A/N: per rules of this contest I must include the following: check out annoyance's profile for details on the contest

-- Has to be a One Shot
-- Has to be more than 2500 words - no drabbles please!
-- The main pairing must be het (boy/girl)
-- The story must be Ridiculously Happy ( Yes, all entries will be entered into annoyance's C2). That means no Angst, Hurt/Comfort. Lets all be happy! Romance, Humor and General are the preferred genres.
-- Add the phrase 'for the Ridiculously Happy OneShots contest' in your summary.
-- All ratings are accepted, but please keep lemons to a minimum.
-- The story must be in the category Fiction -- Romance
-- The story can be in POV of either the boy or the girl
-- Deadline for story submission is MAY 11
--The story must use irony. (For example, the one thing the boy hates about the girl could be what finally causes him to realize his feelings for her. Be creative!!)
--The girl must be significantly shorter than the guy, and he should make at least 3 comments about this. (Ideally around 1 foot of difference in height.)
-- Submission starts on April 20
--Stories will be judged by voting. ( I'll hold a poll on my profile)
--You can submit a maximum of 3 stories.

ENJOY THE STORY. :D

Waking Up Married In Vegas

As I rolled over in bed, my naked body collided with something. In shock, my eyes opened wide to see the face of a stunningly handsome man, slumbering peacefully. For a moment, I stared at him, suddenly aware that neither of us were wearing clothing. My mouth fell open and before I could stop myself, I screamed. The man’s eyes opened and he joined in. The man leaped out of bed, grabbing the sheets, trying to cover his private parts. Exposed, I grabbed a pillow and covered myself, sitting up.

“Wh-what the hell?” I asked, “what the hell are you doing in my bed naked?”

“Your bed?” the man said, “this is my hotel room.”

“What are you talking about?” I asked, rolling my eyes. But even as I glanced around the room, I realized he was right. Although the hotel room was similar to mine, the bathroom was on the other end of the room and there were two suitcases pushed up against the wall that did not belong to me. “Oh. Right.”

A haze of disjointed memories came running back.

--

“A beer, please,” I said, taking a seat on the barstool. This is why I’d come to Vegas, to get rid of that horrible feeling I'd gotten after my break up with Todd, what better way to do that then gamble away all your money and get hopelessly drunk? The bartender smiled and placed a beer in front of me. I grab it and take a long chug

Next to me someone sits down. “I’ll have whatever the lady is having.”

I turn in the direction of the voice.

“Can I get you another one?” he asks.

“I don’t think so,” I reply, “I’m not looking to get into anything.”

He chuckles, “I just wanted to give you some free booze, but if your not interested...”

I roll my eyes, “fine, one drink. But nothing will happen.”

“Of course,” he says, grinning, “I’m Charles, by the way.”

“Tara.”

--

“You know,” I say, my voice slightly slurred, “you really know how to treat a lady.” I take a sip of whatever had been thrust in my hand, at that point I didn’t care much.

“You know what!” Charles says grinning, he stumbles towards me, obviously drunk. In the background music blasted, around us people danced. We’d made our way from the bar to the dance floor. “I think you’re pretty.”

“You’re drunk,” I say, smiling sloppily.

“So are you,” Charles said, planting a kiss on my lips, “you’re short too, I’ma call you... Shortie!”

--

“Want to get married?”

We were at another club now, dancing like idiots. “Married?” I shout, drunk out of my mind, “THAT’S A GREAT IDEA!”

Charles laughed.

--

After that, everything was completely black. I glance down at my left hand. On my left ring finger was a shining gold ring. I take a deep breath and look up at Charles who is staring at his own left finger, breathing quickly. “Ohmygod, ohmygod, ohmygod,” he mutters.

“So, uh, last night,” I said nervously, “one hell of a night, eh?”

“You!” he spat, “you tricked me! Married!”

I glared at him. “Me?” I asked, affronted, “I do believe it was your idea!”

“But I was drunk,” he said angrily.

“Me too,” I said, “I was loopy out of my mind.”

I search around the room, looking for my clothing. As we stood in silence, I realized I had a pounding headache and put my hand on my forehead. I see my bra and panties discarded next to me and reach for them. When I retrieved them, I turn to him and say, “turn around?”

“What?” he asked, “why, I’ve already seen all that.”

“But you don’t remember,” I remind him, “I’d like it to keep it that way.”

Huffing, he turns around, keeping the sheet around his nether regions. I slip on my bra and panties, searching for the rest of my clothes. I notice my shirt and jeans thrown against a chair and grab them, slipping them on. “You can look now,” I said.

He turned around. “Okay then,” I said, “I’m going go now, I’ll meet you at the hotel restaurant for breakfast in thirty minutes and we can figure out what we are doing there.”

“See ya then, shortie.”

I scowled at his tall frame.

--

I sat at the table, showered and wearing a fresh pair of clothes. My pounding headache had subsided some thanks to a couple aspirin. I sipped at my coffee and glanced at the clock on the wall. Charles entered and scanned the room in search of me. I lifted my hand and waved until he spotted me. He frowned and headed over. When he reached the table I scowled at him.

“You’re late,” I told him.

Glancing at the clock he replied, “only by a couple of minutes.”

“Still late,” I reply.

“Whatever,” he said.

“You shouldn’t be late, you said you’d be here in thirty minutes, it took you thirty two,” I said, gritting my teeth. I hated it when people were late.

“So?” he asked, “what’s the big deal?”

“I don’t like it when people are late.”

“Okay I’m sorry I was two minutes late,” Charles said, rolling his eyes, “are you happy?”

“Yes,” I said, nodding, “I am.”

A tall, pimply teenage waiter stops at our table. “I’m Steven and I will be your waiter today, are you ready to order?” he asked in a monotone voice.

“Yes,” I said, opening the menu.

“I just got here,” Charles pointed out, “can you come back?”

“No,” I replied, “I’m ready now, just figure out what you want when you get back.”

Steven had his pad ready, but his eyes shifted between me and Charles, trying to decide who to listen to. “Just let him come back in a few seconds,” Charles said.

“No,” I said, “you already made me wait, I want to order now.”

“Fine, you can order now,” Charles said throwing up his hands, “god, you’re so annoying why did I ever marry you?”

“I was about to ask the same thing,” I said, folding my arms around my chest, I turn to Steven, who looked utterly bewildered. “I’ll have the garden omelet, but could you make that with egg whites.”

Steven nods and scribbles ferociously on his pad.

Charles, who did not have a chance to even look at the menu speaks. “You just have a plain English muffin, right?”

“Yes,” Steven replied, an added tremor to his voice.

“Right, could I have that?” Charles asks.

Steven nodded and hurried off.

“God, why are you so annoying?” Charles asked.

“Why are you so uncooperative?”

“Why are you so... short?” I rolled my eyes, ignoring his comment. It wasn’t my fault he was so tall.

“Lets get down to business,” I said, “I’m sure there are tons of lawyers that can help us get an annulment around here, I mean that has to be a thriving business here in Vegas, let’s just pick one out of the phonebook.”

Charles nodded, “makes sense.”

I smiled. I’d already planned this out in the shower and had found a phonebook in my room. I’d chosen a few names at random from the lawyer section. “I’ve already found a few names-“

“I should have guessed.”

I rolled my eyes and ignored this comment, “I called and set up an appointment with John Anthony from Goldstein & Son for tomorrow at one.”

“Right,” Charles said, “so why did I even need to come down here? You seem to have all this figured out.”

I fidget in my seat, “I just wanted to make sure you were okay with everything.”

“Sounds great,” Charles said, scowling at me.

Steven approaches our table, food in hand. He places an orangey yellow omelet in front of me and a toasted brown English muffin in front of Charles. He says nothing and begins to eat in silence. I take this moment to study his features. He has soft brown eyes and a perfect nose that curves just the tiniest bit at the end. Pale pink lips move slowly as he chews the food in his mouth. He lifted an olive colored hand and brushes a stray strand of sandy brown hair out of his face. I cut off a piece of omelet and take a bite.

“So why were you in Vegas anyway?” Charles asked.

“Oh I was... Just...” I said, trailing off, and then finally decide, “a bad break up.”

Charles nodded, “who would’ve guessed, me too.”

We finish the meal in silence.

--

I reached his door and held out my hand to knock, but a noise coming from his room stopped me. The sound of light guitar strumming. I pressed my ear against the door, trying to hear more. The guitar flowed through my ears like sweet honey. Then he began to sing, and I nearly melted.

“Golden girl,
First time I saw your smile
Made my heart
do somersaults.

Golden girl,
First time I heard you voice
Knew you were something else
The way that you
ripped to shreds,
my words,
but still the butterflies flew.

Golden girl.”

The song stopped, and there was some indistinguishable muttering, a few more chords were strummed. I hesitated for a moment, and the knocked on the door. I heard things crashing behind the door and Charles cursed loudly. He wrenched the door open.

“Hey Shortie,” he said, grinning.

“It’s time to go, for the lawyer meeting,” I said, blushing.

“Oh, yeah,” he said, running a hand through his hair, “lemme go get my wallet and stuff.”

He headed over to the bedside table and I took a step into the room. In front of the door was a chair that he must of stumbled over. Lying on the bed was a large brown guitar. After cramming a few things in his pocket he turned around to look at me. “Ready to go?” he asked.

“Yeah,” I said, “hey, that was you, playing that song, right?”

His face flushed scarlet. “You heard that?”

“Yeah,” I said, smiling, “it was really pretty.”

“Thanks.”

--

“You’d be surprised how rare these things actually are,” John Anthony told us, “I mean you see this in movies all the time, but it’s not all that common. Fortunately for you, I’ve dealt with a couple of these cases before, so I know the whole deal. It works like every other annulment, you file a couple forms with the court, wait until the court processes it three to four weeks, and then come in for a court assigned date and sign the papers before a witness and a judge. Voila! You’re done.”

“Three to four weeks?” I spluttered, “I can’t be married to him that long.”

Charles remained quiet, “look, I don’t make the rules. Set up an appointment with my secretary for tomorrow and I’ll have the forms for you.”

“That’s it?” I asked, “we’re paying you for this? Couldn’t we have just gone to city hall and figured that out?”

Charles took my hand, “relax, you don’t have to worry about the money, I’ll pay for everything.”

I bit my lip and sighed, “fine whatever.”

“That’s it, my next appointment is soon, so could you guys clear out?”

I huffed at him, disliking him more and more. Charles and I stood up and walked out of the office. I stopped by the secretary’s and made an appointment, then we headed out. On the sidewalk, Charles hailed us a taxi. When we got in, he turned to me.

“You want to go out tonight,” Charles said, “I mean, we’re married now.” He chuckled, “might as well get to know each other.”

“We won’t be married for long,” I reminded him, “I don’t think it is a good idea.”

“One dinner, as friends?” he pleaded. Ugh, I could never say no to him, even if he did annoy me, he was just to damn gorgeous.

“Fine,” I said, “just as friends.”

--

I stared at myself in the floor length mirror. I wore a sleeveless silky top, tucked in at the waist to a flowy knee length brown skirt with a large black belt, and strappy black sandals. I gave a little twirl and smiled. I wasn’t sure why I was so concerned with looking so good for our dinner, we were supposed to be going as friends. A knock on the door and I glanced at the clock, he was five minutes late.

I wrenched the door open. “Your late, again.”

He shrugged, “I took a little longer getting ready.” I took a glance at what he was wearing, he looked dashing. He was wearing dark designer jeans, a white button up shirt, and a black blazer.

“You look... amazing,” I said.

“Thanks,” he said, “shall we go?”

He offered his arm to me. I took it and smiled, “we shall.”

--

We stood outside the door to my hotel room several hours later. “Dinner was nice,” I said, “but you should’ve let me pay.”

“Nonsense,” Charles said.

Charles laid a small kiss on my lips. This kiss wasn’t like the drunken kiss I’d remembered, it was sweet and soft, and made my whole body warm. My eyes glanced down at his hands, I saw the glint of gold. I pulled away, “you’re wearing the ring.”

Charles glanced down at his hand, “oh... yeah. I, uh.”

“Why?” I asked, “you know, just because we are legally married doesn’t mean anything. We were supposed to just be friends. Why are you wearing the ring?”

“I- uh,” Charles said, staring at his feet.

“Charles?”

He said nothing. “I think, I think we should stay apart for a bit,” I said, jamming my key into my lock, “you go the wrong idea about all this.”

I wrenched open the door and took a step in.

“Wait, Tara,” Charles said.

I turned around. “What.”

“I don’t know you very well,” Charles said, “and I’m not sure why, but I’m crazy about you. Just give me a chance. I didn’t take off the ring because... Well, I really like you and I just couldn’t bring myself to do it. If it makes you feel better, here, I’ll take it off.” He ripped the ring off his finger and shoved it in his pocket.

“I’ll get you tomorrow, for the lawyer meeting,” I said, “goodnight.”

--

I approached his room and for the second time I heard him singing.

“Golden girl,
First time I saw your smile
Made my heart
do somersaults.

Golden girl,
First time I heard you voice
Knew you were something else
The way that you
ripped to shreds,
my words,
but still the butterflies flew.

Golden girl,
last I saw your face
I screwed you up
with words
like you, me, and us.

Golden girl,
if I could tell you
one thing
it’d be
you make my
heart flutter.

Oooh girl,
will you be
my golden girl?”

My heart stopped. He was singing about me. I wanted to be made at him, but all I could do is smile. He was singing about me? I knocked on the door, and he wrenched the door open. “Hey.”

“You. Were. Singing. About. Me.”

His eyes widened. “Wh- no,” he said quickly, “it’s, I didn’t write it. I mean, I did, but a long time ago, I write for a living, see.”

“Oh,” I said, slightly disappointed, slightly embarrassed, “that’s good then.”

“Yeah.”

--

He’d convinced me to go another date, and this time a real date. I’m not sure how, but I couldn’t find the way to say no to that gorgeously annoying face. We found ourselves outside of my hotel room again. “Here we are again,” I said.

“Again,” he said, “I’m not wearing my ring this time.”

He held up his hand. We laughed nervously. I leaned in and gave him a kiss. When he pulled away I blushed. “Thanks,” he said.

“Thanks?” I asked, “I kiss you and you say thanks?”

I unlock my door and open it. “Lame, I know,” he said, chuckling softly.

“Come on,” I say, and grab him by the collar, pulling him into my room.

--

And suddenly, we were dating. Four weeks later, we found ourselves having drinks at the hotel bar, celebrating right before our annulment became official. I raised my martini, smiling. We’d both been staying at the hotel until the annulment was done with, since he could write songs anywhere, and I was a graphic designer, so I could do my work practically anywhere as well.

“To annulment,” I said raising my glass.

“Annulment,” he muttered and set his glass down as I took a sip.

I frowned, “what?”

“I think I...” Charles trailed off, “nevermind.”

“No come on, say it.”

“Fine, I think I might be falling in love with you.”

“WHAT?!?” I asked, leaping out of my chair, “I knew this whole dating you was a bad idea.”

Charles bit his lip.

“I’ll see you at the courthouse,” I said and rushed to my room.

As I paced back and forth, reeling in anger in my room, I found myself smiling. It was strange, because I was so mad at Charles for ruining everything, but I was still smiling from head to toe. Sure, four weeks was a bit premature for ‘I love you’, but they’d spent all the time they weren’t working together, seeing sights in Las Vegas, catching shows, going to dinner, all day and all night together. Maybe, just I maybe I was falling in love with Charles too.

--

“You’re late.”

I was waiting for him on the steps of the courthouse. For the first time, I didn’t mind him being late. Oh the irony, a month ago I would have strangled him on the spot. He stared at his feet. “Sorry,” he said, “look, Tara, hear me out. I’m crazy about you, so I guess that’s making me a little crazy, that’s why what I’m about to say may sound crazy too. I love you, that song I wrote, it wasn't about someone else, it was about you, I've been crazy about you since we met, and I don’t think we should get the annulment. So what do you say Tara, will you stay married to me?” Charles got down on one knee and held out a rose I hadn’t realized he’d been holding.

For a moment we stared at each other. Finally, I said, “no.”

Charles looked surprised for a moment and then his head fell, “oh.”

“Charles,” I said, smiling at him, “I’m pretty crazy about you to, I may even love you, but marriage? Sweetie, marriage pretty much would suck. No one married ever has any fun. Let’s have some fun for a while, then, when we get tired of fun, we’ll think about it.”

I leaned in and wrapped my arms around his neck, planting a long kiss on his neck. “Come on, let’s make this marriage disappear.”

Charles smiled, “okay, to disappearing.”

--

TWO YEARS LATER.

“I do.”

Cheers erupted from the seated people, I heard my mom wiping her eyes in the background and Charles swept me in his arms, and kissed me. “I love you,” he whispered.

“I love you too.”

A/N: remember to vote for me. I know my song writing skills are not up to par, so just pretend the song was good. -shifty eyes-