Okay, I'm usually not one to write sequels, and honestly, I didn't think there was a way to make a sequel for this story, but thanks to GIVEmeSEDDIEorGIVEmeDEATH [awesome penname by the way], I came up with an idea, not the same idea, but one that is similar and hopefully better. I especially want to write this because of the Seddierific episode iThink They Kissed. This story is a future fic, about eight to ten years after iGo To Prom, and the first chapter is inspired by the Trisha Yearwood song "This Is Me You're Talking To." Listen to it while you read. This story won't get updated as fast as the last one obviously; school and such, and you've been warned, but I'm looking forward to it nonetheless. That being said, enjoy.
iGo To A Wedding
Chapter One: Past and Present
"You know, a year ago, I never would have thought I would be doing this. I may have HOPED, but I never THOUGHT…" I laughed nervously as he swept his lips along my jaw line. I wanted him so badly, but I was already toughening myself for the blow. Tomorrow he was leaving. And I was staying. It was unavoidable.
I pulled his arms closer around me as the glow of the sun rising reached the horizon. I felt a tear roll down my cheek, and I prayed to God he wouldn't notice. Or at least he knew me well enough not to acknowledge it. I knew he noticed when he took one of my hands, but that was all he did, and I was grateful.
"When does your plane leave?" I said softly. I already knew the answer. I'd known the answer all summer, but I needed to hear it one final time.
He hesitated before answering me, "8:30."
I nodded and we sat there silently for another few minutes, just trying to memorize each other before it would all be over. For the first time in a relationship, I knew I was leaving it long before it burned out. I still loved him. I would always love him.
There was a knock on the windowpane and we turned around. It was Carly, still in her pajamas, but due to the shadows under her eyes, I doubt she had slept either.
"Freddie, your mom came by looking for you. I don't think you want her to find you guys like this…" she said quietly before she turned and walked away. She was right. We'd decided not to tell Freddie's mom about our relationship for obvious antibacterial issues. It wasn't like we'd be able to last past the summer anyway.
I stood up and he stared up at me, a serious expression on his face. He took my hand and ran his lips over my knuckles. Oh, I missed him already.
He stood up and pulled me close, kissing my hair and trying not to cry. I could feel his breath shuddering as he tried to hold back tears. He was better than I was, because I could taste salt on my lips as tears ran down my face. He pulled back and wiped them away with his thumb.
"I still love you," he whispered before kissing my eyelids. I already knew that, but I could still hear my heart flutter when he said it.
"Yeah?" asked, trying to force a smile. He nodded and I could feel my carefully placed mask shatter and I pulled him closer before shouting, "Oh God, I love you!"
He took my hands in his and kissed me softly, trying to pretend it wasn't the last. He pulled away and stared into my eyes and I nodded. He clenched my hands one more time before he turned to go inside, looking back at me as he stepped through the window, and I wanted to call him back so badly.
"Freddie, come back!" I could hear myself screaming in my head, though my lips were unmoving. "Freddie…Freddie…Freddie…"
"…Freddie…Freddie…" I jumped awake at a loud ding and almost hit my head on the bottom of the overhead compartment. The man in the seat next to me pulled out one of his headphones and looked at me, concerned, but I shrugged and grabbed the Sky Mall hastily, to avoid further embarrassment.
I thought back to that dream, which I was having for the umpteenth time, and trying to forget for the umpteenth time. I had had that dream after every failed relationship, every bad first kiss, every time I sat in my bed alone reading Pride & Prejudice and crying myself to sleep.
It had been almost a decade since that night, and I still remembered it like it was yesterday. I could still feel his fingertips as they wiped away my tears and his lips as they swept across my jaw line. And I could see the tears glistening in his eyes as he turned back to see me one last time.
I didn't know why I was rehashing these old feelings. Good old Fredward was probably married with two-and-a-half kids by now. The next girl he kissed had probably fallen as hard as I had, and she had probably been smart enough not to let him go like I had. The bitch.
Who was I kidding? The whole reason I was on this airborne death trap was for that godforsaken institution of which I vowed never to be a part of. Then again, I "vowed" while I was dead drunk after an especially heinous breakup. All I knew is that I'd never thought of the m-word as a possibility since that first love, which was sort of ridiculous considering I was barely legal at the time. But I had. I had written "Sam Benson" across every scrap of paper I could find that summer. That amazing summer.
I was pulled out of my nostalgia overload by the flight attendant, who started calling out landing procedures. I wiped a tear from under my eyelid hastily before closing the tabletop and staring out the window as the Seattle skyline appeared from under the clouds.
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath counting the seconds until I felt the wheels hit the runway. I only opened my eyes when the doors opened and I was safe on the ground. I could almost smell the coffee beans.
It took me another two hours before I could find a cab to take me to my hotel. Silly me, I thought the blushing bride would come pick me up at the airport, but she was busy picking out floral arrangements or something. Not to mention that trying to find a cab at an airport was like trying to find a taco in Canada, not impossible, but pretty damn close.
When I got to the hotel, I was happily surprised. God bless Carly Shay for marrying into money. A bellhop met the cab and took my bags, and I glanced up at the two dozen stories. Maybe, just maybe, he was on one of them.
I stopped when I realized it. It had never occurred to me that I would have to see him here. But it made sense. He was as much Carly's friend as I was. Of course he would be there. In a tux. Oh, he looked so good in a tux.
Hotel. Checking in. Right. I went in and found myself at a gilded front desk, checking into a hotel that I could never afford. The cheery redhead at the counter had had her perky juice this morning, and took one look at my non-designer duds and smirked.
"There is no public bathroom, I'm sorry," she said a little too cheerily.
"Oh no, I'm checking in. I'm here for the Emerson wedding," I said with my best fake smile. I saw her bright green eyes open in shock. Oh, yes, I was name-dropping.
"O-of course," she said, trying to collect herself. "Your name please?"
I gave her my name and she looked it up in her computer, "You seem to be sharing a suite with a Mr…"
Another receptionist came out behind the next computer and asked the person that had just walked up behind me, "Sir, can I help you?"
"I'm checking in," I heard the man say. My breath got caught in my throat as I fought the urge to turn around. I knew that voice. Oh god, I knew that voice.
I didn't even have to hear Miss Perky say who I was sharing the suite with, I knew.
"And your name is, sir?" the woman behind the counter asked. I gulped, awaiting the answer.
"Benson. Freddie Benson."
-
I answered the woman hazily, as I tried to shake the smell of coconut out of my head. It smelled exactly like Sam's shampoo. It had been so many years, but I could tell that smell from any other.
As the woman looked my name up in her computer, I looked around to see where the sweet scent was coming from. My eyes were drawn to a tall blonde standing next to me. Her blue eyes flitted back and forth between me and the desktop. Was she checking me out? And then my eyes caught hers.
"Sir, you seem to be sharing a suite with a…"
"Sam Puckett," I breathed. I saw a smile pulling at her cheek before she answered, "Freddie Benson."
I turned back to the counter quickly and took the keys I was handed. I placed one of the keys in her palm, and felt a spark shoot up through my fingertips. So much for the past being the past.
We took a few steps toward the elevators to get away from the perky twins, before I stopped and started the awkward conversation we both knew would follow.
"So, you think Carly's been plotting again?"
"Oh, I'm pretty sure. You know, we could probably ask the Perksters to give us separate rooms…" she said, though I could tell she didn't mean it. I really hoped she didn't because for the next week, I didn't want to be without her.
"Actually, I think we have a lot of catching up to do," I said, as I took her hand carefully. I knew we couldn't start back up where we left off, but I couldn't help but hope we could have an ounce of what we had that summer.
Because as hard as it was for me to admit it to myself, I was still in love with her.
Hmm…probably a crappy chapter, but I needed an introduction. I'd love some reviews, and wonder if I should go on with this, or take it off and pretend everything ended at Prom. I don't know, you guys better tell me.