All Tied Up

Emmanuel went with River the next day to meet with Jae and his team to check the house out. Nothing seemed to be missing from what River could tell, and they didn't find anything dangerous or left behind in the rooms that had been ransacked. River was glad to see that the basement had been left alone, but he hadn't let Jae come down with him. Jae raised an eyebrow at that but River just explained it was kink stuff and didn't want to talk further on that with a colleague.

Once they were sure the house was safe, River and Emmanuel worked on cleaning the place up and putting it back in order.

Around that same time at work, Jae and River were throwing ideas at each other. Jae hadn't realized that the saliva and hair had come back different from each other, and it raised a lot of questions about why two people might be working together like this. Jae commented on it being odd that two men would team up like this, as usually when two people get together to commit a crime like this, it's a man and woman who are romantically involved.

"Maybe they were?" River pointed out, slightly uncertain. "Romantic. We can't say for certain right now, though their...sexual tastes might rule each other out as a sexual partner."

"Pedophiles still do have sex with other adults," Jae pointed out. "They usually have trouble with erections and such though. So, if they have a relationship with an adult, it's usually fraught with sexual dysfunction. I'm almost positive they weren't romantically involved if at least one of their tastes is for little girls. Though...if one of them likes little girls, we can't rule out the idea that the second person might have had his eyes set on one of the other children. It might have just worked out that they could only grab her."

River's mind shifted to Vinny, not sure how he felt about all of this. He knew he'd have to find a way to get a DNA swab from Vinny, but he also knew asking for it would insult him.

Then his mind was occupied with other work and the wedding for the next two months. They had a whole night out playing games, drinking, and being rowdy for the bachelor party. River was glued to Emmanuel's side most of the time, though Chuck was able to coax him into playing games against him. It turned out River was pretty good at video games, and even better at Dance Dance Revolution, which was fantastic to watch him kick Chuck's ass at.

Krysta was extra bossy during the rehearsal, but she was in a better mood once they got to the dinner. They had a relaxed night of talking and eating, and then went off to get sleep for the wedding. River and Emmanuel didn't have sex that night so that River's back wouldn't be achy the next day. It was always a good ache, a reminder that he had been used the night before, but they knew better than to go hard right before an event like this. So they each used their mouths and hands to get the other off and then fell asleep together.

Chuck was a ball of nerves the next day when they got to the venue to get ready, not wanting anything to go badly because he wanted the day to be perfect for Krysta. River immediately went into best friend and best man mode, doing what he could to take the stress off of Chuck.

"You have us, so use us as you need to," River told Chuck. "If I need to go and tell the event coordinator things, or go and set something up, or take something to the bridesmaids, we can do that. All you need to do today is relax and enjoy, okay?"

Chuck smiled at River. "You're the best."

"You're right, I am," River agreed, which earned the chuckle he had hoped it would. Emmanuel managed to stay out of the way for the most part, only really getting involved in anything to help River. His sister hadn't really had much to say to him after the mending of the friendship between River and Chuck.

Once Chuck had gone down to stand at the front of the church, Krysta came out every bit the vision of beauty in white lace. Her blonde hair was half pulled up in an intricate bun that held her veil in place. She made sure that everyone was ready in the order they would walk out in while people continued to go into the venue, but she stopped to give each of her brothers hugs since she had missed them earlier in the day.

"I made sure to seat you and River next to each other at the head table," Krysta whispered to Emmanuel when she got to him.

Emmanuel smiled warmly and whispered back, "Well, we'll try not to do that there! You look angelic today!"

Krysta laughed when she got his joke about the head table. She straightened his tie on the tuxedo, making sure it looked perfect before fiddling with his boutonniere. "You clean up nicely yourself."

They talked in low voices for a little longer before Mr. Long came over to take Krysta's arm so he could walk her down the aisle. He gave his foster son a pat on the shoulder in greeting before River told everyone to get ready as the music changed. River made sure everyone was in line correctly before he gave Krysta a nod of the head and walked up to his own spot by the maid of honor. He gave Emmanuel a wink as he went, then took the arm of the maid of honor like he was supposed to.

The ceremony was beautiful, and Chuck teared up as soon as he saw Krysta walk down the aisle. Luckily, River had thought ahead and had a handkerchief for him to use to wipe his eyes with. By the time the vows were done, there was barely a dry eye in the church.

River wasn't able to look at Emmanuel because of where they were standing in relation to each other, but the vows made him a little wistful as he thought of their relationship. He had come to the conclusion a while ago that he probably wouldn't get married, mostly because his choices in crushes and partners kind of sucked. With Emmanuel though, everything seemed to be changing. He felt more secure in what they had going on, and he was starting to see things that could be rather than just what was.

Emmanuel was passively enjoying the ceremony and actively appreciating watching River be butch today. He was beginning to recognize the feelings growing inside himself and they terrified him a bit. The last time he had loved anyone, things had ended painfully and he had vowed not to get that entwined with anyone again, but he just couldn't help it with River.

After the ceremony, everyone who wasn't in photos went off to the cocktail hour while the others stayed for the posed photos. River was accustomed to posed photos thanks to his family, but he found photos were a lot more fun when he was next to Emmanuel. He stood next to the maid of honor for the big group photos, but when it was just the groomsmen, River inevitably ended up next to Emmanuel.

Once the photos were done, they made their way to the hotel where the reception was being held in the ballroom. After the bridal party was announced and at their seats, the bride and groom were announced to a standing ovation. River slipped away from the table to whisper to the DJ for a moment, who gave a nod like he had been ready for this. River took the microphone once the bride and groom had sat down, and both of them looked a little surprised to see River standing there with it, like they weren't sure what he was doing.

"Good evening, everyone, and thank you so much for being here to celebrate the bride and groom tonight," River said with a sly smile. "Speeches aren't quite yet, which is why the bride is looking at me like I'm about to steal her spotlight. Chuck asked me a while ago about something, but I told him I wasn't sure if I could pull it off. Well, Chuck, I did."

Chuck's face immediately lit up at that and he grabbed Krysta's hand to look at her with an excited expression, though Krysta still looked confused. River only let that confusion last for a tiny bit longer before he said, "In honor of love and friendship, I am very happy to introduce one of my best friends, Trevor Lars, together with his co-star from Extracurricular, Keri Hart, to sing a medley of love songs for the blessed couple."

At that, Krysta turned to look at River in surprised awe. He gave her a quick grin before he handed the microphone back to the DJ and went back to his seat to watch the show. Chuck had asked him a while ago if he could talk Trevor into doing this. Trevor and his husband Alex had been invited to the wedding, of course, but getting him to perform was a much different thing than just attending. Trevor was usually pretty clear that he wasn't party entertainment, since he was well known now and quite the star.

Still, for his small group of close friends, he'd go out of his comfort zone if they asked him to, and River had asked. So Trevor came out in a dark blue suit with a sapphire vest while Keri came out in a blue velvet gown. They performed a romantic mix of music from The Greatest Showman, which was one of Krysta's favorite movies. The performance was masterful, and the two of them had so much chemistry together as they sang the songs, interspersing dancing where they had practiced. It was pretty simple choreography but it worked perfectly and it was something Trevor could do even after his injury.

When they finished, with Keri in a dramatic dip that Trevor held up, everyone in the ballroom jumped to their feet to applaud. Theo caught River's eye from across the room and gave a nod. Both of them had recorded the performance so Trevor could do his social media thing. It was part of the deal when Trevor said he would ask Keri to help him with this.

Chuck came up and gave Trevor a hug, thanking him for the performance. Trevor happily gave Krysta a hug as well, telling her congratulations. River grinned when Chuck made his way over to him, a bright smile on his face as he said, "You sneaky little ass."

River gave a shrug, though it was mostly for show. He laughed as Chuck hugged him and thanked him for talking Trevor into it. Krysta gave him a hug too, a genuine one, and a kiss on the cheek, which was a first for River in his relationship with her. They'd always had a vaguely distant friendly vibe between them, but not close. Definitely not close enough to hug, but he rolled with it, telling her he was so glad she liked the surprise. Even Krysta's parents came over to thank River for making their daughter's night, which was a great feeling and awkward because it was also, technically, his boyfriend's parents too, and he wasn't sure if they knew that yet.

While they were talking, Emmanuel slipped up behind River and twined his fingers through River's. His parents looked briefly at their connected hands and went smoothly back to the conversation as if nothing untoward had happened. At some point, they made their excuses to go find a close vantage point for the cake cutting that was scheduled to happen soon.

They got through the scheduled things, like the first dance, dinner, cake cutting, and bouquet throwing. Krysta threw the bouquet just a little too far back and River caught it to try and keep it from hitting the floor before one of the single ladies could catch it. Much to his dismay, though, the bridesmaids and other single women made him keep it. He stood there with his face flushed in embarrassment while the women congratulated him and Trevor took photos from his vantage point on the side.

River did, though, play it up when one of the single groomsmen caught the garter because he thought it was funny to see the guy blush. Emmanuel loudly called for the lucky catchers to share a dance, smiling wickedly at River when he looked at him with a shocked expression. Once he saw that, River set his jaw in a determined expression, much to the whooping and hollering of the groomsmen and River's friends, as well as Chuck, before he led the other guy onto the dance floor.

River was a pretty good dancer, so he led it, though the other guy was much shyer than he had seemed at the bachelor party now with everyone watching. He seemed to keep up okay with River, but didn't have the flair River did. He finished by dipping the other guy, and Trevor let out a wolf whistle while Krysta laughed. It was as he looked around for Emmanuel that he saw him recording his Pet with his phone.

River helped the groomsman back to his feet, and then strode over to Emmanuel where he slipped his arms around him and whispered how evil he was. Emmanuel laughed as he uploaded the video to his personal cloud before putting his phone away and hugging River back.

With all of the planned things done, now it was time to just drink, dance, and enjoy the dessert bar and cake. Trevor, of course, was the type of guy that was always the life of the party and managed to pull his friends into it. Alex and Keri naturally fell into step with him, but he did a good job of getting the rest of the groomsmen and bridesmaids, and of course River and Emmanuel, out to dance.

River had never danced with a partner at a wedding like this, but it was a blast. He loved moving to the music against Emmanuel's body.

At some point in the night, Theo leaned into Hop's ear and said, "River seems different when he's around Emmanuel. Like he's coming out of his shell. I don't know how else to describe it."

Hop smiled, looking over at the two of them dirty dancing together. "What kind of shell, though? Like are we talking Lobster? Crab? Turtle? Colorful Candy?"

Theo snickered at that. "Colorful candy shells are Trev's specialty. I guess River was more of a hermit crab, maybe in a toxic shell before."

It wasn't until almost one AM when the party died down. River and the other groomsmen helped with a little of the cleanup, grabbing the things that didn't belong to the venue but to the bride and groom. Once they had the car packed up, Chuck and Krysta gave everyone hugs and sent people on their way. The people who drank were helped with ubers or having someone who was sober drive them home.

River had drank earlier in the night but hadn't had anything for a while so he drove them to his house, getting back around two in the morning. They carefully took off their tuxes and got them hung up before River laid down on the bed and looked up at Emmanuel.

"Weddings are always so romantic and sweet," River commented. "I always love going to them. I used to dream of having a big wedding myself when I was a kid. Cassia told me when she was alive she wanted to be my best girl at my wedding."

Emmanuel looked at River with sympathy, only really able to viscerally understand River's feelings so well, but definitely understanding loss. In his case it was more of a loss from connections that never were, which made River's loss even more poignant for him because he lost someone he knew and loved. "Is there some way for her to be with you if you get married?" he asked softly.

River nodded his head slowly. "Yeah, there are ways. I have jewelry that was hers, and some of her stuffed animals. My mom also has some of her old dresses that she has kept so she could help put them into our wedding outfits. Ocean had a belt made from a pink and white dress she wore for our aunt's wedding. And her favorite flowers were pink roses."

Emmanuel nodded, his eyes still showing sympathy but also reflecting hope for River. "Good. I'd hate for any of you to have to go through life without feeling like there was some way for her to be present at your important events. Honestly I think that may be why I never bothered with the graduation ceremony at high school or even messing around with college. There was no one to impress, so why even be there? Y'know?" he asked.

"What about your foster family?" River asked him.

Emmanuel shrugged. "They're okay, as far as people go, and they genuinely care about all of their kids, but it's different when there's a lifetime connection. I only met them when I was fourteen and had already been deemed a 'Problem Child.' By then I was pretty jaded about some things and only really started thinking about where my life may be going in the past year or so," he explained.

River frowned at that, thinking of Trevor and wondering if he would have been deemed a problem child himself had he ended up in foster care instead of with his aunt. "Sometimes I think their 'problem children' are just children that have gone through more than they want to handle."

Emmanuel nodded at that, saying, "Yeah, that tracks. I should still get into therapy, but I found the BDSM community rather therapeutic. Besides, childhood trauma makes for much more interesting people, don't you think?"

River considered his own friends and nodded his head. "It does make us funnier, that's for sure. It's true that the things I get from BDSM help with some of that though, and I definitely couldn't get from other avenues, even therapy. Plus, maybe you wouldn't have been as interested in me without that side of it."

Emmanuel allowed for the truth in that statement. "Maybe, but I'm not exactly the model for healthy decision-making. I've passed on a lot of things that probably were in my best interest not to pass on. Likewise, I've accepted behaviors from people that I definitely should not have done."

"You aren't the only one," River admitted, his expression one of understanding. "I'm trying to do better now though. Stop letting people walk all over me, unless I've given them consent to."

Emmanuel smiled at that, then gestured for River to slide over so he could lie down behind him. Emmanuel felt like being the big spoon tonight. River shifted on the bed so Emmanuel could move in behind him and let out a sigh of satisfaction when Emmanuel slipped his arms around him. River felt warm and safe here, in Emmanuel's arms, in a way he never had with anyone else. Emmanuel had never felt more comfortable with anyone in his arms before either and there was a small kernel of doubt in the back of his mind that told him that he didn't dare trust that this could be it.

They fell asleep like that, both afraid to view this as any sort of permanent coupling while still wanting just that. Chuck and Krysta went off on their honeymoon the next day and then it was life as usual for both of them.

River still couldn't shake the feeling that someone was watching him, no matter where he seemed to be, but he couldn't find anything out of the ordinary. It disturbed his sleep enough that he had started taking sleep aids most nights to be able to sleep. He had a system for when he got home from work now, which was his normal routine with just one more thing added.

He would come home, take a shower to get all of the grime and sweat off, and then eat some dinner, chug down a sports drink, and go to bed. If Emmanuel came over, then he would stay up until he got there, then he would take his sleep aid. If he didn't come over, then he sent a goodnight and took the sleep aid before laying down.

It was a month after the wedding that River came home and took his shower, eating really fast before he grabbed the next sports drink in his mini fridge to take into the room. He sent a text to Emmanuel as he sat down, asking, "Am I keeping this bed warm for you tonight?"

"Hopefully," was Emmanuel's quick response. "I have to finish this run with Rufus to pick up fresh meat on the East Side, then I should be able to head over. Depends on how late we get back."

River grinned and opened up his sports drink, chugging it down. He drank a ton of coffee at work, which was dehydrating and contained no major nutrients he actually needed for his body. Sports drinks were his quick fix after work to rehydrate himself and get the nutrients he likely would forget to get later in the week. It tasted just slightly more bitter than it usually did, but sometimes he found one in a batch that wasn't perfect so he didn't think anything of it.

He laid down on the bed, wearing only purple and brown striped boxer briefs. He was taking a few photos of him on the bed, trying to entice Emmanuel into hurrying that along however he could. He hadn't taken the sleep aid at all yet, expecting that they would get up to some sort of play when he got there, but his eyes started getting droopy as if he had taken them. He just managed to send the photo before he put his phone down on the bed, looking around to try and figure out why he was so tired.