Every time I see them together, the stress pushes me a little more over the edge.
Shane Grey was the most annoying person in the world. For two hours, he had been sitting there at the end of the table, completely calm, watching as Trisha paced back and forth, gathering each of the supplies needed for the large banquet dinner. "How many people are there going to be again?" she asked for the hundredth time.
"Four hundred," Shane replied, trying not to sound annoyed as he answered her question yet again, with the exact same answer he had given her ninety-nine times before.
"And he just expects me to come up with the right amount of food, and furthermore to make it hot?" Trisha's voice was on the edge of hysteria as she whirled towards Shane, her eyes dull and brimming with tears. "How can he expect me to do this?" she cried, ashamed at her outburst, but unable to keep the questions in. "Doesn't he see that I love him terribly?" A tear rolled down her cheek and she wiped it away angrily. "I don't want to cater for him. I hate seeing him and Caitlyn Gellar so happy together." She looked up at Shane, her heart open for once, and asked, "What does she have that I don't?"
Her words made Shane cringe and he gathered her in his arms, holding her tightly as she cried, letting out some of her pent up frustration. He couldn't answer her, for he didn't understand his brother's thinking. He didn't understand his reasons for letting his best friend suffer the way she was being forced to. "Jason and I are here for you," Shane told Trisha, hugging her even tighter.
She smiled up at him weakly, and they both knew that that was not what she needed to hear at the moment. She wanted Nate to be there for her. "Now that I've made a fool of myself," Trisha said, pushing gently away from Shane's embrace, "I should get the preparations under way." She glanced at the clock on the wall. "Shouldn't you be going soon?"
"Trying to get rid of me already, huh?" Shane teased, in an effort to brighten her spirits.
It worked, for a moment, and Trisha smiled. "Yup," she told him. "You wouldn't want your brother to be mad at you for being late." She glanced at the clock again and said, "I'll be heading to the banquet hall in a half an hour to start setting up." She smiled. "Thank goodness he hasn't asked me to serve the actually wedding luncheon. At least this is just the rehearsal dinner."
Shane smiled, gathering his stuff. "There's still a chance," he said hopefully as he stood and headed out the door. "See you later."
Trisha watched morosely as the door shut with a slight bang and whispered to no one in particular, "No, there's no hope now." She turned resolutely and began preparing the meal, expertly whipping up each concoction with ease as she planned out what she was going to wear that evening.
Exactly forty-five minutes later, Trisha arrived at the banquet hall where the dinner was going to be served. There was no one around, and all the dishes and cutlery were stacked in piles, so Trisha began to design the tables to her liking, placing everything just so. If this marriage was what would make Nate happy, then she, Trisha, would do her best to make every part she could be responsible for as lovely as possible.
"Trisha!" someone cried, causing Trisha to drop the fork and knife she was holding in surprise. She whirled around to find Nate standing there, looking once again bashfully. "I've really got to stop doing that," he muttered. "You always drop something, or land on your head." He gave Trisha a weak smile, which she returned.
"One would think I'd get used to you sneaking up on me after all these years, but I still can't handle it," Trisha responded, giving a weak little laugh.
Nate looked intently at her and strode over, bending down to pick up the eating utensils. "Yes," he said quietly, his face inches from hers. "One would also think that after all these years, you would be able to tell your best friend if something was the matter."
Trisha snatched the knife and fork from his hands, whirling around to place them, ironically, on Caitlyn's place. "There's nothing to tell," she responded, not sounding convincing even to herself. "I've told you everything."
Nate grabbed Trisha by her elbow and spun her around, causing her to almost tumble over from the force. "You haven't!" he exclaimed. "You've never explained to me why you don't want to be around Caitlyn, and you've never explained why you've stopped hanging around with me." He eyed her up and down, his voice breaking as he whispered, "You've gotten thinner."
Trisha yanked her arm away angrily, feeling the stress that had dissipated from her body once again returning. "So what?" she asked. "I've gotten a little thinner. You haven't been around for Friday night dinners, so I haven't been compelled to cook as much. With not as much to cook, I don't feel obligated to eat it." She amazed herself at how easily the lie rolled off her tongue, and her face twisted into a smirk as she threw Nate's absences back into his face.
Nate glared at her. "No one said that we would all be around for Friday nights forever. I, unlike you, have a life."
Trisha felt her temperature rising as well as her voice as she retorted, "I could've had a life, but I chose not to."
"And why didn't you?" Nate shot back, his fists clenching next to his sides. Both Trisha and he knew that he would never strike her, but the image was a slightly unsettling one.
"Because!" she spit out, not thinking clearly enough to guard her thoughts.
"Because why?"
"Because I'm in love with you!" she cried, and almost immediately, the angry look left Nate's eyes and before Trisha could process what was happening, she was in his arms being kissed.
A/N: Hurray! I fixed it! Tell me what you think! One last chapter to go!
