Inspired by Community S6E12: "Wedding Videography."

Leo POV [Documentary]

The camera fades in on a classroom Leo has never been in before. He has never seen this classroom before because this is where Frank learns how to teach kindergartners how to not glue their fingers together or something. Today, Leo is celebrating his friend's success. Yes, Leo and Frank are friends. Don't act so surprised. They're co-hosts on a morning show, and we all know that morning show co-hosts have to be friends. At least, on camera they do.

After today, Frank will have completed his last final examination, joining the rest of the study group in waiting for their grades whilst scrambling to plan some sort of post-graduation party. The plans are not coming together the same way everyone did to watch Frank present... something. There's macaroni involved, so Leo's all ears.

Frank stands at the front of the auditorium classroom, a PowerPoint on the screen behind him. He's a nervous presenter, so there are several ways this could go. "In this presentation, I will argue using a number of scholarly sources as well as my experience in student teaching that although technology may be a useful classroom tool to a degree, the best way to nurture a child in early education is with classic activities and stimulation. This includes, but is not limited to-"

"Excuse me!" Charles Beckendorf shouts, bursting through the double doors. "I have something to say."

"Frank has something to say too," Hazel mutters to Leo. She is right. He does, and it's worth fifty percent of his final grade for his student teaching block, and now Beckendorf is interrupting it with some grand gesture.

"Silena Beauregard!" he shouts, causing Frank to jump and drop his notecards.

"Oh, Charlie!" she shouts from the back of the classroom.

"Ever since we were put in the same advising group for online freshman orientation, I knew you were the one," he says. And then he gets down on one knee, crushing one of Frank's lost notecards. "Babe, would you do me the honor of being my bride?"

Silena squeals and runs down to the front of the auditorium, tears streaming down her face. "Oh, Charlie! Yes, yes, a thousand times yes!"

Leo was expecting to get some relatively tame footage for his morning show with Frank, not whatever the hell this is. This is sappy. This isn't even a rom-com like what he has with his girlfriend, Calypso. This is just sappy romance, and Leo can't handle romance without a dash of comedy.

Beckendorf carries his new fiance bridal style and shouts, "We shall be married tomorrow, and all of you are invited to celebrate with us!"

Silena whispers something in his ear.

"We shall be married on Saturday because I have a final exam tomorrow!" he hollers with the same enthusiasm.

Frank looks into the camera, his jaw practically hitting the floor.

"Don't look at the camera. We're not here," Leo says.

Of course, everyone is happy for the newly engaged couple; it's just that they were going to Jamba Juice after this to celebrate Frank's presentation, and now the only thing anyone's going to be able to talk about is Beckendorf and Silena's engagement.

Piper stands up and Travis points the camera at her. "Someone tell Frank I'm sorry; I have to go through my donate pile and pick out an outfit for this wedding."

Hazel gets up and follows her out. "Come on, Annabeth."

"I can't. I have to support your boyfriend."

"Boo," Piper teases.

Leo packs the small camera crew into his living room so they can capture his friends' thoughts before they're out in public and have to pretend to like everyone. Travis and Jake look nice; they've managed to find suits that are all black so that they can blend in as members of the crew, but they also kind of look like the character Loki in Thor: Ragnarok.

Travis points the camera at Jason and Leo asks his first question.

"So why did you tell everyone to get here an hour early?"

Without skipping a beat, Jason says, "Because if we don't leave in half an hour, we'll be late. They're already late."

"Hey!" Percy says, bursting through the door that was left unlocked for convenient sit-com entrances. "So sorry we're late! We forgot to pick up a gift and had no idea what to get them."

"We went with the pasta maker," Annabeth says. "Everyone needs a pasta maker."

"Shoot," Leo says from off-screen. "Do you think I could write my name on your card?"

Percy sighs and sets the wedding gift on the coffee table.

Jason answers his phone and says, "Just wait down there. We'll come to you."

Percy mutters something under his breath and picks his wedding gift back up before following Jason and Piper out the door.

Leo and his camera crew follow the friends down way too many stairs and out the door. Hazel and Frank are waiting for them in the parking lot.

Hazel looks nice in her little black dress paired with a pink sweater that came out of Piper's closet. It's a fun modest contrast to Piper's funky 70s getup or Annabeth's red dress that also probably came out of Piper's closet. Leo's starting to wonder if the girls all have one joint closet that he doesn't know about.

"See what I mean?" Jason asks the camera. "We can't show up late to a wedding. Now that everyone's here half an hour after I told them to be, we can get there on time. Wait, Frank, don't do that!"

"Don't do what?" Frank asks over the dinging of Jason's minivan. Between Leo and the mechanic, that thing almost didn't pass state inspection. It probably won't pass next year because that thing's carbon emissions make it an environmental hazard.

Frank winces while the minivan warns the entire parking lot that someone is struggling to open its faulty doors.

Jason facepalms and then addresses the group. "Alright, everyone in the van before someone thinks we're stealing it."

"Relax, bro," Percy says, patting his friend on the back. "Nobody listens to car alarms anymore."

"Gee, thanks," he says, climbing into the driver's seat and putting the key into the ignition.

The van does not start.

"Dammit!" Jason shouts, smacking the steering wheel. If the neighbors didn't think the van was being stolen before, they might now.

"C'mon, guys," Leo says to the crew. He moves around to the front of the vehicle and props the hood open. Other than the fact that the engine is a piece of shit, there isn't much wrong with this thing. He grabs the rat's nest that was built in the car overnight and tosses it into the bushes. "Somebody get me some hand sanitizer."

Much to his dismay, Piper has claimed the shotgun seat, so Leo settles for the next best thing.

And then Annabeth is sandwiched in the backseat between Hazel and Frank, so Leo has to go for the middle passenger seat in between Percy and his stupid pasta maker and absolutely nothing because the door won't close.

"Hey, Leo?" Jake asks. "Where do you want us?"

There is no way Leo is going to this wedding without his camera crew, but there's also no way he's lending them his Cadillac.

Instead, he tosses a twenty-dollar bill to Jake. "Call an Uber. We'll meet you there." The group's trip to the wedding won't make it to the documentary, but that's probably for the better.

Somehow, the camera crew beats the main characters to the wedding, which means they have gone from being just barely on time to being noticeably late. Considering how much of a bridezilla Silena is bound to be, this is not a good thing. Leo might go so far as to say it's a bad thing. He should have remembered to get Silena and Beckendorf a wedding gift—maybe a mixing bowl to go with that pasta maker.

If Leo needed any more defenses to convince his former study group that they are living in a sitcom, this would be it because they enter the venue just in time for Silena and Beckendorf to say their vows.

"Charlie, if you had told me, four years ago, that we would be here, today, standing here-"

"Shoot!" Frank trips over a root and falls into a bush, as one does when he tries to make a subtle entrance.

He dusts off his suit pants and points to an empty row of chairs.

"Well," Silena continues. "I would believe you because you're the love of my life! I don't want to spend a day, an hour, or even a minute without you by my-"

Percy scrambles to save seats for his friends, saying to each lap he climbs over, "Excuse me. Excuse me. Excuse me."

Annabeth takes a seat next to him and offers a thumbs-up.

"Silena, I'm not going to lie to you. I went to tutoring services for the first time ever to get help writing these vows. Did you know New Rome has tutoring services just for writing?"

"Excuse me... Excuse me," the rest of the group mutters to the weddinggoers in their row. On second thought, maybe they should have just stood in the back.

"Anyway," Beckendorf says from the alter. "Words can't express how much I love you. Ever since I laid eyes on you during Zoom freshman orientation, I knew I had to ask you out, but I was too shy, so I waited until later. Besides, how would we have had our first date at Jamba Juice if it wasn't even open yet?"

CRACK!

"Shit, Jason!" Piper yells.

"What the hell happened?" Frank hisses.

Piper presses her water bottle against Jason's head. "The chair broke and he somehow hit his head on the pieces; I swear this man has a magnet in his head. Carry on!" she shouts to the happy couple.

Travis finally takes the camera off the study group and points it at Beckendorf and Silena. At least they have footage of them taking their binding vows and all that. Maybe Leo can edit some sappy Taylor Swift song over it and send it to them as a wedding gift.

Dean D closes his binder and says, "I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss."

Leo turns around to make sure that Travis at the very least gets that on film, but a ladybug just landed on his girlfriend Katie's shoulder. That takes priority over the literal wedding happening in front of them.

Regretfully, Leo and company are invited to the wedding reception. Everyone, Silena and Beckendorf's families included, seem thrilled to see the people that interrupted the most important part of the wedding. Note the sarcasm.

The New Rome Seven file out of Jason's minivan like it's some kind of clown car and then make their way over to the entrance of the Waystation bar that the happy couple rented out for the reception. It's not the most elegant or romantic place to celebrate the happiest day of one's life, which is why Leo is guessing that this is the one decision Beckendorf was allowed to make.

"I hope they have tiny versions of food that should be regular-sized!" Hazel chirps.

"Speak for yourself," Percy says. "I'm starving!"

Annabeth rolls her eyes and looks into the camera. She thinks this conversation is stupid.

"Don't look at the camera. We're not here." Leo can't help but agree with her though; they are at a bar. He will probably order a basket of fries.

But before they can get into the bar and greet their friends, Dean D makes a very much unwelcome appearance. Well, it's unwelcome to Leo and his study group. He's probably very welcome at the reception because he officiated the wedding.

"You brats need to get it together," he says. Something tells Leo that the dean doesn't appreciate them being late. At least they aren't those people who skipped the ceremony altogether and just came for the cake at the reception.

Piper steps in; she has a way with words. "Don't worry, dean. We would never do anything intentionally to ruin Beck and Silena's special day."

"You better not do anything accidentally either!" he says before lighting his cigarette and sashaying over to his car.

"We do need to get our shit together," Annabeth says. "Frank falling into the bush was one thing—that cord shouldn't have been there—but the rest of it? I mean, come on, guys."

"Hey, it's all good," Percy says. "Let's just go into this party and have a good time while being on our best behavior. Nobody drinks too much or insults the families, got it?"

"Got it," everyone agrees. Damn, Annabeth and Percy have been running a tight ship since getting together.

After the words ONE HOUR LATER cross the screen, Leo's crew cuts to an interview with Frank. His tie is loosened and the first few buttons on his shirt are undone. He clips a microphone onto his collar because Jake Mason has Silena's cousin sitting on his lap, and therefore, the boom mic is out of service. Leo tells him it's because of how loud it is in the Waystation bar.

Frank's interview serves as a voiceover layered on top of footage of the New Rome Seven at the party.

"You know," Frank says from atop a barstool over a bright red Shirley Temple, "Percy said something about how we shouldn't be drinking too much and how we should be nice to Beckendorf and Silena's families, and that stuff is important and all, but he forgot to acknowledge a couple of, well, fatal flaws you might say our friend group has." He takes a sip through a paper straw and continues his speech. "Like sure, that thing about not getting drunk is important. Percy's already the designated driver though, so for some, it may be tempting to down three rum and Cokes in an hour and then throw it back on unsuspecting cousins."

Layered under this speech is a video of Piper on the dance floor, holding a glass of strong rum and Coke and, as Frank so clearly stated, throwing it back on poor unsuspecting family members.

Frank continues to narrate the scene:

"And then, of course, I'm all about respecting the elderly. Old people love me! Well, my grandmother wasn't as warm as those old ladies at the old folks' home, but she loved me I think."

The next scene is of Percy pushing someone's Great Aunt June in a wheelchair across the light-up dancefloor. He spins her wheelchair around to the tune of "Old Time Rock and Roll."

The camera cuts back to Frank.

"And then there's also the problem of my girlfriend being completely incapacitated. I don't know what she ate, but she's allergic to it. I had no idea that she even had any allergies." He looks at the floor and then at Leo off-screen. "Does she have any allergies?"

Jason and Percy are standing by the chocolate fountain, having some kind of intimate conversation that they don't want the camera to catch. Well, that's too bad because Travis films them from across the bar, and Jake is hiding behind a potted plant with his boom mic. Jake is back in the filming crew because he met Silena's cousin's plus-one, who was not happy to find her girlfriend on some random guy's lap.

Percy wipes some nacho cheese off his nice dress pants. "Man, this is never going to come out."

Jason takes a sip of something that is not champagne from his champagne glass and says, "Bro, it was cool of you to help out that old lady."

"It was nothing."

"She almost got trampled over during the 'Cha-Cha Slide!' Bro, you practically saved her life."

Percy sticks a piece of pound cake into the chocolate fountain and sighs. "Yeah, but then I got trampled. It was not real smooth."

"So?" Jason asks, swiping Percy's toothpick and eating the cake himself. "It was still awesome."

"And then I had to dance with her for like five songs. Annabeth is never going to let this go. Hell, I'm going to be immortalized in Beckendorf and Silena's wedding video doing the Chicken Dance with a ninety-year-old," Percy says.

Jason wipes some chocolate off his chin and replies, "I'm no therapist, but you might want to reevaluate your hero complex."

"I do not have a hero complex."

"You tend to help people even if it's self-destructive."

"Hey!" Percy objects. "That was a good deed!"

"Not to your pants. Face it, bro; loyalty is your fatal flaw."

Percy stabs a strawberry with a new toothpick, ready to try out the fountain again. "Who said anything about fatality? I just helped an old lady."

The only people other than Percy and Jason brave enough to risk chocolate fountain germs are the children. Leo realizes this when the ring bearer drops his strawberry into the fountain, causing the entire thing to clog. The steady stream of chocolate ceases.

Seeing the disappointment on the boy's face, Percy offers his chocolate-covered strawberry, turning that frown upside down before the tears can flow.

"See what I mean?" Jason asks.

Percy sighs, but concedes. "Fine. I did want a chocolate-covered sweet."

"Oh, Percy!"

"Shit," he swears. "Great Aunt June."

And with that, he ducks beneath the table.

Unbeknownst to him that Leo's crew caught his interaction with Percy on camera, Jason agrees to an interview. He has been told to provide well wishes to the newlyweds.

"Okay, are you recording?" Jason asks.

"Yeah," Leo says. "Do me a favor and scooch over to the right a little... Yeah, that's it." Also unbeknownst to Jason is the real reason for this interview. In the background, just next to the chocolate fountain, Percy is being screamed at by a little old lady in a wheelchair. This is just too good to not get on film.

Jason begins his message. "To Beckendorf and Silena: In case you were wondering, my head is alright. I put some ice on it and we're all good. Second, congrats on tying the knot. Your love is so... confident."

Behind Jason, Percy is being smacked in the head with a flip-flop. Why he doesn't simply walk away, Leo has no idea.

"I just find it so amazing how you guys have known you're meant to be since like, day one of freshman year. It's inspiring. It's enough to make this guy believe in love at first sight."

Travis zooms in on Percy and Great Aunt June, who is yelling and waving her finger around. Poor Percy just nods and winces when the foam flip-flop hits him. Who wore an Old Navy flip-flop to a wedding?

"Anyways, I wish you guys the best of luck in the future," Jason continues. "I'm confident that your love is one for the ages. Thanks for taking that leap of faith and being the ones to get married first because I was certainly too nervous to do that."

Will Solace appears next to Percy and asks Great Aunt June for something, raking a hand through his curls. Travis pans down to his feet, revealing to the viewer that he is only wearing one shoe. It is an Old Navy flip-flop. So Will is the guy wearing flip-flops to a wedding...

"Well, I hope to see you guys at my and Piper's wedding soon!" And because Jason thinks this is an appropriate thing to do, he takes a long swig from his champagne glass. Leo doesn't have the heart to tell him that it's sparkling cider. He already feels bad about tricking Jason into this. It's a pretty sappy speech.

Oh well.

Will and Percy walk away from Great Aunt June, red flip-flop-shaped marks on their foreheads. Will clutches his flip-flop like it's a ticking time bomb.

The footage cuts to an interview with Hazel, who has certainly seen better days. Her cheeks are all bulgy like a chipmunk's, and her face has turned a concerning color of red.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Leo asks her.

"Yesh, Pipuh gave me a Benedruh." She is not okay. That Benedryl had best kick in soon or Leo's going to have to figure out how to fit his crew into an ambulance.

"Okay..." he says through clenched teeth. "Just uh, talk to us then. How's your night?"

Hazel raises an eyebrow.

Leo nods. "Yeah, sorry. Maybe... Besides your incident, what's the most interesting thing you've seen tonight?"

"Oh, that wub be Behdorf's baby coudin, Harley."

"What happened to Harley?" he asks Travis.

Travis leans into the boom mic and tells the audience. "Beckendorf's little cousin Harley was busted for underage drinking and can't give the best-man speech anymore."

"Isn't that kid like twelve?" Jake asks.

Travis shrugs. "Something like it."

"So who's giving the speech now?" Leo asks. Someone has to fill in. This wouldn't be a proper sitcom if there was no trainwreck of a best-man speech.

Hazel presses a glass of ice against her face and points across the dancefloor, where Annabeth is anything but mingling with members of Beckendorf and Silena's families. Rather than friendly small talk, she's intently focused on their conversation, writing down every word they say.

Leo should have snuck a mic on her when they got out of the car because that conversation looks hilarious.

Annabeth trudges over the bar, effectively ending Hazel's interview. "Hey, dumbass, I need your footage—What the hell happened to you, Hazel?" she asks her friend.

"I'b fine," she says.

"She's having an allergic reaction to something," Leo says.

"Hazel!" Annabeth scolds. "Why didn't you tell anyone?"

"Pipuh gabe me a Benedruh," she says.

Annabeth scowls and then turns to Leo. "Footage."

Leo winces. "You see, I would, but it wouldn't be as organic as a conversation with the other guests about their experiences with Beckendorf and Silena's families. Hint, Hint."

"You don't need to say it out loud," Annabeth snaps. "I know it's a goddamn hint."

Leo waves his hands toward Percy and the others.

Annabeth throws up a middle finger and then pulls Nico off the dancefloor. He stumbles from dizziness and clutches the bar for support. He lost his suit jacket an hour or so ago and his emo bangs are soaked with sweat. This guy is not tipsy. He's exhausted from dancing. Who knew Nico di Angelo was such a dancer?

"Hey!" he says. "That was Tarantella, and I'm the only one who can do it!"

"Yeah, whatever," Annabeth says. "I got duped into giving the best man speech."

Nico laughs one singular, "Ha!"

"Give me the dirt on the family members you've mingled with," she demands.

Nico flips his hair out of his eyes, splashing the camera with his sweat.

"Travis, quit zooming in on his pit stains," Leo scolds his cameraman.

"Okay," Nico says. "So I met Silena's abuela."

"What's she like?" Annabeth asks, holding up a napkin and the pencil she stole from the guestbook.

"I don't know," Nico says. "She only speaks Spanish. I also met Silena's abuelito."

"What's he like?"

"He's... also fluent in Spanish."

Annabeth drops her arms to her sides and fumes. "You're not being very helpful."

"Yeah, sorry," Nico says. "Can I go back to dancing now?"

She rolls her eyes and looks into the camera. "Sure, Nico."

"Don't look into the camera," Leo says. "We're not here."

The camera cuts to footage of Annabeth talking to Percy and Will, who Leo can only imagine are telling her about their encounter with Great Aunt June.

Jason tells Annabeth about the children he met by the chocolate fountain.

Piper screams something to her about Beckendorf's cousins from Northern California, except she's drunk, so all she can say is how nice they are.

Frank doesn't have much to say since he's been hiding at the bar most of the night, but the information he gives her is enough to fuel her speech.

Annabeth takes the microphone and addresses the happy couple.

"Silena and Beckendorf," she says. "You did it. You're married. Congrats." It's a stiff speech, but Leo supposes this is what happens when you're asked to do this last minute and with little knowledge of either spouse's family and friends.

"You guys are so lucky that you have so many awesome people here supporting you," she says. That's a good place to go unless she's about to trauma dump about her mother who left her and her father who couldn't care less that she's about to graduate. Yeah, Leo knows some things. He does his homework.

"I mean, Silena's grandparents are just so... welcoming. And uh, the children in this family are so adorable." Annabeth raises her glass to the couple. "I mean, I think kids are annoying and gross, personally, but you guys have some good genes, so I could be convinced to babysit."

"We're good!" Silena says.

Annabeth ignores that jab and continues her quirky little speech. "I also heard Beckendorf's cousins can tear it up on the dance floor—No, Benjamin, I have a boyfriend. Actually, my boyfriend is here, and he had the pleasure of meeting Great Aunt June, who told him all about this cruise ship line she owns."

And that's where shit hits the fan. When it comes to Annabeth, you wouldn't think that shit would hit the fan like this, but-

"I recognize that woman!" a large burly man who could only be Beckendorf's father, Mr. Beckendorf, says. "She pushed me off that mega-yacht all those years ago! It's her fault I turned out the way I did!" He pulls his pant leg up to reveal a prosthetic leg, which is kind of awesome if you ask Leo.

Great Aunt June raises Will's flip-flop into the air. "I told you I never wanted to see you again! No great niece of mine will be seen marrying a Beckendorf!"

Leo checks to make sure Travis is getting all this on camera, and thank goodness, he is for once.

"They already are married," says Jake.

Annabeth purses her lips and puts the microphone back on the stand before stepping back.

Silena's mother passes out face-down into her plate of chicken. Children are crying for McDonald's because they hate the chicken. The women behind the bar, Jo and Emmie, start pouring strong drinks for the distraught family.

Annabeth is first in line for a drink, probably because she can't handle the guilt of driving a wedge through a happy day, sparking an in-law rivalry, and potentially ruining a marriage.

Leo knows that the last part is true because Beckendorf and Silena are by the chocolate fountain, speaking in hushed tones the same way Percy and Jason were trying to hide earlier.

The best thing to do right now is to let the couple deliberate, which is exactly what Leo's friends do not do. He's convinced that his friends are real-life sitcom characters, and this is just evidence as to why.

He sighs. "C'mon, boys, let's go record."

Travis holds the camera over the smothering study group, shaking ever so slightly from that last vodka-tonic he drank. Leo warned him that Emmie makes them strong, and he didn't listen, so it's his fault he's buzzed.

"Guys, I am so sorry about that speech," Annabeth says. "I had no idea it would-"

"No, I'm sorry," Percy says. "I shouldn't have ditched your Great Aunt June. Maybe then this wouldn't have happened."

Jason pushes to the front. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have gotten myself concussed in the middle of your vows."

Silena waves her arms around. "Shut up, all of you!"

Beckendorf clinks his fork against a champagne glass stained pink with lipstick. "I have something to say." When he has everyone's attention, he continues. "So, uh, in light of recent discoveries, we've decided that it would be best for all parties involved if we annul the marriage."

"No, you can'd do vat," Hazel complains through her pain.

Maybe this sitcom thing has gone too far. Sure, it's fun when it stays within Leo's friend group and they're only affecting each other, but this is the rest of Beckendorf and Silena's life together—or not together.

The director needs to step into the story.

"Hey, hey!" Leo says. "Now why would you do a thing like that? Silena, do you love Beckendorf?"

"With all my life, but-"

"And Beckendorf, do you love Silena?"

"I mean, of course! Dah doi, but-"

Leo sighs. "And if you had known about this scandal a few days ago would it have kept you from proposing?"

Beckendorf looks at the floor, and then he looks into Silena's dark tear-filled eyes. "I suppose not. Silena, I love you more than life itself. I swear to God, I would fistfight my dad if it meant we could be together."

"Hey now," she says. "Don't fistfight your dad. We both know my Great Aunt June is a bitch. I'd give you permission to punch her, but I kind of want to do it myself."

Great Aunt June gasps whilst doing the "Macarena."

Silena chuckles and wipes a tear. "Also, I love you. Let's be married and move to the suburbs and have kids that we won't let Annabeth babysit."

"Let's do that—no offense, Annabeth."

"None taken," she says. "I hate kids."

And with that, Mr. and Mrs. Beckendorf take the dancefloor and sway to a slow song with a sweet melody.

"Aww, guys," Piper says. "We did that."

"Saving a marriage was not on my Senior Year Bingo card," Percy says.

Frank chuckles. "It was on mine, and we squeezed it in just in time."

Piper wraps the friends in a group hug, and even though they're not the most touchy-feely people, they all oblige, except Leo, who retreats behind the camera.

Hazel looks up and invites Leo to join the group hug.

In reply, he says, "Don't look at the camera. We're not here."

A Documentary by Leo Valdez

Directed by Leo Valdez

Produced by Leo Valdez

Edited by Leo Valdez

Boom Mic: Jake Mason

Camera 1: Travis Stoll

Featuring...

Dean D as Himself

Percy Jackson as Himself

Annabeth Chase as Herself

Frank Zhang as Himself

Jason Grace as Himself

Piper McLean as Herself

Hazel Levesque as Herself

Will Solace as Himself

Nico di Angelo as Himself

And Mr. and Mrs. Beckendorf as Themselves