The interim between sleep and consciousness was always a funny thing. Memories were relived in those moments, forever to be forgotten once eyelids flutter open. During this brief time, nothing is beyond the reach of the imagination or the scope of the mind.

Everything is.

But slowly, as daylight shafts of golden sun make their way into conscious thought, the vast pool of knowledge one once had begins to slip away.

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The only conscious thought when Bradley became aware that he was awake was that his head hurt. Nary a muscle moved, nor an eyelid twitched. He concentrated on his heavy breathing and the way his body was oriented on the mattress. He didn't know how, but he was quite sure his feet were positioned towards the headboard and his left arm hanging off the bed touching the floor. The muted tick-tick of the little clock on the nightstand was the only other sound he could hear aside from Shane's equally heavy breathing.

With great effort, he struggled to open one eye and then the other. When his vision cleared he noticed an array of clothing on the floor. Despite the inability to remember what had happened the night before, he cracked a lopsided grin at the mere thought of a naked Shane beside him. Groaning, the tall and, to his chagrin, naked, Kaiser turned over and moved up the bed to nudge Shane. He sighed, rubbing a hand over his face.

Despite being contently consumed by the hazy fog of drunken sleep, its grip didn't care to linger so strongly on Shane once Bradley began to move. Although her eyes remained closed, not wanting to bear the burden of the headache she knew would pierce her head like an arrow at the first sight of the morning light, she could feel him moving around in the bed and coming up next to her. When she felt his naked skin brush against hers, she naturally smiled, squirming a bit in her spot to wriggle herself that much closer to him. She was all spun up in a tangled mess of sheets, the blankets having been long ago thrown off, and smooth legs were all twisted up in a manner so that it was a surprise that she was covered at all.

But as consciousness slowly began to creep, so did that dull throb in her head, and so Shane did was came natural to her and buried her blonde head into a bundle of pillows with a quiet groan.

"I told you this was a bad idea," he croaked, the words muffled by the hand still rubbing over his face.

"Mm..." Another quiet groan. "You weren't complainin' last night," she murmured in response, finally removing her head from its burrow into the pillows and rolling onto her back.

Bradley yawned, back arching and arms rising over his head in a stretch. Dark eyes shifted over to watch as Shane burrowed back into the pillows, then tipped to the other side in an attempt to focus on the clock. It was 10:14 and Bradley groaned. A hand reached out to pull the clock closer, hoping he'd misread the hands and in doing so he knocked a picture frame off the nightstand. It sounded like the glass plate cracked, so Bradley leaned his frame over the edge of the bed to pick it up. Calloused fingers turned the picture frame over, a cheap plastic ivory colored thing. The Polaroid photo that had been jammed into the picture slot was clearly visible, even through the cracked glass. Bradley simply froze, half hanging off the bed.

"What're you doin'?" Shane asked, her voice still drowsy with sleepiness, as she reached out a hand to slide up his bicep. Through barely slitted lids she saw a giant sparkle, something large and gaudy on the back of her hand, and her eyes squinted as she tried to focus on it. After a couple seconds she was frozen just like Bradley was, her eyes now wide open and staring. "Bradley..." The inflection in her cadence spoke volumes of cloudy confusion, and surely some sort of panic wasn't too far behind.

Shane's voice seemed to jolt him out of his panicked thoughts. Bradley lurched up, bringing the photo with him. He couldn't meet Shane's gaze just yet, a mess of tulle, satin, and lace having caught his eye a few feet away from the bed. Various pieces of a tux lay scattered around, too--the clothes he'd half seen when he woke up. Bradley swallowed audibly, finally turning dark eyes to Shane's. The man was speechless, slack-jawed and holding the photo out to her.

Pushing herself up into a sitting position next to him, she stared down at the back of splayed fingers at the flashy ring that encompassed her left ring finger. Her own mouth was open as she gaped at the sight before her, it taking a moment before she realized that Bradley was holding the picture out to her and she finally managed to tear her eyes off of the ring to look at it. Another couple of minutes left to stare at that before Shane turned to look about the room, spotting the tattered clothes scattered all about the room. They were both lucky she didn't faint. "Bradley..." And there was that hint of panic slipping into her voice.

"I...." Brad trailed off, still finding himself at a loss for words. This was just too much for his brain to process, especially in the murky fog of a hangover. In one swift move, he was off the bed and searching for his boxers. Bradley didn't want to waste time, and moved quickly to the dresser to paw through the top drawer. A few slow, steadying breaths were taken before spinning around to look at Shane again. "I have no idea what happened last night," he began, voice steady and decidedly calm. "But obviously we got a little too drunk. This is nothing to be worried about. I'm sure a Justice of the Peace didn't marry us, therefore the marriage isn't legal."

"We're... married?" Where Brad's voice consisted of an even tone, Shane's was noticeably quavering even with just those two words. The white sheet, while still twisted and crinkled beyond belief, was wound up beneath arms and brought to cover her otherwise naked form. Her left hand remained outcast away from her, pushed down toward her lap, and those atlas eyes went from Bradley down to that glinting, yet unmistakably fake jewel that decorated the back of one finger. "Oh my god..."

"No," he shook his head, voice still eerily even. "It's probably not legal." Then silence. He stood, stock-still, staring over at the horrified blonde in his bed. He was looking at Shane, but seeing Stephanie. What had he done?

Through all the foggy haze of a hangover, reality was beginning to set it. Shane tore her eyes from the ring down to the broken picture that now lay beside her on the bed, staring at the photo of them both grinning like fools in what was, apparently, their wedding regalia. "We got married..."

His eyes seemed to go out of focus as his mind continued to run a million miles an hour. Several minutes later he was seeing Shane again and frowning. "And if it's real, we'll get it fixed. Don't worry." He wasn't sure whether to get dressed, or climb back into bed; instead Bradley remained rooted in place.

"Fixed?" She didn't know why, but her brow furrowed when she asked of that single word and now she was looking back up at him, the smoothness of that youthful brow crinkled as mild confusion of a different sort was displayed across her face. Her fingers curled to further grip the sheet clasped between her breasts while her other hand finally came to a sort of rest, albeit still unsure, in her lap as legs curled indian style beneath the white fabric, one bare knee peeking out enough to expose some calf and thigh. "What do you mean, fixed?"

"Well you've....hinted at your opinion of marriage." Finally he moved, slowly towards the bed while trying to keep his voice cool and collected. "I mean, I doubt this is something you want." Was he perhaps searching? Sure, he believed this was far too early in the relationship for this kind of commitment, but marriage was a sacred thing in his mind. The bed creaked as he lowered himself to sit on the very edge, elbows settling on his knees and head bowing. "This is just very sudden."

"It scares me." If there was any was to get the blunt and honest truth out of Shane, freaking her out was one way to do it. "Does it scare you? Do you... want to get it fixed?" She was lucky she could breathe, her chest was that tight.

Her words broke his heart. And even so, he couldn't turn to face her right away. Bradley was struggling with his own fears and didn't want to worry Shane even more. When he was sure his features were schooled and voice could be steady, he turned around and crawled over to pull the small blonde into a hug. Shane curled herself up against him tight, the sheets abandoned and forgotten the instant that he touched her so that she was only covered from the waist down. She laid her head against his chest as she let the innate feeling of his embrace comfort her, that left hand coiling just by her mouth, the gaudy piece of jewelry going unnoticed for the time being. She was much too entranced by him and their shared reactions. Bradley's voice was soft when he finally spoke.

"Marriage is a very serious thing to me. I never thought I'd ever get married again, but then you came along. Those feelings were ignited and I found myself wondering if perhaps there could be a future with you. I liked the idea, but I never pictured it so soon. I feel as though I've made a mockery of the sanctity of marriage." Bradley sighed, thumb rubbing idly against her arm. "I don't want it 'fixed'. But I also don't want you to feel trapped by a drunken decision."

"I don't feel trapped. I feel... okay." And in Shane-speak, that meant much more than just 'okay', and she was just beginning to realize just how true those words really were. "I've never before even though that marriage was a possibility for me, or that I'd ever want it. It scared me. Like nothing else could. But then I met you..." She trailed off for a moment then, her voice quieting with those last few words. His touch felt like satin against her arm. "I know how important marriage is to you. I don't want you to resent this." Her head lifted and she looked up at him now, those eyes clear despite the natural destruction that was their coloring. "I don't want you to regret being married... Especially to me."

Bradley shushed Shane softly. "Look, I'm not going to sugar-coat things and say this is going to be easy. I'm sure we'll have a lot of issues to work out, but I don't want you thinking I'm going to regret this. It....it might not work out. But I'm sure as hell going to give it my all. Marriage means commitment." He fell silent, allowing her a few moments to take it all in.

A few tousled strands of blonde were crossed over her face as she peered up at him. "So you think we have a chance?" There was more than a little hope in that tone of hers and eventually after a moment of sincere questioning in those eyes a one-sided smile took hold of a corner of her mouth.

He nodded. "What do you think we should do about telling people?"

A glance down at the terrible piece of jewelry that adorned her finger as she lifted her away from his chest for them both to see. "Well, I'm thinkin' that this thing is gaudy enough for anyone to see a mile away, we might not even need to say anythin'."

Dark eyes flickered down to peer at the gaudy piece of jewelry. "I suppose we're going to have to do something about that. I don't even have to look at the thing up close to know it's fake. Keep it on for now if you really want to, but we can go look for something more appropriate soon." Then he chuckled humorlessly. "People are going to think I knocked you up."

Fingers were brought to brush away rebel strands behind an ear as she readjusted herself, making sure to stay tucked beneath his arm, and she glanced up at him with that same mild smile. "I'd say you could use that as an excuse, but nine months from now I'm pretty sure they'd be lookin' for some sort of proof."

"So tell me what we're doing? Are we telling people? Or waiting... or... what? Do you want a real ceremony?" There were so many questions, so many things that needed to be done. He didn't want to overload the already overwhelmed girlfriend--No, wife. Wife. Bradley blanched, but was happy Shane couldn't really get a good look at his face. "And I guess we'll be needing to, uh, move you in here."

Shane chuckled softly as she laid her head against his chest again, tugging at the sheets as she realized anew that she was naked beside its covering, bringing it so that it was bundled at the front of her chest. "I don't know. Should we have a real ceremony? I mean, I'm still tryin' to get used to the idea that we're.. that you're my.." The words tickled at the tip of her tongue but Shane felt a faint blushing across the crests of her cheeks when she tried to speak them. Hell, they hadn't even said the 'L' word yet and here they were getting married! Add the fact that Bradley was now talking about moving her in and she felt another jump within her chest. But the initial excitement froze when she closed her eyes and gave a quiet groan. "Oh my god, Mack is goin' to kill me."

He raised an eyebrow, peering down at her. "Am I going to fast? You don't have to move out of your apartment if you don't want to."

"Oh, no, that's not what I meant at all." Respond a little quickly there, did we, Shane? If Bradley had been questioning her desire of moving in with him, hopefully that frantic response exposed the instinctual need she had to put his worries to rest. She peered up at him with nothing but truth in her eyes, her left hand having moved back to his chest and curling there. "I was just thinkin' how she's goin' to react when I tell her that.. well.. that we're married." Bottom lip was caught in a delicate pinch as she tried that word on for size for the first time without shock being a part of its announcement.

Bradley pondered, the corners of his mouth lifting in a small, satisfied smile at her answer. "Could we maybe hold off on telling friends until after I have a chance to break the news to my family?" He appeared to be hesitant in his question, not wanting to offend her by making her believe he was ashamed.

"Yeah. I think that's a pretty reasonable thing." A small musing of concern crossed her face. "They're not goin' to hate me, are they?"

The thought made him laugh. "They could never hate you, Shane. Don't worry about that at all. I'm going to have to ask Ethan for some time off so I can make the trip to see my parents." He paused, deliberating. "Would you want to come with me? Tell them the news and meet them all at once?"

Her eyebrows perked and she reopened her eyes, looking up at him as she lifted her head yet again. "You mean.. meet your parents? And then tell them we got hitched? Are you sure they're not goin' to run me out with a broom or somethin'?"

He huffed a small laugh, but was too preoccupied with the impending meeting to be more than a little amused. His next words were quiet, emotionless. "I haven't seen them since.... since last year."

Shane continued to watch him as that look of thought crossed over his visage, letting it sit for a few moments before giving him a gentle squeeze. "Are you goin' to be alright?"

"I have to be." It took a few moments to gather the courage to look her in the eye. "And there are things we need to talk about before I take you to see my parents. We've never really discussed my first wife or my daughter. There are things about my life that you need to know now." He sighed again, glancing at the clock. "Are you ok with holding off on the news until all this is handled? I mean, if you want to tell your friend about this I understand. I just don't want my brother hearing about it until I get the chance to tell him myself."

"That's fine. I doubt I'll be seein' much of anyone today, anyway, so I can wait. You're more important to me than the need to go blabbin' the news."

He smirked. "Well I doubt you're gonna want to just sit up here while I work. Go get your girlfriend (showing his age here, is he?) and go shopping or something." Reluctantly, Bradley released his wife and got off the bed. "Do something, anything. You're only going to go crazy sitting up here alone."

"What? You mean I can't just lounge in my new bed all day?" Said as he slipped away from her, leaving her free to sprawl back on said bed, wearing nothing but the fickle twisting of cotton sheets and a grin as she watched him stand. Jagged blonde was a beautiful mess around her as she collapsed back on the mound of pillows, one hand up beside her head while the other rested across a mostly-bare belly.

Bradley glanced up from his search for clean clothes, a devilish smile, albeit lopsided, appeared on his face. "Oh, you could stay here I guess. You could start in on your duties of cooking and cleaning."

"I'll have you know that I am an excellent cook!" She exclaimed even as she buried herself further into the pillows, that grin following him as he moved about the room. "Not too shabby at cleanin' either." She huffed out a breath to shy away a face-fallen strand before just brushing it away with a finger. "And, hey.. You're not goin' to mind me bringin' all of my kids here, are you?" Kids meaning instruments but, you know..

He'd finally found something clean and was hopping on one foot while pulling on a sock when she'd mentioned "kids". Bradley nearly fell over, but that could be passed off as bad balance. A hand flew out to catch himself on the wall, head tilted to the floor as he answered her. "Sure, I don't mind. So long as you don't mind me playin' 'em." Thank God she couldn't see how red his face was. Once he was dressed, Bradley headed back towards Shane, leaning over the bed to press a kiss to her lips. "I expect dinner at 6, so don't putz around."

And with that, he dashed away before she could slug him.