A/n: Okay, this is the first time I've attempted at writing a pairing that isn't usually written about; please tell me how it is… and A/A fans (as well as fellow J/T fans)… please don't' kill me! Lol. The song is "You Are the Music in Me" from High School Musical 2. Luv, Becky
Happily Ever After
"I'm not leaving you!" Atlanta remembered saying those words as clearly as she heard them in her brain now as she swept towards the altar. Her long white gown was courtesy Theresa and company, made up of her husband, Tim, Jay, best friend and one time boyfriend, and her two young daughters, Jamie and Tayler. It trailed on the floor after her, but she couldn't care less. She was getting married today! Her traditional red hair had been straightened and curled, leaving soft wisps to frame her heart shaped face.
She heard Theresa sniffling in the audience and grinned. She looked over to see Jay standing beside her betrothed, proud and manly for his wife in the audience, a Grecian beauty named May. She began to walk faster, and she heard her maids of honour struggling to keep up.
As she approached the pedestal, she slowed down, letting her eyes trail over her future husband, love and adoration abound. He stood straight and handsome in a huge tuxedo and big black shoes. His dark brown hair was combed back out of his face, but she noticed that a few of the buttons on his suit threatened to pop because of his sinuous body.
She smiled sweetly at him and climbed the stairs, tripping on the hem of her gown. He caught her in his large arms that had stopped her fall many a time, and the feelings she had for him welled up in her heart.
As a teen, they had always been friends, but as soon as she and Archie had broken up due to separate dreams for the future, she began to realize she may have had ulterior motives. She remembered being holed up in her room crying because of her hurt and pain when the phone had rang and she had heard his voice on the other end. Her heart had begun beating quicker and quicker, until she had slammed the phone down in fear that he could hear it. But they had maintained contact, coming together for a coffee date to discuss how their lives had played out since the team had disbanded, each going their own way.
As Chiron cleared his throat and began to speak, slowly and clearly, she allowed herself to go back to that day, the time when she had realized her heart was a very complicated thing…
"Atlanta, say you'll marry me!" Archie begged. She wanted to say yes, and live happily ever after, but her stubbornness and independence urged her to refuse.
"Arch, we don't have much in common anymore! We can't live together in love and peace if we're striving for two different things! Look at Jay and Theresa, they broke up after a year, but they're still friends! Maybe that's all we were meant to be as well!"
"No! How can you do this to me?" Archie cried, his cobalt eyes glancing up at her pleadingly. Tears trickled down her cheeks as she shook her head.
"I'm so sorry," she said softly. "I just can't live a lie."
Realizing that they were over, Archie rushed out her door, leaving her full of questions and sobs. Why had she done that? She was tempted to run to the door and call him back, apologizing and letting herself become intoxicated with his love. But she didn't let herself; instead she steeled her heart as she heard him slam the apartment building door and leave for good.
She ran into her room and cried then, letting all the pain and arguments of the last few months drain out of her system. She should never have taken such a chance with Archie; she should have learned her lesson from Theresa and Jay's break up. But she had been too blind to see, too eager to have her own fairy tale ending.
The phone rang, and grudgingly she picked it up. "Who is it?" she asked, half hoping that it was Archie ready to reconcile. But what she heard changed her opinion.
"Atlanta?" Herry's cheerful voice turned sombre when he realized that she had been crying. "Are you all right?" His evident concern made Atlanta's heart turn over, and she found herself questioning everything she had believed about love.
"Umm, I don't think so…" Her voice trailed off.
"Do you want to talk about it?" His tone was so gentle and soft, and suddenly Atlanta remembered the day they had said good bye, and he had squeezed her so tight, and she had wished he would never let go. Scared about her thoughts and perplexing feelings, she slammed the phone down.
Then she felt dismayed; why had she done that? He would think she was rude or something. She quickly dialled his number and apologized to him.
"That's all right," he said. "If you want to talk, why don't we get together for a coffee or something?"
"Like a date?" She bit her tongue hard.
"Umm, sure, if you want," he said, sounding a bit surprised, but also a bit pleased. "Say, one o'clock tomorrow afternoon at the Blackbird café in Regis' Falls?"
"I'll be there," she promised, setting the phone down gently and leaning back against her pillows. She shook her head at herself: What had she done? She just dumps the once upon a time prince she had always dreamed about, and now she was jumping right into another's arms?
She felt dirty, and she went to take a shower, but her uneasy feeling didn't go away. She tried to convince herself that this was just a friendly meeting, but her rapidly beating heart told her otherwise.
The next day at the Blackbird café, she sat down in a booth to wait for Herry to arrive. He wasn't hard to spot as he entered; he towered over everyone else, and he hadn't changed much. He was still strong-looking and well built, and he strode over to her table and sat down with an easy going grin.
"Who's buying?" He was trying to cheer her up, and it worked. She cracked a grin and punched him playfully, and he pretended to be hurt. He rubbed his arm and smiled at her, big brown eyes twinkling.
They quickly ordered their coffees and got to chatting. Herry had settled down on a farm outside of Vancouver, while Atlanta herself had been living in a small apartment complex in its heart. Herry had been dating a girl named Sherri when she had been called by her ex boyfriend who was coming back from the war, and she had wanted to get back together with him. He had let her go, and since then he had been single. Atlanta explained about her troubles with Archie, and how it had lead to their demise, and he looked sorrowful, patting her hand comfortingly.
They finished their coffees and parted ways, but as the years went on they continued to meet and talk, until they had each other's numbers on speed dial, and even Archie could tell he had no hope of ever getting Lannie back. He went on to become a depressing poet, who was eventually lifted from his melancholy when he met a young girl named Faith, who became his constant companion and later on his wife.
Herry and Atlanta continued their easy courtship. Atlanta found herself smiling more, and Herry was constantly laughing at her pathetic attempts to cook his meals. More than four years later, Herry popped the question, and Atlanta was more than ready to accept. Theresa helped her plan the wedding with Tim and Jay to help, and soon Atlanta's thoughts were back to the present…
"And so do you, Atlanta Hart, take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband?"
"I do." With that said, Chiron finished his speech quickly. "May the blessings of the gods be upon you, and you may kiss the bride."
Herry took her into his arms and kissed her gently, and cheering broke out among their friends and family, along with a few noses being blown. Granny waved her cane around shouting Huzzah and Theresa wept joyfully into her kerchief, her husband and best friend exchanging bemused looks.
Herry led her out onto the dance floor, and she laid her head against his shoulder as they played her favourite song. They swayed to the music, letting themselves be lost in their own world. Out of the corner of her hazel eyes, Atlanta noticed Archie and Faith swirling around together, joy and love written on their faces as they looked at each other. Archie met her gaze for a moment, and what she read in his eyes was forgiveness and gratefulness. She turned back to her husband, and he to his wife, but they had mutually forgiven each other, and Atlanta felt a heavy burden being lifted from her shoulders. Nearby Theresa and Tim danced slowly, and Jay and May as well. Odie and Neil conversed with the bride's maids, and everything was perfect.
Na na na na
Na na na na yeah
You are the music in me
You know the words
"Once Upon A Time"
Make you listen?
There's a reason.
When you dream there's a chance you'll find
A little laughter
or happy ever after
your harmony to the melody
It's echoing inside my head
A single voice (Single voice)
Above the noise
And like a common thread
Hmm, you're pulling me
When I hear my favourite song
I know that we belong
Oh, you are the music in me
Yeah it's living in all of us
And it's brought us here because
Because you are the music in me
Na na na na (Ohh)
Na na na na na
Yeah yeah yeah
(Na na na na)
You are the music in me
It's like I knew you before we met (Before we met)
Can't explain it (Ohh ohh)
There's no name for it (No name for it)
I'm saying words I never said
And it was easy (So easy)
Because you see the real me (I see)
As I am You understand
And that's more than I've ever known
To hear your voice (Hear your voice)
Above the noise (Ohh ohh)
And no, I'm not alone
Oh you're singing to me (Ohh yeah)
When I hear my favourite song
I know that we belong (Yeah ohh)
You are the music in me
It's living in all of us
And it's brought us here because
You are the music in me
Together we're gonna sing (Yeah)
We got the power to sing what we feel (What we feel)
Connected and real
Can't keep it all inside (Ohh)
Na na na na (Ohh yeah)
Na na na na na (Ohh yeah)
Yeah yeah yeah (Na na na na)
You are the music in me (In me)
Na na na na (Ohh yeah)
Na na na na na (Ohh yeah)
Na na na na
You are the music in me
When I hear my favourite song (Favourite song)
I know that we belong (We belong)
You are the music in me
Yeah it's living in all of us
It's brought us here because (Here because)
You are the music in me
Na na na na (Ohh yeah)
Na na na na (Ohh yeah)
Na na na na
You are the music in me (Yeah)
So this is "Happily Ever After", Atlanta thought happily. Love, music, friendship, and the knowledge that for once you made the right decision. She smiled dreamily. For once, her heart was singing the same song her mind was, in harmony together. Happily Ever After, Atlanta, she told herself. Happily Ever After.
The End