Porcupines
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Twilight characters or the fable.
It was her wedding day – supposed to be one of the happiest days of her life; the start of something wonderful, meaningful, purposeful and full of love. And yet, the tears that are flowing forth from her eyes are not the tears of joy, not the tears of the happy bride but of sorrow, loss, guilt and regret.
Emily can only cry harder as Sam hugs her closer to his side, trying to offer her comfort in the form of the warmth from his body and soft shushes of affection and promises that 'it'll be alright'. But it won't be alright and she realizes that she's not the only one to realize this.
Emily never imagined that she would've bit off more than she could've chewed when she asked Pastor Fred to marry her and Sam. He had been the youth minister since she was a little girl and knew her best. She was certain that he'd say something warm, heartfelt and uplifting but instead his message was cold, heavy and a mood killer…at least for her and probably Rachel and Kim – the imprints.
She should've known that things wouldn't turn out perfect when Leah came to her and turned down the offer of being her maid of honor. Her cousin had, surprisingly, thanked her politely for the offer but stated that she couldn't stand by her cousin's side and watch her marry the man that she loved. Emily had cried watching Leah turn and leave, walking away from her, cutting her out of her life possibly indefinitely. Yet, she perked up when she saw Leah sitting in one of the pews looking at her with a small smile, Jacob Black standing beside her, watching her closely and pressing his arm into her shoulder as a form of support and comfort.
After arriving at the altar she found Sam looking at Leah as well, a small frown on his face and his eyes darkening looking at her. However, he snapped out of his gaze once Emily took his hand and his face lit up like it was Christmas morning.
Pastor Fred began talking about marriage, the union between souls and stated that he was going to tell everyone a story, a story of the porcupine. Emily could only chuckle as there were a few murmurs of confusion, some chuckles and grunts of agreement. He was always good for sharing stories about animals as they appealed to children and this was one she'd never heard before.
"The story of the Porcupine," Pastor Fred begins smiling out at everyone warmly.
It was the coldest winter ever. Many animals died because of the cold and the porcupines were no exception. The porcupines, realizing the situation, decided to group together. This way they covered and protected themselves from the cold, harsh weather." Emily feels her face heat up as Sam squeezes her hands, giving her a loving smile. "But the quills of each one wounded their closest companions even though they gave off heat to each other."
"After a while, they decided to distance themselves, one from the other," Pastor Fred says softly, his eyes taking on a sad look and Emily finds herself feeling pity for the poor creatures. "And they began to die – alone and frozen. So they had to make a choice: either accept the quills of their companions or disappear from the Earth."
"Wisely, they decided to go back to being together. This way they learned to live with the little wounds that were caused by the close relationship with their companion." Pastor Fred says his voice becoming louder and sounding brighter. "But the most important part of it was the heat that came from the others. This way they were able to survive."
There's a burst of laughter as Claire and a few other children let out a sigh of relief at the happy news.
"Therefore, the best relationship is not the one that brings together perfect people, but the best is when each individual learns to live with the imperfections of others and can still admire the other person's good qualities."
Emily's face suddenly falls at Pastor Fred's words as the older couples nod their heads in agreement. Looking back Emily feels her heart break as her parents also have the same small smile of agreement on their faces.
"So…the moral of the story is: learn to love the pricks in your life because Emily sometimes Sam will be one to you and Sam sometimes Emily will be one to you. So do not believe that your marriage will always be perfect full of sunshine, smiles and kisses. You two will be tested as we all are in life. Don't think that just because you have one argument that it is the end of everything. Know that it tells you where the other stands."
Pastor Fred had then gone into the bitterness of marriage and how they handle their differences will be a true testament of their love, how the way they handle confrontation with one another will help strengthen not their bonds but the bonds with their children and loved ones around them. And how, you'll never truly know the person you're with until you have that serious fight.
The words haunted her throughout the rest of the ceremony, during and after the kiss and even as she and Sam's closest family and friends walked by to congratulate the pair.
"Well I guess according to Pastor Fred, you two are a match made in heaven, hell and on Earth." Emily overhears Embry teasing Jacob and Leah as they stand in line waiting to congratulate the newlyweds.
"Yea, you two fight all the time but somehow find a way to make up." Seth says with a smug grin on his face as Jacob and Leah both stand glaring darkly at their pack mates.
"Whatever," They both growl out before looking at each other and laughing.
From there the feeling only got worse as all the married couples could talk about how arguing strengthened their marriage, helped them grow into not just a better couple but stronger individuals.
Jokes are made about what the 'perfect' husband and wife is: a baker, doesn't talk too much, always agrees with me, always realizes that I'm right…when I'm actually wrong, tells me I look good when I really look like shit, to not get mad at me after I tell her that she looks like shit.
Suddenly all the things that Sam loves about her and she loves about him seem petty, frivolous, shallow and superficial. They've never had an argument and the scars on her face aren't from an argument that she and Sam had but Sam warring with himself trying to fight the imprint. They have no private jokes about a fight that they've had; no advice to give to a younger generation about how to say their sorry or even shared the hot and heavy make-up sex, a bit of knowledge courtesy of Emily's sister.
So Emily sits up crying over the type of marriage that she's always dreamed about but now will never have. Sam will never tell her to just suck it up and get over it, will never complain about her cooking even if she ruins it on purpose, he'll never tell her the 'truth' about herself because she is nothing but perfection in his eyes. A part of her tries to convince her that she's being silly crying over not having a struggling and often times trying relationship with the man she's going to spend the rest of her days with and yet the other part of her says that she'll never be close enough to Sam to understand her children's relationship troubles and woes. That she'll never be able to listen and understand when her friends are complaining about their husbands or boyfriends and that she'll never have a reason to playful punch Sam in the arm for making some smart ass comment about her or towards her.
Lying down in bed, snuggled up close to Sam, Emily can't help but frown finally settling upon blaming Pastor Fred for ruining her wedding day.
Pastor Fred and those fuckin' porcupines.
A/N: So I know it's been a while since a lot of you have heard from me but it's not as if I'm been loafin' around just soaking up some sun, chasing down ice cream trucks and gushing over the Jacob and Seth look-alike at my gym. o_O...okay, maybe I have been doing the latter but not the first two. Anyway figured I'd just throw a one-shot out in celebration of my what...3 month long sabbatical from . But you all know how much I love Sam and Emily angst. =D HA!