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***Mark's POV***

"Are they fucking serious?" Macy's voice carries above the mob that is becoming irritated. Staring at my sister, I shake my head to dismiss whatever irrational thoughts she may be entertaining.

I expected this.

"You are not welcomed here. Invitation only." Gavin charges towards my parents before I can raise a hand to stop the pint sized nurse. I almost laugh out my gratitude when Alex pulls the boy back by his waist. Gavin's arms flail while he gives his best effort to escape the prison of Alex's hold.

"It is okay. Everyone head to the reception." I can hear the stress in Mak's voice as he attempts to reign in the crowd. I imagine that we are far past this step. We might as well face the intruders head on.

I turn back towards my parents as my feet start carrying me forward. My steps are abruptly cut off. Standing in shock, I put my hand over my mouth to keep the noise from escaping.

Without warning, Mama Angela lands a crude slap across my birth mother's face. The look of anger and shock bring simple joy to me.

"Are you okay?" Seb puts his lips to my ear as he begs for a status update on my building emotions.

"I expected nothing less. Let's just clear this up so we can get on with the evening." The slow thud of a building tension headache alerts me that I may not be as calm as I had hoped.

"You bitch!" My mother raises her hand to bring retaliation to my mother-in-law. The only thread on my hopeful sanity begins to unravel. Before I can make an intentional move, I find myself standing in front of the woman who carried me for nine months. I can feel my warm breath dancing between us as I stare into her impassioned eyes. I see the hatred swirling behind the pointed glare.

"That is enough." The low warning comes out louder than I intended. My arm comes down gently, with great effort, to press a halting hand onto my mother's wrist. She will not be throwing slurs or hands this evening.

"We have every right to be here." My mother practically spits her venomous proclamation in my face.

"I told you we should just let him marry that boy. If he wants to ruin his life, who are we to stop him?" My father's words rub me the wrong way in every direction. That boy happens to be the love of my life. Sebastian is my husband.

"Mario, please escort the unwelcome patrons to the exit." Grey gives the order with a deep sigh. I know how badly Grey hates my parents. I don't blame him. Grey is in good company.

"Marcus Fletcher, we didn't raise you to be so disrespectful." My mother pushes through with one last inflammatory response causing me to see red.

"You didn't raise me at all. Every moment of my life I was expected to fit into your idea of what was socially acceptable. The only thing you two cared about was that we looked good on paper." I take a breath before letting my thoughts make their way to my acidic tongue. "Families are supposed to support one another. You did everything in your power to destroy anything and anyone that threatened to tarnish your idea of a perfect image. Congratu-fucking-lations. It worked. You no longer have a son. I don't want to ever see either of you again." My last words come out with an anger so tangible that I feel as though they have physically ripped themselves from my throat.

I watch my mother turn her head toward my father before looking at me as if I were nothing more than a stranger. Ditto. I feel exactly the same way.

"You will regret this, Mark Fletcher." My father spits at my feet before turning to follow Mario towards the back exit of the ceremony.

"I highly fucking doubt that. It's Mark Royals now, not that you need to remember that." I turn away from the entire crowd, separating myself from Sebastian as I move towards the entrance to the foyer. I can't go into the reception when my head is pounding, mirroring the dancing elephants that are abusing my chest.

I rush to hide away from anyone and everyone. I just wanted a day where Sebastian and I could celebrate our love. I would not think that was too much to ask.

As I close the door behind me, I try not to make eye contact with the concerned servers. Apparently, we should have hired security for this function. I should have assumed that.

Quickly taking the steps to the hotel room, I huff out unintelligible words of anguish underneath my breath. My fingers tremble while trying to find my key card. It is only then that I realize that I don't have the fucking thing. I have no idea where it would even be.

Throwing my head forward, it lands with an audible thud. I rip my bow tie off of my tuxedo before going for my cuff links. These clothes are a prison when the anger in your body threatens to burn you alive.

I'm going to regret this? No, mother fucker, I won't. What I regret is being born to the wrong god damned parents. That is what I regret.

The internal dialogue becomes intrusive as I wish away all thoughts of people that were meant to support me. What kind of parents don't love their only son? Shitty ones, that is who.

"Here." A soft voice has my eyes looking up slowly. Mak smiles gently as his hand opens the door carefully. A silent nod of my head is all the gratitude that I can convey on the moment.

I follow Mak quietly into the room, watching as he closes the door with great care not to make any noise. The guy is a saint. No one could tell me any different.

"Are you going to be okay?" Mak takes a seat on the bed. I sit down slowly, pulling my jacket off as I kick my shoes across the room. I don't answer. My head hits the soft covers as my back sinks into the cool material.

What a fucking day.

Mak lays down beside me, reaching his hand for mine before clasping our fingers together. It reminds me of the days after Sebastian disappeared. Mak and Grey went crazy trying to keep me sane. Thank God that they did. That night in the park was a much needed reminder that good friends carry you when you cannot move forward on your own.

"I want to be." My earnest confession breaks my heart just a little bit.

"They ruined your past. Only you have the power not to let them ruin your present or your future." Mak's moment of therapy makes me laugh a small amount.

"I'm just rattled." I squeeze Mak's hand as a promise that nothing is ruined. I just need a moment to gather my bearings.

"You have a room full of people waiting on you. That crowd has your back. We love you. We have always been there for you. Nothing has changed. So what if two people can't push aside their prejudices to be in your life. In my opinion, they aren't worthy of a place in it anyways. You have a whole new family on top of what you already had. That is more than a lot of others could say. I'm not trying to make light of it, Mark. I just know that you didn't deserve that treatment. It makes me sick that they felt comfortable treating you that way. Fuck them. Fuck them to hell in a tiny basket soaked in gasoline. Let them burn." Mak turns his head to smile at me. Those dimples melt away the last bit of tension that had found a place in my body.

I return Mak's smile with an ear splitting grin of my own. Yeah, fuck the Fletchers. I have a whole family to entertain.

Standing abruptly, I pull Mak with me. Mak leans on me for support while I engulf him in a hug. Grey sure did find a keeper with that kid. I quickly slip my shoes on, leaving my jacket on the bed.

"If you're ready, I would be honored to escort you to your wedding reception, Mr. Royals." Mak opens the door to the hotel room, exposing the empty halls to me. I am grateful that no one followed him. I didn't need a room full of witnesses. I just needed my best friend to give me a pep talk.

When we finally make it back to the reception, it isn't quiet. There are no wandering eyes searching to see if I look disheveled or unkept. Instead, the music flows gently through the air leaving a romantic back drop to what appears to be an undisturbed wedding reception. Mak kisses my cheek before parting ways with me. I watch as he locates his husband, reminding me that I would do well to find my husband as well.

"Looking for me?" His plump lips kiss the back of my ear while his hands wrap around my waist.

"I was just about to. Thank you for finding me." I turn in Sebastian's arms. Our lips meet as the MC announces our first dance. The crowd makes way for the two of us to get to the dance floor. I spin slowly, showing off Sebastian before snuggling into the security of his arms.

"I love you, Mark Royals." Sebastian kisses my temple. Hold you 'til we're young plays all around us. The warmth that envelopes me can only be the love radiating between me and Sebastian. My eyes close allowing everything to disappear aside from this moment. I don't want to ever forget this moment.

"Baby, Ma wants to dance." Sebastian brings me back to the present. I notice Angela standing beside me with the largest smile on her face. I step away, placing Sebastian's hand inside of his mother's.

"Don't go far, Mark. I'm getting my mother-son dance. You can bet on that." I wink at Angela. She can have all the dances she requests. I wouldn't dare deny her such.

"I will take this one." Amelia swoops in, dragging me back to the dance floor with little effort.

"Thanks." I kiss Mrs. Parker on her cheek before turning her out for a brief spin. This woman dances with the elegance of prima ballerinas. She literally floats across the dance floor.

"You boys look absolutely star struck. I never get tired of attending these weddings. For the life of me, I don't understand some people. We love you, Mark. We always have. We always will." Mrs. Amelia turns my head to look into her eyes directly. The pride shining behind her words is so apparent, I wouldn't dare to question her. This is what unconditional love feels like. It feels like acceptance.

"I love you guys. Thank you for everything. It's not enough, but thank you." I kiss Mrs. Amelia before handing her over to Martin. He claps his hand on my shoulder before taking Amelia away in a double spin. Those two take too many ballroom dance classes.

"Do you have one left for the prodigal sister?" Macy smiles as she grabs my hand.

"Be quiet." I laugh as I draw her close to me.

"You two are perfect. Sebastian is one-of-a-kind." Macy turns her head, staring blissfully at my husband. He is perfect. She isn't wrong.

"Thank you. Your support means so much." I honestly can say, as long as I have this group of people, I don't feel as if I have missed out on much.

The music changes, constantly making way for new dance partners. By the time it is announced that we will be eating, I am ridiculously famished. I feel like the lining of my stomach has been torn away. A loud grumble from my belly makes Seb laugh a little too loudly.

"You're hungry, love." Seb lifts his fork to my mouth offering me a much needed reprieve from starvation.

"Thank you." The words come out just as I swallow. I pick my own fork up to eloquently stuff my face before I get interrupted.

"It's not running away. We aren't in any hurry." Gavin pokes his tongue out at me from the table in front of us. I wish that table was just a little closer. I kind of want to kick the little nurse Angel.

"You don't know that." I point my fork at Alex's boy before hurriedly placing my bite into my mouth.

"Who portioned these plates?" I roll my eyes as the food disappears too quickly for my liking.

"Jesus Seb, did you knock him up before the honeymoon." Kip laughs at his own joke. I swear to God, if this room didn't costs so much, I would start a damn food fight.

"Guys, stop taunting the boy. He has had all day to build up that appetite. Let him eat." Martin saves everyone from an ass whipping by stepping in to control the idiots.

"Thanks, dad." I barely get out before I choke on my own gratitude.

"You're not yourself when you're hangry. Feed the beast." Martin starts the whole room up in a joyous laughter. I cut my eyes at my father figure. They can all kick rocks.

"They are just playing. Eat." Sebastian soothes me with a soft kiss. I have a good mind to skip the rest of this shit to Netflix and chill with my husband. I can think of something that would fill me up deliciously.

"I see that look. You can wait." Seb covertly runs his hand up my thigh, threatening the threads of my slacks from the blood pumping into my cock. He can keep on as long as he wants. I will mount him tonight. Then, he won't be able to do anything but scream into the sheets.

The MC continues to guide our every step. He follows the itinerary seamlessly. I'm grateful when we finally get to cut the cake. That beast has been staring at me all night. I'm ready to eat that too.

Seb plays sweetly, barely even getting icing on my lips as he carefully places the bite of cake into my mouth. I decide to almost be as kind. The large chuck of cake misses his mouth, landing on his cheek. To make it better, I lick the icing from his skin just as the photographer snaps a photo.

"Payback is a bitch, baby. Heed those words." Seb warns me dutifully with his words. I'm not even scared. Okay, maybe I am a little scared but, I will take my chances.

Every moment of our reception is a beautiful montage to the couple we have grown into. The pictures on the guests tables show a timeline from the moment that Sebastian and I first met to a couple photos from our bachelor party. I cringe when the memories are far more innocent than the proof that glares boldly in our faces. We went down Hangover style last night. Thank God no one lost a tooth.

"It is time for the best men to give their speeches." I smile momentarily before I realize that Grey and Alex are both smirking in my direction. I should have guessed this was a bad fucking idea.