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After their trip to Australia Paul and Richard had decided they wanted to tie the knot when they got back to Germany but not in winter. Berlin was far too cold for that and neither wanted to freeze to death so they’d decided that a couple of days before the Munich concert of the 2023 European Stadium tour would be a good date.
They’d both decided to go to the local registrar’s office since neither of them were particularly religious, but they’d had to get a special after-hours appointment so the band didn’t have to dodge any fans they might run into. The last thing any of them wanted to do was to have to sign autographs while Paul and Richard were trying to get married.
Oddly it reminded Paul of the first concert in Berlin after getting engaged and their fan base had completely lost its shit after noticing the matching rings during Deutschland when they played together centre stage which had promptly crashed their official social internet accounts before the concert had even finished. Paul was still convinced Jens had the cameraman zoom in on the rings deliberately knowing they would be on all three screens.
The forum on their official website had gone down for two days as the servers struggled to cope with the sheer volume of fans trying to post their own congratulations.
The band had been amused and pleased at the reaction. The poor people moderating and running the sites weren’t nearly as pleased since there’d been no warning prior to the concert so none of them had been expecting the avalanche of posts that hit the sites.
They hadn’t been very popular for a couple of days after that, earning the band a stern talking to by the exhausted woman in charge of their digital media who warned them that they had better damn well tell her before they announced they were married, or they could run their own bloody web sites.
They’d all apologised meekly having totally forgotten about that. She’d congratulated the pair then stalked out of the room leaving a very sheepish band in her wake. They’d officially apologised to all the harried media staff after that.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The morning of the wedding they’d still been sleeping when pounding on the front door had woken Paul. Groggy and still half asleep he’d untangled himself from Richard who grunted in his sleep and stumbled out of bed, clumsily putting his robe on since he was naked and went to answer the door. He’d opened it maybe an inch when it was shoved open, and was all but squashed behind the door as Till and Flake barged in.
“Wake up sunshine.” Till had ordered the still sleepy Paul, who looked at both men bewildered.
“Wha?” He’d asked dumbly.
Flake had grabbed his arm and dragged him into the master bedroom where Reesh was being rudely woken up by Till sitting on his legs and tapping his face annoyingly. “Wake up Reesh.” Till demanded.
“Fu, ff.” Richard mumbled trying to escape Till but since he was pinned by Tills weight he couldn’t get away and he wasn’t awake enough to try any wrestling moves to get rid of him.
“Nope.” He’s said way to cheerfully for what had to be ridiculously early in the morning.
Paul had squinted at the bedside clock and muttered a curse. It had only been 7am. Marginally more awake he’d demanded to know what the fuck they were doing in their bedroom at such a stupidly early hour.
“You’re getting married today.” Flake had said as if that explained everything, which it didn’t.
After that it had been a whirlwind of activity, Paul had been dragged unceremoniously out of the house and shoved in Flakes car still in his dressing gown, clutching his toiletries in a plastic bag. He had no idea where Richard had ended up or if Till had simply parked himself at their place.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Now they were at the registry office and Paul wondered vaguely if he should be nervous then decided he really had no reason to be. Being married to Richard was something he most definitely wanted. Granted they’d only been engaged roughly twelve months, but he didn’t care. They’d been together a while now and he felt as sure about his future with Richard as he’d ever been about anything in his life.
The gathering was small. The band members with their respective partners. Paul’s parents and his kids. All of Richards kids and a handful of friends of both men were in attendance. It still saddened Paul that Richard’s family wouldn’t be there. That they wouldn’t care and as Richard had pointed out his stepfather would have sooner murdered him than see him marry a man.
Rather unsurprisingly Jens had agreed instantly to take the wedding photos. His smile when they’d told him about the engagement had been nearly as big as theirs. He’d been documenting their growing romance from day one when he got the chance without telling either of them.
“Ready?” Flake asked
“I’ve never been more ready in my life.” Paul said, smiling softly.
Flake rolled his eyes. They really were disgusting.
Paul took a deep breath and left the room he’d been in, Flake following him.
He sucked in a breath seeing Richard standing near the registrar and looking rather nervous for the first time that day. The smile that broke out across his face when he saw Paul was breathtaking and Paul couldn’t help but return it.
He was in his favourite all black look that Paul fucking loved. Head to toe in Gucci he looked as stunning as ever. Paul was pleased to see Richard had his trademark makeup on and his hair was perfectly spiked. He felt a flutter in his stomach at the thought that this man was his and willing to commit himself to Paul for the rest of his life. He smiles somewhat giddily at Richard who’s smile was as loving as his expression.
He, himself wasn’t in complete black though. He’d chosen a deep red waist coat that he knew would match Richard’s nail polish under his suit that fit his slim body perfectly. He’d chosen the black Armani suit because he knew Richard would love him it.
When he was finally face to face with Richard he felt serene and so in love with him. Even though they hadn’t talked about what they were going to do while standing in front of the registrar, Paul decided on the spur of the moment to reach for Richard’s hands and squeezed them when he felt them shaking.
He smiled with so much love at Richard, he felt him calm slightly.
The registrar cleared his throat and began.
Paul didn’t hear a word the man said, lost in Richard’s eyes whose never left his. Objectively he knew the registrar was talking and most likely reading the two poems he and Richard had chosen. In his case about surviving life hurdles and becoming the strong and loving man Richard was today and in Richard case his poem was about Pauls strength, determination and his unwavering love.
It was only when he was prodded by Flake that he wrenched his eyes away from Richards to actually take any notice of what was being said.
Apparently he’d been asked a question that he’d completely missed. He blushed faintly. “I’m sorry.” He mumbled, “What?”
The registrar smiled. “Your vows?” He prompted Paul. Although they weren’t really required both had wanted to say something to each other and like Richard, Paul had decided to speak from his heart instead of writing a speech.
Oh, right he needed words. He cleared his throat. “You’ve always deserved to be unconditionally loved, Reesh. For who you were growing up and the man you’ve become today. You mean everything to me,” Paul said unknowingly echoing Richards words over twelve months earlier. “You’ve made me a better man just by being you. I look into your eyes; I see you smile, and I know I’ve found home. Found love and I want to spend the rest of my life showing you how much I love you.” He finished; his tone full of love before getting lost in Richard’s eyes again.
Richard swallowed heavily. “You’ve shown me what it’s like to be truly loved, Paul and I don’t think I’ve ever known how that felt until you. You’re the best thing that ever happened to me.” Richard paused to collect himself. “ You’ve changed my life and I’ll never be able to put that into words. All I can do is show you how much I love you for the rest of my life.” Richard finished in a whisper, a single tear slowly rolling down his cheek.
Paul reached up with a slightly trembling finger and scooped up the tear, pressing it to his own lips. They got lost in each other’s gaze again and again Flake had to nudge Paul when he missed his cue.
The registrar, used to this happening repeated his question patiently. “Paul do you choose to freely enter into marriage with Richard?”
“I do.” He said instantly.
The man then turned to Richard. “Richard do you choose to freely enter into marriage with Paul?”
“I do.” He replied, his voice strong and clear this time.
The man smiled before declaring them legally wed.
Paul freed one hand and put it on the nape of Richard’s neck dragging him forward into a soft, loving but passionate kiss that must have lasted a shade too long when he heard Till clear his throat uncomfortably.
They broke the kiss and turned to everyone who was clapping madly, and Paul swore blind he heard faint sniffles coming from behind Richard. He leant forward slightly and looked around Richard to see Till trying to discreetly wipe away a few tears.
“I saw that.” He said smiling at the singer.
“Fuck off.” Till muttered.
After that everything was a blur of shaking hands, hugs, congratulations and Paul was very pleased to see Richard getting hugged tightly by his kids. He knew how much it meant to Richard that they’d come. At one point Paul had to laugh as Richard got pounced on by his mother and practically strangled as she hugged him. At over a foot taller than her, he had to bend his knees, or they both would’ve ended up in a heap on the floor.
Eventually Jens corralled everyone into photos that took a fair while, the perfectionist that he was. Not that Paul and Richard took their eyes off each other or stopped kissing long enough to notice. Jens just smiled at the pair and took the photos around them both.
Paul walked up to Richard a little later having finally escaped his mother’s crushing hug with his father offering no help whatsoever to get away. “Reesh I’ve got something I would really love to share with you if you like them.” Paul swallowing slightly nervous. He wasn’t entirely sure how Richard would react to the idea but once Flake had suggested it, it had refused to leave Paul's mind.
Richard turned to him. “What’s up love?” He asked smiling widely. His eyes sparkling. Paul’s stomach swooped at just how fucking happy Richard looked. He could see his own love reflected on Richard’s face. In his eyes.
Paul felt Richard’s arm snake around his waist drawing Paul flush against him. He sighed happily and kissed Richard before he remembered what he was there for. “I um, I got these.” He said producing two silver wedding rings to show Richard. They were thinner than the engagement rings but with the date of their wedding and each other’s name engraved in each band. “I thought we could wear them with the engagement rings?” He half asked and suggested, holding his breath.
Richard looked down at the rings glowing softly in Pauls palm, back up at Paul and crushed his mouth to Pauls before peppering kisses all over Paul’s face muttering a string of, “Yes, yes, yes.” In between each kiss. Richard turned to face Paul properly their foreheads resting against each other as the slipped their engagement rings off each other’s fingers then put the wedding rings on then put the engagement rings back on.
Richard wrapped Paul in an all-encompassing hug before kissing him so thoroughly Paul thought he was going to melt. “I love you, Reesh.” Paul breathed into Richard’s mouth when he’d gotten his breath back.
“Love you too, Liebchen .” Richard mumbled against Paul’s lips.