Title: Pretty White Dress
Rating: T
Summary: She was six when she first heard the word marriage. She was ten when she saw one break down. She was sixteen when she witnessed her first one. She was twenty-five when it was her turn.
Disclaimer: Don't own anything. Wish I did :(
Six
She was six years old when she first found out what the word marriage had really meant; constantly pestering her parents to show her a picture of their wedding. It was a good time in her life, if you excluded the constant moving from her father's busy work schedule, and her mother's late night outings. Even her sister, who was only four years older than her, stayed out most of the time, apparently fooling around with people she'd never met before then- suspiciously sneaking through that large crack in the kitchen window her father had initially tried to fix up. He gave up in the end.
In a corner store near Broad Street on the 52nd, there was a small bridal store- the only one in her neighbourhood, and it was always kept prim and proper. To be perfectly honest, the owners were a tad snobby for someone who lived in close to the dump of Central, though perhaps that was why it was her favourite store, they had standards. Pretty standards.
When she'd laid her eyes on what at the time seemed to be the most gorgeous white dress she'd ever seen before; she literally felt her heart melt at the sight; need and desperation gnawing at her chest for the stunning gown. Money was always something that they'd never had, so looking at the price wasn't even an option, but she just knew that she wanted it.
Her mother and father never liked to discuss the topic much, whenever anyone ever said the demeaning syllables that added up to the word 'marriage', they'd merely stop what they were doing; moved on to something else; or ignored her. Sometimes, if she was lucky, and it was a good day, her mother would smile softly and say 'Maybe next time'- those days were usually more often a not than so.
During the year, she'd lived in Central City for a few months, in a small little run-down apartment with faded green paint, a place no one obviously cared about due to the filthy scraps and ruins on the wall accompanied by that wretched smell lingering in the back alleys where she used to love hiding.
However, it was perfect to her.
Somewhere in the back of her mind, she faintly remembered how the apartment blocks were named the Palace, which frankly, looking back now, was ironic, and a few doors down her own, there was a family known as the Reed's.
Her mother and father never liked to talk to other people when it was necessary, and her sister didn't socialize with the otherwise uncool, so therefore she was the only people that remembered them from the old days. Martha Reed and her two children Louisa (14) and Samuel (7) were the only people she talked to out of school- especially Samuel, who she felt was rather sweet for a boy at the age of seven. She never asked about their father- well, she didn't really notice.
Marriage was a bonding of two people for eternity- and eternity didn't really seem like a big deal then; and at the age of eight, if a cute boy wanted her attention, especially when her parents were much too busy most of the time, marriage seemed like a good idea.
"Sammy" She began stomping her feet on the ground, waiting for Louisa to finish braiding up her hair. There was a nagging want to place that pretty hair pin she'd borrow from Mrs. Reed.
"Arty" was his short reply.
She still remembered his light blonde hair and sparkly blue eyes.
"My name is Artemis!"
"Well my name's Samuel!"
A small giggle escaped Louisa's lips as she twirled Artemis's hair and braided the remaining loose strands, "You guys aren't even halfway done and you sound like a married couple."
Pouting, she crossed her arms, "Sam's not being nice. I'm the bride."
"Whatever."
Louisa smiled knowingly, before prodding Artemis to stand up and led the two children towards the recently vacuumed old carpet she'd found in her mother's old cupboard the other day, "Alright, why don't we get started?"
She didn't say anything; she merely stared at the boy in front of her, who did just the same back. However in a flash- she realized what was currently happening and grinned the widest she'd ever grinned, and looked down at her sparkly white dress. It was just an old Halloween angel costume, with no embroidery and simple buttons but it would work.
"Sure!" Chirping loudly, she couldn't help but narrow her eyes as Sam rolled his.
"You girls are weird!"
Louisa waited no longer as she picked a random book off the shelves and then read the words she and Artemis both knew by heart. Before she knew it, the big question came.
"Do you, Samuel Reed, take Artemis Crock as your loving wife?"
Raising her eyebrows, she smiled at him, slightly strained, as if daring him to reject and say no. A blush tainted his cheeks, as he looked anywhere else but at her, mumbling some incoherent words in a language she certainly didn't understand.
"I..." Artemis wanted to hit the boy so hard, "I do?"
His sister rolled her eyes and smacked his head with the back of her book, "Don't answer as a question idiot."
She wasted no time, and faced the blonde girl, glowing at her turn, waiting for her opportunity to finally say what she'd been dying to say.
"Do you, Artemis Crock, take Samuel Reed as your loving husband?"
There was no doubt or restraint on her part when she had said it, almost instantly to Louisa's amusement and Samuel's chagrin.
"I do!"
Thank god for divorces, because Samuel Reed ended up being an asshole.
Ten
They were at it again. The twenty-ninth time her parents had a roaring shouting match that fortnight was on the fourth of December. Her sister had been missing for over a month now, not that they would've realized that over the sound of their condescending remarks.
This time they were living in Star City.
It wasn't that much fun, she wondered if her parent's remembered that she hadn't had dinner in over two days, or that she was even still in the house because she hadn't bothered leaving her room much ever since the fighting had began.
"Lawrence, they're going to find me!"
"So what, you're putting the blame on me?"
"As a fucking man, and my husband aren't you going to do something?"
"Paula, that's not the deal, I'll be dead too either way if they find me!"
"Is that all I am to you? A partnership agreement from the League? Is the fact that I'm your wife nothing but you shit talking?"
"Well sometimes people make promises they can't keep."
SLAM.
Her dad disappeared for a couple of weeks, her mother had been sent to jail within the time span and her sister came home a few days. Her sister was pretty much the only thing she had right now.
"Jade,"began Artemis, "You're not going to leave like dad are you?"
Black hair and grey eyes, her sister was the epitome of a street smart rogue, her dad used to compliment her on her skills- although Jade was never one for pretty words. Grey eyes shut tightly as she stared at her little sister; she now realized this was a question she'd been contemplating for a while.
"I don't know, maybe?"
Maybe? She was in distress and all her sister could say was maybe?
"You can't go Jade- Dad'll come back, and mom'll get out of prison, everything'll be okay then!" Foolish, stubborn, she was a lot of things, she'd been told a lot of things; even if her family was just a giant unfixable mess, she'd die trying.
Rolling her eyes, Jade kicked up her feet and placed it ignorantly on the coffee table, checking her nails in the process, as if she were completely unaffected by the events that previously occurred. Hopeless. That was the word to describe how she was feeling.
Nevertheless, Jade never noticed, "That's not going to happen Artemis- I mean, mom and dad's marriage were pretty much based on lies-"
"Not true!"
Weirdly enough, an almost solemn grin appeared on her sister's face. It wasn't the first time she had shown weakness- however it certainly was the first time in a long time. Dad had trained her to always have a pokerface on, just as he had begun teaching her. Emotions were her greatest downfall, although her father swore he would strain that out of her.
"Artemis," there was hardly any affection. Her name hadn't been used affectionately in years; even her mother who had given her the name didn't know how to make her feel loved with it, "Why do you think they never wanted to show you any pictures?"
That caught her off.
"it's because they don't have any," She had said it so blatantly, "They never had a wedding- it was just a stupid half-way agreement."
"Thats- That's not true!"
Too bad she didn't like hearing the truth; because it would've made her life much more easier that way.
Sixteen
Oliver Queen and Dinah Lance's wedding was a big one.
The first real wedding she'd been to
She noticed that her dress was made of a elegant material that flowed onto the ground, cascading gracefully after every astonishing step she took onwards to the altar. The white dress was absolutely divine. The strapless gown glowed in comparison to all the other dresses in the room- all of them she found dull now that she had seen the best of the best.
Her life had taken a huge turn, she now worked against all she had grown up learning; back then she'd never heard a good word of the Justice League- now they surround her whole life schedule.
Roughly one year. She'd been on a team with five other teenagers for one year, and to be honest, she really enjoyed it. From Conner's moody tantrums, M'gann's abysmal cooking (not that she'd say it out loud), Kaldur's sweet personality, Robin's bipolar ninja moves to Wally's atrocious eating habits. The last one she hadn't quite gotten used to, but why did she have to make all the sacrifices?
Donning a dark green dress; Dinah had told Oliver what a cliché move it was, however he had insisted she would look good in green- as did her mother. A small smile tugged on her lips as she watched the boy wonder converse politely with her mom, she never took the fourteen year old boy to be such a gentleman.
Almost all league members were here, some did have disguises on for protective reasons (it was mainly just Robin and Batman); she never thought she would've ever been in a huge ballroom, the large majority of them superheroes/aliens/vigilantes.
"So, your uncle's party is pretty damn amazing."
Swiveling on instinct, she jumped to see it was the speedster, Wally West who managed to gain her attention. With a coy smirk, she rolled her eyes and played with the hem of her dress, hopefully seeming nonchalant.
"Well you might think so Mr. Not-so-popular." If it were anyone else, maybe they would've taken offense at her words, however he merely grinned back, his red hair sticking out messily. She had figured when he was told to dress nicely by the batman, he would've done it.
Well, he did look rather good that way too.
"I bet I have more friends than you do"
"What are you, five?" Replying, she had meant for it to be fierce and headstrong- however she found it began to become borderline teasing.
"Whatever, I'd count them to prove it"
"Yeah, maybe on Facebook or something."
She'd won this round, even he knew it. Cocking her head slightly to the right, she looked around the room. There were so many people around and it was just so... lively. Furrowing her brows, she could decide if it was a good thing or a bad thing- she'd spent a long time of her childhood desperately wanting to go to one of these gorgeous events. Right now, she could say she was whelmed (Robin's influence was not good), was there something missing, should she go talk to Oliver?
"Wow," The speedster's cough interrupted her reverie, "For someone who's at a wedding you sure seem down."
Scoffing, she couldn't help but fold her arms, "Wow," she began mockingly, "for someone who doesn't seem to care about anything, you're particularly observant today Sherlock."
"Is that my new nickname?"
If she wasn't as confused from the bright lights and vivacious music, she would've thought he was actually attempting to flirt with her. She passed it off as him having too many drinks; a sugar rush to be exact. He was Wally after all.
What she didn't understand after that point was why she began flirting back
"I don't know, would you like that?"
Taking a step forward, she could see there was a mischievous twinkle in his green eyes. If it were any other day, she might've had her guard up and kicked him in the shins or some action similar to that sort. Maybe it was the vibe everyone else in the room was giving off, especially from the bride and groom themselves, who seemed much to chipper too be her mentor and his pragmatic wife.
He hadn't said anything else to her, and all of a sudden, she found herself on the dance floor, super-sped by her favourite kid flash of all time- he had managed to convince her to say that a few days ago. She saw no harm in it- he was the only one anyway.
Oh god, she hoped he was the only one.
"What are you trying to pull West?" raising her brow, she couldn't decide if this was appropriate.
The debonair black suit he had on showed off his shrugging shoulders; she noticed that he was slightly hesitant to make a move, however sooner or later he did have a firm grip on her waist and a soft, compassionate hold on her hand.
"One dance, beautiful; that's all."
She supposed she could do that for him.
She might've seen a few wedding ceremonies on television,it wasn't much, just a few glimpses, however she managed to get the general gist of it. However one thing she never knew about them was the bouquet and the garter. Embarrassment filled her when she confessed to her martian friend who seemed to know much more about these celebrations than she as a regular human knew. Apparently whoever caught either one would be the next to get married
Fighting for a bouquet? That seemed a little bit redundant in her opinion. However it was tradition, so therefore Dinah had dragged her onto the floor awkwardly; requiring help from M'gann to do so, obviously she didn't want to ruin her hair on this one special night. The adults didn't want to participate- most of them already having families of their own or much too commonsensical to find the activity worth while. Therefore, the floor was mainly filled with teenagers and children.
The garter was to be thrown first; she grimaced slightly as Oliver took the stage and the boys in the back wolf-whistled obnoxiously at the presence of the groom. She wasn't going to lie though, he did look good and finally wasn't wearing green for once.
Glancing to where the boys on her team stood, a small grin broke on her features as she watched Kaldur try to contain Robin's excitement. She wouldn't be at all surprised if bird boy got it- with his crazy skills and all.
"Artemis! Come on let's watch."
"Wanna bet who get's it?"
M'gann bit her lip as she pondered it, before shaking Artemis's hand, "I say Kaldur."
"What? I say Robin- he's just so twitchy, he's obviously going to get it."
"Let's see then."
The whole scene was rather anti-climatic to be honest. When Oliver had thrown it, it was funny for a while because Kaldur obviously didn't try very hard to do much; whilst on the other hand, Robin and Wally were literally clawing at each other's faces to get the garter, that did make her laugh at their awfully awkward positioning and their shouts of 'it's mine!'
The last person she expected caught it though.
Superboy.
Watching Wally's forlorn face made her smile a little- it was nice to know someone so stupid could think about things like the future.
Artemis muffled a laugh as she saw M'gann's face light up at the endless possibilities where her imagination continued to lead her. She could tell the martian was obviously pleased at the results- probably longing to hopefully catch the bouquet.
It struck her that she was apart of it as well when Dinah stepped forward, and gave her a slight wink- if you could call it that really. Artemis sincerely hoped that it wasn't some sort of signal or anything because she didn't want to have to be in the spot light for this extravaganza.
M'gann pushed her up the line as she frowned, dismayed at how embarrassing it was going to be. She'd briefly looked at Wally, and saw that he was looking at her almost expectantly- however she was unsure of exactly what he was expecting, right before the countdown, she swore she saw him wink; or was that just him being utterly pretentious because she could see that being a perfectly plausible scenario-
Before she knew it, the bouquet was thrown.
It took her roughly five seconds to understand what was happening. In the middle of it all, she realized that the bunch of flowers were headed directly at her. Oh god. Panic. Panic now. What did she do? There was a lingering want for the flowers to just briefly touch her hands, however just as it was about to, it was gone in a flash.
Blinking, she looked around. What the hell was that?
Her confusion jumped to annoyance in a matter of seconds, as she found herself narrowing her eyes at a certain red haired idiot who decided that she wasn't good enough for the bouquet. She felt her stomach flip as she watched him pass it over to the green-skinned beauty. Her eye's lit at the gift and ran over towards Superboy to enthuse about it further.
She was a little bit pissed off at Kid Flash.
The music began playing once again, and in seconds, that anger melted, as she found herself in his capable hands once again.
"You have to stop interrupting and fast forwarding me around kid."
He laughed slightly, "You'll thank me someday."
Twenty-Five
"I do."
Offering him a cheeky beam, she wondered what he was talking about, "Wally, that part ended like about an hour ago."
"Yeah, but it's nice to say it," he paused to take a bite from the humongous plate Oliver had managed to cater for, "I do."
As of an hour, she was officially married to the fastest man alive. That sounded rather cool to say, at least it was to her. His name still had butterflies erupting in her stomach. She was married. Frankly, she didn't really care about the gifts, she didn't care about the music, she didn't care about the cake, she didn't care about the huge ballroom.
The most important part was that she was married.
Most of her childhood she found herself thinking that this moment would be absolutely perfect because of the white walls, in the white chapel, with her stunning white dress.
Not that she didn't look stunning in her dress- of course she did.
The most important reason was sitting right in front of her.
"You know, this is our party, we can just leave whenever we want right." There might have been small hints dropped here and there, maybe her fiancé- husband, was too chivalrous to know it, or he was just too stupid to see it when it was coming right at him with a sledge hammer, and a bombshell of a dress.
Confusion was laced in his voice, however it did perk his interest.
"Aren't you worried about your dress?"
She didn't even care about the pretty white dress.
AN
Managed to finish this before I sleep, just a quick one shot, hope you guys like it!
Myrclline