Damien Thomas Larson (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
musicsavesmysoul) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
dreamlikenewyork2020-04-10 08:31 pm
musicsavesmysoul) wrote in dreamlikenewyork2020-04-10 08:31 pm
Entry tags:
- [character] brandon blake,
- [character] damien larson,
- [character] jesse hartley,
- [character] justin campbell,
- [character] liam morgan,
- [character] merlin blake,
- [character] paxton carlyle,
- [character] rose shaw,
- [scene] rp,
- [ship] angel/rose,
- [ship] jesse/jace,
- [ship] justin/sasha,
- [ship] liam/damien,
- [ship] liam/paxton,
- [ship] merlin/brandon
"If you know what it's like, to dream a dream. Baby, hold me tight and let this be."
Who: Damien Larson and Liam Morgan with Justin Campbell, Jesse Hartley, Merlin Blake and Rose Shaw
What: Mother of all fucking surprises!
Where: New York City
When: Backdated : During this
Damien was in his absolute fucking element. Justin was bringing the house down and Damian was loving every minute of watching from the edge of the stage. His supporting act set to open for Justin had been a huge hit and he just got word that the entire stock of his album had sold out at the merch stand. He wished he had listened to Justin, who told him to bring more. He had been so sure the audience was only there for Justin and he was just along for the ride to get exposure to hopefully pull him from the indie market to mainstream. During the whole tour, he was booked to join Justin on various media commitments. He also knew everything Justin had planned for his show and he was still blown away.
Or at least… so he thought he knew everything. After the last big number where Justin danced with his backup dancers led by Harry and Brody, the dancers all piled off and Justin took his microphone from the stand when the setlist showed a brief break and costume change at this point.
Justin took one of his earpieces from his ear so he could hear the crowd and the lights went up so he could see at least the first few rows of the audience, who were screaming and cheering. “HELLO, NEW YORK! Are we rocking out yet? Are we having fun?” He walked out onto the stage runway that jutted out into the mosh pit area where there was only standing and dancing room. A lot of the competition winners were in this section. The audience screamed but he put his hand to his ear. “Biggest city in the world, huh? Then how come I CAN’T HEAR YOU!”
Damien grinned as Justin worked the audience and the auditorium was overtaken by a roar of cheering, screaming, and whistling. If anyone had doubts this kid could pull all this off or had the chops has a solo artist away from Broadway, he was shitting all over their skepticism from great heights. If Damien ever had a droplet of the charismatic stage presence Justin had, he would die a happy man. He always thought he was happy with being an indie artist and accepting the gig as Justin’s supporting act for the fun and experience alone but this was giving him a taste of the big time and only one set down, he was hooked on the exhilarating buzz of it all. Justin had been on a large live stage for a ticket lottery show that was packed every night and he performed at huge charity shows, he was used to this. Damien was only used to boutique venues in the UK, not sold out venues of literally thousands like they had tonight.
“Yeah! Now that’s more like it! Okay, seeing as it’s Valentine’s Day, which is one of my favourite holidays. Not just for celebrating romantic love even if that’s important.” Justin paused winked in the direction Sasha was sitting with their merged families and blew him a kiss which earned some cheers from the audience and he laughed. “But all love should be celebrated and that’s part of the reason why we’ve created this show the way we have because if we have someone or something we love, it gives us a reason to keep waking up every morning and sometimes, that’s a tough fight for us humans. And if I can give y’all something to love, that you wanna keep coming back to, then it automatically makes my life better, no matter what else is happening in my life. Without you guys, I wouldn’t be here. So, I have a bit of a fun surprise for y’all with this next number. We couldn’t kick off this tour in one of my two home cities and not make it memorable, could we? Tonight, all you guys, my freaking fabulous New York audience who I love with my whole heart, are going to join me for a very special moment for some people who are very dear to my heart. If there’s one thing I want my music to do, it’s to champion love, especially LGBT+ love…”
There was another of passionate collective cheer from the fans and a came up to the edge of the stage to give Justin a Pride flag. Damien watched as Justin crouched down to take it from her and gave her a hug, albeit with one of the security team keeping a grip on the back of his belt so he wasn’t pulled into the melee of screaming fans. He didn’t know what was going on but he was happy to go along for the ride. It was Valentine’s Day, after all. Maybe Justin was going to spring a huge Pride anthem sing-along on them all but Damien knew Justin had dedicated an entire set later in the show to Pride.
Justin nodded, tying the Pride flag around his neck to wear it like a cape and held a hand up in respect. “I know, right? Which is why I have a little surprise in store tonight but first, I need my incredible supporting musician join me on the stage to help me with this next number. C’mon on, come out and join me, Damien!”
He gestured to Damien stage left and Damien had no idea WTF this was about. That was written all over his face and Justin knew it, by the way he was smirking at him. This kid had a way of pulling grand gesture surprises on people he cared about but Damien had never been on the direct receiving end. What song was he talking about? The only other numbers he was pegged to join Justin on stage for was a duet in the back half of the show and the encore at the very end. The show wasn’t even a third of the way through. He was shrugging, holding his hands up in surrender, not even sure if Justin was serious here or he was about to be spectacularly pranked.
When he didn’t immediately run out on stage to join Justin, Austin, who had been on hand in case Justin had any wardrobe blowouts or malfunctions gave Damien a nudge and he nearly tripped on his foot, narrowly avoiding stumbling onto the stage. He headed out, giving Justin a puzzled frown when a spotlight fell on him and there was applause from the audience, a loud wolf whistle and a few fans calling out his name. Well, he was relieved to know his opening act scored him a few fans, even if screaming teenage girls scared him a bit. His indi crowd were more college punks, goths, laidback academics, some medical students from a nearby hospital, and a few drag queens when he gigged in London.
Justin wrapped his arm around Damien’s shoulders and gave him a grin. “How much did y’all love Damien’s set tonight? Yeah? Pretty awesome, huh? What some of y’all might not know is Damien is like family to me. He’s the big brother to one of the best sidekicks I’ve had the pleasure of working with on Footloose and one of my dear friends. Do y’all know who Merlin is?”
More cheering and clapping erupted and Justin nodded. “Hell, yeah! Now, what Damien doesn’t know is that it ain’t possible for us to do this next number alone. I’ve had to bring in a few folk for backup because we all need family to celebrate our big moments in life and that’s what tonight is for Damien. I don’t just mean it’s his first night opening for me, even if that’s amazing as all hell. Can we just have the lights and camera over on the first private balcony to my left for a moment. Say hello to your little brother and new brother-in-law, Damo. We managed to have Merlin and his husband, Brandon, come along tonight to share this moment with us. As most of you probably know, Brandon’s not been well and has had a long stay in hospital but we’ve pulled a lot of strings and got him here tonight.”
Through the absolute eruption of screams, it only dawned on Damien this wasn’t a wind up or a prank at all. Merlin really was sitting there with Brandon, who was wearing a beanie and a face mask but holy fuck, they were really there. Somehow, Justin had used his connections to make this happen but he had no idea why. He was shocked and started to tear up seeing Merlin sitting up there hand-in-hand with Brandon, their first appearance in public as a couple after Merlin’s ‘accidental’ outing of Brandon when he took a turn for the worse after his bone marrow transplant.
“Why don’t you come on down here and join us, dude,” Justin coaxed, waving Merlin down. Before Damien even had a chance to process what was going on, Justin was leading him back onto the main stage, taking him to stand in the middle of it. Biting down on his lip, he followed Justin with his eyes when he moved over to pick up his iconic guitar which had a Pride flag in crystals covering the entirety of the body. It looked fucking awesome but it was heavy with the crystal work but you wouldn’t know it to see him handle it and play it. What the hell had this kid and his little cooked up to spring on him tonight? As far as Damien last knew, Merlin had still been at the hospital with Brandon but they had been getting their home developed for Brandon to be safe to finally go home and recuperate there. “A little birdy told me that you’ve had to postpone a really special event a few times. Now I’m here to tell you those days are over. This next one’s for you, Damo… and Liam.”
When Merlin came out onto the stage, he wasn’t alone. He came out with Jesse and they were both in teal tuxes That wasn’t even the moment it hit Damien what was going on. Not quite. For a few moments, it felt like maybe he was hallucinating. This was Justin’s concert, so it was his gig. None of this made sense. He wasn’t even quick enough to catch up with the fact he recognised the tuxes. It was only when Justin was jointed by Shannon on the piano and Fin with a bongo drum and he heard the first strains of the song they were playing - Show Me Heaven - that Liam sung to Damien at an open mic night in their early dating days and that Damien would recognise until his dying breath and Merlin and Jesse parted, revealing Liam being led in by Rose in a gorgeous sparkly teal dress. Rose, who he hadn’t seen in fucking months because he fucked their friendship up when he screwed everything up with Liam and she had been living overseas with Angel since he had been back in New York. They were fucking springing his wedding on him, in the middle of Justin’s opening night on a stage in front of all their closest family and friends, with thousands of other fans.
Damien usually wasn’t one to easily cry in public but he put his hands up to his mouth with a laugh of shock at first but he leaned over and started to cry. Running up to them, he was wrapped in a group hug, followed by separate hugs. Damn, he forgot how tiny Rose was. He couldn’t believe she had come all this way for this. But she even took it a step further. Once they hugged, she went over and accepted one of the backup singers' mics and started to sing back up with him, just like she had for Liam the night he sprung on Damien that he actually had some singing talent himself, though Damien had never heard him sing again since. After giving Merlin a lingering hug and trying to ask if he was okay and if Brandon was okay, Merlin subtly passed him over to Liam, who was suddenly standing there facing him, smiling and a smile that told Damien he was behind all of this. Justin might have lent him his show and stage briefly but Damien had no doubt as soon as he saw Liam’s blue-green eyes shining that this was all his doing to surprise Damien.
It was no secret they had broken up twice - including breaking their engagement and wedding plans the first time around. Then they had wedding plans in place to marry after Merlin and Brandon in Cape Cod while all their family was together but Brandon but they both woke up with a nasty case of food poisoning the morning of their big day and had to postpone for a few days. Then in those few days, Brandon’s condition deteriorated with another internal bleed and he had to be flown back to New York for urgent treatment. Melin was Damien’s Best Man. He hadn’t wanted to do it without him. In the middle of all that, Liam’s Best Man, Paxton, also had a terrible brush with death. Rescheduling their wedding again was the last thing on their mind and they just made an easy decision to hold off indefinitely until Brandon was back on his feet, if he even made it.
Damien looked up to where Merlin had been sitting with Brandon and he saw that his parents were there now, both with their arms around Brandon’s shoulders and he saw then that beside them, Paxton was sitting with Liam’s family. At the other end of the row, Liam’s parents were sitting and behind them, the rest of his seven older brothers and sisters. Justin had been clever utilising the spotlight on Merlin and Brandon briefly because Damien had been too distracted to by seeing them away from the hospital he had noticed anyone else sitting with them. His heart also exploded somehow just a little more seeing that close connection of his mom and dad with Brandon, their now son-in-law. A lot had happened in a short space of time for their family but no one had expected Merlin to come out of the LGBT+ closet too, let alone end up marrying a guy who just happened to be one of the biggest TV stars in the world right now and no one knew was gay at that point.
He turned back to Liam, smiling through his tears and shaking his head in disbelief. He gave him a kiss and pulled him into a hug. Without a doubt, they were going to have a totally awesome wedding night later. Not that Damien wished he could fast-forward through these vital parts of getting married or anything but he was so in love with Liam in that moment, it felt like his chest was about to explode and he couldn’t stop smiling when the hug ended and he took both of Liam’s hands into his, kissing his fingers while they listened to the rest of their song being sung to them. It was what they had been going to walk up the aisle to anyway and Justin had been going to sing it for them, but this was out of this world.
At the end of the song, Justin came over to them, grinning. “I’m going to hand things over to seriously one of the best nurses in the universe now, which I can totally vouch for with how many times he’s taken care of me when I ain’t been well. This is Jesse, Damien’s best mate, and y’all got to give him a round of applause here because he’s been telling me all week how nervous he is about this because he said his skills are in scrubs, not on a stage. But he forgets some of us all saw him at his bachelor party. He happens to be married to my incredible ink artist who designed this amazing artwork for my tour, so we can thank both of them for help with the special effects tonight. They say picturing them all in their undies helps, dude. I mean, it wont work but at least you catch your husband in the mix, huh?” He smiled and pulled the stand over for his mic, setting it back in place and adjusting it for Jesse’s height.
Jesse cleared his throat, definitely still as terrified about public speaking as he was since he wet his pants during his first grade school recital. He was a tried and true introvert and speaking to his patients was about as far as he took the public speaking thing. This was terrifying but since Liam had approached him with the idea, he had been trying to prepare himself for it. He knew it would be the most amazing of memories for them and they deserved something out of this world after everything their relationship had survived. “So, I haven’t done this before. Actually, I’ve only been officially ordained a couple of weeks but there’s no one else I would want to do this for. Damien’s been my best friend since we were babies and I was lucky enough to watch him fall in love with his soul mate, who has now also become one of my closest friends. This is about them and putting right things that went wrong when life got too hard. And when you’ve loved each other as much as these guys do, you know all the things you want to say.” He gave Liam the microphone, already trying to fight back happy tears because he was one of those wedding people.
Liam took a deep breath and had to take a couple of moments to brace himself and fight off the surge of emotions setting in when he was hit with how lucky he was to even still be here and finally have the chance to get things right with Damien. It wasn’t like he was going to go into their whole relationship and private history in front of so many strangers but he wanted to surprise Damien before he went away on tour. They had waited too long already and he knew this was special, an amazing memory they would always have.
“I—” he tried to begin but he choked up and had to pause again to clear his throat. “We’ve both gone through a lot in our lives that probably should’ve destroyed us. We’ve gone through things together that did destroy us for a little while. But I don’t think I was ever going to be able to live without you. This is something we should’ve done years ago now. When I saw you singing earlier, all I could think about was how much I loved you and how proud I was of you. I can’t even remember the songs you sang. I could stand here all night and list all the reasons why I love you but we’ve got our whole lives together for that. And I will. Damien Larson, I promise you here tonight in front of all these beautiful fans of Justin’s that I will spend the rest of my life showing you why I love you and why everything we’ve gone through to get here makes it all worth it. Kids like Justin and Merlin have shown us how to get it done no matter what life throws our way, so let’s do this thing, We’ve got this, baby.”
Hell, Damien knew he was going to cry on his wedding day for all these reasons. If you told that to the younger Damien, he probably would’ve laughed. But the fact Liam was still here was a miracle in itself and Liam had taught him why life was sometimes the hardest fucking thing in the world to keep doing but that when you loved someone so much, it physically hurt, they were worth the pain. They were worth the fight. So, now, with tears splashing down his cheeks, he laughed through them and accepted the mic off Liam. Bloody hell, he he had written vows for when they planned to get married in Cape Cod but he couldn’t remember a word of them now.
“Crap, I just remembered we’re sharing a wedding date with Jesse and Jace, so happy anniversary, guys. Sorry for unknowingly crashing it but I think we’re gonna have some awesome double anniversary dates in the future, yeah? Like, fifty years down the track ordering heart-shaped pizza and watching reruns or corny romcoms we didn’t even like the first time.” Damien was laughing nervously and he caught Merlin giving him a knowing little brother smirk. He always told Damien he rambled when he was nervous. Jesse gave them both a grin and offered a friendly pat to Damien’s arm. Liam was just standing there with his beautiful smile giving him teary heart-eyes that Damien was so sure matched his own.
He chewed his lip and had to intercept himself from laughing when he realised all their ‘wedding party’ - including Rose in her beautiful slinky evening gown - were wearing sparkly Converse high-tops to honour standing on Justin’s stage with him. Jeezus, they’d gone the whole distance with this and Damien was so emotional, he was barely keeping it together. “See, I write songs for a living but suddenly I feel like I’ve run out of the right words to say and I’ve never been one to have stage fright or performance anxiety.” He took a deep breath and flexed his hand around Justin’s microphone, as glam and blingy as he rest of his look, which he didn’t normally share with anyone. “I still can’t even believe you still want me after everything, darlin’. Since the day I met you, I know I’ve been punching above my weight but you loved me back and I dunno if I’ll ever truly understand why I deserve that. I can’t believe you ever gave me a second or a third chance on this crazy lil’ thing we call love. I can’t believe I get to go to sleep with you every night and wake up with you every morning… except for when you’re on nightshifts and I scramble my own sleep pattern so even then, I don’t have to give that up. And yeah, all these people showed me the right way to love you. They showed me why giving up couldn’t be an option. They showed me that what I thought was failure and defeat was really true love in every way it was worth fighting for. I wanna write a million love songs for you, darlin’. I wanna shout from a million rooftops how much I love you. And I wanna be there for you every moment it hurts on those days it’s hard for you to get up and face the world. So, let’s finally get to those two little words that seal the deal on our future but after I remind you of the only three little words that will matter forever. I love you, Dr. Liam Morgan. I love you and I will fight for you on all those days you can’t fight for yourself. Forever.” Even though Liam was standing right there in front of him holding his hand, Damien blew him a kiss and handed the mic back to Jesse.
Wiping away his own tears - because he was absolutely a wedding crier - Jesse wrapped his hand around Liam and Damien’s joined ones, giving them a squeeze. Merlin stepped forward and placed a thick diamond and ruby wedding band in Jesse’s palm. Liam and Damien had their wedding rings personally designed with their birthstones but they had been sitting untouched in a drawer for some weeks now. He took the other matching one from his own pocket, holding it up to Liam. “Hand-delivered to me from your Best Man, who couldn’t be up here with us tonight.”
Liam looked up to the VIP section where Paxton was sitting with his family, kissing his fingers and holding them up to Pax. There was probably going to be a huge sobbing heart-to-heart with him later on. One of the reasons they postponed the wedding was because he wanted Pax there as his Best Man. But his horrific brush with meningococcal meningitis had left Paxton unable to walk and was having some troubles with blurry vision and vertigo and they didn’t know if he would recover that functionality. He had taken ill rapidly on a flight back from Paris and the delay getting him treatment could leave him with long-term problems, like Jesse’s epilepsy from when he had a similar illness as a child. The enormity of what was happening hit him out of the blue and he barely managed to swallow back a sob. He had been so focused on arranging to spring this surprise wedding on Damien with Justin and his team’s help that he was distracted from the deeper wave of emotions with it. They really had been to hell and back to get here and he couldn’t believe it was finally happening. He tightened his grip of Damien’s hand until his knuckles were white and gave him another smile.
“Liam,” Jesse began, knowing there was going to be a deluge of tears backstage after all this. ”Do you take today as the beginning of forever with Damien — forever kisses, forever loves, forever together as one. To love and to cherish, to make him laugh, to hold him when he cries, to never hold back, and to look forward to falling in love with him again day after day as your husband from this day forward?”
Slipping the wedding ring onto Damien’s finger, Liam nodded and pulled Damien’s hand to his lips to kiss the back of it. “I do.”
“Damien, do you take today as the beginning of forever with Liam — forever kisses, forever loves, forever together as one. To love and to cherish, to make him laugh, to hold him when he cries, to never hold back, and to look forward to falling in love with him again day after day as your husband from this day forward?” Jesse could see Damien swallowing deeply, like he was either going to break down at any second. The way he was looking at Liam, this was why they always had to give their relationship another shot. This was the real deal, something not everyone would have in their lifetime. You couldn’t just let that go.
“I do. I do! Of course I freaking do.” Damien somehow managed to get out, putting Liam’s ring on and twisting it into place on his finger.
“By the power invested in me by the State of New York - Justin Campbell - I now pronounce you finally married,” Jesse told them, grinning and gesturing them together. “Now kiss!”
Damien pulled Liam close and dipped him in a deep kiss but had to break it to burst out laughing when Justin broke into singing Bad Case of Loving You (Doctor, Doctor) and they received a standing ovation from the audience. Justin moved out onto the runway stage to finish the song and the curtain swung closed to give them a bit of privacy. Damien finally let his happy tears come and grabbed Liam in a hug, but only briefly before they were both enveloped in a group hug with Jesse, Merlin, and Rose. Damien couldn’t quite believe what just happened and wasn’t sure he would be able to stop crying for the rest of the night.
LOG, COMPLETE
What: Mother of all fucking surprises!
Where: New York City
When: Backdated : During this
Damien was in his absolute fucking element. Justin was bringing the house down and Damian was loving every minute of watching from the edge of the stage. His supporting act set to open for Justin had been a huge hit and he just got word that the entire stock of his album had sold out at the merch stand. He wished he had listened to Justin, who told him to bring more. He had been so sure the audience was only there for Justin and he was just along for the ride to get exposure to hopefully pull him from the indie market to mainstream. During the whole tour, he was booked to join Justin on various media commitments. He also knew everything Justin had planned for his show and he was still blown away.
Or at least… so he thought he knew everything. After the last big number where Justin danced with his backup dancers led by Harry and Brody, the dancers all piled off and Justin took his microphone from the stand when the setlist showed a brief break and costume change at this point.
Justin took one of his earpieces from his ear so he could hear the crowd and the lights went up so he could see at least the first few rows of the audience, who were screaming and cheering. “HELLO, NEW YORK! Are we rocking out yet? Are we having fun?” He walked out onto the stage runway that jutted out into the mosh pit area where there was only standing and dancing room. A lot of the competition winners were in this section. The audience screamed but he put his hand to his ear. “Biggest city in the world, huh? Then how come I CAN’T HEAR YOU!”
Damien grinned as Justin worked the audience and the auditorium was overtaken by a roar of cheering, screaming, and whistling. If anyone had doubts this kid could pull all this off or had the chops has a solo artist away from Broadway, he was shitting all over their skepticism from great heights. If Damien ever had a droplet of the charismatic stage presence Justin had, he would die a happy man. He always thought he was happy with being an indie artist and accepting the gig as Justin’s supporting act for the fun and experience alone but this was giving him a taste of the big time and only one set down, he was hooked on the exhilarating buzz of it all. Justin had been on a large live stage for a ticket lottery show that was packed every night and he performed at huge charity shows, he was used to this. Damien was only used to boutique venues in the UK, not sold out venues of literally thousands like they had tonight.
“Yeah! Now that’s more like it! Okay, seeing as it’s Valentine’s Day, which is one of my favourite holidays. Not just for celebrating romantic love even if that’s important.” Justin paused winked in the direction Sasha was sitting with their merged families and blew him a kiss which earned some cheers from the audience and he laughed. “But all love should be celebrated and that’s part of the reason why we’ve created this show the way we have because if we have someone or something we love, it gives us a reason to keep waking up every morning and sometimes, that’s a tough fight for us humans. And if I can give y’all something to love, that you wanna keep coming back to, then it automatically makes my life better, no matter what else is happening in my life. Without you guys, I wouldn’t be here. So, I have a bit of a fun surprise for y’all with this next number. We couldn’t kick off this tour in one of my two home cities and not make it memorable, could we? Tonight, all you guys, my freaking fabulous New York audience who I love with my whole heart, are going to join me for a very special moment for some people who are very dear to my heart. If there’s one thing I want my music to do, it’s to champion love, especially LGBT+ love…”
There was another of passionate collective cheer from the fans and a came up to the edge of the stage to give Justin a Pride flag. Damien watched as Justin crouched down to take it from her and gave her a hug, albeit with one of the security team keeping a grip on the back of his belt so he wasn’t pulled into the melee of screaming fans. He didn’t know what was going on but he was happy to go along for the ride. It was Valentine’s Day, after all. Maybe Justin was going to spring a huge Pride anthem sing-along on them all but Damien knew Justin had dedicated an entire set later in the show to Pride.
Justin nodded, tying the Pride flag around his neck to wear it like a cape and held a hand up in respect. “I know, right? Which is why I have a little surprise in store tonight but first, I need my incredible supporting musician join me on the stage to help me with this next number. C’mon on, come out and join me, Damien!”
He gestured to Damien stage left and Damien had no idea WTF this was about. That was written all over his face and Justin knew it, by the way he was smirking at him. This kid had a way of pulling grand gesture surprises on people he cared about but Damien had never been on the direct receiving end. What song was he talking about? The only other numbers he was pegged to join Justin on stage for was a duet in the back half of the show and the encore at the very end. The show wasn’t even a third of the way through. He was shrugging, holding his hands up in surrender, not even sure if Justin was serious here or he was about to be spectacularly pranked.
When he didn’t immediately run out on stage to join Justin, Austin, who had been on hand in case Justin had any wardrobe blowouts or malfunctions gave Damien a nudge and he nearly tripped on his foot, narrowly avoiding stumbling onto the stage. He headed out, giving Justin a puzzled frown when a spotlight fell on him and there was applause from the audience, a loud wolf whistle and a few fans calling out his name. Well, he was relieved to know his opening act scored him a few fans, even if screaming teenage girls scared him a bit. His indi crowd were more college punks, goths, laidback academics, some medical students from a nearby hospital, and a few drag queens when he gigged in London.
Justin wrapped his arm around Damien’s shoulders and gave him a grin. “How much did y’all love Damien’s set tonight? Yeah? Pretty awesome, huh? What some of y’all might not know is Damien is like family to me. He’s the big brother to one of the best sidekicks I’ve had the pleasure of working with on Footloose and one of my dear friends. Do y’all know who Merlin is?”
More cheering and clapping erupted and Justin nodded. “Hell, yeah! Now, what Damien doesn’t know is that it ain’t possible for us to do this next number alone. I’ve had to bring in a few folk for backup because we all need family to celebrate our big moments in life and that’s what tonight is for Damien. I don’t just mean it’s his first night opening for me, even if that’s amazing as all hell. Can we just have the lights and camera over on the first private balcony to my left for a moment. Say hello to your little brother and new brother-in-law, Damo. We managed to have Merlin and his husband, Brandon, come along tonight to share this moment with us. As most of you probably know, Brandon’s not been well and has had a long stay in hospital but we’ve pulled a lot of strings and got him here tonight.”
Through the absolute eruption of screams, it only dawned on Damien this wasn’t a wind up or a prank at all. Merlin really was sitting there with Brandon, who was wearing a beanie and a face mask but holy fuck, they were really there. Somehow, Justin had used his connections to make this happen but he had no idea why. He was shocked and started to tear up seeing Merlin sitting up there hand-in-hand with Brandon, their first appearance in public as a couple after Merlin’s ‘accidental’ outing of Brandon when he took a turn for the worse after his bone marrow transplant.
“Why don’t you come on down here and join us, dude,” Justin coaxed, waving Merlin down. Before Damien even had a chance to process what was going on, Justin was leading him back onto the main stage, taking him to stand in the middle of it. Biting down on his lip, he followed Justin with his eyes when he moved over to pick up his iconic guitar which had a Pride flag in crystals covering the entirety of the body. It looked fucking awesome but it was heavy with the crystal work but you wouldn’t know it to see him handle it and play it. What the hell had this kid and his little cooked up to spring on him tonight? As far as Damien last knew, Merlin had still been at the hospital with Brandon but they had been getting their home developed for Brandon to be safe to finally go home and recuperate there. “A little birdy told me that you’ve had to postpone a really special event a few times. Now I’m here to tell you those days are over. This next one’s for you, Damo… and Liam.”
When Merlin came out onto the stage, he wasn’t alone. He came out with Jesse and they were both in teal tuxes That wasn’t even the moment it hit Damien what was going on. Not quite. For a few moments, it felt like maybe he was hallucinating. This was Justin’s concert, so it was his gig. None of this made sense. He wasn’t even quick enough to catch up with the fact he recognised the tuxes. It was only when Justin was jointed by Shannon on the piano and Fin with a bongo drum and he heard the first strains of the song they were playing - Show Me Heaven - that Liam sung to Damien at an open mic night in their early dating days and that Damien would recognise until his dying breath and Merlin and Jesse parted, revealing Liam being led in by Rose in a gorgeous sparkly teal dress. Rose, who he hadn’t seen in fucking months because he fucked their friendship up when he screwed everything up with Liam and she had been living overseas with Angel since he had been back in New York. They were fucking springing his wedding on him, in the middle of Justin’s opening night on a stage in front of all their closest family and friends, with thousands of other fans.
Damien usually wasn’t one to easily cry in public but he put his hands up to his mouth with a laugh of shock at first but he leaned over and started to cry. Running up to them, he was wrapped in a group hug, followed by separate hugs. Damn, he forgot how tiny Rose was. He couldn’t believe she had come all this way for this. But she even took it a step further. Once they hugged, she went over and accepted one of the backup singers' mics and started to sing back up with him, just like she had for Liam the night he sprung on Damien that he actually had some singing talent himself, though Damien had never heard him sing again since. After giving Merlin a lingering hug and trying to ask if he was okay and if Brandon was okay, Merlin subtly passed him over to Liam, who was suddenly standing there facing him, smiling and a smile that told Damien he was behind all of this. Justin might have lent him his show and stage briefly but Damien had no doubt as soon as he saw Liam’s blue-green eyes shining that this was all his doing to surprise Damien.
It was no secret they had broken up twice - including breaking their engagement and wedding plans the first time around. Then they had wedding plans in place to marry after Merlin and Brandon in Cape Cod while all their family was together but Brandon but they both woke up with a nasty case of food poisoning the morning of their big day and had to postpone for a few days. Then in those few days, Brandon’s condition deteriorated with another internal bleed and he had to be flown back to New York for urgent treatment. Melin was Damien’s Best Man. He hadn’t wanted to do it without him. In the middle of all that, Liam’s Best Man, Paxton, also had a terrible brush with death. Rescheduling their wedding again was the last thing on their mind and they just made an easy decision to hold off indefinitely until Brandon was back on his feet, if he even made it.
Damien looked up to where Merlin had been sitting with Brandon and he saw that his parents were there now, both with their arms around Brandon’s shoulders and he saw then that beside them, Paxton was sitting with Liam’s family. At the other end of the row, Liam’s parents were sitting and behind them, the rest of his seven older brothers and sisters. Justin had been clever utilising the spotlight on Merlin and Brandon briefly because Damien had been too distracted to by seeing them away from the hospital he had noticed anyone else sitting with them. His heart also exploded somehow just a little more seeing that close connection of his mom and dad with Brandon, their now son-in-law. A lot had happened in a short space of time for their family but no one had expected Merlin to come out of the LGBT+ closet too, let alone end up marrying a guy who just happened to be one of the biggest TV stars in the world right now and no one knew was gay at that point.
He turned back to Liam, smiling through his tears and shaking his head in disbelief. He gave him a kiss and pulled him into a hug. Without a doubt, they were going to have a totally awesome wedding night later. Not that Damien wished he could fast-forward through these vital parts of getting married or anything but he was so in love with Liam in that moment, it felt like his chest was about to explode and he couldn’t stop smiling when the hug ended and he took both of Liam’s hands into his, kissing his fingers while they listened to the rest of their song being sung to them. It was what they had been going to walk up the aisle to anyway and Justin had been going to sing it for them, but this was out of this world.
At the end of the song, Justin came over to them, grinning. “I’m going to hand things over to seriously one of the best nurses in the universe now, which I can totally vouch for with how many times he’s taken care of me when I ain’t been well. This is Jesse, Damien’s best mate, and y’all got to give him a round of applause here because he’s been telling me all week how nervous he is about this because he said his skills are in scrubs, not on a stage. But he forgets some of us all saw him at his bachelor party. He happens to be married to my incredible ink artist who designed this amazing artwork for my tour, so we can thank both of them for help with the special effects tonight. They say picturing them all in their undies helps, dude. I mean, it wont work but at least you catch your husband in the mix, huh?” He smiled and pulled the stand over for his mic, setting it back in place and adjusting it for Jesse’s height.
Jesse cleared his throat, definitely still as terrified about public speaking as he was since he wet his pants during his first grade school recital. He was a tried and true introvert and speaking to his patients was about as far as he took the public speaking thing. This was terrifying but since Liam had approached him with the idea, he had been trying to prepare himself for it. He knew it would be the most amazing of memories for them and they deserved something out of this world after everything their relationship had survived. “So, I haven’t done this before. Actually, I’ve only been officially ordained a couple of weeks but there’s no one else I would want to do this for. Damien’s been my best friend since we were babies and I was lucky enough to watch him fall in love with his soul mate, who has now also become one of my closest friends. This is about them and putting right things that went wrong when life got too hard. And when you’ve loved each other as much as these guys do, you know all the things you want to say.” He gave Liam the microphone, already trying to fight back happy tears because he was one of those wedding people.
Liam took a deep breath and had to take a couple of moments to brace himself and fight off the surge of emotions setting in when he was hit with how lucky he was to even still be here and finally have the chance to get things right with Damien. It wasn’t like he was going to go into their whole relationship and private history in front of so many strangers but he wanted to surprise Damien before he went away on tour. They had waited too long already and he knew this was special, an amazing memory they would always have.
“I—” he tried to begin but he choked up and had to pause again to clear his throat. “We’ve both gone through a lot in our lives that probably should’ve destroyed us. We’ve gone through things together that did destroy us for a little while. But I don’t think I was ever going to be able to live without you. This is something we should’ve done years ago now. When I saw you singing earlier, all I could think about was how much I loved you and how proud I was of you. I can’t even remember the songs you sang. I could stand here all night and list all the reasons why I love you but we’ve got our whole lives together for that. And I will. Damien Larson, I promise you here tonight in front of all these beautiful fans of Justin’s that I will spend the rest of my life showing you why I love you and why everything we’ve gone through to get here makes it all worth it. Kids like Justin and Merlin have shown us how to get it done no matter what life throws our way, so let’s do this thing, We’ve got this, baby.”
Hell, Damien knew he was going to cry on his wedding day for all these reasons. If you told that to the younger Damien, he probably would’ve laughed. But the fact Liam was still here was a miracle in itself and Liam had taught him why life was sometimes the hardest fucking thing in the world to keep doing but that when you loved someone so much, it physically hurt, they were worth the pain. They were worth the fight. So, now, with tears splashing down his cheeks, he laughed through them and accepted the mic off Liam. Bloody hell, he he had written vows for when they planned to get married in Cape Cod but he couldn’t remember a word of them now.
“Crap, I just remembered we’re sharing a wedding date with Jesse and Jace, so happy anniversary, guys. Sorry for unknowingly crashing it but I think we’re gonna have some awesome double anniversary dates in the future, yeah? Like, fifty years down the track ordering heart-shaped pizza and watching reruns or corny romcoms we didn’t even like the first time.” Damien was laughing nervously and he caught Merlin giving him a knowing little brother smirk. He always told Damien he rambled when he was nervous. Jesse gave them both a grin and offered a friendly pat to Damien’s arm. Liam was just standing there with his beautiful smile giving him teary heart-eyes that Damien was so sure matched his own.
He chewed his lip and had to intercept himself from laughing when he realised all their ‘wedding party’ - including Rose in her beautiful slinky evening gown - were wearing sparkly Converse high-tops to honour standing on Justin’s stage with him. Jeezus, they’d gone the whole distance with this and Damien was so emotional, he was barely keeping it together. “See, I write songs for a living but suddenly I feel like I’ve run out of the right words to say and I’ve never been one to have stage fright or performance anxiety.” He took a deep breath and flexed his hand around Justin’s microphone, as glam and blingy as he rest of his look, which he didn’t normally share with anyone. “I still can’t even believe you still want me after everything, darlin’. Since the day I met you, I know I’ve been punching above my weight but you loved me back and I dunno if I’ll ever truly understand why I deserve that. I can’t believe you ever gave me a second or a third chance on this crazy lil’ thing we call love. I can’t believe I get to go to sleep with you every night and wake up with you every morning… except for when you’re on nightshifts and I scramble my own sleep pattern so even then, I don’t have to give that up. And yeah, all these people showed me the right way to love you. They showed me why giving up couldn’t be an option. They showed me that what I thought was failure and defeat was really true love in every way it was worth fighting for. I wanna write a million love songs for you, darlin’. I wanna shout from a million rooftops how much I love you. And I wanna be there for you every moment it hurts on those days it’s hard for you to get up and face the world. So, let’s finally get to those two little words that seal the deal on our future but after I remind you of the only three little words that will matter forever. I love you, Dr. Liam Morgan. I love you and I will fight for you on all those days you can’t fight for yourself. Forever.” Even though Liam was standing right there in front of him holding his hand, Damien blew him a kiss and handed the mic back to Jesse.
Wiping away his own tears - because he was absolutely a wedding crier - Jesse wrapped his hand around Liam and Damien’s joined ones, giving them a squeeze. Merlin stepped forward and placed a thick diamond and ruby wedding band in Jesse’s palm. Liam and Damien had their wedding rings personally designed with their birthstones but they had been sitting untouched in a drawer for some weeks now. He took the other matching one from his own pocket, holding it up to Liam. “Hand-delivered to me from your Best Man, who couldn’t be up here with us tonight.”
Liam looked up to the VIP section where Paxton was sitting with his family, kissing his fingers and holding them up to Pax. There was probably going to be a huge sobbing heart-to-heart with him later on. One of the reasons they postponed the wedding was because he wanted Pax there as his Best Man. But his horrific brush with meningococcal meningitis had left Paxton unable to walk and was having some troubles with blurry vision and vertigo and they didn’t know if he would recover that functionality. He had taken ill rapidly on a flight back from Paris and the delay getting him treatment could leave him with long-term problems, like Jesse’s epilepsy from when he had a similar illness as a child. The enormity of what was happening hit him out of the blue and he barely managed to swallow back a sob. He had been so focused on arranging to spring this surprise wedding on Damien with Justin and his team’s help that he was distracted from the deeper wave of emotions with it. They really had been to hell and back to get here and he couldn’t believe it was finally happening. He tightened his grip of Damien’s hand until his knuckles were white and gave him another smile.
“Liam,” Jesse began, knowing there was going to be a deluge of tears backstage after all this. ”Do you take today as the beginning of forever with Damien — forever kisses, forever loves, forever together as one. To love and to cherish, to make him laugh, to hold him when he cries, to never hold back, and to look forward to falling in love with him again day after day as your husband from this day forward?”
Slipping the wedding ring onto Damien’s finger, Liam nodded and pulled Damien’s hand to his lips to kiss the back of it. “I do.”
“Damien, do you take today as the beginning of forever with Liam — forever kisses, forever loves, forever together as one. To love and to cherish, to make him laugh, to hold him when he cries, to never hold back, and to look forward to falling in love with him again day after day as your husband from this day forward?” Jesse could see Damien swallowing deeply, like he was either going to break down at any second. The way he was looking at Liam, this was why they always had to give their relationship another shot. This was the real deal, something not everyone would have in their lifetime. You couldn’t just let that go.
“I do. I do! Of course I freaking do.” Damien somehow managed to get out, putting Liam’s ring on and twisting it into place on his finger.
“By the power invested in me by the State of New York - Justin Campbell - I now pronounce you finally married,” Jesse told them, grinning and gesturing them together. “Now kiss!”
Damien pulled Liam close and dipped him in a deep kiss but had to break it to burst out laughing when Justin broke into singing Bad Case of Loving You (Doctor, Doctor) and they received a standing ovation from the audience. Justin moved out onto the runway stage to finish the song and the curtain swung closed to give them a bit of privacy. Damien finally let his happy tears come and grabbed Liam in a hug, but only briefly before they were both enveloped in a group hug with Jesse, Merlin, and Rose. Damien couldn’t quite believe what just happened and wasn’t sure he would be able to stop crying for the rest of the night.
LOG, COMPLETE