Chapter 4 – The Arrangement

LILLY

I sat up from my restless sleep, in a complete disarray. I was late, late to the meeting Butch and I had, the meeting that was going to basically plan my whole life ahead, and this point I had already contemplated whether I should go back to sleep or actually go to the meeting. However, I never wanted to be like Butch, I wanted to carry on being a good girl, despite my current situation and the mixture of feelings I had towards Alphonse. I didn't know whether Butch was going to even show up to the meeting, seeing that he absolutely refused to be in the same room as me and no one could tell him otherwise.

A week had passed since we had the first meeting with Alphonse, to which Butch had failed to attend, and I had demanded that our wedding would be postponed, that got a lot off my chest. Unfortunately for me, there was still this pathetic meeting we had to attend as a couple, we had to sit down to discuss the whole wedding endeavor. As soon as I was dressed and ready, I had left the apartment in a complete mess, Amata had offered to walk me to the Overseer's office, since she had told me she had 'nothing better to do'. Of course she didn't, she wasn't forced to marry someone.

"I still cannot forgive my father. I cannot believe he was planning all of this behind my back for sixteen years." I carried on ranting as we turned the corner. Though my peripheral vision I could see Amata roll her eyes and give off a exasperated sigh.

"You cannot keep speaking ill of your father, you aren't the only one being forced to marry someone, you know." Amata informed me. We stopped dead in our tracks as I turned to glare irritably at her.

"Yeah, sure. Who're you marrying again? I forgot." I snapped. Amata threw her arms on the sides of her hips out of defeat, or I hoped it was out of defeat and not frustration.

"Lilly, don't be a pain. My father had told me a few days back that I have to marry Wally, since our genes are different, or something like that." Amata retorted. At that point, I felt a little sympathetic for her. Yes, I had to marry Butch, but Wally was far worse than anyone in this vault, he was the type of guy to get his way and only his way, he didn't have boundaries for his actions and it scared me.

"I'm sorry, seriously. I'm so sorry." I apologized sincerely, putting my hand on her shoulder for reassurance. "I will be there for you when you need me." I saw how perplexed Amata suddenly looked as the words flew out of my mouth.

"Umm. Okay? You seem more upset than I am. Why is that?" Amata inquired. Before I could even answer, our heads snapped toward the two voices coming from the other direction. It was Butch and his mother, Ellen. He was grumbling about the meeting while Ellen had her hands wrapped around his arm, walking him to the office.

"Oh, God. Can we go faster?" I begged. Amata smirked as she turned to look at Butch and his mother.

"No. You should go with your husband and future mother-in-law."

I scoffed loudly. "Seriously? You're that ignorant? I can't believe you." I glared at her in disgust before storming away. A friend she was, it hurt that my current situation was laughable, since not long ago she was hauling my ass to the clinic because it worried her that Butch had beat me up too badly.

However, the voices weren't too far behind me as Ellen and Butch had caught up with me a few seconds after I got to the Alphonse's office. Ellen was still holding Butch next to her as he muttered under his breath, while Alphonse had come out of his office to greet us. I had completely avoided all contact with Butch as I stood beside Ellen, Alphonse was quick to send comment on Butch's tardiness, only making Ellen's face look more distressed and despondent. Butch, however, didn't even bother to look at the Overseer or me.

As soon as Ellen left, with a few words of wisdom to Butch, we headed inside the office, where Butch and I took our seats and managed to move our chairs and stay clear of one another's way. Alphonse, with a very displeased look on his face, took a set in front of us behind his desk. He pulled out some papers from his desk drawer and placed them on the table, pen in hand, prepared to write whatever he was going to write. I quickly glanced at Butch, who was already glaring at me, making me uncomfortable already.

"As you both know, you're both here today to discuss the plans for your future." Alphonse began, but was rudely cut off by Butch's loud, and definitely intentional, yawn. "And I expected no disruptions during my speech, Mr DeLoria."

"I don't understand why the hell I have to be here, seriously. I don't give a crap about this shit." Butch spat in reply. He leaned back on his chair as he stretched his legs out, resting his crossed arms on his chest.

"Because Mr DeLoria, this is the future you will share with Miss Lunah, so you had to attend this meeting whether you like it or not. Now, if there is no more distractions, I would like to continue. This meeting is held because we need to plan your wedding, it is an event in life a couple has to look forward to, and I want to make sure all of this vault's couples have a perfect wedding they will never forget."

Oh, I won't forget this. How could I? I mean I'm marrying my Prince fucking Charming, who bullied me constantly and stuffed me into a freaking locker, oh and let's not forget his best friend, who's probably gonna follow Butch around as if he was growing on his ass.

"Now, I would first off like to ask who's going to be your Best Man, and Maid of Honor. Mr DeLoria, you may speak now." Alphonse inquired as he glared at Butch, preparing to write Butch's words on paper.

"Well, I can't speak for nosebleed. But obviously Paul is gonna be my Best Man." Butch answered Alphonse's question at ease. Clearly Alphonse and I were both shocked when he said Paul and not Wally, as Alphonse took a few moments to process the information he was just told.

"I see, interesting. And Miss Lunah, I assume Amata will be your Maid of Honor." He forcefully suggested. However, I didn't hesitate to shut him down with his dumb suggestion, as if I needed another girl whose cattiness had taken over her dumb little life.

"Actually, no. I had Christine in mind, she's very calm and assertive, and she's perfect in my mind. I mean, it's my wedding after all." I sneered. I saw Alphonse's facial expression change into a more displeased one, and through my peripheral vision, I saw Butch glare at me.

"Umm. Alright, then. Definitely not what I expected from both of you, but, I shall carry on. Now, your clothes – Lilly you will be going to get dresses fitted, as so will you Butch."

"Actually, I wanted to make my own dress." I piped up. I heard Butch immediately begin to snicker as the words flew out of my mouth.

"I don't wanna marry Raggedy Ann, you know? I bet you'll just walk out with some cheap rags on." Butch sneered. Alphonse glared at Butch as I kept my eyes on the ground, clearly quite embarrassed at Butch's remark.

"Now, DeLoria, settle down and do not be rude! Now, since we go the clothes out of the way. We shall discuss the rings. Mr DeLoria, your mother has informed me that you do have your ring present, don't you?" Alphonse asked Butch. I glance at him quickly as he reluctantly pulled a small box out of the pocket of his leather jacket. He tossed the box over to Alphonse before crossing his arms again.

Alphonse opened the small box, only to reveal a fascinating ring: it was an average silver ring with a mesmerizing blue stone embedded on it. I wasn't the only one whose breath was taken away at the first glance of the ring, it was Alphonse too. "Oh, my, my, my. That is quite the ring, Mr DeLoria."

"It was my ma's engagement ring. Wish I could've gave it to some gal I actually love." Butch muttered. Alphonse sighed as he put the box down, clearly irritated by Butch's sneering remarks.

"Now, Mr DeLoria. I'm sure you'll start to feel something for Miss Lunah. Now, we should get the ring –"

"Actually, I have my own ring." I rudely interrupted, pulling out the ring I had stuffed in my pocket. It wasn't anymore mesmerizing than the one Butch had, but it was certainly more dear to me as it was my own mother's engagement ring. It was silver and had various of patterns embedded on the ring itself, with a white crystal on it.

"Well, umm. Alright, Miss Lunah, if that's what you want." Alphonse sighed in defeat. "Now, I hope that the both of you know how… well, babies are made."

"I doubt Lilly over there does. I mean she's never even been with a guy before." Butch laughed. I glared at him, shocked that he'd even say something like that. But I wasn't going to deny anything he said.

"Have you, Mr DeLoria?" Alphonse questioned him.

"Practiced with Susie a few times, she alright I guess." Butch sneered. Alphonse glared at him, almost disgusted by his sexual activity with one of the Mack siblings. I mean, I'm surprised him and Wally hadn't had a whole fight because of Susie and Butch's activities in their spare time.

"And you, Miss Lunah?"

"I'm saving myself for marriage." I proudly said, smiling to myself. I sat up and glanced at Butch and Alphonse, both of them shared the same riddled facial expression as I smiled. Butch soon began snickering to himself as Alphonse had praised me for containing myself.

"Now, since I've been such a good guy today. May I have my Toothpick back?" Butch asked, almost politely. But there was still no please, just his way of saying 'I attended this stupid meeting, now I want something in return'.

"Oh, no. We don't want you to stab your fiancé, now do we?" Alphonse sighed. Butch immediately stood up in a haste, making his poor chair hit the ground.

"That's bullshit!" He yelled before storming out of the room. As if this meeting was actually gonna go well, what else could I expect? I glanced around the room as Alphonse sighed, not really surprised by Butch's unnecessary actions.

I left the Overseer's office after he attempted to converse in small talk, I didn't see Butch after his little outburst, and I was quite glad. Unfortunately for me, Amata was quick to hear about my choosing of my Maid of Honor and she seemed really pissed off. However, she chose Susie to be her Maid of Honor, but it wasn't alright for me to point that out. I had continued to ignore Amata after that, as she continued to pretend to be the victim of something really severe or some shit. One hell of a friend she was.

AUTHOR

Lilly, still in some shock after Amata's outburst due to her not being Lilly's Maid of Honor, had went back to studying and preparing for her future job in gynecology. Christine had offered to accompany her, to make things more interesting for the both of them. Lilly had reluctantly agreed, in hopes that Christine would actually study with her and not gossip for the next few hours, which even Christine was quite a prone to. Lilly had to admit, everyone in the vault were quite the gossipers – despite their age, gender, career, IQ level or even their social status.

However, there was one thing that Lilly had to get off her chest right there. And Christine was practically her only friend at that point in time, even though they hadn't always gotten along, Christine had become quite close to her.

Christine scribbled a few notes down on her notepad as she stared down at the huge textbook, filled with various information the girls had to know. However, Lilly shuffled uncomfortably as she began her sentence. "Amata was so pissed today when I told her you're gonna be my Maid of Honor, and I don't think we're friends anymore."

That got Christine's full attention as she glared at Lilly. "I'm your Maid of Honor?" She inquired, with a smile creeping up on her face. Lilly nodded before Christine almost tackled her, the two girls hugged for a few moments before Christine moved back to her previous place. "Why didn't you pick Amata? You've been friends since like… forever."

"We had a little disagreement before the meeting, and she began acting all arrogant and cocky. Besides, I see the way she looks at Butch, I'd have to be really dumb not to notice that." Lilly pointed out. Amata had been acting quite different around Butch for a while now, as if she had the biggest crush on the guy. Susie, well she had a crush on him, that wasn't a secret – she was basically Butch's sex toy,

"I see. Amata is a little strange, I mean who falls in love with their childhood bully?" Christine giggled. Although Lilly felt different, she felt as if there could've been something between her and Butch. However, she shut those thoughts out quickly as she remembered the words that hit her like knives.

"Call me crazy, but I think I'm going to make my own dress."

"Really? I'll help! I've always wanted to make my own wedding dress, but my mom said that when my wedding day came, I'd have to wear her dress." Christine offered, with a frown planted on her young face.

"Thank you, so much." Lilly smiled. "But for now, I think we should study a bit more."

"Wow. Even before your wedding you're a buzzkill." Christine bemoaned. Lilly frowned before looking back at her notes, memorizing every single word that was written down on the notepad.

This wedding was going to be the end of her, and Lilly knew it.