(BL)Alpha Made-Chapter 520: Am I...a groomzilla?
Each day crept closer and Andrew felt like a noose was tightening around his neck. He wasn’t worried about getting married to Maxwell, that was the least of his worries. It was making sure that everything was perfect to a Beckett standard. That was what felt like it was choking him.
Everyone around him was being helpful and kind. Even Ellis who was bedbound was being kind and sweet, talking Andrew down whenever he saw Andrew on video call. Andrew was a little upset that it was obvious to everyone around him that he was stressed. It made him worry that he was being a bad groom.
He also knew that he was making impractical asks of the team that was helping with the wedding. A few times Ford or Luis had to step in and talk Andrew down from the edge. He had never anticipated that he would be the groomzilla, but it was becoming clear that was the situation. Maxwell was firm with his expectations, but the teams they had hired were meeting his.
Andrew was the one who was going crazy and wanting to change things last minute. Maxwell, however, would go behind Andrew and smooth everything over and after Luis or Ford had swept him away from the situation, he would talk Andrew down too. Andrew was so grateful for his fiancé, and also felt so bad for the man. He should be able to enjoy this time, and instead Andrew was making it hell.
Andrew was obsessively checking the dates for good weather, obsessively making sure that everything was on track. That the flowers were good, the chairs had arrived, the right ribbon colour had been selected. The food was good, the DJ knew what to do. They had their outfits for the two changes after the ceremony as was Beckett tradition. There was enough liquor.
Everything was being meticulously combed over by a not busy enough Andrew. To the point that Maxwell finally snapped. He didn’t get mad, at least not outwardly. He did, however, send him to the alpha department where he couldn’t use his phone and had to be pricked and prodded for several tests as a true alpha.
Maxwell’s eyes were like cold pebbles of ice when he ordered Andrew to the company after he caught him attempting to email the caterer again. Maxwell had actually slammed the laptop closed, nearly getting Andrew’s hands if he hadn’t reacted in time and had gotten right in Andrew’s face.
After being scolded like that, Andrew was scared and horny, but he wasn’t going to bring up the second issue. He would...deal with that himself.
Going into work with Maxwell, Andrew broke off from the other man as he stormed up to his office, no kiss, no nothing for Andrew. It was okay. Andrew had...made his bed.
~
Being in the alpha department after a long time away was the right call. Dr. Cox and Dr. Piper were happy to see him and Andrew was excited to see how it had changed. The space had expanded, able to fit more than just the four desks now. The empty spaces beside them had been opened up and the office was actually Richard’s office now, not just a storage space.
There were a lot more faces now. A lot more researchers who did not know Andrew in the slightest, but were happy to work for the company. When Andrew was introduced as the soon to be husband of the CEO, several of them had looked ill. Even after Dr. Cox had joked that he had basically served as their intern, inputting data that no one else had time to get to.
That didn’t seem to make them feel better. In fact, a few even looked worried for Dr. Piper and Dr. Cox. Like Andrew, the giant teddy bear of a man that he was, would get mad at them. Andrew had thought it was ridiculous, but then he’d caught his expression in the reflection of one of the lab rooms and Andrew realised he looked...mean.
He looked serious and mean, his brows drawn together, his shoulders hunched. He wasn’t the smiley, happy man that he normally was.
Andrew made a decision right then and there that he was going to stop getting himself involved with the wedding. Not because he didn’t want to leave everything to Maxwell instead, but because he was clearly not helping anyone where he was. He knew the basics, he had given other people roles, and he had to trust them now.
He needed to trust them or he was going to turn into a monster. If people were meeting him for the first time and were reacting like that? Something had to change.
Andrew made sure to finish up his work before he forced himself to go to the cafeteria, have a snack, and then head down to the daycare center. He needed to get bullied and used by some small children, otherwise he was going to lose his damn mind. It was a good thing that he did.
They were short a pair of hands, so having the more sturdy Andrew around helped the teachers out. Plus, it had been a while since Andrew had helped out at the daycare so everyone was very excited to see him. It took a few hours, but Andrew could feel his shoulders relaxing, could feel the worry and fear leaving his body as the sounds of laughter and screams filled his ears.
The soft, but sticky hands grabbed him, whispering things to him before little legs ran away screeching. Andrew wore a pretty princess dress, a tiara, played pretty princesses, got covered in makeup, played trucks with the boys and girls. Andrew was used and abused by the tiny people of the daycare, and when it came time for their parents to come pick them up, everyone was smiling.
These kids didn’t know anything about the stress going on in his life. They didn’t know what it was like to plan a wedding. They were innocent, pure and just wanted to have a good time. Andrew was glad to have spent time with them.
When Maxwell came to pick him up, having heard where Andrew was because, well, this was his company, he was still rather stoic, but his eyes weren’t as hard as they had been before. Andrew was helping the team clean up after such a hectic day and Maxwell started helping clean up without a word.
When they were done, Andrew and Maxwell headed up to the cafeteria for a moment, taking advantage of the late night coffee and tea stand that Andrew had asked Maxwell to implement since his researchers didn’t always go home at regular hours.
They sat in silence for a moment before Andrew admitted that he was in over his head. He was worried about disappointing Maxwell and his family. He wanted everything to be perfect, and in his desire, he was getting mean and rude. Andrew barely recognised himself. When he explained how surprised and hurt he was by the fact that the new researchers at the alpha department were scared of him, Maxwell’s expression softened.
He had been holding Andrew’s hand as soon as the man had started talking, but his grip tightened when Andrew admitted that.
Andrew just didn’t want to let Maxwell down. He was so excited to marry him, but Andrew had free time now and he felt that he had to use that free time to help with the wedding but because Maxwell and Luis were so good at planning things, he was spinning his wheels. He was turning into a groomzilla. At this point, he just wanted to go hands off from the wedding and trust everyone else.
Maxwell had seemed surprised by his words, and after glancing around for a moment, he stood up. He pushed Andrew’s chair back from the table just enough that Maxwell could sit in his lap. Andrew supported him easily, never one to protest the man sitting on him, but he was confused about what Maxwell was going to say.
Maxwell had taken his face in his hands, pulling Andrew in close and planting several slow, intentional kisses all over Andrew’s face. It was gentle, soothing, and had the tension in Andrew’s shoulders and neck relaxing slowly.
Maxwell whispered that he loved Andrew more than anything else in the world, but he had noticed how Andrew was changing. There had been a small part that was worried that Andrew didn’t want to get married, which made Andrew’s chest ache. He had never wanted Maxwell to feel that way. Maxwell, however, was a strong man, and had a feeling it wasn’t that. So, he’d taken Andrew to work with him to be around people that he knew that Andrew liked. A change of pace.
It had been the right call since Andrew was admitting how he was feeling not just to himself, but to Maxwell. Andrew still had a tendency to keep things to himself. He was getting better, but this was a stressful time. Maxwell was capable of admitting that.
Weddings were always stressful. However, Andrew should have told Maxwell about how he was feeling ages ago. Maxwell didn’t want Andrew to feel like he had no say in the wedding and that everything was out of his hands.
Andrew argued that wasn’t the case. He knew he had a say, he was just...anxious. Anxious about everything.
That was when Maxwell brought up that he might be anxious that his father was going to crash the wedding.
Andrew’s chest had tightened. They hadn’t really spoken about the Abrahams in a while, not since Walter had stopped by a few weeks ago and told Maxwell about his discovery. Andrew hadn’t even realised that was where his fear and control issues were coming from until Maxwell said something.
Maxwell’s smile in the face of Andrew’s shock told him that he had suspected as much. Maxwell squeezed Andrew’s face, pulling him in and tucking his head against Maxwell’s chest.
"Baby, it’s okay. We’re going to make sure that the wedding is secure, and if he shows up, so what? He can’t do anything to us. He can throw a fit for all I care, but he can’t take you away from me. He will never be able to." Maxwell declared, no hesitation in his voice.
Andrew’s body trembled hearing his declaration. That was what he needed to hear. He hadn’t even been aware that he had needed to hear Maxwell being calm, confident, self assured.
Then, when Andrew asked Maxwell if he was okay, Maxwell had smiled, his eyes going hard.
"I will be okay once the wedding is over and we hear more about what is happening to those fuckers. I’m regulating, I promise. After all, you would know best. Aren’t you aware that I am using and abusing your body to take my stress out?" Maxwell asked and Andrew had blinked, before he had laughed.
So that was how Maxwell was dealing with his stress. That was...rather sweet of him, in a weird way. Andrew was glad that while he wasn’t speaking about it to Andrew, he was still relying on him. Now, they just had to get through everything in one piece.
