U-N-I

Here it is, the wedding epilogue!!

First, I really want to extend a big thank you to S_Isemen, a fan of the story who's also a writer on this site. She's helped me edit all the chapters and she's written her own version of Rob and Mark's wedding, which gave me the push I needed to write my own version of it.

Therefore, this chapter was co-written with her. I guess this wedding epilogue needed the woman's touch I wasn't able to bring myself. This chapter probably wouldn't have seen the light of day if she hadn't encouraged me to write it and given me great suggestions. So again, a big thank you to her.

Second, the song in this chapter is totally inspired by a French song by Patrick Bruel called 'je t'le dis quand même'. I used the melody to write the lyrics around it and you can listen to it on youtube if you'd like. Unfortunately, for the last song of the story, I had to be unfaithful to Coldplay...

That said, now on with the show!

*****

"How're you doing?" Rachel hissed under her breath.

"Um, ask me when it's all over," I chuckled, "I'm actually more relaxed than I thought I'd be," I told her, "I'm pretty sure this is gonna run smoothly. I've rehearsed the song three times this morning without any hiccups."

"And Rob

will

love it," she told me confidently again.

I breathed, suddenly feeling nervous.

"What if he doesn't though?" I asked and she stared at me sympathetically.

"How many times do we all have to keep telling you..."

"Kidding," I interrupted her and she laughed.

Because I was going to interrupt the gig, in the end I'd needed to bring the rest of the guys in on the secret. Plus I wanted them to know about the wedding reception because I knew for sure they'd want to be part of the preparation, especially Jordan. I couldn't wait to see the fun stuff he'd come up with, his speech I knew would be one to remember.

Jane had worked like a Trojan on my behalf, she'd sorted the license, the celebrant, the reception, all of it; and I was so grateful. I had given her all of my and Rob's ideas, the ones I had discussed with him anyway and she'd thrown herself into organising our wedding with gusto and had loved every minute of it.

So now here I was in the Green Room of the Bord gáis Energy Theatre in Dublin, about to dress to go on stage for our gig in support of the belongTo LGBT organization, after having had four meet-and-greets with fans.

Several things had come together since I had talked to Rachel about my wanting to get married on stage. Two of which Rob knew about -- the first signal that tonight would be a great night to take the leap of faith was when a top designer at Cerutti, whom one of our publicists knew and had asked for help, had offered to design an item of stage-wear for us specifically for this night, and then there would be an 'interruption' right before I had to play the song I'd written to propose to Rob, from someone we admired and that we'd met a couple of times at awards ceremonies.

"Mum, dad, what're you doing here and all dolled up?" Robbie called, laughing, when he saw his parents entering our dressing room.

"And why shouldn't I be dressed up for such a landmark event?" Jane asked beaming.

They hugged then Jane came over to where Rachel and I were,

"You ok?" she asked as she wrapped her arms round me in a motherly way, as she'd always done whenever I needed it ; she'd always been the loving mother I wish I'd had.

I smiled,

"I'm fine. Just nervous."

"Yeah, he's as nervous as a nun in a brothel," Rachel muttered.

"Nice," I retorted.

"Pre-stage places lads, stage-time in five minutes," we heard our tour manager's voice over the back-stage PA.

"This is it," Rachel whispered, suddenly throwing herself into my arms and kissing me, actually kissing me on the lips something we hadn't done in a decade, "for luck. Not that you need it," she whispered.

Then she was gone. Fortunately, besides Jane no-one had seen it, the guys were all pulling on their Cerutti coats from the rack in the corner of the room,

"Come on babe, shake a leg," Rob called, holding out my own jacket.

"Thanks," I said.

I took it from him and slipped it on; they were all made of black incredibly supple calf-skin leather, fell to about mid-thigh and in vague terms were of the steam-punk variety, beneath we were all wearing our usual black jeans and for tonight the charity's 'official' t-shirt. They were not our usual stage-wear by far but the designer had added touches to the coats to reflect the public reason for this particular gig.

All of them had some sort of rainbow embellishments, Dylan's had broad turn-back rainbow cuffs, the collar of Jordan's was trimmed with slim rainbow stripes, Damon's, whose jacket was sleeveless for obvious reasons, had rainbow buttons but mine and Rob's were mirror images, the right front of his and the left of mine were rainbow stripes from shoulder to hem.

Those of Jordan, Damon and Dylan would be auctioned off at a later charity event, Rob thought ours would be too but I'd decided to keep them -- I'd make a suitably large donation instead.

"Alright, guys, huddle up!" Jordan called.

We got together for our pre-show huddle and then we went to the stage and waited to go on to play all the songs we loved so much.

"'Still' instead of 'Ink'?," Dylan asked as we all left the dressing room.

"'Still'," I replied under my breath.

"Nervous?"

"Don't ask."

"Well, the piano's all yours when you need it, so glad you changed your mind."

Indeed, the song I'd sing to Rob, I had composed on the piano. At first, I'd thought I'd perform it on an acoustic guitar but Dylan had convinced me that playing the song on his acoustic piano would be so much better. Plus it was completely painted in a rainbow of colour and I loved playing it.

"Thanks," I responded. I was about to say something else but Jordan came up behind me and wrapped an arm around my shoulder, speaking into my ear,

"You do realise this is the first day of the rest of your life?"

I laughed and didn't answer.

"How's your speech coming along?" I teased, I couldn't wait to hear all the fun stories he'd choose to share.

"It's coming along great."

"I can't believe you two are finally getting hitched," Dylan said with satisfaction.

I kew he had probably checked before saying this but I still looked around to make sure Rob couldn't hear us and saw that he was talking with our surprise guests.

"You know what, you two are like the roots of this family tree we've made for ourselves," he added, looking across to Rob too.

"Um, wow, that's some pretty deep stuff bro'," I replied sounding as surprised as I felt.

He shrugged.

"It's true," he paused, "well you know the opening lines of '

Green Eyes'

? Well you two are the rock this band stands on. As long as you two are good the rest of us can just relax and enjoy the ride," he said glancing at Jordan.

I smiled wholeheartedly and looked at Jordan with a tight-lipped nod.

"Dude, what're you doing? Save it for tomorrow!" Jordan complained.

Dylan laughed.

"And say that to me, not to him!" Jordan added.

"You can have it. I just wanna hear you say...

'as Dylan once put it'

...," Dylan laughed and warned him with a mock punch to his arm.

Jordan shook his head and threw his arm round my shoulders.

"Good luck," he said then kissed my cheek.

"Enjoy it," Dylan added, patting my back and then they both joined Damon.

After a short moment, Rob came closer to me and placed his hands over my shoulders.

"Looking good," he said sexily, rubbing his hands vigorously up and down my arms as we watched our bandmates walking on stage to rapturous applause.

Before walking on as well, he knelt down to kiss the stage's floor, which he'd always do, then took my hand in his and squeezed it. My other hand felt for what was in my right-hand pocket. I leaned to quickly kiss his cheek and we walked onto the stage, to even louder applause.

Rob kept hold of my hand, our fingers laced together. He released it as we passed my guitar racks, then he carried on to his mic at front and centre stage while I took up my Les Paul for the first song.

Rob took a quick look around the stage at the rest of us, we all nodded and he turned to speak to the crowd,

"You ready for this?" he asked them and two thousand people cheered loudly.

Jordan and I hit the opening chords of the first song and we were go. It took all of my concentration to focus on what I was doing, the adrenaline rush of performing on top of my 'wedding nerves' was one hell of a combination but I was soon into the music and thoroughly enjoying myself -- I swear I could hear my happiness in every note I played.

We played our most successful tunes for about forty minutes and then, it was time to play an acoustic set, during which there'd be the 'surprise appearance' of a special guest -- well it would be a surprise to the audience.

As the last chords of the song died away, the crowd erupted in wild applause and Rob said to the crowd,

"It's so good to be home Dublin," the crowd cheered loudly, "there's really nothing like playing in our home town, thank you so much."

We gathered round Dylan's piano and played three songs acoustically, the last one being "Magic," the song that Rob had written for me in L.A., the one that had made me jump onto a plane to be with him.

He kept looking at me tenderly while he sang the most meaningful lines and I thought it was a nice prelude to my proposal song.

When "Magic" ended, the crowd cheered and then Rob announced,

"We have some surprise guests tonight. Please welcome on stage, Doctor Brian May and Mister Roger Taylor."

The crowd greeted them loudly, their appearance being a shock to them, as they walked on stage, waving.

"Why are two old fuddy-duddies like us interrupting you young things you may ask," Brian began saying, "well it's because we at The Freddie Mercury Trust wanted to show our support for belongTo.''

''The Freddie Mercury Trust was set up to fight AIDS, the prejudice that came with it and being gay so we decided long ago that supporting charities like belongTo had to be a big part of that," Roger told everyone.

"And so we're offering any help our team can give and making a donation of a quarter of a million pounds to belongTo," Brian added, "this seemed the perfect time to do it and get to see you guys perform live at the same time." he continued as he patted Rob on the back, "A little bird tells us you used to cover some of our ditties many moons ago we just wanted to be sure you would've done them justice and I reckon Freddie would've been impressed," he smiled.

Our audience began whooping and cheering again.

"Oh and Mark, good luck," Roger chuckled.

I thanked him and looked at Rob. He smiled, thinking Roger had said that to me because we were about to play "INK" and I had agreed to sing it. Although, he was about to find out why he was able to persuade me, after all this time, to sing 'INK' on stage again -- only I wouldn't be.

I walked over to Dylan's colourfully painted piano. Dylan was already in the wings, along with Damon and Jordan. Unseen by most, a tech had brought Rob a high stool and even a mic on a stand, in case he'd have something to say - such as yes.

He turned his head and I saw a look of confusion on his face.

"Wha -- what are we doing?" he stammered, too low for the mics to pick up.

I smiled and sat at the piano about to sing and play in front of an audience without a guitar for the first time ever -- and it was intimidating to say the least. I sucked in a deep breath as the stage-lights lowered leaving only Rob and I in pools of light.

I looked up at him and smiled. He was still confused, we were supposed to play ''INK'' all together.

The audience was all of sudden unusually quiet, as if they had already understood that something special was happening. I wasn't sure Rob had, but the boyish smile that came across his face as my fingers moved to rest on top of the keys gave me a good indication that he knew what I was about to do.

"So, I'm gonna play a new song tonight," I turned to speak to the crowd. "A song that I will only play once."

Rob was standing on the right side of the piano so I had to very slightly turn my head if I wanted to look him in the eye. I could tell he was still confused but I started playing anyway.

At the same time, the wristbands we always gave out to each member of the audience lit the hall with rainbow colours. It began with those closest the stage and like a tidal wave of understanding spreading through the crowd arms were raised to show the wristbands.

Rob smiled at the sight and then frowned at me a little, unable to recognize the melody that I was playing. I decided to make the intro last longer than I'd intended to give him time to process what was happening, when he finally sat on the stool and I was sure all of his attention was focused on me, I began singing,

I could tell you what I feel - for you

Elsewhere than on this stage - tonight.

He stared at me. His jaw dropped when he realized what I was singing and then he was smiling.

That you're my everything

That I need you always

But at least one thing's sure

We'll remember this day

He smiled a broad smile and so did I. I saw him look around him, towards the crowd, and towards the wings, as if he was trying to find someone who could confirm to him that what he thought was happening actually was. He didn't have to wait for long as I sang,

I think we should marry -- tonight

On this very stage right here -- right now

He smiled and threw his head back with a laugh. He was even more gobsmacked as I continued. He brought both his hands to the back of his neck, staring at me again with a bright smile.

You've waited long enough

Now I'm as ready as you are

He laughed a little and then clenched his fists in a gesture of triumph as he mouthed 'Yes'.

It made me laugh and I had to stop for a second. I played the notes again and then continued,

And I've said so many times

Unique's what's meant for us.

I sang these lines to him, my eyes never leaving his. He took in a deep breath, his expression a mix of shock and complete happiness.

There's no right chorus for our story

All the words I find are never enough.

I know I've told you before

But I'll tell you again,

Je t'aime.

I stared into his eyes as I said 'I love you' to him in French, which I had almost never done, maybe just once or twice.

He put both his hands behind his head and looked intensely at me. I could tell from his breathing that he was trying not to cry and I tried to stay in control of my emotions to keep singing, given what I was about to sing.

Let me also tell you -- thank you

For everything you've done -- for me

I sang these lines, looking alternately at the piano keys and his eyes.

You've erased all the pain

You've made whole again

You gave me love and strength

You made me believe in myself

He looked at me lovingly and mouthed 'I love you' as his hands grabbed the stool on either side of him. He had tears in his eyes and he wasn't trying to wipe them away.

There's no right chorus for our story

All the words I find are never enough.

I know I've told you before

But I'll tell you again,

The crowd now knew what I was going to sing and they went insane before I could do it. They were being so loud that we both laughed. I turned slightly and stopped playing for a moment. I waited a few seconds for them to settle down before singing,

Je t'aime.

And I started playing again.

Come on, let's get married -- tonight

Say yes before this crowd - right now

He took a few deep breaths and wiped away the tears that had spilled down his face.

And if some start to hate

Then let's just ignore what they'll say

He chuckled a little and I continued, looking him in the eye with a smile.

Our lives are way too perfect

Some people can't stand that.

He laughed, shaking his head, knowing I wasn't going to let any haters ruin our happiness.

There's no right chorus for our story

All the words I find are never enough.

I know I've told you before

But I'll tell you again,

The same thing happened again. The crowd just went ballistic and we couldn't help but laugh. I had to wait longer than the first time before being able to say,

Je t'aime

I knew they'd do it again, so I repeated the second half of the chorus.

I know I've told you before

But I'll tell you again,

The same intense excitement took over the crowd.

Je t'aime.

I played the last note and waited for it to die away. The crowd was quiet again so in the pause before they reacted, I spoke softly into the mic.

"Will you marry me, now?"

For a short moment that seemed to me like an eternity, our eyes locked.

Not breaking eye contact, not even blinking, he grabbed the mic and pulled it close to his mouth.

"Yes," he said in a whisper they heard at the back of the hall.

We grinned happily at each other and I stood up. We closed the distance between us and hugged, ours hearts racing with pure unadulterated joy.

The audience reaction during the song was nothing compared to how loud they were being now. Only because we held each other so close could I hear him speak, a solid wall of sound had hit us the instant after he'd said yes.

"Ok, I did not see this coming." he laughed. " You're awesome," he said and hugged me tighter, I knew he'd love it.

For a moment, it seemed like were in a bubble, as if there was only Rob and me there but we soon became aware of our friends and family who had now joined us on stage.

"Right now?" he asked, he knew but he still needed some sort of confirmation.

"Right now," I confirmed. "You gonna be ok?" I asked.

"I don't know if I'm ready," he said with a laugh.

"Get ready fast! Don't worry, you won't have to speak much."

We kept our arms around each other as we stepped closer to Rob's parents. As the applause went on, he pulled away from me and he and his mum exchanged a long hug, rocking from side to side. Jane was crying, Rob had tears on his cheeks again, and now I was crying too.

"Well done Mark, that was incredible," Rob's dad said to me, his arm across my shoulders.

"Thanks," I grinned.

"It's about time you two got married. Now it's gonna be your turn to take care of this pain in the arse," his dad said to me jokingly.

Rob and I laughed,

"I'm going to let that one slide, dad," Rob said sarcastically and they hugged.

Then Rachel launched herself at me and I staggered back when I caught her, she was laughing,

"That was friggin' beautiful!" she beamed with joy.

"I know, it felt so fucking good, I could do it all over again," I said hugging her.

"I'm so proud of you!" she said.

"Thanks for making me do this," I responded.

"I didn't make you do anything, I just gave you the push you needed," she smiled.

Then I looked to where Rob and his parents were, now in a three-way hug, and it hit me that in all of this I was alone. Well, not completely alone, I had some family members who had come. My cousins, my aunt and my sister were there and even my father and half brother and sister had made the trip, which was absolutely brilliant - but I didn't have what Rob had with his parents. Jane had asked my mother to come, she'd turned down the invitation. I wasn't sure I would have wanted her to be there anyway.

"Hey, don't let them in, they closed that door a long time ago Mark, don't try to open it again," she was still smiling to cover the heavy moment.

She still knew and understood me so well that she'd immediately recognised where my thoughts had gone.