For As Long As We Both Shall Live

Luke tried to hide his nervousness. Sure, it was his wedding day and he was expected to be a little bit nervous but he was really nervous. Everyone, his mom and stepfather, sisters, Nic and Dylan... they all came in trying to calm Luke down, to no avail.

There was only one person who could calm Luke down at this point. One person who said the right things. One person who hugged him in just right way. One person who could take away all of Luke's fears with just a smile.

And tradition dictated that he wasn't allowed to see him just yet.

"Luke, it's okay, we promise," Julie hugged him, "Aidan loves you, or else we wouldn't all be here right now."

"But I'm damaged goods. I'm abused and naïve, and a scaredy cat. I'm afraid to have sex due to my mental scars, and I... I have a lot of baggage, Jules. A lot of baggage," Luke sighed and looked down at his feet.

"Yeah, but it's nothing that Aidan isn't fully prepared to help you carry. He knew it was there when he asked you out, he knew it was there when he proposed, and he knows it's there today. And he doesn't care, he's never cared."

Just then, there was a knock on the door. It opened without anyone answering and Aidan poked his head into the room. "I had a feeling Lukey needed to talk. May I?"

They let him in, and figured the best thing to do was to leave the two of them alone. "Good luck, Aidan," Julie whispered as she walked out the door.

Aidan wrapped his arms around Luke from behind, leaning in so his lips were right at Luke's ear. "How you feeling baby?" he whispered.

"Like I don't wanna do this. I'm scared, Aidan."

Aidan wrapped his arms tighter. "I know baby, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't scared too. We're making a huge change to our lives."

Luke shook his head. "No Aidan... I'm scared because I don't want to lose you. I'm coming with a lot of excess stuff behind me, you know?"

"Of course I know," Aidan rocked him gently in his arms. "I know, and I don't care. You need help carrying that stuff around, cause it really sucks to carry it around alone. I know, I've watched you. But baby, we're in this together now."

"Yeah?" Luke asked.

"Of course. For better or for worse," Aidan whispered.