Previously on Chasing Life, April and Leo started wedding planning, Dom douched around, Krysta Rodriguez put a mustard seed of doubt in April’s head about whether or not Leo thought of her as a charity case, Dom admitted he still loved April so Leo punched him, Leo had a best man named Frankie who was an attractive woman, and Brenna got single again but continued to be the cutest human.
We open in a church, with Voiceover April working on her vows. She gets to the part about Leo’s infectious spirit and realizes she can’t use anything that might remind her guests that they’re at the wedding of two Cancer Buddies. But luckily it’s just the rehearsal, and Uncle George snaps her out of it and tells her to hop to.
When April and Leo get up to the priest, Leo brags about how awesome April’s vows are going to be because she’s a writer, and April makes the nervous face I make when someone says, “You’re clever, come help me with this.”
At the rehearsal dinner, Leo’s parents talk to him about his activism and “Robin Hood” tendencies. They offer him a job to run a division of some philanthropic organization, and Leo is bamboozled but says he’ll think about it.
April and Frankie help him think of pros and cons by basically displaying to him how different they are and setting the state for potential head-butting later. Frankie is looking out for Leo Classic and April is thinking of Leo Futura.
Back at Casa de Carver, Brenna is complaining that a Maid of Honor has to do so much more than a best man, and asks about Sara’s wedding, which leads to them talking about how Uncle George was their best man but also Sara’s ex-boyfriend. Brenna starts to ask about whether or not it was a one-off fling but immediately regrets it when Sara and Uncle George look hella guilty. Brenna sticks her fingers in her ears and says LA LA LA LA because the last thing she needs is to imagine her mom and uncle together in any capacity other than having tea.
At the afterparty at Beth’s house, Frankie tells the bride and groom-to-be that it’s time for them to head home, so they say goodbye until the wedding.
When she gets up to leave, someone points out a rash on April’s back, but she says it’s just a side-effect of the clinical trial and shrugs it off. Concerned about Dom’s disappearing act, April stops by his apartment on the way home.
Dom is shifty, claiming to be busy and clumsy and bowing out of the wedding. April is sad and confused but leaves him to his moping.
The next morning, Uncle George says her dad would be proud of her on her wedding day, but April is not so sure. She doesn’t think her dad had any faith in her writing skills, and she’s starting to lose faith herself since writing her vows seems impossible. Uncle George talks her through it, and she starts to get there, or at least the idea, but she still worried about it sounding like Leo proposed out of pity.
Later, when the girls are getting ready for the wedding, Ford (who is an usher) asks for forest fire eyes because of course she does. The Other Grandma shows up and hugs Ford instead of Natalie because that’s how well she knows her secret granddaughter. Emma says the two of them should get to know each other, because they actually have more in common than they might guess.
Natalie grabs a pitcher of mimosas and the two of them head off to bond.
While Beth is helping April cover up the rash with makeup, Frankie tells them a bit about the bachelor party, because when she saw Dom, he had a black eye. Frankie is very surprised and none too pleased to hear that she went to see her ex-boyfriend the night before her wedding.
So she tells April that Leo punched him in the face. April murmurs something about not believing Leo would do that, and Frankie takes it as April automatically siding with Dominic. April sends Beth away so that her best friend doesn’t murder her future husband’s best friend, and the two of them face off. Frankie sides with Leo and says to stop acting like she’s on an ABC Family drama and just TALK to Leo and also lets her know exactly how she feels about April visiting Dom.
April tries to explain but Frankie is 1000% done and decides to not get her hair done with the rest of the bridal party.
Meanwhile, Natalie is trying to bond with her grandmother, but Grandma asks about April, causing Natalie to go on a tirade about always being in April Carver’s shadow and storm out of the room.
April asks Beth and Brenna what the hell she’s supposed to do and also is Leo just marrying her because he feels bad that she’s dying and what if this isn’t the right decision and AHHH! Leo swoops in just then and Beth and Brenna make him stay outside the room, but leaves them alone to talk through the door.
April asks Leo why he didn’t mention punching Dom, and Leo blames it on them both being drunk bros. Leo asks why she visited him, and April says she was just checking on a friend. And the difference between the two half-truths, is that April actually honestly believes she’s just friends with Dominic. She doesn’t know he’s Brandon Adams Foster-ing all over Boston.
April hates that they were keeping things from each other, but Leo says they’re only human. It’s impossible to always have everything on the table or the table would break. Leo says she can ask him anything though, and he’ll answer honestly, so she asks if she’s one of his Robin Hood projects. Leo is hurt that she would even consider it. But they agree that even with all this murkiness, they want to marry each other, that much is clear.
Grandma finds angry Natalie and asks for forgiveness. The thing is, she often feels out of the loop. Emma lives with the girls, she gets all the updates in real time, so information tends to not find its way to her. Which I totally get, because most of my family is within an hour of each other in Massachusetts, and being in New York, I tend to find out things like hospital visits months after the fact in passing. Natalie knows what it’s like to feel like she always comes in second place, so Natalie asks for her phone number and promises to send her updates.
Cue the bells! It’s wedding time!
We don’t get off to a good start because Beth’s arm candy date catches on that he’s just there to make Graham jealous and he is not about that life and bails on her before the ceremony starts.
But she shakes it off and April and her ladies get ready to go.
Sara tells April she looks beautiful but she doesn’t look happy. April is worried-if she ever wondered before if this is right, if this is her one true love, if this is meant to be, she used to know the answers. But the answers are gone now, she lost the sureness.
Sara tells April that the idea of One True Love is for fairytales and shows like Once Upon a Time. In real life, there is never just one perfect person for every person. What kind of sad, lonely world would that be? Emma and Sara assure April that love is work, marriage is commitment, and commitment is romantic.
More confident than ever, April walks down the aisle on Sara’s arm. But they don’t get halfway to the altar before April collapses. Leo’s face collapses into pure panic, Brenna’s hands fly to her face, and everyone rushes to her.
Dom busts into the church not too much later, hoping to stop holding his peace, but no one is left.
And no one is left because they’re all at the hospital with April. (Well okay only the immediate family.) Dr. Ursula is mad that April has been shrugging off side effects and tells her she has to stay in the hospital for a while, so the honeymoon in Italy is out of the question. She has been to Bermuda, a strip club, and jail, all without a mask, which is simply not okay.
April cries and apologizes to Leo for ruining the wedding and for being sick.
Leo tells her to stfu because it’s not like she got too drunk and vomited on the priest. She’s sick, she can’t help that. Leo confesses that yes, he did propose because he was afraid April was dying, but it wasn’t out of pity. It’s because he knows their time together might be limited, and he wants to make the most of it.
Brenna is in the waiting room crying. Because she’s beautiful unicorn, part of her had been hoping that the happiness of the wedding would ward off the evil cancer, at least for a little while. Brenna says it’s not fair, and her grandmothers comfort her, telling her that she’ll be fine and she’ll be there for April and be the best sister, because she’s a strong rebel woman in a long line of strong rebel women.
Dom comes to the hospital and goes in to see April, and assures her friend that she loves Leo and Leo makes her happy. Dom says all he really wants is for April to be happy, then proves he means it by leaving.
Dr. Hamburg tells April that she has to end the clinical trial, stay in the hospital and take it easy. April cries, feeling defeated, and Leo flurries out of the room, promising to be back in an hour.
Brenna and Natalie start running around the hospital, talking about stealing dessert from the cafeteria and flowers from the coma ward. Beth starts to help too, after having some breakup sex with Graham. They get April back into her wedding dress, IV bag and all.
Emma got internet-ordained and they get married in the chapel, just their nearest and dearest. The vows are sweet and everyone cries. This is the chapel where April and Leo (Lapril?) first began. This is where April tried to run from her problems and Leo taught her to face them head-on. So it makes sense to April that this is where the next step in their journey begins.
Afterwards, Hamburg asks Doctor Uncle George to stick around for a while to help her with April’s treatment and he happily agrees.
While dancing together, newly husband and wife, Leo tells April he accepted the job his dad offered him. Thinking back on April’s vows, Leo realizes that they must have been spontaneous, and is already the correct amount of in awe of her.
What did you think of “The Last W”?
Here are some of our favorite #ChasingLesbians tweets from this week:
April callsoff the wedding. Greer shows up. Brenna and Greer get married instead. #JoshFanFic #Headcanon #ChasingLife #ChasingLesbians
– Josh (@YankeeJosh) August 11, 2015
Weddings always bring out the crazy in people. #ChasingLife #ChasingLesbians
– Erin Faith Wilson (@erinfaithwilson) August 11, 2015
Since Frankie’s best man is she going to be wearing a suit at the wedding? Because I hope so. #ChasingLife #ChasingLesbians
– Paige McCullers (@CloneNic) August 11, 2015
I can’t get over how much Natalie has grown on me. Started from the bottom now we’re here #chasinglife #chasinglesbians
– Jenny Rackham (@jenny_rackham) August 11, 2015
I’m so glad Natalie stuck around. She’s a great addition to the Carver household. @jessicameraz #ChasingLife #ChasingLesbians
– Anne (@Lacey1789) August 11, 2015
Now that the bride and groom has kissed, can the Bridesmaid and Best man now kiss? #ChasingLife #ChasingLesbians
– Alyssa (@tvwithapb) August 11, 2015
It must be spectacular to live under that rock that April is under! Damn, Ray Charles, with your Blind Ass! #ChasingLife #ChasingLesbians
– Samantha J. Green (@SamanthaJGreen) August 11, 2015
Dom was faster when he was a power ranger. #ChasingLifeChat #ChasingLife #ChasingLesbians
– Audrey (@pamplemoussee76) August 11, 2015
