musebyquotes | 1.2. When Harry Met Sally quote

[sexyinscrubs]

1.2. "When you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible."
- Nora Ephron, 'When Harry Met Sally'

Co-written with mrpublicity

It was news that should have come face-to-face, but news that would be better coming sooner rather than later. When Lachlan called Pat late that evening to tell him that Chase had just been diagnosed with stage two cancer, there was no rule book on how to cope with that. Pat and Chase had been friends for some years and even worked together when Chase took the surgical job. It was horrifying shock and all Aiden could do was just hold Pat to try and offer some sort of comfort. He felt inevitably helpless, especially considering they were miles away from Princeton in Canada so Pat could finally meet Aiden’s parents. The trip had been wonderful right up until that moment. Aiden offered to get them flights home that very night, but Pat declined, pointing out that there wasn’t much they could by that point. Lachlan explained that Chase wasn’t taking phone calls but he had left messages of support, even him telling Pat to stay in Canada until they were due to come home because the last thing Chase probably wanted right now was people trying to treat him like an ill person. That was an avenue Pat understood loud and clear.


It was nothing but a waiting game now.

It was a couple of hours later that Aiden came into the guest room of his parents’ place that he was sharing with Pat for their stay. He brought a mug of tea and held it out for Pat with a smile, sitting down next to him and wrapping his arm around his waist. “You okay, love?” he asked and gave Pat a soft kiss.

Pat nodded and smiled a little. “I’ll be alright, darling,” he murmured and accepted the tea gratefully. “Chase and Lachie… they were supposed to be the invincible ones. It’s sobering and scary. I feel helpless and useless.”

“You aren't useless, love. Far from it,” Aiden insisted and started to stroke his fingers through the back of Pat’s hair. "It took me long enough to learn that myself so you're just going to have to trust me. But I do know how you feel. In the early days, I spent most of the time thinking I was never going to be of much use to you."

"You didn't need to be practically useful, darling. You were so much more. It was the first time since I got sick that I didn't actually completely despise myself for the lack of control over my body. I didn't feel like a disabled person. I didn't feel like I wanted to throw it all in and give up. That was all because of you, darling. You could never be useless to me," Pat told Aiden softly, holding his gaze. He smiled and leaned in to give him a kiss. "Now you're just stuck with me," he added.

Aiden laughed and squeeze Pat's leg softly. "What a fucking appalling tragedy," he teased but then sighed softly, frowning a little. "It brings a lot home, though. A friend being diagnosed with something like testicular cancer. I picked Chase to be a really healthy and active guy."

Pat nodded silently and then cleared his throat. "So was Riley, so was Lachie... so was I," he said quietly. "Things like that, being healthy isn't going to stop it. And that is the terrifying thing about something like cancer. It can strike anyone. Chase is a doctor. He probably takes good care of himself, but because of other circumstances in his life, this just wasn't something he became aware of quick enough and it spread. Now we just have to hope and pray he'll beat it. He's got too much to live for."

Aiden swallowed and wet his lips, listening to Pat's soft voice as he spoke about his friend. "Let's get married," he suggested. "Why wait? If ever there is a reason to just live for the moment, it's this. You know as well as anyone how quickly things can change. Let's do it, love. Let's get married and start our lives together."

Pat's eyes were wide as he looked at Aiden in awe. "You're serious," he said, blinking. "You're not going to whip a celebrant out of the closet are you because that would give a whole new meaning to coming out, darling. Are you serious? You really want to get married now and not wait awhile? We haven't been engaged very long. This is... it's a massive thing, darling. The ultimate thing."

"I want the ultimate thing with you, love," Aiden assured him. "What have we got to wait for? Unless you want a big white wedding with all the splash, because we can do that too. But if you don't want it, what's to wait for?"

Pat just laughed softly and shook his head. "I don't want a big white wedding, darling. I lived out my white wedding fantasies through Tara and Lachie and she made a much more gorgeous bride than I could. Are you... are you talking here, now, while we're in Canda? What about everyone...?" He trailed off, trying to wrap his head around it as he considered how everyone would feel if the, in every sense of the word, eloped. But Aiden was right. It wasn't about the wedding. Maybe they had gone through too much and gone through things with their friends too much for the marriage to be the purpose of it all, not the wedding. In all honesty, he hadn't really given much thought to the logistics of their wedding anyway. He had been tied up in helping Evie and Tab plan their twinly wedding to even give a second thought to what his could ultimately be like down the track. Maybe a quiet, spur of the moment ceremony was just Pat and Aiden's style. They were hardly conventional. Aiden's proposal had been on the spur of the moment from deep in his heart in a hospital room while Pat was sick, sweaty and cranky. But it was their way. And same-sex unions were legal in Canada. It was going to have to either be Canada or Pat's home country of England.

"We'll take loads of photos, and Dad is always looking for an excuse to break out his video camera, even if he's no Spielberg, at least he has the enthusiasm," Aiden laughed. "Plus, it would stop everyone asking us when we're setting the date," he joked, though he was in no way pressuring Pat to do anything. Maybe it was just a crazy idea with Aiden getting caught up in the moment again. But life did suddenly seem precious and why waste any of it?

Pat chewed on the corner of his lip as he analysed Aiden closely. There was no doubt about it, he was seriously contemplating it. "I just don't want everyone to think we were shirking them. I always thought Lachie would be my Best Man one day and there would just be some sort of wedding... of sorts... Because I'm not. I'd give anything for them to be with us when we got married. I guess I always just assumed they would be. And Harri with you. I pictured her there making sure you had the best suit New York fashion could offer in all her smashing fashionista glory. But..."

"But..." Aiden prompted, even if his own thoughts turned to Harri in wonder of how she would take the news that he eloped. They had always joked she would one day be his Best Man, too. But she also knew Aiden always had a spontaneous and implusive streak in him. He had always been one to try something on just a mere thought that it might work. It's what made him such a brilliant publicist and marketer. She also wanted him to be happy and from day one, there was no doubt, Pat made him happier than he maybe ever had been. Them getting married was inevitable at some point, but was there any real reason that point couldn't be now?

"But I think they would be really happy for us and I don't think there could be a more perfect way for us right now if we tried," Pat finished with a smile. He nodded waving his hand. "You're right. Life is short, darling. Let's just go out and do it. Your Dad, bless him, can play Spielberg and we can take the plunge together. May as well aim for an awesome wedding night while I can actually get it up," he added with a cheeky smirk.

Aiden laughed and wrapped his arms tightly around Pat, kissing him warmly. "Then it looks like we're getting married, gorgeous, in all it's Canadian same-sex glory!"


All muses referenced with permission and are from the princeton2nyc universe


Word Count | 1,459