Summary: Chris and MC (Charlotte) enjoy his brother’s wedding in Germany.
Notes: Holy crap, we’ve finally reached the end! Thank you to everyone who has been so encouraging and supportive of this series, you are all wonderful and I appreciate you so much ❤️ I pulled from Ray LaMontagne’s song “Hold You in my Arms” for this fic; it’s such an amazing song and I highly recommend listening to it for the full effect.
As the evening settled over the wedding reception, Charlotte felt like she’d stepped into a fairy tale. The German field at the edge of the forest was impossibly lush and rather than individual tables, one long table for the small wedding was set up near the dance floor. Over the table, tall arches had been twisted out of branches and fairy lights and strings of pearls dripped off every available nook. The dance floor was surrounded with candles, a decision Charlotte worried would backfire as the night progressed and the beer continued to flow. But, for now, it was beautiful and Charlotte wanted to hold this moment for as long as she could.
Chris’s brother’s band had just finished playing, dedicating a song to Kyle’s new bride, and they had switched over to a DJ. The opening guitar strains of a familiar song began to play as Chris made his way over to Charlotte.
“Want to dance?” he asked, holding out his hand to her. She smiled and took it, lacing her fingers between his.
“I’d love to.”
He smiled and led her out onto the dance floor and placed one hand on the small of her back, bringing her close to him.
When you came to me with your bad dreams and your fears
Was easy to see, you’d been crying
Seems like everywhere you turn, catastrophe it reigns
But who really profits from the dying?
“I’m impressed, I didn’t know you could dance,” she said as he led her around the dance floor.
“It’s a flower guy thing,” he said with a grin. She laughed.
I could hold you in my arms
I could hold you forever
I could hold you in my arms, oh
I could hold you forever
“The wedding is really beautiful.”
“Yeah, it is,” he agreed. “Although I don’t think Kyle can take any of the credit for that; it’s definitely all Maja,” he added, nodding towards his brother and new sister-in-law.
“And you didn’t have anything to do with the flowers?” she asked, gesturing towards the ornate arrangements that dotted the long reception table.
“Okay, I might have helped a little,” Chris admitted. “But in my defense, the flowers were arranged all wrong and I couldn’t just stand by and let that happen.”
When you kissed my lips, with my mouth so full of questions
My worried mind, that you quiet
Place your hands on my face
Close my eyes and say
Love is a poor man’s food
With no proper side
“So, where to next?” he asked. “I feel like we should have some general direction before we head to the train station tomorrow.”
“I was thinking maybe Italy? Or France? Or Austria?”
“I see you’ve really narrowed it down,” Chris said with a teasing grin.
“I can’t help it! I want to see everything!” Charlotte protested.
I could hold you in my arms
I could hold you forever
And I could hold you in my arms
I could hold you forever
“I don’t know if we’ll get to see everything, but we should be able to see a lot before we have to leave in three weeks,” Chris said. “I have to say though, I think I’m most excited to fly back to Boston with you.”
“Seriously?” Charlotte asked. “We’re in Europe taking this huge trip, and you want to see Boston?”
“Don’t get me wrong, I’m really excited to explore Europe and be a clueless American tourist,” Chris said. “I’m just excited to have my everyday life with you.”
So now we see how it is
This fist begets the spear
Weapons of war
Symptoms of madness
Don’t let your eyes refuse to see
Don’t let your ears refuse to hear
You ain’t never going to shake this sense of sadness
“AJ really doesn’t mind taking over the flower shop for a while?”
Chris shook his head. “Nah, I think she’s looking forward to it. Plus, now that my dad’s doing better, she seems stoked about moving out of his house for a while. I think the bigger issue will be to get her to give me my house back at some point.”
“Sure about that?” Charlotte asked as she looked over his shoulder. Chris turned around to see his sister dancing with one of bridesmaids, a wide smile stretched across her face. He smirked.
“At this rate, everyone in my family is going to end up moving over here,” Chris said with a chuckle as he turned back to Charlotte. “What do you say, are you on board to be an expat?”
I could hold you in my arms
I could hold on forever
And I could hold you in my arms
I could hold on forever
“As long as I’m with you, I’m good,” she said. Chris smiled as he twirled her before bringing her back to him, kissing her softly.
“I love you.”
“I love you, too.”
The song ended and another began as Chris and Charlotte stayed on the dance floor, basking in the glow of the soft lights as they danced on and on, happy in each other’s arms.
THE END!
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