnie!" he exclaimed, taking them from him. "I knew you'd come."

"I wouldn't miss this, Cory," he said earnestly.

"Look, I'm sorry for all the stuff that happened earlier."

"Well, you should be, but we'll talk about it after you get back from the honeymoon, okay?"

The curly-haired boy froze as he turned to face his best friend again. "What do you mean, I should be?"

"Cory, you've been being a jerk to me," Shawn told him plainly.

"That's because you're the one that forgot the tuxedos and you're the one that didn't tie the tin cans. It's like you're trying to sabotage my wedding day!" Cory exclaimed.

"That's ridiculous," he retorted. "If I wanted to sabotage your wedding day, I'd do this." He shoved the other boy.

Cory chuckled. "Boy oh boy. You, uh. . . you do not wanna do that." He turned and crouched down. "Get him, Topanga!"

The girl in question hastily picked up the train of her dress and backed away with wide eyes. Shawn shouted: "you know what? I shouldn't have even come here! Have a wonderful life, jerk!"

The curly-haired boy spun around. "You too, trailer trash!"

Shawn ignored Eric's mocking laughter as he turned to glare furiously at the person that he called his best friend before he let out a loud yell. They ran at each other angrily and grappled on the ground until Mr. Matthews, Mr. Lawrence and Jack pulled them apart.

"He doesn't care that we're not gonna be friends anymore!" he shouted as he struggled against the men's hold on him.

"Why do you keep sayin' that, huh?" Cory demanded equally loudly.

"Because you won't talk about it!"

"I don't wanna talk about it!" the boy whined in response. "Why do you think I've been sending you everywhere?"

"We have to talk about it!" Shawn insisted.

"I don't want to!"

"We have to!"

"Now?" Cory whimpered as his voice became pinched.

When it became clear that they weren't going to attack each other again, the men released them to allow him to walk over to his best friend. "Cory, after you get married, things are gonna be different. I don't have a lot of friends, you know?"

As they sat down on the step, the curly-haired boy sighed. "Shawnie, I don't know what's gonna happen. What do you want me to do?"

"Do you really like her?" he asked.

There was a pause before Cory smiled and nodded. "Yeah, I really do."

"You sure?"

He jumped slightly at the sound of Topanga's voice; he hadn't noticed that she'd crouched down behind them. "Shawn," she began pleasantly, "I really think I've been very tolerant here."

"Okay," he conceded. "Marry her."

"You're giving me your blessing?"

"Yeah, well. . . we gotta grow up sometime." 

The wedding resumed shortly after that, though slightly unorthodoxly because Topanga addressed both Shawn and Cory in her vows: "I wasn't sure this day would ever come, but you were. I wasn't sure that love could survive everything that we put it through, but you were. You were always strong and always sure. And now I know that I want you to stand by my for the rest of my life. That's what I'm sure of."

Her fiancée turned to the dark-haired boy. "I have to talk to her now, okay?"

"Go ahead," he agreed, and moved off to stand next to Jack and Eric. As Cory spoke, his attention drifted to where the girls were standing on Topanga's side. His heart sped up in his chest as he found that Juliet was already looking at him with an expression so soft and full of love that it made his face warm.

Thankfully, Topanga had decided against the horrid pink dresses and instead went with a deep maroon color that complimented all of the girls nicely. Perhaps it was because of the wedding or maybe (as extremely sappy people would put it) the love that was in the air, but Shawn couldn't help but think towards the future. A possible future where it would be him at the altar waiting for Juliet to walk down the aisle. He'd always believed that Juliet Hunter was the best name for her and he still maintained that thought, even after all these years.

While he knew they were quite a long way from marriage themselves, it certainly wasn't an impossible idea. Now that he'd been without her, Shawn didn't think that there was anyone else for him except her. He'd been convinced of that in his early years and the idea had been tested by time, but similarly to what Topanga had said in her vows, he was certain of it now. It would be either her or no one. (And he certainly hoped that it was the former.)

"Do you take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold, to cherish and adore, from this day forward, in sickness and in health, as long as you both shall live?"

"I do," Topanga answered.

"Do you take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold, to cherish and adore, from this day forward, in sickness and in health, as long as you both shall live?"

"I do," Cory echoed.

"Then by the power vested in me by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride." Topanga wasted no time in doing so as the Minister continued: "ladies and gentlemen, family and friends, I present to you, for the first time ever, Mr. and Mrs. Harold Peterman."

"It's okay!" Eric called over the sound of the audience's uncertain clapping.

🌎🌎🌎

"I'd like to propose a toast," Shawn announced to the gathered guests as he stood above them on a chair. "This is for Harold and Myra." He turned to Cory's brother. "What's up with that, Eric?"

"Nothin'," he answered shiftily. "Just talk fast, alright?"

"Well, there is something I'd like to say. I may not be the best man, but I am one of the best friends. Cory, Julie and I have been best friends all our lives. And, um, this wedding's been kind of hard for me because I know, no matter how much we may avoid talking about it, Cory and I aren't gonna be best friends forever. Things are changing between us. Things have always been changing. We've had to deal with life and death. And Feeny. But not matter what we faced, we always faced it together. So, then, how can we possibly be upset with each other on his wedding day? Well, it's because deep down, I think Cory and I know that we're not gonna be best friends anymore. And that's the way it should be. So this is to Topanga, Cory's wife and new best friend. Take care of him, okay?"

"I will," she promised, clearly touched by his words.

"And when he makes you nuts, call me or Julie," Shawn finished teasingly.

"I will," she repeated as she hugged him.

Juliet took his place on the chair. "Well, I hate going second because I know I'm not going to top that." Her words were greeted with chuckles. "I'd like to try anyway. Cor, we've known each other since forever. I was the only girl lucky enough to be your best friend and I'm sure I took it for granted most of the time, but I will always be grateful for the memories that we've made together.

"And, although I held the spot of 'only girl' in high regards, I am glad that I gave it away to someone like you, Topanga. You added a new dimension to the friendships I had already made and showed me how to be a girl. I'm sure Cory and Shawn probably resented you for that at some point but I never have. I don't know what I would've done without you, Panga. I know things are going to be different now between all of us, but if you ever want to be single for a day, you know where to find me. That goes for both of you."

Cory gave her an amused, fond look and she stepped down from her pedestal to hug both him and Topanga. Shawn watched her adoringly before he raised his glass. "To Cory and Topanga!"

After everyone had echoed his toast, Eric stepped between the newlyweds. "And now, I would like to give my gift to my little brother and new sister-in-law."

"Eric, this wedding was more than enough," Topanga protested.

"Yeah it was, wasn't it? But I do have one more thing up my sleeve. I hold in my hand a key." He lifted it up to show them. "A key to the honeymoon suite of the Philadelphia Victoria Hotel. So that after this. . ."

Cory snatched the key out of his hand and called "bye!" over his shoulder as he ran off with Topanga's hand held tightly in his. 

[written dec. 2021]
[edited jun. 2022]