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The murmurs of the guests were barely audible through the heavy doors, but they were making the butterflies in Elena’s stomach flutter anyway.
“Is everybody seated?” she asked when Schneider came in.
“Everybody except your mom,” he confirmed. “She’ll be right in, when she’s done harassing the photographer.”
“Cool. Good.” She stared at herself in the mirror, wondering if the color she’d picked was wrong. Was there such a thing as too blue?
“I remember when you said you were never gonna get married,” Schneider said, fiddling with the cuffs of Elena’s suit.
“Yeah.” She ducked her head a little. “I really thought I knew everything when I was in high school.”
“Right,” he teased gently. “Not like now.”
“Well, now I do know everything.” Elena grinned at Schneider as he adjusted the flower on his lapel. “We told you, you didn’t have to wear one of those. It’s not like anything else about this wedding is traditional.”
“I like it.” He brushed a fingertip over the yellow bloom. “It’s cheerful.”
“Anyway,” Elena added, looking at the clock for the sixteenth time since Schneider had joined her in the staging area, “when I said that, I hadn’t met Syd.”
“I know.” After a brief hesitation, he jumped in. “Did your mom give you the talk yet?”
“What? The sex talk? Isn’t it about ten years too late for you to be asking me that? Not to mention, you’re the last person I would need to get advice from on sex. No offense.”
“None taken, but no--not that. I just, I know Penelope is worried about you getting married so young. You’re barely out of college, Syd’s the only person you’ve ever been with...”
“God, Schneider, not you too.” Elena rolled her eyes. “I’ve been with Syd for years. Like, a lot of years. They’re not somebody I met in Vegas--this is not a rash decision.”
“Hey, hey. I’m not judging,” he promised. “You know I love Syd.”
He kissed the top of her head, careful of the curls she’d pinned in place. “I just love you more. I had to check.”
“Yeah, yeah. I love you too.” She squeezed his hand. “But I’m the child of divorced parents. Believe me, I’m not going into marriage lightly. I want to spend my life with Syd.”
“Okay.” He took a deep breath. “Okay. I guess there’s really nothing left to do then, but...go.”
“Hey, wait.” Elena grabbed him by the lapel. “Can you stay ‘til my mom gets here?”
“Yeah, sure.” He peered down at her, eyes narrowed. “Are you nervous?”
“Maybe a little.” When Schneider continued to stare, she shrugged. “Maybe a lot.”
“I can’t believe it. Elena Alvarez, scared.”
“I said nervous! Not scared.”
“So...you’re not scared.”
“I didn’t say that, either.” Her eyes welled up when Schneider pulled her in for a hug. “But I’m not scared of marrying Syd, you know? I love them so much.”
“Then what is it?”
“I saw my parents’ marriage fall apart. I hate that I’m worried about it, but I’m a lot like both of them. What if I suck at being married? What if I make Syd miserable?”
“Oh, no. Come on.” He pulled away so she would be looking at him when he continued. “You’re gonna do great, Elena. You’re going to be an amazing wife. Spouse. Non-gender-labeled committed person?”
Schneider rarely said the right thing, but he could always make her laugh. She swiped at the couple of tears that had escaped and stepped back.
“Please don’t tell my mom, okay? If she thinks I have doubts she’ll try to talk me into waiting, again. And the divorce part, it’ll make her feel bad.”
“Tell her what?” He blinked at her innocently. “We’ve just been talking about the symbolism and inherent misogyny of certain wedding rituals while we waited for her to get here.”
Elena smiled. “Did I thank you yet?”
“For what?”
“For agreeing to walk me down the aisle.” She tucked her hands in her pockets as she heard footsteps approaching.
“And for everything else.”