Hello, everyone! I hope you are all doing well today. I am really excited to see so many new guest reviews. To all my mysterious friends out there - hello! I hope you are enjoying the story! Anyway, thank you all so much for your encouragement, it has been most enlightening. Mademoiselle, OH MY GOD I AM SO EXCITED FOR RIVERDALE, GURL, I CANNOT WAIT. THE COUNTDOWN IS HERE (lol like it wasn't there since I watched the last episode of Season 1).
*clears throat* Anyway, yes, so last chapter . . . some dream/flashback ish happening there. Yes, some things were resolved, but there is so much more, I promise. Also, yes, this is a slowburn, so I know we wanna know everything, but patience, grasshoppers - all will reveal itself in due course. ;)
Last thing I wanna address on here - I have been made aware of what's been going in this fandom on this site as of late, and I just want to encourage everyone to try and embrace a mature and peaceful path. Let's mend bridges, not burn them. This is supposed to be a safe, creative space for all - if we forget that, we might be in more trouble than we think. All families fight, but there is a very fine line between a simple dispute and war. Let's not head for war, guys, I think we can all agree that there is enough hate, retaliation, and nastiness in the world right now. Let's remember that there are people behind screen names, and while sticks and stones can break your bones, words will psychologically scar you. That's all I will say on the matter, and I hope that everything gets resolved soon.
Without further ado, let's get on with the story!
"What brothers say to tease their sisters has nothing to do with what they really think of them." - Esther M. Friesner
Since he was an adult now, Dan knew that it was frowned upon in most respectable societies to spit one's OJ out at the sight of their sweaty, smelly, and horribly out of breath sibling stumbling through the door. But then again, "adult" was such a relative term, and who was he to subscribe to the norm? He coughed, attempting in vain to hide his giggles but Amy - being no fool - threw dagger-like glares his way.
"You're up early," he commented innocently, sipping from the contents of his cup delicately.
"I went on a jog," his sister wheezed as she clutched her midsection in obvious pain.
Dan snorted. "Up Mt. Everest?"
"Do fuck off." She looked around the kitchen with a frown. "Where's Veronica?"
"She not here yet - something about traffic or whatever," he responded, grinning at the mention of his fiancé.
"Oh." Amy sighed while rubbing her temples, and slumped into a chair next to him. "Pass the waffles."
Dan smirked and pulled the food further away from her reach. Amy sent a nasty scowl in his general direction, and he laughed internally, basking in how easy it was to annoy her. "What's the magic word?"
"Now," she growled.
"Close enough." He pushed the meal towards her, and she scarfed it up greedily. "So, how did you like the party?"
"Etthwasssalngkrtmt - "
He rolled his eyes. "In English, please."
Amy wiped the maple syrup off her mouth, and turned to him, sporting an almost convincing poker face. "I said, 'it was alright'."
Dan let out a quiet breath, and shook his head slightly.
Sure it was.
It was really too bad that he knew her way too well, or he might have bought her half-hearted attempt at reassuring him. But Amy's eyes were cast downward, her fingers played restlessly with anything in proximity - be it her hair or the silverware - and the furrow in her brow indicated deep thought. She looked . . . unsettled, to say the least. Dan was going to go out on a limb here and guess that the source of her many woes began with "I" and ended with "an".
"Oh, cool," he answered, swallowing a small gulp.
He knew that he shouldn't have hidden his RSVP, and he knew that he should have told her that he was most definitely coming, but honestly, Dan was pretty sure that after that revelation, his sister would have backed out of his wedding for sure, and he couldn't have that. Maybe it was a bit selfish, but he rarely got to see her due to her busy life in New York - and just general refusal to have anything to do with the family - and yes, it was sappy, but he missed her desperately. After all, there were few people as easy to tease and make fun of as Queen Dorkette, and none offered more comedic material than her.
He frowned, poking at his own breakfast bits, and thought back to that certain groomsman of his. Despite his pleas, Amy had refused time and time again to tell him about what happened between her and his newfound British bestie, and even outright denied having any bad blood with him, claiming instead that "they had never truly gotten along, really". But Dan knew that was a lie, hell, anyone with a brain and knowledge of the pair's shared history knew that was a lie. They could all clearly remember a time when the pair got along very well. Whatever happened between them, it must have been something big to make a person like Amy Cahill pack her bags, coldly quit leadership, and drop off the face of the Earth in one night.
Dan could still recall the aftermath of her sudden radio silence, because . . . well, it was pretty hard to forget. Ian would call him nearly every day for a year asking if Dan had any info on why his co-leader had suddenly resigned and why she wouldn't return any of his calls. It was almost sad, really, to see the once mighty Kabra brought down so low, but it did end up having one perk - Dan found out that Ian wasn't as awful to talk to as one would think, and the two actually got along pretty well, despite their many differences. It was a miraculous friendship, cemented by a mutual love of harmless bickering, and Dan wouldn't have liked it any other way.
Amy smiled lightly, bringing him back to reality. "You were great up there, you know . . . Telling about your love to the whole world, it was sweet. I'm proud of you, dweeb."
Dan groaned, and blushed beet red. "I made a fool out of myself."
She laughed. "Only for the first couple of minutes. Nellie, Natalie, and I were very entertained though."
"Oh, I'm sure Natalie was having a ball," he grumbled, thinking back to the girl's knifelike insults. If only she had changed like her sibling, then maybe he could have let go of their longstanding grudge. But no, the Kabra woman seemed determined not to budge and if she wanted to be like that, then fine, he couldn't care less. He frowned, thinking back to a peculiar moment in their conversation. "Speaking of Satan, did she seem a little weird last night?"
"Honestly, yeah, she even left early," Amy said, looking confused and concerned at the same time. "I wonder if she's okay."
"She's fine," Dan reassured. "Maybe the food wasn't up to her incredibly high standards."
"I think it was a bit more serious than that, Dan," Amy said, scolding his insensitivity, but he just rolled his eyes at her.
"Whatever." He scooted his chair closer to her. "Now, onto more important things - "
"Dan!"
"We have to discuss the brunch," he said, enunciating the last two words ominously.
Amy stopped mid waffle bite. "The what?"
"Brunch! In two days! You know for the groomsmen and bridesmaids?" Amy stared at him like he had sprouted another head, and Dan sighed in frustration. "The next big event? The one that takes place at the restaurant you recommended?"
It was like a lightbulb went off in her head. "Oh! That brunch." She laughed nervously. "Two days, huh? That's so . . . soon." Tell me about it, he thought. Dan had tried to convince Veronica to put this shindig off for later, but she insisted that the sooner the key players of the wedding party were acquainted, the better. Honestly, he didn't think that it even mattered, but he knew she was eager to introduce her friends, so he just let her have her way. She was cute when she was happy, after all.
"There's not too much to be done though, I've already booked us a table and I'm planning to send out the invitation text this afternoon." Dan looked at her pointedly. "And no, you can't sit this one out, you're the maid-of-honor."
Amy groaned loudly in protest, but Dan was having none of it. He knew that she was stressed out, but like it or not, this was her reality for the next five months, and she needed to learn how to live with it. If she couldn't get along with somebody, she would have to learn to at least tolerate him. And hey, who knew, maybe the two would actually talk to each other instead of bottling up those unresolved feelings. But then again, that might be a bit too much to hope for.
"It must be weird," he started. "Seeing them again." Amy looked up at him, an indescribable emotion in her eyes, and cleared her throat.
"Yeah, it is," she confessed, rubbing her neck a little. She chuckled. "I have to say though, some of the wedding party choices did . . . surprise me. I mean, Jonah's so famous, when will he have enough time for this? And Ham - doesn't he have a match coming up soon?"
Dan smirked slightly at her rambling. "Don't you worry yourself, sis. Jonah's not touring right now, and Ham's in the off season. My friend, Abe - you'll meet him at brunch - works for me, so, he's completely free, and Ian . . . Ian does a lot of business with the 'States, he even has an apartment in Boston, which he'll be occupying for the next several months - thank god that his big project falls around the same time as the wedding."
"Big project?" Amy asked, interest evident in her tone. Hook, line, and sinker.
"Yeah," Dan responded, nonchalantly examining his fingernails. "He's opening his own art gallery."
Amy eyes widened in surprise as she stared at him. "Really?"
"It's supposed to be a pretty big deal," he asserted confidently. "People are already talking about it."
"I'm sure they are," she whispered, looking away. She paused, then said, "I didn't even know you two were even friends though, I mean, by the way you talk about Natalie - "
"Two different species, sister-san," Dan interjected. "One Kabra grew up, the other one just stayed the same."
"I get that." Amy got quiet for a minute. "Hey, Dan?"
"Yeah?"
"This is a bit out of the blue, but . . . why did you decide to get married?"
Dan looked at his sister sharply, but froze under her intense gaze. She looked genuinely curious, and maybe also a little bit sad. He cursed inwardly. It was no secret to him - or anyone, really - that Amy wanted to be in the same position he and Veronica were currently in - to be the blushing bride, all in white, gliding towards Jake at the end of the alter. To have parties, and brunches, and her own personal cheerleaders to be there for her on her big day. But Jake was just taking so long, and nobody understood it, not even Atticus, who had told him that he thought Jake was going to propose years ago. It was infuriating for Dan to watch time go by without a single sign of the elder Rosenbloom popping the question to his sister any time soon.
But Amy didn't ask him about Jake. Dan sighed. Why did he decide to get married? When he was younger, that label met nothing to him, and frankly speaking, he couldn't have cared less is he ever did tie the knot. As far as he was concerned, love had nothing to do with matrimony, and a ring on a girl's finger was just a ring, and it didn't determine anything. But as much as he hated to admit it, adulthood changed things. Many, many things, including his outlook on love, life, and personal growth. In the end, he had found that adult relationships - romantic or not - required seriousness and commitment if they were to ever become something truly great, and when one felt the way he felt about Veronica, there seemed to be only one way forward. Marriage was the answer, he was sure of it. Otherwise, wasn't it all just a waste of time?
Dan knew that he was on the younger side of the marital scale, and that many questioned his judgement to settle down so soon, but he refused to be swayed by their opinions. He had lived a beyond hectic life so far, filled with adventure, danger, and foolish fancies of the heart, and it was time to establish some roots and get grounded. It was time to be seen like a man, and not like a careless little boy he had made himself out to be for so long. And there was no better person to go on that journey with than Veronica. He loved her, and he could see himself eventually straightened out by his commitment to her, and that was what finally persuaded him into matrimony - he could see not only growing old with her, but also growing up.
So, why did he decide to get married?
"We can't all be Peter Pan, Amy. It was time that I became an adult, too."
Loved writing from this little devil's perspective! Thoughts? What about Dan's view on marriage? . . . Interesting, am I right? Reveals a little bit about his character, and maybe opens up some new questions, too? XD Well, we'll find out more about that later on.
Currently, I do not have any WiFi at my house, so I do not know when I'll update next - I'm mostly working from coffee shops and such. :/ However, do keep a lookout! Next chapter is going to be a . . . well, it's gonna be entertaining. XD Ciao, beauties!