Arthur Trent believed that this was the worst day of his entire life. Worst than that huge fight with his father (which had gotten him kicked out of the house), worst than the time he and Shep were 'severely punished' for putting cockroaches in Margaret's soup (though he had to admit, it was totally worth it), and worst than coming home on a winter day to find all the marshmallows gone.
After being yelled at by the groom, he had gotten kicked out of the church. He was currently sitting outside in the rain, and his suit was soaked.
No, he didn't care for his suit in general; a cement truck could run over it for all he cared. But he was wet. And he hated being wet. So he had a right to call it 'the worst day in his entire fourteen years of life'.
It was his mouth that had gotten him into trouble— again. Muttering under his breath, he resolved to be more careful about what he said.
Arthur pulled on his tie. He was trying to loosen it up, but it only made things worst and gagged him.
"I'm wearing a stupid tie with a stupid suit all because of a stupid wedding," he muttered to his best friend. "Kill me now, please."
Shep was dealing with his own problems. "At least you've got it on properly!" he cried. "Look at me!"
As Arthur glanced at him, he saw that he was right. Shep's tie was looped twice around his neck, and double-knotted. Arthur walked over to him and tried to help. He managed to unknot the first loop and after much pulling, yanked it free. Both boys tumbled to the ground.
"Stupid wedding!" he screeched, sitting up.
Shep sat on the floor, panting. "Well, you never know. We might meet some girls…"
But Arthur wasn't listening. "We have to freakin' dress nicely to go to Aunt Margaret's bloody wedding!" he ranted. "We don't even like her! No one does! Remember the time we put leeches in her soup? She was about to kill us! Why do we have to show up nicely dressed anyways? In stupid ties! Why can't we go— if we really have to— in shorts and a t-shirt? Why, why, why?"
When he was done, he turned to Shep, breathing heavily. For some odd reason, Shep looked unnerved.
"Err, Arthur?" he squawked. "You might want to turn around. Then again, maybe you don't…"
Arthur froze. Shutting his eyes tightly, he slowly swivelled to face his death. He stood there for a few seconds with his eyes closed, afraid of what he would see.
"Open your eyes young man," a voice growled.
When he finally had the guts to peep out one eyelid, he saw an angry, fat man towering above him.
"Um, hi, sir," he squeaked.
You can guess what happened next.
And that was how he had gotten here.
Arthur scowled and kicked on a big rock, expecting it to go flying in the air. Instead, he got a bruised toe.
"Ow!" He hopped on one foot, regretting it.
A group of giggling girls around his age walked past him. They had matching umbrellas and bright yellow coats.
"Hey!" one of them called to him. "What are you doing, ballet?"
The rest laughed.
Despite the pain, Arthur forced himself to stop and glare at them. "And what are you wearing, suspenders?" he shouted as they moved away.
He picked up a pebble and flung it at the brick wall in frustration.
"Don't mind them."
He yelped and literally jumped five feet into the air. Standing next to him was a girl about his height, carrying an umbrella but not using it. "Wha- how did you- don't do that!" he stammered.
"Sorry," the girl said, her eyes twinkling. She offered him the umbrella. "Here, you're getting wet."
He narrowed his eyes at her suspiciously. He was still in a bad mood, and having a girl scare the living day lights out of him did not help. "No thanks," he said shortly.
The girl raised her eyebrows and shrugged. "Have it your way." She made to leave.
Arthur instantly felt guilty. Here was a girl who was trying to be nice to him, and he had been rude to her.
"Wait!" he grabbed her wrist.
She turned around, surprised.
"I-I'm sorry I was rude to you, I just had this really bad day that included a stupid tie and a stupid suit, and I got yelled at by the groom and kicked out into the rain without an umbrella…" he was aware that he was rambling, so he shut up. Now, holding onto the girls wrist, he realized that she was seriously pretty. She had green eyes and long light hair.
"It's okay. We all have our bad days. Just…" she looked pointedly down at her wrist.
Blushing furiously, Arthur let go.
"Who were those girls anyways?" he asked quickly, trying to cover up his embarrassment. This was not what Vesper's did. They excelled in shooting, were stealthy, and more cunning than what those Cahill's called the Lucian branch. But they did not get embarrassed.
"I don't know," she shrugged. "I just met them. They're some relatives of my mom's friend, apparently."
Arthur nodded. "Are you related to the bride, or the groom?"
"Neither. My mom has a friend related to them." She looked at him curiously. "Who are you?"
He suddenly realized that he had not properly introduced himself. This was a serious flaw. He stuck his hand out formally. "Arthur Trent, unfortunate nephew of the bride, Aunt Margaret."
The girl shook it solemnly. "Hope, the one who was forced into a dress and dragged to this celebration."
"I'm glad you feel the same."
Hope smiled and glanced at the church. Bells were ringing, and the wedding song had started playing. "I think we're late. We'd better go."
"Wait!" he snatched her wrist again, and she turned to him, now with an annoyed expression.
"What is it now?"
"Why don't we skip the whole thing?" he grinned.
Slowly, she returned his smirk. "I'd love to. But unfortunately for me, my mom is going to notice." She shrugged in an apologetic way. "Sorry. I'd better go."
He tried to hide his disappointment as she left.
"Where were you?" Shep hissed as Arthur slipped into the seat next to him.
"Outside with a really nice girl."
Shep raised an eyebrow. He clearly wanted more of an explanation, but just then, the hired choir started singing a very loud and off-tune song, making conversation impossible.
Arthur was sure Margaret hired them on purpose.
After the wedding came the party. According to Arthur, this was the worst part. He was not looking forward to seeing Margaret and the fat man dance.
"Oh come on Arty!" Shep said, trying to cheer him up. "You might see the girl again."
At that, his eyes lit up.
And Shep was right.
"Hey!" Hope appeared next to them.
Arthur frowned at her. "You really have a habit of doing that."
She smiled and flushed. "Yeah, my mom says the same thing. "
He noticed that Shep was standing there awkwardly. "Oh, erm, sorry, Shep, this is Hope. Hope, this is Shep."
She flashed him a grin and he smiled back. "How's it going?"
"What, life or the party?"
"Both."
"Arty over here—" Hope smirked when she heard that, "—is not looking forward to seeing the bride and groom dance."
"Well, can you blame me?"
"Not the least bit," Hope agreed. "He'll probably step or her toes. But it'll be funny, don't you think?"
They laughed at that.
"Come!" A loud voice cried out from the crowd. "The bride and groom are about to dance!"
Everyone dashed madly towards the newly-weds (even Arthur, Hope and Shep) and formed a circle. A slow song played and Margaret and her husband started dancing.
Hope was spot on correct. The husband stepped on her feet so often, it was surprising that they did not stumble and fall. All three of them had to work hard at keeping straight faces.
Soon, the crowd around them dispersed, and another slow song played. Shep wandered off to ask a distant cousin of theirs, Violet, to dance.
Arthur and Hope stood awkwardly facing each other.
"So, erm, do you want to dance?" Arthur said after he couldn't take the strained silence any longer.
Hope smiled, suddenly shy. "Sure."
Maybe, just maybe, it wasn't such a bad day.
Halfway through the song, Hope rested her head on his shoulder. "That was funny," she said, her voice muffled.
"Yeah, I can't believe I enjoyed watching them dance."
She beamed at him and everything was perfect.
The moment was ruined, shattered even, by a single loud sentence. "ATTENTION ALL VESPERS, CAHILLS ARE IN THE BUILDING!"
They broke apart. Around them, guests started shouting in confusion.
Hope looked scared. "What- how- Vespers?" She looked at him.
He stared back at her, mortified. "Hope… what's your last name?"
"Cahill," she whispered. "Hope Cahill."
She backed away from him. "You're a Vesper. This place- those girls- Shep- I'm in a Vesper wedding."
"Hope, wait!" he grabbed her arm and pulled her closer to him. She pulled away, shrieking almost, but he was stronger.
And he kissed her.
It was blissful, and everything around them disappeared. The loud, noisy people, the songs. She stopped pulling away, and rested there peacefully.
After a few seconds, she pulled apart. He was afraid he'd done something wrong, but her eyes were shining. "Bye, Arthur. Thanks."
She slipped away into the crowd.
Shep walked up to Arthur and stood next to him. They gazed at the sunset silently, neither one wishing to break the silence.
Finally, Shep spoke. "That girl you were dancing with, she was the Cahill wasn't she?"
He said nothing.
"And you still kissed her," he continued.
Again, Arthur remained quiet.
Shep looked at him and patted his back. "You'll see her again someday. I'm sure."
He shrugged, and the two of them walked slowly into the house, each with their own thoughts.
A/N: Let me tell you straight off that this made me gag. My first try at romance, so I know it's not very good. :/ I mean, I know I have "Double Spied" going on, but it's not some major, full-on romance.
The leeches Arthur was talking about refers to my other story, "The Worthy Pranks of Arthur Shep". If you read it, it makes more sense. (Do you hear the hint of advertisement? ;) It's okay if you don't read it. I'm not expecting you too.)
Since I owe Rage a birthday story, THIS IS YOURS! (Please, don't bother arguing.) I promised you one a few weeks back, and I know it's, like, twenty days late, but I did warn you! I know I said it was going to be a Starling one... but eh. You can't force these things.
I really hope this is good enough.
So... review and let me know what you think!