Chapter Text
Age Twenty-Two
"I don't wanna tell your Mom, she's scary," Jensen said, glaring at Misha, clenching his hand tight.
"My Mom is not scary, she's just a little...protective," Misha said, leaning in and kissing Jensen on the cheek. "Don't worry, I promise that I'll protect you."
"Bullshit," Jensen whispered, pressing the doorbell. "You're going to leave me to her at the soonest possible second."
Misha smirked and chuckled into Jensen's ear. "You know me too well. But I promise that I'm going to make it worth your while!"
Jensen coughed and glared at Misha as the door opened. He forced a smile to his lips, grinning up at Misha's mother. "Hello, Rebecca, how are you doing?"
Rebecca took one look at the boys in front of her and knew that something was different. She looked at the way they were holding hands and smiled, raising both eyebrows. "I'm doing well. Apparently not as well as you two."
Misha grinned and leaned up to kiss his Mom on the cheek. "I'm going to go help Dad! Make sure there are pieces of him left over for me when you're done, won't you?"
Jensen swallowed and glared at Misha as he immediately headed for the back porch. He gave another hesitant smile to Rebecca. "Yeah, we're both doing very well."
"Come on in, Jensen."
Jensen bit down on his lip and followed her into the kitchen. At least from here, he could see Misha in the back with his father. The sight was relaxing.
"He's made you smile like that since you were five years old, do you know that?"
Jensen immediately snapped back to attention and tried not to blush. "I, I didn't...well. Not for a while, at least," he managed.
Rebecca chuckled and leaned against the counter, staring at the boy who was almost squirming in front of her. "Are you happy with him?"
"He's my soulmate," Jensen said, looking outside to where Misha was now standing next to the grill.
"That's not what I asked, sweetheart. Are you happy with him?"
Jensen smiled. "Yes. I don't think I can ever be really happy without him. He's the other half of me."
Rebecca smiled and poured herself as a glass of water, offering one to Jensen. "You broke his heart. Twice, actually."
Jensen winced and bit down on his lip. "I know. I, I never meant to. When we were younger, when we were sixteen, I didn't, I was scared," he finished lamely, staring down at the table.
"Do you regret it?" she asked.
Jensen swallowed down a small gulp of water after he was given the glass. "Only partially." He watched both of her eyebrows raise and he hurried to explain. "I hate that I hurt him, and I'll regret that forever. But, he, he learned to fight. He wasn't having me fight his battles for him. He stood up to me the first time I tried to apologize and shouted at me," he looked down at the table and took a deep breath.
"I think that, by doing that, he learned to fight his own battles. I was afraid he wouldn't need me anymore, but I am so, so proud of him for learning to do that," Jensen said. "So I can't regret it. Not completely."
Rebecca hummed. "I suppose that's fair. And the second time?"
Jensen bit down on his lip. "Forgive me for asking, but what was the second time?"
"You suggested someone else was his soulmate?" she offered, raising her eyebrows at him.
"Oh," Jensen whispered. "That one, we cleared that up the next morning. I was drunk, and, that's no excuse, but I missed him so much, and I thought he was leaving me behind for one of our mutual friends and…I was stupid."
"Misha called me crying, afterward," Rebecca said. "He said that after years of keeping it in, that had been the one thing he couldn't take you saying. That you would kick him out."
Jensen shook his head. "No, no, never. We, well, we talked the next morning and got the rest of our stuff sorted."
Rebecca nodded and smiled. "Good. I am glad to hear that. I'm sure that your mother is happy as well?"
Jensen laughed and looked over to Misha again. "He got a bigger hug than I did. And then she apologized for me taking so long."
Rebecca laughed. That sounded like Donna. "Yes, we were both worried that you wouldn't figure things out after college happened."
Jensen shrugged and smiled. "We ended up where we needed to be. That's all that's important to me at the end of the day. How we got here? Well. That's just the story we tell."
"Very, very true," Rebecca said, watching Jensen take another sip of water. "Now, go outside and wrap yourself around him, I can tell that you want to."
Jensen gave her a delighted grin and dashed outside. Probably eager to get away, thinking that he got off easy. She rolled her eyes and picked up the phone, dialing a number she'd had memorized for years now.
"Please tell me that you read him the riot act!"
Rebecca laughed. "You do it so much better than me, why would I?"
"Sixteen years! It took them sixteen years!" Donna said, rolling her eyes. "Heaven forbid they didn't have that shouting match, we'd still be waiting for them!"
"Well, they got there, didn't they? Better than the two of them off being idiots on their own."
"True," Donna agreed with a huff. "I have promised your son cookies for life as a result of mine being such an idiot."
"Did Misha tell you that he's already planning the wedding?" Rebecca asked, grinning at her son through the window, unable to keep from smiling as Misha leaned into the possessive arm around his waist from Jensen.
"No! Is he?"
Rebecca laughed again. "Oh yes. He's apparently going to be wearing the dress, since it's fitting for their soulmate marks."
Donna snorted and washed her hands in the sink. "Oh dear. Well. I have no doubt that he will look absolutely gorgeous and Jensen will end up crying at the altar."
"You got that right. I'm sure he'll reach out to you for help at some point," Rebecca added. "Though he's already picked out the colors and location-"
"Goodness, he's been busy!"
"Well," Rebecca said. "He has had sixteen years to think about this."
"That's fair. Where do they want to get married?"
"An orchard, about thirty minutes away."
Donna sighed happily. "That will do wonderfully. Excellent, I'm glad to hear that." She took a deep breath. "Well, I'll leave you to whip those two into shape tonight. I need to get back to finishing up dinner."
"We'll be in touch with the wedding plans, I know it," Rebecca said, grinning into the phone.
"Oh yes. If I know my son, he'll call me panicking at least three or four times. We'll need to make sure we're there the entire time," Donna agreed.
"Exactly what I was thinking."
~!~
Age Twenty-Two (The Wedding)
Jensen fidgeted with his tie for the third or fourth time, checking how straight it was. He took a deep breath.
"It's going to be fine."
Jensen smiled at his brother and nodded. "I know, I know. We went through this in rehearsal, everything is going to be good to go..."
"Right, and you and Misha are fucking stupid for each other, so it's not like anything is going to happen."
"You're so reassuring," Jensen grumbled, glaring at his brother, right as the music for the wedding march started.
A string quartet cover of 'Sexy and I Know It' began to play and Jensen burst out laughing, watching as Misha started to walk down the aisle. "I thought we'd said no to this as a wedding march!" he called.
Misha shrugged and winked at Jensen. "I like it."
"Of course you do," Jensen said, biting down on his lip as Misha walked closer. The dress was perfect on Misha, and he looked like he had been born to wear it, the soft dove gray fabric matching him in all the best ways. As promised, it was backless (and had a train, which Misha had yet to master not tripping on), and Jensen couldn't help shaking his head and smiling.
Baring your soulmarks as part of the ceremony was tradition (as long as they were in an appropriate spot), and Jensen could hear the gasps from everyone as Misha made his way up to the altar. When Misha stopped in front of him, he had to wipe his eyes for a moment, because fuck, he'd never thought a day like this would happen.
"Ha! Got you crying!" Misha said, grinning brightly at Jensen.
"I hate you," Jensen grumbled, wiping at his eyes.
The minister cleared her throat and Jensen smiled at her. "All right, sorry, take us away."
Even though they'd walked through the entire ceremony the day before, Jensen didn't remember any of it. He could only remember Misha's eyes and how gorgeous they looked, and how steady his hands were when they finally had permission to hold them together.
"Now, you have both written your own vows?"
Misha grinned and nodded. "Yeah."
Jensen cleared his throat and nodded as well. "Yes."
"All right. Misha?"
Misha took a deep breath and squeezed Jensen's hands. "I know that vows are supposed to be about love and devotion. I just wanted to remind you that I am going to spend every day of the rest of our lives together reminding you that I knew first, and it took you sixteen years to get a clue."
A few chuckles from the audience helped Jensen not to burst into tears as Misha held onto his hands.
Misha smiled up at Jensen and squeezed his hands. "I also want to remind you that I waited. Because I knew you were it for me. I knew, from the very first moment that you rescued me from that playground, that you were it. That I wanted to spend every single moment I could around you, because of how much more I felt myself with you."
Jensen squeezed Misha's hands tighter and blinked fast.
"I love you, but those words don't do justice to what I feel for you. I love how you make me feel, how you've never hated my weirdness, or whenever I come up with interesting ideas and plans," he said, winking at Jensen.
Jensen laughed a little and coughed, holding onto Misha's hands, a tear slipping down his cheek.
"No one makes me angrier, no one makes me happier, and there is no one on this earth that I would rather spend the rest of my life with. For better, worse, and then better again, I'm yours, Jen."
"Fuck," Jensen whispered, pulling Misha in for a kiss, memorizing the taste of his lips for the hundredth time over until the minister cleared her throat again.
"Your vows, Jensen?"
"Right, shit," Jensen swore. "I don't know how I'm supposed to follow that up, you ass."
Misha gave a delighted laugh and Jensen grinned at him again.
"You aren't, that's it!" Misha said, winking at Jensen.
"You wouldn't let me get away with not saying anything for my vows and you know it," Jensen grumbled, squaring his shoulders, taking a deep breath.
"Mish. I love you." He smiled when bright blue eyes snapped to his a moment later. "No, that's not it, so don't ask."
A few chuckles from the crowd made him relax. "I think a part of me has loved you just as long as you have known we were soulmates. There is a part of me that knows that when I am with you? I am never lacking, and I am the best that I can ever possibly be."
Jensen took a deep breath. "And you are welcome to tease me every day for the rest of our lives about how you knew before I did. Either way, I ended up with you, and that is all that is important to me."
Misha sucked in a small gasp, blinking hard.
"Now," Jensen said, squeezing Misha's hand again. "We talk about how you were the first to know. And I'll tell you a secret...in front of everyone..." Their families laughed and Jensen smiled at Misha.
"You had my first kiss, Misha." Bright blue eyes went wide and stared at him in shock. "You were my first kiss and from that moment on, I knew, I knew that you were going to be my last one, too."
"Oh fuck, now I'm crying," Misha grumbled, wiping at his eyes. "Fuck you, Jensen," he muttered, wiping the tears off of his face.
Jensen laughed and grinned again. "You put it far better than I ever could, Mish. But just know that I am going to spend the rest of my life teasing you just as much as you tease me. I am going to do my best to make you laugh and smile every single day of our lives."
Misha gave a hoarse laugh and stared at Jensen.
"But, even better than that," Jensen promised, stepping closer so he could press his forehead against Misha's. "I am going to tease you forever about the fact that your mark is a damn handprint, you possessive bastard," he whispered.
Jensen stumbled when Misha yanked him into a kiss and he melted, wrapping his arms tight around Misha.
"Well, I was going to say that you could now kiss your husband, but since you two seem overeager, I'll just remind you that you still have a party to get through before you get to go on the honeymoon!"
Jensen grinned and pulled back from Misha, pressing a kiss to his nose. "Yes. Must maintain some form of decorum."
"Now, gentlemen," the minister said. "Would you like to do a baring of the soulmate marks?"
Misha looked over his shoulder and grinned. "There's a reason I wore the dress!"
Jensen took off his jacket and handed it to his brother, following it quickly with the vest, tie and shirt. He heard a few surprised sounds from their families at the sight of the handprint and he grinned at Misha. "Maybe we both should have worn dresses."
"Psh," Misha scoffed. "I look far better in a dress and you know it."
Jensen glanced down at the sight of Misha in the dress and whistled. “I’m not going to argue with you.”
“Horndog,” Misha grumbled.
Jensen leaned down to whisper in Misha’s ear. “Says the guy who gets hard any time he looks at my damn handprint…”
Misha blushed and elbowed Jensen. “We are in public!”
“I have no doubt that that won’t ever stop you,” Jensen teased, kissing Misha’s ear.
“Well,” Misha said, leaning into Jensen. “You’re right there. Especially when it comes to you, Jen.”
“How long until we could get out of here?” Jensen asked, presenting his mark to the people in the church, smiling at Misha.
Misha hummed and leaned into the soft kiss from Jensen. “A couple of hours, a few dances. I might be wearing a surprise for you under this dress.”
Jensen pulled back and stared at Misha, groaning low in his throat. “Misha, that wasn’t fair.”
The rest of the ceremony flew by and Jensen didn’t remember any of it. He remembered how good Misha’s hand felt in his, and how wide Misha smiled, and how beautiful his eyes looked when they were dancing together.
After the party had gotten into full swing, Jensen tugged Misha into the hallway and then down to the limo that was waiting for them.
“We’re not going to get pelted with rice, as is tradition?” Misha asked, giggling as he tripped over his dress heading for the limo.
“Nope!” Jensen said, tugging Misha into the limo after him. “We have a plane to catch.”
Misha raised both of his eyebrows. “A plane?”
Jensen grinned and reached out to tease a finger along Misha’s collarbone. “Mmmhmm. Did you think I wasn’t going to take you on a honeymoon?”
Misha’s eyes went wide and he stared at Jensen. “What?”
“You have the next two weeks off of work. Your Mom packed your suitcase for you yesterday. I set up the hotel and the plane, and we’re going to get good and lost,” Jensen promised, reaching out to cup Misha’s face in his hand, pulling him in for a kiss.
Misha blinked again and reached out to hit Jensen. “You did all of this without me!”
Jensen laughed and grabbed both of Misha’s hands, giving them a small squeeze. “You bet that I did. Consider it the first in a very, very long line of apologies, that will last the rest of our lives.”
“Apologies? For what?” Misha asked, grinning into another kiss from Jensen.
“For making you wait sixteen years for me,” Jensen whispered, kissing Misha’s forehead. “It is going to require so much groveling, and I figure a proper wedding night in a hotel where you can see the Eiffel Tower from the bedroom is the best way to start.”
“The Eiffel Tower?!” Misha screeched. “We’re going to Paris and you didn’t tell me?!”
Jensen laughed and pulled Misha into another kiss. “Yes.” He would keep the rest of Europe secret. He couldn’t give all of his surprises away at once.
“I hate you,” Misha mumbled into Jensen’s lips.
“No you don’t,” Jensen whispered, pulling Misha closer.
“Heh,” Misha said between kisses, melting into Jensen. “You’re right. I don’t.”