I anxiously fidgeted in my suit as I waited for my cue. I adjusted my cuffs so they were sticking out just the right distance from the sleeves of my suit jacket. Then folded my arms, messed it up again, and repeated. I adjusted my bow-tie for about the eightieth time, until Dan couldn’t take it any more. “Simon it’s fine!” he growled. “It’s perfect. You don’t need to keep playing with it.”

“Sorry,” I said sheepishly. “I know. Just nervous I guess.”

“Of course,” Dan replied sympathetically. “I’d be nervous too. It’s going to be fine though.”

I tried to keep from fidgeting, but it just meant that after about thirty seconds I started to pace  instead, without even realising I was doing it. 

Dan glanced at his watch. “How long?” I pounced.

“Any second now,” he replied.

We were just down the path, out of sight from the assembled wedding guests. Josh and I had decided that we wanted a grand entrance, a moment of drama to start our wedding off like all the straight people got when the bride came walking down the aisle. Neither of us thought it made sense for one of us to walk down the aisle while the other stood there waiting. So we’d decided that we’d both approach from different directions, and meet each other in the middle in front of all our guests, to walk up the aisle together.

Finally I heard the music start. “That’s us,” Daniel announced, somewhat redundantly. “You ready, Simon?”

I closed my eyes, inhaled deeply, and let it out. I opened my eyes, nodded, and the two of us started up the path. Here we go.

It was only a few seconds up the path before the wedding spot came into view. Our friends and family all sitting there patiently, expectantly, lined up in rows of white chairs facing in the opposite direction from me. A few of them turned around, craning their necks to see if the grooms were approaching. Hamish gave me a smile and a thumbs up from his seat, and I responded with a nod and a nervous smile.

Then as I got closer I saw them approaching from the other direction. Josh, handsome beyond belief in a slim tux, dark hair neatly parted and dark stubble neatly cropped. And close behind him Brian, tall, broad, in a suit that could barely contain his muscular shoulders and arms. 

We met in the middle where the aisle started. By now everyone was turned, watching us as we were united. Josh was beaming at me, I’m pretty sure I was beaming back at him. We linked arms and started the walk up the aisle together, our respective best men following behind us.

As we walked up the aisle in front of our friends and family, Josh leaned in and whispered quietly in my ear. “Love you baby.” Then a pause, followed by, “I’m full of his load.”

God that was hot, as well as shocking. Of course last night I’d stroked my cock imagining the two of them fucking in their suits just before Josh walked up the aisle with me. But I hadn’t realistically expected him to actually get fucked on our wedding day. But the fact he had, it was incredible. In that moment I pictured the two of them again, sweaty, fucking, just hours or even minutes before our wedding ceremony. The thought of it made my dick start to come to life right there and then. “Fuck,” was all I could manage to whisper back. Josh chuckled.

I glanced around at my friends and family, their eyes all following the pair of us as we walked slowly up the aisle to the music of the lone guitarist. As we reached the top of the aisle and stopped in front of the celebrant, we unlinked our arms, but my hand found Josh’s and held onto it tight.

The celebrant gave us both a smile and a wink. She’d done this a hundred times, so she probably knew exactly how nervous we both were. Both? Me, at least. I had no idea if Josh felt the same, he seemed so calm.

The celebrant reached out her arms dramatically. “Friends, family, loved ones,” she started, “We’re gathered here, together in this stunning location, to share in the joining of Joshua and Simon in marriage. 

“I’m so pleased to be able to welcome you all here, and to thank you for being part of this special moment. Today, two men who love each other with all their hearts,” She paused and smiled at us for dramatic effect, then continued, “are making a commitment before the law, and before all of the people they care most about, to live their lives together as one.”

She kept talking, but to be honest I wasn’t taking much of it in. I was still a nervous wreck. I could feel a bead of cold sweat running down the back of my neck, and my heart was racing a thousand beats a minute. I wasn’t having doubts, not at all. I’d never been more sure about anything  in my whole life as I was about marrying Josh. But it was still a terrifying moment, the climax of all these months of preparation, with the eyes of everyone I knew on me.

“Would the grooms please turn and face each other.” I heard but I didn’t register for a couple of seconds. Then I snapped back into reality, and turned to face Josh.

God he’s handsome. He was smiling from ear to ear, that same smile that had made me fall in love with him that night he’d first looked at me from across the room. It was effortlessly relaxed but at the same time brimming with enthusiasm and a hint of mischief. Seeing him there looking back at me made me feel immediately more relaxed. A little, that is. I was still absolutely shitting myself. I gave Josh a nervous smile in return.

The celebrant was still talking, but I’d lost track again. I just concentrated on looking straight at Josh, knowing that was the only way I’d get through this ceremony with my nerves intact. I studied every pore of his golden-brown skin, every thick, dark eyelash, his deep brown eyes that were looking straight back at me. 

The crowd laughed; the celebrant must have made a joke. I hadn’t noticed what it was. I looked around, saw my dad, Greta, my mum, Ben, the boys, all looking back at me with the same kind of adoring look that people make when they’re watching online videos of cute baby animals. I looked back at Josh, and that’s when I noticed Brian, too, standing close behind him. Almost too close, maybe, almost looming over him. He had a different expression on his face: also a smile, but one of superiority. Like he was in on a joke that I wasn’t.

Next, Josh’s sisters came up to read a poem we’d selected. Brian deftly stepped aside to give them the floor, crossing past me so he was now standing behind me alongside Dan.

After Stella and Ava finished and took their seats again, that was when they got to the main part. 

“The grooms have prepared vows that they will now read,” the celebrant announced. “They will also exchange rings as a symbol of their love and commitment for one another. These rings are unbreakable circles, representing the unbreakable bond between these two men. Giving them to each other is a sign of belonging to each other, an always-present reminder of the commitment they’re making to each other today.”

I went first. I took a deep breath, and took Josh’s hand as I looked into his eyes. 

“Josh,” I started, “You’re the love of my life. I’ve never loved anyone as much as I love you, and I’ve never loved you more than I do today. You’re everything I’ve ever needed and more. Having you alongside me, spending your life with me, is beyond anything I could have ever wished for.”

Josh smiled back at me. I continued. “I promise to be there for you, by your side, always. I promise to always be doing my best for you, for us, even when it gets hard. We’re a team, and there’s nowhere else I’d rather be than with you. Today you’re making me the happiest man in the world by becoming my husband, and I promise to spend my life making you happy too.”

I paused, and Daniel appeared at my side, holding out the open ring-box. I took the ring, and slid it slowly onto Josh’s finger. “When you look at this ring,” I told him, “I want you to remember what it means to me to give it to you. That I adore you, that I’ll always be there for you, and that I’m bonded to you forever.”

I let out a deep breath that I hadn’t even realised I’d been holding in. That bit was over. Now it was Josh’s turn.

He looked at me, deep into my eyes, and flashed that smile of his. “Simon. Today you’re about to become my husband. But you’ve always been my best friend. We’ve shared so much together, and I’m so grateful for you being there with me for it all. You’ve made me feel safe, and loved, and supported no matter what I do, while still giving me the freedom to find myself and grow as a person. For that I’m so grateful.”

He took a pause, lowered his eyes as he breathed in. Then he looked up again. He smiled, this time bashfully, almost nervously. This time though, his eyes weren’t looking into mine, they were looking just past me.

“When you came into my life you took my breath away,” he said. “There was so much about myself I’d never known until I met you. Being with you has made me feel things I’d never experienced before, feelings I never even knew were possible. When I’m in your arms it’s like nothing else matters in the world. Every moment we spend together leaves me longing for more, it feels so perfect I wish it could never end. I never want you to let me go. I am yours, one hundred — no, one thousand — percent.”

My heart sank as I watched his eyes follow Brian as he came up beside me, open ring-box in hand. Those words hadn’t been meant for me at all. 

Brian reached out, presenting the ring to Josh. It almost like he was proposing. With another bashful smile, Josh took the ring from the box. He looked flattered.

Then he looked back at me, and shook off the display of affection he’d just given Brian. He took my hand and slipped the ring onto my finger.

“This ring is a symbol of commitment, fidelity, and respect,” he said. “And that’s what I want you to think of every time you look at it there on your finger.” I could have sworn there was a mischievous glint in his eye as he said that.

“I promise to keep our lives exciting. And no matter what happens on our adventures, know that I love you.” 

Brian stepped aside again, but not before shooting me another one of his asshole grins.

“Do you, Simon, take Joshua to be your husband?” the celebrant asked me. “To love and honour him, forsaking all others, and holding onto him for ever?”

I replied firmly, decisively. “I do.”

She turned to Josh. “Do you, Joshua, take Simon to be your husband? To love and honour him, forsaking all others —”

Josh stifled a laugh at that, which made her pause just for a second. He quickly composed himself though.

“And holding onto him forever?”

He looked at me, deep into my eyes. Those big, wide, dark eyes that had mesmerised me the first moment I’d met him and had me enthralled ever since. A grin slowly broke across his face, and without breaking eye contact with me he answered, “I do.”

For a moment the whole world stood still as we stood there, gazing into each other’s eyes. And then that moment was over, and Josh’s eyes flickered away to the side, over my shoulder at Brian.