Closed Wedded Bliss

[Delaney Hollis]

Delaney pinched the bridge of his nose, exhaling sharply to try and disperse the still lingering headache, though whether it was still from his hangover or more from Diana's voice at this point he couldn't tell. "Look if this is anyone's fault it's yours, it was all about your damn sister half the night I bet that's what started it," he said, pointing accusatory and flinching as the ring on his hand caught the light again. He still hadn't figured out where that had come from, since both it and the matching one Diana was now wearing didn't appear to be conjured so they must have summoned them up from somewhere sometime between the second and third bottles of firewhiskey. Which meant much like this apparent new arrangement between the two of them, the rings weren't going to be vanishing any time soon now that they'd sobered up.

 

[Diana Hollis]

Diana paced the room angrily, only stopping once Delaney started to speak and blame her for their impulsive action. Like they hadn’t both decided on it last night. Diana was fairly positive Delaney had even suggested it, though she wasn’t entirely sure because her memory was hazy. Probably all the firewhiskey shots she could still feel churning in her stomach. “It wasn’t my fault, you’re just as guilty!” She snapped, pointing at him angrily. As she did, she noticed the ring again. She scowled. “If it had been my idea I would have picked nicer rings.” She snapped, before exhaling a long groan. “My mum’s gonna kill me. She now missed two weddings.” She complained, letting herself drop on the bed and putting her face in her hands. “What the f**k.” She muttered.

 

[Delaney Hollis]

“Yeah cause I’m definitely the marrying type,” Delaney scoffed, shifting his eyes away from watching Diana pace as it was making him vaguely nauseated. “Besides, if it had been my idea, you would have changed your name on the marriage certificate,” he added sourly, ignoring the fact that there were definitely days when he was so gone for Diana that he’d change his name to anything she wanted just to have her look at him. And of course there were days he’d wished he’d never met her, so maybe they were even. “It’s not like Hollis is that big of a change for you, you could keep your initials,” he wheedled, shifting to keep his balance as Diana dropped on the bed. “We could always just pretend it never happened,” he offered, quieter, frustration ebbing away some as Diana put her face in her hands, stomach clenching unexpectedly at his own suggestion. Or maybe that was still the lingering firewhiskey talking.

 

[Diana Hollis]

Diana dropped her hands into her lap as Delaney spoke again, glaring at him. “Like you could make me change my name.” She snapped, frustrated at the accusing way he said it. “If it’s not that big a change, why don’t you take my name? You could keep your initials.” She said, mocking his tone of voice as she did and pulling a face. She sighed and leaned back on the bed, closing her eyes for a moment as she tried to focus with the hangover headache. “That’s going to come back to bite us.” She said softly. “Who knows how discreet we were. Besides… if we pretend it didn’t happen, why don’t we just get it like.. annulled, or get divorced?” She asked, not quite looking at him. For some reason, neither of those suggestions seemed to agree with her upset stomach.

 

[Delaney Hollis]

“Well apparently I can make you marry me,” Delaney said dryly, aware it was petty but not caring enough to stop himself from saying it, wiggling his left hand in Diana’s face and sitting back against the pillows with a huff. He muttered a few choice words in Portuguese which he knew would annoy her without him needing to bother to come up with a proper come back in English.

He groaned when Diana made a valid point, as much as Delaney preferred it, this wasn’t one of the problems he could just ignore until it went away. Maybe if he felt slightly less hungover right now he could even argue it wasn’t even a problem. He did love Diana. Most days. Usually. When she wasn’t nagging him or being annoying. So like 50% of the time. “It could be worse I guess,” he offered, twisting the ring on his finger absentmindedly. “At least you married a catch,” he offered slowly, unable to resist pressing Diana’s buttons even if they might not be able to joke about this just yet. Besides, Diana was right, considering who her mother was and Ashes’ slow but steadily growing fanbase, there was no telling who might already know. Delaney wasn’t exactly known for being quiet about his bad decisions anyway. It was as good excuse as any. “I’m not going to get divorced in 30’s,” he said firmly instead. "No one needs to know it wasn’t on purpose,” he offered, half challenge, half hopeful suggestion.

 

[Diana Hollis]

Diana clicked her tongue in annoyance as Delaney intentionally misunderstood her. He was so infuriating, and now she was married to him? She had no idea how she was going to cope with this. She decided to just glare at him as he muttered in Portuguese, he knew she hated that.

She huffed in annoyance as Delaney said she had at least married a catch, mostly angry at herself for almost laughing at the comment. She must still be drunk or something. Diana rolled her eyes. “Is being married against your will in your thirties any worse?” She asked as Delaney said he didn’t want to be divorced in his 30s. Diana supposed it would be even more humiliating for her, divorced before she even turned 25. She sighed deeply, then glanced at Delaney skeptically. “You want to pretend we got drunkenly married on purpose without telling anyone?”

 

[Delaney Hollis]

Delaney clicked his tongue back at Diana, feeling a small amount of vindication when she looked appropriately annoyed. Vengeance for his headache, which firewhiskey or not he was now content to blame on her.

“Aha, so now you admit it was against my will,” he said, pointing accusingly at Diana again, aware he wasn’t saving much of his bedraggled dignity to keep pushing the issue. It wasn’t like he had much dignity in the first place really, especially when Diana was involved. If anything, having her down on his level with him in this was more gratifying than Delaney wanted to admit and he hunched his shoulders defensively when she seemed dubious of his suggestion. “Rock and roll and that, it’s definitely something I could do,” he said with a pointed shrug. “We can make it all romantic, ran away to elope because we’re so obviously in love,” he said, batting his eyes and slumping over dramatically into Diana’s lap. He didn’t know why he was so intent on this now, aware Diana had given them a perfect out already; it wasn’t like he was looking forward to living the rest of his life arguing with her every morning like this, and yet it had to admit something warmed in his chest at the idea still.

 

[Diana Hollis]

Diana rolled her eyes at Delaney’s comment, wondering if her eyes could fall out of her head if he kept on making her do that. “I admit it’s against your sober will. Drunk you has a mind of his own.” She said dismissively. Diana sighed deeply as Delaney seemed to consider actually keeping it that way. She snorted as he slumped over into her lap, but also put a hand on his arm to keep him from rolling off her lap and onto the floor. She frowned, considering it. “I- I don’t know, it’s a lot.” She said slowly. She thought for another moment, one hand moving absently over to Delaney’s hair to stroke it out of his face. “Would it be too… against the rock and roll image to hold a little party, just so my mum’s happy?” She finally asked in a quiet voice.

 

[Delaney Hollis]

Delaney couldn’t exactly argue with Diana’s point, settling instead for closing his eyes so he’d stop being distracted by her face and end up agreeing with her again.

“It’ll be fine,” he insisted, possibly only pushing the issue out of spite, but really Delaney had made a lot of big life decisions out of spite and it had all worked out for him. Mostly. He did have to open his eyes and wrinkle his nose when Diana suggested a party. And her mum. His mother-in-law. Delaney suddenly felt more ill than could be hand waved by the hangover this time, though it lessened as Diana brushed a hand over his hair. “Do we have to,” he said petulantly after a moment. Diana’s family wasn’t that bad really. They were all just successful and had their lives together, it made Delaney’s skin itch. “You just want to wear a pretty dress,” he said, narrowing his eyes.

 

[Diana Hollis]

The argument seemed to be over. Diana didn’t understand how this kept happening between them, they could go from peace, to the worst argument she’d ever had, to peace again. Alice would probably quietly tut at this and kindly question her if she thought her relationship was ‘toxic’. But Alice was a baby who didn’t know anything. Though… Alice would also never find herself in this position, Diana had to reluctantly admit to herself. “We don’t have to.” She said, letting her voice trail off slightly. “But… yes, I do want to wear a pretty dress.” She admitted, looking down at him. “I was one of those girls who always daydreamed about it, you know? Like. The whole thing.” She admitted. “But I don’t want anything big now.” She added quickly, even if she knew that deep down she did want that. But a small party would be a good compromise right? The adult thing to do. She would have to compromise with him now, now that they were married. The thought made her skin tingle, in a not-entirely-bad way. She smiled a little. “Don’t tell me you don’t want to see me in a pretty dress.” She teased.

 

[Delaney Hollis]

Delaney knew he shouldn’t have been surprised that Diana would want to have some sort of party; honestly the best thing about this whole impulsive marriage situation might have been that Delaney had managed to dodge the nightmare that a ‘proper wedding’ involving Diana would have been. He could already envision it now, automatically reaching to tug at the collar of his shirt at the imaginary tightness of a tie he was sure she’d make him wear. Or worse. Bowtie. Delaney shook his head to rid himself of the mental image, trying to focus on what Diana was saying. “Oh yeah, big surprise there,” he said wryly, not believing for a second Diana wouldn’t jump on throwing her dream wedding if Delaney offered. Assuming of course, that she still wanted to be married to him in said theoretical scenario.

Really, Delaney had no idea if the strange calm he was feeling about the situation now had anything to do with the hangover they were both nursing or if it was his own lack of foresight (something both Vera and Leo had warned him about before), but Delaney wasn’t going to keep pressing on it, content to roll with things for now. He could be happy with Diana. They had their moments, sure, but there were times where Delaney was crazy about her more often than not. “We have to tell my bandmates too,” he said slowly, trying to envision a party involving the band and Diana’s family and snorting at the clash. “But I always want to see you in a pretty dress,” he murmured, reaching up to slowly trace Diana’s cheek with his thumb.

 

[Diana Hollis]

As Diana was slowly accepting the situation, she felt sadder and sadder as she realized the dream wedding of her youth wasn’t going to be reality. She had to get over it, this was the reality now, and it seemed like they were just going to… go with it. But she did feel her heart clench a bit as she imagined Delaney in a suit waiting for her at the altar. That wouldn’t have been horrible. Though, knowing him, he probably would have gotten drunk at the reception and fallen into the cake or something. She shook her head slightly, trying to clear the image from her mind. She looked down at Delaney, silently wondering if they were doing the right thing. She did… love him. She had realized this a while ago. Even when he was infuriating. Maybe especially then. Diana sighed when he mentioned telling his bandmates. “Can you just do that without me? They hate me, I’d rather spare us all the indignity of them having to pretend to be happy for us because I’m there.” She said, wrinkling her nose. She smiled a little as he reached up to stroke her cheek, leaning into the touch. How could he be so effortlessly charming?

 

[Delaney Hollis]

When Delaney had first woken up, he was sure he would have taken any excuse to pretend last night had never happened. Now that he’d sobered up some, he realized hoped he was imagining the sad look on Diana’s face as he trailed a finger over the curve of her cheek. It was probably just the light, if Diana had a problem with what was going on, she wouldn’t hesitate to tell him, he was sure. Delaney should probably be grateful they’d done things this way anyway, he’d thought multiple times he’d marry Diana in a heartbeat (usually followed by a horrible fight where Delaney decided he never wanted to see her again) and this way he didn’t have to get into an argument about wedding planning and dress codes. If anything, it was easier.

“Leo doesn’t hate you. Maybe. One out of three ain't bad,” he said with a shrug, somewhat impeded by his position sprawled in her lap. “If you get to skip that though I don’t have to be there when you tell your parents,” he offered back, giving Diana a smug grin at the trade. Diana’s parents were… Fine. But Delaney felt like he was in another world at their place. One he’d never quite fit in. And Diana always wanted him to dress nice, which was equally annoying.

 

[Diana Hollis]

While Diana had known Delaney’s bandmates didn’t have a very high opinion of her, she still wished he had somewhat reassured her. He hadn’t. She huffed at his next suggestion. “That’s not the same, my parents don’t hate you. You're just scared of them.” She said though she stroked his hair again to soften her words a bit. “But fine. It’ll probably be easier that way.”

 

[Delaney Hollis]

Delaney bristled at Diana’s suggestion that he was scared of her parents. He wasn’t scared of them. Sure they made him a little uncomfortable in a white-picket fence suburbia sort of way, but he wasn’t scared of them. “I’m more scared of what you’d try to make me wear to be ‘presentable’,” he drawled. “I’ll go tell them myself though I’m not scared,” he added with a huff, aware he was probably letting Diana twist him into doing exactly what she wanted. She was so good at that. He hated it some days and loved it the others. “I doubt the guys would care that we’re married though,” he added, sinking back into Diana’s lap from where he’d riled himself up earlier. “I probably don’t even need to mention it unless you wanted to like, move in something stupid like that,” he said, trailing off and playing with a lock of Diana’s hair to avoid eye contact.

He hadn’t really considered the logistics of something like living together until he’d said it out loud. Sure, he and Diana slept over at each other’s places, but he couldn’t really imagine anything changing more permanently. Diana had made it clear in the past she thought his room was gross, and Delaney couldn’t imagine moving out of the Ashes house, so she might as well not even bother asking. He hoped she wouldn’t ask.

 

[Diana Hollis]

Diana clicked her tongue in annoyance at Delaney’s words. “Wearing a tie wouldn’t kill you.” She snapped, but there was no real venom in it. She nodded. “You tell your band, and I’ll tell my parents. It’s the easiest.” She said. Her frown deepened. “Delaney, do you think... we’re going to be married and living... apart?” She asked him slowly, starting to wonder if he really was stupid. “That’s ridiculous, of course we have to get a place together.” She shook her head. “We’re married for Merlin’s sake.”

 

[Delaney Hollis]

"It might, you don't know," Delaney said petulantly, finger tugging at the collar of his shirt to emphasize his point but he let it drop when Diana agreed to let him dodge out on the whole 'explaining to the previous Minister of Magic that he'd drunkenly married their daughter' thing. Besides, they apparently had a bigger issue to deal with now, enough that Delaney had to reluctantly sit up from where he'd been lounging in Diana's lap.

"What, but I can't move away from the band," he said incredulously. "I mean maybe if we extend my closet we could fit your stuff in my room if you wanna move in..." He offered halfheartedly, trying to envision Diana living with them all full time and wincing.

 

[Diana Hollis]

Diana immediately missed the warmth from Delaney lying on her lap, and she resented him for it. She glared at him. "Maybe you should've thought of that before you married me." She snapped. "I'm not living apart, that's ridiculous. I'm your wife." She faltered as the word left her mouth. It sounded... alien, but not entirely bad. Even if he was being a massive idiot. She frowned. "Like, we don't have to rush anything, but I'm not living separately forever just because you want to live with your bandmates." Diana glared as he suggested moving in. "I'm not moving in with people that hate me." She snapped.