Michelle-Note: Ok, so I lied a little bit. I am changing the plot slightly. As I read the original, I hated it a lot more than I anticipated. I apologize. Hopefully it's still ok...or better? Maybe?

So what happened in the parking lot of Wal-Mart in June?

The past three years consisted of me teetering between bouts of hope and hopelessness. I alternated between trying senselessly hard to subtly ruin my little brother's relationship and trying senselessly hard to stop being ridiculous. In the Wal-Mart parking lot, this came to an end.

The entire time, part of me knew I'd ultimately accomplish nothing, but there would be these little moments of hope (or maybe just temporary insanity) that made my clinging seem worthwhile. These tiny, spaced out moments of hope were the driving force that kept me going, despite what else happened. I'd always been terribly stubborn and inclined to being obsessive once I put my mind to something.

I felt like I could wait forever, and somehow my patience and persistence would make me the winner. The situation became tolerable, and I probably could have just kept waiting provided the Wal-Mart parking lot incident had not occurred. I wish I hadn't waited as long as I did. I'm still just a dumb, little girl when it comes down to it. I've resigned myself to stop, but I clearly haven't as I'm sitting alone in my apartment dreading my trip home. I'd always needed my perfection, and I needed my happy ending.

We'd been sitting in the backseat of Twitty's car in silence. He and Louis had run inside to get "man things." We'd just gotten done with dinner. I looked out of the window and twiddled my thumbs, wishing she didn't have a boyfriend, wishing it wasn't my brother, wishing I could come up with something to say that wasn't the basic chit-chat about school and other nonsense, wishing she would say something to break the silence.

One wish came true.

"He asked me to marry him," she mumbled like she didn't really want me to hear.

I felt my heart sink. It certainly caught me off guard. I continued staring absently out the window, but I could feel her looking at me, waiting for a response. I didn't know what she wanted me to say, and I was well aware that I was taking entirely too long to make a decision. I didn't need to ask who he was. It was my damn incompetent brother, who had no real life aspirations aside from being a comedian or something unrealistic of that nature; my damn little brother, whom I loved dearly, although I thought he was an idiot most of the time.

"Did you hear me?" She asked.

"Hm…oh, yeah…" I sputtered, "You're too young to get married. Go to college first." Wrong response.

"I already said yes."

I glanced at her hands, "No ring."

"I told him I didn't want a ring. I hate silly traditions, you know that."

"Isn't a wedding a silly tradition entirely?"

She shrugged, "It's what Louis wants…"

I sighed and choked back tears that I felt would be entirely too embarrassing. I looked back out the window, watching for Twitty and Louis. "Well…congratulations." I tried to say with more enthusiasm than came out. I attempted to recover, "So…when did this happen and does Twitty know and my parents? And like…everyone?"

"He asked me after graduation. You had wandered off. Yes, everyone knows, except your parents. I think he's telling them tonight."

"I'm sure that'll be awkward…"

It was her turn to sigh, "Don't sound so depressed…"

"I said congratulations already, what more do you want?" I snapped more than I had intended. My words just weren't coming out right at all.

"I'm sorry."

I turned and glared at her, "You're sorry? It's a bit too late to be sorry, you're engaged." I went ahead and let my sadness turn into anger. Anger was less embarrassing. I'm pretty sure it was mostly at myself, although it all came out at Tawny, "Are you just going to be one of those girls that gets married and starts popping out a baby every year or so and does nothing with her life?"

"No…I…I'm still going to school. I told you I got into the theater program at UCLA. Louis is just coming with me now, I guess. No babies. I'm terrible with children." She tried to force a smile.

Louis was so impulsive and absurd, and showing no signs of improvement. Tawny officially became off-limits, out of my grasp at that moment. I looked at her, "Think about what you're doing."

"I have. I didn't expect you to be like this…"

"How did you expect me to be? Really?"

She shrugged, "I'm sorry. You're one of my best friends, and…"

"Stop. I'm happy for you, really." I lied the best I could. Lying had become a lot harder over the years, "This just doesn't seem like something you'd do is all. There are so many other people that you'll be missing out on…and stuff."

"I was surprised too. I didn't realize I wanted it." She sounded more like she was trying to convince herself than me.

I looked down toward my feet. It felt like my heart had tumbled down there somewhere, and I was certain I would see it somewhere in the shadows behind the driver's seat. I felt Tawny grab my hand and lace our fingers together, but I didn't acknowledge it.

"Ren, we'd never work."

"You don't know that."

"I do. It would ruin your perfect image."

I tore my hand away from hers, and looked into her icy blue eyes, "So you're making it about me now? Making it my fault?"

"No…I didn't mean it like that."

"How did you mean it?"

"I love Louis. He loves me. Stop being jealous."

"Jealous?" I spat out.

"Don't do this. Don't make me feel bad."

"You feel bad?"

"Stop responding to everything I say with questions."

"This is ridiculous." I tossed my hands into the air.

"What is? We've been on and off for years. I've been crazy about Louis since I met him. He's endearing."

"I know. I know. Just quit." I slapped her hands away from mine, as she moved over closer to me on the seat, closing some of the space, "What are you doing? Stop."

"I don't know. I'm sorry. This is ridiculous."

I grabbed her and hugged her tightly, my anger dissipating back into sadness, "No, I'm sorry. I'm being silly. I want you to be happy, and I'd rather you be with Louis than some other asshat. At least I know my brother is good intentioned and that he cares about you." I said the list of things that seemed like what I should say, but they weren't really what I felt at all. "And since I'll be your freakin' sister-in-law, I'll still see you and we can still be fr-"

She pulled out of the hug and put her index finger to my lips. She put her hands on either side of my face. I thought about all of the time we spent together, how we became friends via Louis, how after a drunken weekend with my parents out of town had turned into a night of cuddling and confessing secrets in the dark, how we sometimes made out when Louis wasn't around…just for fun, we'd say. No feelings. No attachment. But then there were feelings and attachment on my part. They were a secret for a while, until I spilled them, thinking it would accomplish something.

"When's the wedding?" I asked.

Her hands fell down to my shoulders, "We haven't set the exact date, but it'll be before I leave for school."

"Fair enough. I guess I'll have to come back home for it."

"I don't suppose you'd be my Maid of Honor, would you? I'm not good friends with that many chicks…"

I took a deep breath, "I'd rather not."

"Ok." She didn't argue or press the issue, but pulled me in for another hug instead.

She ran her hands through my hair and I felt her lips lightly touch my neck. I wanted to push her away. What if Louis and Twitty caught us? What was she even doing? What was she thinking? This all seemed to be a horrible idea, but I let her continue.

I let her press my back to the knobby, uncomfortable door, and I let her dip her tongue into my mouth. I grasped at the back of her shirt and pulled her closer to me. This was a horrible idea. Awful. My heart pounded in my chest from the general moment and the fear of being caught in this treacherous act. I felt her heart racing also. I don't know how long this went on, but I glanced out of the window and saw the boys coming, carrying bags of "man things."

"Stop." I pushed her away, and she quickly composed herself. She moved back over to her seat, and pulled her hair down and then quickly put it back up into a messy bun as I sorted out the wrinkles in my shirt.

Twitty opened the trunk and they dropped in their purchases then got inside.

Louis glanced back, "I hope you two weren't too bored when we were in there getting man things."

I shook my head and smiled awkwardly, "Nope. Not at all."

Tawny shook her head also, "No boredom."

Twitty looked at us in the rearview mirror, and laughed, "I hope I didn't miss you two making out."

"Ew." Louis punched him in the arm, "I don't wanna think about my sister doing that."

I cleared my throat and swallowed the irony. I looked at Tawny and noticed a slight smirk. I smiled for a moment, but then I couldn't believe what I had just done. I was the good girl, and here I was being a home-wrecker, or at least something close. Not only that, but she was my brother's fiancé. Ren, the home-wrecker, wrecking my own brother's home…almost home.

I thought that night that maybe I should have tried harder, maybe the fault was with me. I was the one that wanted to keep everything a secret because I was embarrassed. Senior class president, Ren Stevens, could not be a lez. My credibility would have been ruined…at least that was constantly the thought racing around my head in the early days of this fiasco. I shrugged off these regrets then I committed myself to moving on.

"We just talked about wedding things." I said, letting them know that I was in the loop, and it wasn't a complete lie. "Congrats, Louis."

Tawny stopped smiling and began picking at her fingernails.

"Thanks, sis. I think mom and dad may kill me."

"Possibly. You're insane."

They didn't, but it was quite the encounter. They thought he was joking. Eventually, they realized he wasn't, and I went to bed to let him fend for himself. They gave him a firm lecture about making important life decisions, and how he should probably talk to someone more stable before making them; someone like me – his dear sister that planned ahead and blah blah blah. I contemplated telling them that I might be sort of a lesbian that night also, but decided against it. They would probably be more ok with that than Louis getting married straight out of high school.

I left a few days later, on account of my taking summer classes to get ahead. More ahead, I should say. I didn't see Tawny again before I left, and didn't call her or anything once I got back to my apartment. I did a lot of work. I thought it would keep my mind off of things. It didn't.

I would move on, but it just hadn't worked yet.

Disclaimer: I don't own Wal-Mart, but I wish I did. I wouldn't be writing fanfiction. Ha.