(no subject)
Title: I Married You In Canada Because You Gave Me The Chance To Say "I Do"
Author: promisethstars
Pairing: Dan Nickleski/Evan Kirkendall, just a hint of Danny Kurily/Jack Barakat
Rating: R, for ~vague~ sex
Warnings: none
Summary: So this one time, in Canada, there was an impromptu wedding...
Disclaimer: This is pretty much just sex and white lies. Also, don't Google yourself. And if you do, don't tweet about what you find.
Notes: This is for Gabe, my twin, in honor of his day of birth ♥ Also, a million and a half thanks to my Kirkenwife for virtually holding my hand and keeping me going while I was writing this ♥
Getting into Canada goes a lot smoother than expected, and the whole band and crew takes a drink out of sheer relief after they get across the border.
After that, a heated round of some video game gets started in the back lounge, and the only people choosing not to participate are Dan and Evan.
Dan’s sitting there on his laptop, cursing under his breath. “What the fuck, this is why I hate touring. There’s no fucking wi-fi out here.”
“Dan.”
“If I could get on the internet, at least I could entertain myself.”
“Dan.”
“No, really, would it be so hard for shit to work--”
“Dan, fucking listen to me!”
Dan looks up to see Evan sitting there, a look of determination on his face. He sighs and closes the lid of his laptop, essentially useless to him without the internet.
“What, Evan?”
“Did you know gay marriage is legal in Canada?”
“...Yeah, I knew that.”
“Well?”
“What?”
“Damn it Dan, you’re so dense sometimes,” Evan says, rolling his eyes. He crawls over and sets Dan’s laptop on the floor, straddling Dan’s lap. “Let’s get married.”
“Why would we do that?” Dan asks, and Evan just sighs.
“Because we’re here and we can?”
“I... we could, couldn’t we?” Dan says, and Evan nods, bouncing a little. “But we can’t tell anybody, at least not right away.”
“Dan, they all know we’re together. It’s not like this would be a surprise to them.”
“Us getting married? Probably not. Us running off and getting married in Canada? Probably.”
“Who cares, dude. Let’s get married, while we’re here.”
“Yeah? All right then, you want to get married, let’s do it. But you have to take my last name.”
“But... what about Kirkenwords?” Evan looks so sad in the moment, and Dan just has to laugh.
“Fuck Kirkendall, I’m kidding. Don’t have a fit over it.”
“What if I did, though? Evan Nickleski has a ring to it.”
“You don’t have to, oh my God, I was joking. And besides, if anyone was going to change last names, it’s got to be you. Dan Kirkendall sounds awful.”
~*~
Going to get a marriage license isn’t actually that hard, they find out. The main problem was finding time to sneak away and actually get one. Between soundchecks and shows and traveling, it’s a miracle that Dan and Evan actually get a few hours to themselves to go out and acquire one.
They’re sitting out on a bench so Dan can smoke, and Dan’s just staring at the piece of paper in his hand while he taps the ash off onto the ground.
“So this is all we need, then, right?”
“I think so, yeah, as far as the paperwork goes.”
There’s his name, and there’s Evan’s name, and they’re actually going to seriously do this. This isn’t like when you get drunk in Vegas and marry your best friend just for kicks. This is actual marriage, like they’re in this together, forever, and he isn’t sure why he’s so okay with the idea. Probably because it’s him, and because it’s Evan, and it really only makes sense.
“Dan?”
“Evan?”
“I want a ring.”
“...Dude.”
“What? We’re getting married, I want a ring.”
“Are you a chick?” The look on Evan’s face at that is absolutely priceless and Dan has to hold back his laughter.
“I’m pretty sure you’re seen my dick, so, no.”
“Okay then, I’m just checking. But really, rings?”
“You don’t have to get one,” Evan points out. “But I want one, and damn it, we’re getting married, I think I can get one.”
“If you want a ring, I’ll get you a damn ring. I do like it, so I guess I should put a ring on it.”
“That was horrible.”
“You love me, though.”
“So, ring shopping next time we can sneak out for it?”
“Sounds like a plan to me.” Evan rests his head on Dan’s shoulder and moves a little closer to him. He watches Dan put out his cigarette, then laces their fingers together. “We’re getting married, Dan.”
“I know. Are we crazy?”
“Probably. But it wouldn’t be us if it wasn’t fucking crazy.”
~*~
It’s a few days before Dan and Evan can sneak away to look at rings, but they manage to get away from the rest of the band and crew and find a jewelry store.
“Go on, look. If you find something, come over and get me,” Dan says, and Evan just kisses him and walks away. Dan hears one of the employees greet Evan and ask him what he’s looking for as he pulls out his phone and moves around the perimeter of the shop, trying to get enough service to check twitter.
Out of the corner of his eye, he spots something in a case that makes him put his phone back in his pocket.
They’re not silver, and they’re not gold, but the tag tells him they’re titanium or something of the sort. Dan likes these a little bit more than other wedding bands that surround him in the store, but he’s still not sure why Evan even wants a ring.
Then he sees it.
There’s a ring that’s lighter on the outside, and the middle is a darker gray. Dan can’t stop staring at it, mostly because its something that he would wear normally, but he’s thrown by the fact that he actually found something he liked in a jewelry store.
“What’cha looking at?” Evan says softly, and Dan jumps.
“Nothing.”
“You’re looking at something, Dan. You’ve been over here for the last half hour. I don’t think you’ve moved a muscle.”
Dan sighs and points. “See that one?”
Evan looks down into the case. “Second row, third from the right?” Dan nods and Evan takes a closer look. “I like it. Suits you.”
“But I don’t--”
“Dan. It’s okay if you want one too.”
“What did you pick out?” Dan says, instead of continuing to talk about himself. He doesn’t need a ring. He doesn’t want one. But there’s just something about that one... Dan doesn’t know what it is. But he likes it.
Evan has the sales lady bring over the simple silver ring that he picked out. Dan looks it over and nods approvingly.
“Can we see that one?” Evan asks her before Dan can even protest, and she smiles, pulling the ring Dan had been looking at out of the case. “Go on, Dan. It won’t hurt.”
He really, really shouldn’t, but Dan lets himself slide the ring on and oh man, he really shouldn’t have done that. It’s perfect, basically. There’s nothing else for it.
“It’s... um. Well.”
“It’s perfect, Dan, and you know it. We’ll take them both,” Evan says, directing his attention back to the woman who’s standing there, smiling softly at the both of them. They pay for the rings and thank her, walking out of the store.
“You didn’t have to do that, Evan. I don’t need a ring.”
“Dude, I can tell when you want something. That’s the same look you always used to have before you finally gave in and told me you wanted me.”
~*~
“So, when’s the big day gonna be? Do we have another day off soon?”
“No, we don’t, actually,” Evan says, looking at the schedule on his phone while they eat lunch. “Today’s our last day off in Canada.”
“What? I swear we’ve got one in like two or three days!”
“Yeah that’s a day off, but it’s in the states again. We can’t get married then.”
Both of them go silent, and Dan takes a sip of his drink and pokes at his food. Evan’s frowning and looking at the schedule, clearly thinking hard.
“It’s got to be today.”
“We could wait and sneak off when we had that day off--”
“Dan. There’s no way we’ll be able to pull that off, and you know it. It’s today or try and sneak it before a show, which you know won’t happen. Now or never, Nickleski.”
“I... but we haven’t had time to write vows! Or anything!”
Evan locks his phone and looks at Dan, his face serious. “I know. But if we don’t do it today, we won’t get another chance until we can come back to Canada. Let’s just... let’s just go for it.”
“Okay.” Dan nods and smiles up at Evan. “Okay, Evan. Let’s go get married.”
~*~
It takes some wandering around - they’ve done a lot of that today, really - but Dan and Evan finally find a courthouse. They’d talked about a church, but Dan was completely against the idea, so Evan suggested finding a courthouse, and they walked the streets until they found one.
A woman behind a desk directs them down the hall to wait in line behind two other couples that are waiting. They stare at Dan and Evan, probably because they’re two guys together, and Evan actually has to stop Dan from giving them the middle finger.
“What? We deserve to be happy too, damn it.”
“I know, but don’t let them get to you.”
The wait is shorter than expected, and soon its just the two of them left in the waiting room together.
“You sure about this?” Dan asks nervously, and Evan stares at him.
“Why the hell would I not be sure?”
“Because.. you know. I’m me. We’re us. Are you sure?”
“Dan, I’ve never been more sure of anything in my life. Don’t worry, we can still argue like always over Twitter and fix it later.” That makes Dan laugh and then the couple in front of them walks by, and it’s their turn.
“Do you have vows or are we just doing the standard ones?”
“We’ve got our own,” Evan says, and Dan freezes for a second. He has no fucking idea what he’s going to say. “Don’t worry, just wing it,” Evan says to him, squeezing his hand. “That’s what I’m doing.”
Like that makes Dan feel any better.
Dan hands over the marriage license, and the guy starts talking. It’s everything Dan’s heard at every other wedding in his life, minus the room full of people and the priest. Eventually, it’s time to do the vows, and he’s sort of glad he said he’d go first.
“Um. Well. So I know that our relationship has been kind of weird, and that I kind of just pushed feelings and stuff to the side for awhile, but you know, here we are, so between me and you we must have done something right,” Dan starts, and Evan laughs at that, shaking his head. “And okay we fight sometimes, and we have arguments on Twitter, but it’s all fun, and I just... I just fucking love you, Evan, and-- wait, am I allowed to swear? You know what, I don’t care, this is my wedding and I’ll say what I want. But I just love you and as long as you love me too I guess we’ll be stuck together.”
“And you?” Evan can tell that this guy must really get paid a lot to sit here all day and listen to people confess their love to each other, because he looks so fucking bored just sitting there. But he starts talking anyway.
“Dan, I don’t even know why I went after you in the first place, because I’m kind of not your type? But I guess my pushing and prodding worked because you eventually agreed to go out with me and that turned into dating and now we’re getting married and honestly there’s nobody I’d rather be sitting here with. And yeah we disagree sometimes, but what couple doesn’t? And you put up with me being annoying and shit, and I know that’s not easy for everyone. Believe me, I’ve heard about it from the rest of the band and crew.” It’s Dan’s turn to laugh, and Evan’s pretty, pretty glad that he’s marrying this guy. “Mostly though I just love you and I’m just happy you agreed to marry me, because now that you said yes, you’re pretty much going to have me around for the rest of ever.”
The worker reads the rest of the standard vows, Dan and Evan exchange “I do’s” and then rings, and after that, it’s pretty much over.
“I now pronounce you, under Canadian law, married. You may kiss the, uh, husband.”
Dan just rolls his eyes and kisses Evan anyway. Whatever, this dude is just a means to an end, really.
They each sign the marriage certificate, pay the fee, and then they’re told that they’re free to go. Evan grabs the certificate and then Dan’s hand, walking out of the courthouse as fast as they can.
“Dude, did that just really happen?” Evan asks once they’re outside. “Did we seriously just actually get married in Canada?”
“We did, that paper in your hand will tell you that unless we decide we fucking hate each other someday,” Dan says, but he’s smiling, and kisses Evan again. The ring on his finger feels weird, but in a good way.
“Oh, but. The rings... should we maybe not wear them? I mean with working and lifting equipment and shit they might get ruined.” Evan points out, and Dan nods slowly.
“Wait, here,” he says, and Dan pulls off his necklace and threads the ring on the chain. “That’ll work until we’re off tour, at least.”
Evan nods and does the same with the chain from around his neck. “Dan, we got fucking married.”
“I know, Evan. Love you.”
“Love you too, duh.”
~*~
Evan tweets this picture of him and Dan sitting on a bench before they head back to the buses. While all of the fans are exclaiming over it, the tweets and texts from the boys in the band and crew start pouring in, asking them where they are and just what the fuck do they think they’re doing running off and not telling anybody.
“Dude, we’d better get back, they’re pissed.”
They barely make it back to the buses before they’re due to leave for the next city on their tour of Canada, and Matt Flyzik is poised by the door to the bus looking like he might just kill them.
“Seriously, I don’t care what you do on our days off, just fucking be back by bus call or I will leave your unfortunate asses in Canada with no hope of getting back to the states,” Matt says, and Dan and Evan just nod and cut him off before he can really get into the stride of his lecture with promises that they’ll never do it again, no, really they won’t.
Later on, much later than any of them should still be awake, Dan, Evan, and Jeff are the only ones not in their bunks. Jeff put in one of the disks to the first season of Lost a long time ago, and Dan’s been asleep on Evan’s shoulder since barely an episode in.
“So, you and Dan,” Jeff starts, stretching a little between two episodes. “Pretty serious, right?”
“You could say that,” Evan answers, running his fingers through Dan’s hair carefully. Dan shifts a little and Evan stills, hoping he didn’t wake him up - Dan can be kind of cranky if you wake him up for no reason, okay. Dan just moves and ends up with his head on Evan’s lap. Evan breathes a sigh of relief and turns back to Jeff, who’s looking at him with this weird smile, like he knows something Evan doesn’t. “What?”
“You guys got married, didn’t you?”
Evan makes this totally undignified squeak and then glances down to make sure Dan’s still asleep. Sure enough, Dan’s out for the night it seems, and Evan sighs again.
“I. How the fuck do you do that?”
Jeff shrugs. “It’s a gift. Anyway, congrats on that. It’s about damn time. You guys telling or keeping it to yourselves?”
Evan bites his lip and shakes his head. “Yeah, no, we’re not telling people. Not yet.”
“Rings?”
“Bought ‘em today.” Evan moves carefully and pulls the chain out from underneath his shirt. Jeff nods approvingly and then waits while Evan pulls Dan’s out as well. “He didn’t even want one really, but he saw this one and it was just right, you know?”
Jeff nods again. “Dude, that’s awesome though, really. I always figured you two would never get around to it.”
“Honestly? Me neither.”
“Evan?” Dan mumbles, and Evan looks down again. Dan yawns and moves a little bit, making like he’s going to settle back into Evan and go back to sleep.
“We should probably go to bed before Dan here falls asleep again,” Jeff teases, and Dan just rolls his eyes.
“He’s right, though,” Evan says, poking Dan in the shoulder. “C’mon. Bed.”
“Bunk,” Dan corrects somewhat sleepily, and Evan laughs quietly.
“Whatever, Dan. Let’s go.”
They’ve been sharing a bunk since approximately forever, so Dan and Evan don’t even bother pretending anymore like they’re going to sleep separately. They strip down to t-shirts and boxers and crawl into the bunk, Evan first, then Dan. The curtain gets pulled shut and the two of them lay there in a comfortable silence for a few minutes. About the time Evan thinks Dan’s just fallen asleep again, he speaks.
“Hey. Hey Evan. Hey. Evan.”
“What, Dan?”
“It’s our wedding night,” Dan whispers, like Evan doesn’t already know that.
“Yeah? I knew that-- oh.” It dawns on Evan what Dan’s talking about. “Fuck, I didn’t even... we’re in a bunk, okay, nothing’s gonna work.”
Dan shrugs a little and shifts them so he’s on top of Evan. “And? It’s not ideal obviously, but I feel like we can work something out.”
The thing is, Dan thinks while he’s busy making out with Evan, is that they’re pretty much professionals at having bunk sex. Considering there was this whole period of time, super early on in their relationship, that nobody knew about them, they sort of had to master the art of keeping quiet and figuring out how their bodies fit together inside a space really meant for one.
As a result, Evan knows exactly how to spread his legs so that Dan fits perfectly between them. And Dan knows the perfect way to get both their shirts off without anybody getting elbowed awkwardly so that he can suck and bite a bruise into Evan’s collarbone. After that, while there’s not room for what they actually want to do, they jerk each other off, taking their time and pausing more often than they usually would to just kiss each other lazily.
Evan comes first, biting Dan’s shoulder and arching up into Dan’s hand. It’s not long after that that Dan follows, letting out a barely audible moan that he knows only reached Evan’s ears.
The problem with bunk sex, however, is the clean up. Evan stashed a box of baby wipes in his bunk a long time ago, though, so its really less work than it used to be. They don’t talk, but then again, they don’t need to.
Dan ends up with his chin resting on Evan’s bare chest, a hand coming up to play with the ring hanging around Evan’s neck. Evan’s slowly tracing shapes on Dan’s back, and nobody says anything for awhile. The only sound is soft snoring coming from other bunks, and the low hum of the bus moving underneath them.
“Love you,” Dan mumbles, looking up at Evan through sleepy, post-coital eyes.
“Love you too,” Evan says back. “Hey. We’re married.”
“Always knew it would happen eventually.”
“Did you?”
“Duh. From the day I met you, Kirkendall.”
Evan can’t help but smile at that, and presses a kiss to Dan’s head. “Well good, because I feel like you’re going to be stuck with me for a really long time.”
“I’m okay with that. More than okay, actually.”
“Nothing’s gonna change that, is it?”
“No. Because I like you just the way you aren’t,” Dan says, grinning and hoping Evan gets it. He does, predictably.
“And you like me just the way I’m not.” Evan finishes, and the two of them burst into silent laughter, because quoting All Time Low songs at each other will never not be funny.
~*~
The next shows are amazing, and then it’s sadly time for the band and crew to cross back into the United States for the remainder of the tour. Despite how easy it was to get into Canada, they’re having a really fucking hard time getting back into the states.
For some reason, they all have to pull out their passports and some lady takes them back behind a desk. They’re all sitting around in this room, waiting to be told that they’re clear to cross the border again, but it’s taking fucking forever.
Flyzik’s pacing and busy mumbling to himself about “if any of you did anything that doesn’t allow us back, I will leave your ass here and replace you before the day is out”. Jack laughs at him and starts making up elaborate stories about what could have happened, and Matt is looking ready to seriously hit him when the lady comes back, and thankfully she’s smiling.
Evan and Dan took up residency in two of the chairs, Evan sitting sideways with his feet tucked up in Dan’s lap. All they want to do right now is get back on the bus and nap their way to the next show, but they’ve been sitting here for so long that Dan’s started to give up on a nap.
“Well, you’re all cleared to go back,” the woman tells them, and Flyzik throws his arms in the air in victory. “I’m so sorry for the delay, but, you know, I’m just doing my job.”
Dan hears Ian mutter to Grieco that if she was really doing her job, she would have taken one look at them and just let them go and stifles a laugh. She walks over and starts reading names to hand back passports.
The band gets called first, then the crew names start. Dan can see amusement being held back as she says half their names wrong, but then again, they’re used to it. She gets through Grieco, Colussy, Flyzik, and Kurily before she carefully says “Dan Nickleski?”
He raises a hand and takes it from her, then waits for Evan’s name to be called. Apparently his got put at the back, because everyone else’s name gets called, until she flips it open and reads the name.
“Evan... well, it says Kirkendall? But you’re in our system under a different name.”
Everyone turns to look at Evan, including Dan.
“Evan... what did you do?” Flyzik says, sounding exasperated. “I swear if you have a fucking alias or something, I’m gonna--”
“It’s fine,” Evan says. “I sort of changed my name while we were here, that’s why it’s different.”
Dan turns to Evan, a look torn between amused, horrified, and absolute love for the man he married. “Evan you didn’t...”
“Dan, didn’t you read this when we signed it?” Evan pulls out their marriage certificate, and while that causes a stir among the band and crew enough as they crowd around to see it, there’s something on there that makes them all start cursing under their breath and going “I knew it. I fucking knew it!”.
On one side is written Daniel Nickleski, with Dan’s signature underneath it.
And on the other, it reads not Evan Kirkendall, but...
“I fucking love you. Evan Nickleski, holy shit,” Dan breathes, and pulls Evan in for a kiss. The band and crew whistle and offer their congratulations, which includes a “You know you’re never gonna live this down, right Evan?” from Vinny. Evan just shrugs and smiles, holding Dan’s hand and returning the gesture when Dan squeezes his hand and looks at him.
As they walk back to the buses, Dan and Evan can both hear Alex Gaskarth singing “Just The Way I’m Not” under his breath, and they start laughing together for no reason other than that Alex has no idea what that song means to them.
Danny threatens to take a picture and tweet it to the fans, but Jack shoos him away to the bunks with the promise of sexual favors if he doesn’t. Dan and Evan know that it’s gonna get out eventually, but for now, it’s their little secret.
Gaskarth’s still singing as he walks past them, and this time, it sounds an awful lot like “Made For Each Other” by Jack’s Mannequin.
Dan’s pretty sure he couldn’t agree more, actually.
Author: promisethstars
Pairing: Dan Nickleski/Evan Kirkendall, just a hint of Danny Kurily/Jack Barakat
Rating: R, for ~vague~ sex
Warnings: none
Summary: So this one time, in Canada, there was an impromptu wedding...
Disclaimer: This is pretty much just sex and white lies. Also, don't Google yourself. And if you do, don't tweet about what you find.
Notes: This is for Gabe, my twin, in honor of his day of birth ♥ Also, a million and a half thanks to my Kirkenwife for virtually holding my hand and keeping me going while I was writing this ♥
Getting into Canada goes a lot smoother than expected, and the whole band and crew takes a drink out of sheer relief after they get across the border.
After that, a heated round of some video game gets started in the back lounge, and the only people choosing not to participate are Dan and Evan.
Dan’s sitting there on his laptop, cursing under his breath. “What the fuck, this is why I hate touring. There’s no fucking wi-fi out here.”
“Dan.”
“If I could get on the internet, at least I could entertain myself.”
“Dan.”
“No, really, would it be so hard for shit to work--”
“Dan, fucking listen to me!”
Dan looks up to see Evan sitting there, a look of determination on his face. He sighs and closes the lid of his laptop, essentially useless to him without the internet.
“What, Evan?”
“Did you know gay marriage is legal in Canada?”
“...Yeah, I knew that.”
“Well?”
“What?”
“Damn it Dan, you’re so dense sometimes,” Evan says, rolling his eyes. He crawls over and sets Dan’s laptop on the floor, straddling Dan’s lap. “Let’s get married.”
“Why would we do that?” Dan asks, and Evan just sighs.
“Because we’re here and we can?”
“I... we could, couldn’t we?” Dan says, and Evan nods, bouncing a little. “But we can’t tell anybody, at least not right away.”
“Dan, they all know we’re together. It’s not like this would be a surprise to them.”
“Us getting married? Probably not. Us running off and getting married in Canada? Probably.”
“Who cares, dude. Let’s get married, while we’re here.”
“Yeah? All right then, you want to get married, let’s do it. But you have to take my last name.”
“But... what about Kirkenwords?” Evan looks so sad in the moment, and Dan just has to laugh.
“Fuck Kirkendall, I’m kidding. Don’t have a fit over it.”
“What if I did, though? Evan Nickleski has a ring to it.”
“You don’t have to, oh my God, I was joking. And besides, if anyone was going to change last names, it’s got to be you. Dan Kirkendall sounds awful.”
~*~
Going to get a marriage license isn’t actually that hard, they find out. The main problem was finding time to sneak away and actually get one. Between soundchecks and shows and traveling, it’s a miracle that Dan and Evan actually get a few hours to themselves to go out and acquire one.
They’re sitting out on a bench so Dan can smoke, and Dan’s just staring at the piece of paper in his hand while he taps the ash off onto the ground.
“So this is all we need, then, right?”
“I think so, yeah, as far as the paperwork goes.”
There’s his name, and there’s Evan’s name, and they’re actually going to seriously do this. This isn’t like when you get drunk in Vegas and marry your best friend just for kicks. This is actual marriage, like they’re in this together, forever, and he isn’t sure why he’s so okay with the idea. Probably because it’s him, and because it’s Evan, and it really only makes sense.
“Dan?”
“Evan?”
“I want a ring.”
“...Dude.”
“What? We’re getting married, I want a ring.”
“Are you a chick?” The look on Evan’s face at that is absolutely priceless and Dan has to hold back his laughter.
“I’m pretty sure you’re seen my dick, so, no.”
“Okay then, I’m just checking. But really, rings?”
“You don’t have to get one,” Evan points out. “But I want one, and damn it, we’re getting married, I think I can get one.”
“If you want a ring, I’ll get you a damn ring. I do like it, so I guess I should put a ring on it.”
“That was horrible.”
“You love me, though.”
“So, ring shopping next time we can sneak out for it?”
“Sounds like a plan to me.” Evan rests his head on Dan’s shoulder and moves a little closer to him. He watches Dan put out his cigarette, then laces their fingers together. “We’re getting married, Dan.”
“I know. Are we crazy?”
“Probably. But it wouldn’t be us if it wasn’t fucking crazy.”
~*~
It’s a few days before Dan and Evan can sneak away to look at rings, but they manage to get away from the rest of the band and crew and find a jewelry store.
“Go on, look. If you find something, come over and get me,” Dan says, and Evan just kisses him and walks away. Dan hears one of the employees greet Evan and ask him what he’s looking for as he pulls out his phone and moves around the perimeter of the shop, trying to get enough service to check twitter.
Out of the corner of his eye, he spots something in a case that makes him put his phone back in his pocket.
They’re not silver, and they’re not gold, but the tag tells him they’re titanium or something of the sort. Dan likes these a little bit more than other wedding bands that surround him in the store, but he’s still not sure why Evan even wants a ring.
Then he sees it.
There’s a ring that’s lighter on the outside, and the middle is a darker gray. Dan can’t stop staring at it, mostly because its something that he would wear normally, but he’s thrown by the fact that he actually found something he liked in a jewelry store.
“What’cha looking at?” Evan says softly, and Dan jumps.
“Nothing.”
“You’re looking at something, Dan. You’ve been over here for the last half hour. I don’t think you’ve moved a muscle.”
Dan sighs and points. “See that one?”
Evan looks down into the case. “Second row, third from the right?” Dan nods and Evan takes a closer look. “I like it. Suits you.”
“But I don’t--”
“Dan. It’s okay if you want one too.”
“What did you pick out?” Dan says, instead of continuing to talk about himself. He doesn’t need a ring. He doesn’t want one. But there’s just something about that one... Dan doesn’t know what it is. But he likes it.
Evan has the sales lady bring over the simple silver ring that he picked out. Dan looks it over and nods approvingly.
“Can we see that one?” Evan asks her before Dan can even protest, and she smiles, pulling the ring Dan had been looking at out of the case. “Go on, Dan. It won’t hurt.”
He really, really shouldn’t, but Dan lets himself slide the ring on and oh man, he really shouldn’t have done that. It’s perfect, basically. There’s nothing else for it.
“It’s... um. Well.”
“It’s perfect, Dan, and you know it. We’ll take them both,” Evan says, directing his attention back to the woman who’s standing there, smiling softly at the both of them. They pay for the rings and thank her, walking out of the store.
“You didn’t have to do that, Evan. I don’t need a ring.”
“Dude, I can tell when you want something. That’s the same look you always used to have before you finally gave in and told me you wanted me.”
~*~
“So, when’s the big day gonna be? Do we have another day off soon?”
“No, we don’t, actually,” Evan says, looking at the schedule on his phone while they eat lunch. “Today’s our last day off in Canada.”
“What? I swear we’ve got one in like two or three days!”
“Yeah that’s a day off, but it’s in the states again. We can’t get married then.”
Both of them go silent, and Dan takes a sip of his drink and pokes at his food. Evan’s frowning and looking at the schedule, clearly thinking hard.
“It’s got to be today.”
“We could wait and sneak off when we had that day off--”
“Dan. There’s no way we’ll be able to pull that off, and you know it. It’s today or try and sneak it before a show, which you know won’t happen. Now or never, Nickleski.”
“I... but we haven’t had time to write vows! Or anything!”
Evan locks his phone and looks at Dan, his face serious. “I know. But if we don’t do it today, we won’t get another chance until we can come back to Canada. Let’s just... let’s just go for it.”
“Okay.” Dan nods and smiles up at Evan. “Okay, Evan. Let’s go get married.”
~*~
It takes some wandering around - they’ve done a lot of that today, really - but Dan and Evan finally find a courthouse. They’d talked about a church, but Dan was completely against the idea, so Evan suggested finding a courthouse, and they walked the streets until they found one.
A woman behind a desk directs them down the hall to wait in line behind two other couples that are waiting. They stare at Dan and Evan, probably because they’re two guys together, and Evan actually has to stop Dan from giving them the middle finger.
“What? We deserve to be happy too, damn it.”
“I know, but don’t let them get to you.”
The wait is shorter than expected, and soon its just the two of them left in the waiting room together.
“You sure about this?” Dan asks nervously, and Evan stares at him.
“Why the hell would I not be sure?”
“Because.. you know. I’m me. We’re us. Are you sure?”
“Dan, I’ve never been more sure of anything in my life. Don’t worry, we can still argue like always over Twitter and fix it later.” That makes Dan laugh and then the couple in front of them walks by, and it’s their turn.
“Do you have vows or are we just doing the standard ones?”
“We’ve got our own,” Evan says, and Dan freezes for a second. He has no fucking idea what he’s going to say. “Don’t worry, just wing it,” Evan says to him, squeezing his hand. “That’s what I’m doing.”
Like that makes Dan feel any better.
Dan hands over the marriage license, and the guy starts talking. It’s everything Dan’s heard at every other wedding in his life, minus the room full of people and the priest. Eventually, it’s time to do the vows, and he’s sort of glad he said he’d go first.
“Um. Well. So I know that our relationship has been kind of weird, and that I kind of just pushed feelings and stuff to the side for awhile, but you know, here we are, so between me and you we must have done something right,” Dan starts, and Evan laughs at that, shaking his head. “And okay we fight sometimes, and we have arguments on Twitter, but it’s all fun, and I just... I just fucking love you, Evan, and-- wait, am I allowed to swear? You know what, I don’t care, this is my wedding and I’ll say what I want. But I just love you and as long as you love me too I guess we’ll be stuck together.”
“And you?” Evan can tell that this guy must really get paid a lot to sit here all day and listen to people confess their love to each other, because he looks so fucking bored just sitting there. But he starts talking anyway.
“Dan, I don’t even know why I went after you in the first place, because I’m kind of not your type? But I guess my pushing and prodding worked because you eventually agreed to go out with me and that turned into dating and now we’re getting married and honestly there’s nobody I’d rather be sitting here with. And yeah we disagree sometimes, but what couple doesn’t? And you put up with me being annoying and shit, and I know that’s not easy for everyone. Believe me, I’ve heard about it from the rest of the band and crew.” It’s Dan’s turn to laugh, and Evan’s pretty, pretty glad that he’s marrying this guy. “Mostly though I just love you and I’m just happy you agreed to marry me, because now that you said yes, you’re pretty much going to have me around for the rest of ever.”
The worker reads the rest of the standard vows, Dan and Evan exchange “I do’s” and then rings, and after that, it’s pretty much over.
“I now pronounce you, under Canadian law, married. You may kiss the, uh, husband.”
Dan just rolls his eyes and kisses Evan anyway. Whatever, this dude is just a means to an end, really.
They each sign the marriage certificate, pay the fee, and then they’re told that they’re free to go. Evan grabs the certificate and then Dan’s hand, walking out of the courthouse as fast as they can.
“Dude, did that just really happen?” Evan asks once they’re outside. “Did we seriously just actually get married in Canada?”
“We did, that paper in your hand will tell you that unless we decide we fucking hate each other someday,” Dan says, but he’s smiling, and kisses Evan again. The ring on his finger feels weird, but in a good way.
“Oh, but. The rings... should we maybe not wear them? I mean with working and lifting equipment and shit they might get ruined.” Evan points out, and Dan nods slowly.
“Wait, here,” he says, and Dan pulls off his necklace and threads the ring on the chain. “That’ll work until we’re off tour, at least.”
Evan nods and does the same with the chain from around his neck. “Dan, we got fucking married.”
“I know, Evan. Love you.”
“Love you too, duh.”
~*~
Evan tweets this picture of him and Dan sitting on a bench before they head back to the buses. While all of the fans are exclaiming over it, the tweets and texts from the boys in the band and crew start pouring in, asking them where they are and just what the fuck do they think they’re doing running off and not telling anybody.
“Dude, we’d better get back, they’re pissed.”
They barely make it back to the buses before they’re due to leave for the next city on their tour of Canada, and Matt Flyzik is poised by the door to the bus looking like he might just kill them.
“Seriously, I don’t care what you do on our days off, just fucking be back by bus call or I will leave your unfortunate asses in Canada with no hope of getting back to the states,” Matt says, and Dan and Evan just nod and cut him off before he can really get into the stride of his lecture with promises that they’ll never do it again, no, really they won’t.
Later on, much later than any of them should still be awake, Dan, Evan, and Jeff are the only ones not in their bunks. Jeff put in one of the disks to the first season of Lost a long time ago, and Dan’s been asleep on Evan’s shoulder since barely an episode in.
“So, you and Dan,” Jeff starts, stretching a little between two episodes. “Pretty serious, right?”
“You could say that,” Evan answers, running his fingers through Dan’s hair carefully. Dan shifts a little and Evan stills, hoping he didn’t wake him up - Dan can be kind of cranky if you wake him up for no reason, okay. Dan just moves and ends up with his head on Evan’s lap. Evan breathes a sigh of relief and turns back to Jeff, who’s looking at him with this weird smile, like he knows something Evan doesn’t. “What?”
“You guys got married, didn’t you?”
Evan makes this totally undignified squeak and then glances down to make sure Dan’s still asleep. Sure enough, Dan’s out for the night it seems, and Evan sighs again.
“I. How the fuck do you do that?”
Jeff shrugs. “It’s a gift. Anyway, congrats on that. It’s about damn time. You guys telling or keeping it to yourselves?”
Evan bites his lip and shakes his head. “Yeah, no, we’re not telling people. Not yet.”
“Rings?”
“Bought ‘em today.” Evan moves carefully and pulls the chain out from underneath his shirt. Jeff nods approvingly and then waits while Evan pulls Dan’s out as well. “He didn’t even want one really, but he saw this one and it was just right, you know?”
Jeff nods again. “Dude, that’s awesome though, really. I always figured you two would never get around to it.”
“Honestly? Me neither.”
“Evan?” Dan mumbles, and Evan looks down again. Dan yawns and moves a little bit, making like he’s going to settle back into Evan and go back to sleep.
“We should probably go to bed before Dan here falls asleep again,” Jeff teases, and Dan just rolls his eyes.
“He’s right, though,” Evan says, poking Dan in the shoulder. “C’mon. Bed.”
“Bunk,” Dan corrects somewhat sleepily, and Evan laughs quietly.
“Whatever, Dan. Let’s go.”
They’ve been sharing a bunk since approximately forever, so Dan and Evan don’t even bother pretending anymore like they’re going to sleep separately. They strip down to t-shirts and boxers and crawl into the bunk, Evan first, then Dan. The curtain gets pulled shut and the two of them lay there in a comfortable silence for a few minutes. About the time Evan thinks Dan’s just fallen asleep again, he speaks.
“Hey. Hey Evan. Hey. Evan.”
“What, Dan?”
“It’s our wedding night,” Dan whispers, like Evan doesn’t already know that.
“Yeah? I knew that-- oh.” It dawns on Evan what Dan’s talking about. “Fuck, I didn’t even... we’re in a bunk, okay, nothing’s gonna work.”
Dan shrugs a little and shifts them so he’s on top of Evan. “And? It’s not ideal obviously, but I feel like we can work something out.”
The thing is, Dan thinks while he’s busy making out with Evan, is that they’re pretty much professionals at having bunk sex. Considering there was this whole period of time, super early on in their relationship, that nobody knew about them, they sort of had to master the art of keeping quiet and figuring out how their bodies fit together inside a space really meant for one.
As a result, Evan knows exactly how to spread his legs so that Dan fits perfectly between them. And Dan knows the perfect way to get both their shirts off without anybody getting elbowed awkwardly so that he can suck and bite a bruise into Evan’s collarbone. After that, while there’s not room for what they actually want to do, they jerk each other off, taking their time and pausing more often than they usually would to just kiss each other lazily.
Evan comes first, biting Dan’s shoulder and arching up into Dan’s hand. It’s not long after that that Dan follows, letting out a barely audible moan that he knows only reached Evan’s ears.
The problem with bunk sex, however, is the clean up. Evan stashed a box of baby wipes in his bunk a long time ago, though, so its really less work than it used to be. They don’t talk, but then again, they don’t need to.
Dan ends up with his chin resting on Evan’s bare chest, a hand coming up to play with the ring hanging around Evan’s neck. Evan’s slowly tracing shapes on Dan’s back, and nobody says anything for awhile. The only sound is soft snoring coming from other bunks, and the low hum of the bus moving underneath them.
“Love you,” Dan mumbles, looking up at Evan through sleepy, post-coital eyes.
“Love you too,” Evan says back. “Hey. We’re married.”
“Always knew it would happen eventually.”
“Did you?”
“Duh. From the day I met you, Kirkendall.”
Evan can’t help but smile at that, and presses a kiss to Dan’s head. “Well good, because I feel like you’re going to be stuck with me for a really long time.”
“I’m okay with that. More than okay, actually.”
“Nothing’s gonna change that, is it?”
“No. Because I like you just the way you aren’t,” Dan says, grinning and hoping Evan gets it. He does, predictably.
“And you like me just the way I’m not.” Evan finishes, and the two of them burst into silent laughter, because quoting All Time Low songs at each other will never not be funny.
~*~
The next shows are amazing, and then it’s sadly time for the band and crew to cross back into the United States for the remainder of the tour. Despite how easy it was to get into Canada, they’re having a really fucking hard time getting back into the states.
For some reason, they all have to pull out their passports and some lady takes them back behind a desk. They’re all sitting around in this room, waiting to be told that they’re clear to cross the border again, but it’s taking fucking forever.
Flyzik’s pacing and busy mumbling to himself about “if any of you did anything that doesn’t allow us back, I will leave your ass here and replace you before the day is out”. Jack laughs at him and starts making up elaborate stories about what could have happened, and Matt is looking ready to seriously hit him when the lady comes back, and thankfully she’s smiling.
Evan and Dan took up residency in two of the chairs, Evan sitting sideways with his feet tucked up in Dan’s lap. All they want to do right now is get back on the bus and nap their way to the next show, but they’ve been sitting here for so long that Dan’s started to give up on a nap.
“Well, you’re all cleared to go back,” the woman tells them, and Flyzik throws his arms in the air in victory. “I’m so sorry for the delay, but, you know, I’m just doing my job.”
Dan hears Ian mutter to Grieco that if she was really doing her job, she would have taken one look at them and just let them go and stifles a laugh. She walks over and starts reading names to hand back passports.
The band gets called first, then the crew names start. Dan can see amusement being held back as she says half their names wrong, but then again, they’re used to it. She gets through Grieco, Colussy, Flyzik, and Kurily before she carefully says “Dan Nickleski?”
He raises a hand and takes it from her, then waits for Evan’s name to be called. Apparently his got put at the back, because everyone else’s name gets called, until she flips it open and reads the name.
“Evan... well, it says Kirkendall? But you’re in our system under a different name.”
Everyone turns to look at Evan, including Dan.
“Evan... what did you do?” Flyzik says, sounding exasperated. “I swear if you have a fucking alias or something, I’m gonna--”
“It’s fine,” Evan says. “I sort of changed my name while we were here, that’s why it’s different.”
Dan turns to Evan, a look torn between amused, horrified, and absolute love for the man he married. “Evan you didn’t...”
“Dan, didn’t you read this when we signed it?” Evan pulls out their marriage certificate, and while that causes a stir among the band and crew enough as they crowd around to see it, there’s something on there that makes them all start cursing under their breath and going “I knew it. I fucking knew it!”.
On one side is written Daniel Nickleski, with Dan’s signature underneath it.
And on the other, it reads not Evan Kirkendall, but...
“I fucking love you. Evan Nickleski, holy shit,” Dan breathes, and pulls Evan in for a kiss. The band and crew whistle and offer their congratulations, which includes a “You know you’re never gonna live this down, right Evan?” from Vinny. Evan just shrugs and smiles, holding Dan’s hand and returning the gesture when Dan squeezes his hand and looks at him.
As they walk back to the buses, Dan and Evan can both hear Alex Gaskarth singing “Just The Way I’m Not” under his breath, and they start laughing together for no reason other than that Alex has no idea what that song means to them.
Danny threatens to take a picture and tweet it to the fans, but Jack shoos him away to the bunks with the promise of sexual favors if he doesn’t. Dan and Evan know that it’s gonna get out eventually, but for now, it’s their little secret.
Gaskarth’s still singing as he walks past them, and this time, it sounds an awful lot like “Made For Each Other” by Jack’s Mannequin.
Dan’s pretty sure he couldn’t agree more, actually.