Shut up and put your money where your mouth is
That's what you get for waking up in Vegas
Get up and shake the glitter off your clothes, now
That's what you get for waking up in Vegas

“Sally!” Jack exclaimed happily as we regrouped at five as planned. He had a lazy, probably drunk smile plastered on his face as he b-lined it to me, all but ignoring the rest of the girls. “I missed yoooooou!” His long arms flew open, almost whacking poor Rian in the face as he dove in for a hug.

“I missed you too...” I laughed as I accepted his endearingly tight embrace. “How was your time with the guys?”

He shrugged, his body still pressed firmly against mine. It was as if I had been gone for ages and Jack was acting if he had his way, he’d never let me go again. “We went to a bar and had a couple beers. Chatted a butt ton about the future and shit. Oh, and ‘lex bought me lunch at the best steakhouse ever--” He finally released me so he could dramatically moan in content over the meal he’d experienced.

I snickered at Jack’s tipsiness. “Sounds like you had a lot of fun, babe...” I paused for a second to eyeball Alex and mutter so only he could hear, “Anything else he left out?”

Alex shook his head, beaming proudly. “Nope. Just that, I promise. I mean, I had hoped for a bit more of a party for, you know, a bachelor party, but it didn’t seem to bug Jack at all. We were going to go to a club and party like there was no tomorrow, but then Jack got super sentimental and kept yammering on about how he can’t wait for the ceremony and how happy he is with you and girly shit like that. He was going on and on about you, Chris.”

I blushed, finding it adorable that Jack, the partier amongst his friends, decided to keep things simple when it came to his final hours as a single man. He didn’t need to look at half naked girls that weren’t me. He didn’t need to fantasize about a life as an eternal bachelor because he’d made it pretty clear that his fantasy was a life with me.

I admit, I almost cried right there.

Luckily though, I was able to compose myself, swallowing down the ugly lump in my throat before it escaped and the happy crying began. Don’t get me wrong, this was bound to happen eventually considering I felt like my emotions were teetering on the edge, one sappy sentiment away from bawling my eyes out in pure jubilance.

“What about you? You girls didn’t get too wild, did you?” Rian teased as he approached Cass with a wink before exchanging a quick peck with his girlfriend.

“If you count getting manicures and going dress shopping wild, then yeah.” I joked. “We tore up the town.”

Jack perked up at this. “You got your dress?” His eyes wandered down to the plastic bag currently hanging from my arm.

I nodded, smirking. “Yep. And no peeking!” I gave a laugh as I playfully swatted Jack’s inquisitive hand away from getting a good look at the special outfit himself. Jack pouted, naturally, but quickly got over it, sneaking some kisses with me when he thought the others weren’t looking as they’d stepped back to give us our space to discuss the rest of the evening’s plans.

But this PDA of course was brief at best as we were kind of on a time crunch and everything.
It was as we were finally agreeing on where we were going to have dinner that Madison frowned, a look of realization washing over her as her eyes wandered from person to person within our small group. “Uh. Wait. Where’s my boyfriend? Wasn’t he with you guys?”

Alex’s brown orbs shared a knowing look between the rest of the guys before nodding with a smirk. “Yeah, he’ll be back in a sec and I gotta say, I wasn’t expecting--”

Madison quickly shushed him before he could give too much away.

He frowned. “What? I wasn’t going to say his name.”

She just shrugged. “I just want it to be a surprise for Chris...”

Jack laughed. “Oh, she’ll be surprised, alright.”

I let my face grow long. “Aw, come on guys. Enough with this damn secret! You all know I hate surprises!”

“We know.” My sister shrugged, her voice unperturbed as she raised a teasing brow, her dark grey eyes moving past our group and towards a figure just behind me. Suddenly, her expression changed, replacing that teasing smirk of hers to one of love. “But don’t worry sis, it looks like you don’t have to wait any longer...” She threw an arm out, welcoming the man I’d been dying to meet for ages to join us. “Chris, may I introduce you to--”

I whipped around, the excitement too great to wait any longer only to be face to face with--

“Holy shit!” My eyes widened in the very shock everyone was expecting. But really, what else could I feel? I mean, by that point, I was well aware Madison’s boyfriend was someone I already knew, and I had mentally prepared myself as best I could for that. I’d even gone through a few scenarios with a few eligible men in my head. “Matt?”

“What’s up, Chris?” He laughed, swooping in for a friendly hug as I took in the big reveal with a lapse of stunned silence, jaw dropped as he released me and took my sister’s hand in a small, but romantic gesture none the less.

...right?

“What can I say?” Madison shrugged as she glanced back up at Matt, her smile only growing wider. “We just hit it off.”

Matt nodded, adding, “Yeah, we kept in touch and we were friends for a while. But then we realized there was a spark that we couldn’t ignore so we decided to take the plunge and date. I mean, we’re still mostly long distance, for obvious reasons, but we see each other when we can.”

Madison bobbed her head, adding softly. “Yeah...hopefully that won’t be too much longer. I started looking for work on the east coast. Nothing solid yet, but I’ve got my feelers out.” She gave a hopeful smile.

I swallowed, taking in their explanation slowly. “...so you’re telling me that when you started flirting it up with Matt when you visited me and Jack on tour...that’s when this all started?”

They both shared a look, nodding.

“And when you took all those flights back to Michigan to visit friends? You weren’t really going to Michigan, were you?”

“The first time, yes. The other times I was totally going to Baltimore to hook up with Matt.” She replied honestly without a hint of regret.

“...wow. I’m just...wow...” I shook my head.

Madison scrunched up her face in worry. “You’re not upset, are you?”

“No, why would I be?” I tilted my head, adding a genuine smile to reassure my sister that I wasn’t upset over the news over the identity of her significant other. “I’m just shocked, that’s all.” I paused, taking a slow, deep breath before adding for effect, “I’m really happy for you guys.”

I could see my sister deflate in relief, squeezing Matt’s hand even tighter as she said, “Thanks, Chris.”

Jo, never one to shy away from speaking her mind, cleared her throat awkwardly, cutting the special moment I’d been sharing with my sister short as she threw us back into reality. “Hey, not to rush you guys or anything, but we really should get to dinner if you guys want to do this thing tonight.”

I nodded, laughing lightly. I could gush over Madison’s not-so-new beau later. “Yeah, of course...”

Besides me, Cass jumped up and down a few times on the tips of my toes, too giddy to keep still. At this rate, I wasn’t sure she’d make it to the wedding, she was so ecstatic. She was almost, dare I say it, more excited about this whole crazy plan than Jack and I.

Almost.

“Well then what are we waiting for?” Jack took my hand and began leading us towards the street, slowly making the two block walk to our destination.

As we strolled down the Vegas strip, passing gamblers, showgirls on their way to their jobs and fellow tourists alike, I took advantage of the the small separation among the group to talk to Jack privately. Well...you know...as privately as I could in a crowded street.

“So...did Alex tell you anything while you guys were out?” I began, leaning close to him as I tried to subtly gesture towards Jack’s best friend.

Jack gave a frown. “What?”

I bit my lip as I sighed, carefully rewording my previous question. “Did Alex...confide in you about something?”

“No of course not...” He replied, almost too quickly before adding as an afterthought. “Did Lisa say something to you?”

My eyes widened, his bringing Lisa into the brief conversation saying it all. “You know?”

“You know?” He countered, his own eyes growing larger as well as his semi-sober brain put two and two together.

I nodded with a sad sigh, explaining, “She told me while we were getting our nails done.” I raised my hand to wag my freshly painted nails. “I guess they wanted to keep it a secret, but...”

“Yeah, that’s what Alex said.”

“Did he tell you what happened?”

“He said Lisa was the one that broke it off...something about her feeling like she was holding him back.”

I snorted at the idea. “Which is absolutely ridiculous.”

“That’s what he told her, but...” He pursed his lips, glancing around his shoulder to double check the rest of the group was far enough away. Satisfied enough, he turned back around to finish, “...her mind was made up. Nothing he said could change that.”

“Well shit...” I cursed, shaking my head. “I can’t believe it...they’re Alex and Lisa, you know? They’re supposed to be together forever.”

He let a beat pass before sighing softly. “Sometimes things just don’t work out.”

“Well it should have.”

“It’s out of our control, babe. It’s their relationship, not ours--”

“I just don’t understand. Why would they break up if they love each other so much? Why did she let him go? And why didn’t he fight for her?” As soon as the last question escaped my lips, I froze in my tracks, halting the rest of the group trailing behind us as well.

“Uh, go on ahead. We’ll be right there...” Jack muttered, waving our friends on without us. I kept my gaze up towards the sky, too cowardly to meet their confused glances. Once they were out of sight, Jack sighed, taking a step towards my still frame. “...this isn’t about them, is it?” he whispered.

I let out an annoyed groan, my insecurities coming to a full boil, coming out of left field at the worst possible moment. “What if that happens to us?” I blurted out.

Jack’s dark brows crumpled down as he frowned in response. “...what?”

“What if we wake up one day realizing that we made a mistake? After all, you said sometimes things don’t work out. I mean, sure, you might love me now, but what if our careers go in different directions and I become a crabby old has-been who resents you for getting to live your dream while I have to stay at home with the kids? Or what if we just drift apart a-and you find a younger, prettier girl on the road who fulfills your needs in ways I couldn’t? What if--”

“Hey, hey, hey!” He grabbed my shoulders, his grip firm as he tried to regain my focus. “Stop with the “what if’s”, okay? Because if you do, you’ll go insane.” His lips gave the tiniest smirk as he joked, “...again.”

I just gave him a dangerous scowl as I found the joke far from funny.

He groaned in annoyance, running a hand through his hair before recomposing himself, “There’s no ‘what if’ with us, okay? I know we’ll make it. Period.” His calloused hands gave mine a firm, reassuring squeeze.

I glanced down at the grey sidewalk, unable to meet Jack’s confident features as my doubt was still clouding my judgement. “...how can you be so sure?”

He rolled his eyes as he told me bluntly, “Because we’re Jack and Sally.”

“We’re Jack and Sally.” I repeated softly, the simple words cutting into my doubt. Jack had said this to me many times in the past, always seemingly when I needed it most. I took a shaky breath as I added with a nervous smile, “And we’re getting married...”

“Yep.” He smiled back, carefully peering at me before adding, “...if you still want to, that is. Just say the word and we can call this off until the real wedding. Or no wedding at all, if that makes you feel better.” He gulped, finishing at a whisper, “I just want you to be happy, Sally.”

“No wedding?” I scrunched my face up.

Jack nodded. “If you want.”

I rolled my eyes, whatever fear or worry I had over going through with this idea completely absent thanks to Jack’s confidence. If he believed so much in us, well that was good enough for me. He was right. I couldn’t let the ‘what if’ in our lives control our destiny. No one did that but us. “Well now you’re the crazy one if you think I don’t want to get married.”

He stared at me in thorough confusion. “...but I thought since you were freaking out--”

“Momentary lapse of sanity.” I stopped him before he could worry about it.

He raised a brow, unsure of my flip-flop attitude. “...right.” He stared at me for a second. “So you’re still okay with going through with this tonight?”

I nodded. “Of course I am. I just...I let my brain go a little overboard for a second, okay? I just always thought that Alex and Lisa were like us, that they were the inseparable duo.” I gave a heavy sigh as I added reluctantly, “I guess I was wrong and that’s why I kinda freaked out a second ago.” I bit my lip. “Sorry, babe.”

He shrugged. “No, I get it. It’s not exactly the kind of thing you want to hear before you tie the knot, is it?”

I laughed at his understatement, turning so we could slowly resume our walk to our intended destination. After all, we didn’t want to freak out the rest of the group. “Not exactly, no...though I’ve got to say, they’re doing really well, being here for us. It must be hell being in the same room together.”

Jack looked almost hopeful as he replied simply, “Well I wouldn’t give up on Alex and Lis just yet.”

I wasn’t so sure.

“I don’t know...Lisa seems pretty set in stone that she doesn’t want to deal with dating Alex if he’s going to be gone all the time. Can’t exactly blame her...I mean, at least I have a tour schedule that we can mostly work around.”

“I’m just saying, I’ve seen them break up before, but they always get back together. You know why?”

“...because they’re soulmates?”

Jack smiled brightly and nodded. “Exactly. So trust me, in a few months this’ll all blow over and they’ll be back to their old selves again.”

I gave a reluctant sigh, praying to God my optimistic fiancee was right about this. “I sure hope so.”

His grin only grew, growing from optimistic to mischievous in a blink of an eye. “In the meantime, we can tease your sister about dating Matt. You know, have a bit of fun with ‘em.” He stuck out his tongue in playful thought.

I matched his grin, genuinely feeling like a little fun was exactly what we needed. “Sounds like a plan to me.”

Notes

Okay. The Vegas arc is going to be 4 parts lol. Again, it was going to be shorter, but then Chris had to freak out at the end ;/

Anyway. Opening lyrics are by Katy Perry. Enjoy!