Chapter Text
Epilogue
1 year later
”Okay, Charlie, you ready?” Pierre asks him, as Charles runs a brush through his hair.
Charles takes a deep breath and looks at himself in the mirror. He is wearing a brand new suit, although he wishes it was his dad’s, but he is happy. The suit is black and fits him perfectly, snatched at the waist but a little loose at the arms. His tie is special, it has the initials ’MV’ embroidered on it. His shoes are Christian Louboutin with the classic red bottoms. His watch is blue with red accents. He looks perfect, just as he wished but more importantly he is marrying the love of his life. Charles has got a whole speech ready as his vows, he and Max decided that they would write their own vows and he can’t be more excited.
“Of course, I am ready. I can’t wait to marry him.” Charles says, giggling.
”Okay, well your mother is waiting for you. She is also very excited to walk you down the aisle but she is kind of crying.” Pierre explains.
”She is crying?” Charles asked and walked to his mom. He finds her softly crying. He walks up to her. “Maman?”
Her breath hitched and she wiped her tears quickly. “Oh mon cher, look at you. You look so handsome.”
“Maman, please don’t cry.” Charles says, hugging his mother.
“You are growing up so fast. How can I not cry? I still remember when you were born and I was holding you close to me, your first day starting school, your first year in college, and the day you moved in with Max. All the 27 years of your life are flashing through my head and it’s making me emotional.” His mom wipes her tears. “And then when you ask me to walk you down the aisle. Of course, i am going to cry, because I love you and I am happy for you. And I am happier because of the fact that you are marrying somebody who respects you and loves you and that’s why I was crying, happy tears.”
“Oh, Maman.” Now Charles is crying.
”Ugh, guys, stop it. Everyone is waiting for you. Maman, you will ruin your eye makeup. And Charles, that concealer under your eyes will be ruined.” Arthur says, shaking his head. Arthur has now gotten a job at a marketing firm and is earning a stable living. He is also dating one of his co-workers, a cute blond (Charles bullied him for stealing his type.) but all in all, Arthur has turned out to be a good lad.
“I am not wearing any concealer.” Charles says, rolling his eyes.
”Seriously?! I need your skin care routine asap!” Arthur exclaims as Charles flashes him a proud grin.
“Okay, boys. Enough. Arthur and Pierre, you both go. Charles and I will follow.” The boys shoot her a salute and gracefully walk down the aisle. The melodious music starts playing signalling Charles’ entrance.
His mother holds his hand and they slowly start walking towards the altar. The second Max’s eyes fell on Charles, it was like the world stopped spinning, everything was on a stand still. Max is wearing a navy blue suit with matching tie which has the initials ‘CL-V.’ embroidered in red thread. He runs a hand down his tie and he fiddles with the embroidery a little. Their eyes meet, and that’s when Max’s eyes started filling with tears. This is the moment he felt what every groom felt when they saw the love of their life walking down the aisle.
Charles walks up to him, Max first bends down to hug his mother. “Thank you for trusting me with him. I promise to do everything to keep him happy.” He whispers in her ear and she whispers a little ‘I know.’ back. He looks back at Charles and says, “You ready to be a Verstappen, darling?”
”More than I will ever be.” He replies and the priest asks them to read their vows. Charles starts with his first, “Max, mon cœur, the day I met you I thought you were a creep.” The crowd erupts in laughter. “But that quickly changed when you published that article, then I thought you were a jerk.” Max whispers a little ‘I am sorry.’ “But that changed again when you defended me, you not only defended me but you also taught me that I was made to be loved. As maman, says you always love and respect me but it’s more than that, you teach me how to live everyday, you make every day wroth living, every morning I am excited to wake up and anticipate the time I will spend with you, and every night when we go to sleep I wait for the morning to come. Max Verstappen, I love you, probably more than anything on this planet, sorry Leo.” Charles finishes and looks down at his dog.
“I thought you enjoyed the nights.” Max whispers to Charles.
“Not appropriate, Max.” Charles says, hitting Max’s shoulder as his cheeks turn red.
Max chuckles and starts his speech, “Charlie, the moment I saw I knew I was in trouble. I knew that I would do anything for you, I know it sounds sappy but it’s true, I have punched a guy for you and I will do it again, without hesitation. You say that I taught you how to love but that is not true, everything I know about love comes from you. I love the way your hair looks in the morning just before we get out of bed, it teaches me that no matter how messy life gets, it is always beautiful. I love the way your cheeks creates those beautiful dimples. I love the way your eyes sparkle when you talk about something you love. And most importantly, I love you, all of you, every part of you. Your existence, alone, teaches me how to love, how to live. You drive me insane, in a good way. You are the one who taught me how to love, not the other way around. Your optimism and personality fills my life with colour and I plan to love you forever, I promise you this and vow in front of the God to never do you wrong.” Max finished and looks up to see Charles sobbing and Max without giving it a second thought hugged him, letting Charles cry in chest. The crowd erupts in ‘aww’ but Max doesn’t care. “Charlie, baby, I am sorry. Please don’t cry.”
“It’s happy tears, Max.” Charles says in between hiccups.
After Charles calmed down, the priest spoke up, “Okay, Mr. Verstappen, now for the traditional vows if you are ready.”
“Yes, please go ahead.” Max replied, his attention still on Charles.
“Okay Max repeat after me.” The priest starts.
”I, Max, take you, Charles, to be my husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death us do part, according to God's holy law, and this is my solemn vow.” Max says.
”Okay, Charles, please repeat after me.” The priest says.
”I, Charles, take you, Max, to be my husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death us do part, according to God's holy law, and this is my solemn vow.” Charles says.
“Ok, Max, do you take Charles as your lawfully wedded husband?” the officiant asks.
”I do.” Max says, looking straight into Charles’ eyes.
”Charles, do you take Max as your lawfully wedded husband?” the officiant asks Charles.
“I do.” Charles says as he smiles at Max.
”You may kiss the groom.”
And without missing a beat, Charles grabbed onto Max’s tie and pull him in for a hungry kiss. Max’s hand find their way to Charles’ waist pulling him closer. They pull away after a while, since making out in front of their guests would be inappropriate. Charles looks over his shoulder to smile at Arthur and Pierre…and all the other 27 groomsmen he has appointed. That’s right, every 27 grooms for whom Charles was there, were there for him on his special day, wearing the same horrendous outfits Charles was wearing. Thank god they had a beach wedding.
”I love you, Mr. Verstappen.” Charles whispered in Max’s ear.
”And I love you, Mr. Verstappen.” Max says, and kisses Charles’ forehead.