co-written by RatedrKjErIcHo

Amber walked into Randy's house after they left the cemetery and went straight to the kitchen to start helping with the food. She hadn't said much on the car ride over even though they'd all seen the ring.

"Are you okay?" Ted asked walking in. "I know obviously you're not with yours parents but something else is going on."

"Did you see the ring Holly's wearing? The engagement ring?" She said turning to face him.

"I saw it."

"Well, it wasn't there at the funeral home. I just noticed it at the cemetery."

"Alright." Ted said not really seeing the issue.

"Well that means he had to have asked her at the cemetery. Who does that? I mean, don't you find that odd? He asks her when we are getting ready to say to goodbye to our dead parents permanently."

"I think you're reading too much into this. Holly's in love with this guy. He seems decent enough. Maybe you're a little jealous that she's engaged now too." Her eyes went wide.

"And maybe you can sleep on the couch when we get home."

"Babe, come on. I'm just saying." Ted said trying to diffuse the situation. He looked up as Randy and Dena walked in.

"Everything okay?" Randy asked.

"I was just telling Ted that I think it's weird that Holly is engaged. She wasn't engaged at the funeral home and then suddenly she's wearing this ring at the cemetery. He asked her at the cemetery, who does that?"

"Maybe he thought she needed something happy to focus on while dealing with our parents' death." Randy replied as Holly and Alex walked in.

"Hey, everyone." Holly said with a small smile. "I know this is probably not the best time to tell you guys this but I couldn't wait. Alex asked me to marry him and I said yes." She smiled showing the ring.

"It's beautiful, Holly." Dena said hugging her and then Alex. "I'm so happy for you."

"Thanks." Holly replied.

"Congrats sis." Randy said hugging her. "I couldn't be happy and I know mom and dad would be too."

"Thank you." She said hugging him tightly.

"Alex, you take care of my little sister or I won't hesitate to kick your ass." Randy said hugging him.

Holly looked at Amber. "Congratulations." She said as she hugged Holly. She looked at Alex and hugged him quickly before she walked out of the room with Ted following behind her. Holly looked over at Randy.

"Is she okay?"

"She's just being a brat."

"Maybe I should talk to her." Holly said.

"No. I think I need to." Alex said as he walked out of the kitchen and out onto the front porch where he could hear Amber and Ted talking. "Amber, can I talk to you?"

"Yeah. I'm going to go in and talk to Randy." Ted said getting up.

Alex took the chair that Ted had vacated. "Amber, I know this is a shock and I know you don't really like me. But I love Holly and I want nothing more than to marry her and be with her forever. I know this might seem sudden but I know she's the one for me. I knew it from our first date. I promise to always take care of her. I love her more than anything."

"And hearing that I'm just supposed to feel better about it? You proposed to her at the cemetery. When we were getting ready to lay our parents to rest. The timing was a little fucked up don't you think?"

"I'm sorry if you saw that as disrespectful. But this whole thing has made me realize that I don't want to wait forever to ask her. I love her and all you guys. I don't have very much family. I think I've found that here. And I'm trying to show you what a good guy I am. And how much I love Holly."

Amber sat there. She still was so uneasy about Alex with Holly. She sighed and looked up to see Holly at the door. She wanted her sister to be happy. She just wasn't sure Alex was the right guy.

"Amber, I love him too. I want this. I want to marry him." Holly said walking out on the porch. "I know it's probably strange to you that he asked me at the cemetery. But I want this."

Amber stood up. "What do you really know about him? You have only been dating a few months. And you're only twenty-one. You can't be ready for a lifetime commitment like this."

"I think I am." Holly replied. "What bothers you more? That I'm engaged to someone you don't like or the fact that I actually had the nerve to get engaged just a little while after you. Are you afraid I'll steal your thunder or something? Or is it that I don't deserve to be engaged the same time as you? What really bothers with this?" Amber got up and walked out toward her car. "What are you doing? Where are you going?"

"Home. I just need to be by myself for a little while. You do whatever the hell you want to do Holly. Congratulations." She said as she walked toward the car and got in. She drove away just as Ted and Randy came outside.

"Where'd Amber go?" Randy asked.

"Home." Holly said with tears in her eyes. She walked past him into the house and ran upstairs. Ted sighed.

"Can I borrow your car so I can go check on her?" Randy nodded and handed him the keys. Ted took them and got in Randy's car and headed to the apartment he shared with Amber to see if he could get through to her. Randy looked at Alex.

"Well, yours is crying upstairs. You need to go after her and check on her. First rule of being a married man. When they run away crying, you chase after them. Otherwise, you end up a divorced man. My Dad taught me that."

Alex nodded and headed upstairs. He hoped this didn't hurt Holly's relationship with her sister but he did want to marry her. He walked to the door of the guest room. He heard Holly inside. He opened the door softly and saw Holly on the bed crying. He walked over to the bed and sat down.

"I'm sorry this is causing issues for you and Amber." He said as he rubbed his hand down her back. "I never wanted it too. I just want to marry you."

Holly turned to face. "This isn't your fault. I just wish Amber would get over what problem she has with you." Holly sighed. "I love my sister and I wasn't trying to steal her spotlight or anything, I just wanted everyone to know that I was engaged. I want everyone to know how much I love you and how much you love me."

"That's what I want too. I know it was probably in poor taste to ask you at the cemetery but I didn't want to wait. I don't want to wait to marry you. I want us to be married right away."

"We could do it next month. Maybe at your Godfather's estate? I mean….it is a pretty big house." Alex smiled and kissed her.

"I think that would be amazing. But what about your fight with Amber?"

"We'll work it out. We always do. When she stops being such a drama queen."

Ted pulled up in front of the apartment and sighed when he saw Amber sitting on the couch. He could tell she was still mad at that it would be a long night for him. He shut the car off and walked into the house.

"You alright?" he said as he walked in and sat down on the couch next to her.

"How dare she accuse me of being jealous. I don't care if they get married tomorrow. There's something about him that I don't trust. Something about him that isn't right."

"What do you mean? Isn't right?" Ted asked.

"Just something is off. Like he's trying to hard for us to like him, I guess." She sighed. "I don't know. Just something I don't trust."

Ted sighed. "Do you love Holly?"

"Of course I do. She's my baby sister."

"Do you want her to be happy?"

"Yes." She sighed.

"Do you trust that she can make her own decision?"

"I guess so."

"She's a big girl. If this is a mistake, she needs to make it." Amber nodded. "You need to apologize."

"And I guess I have to start liking Alex?"

Ted smiled. "He doesn't have to be your favorite person but you should try to like him and get along with him for Holly. She loves him and she wants to spend her life with him. So he's going to be in your life for a long time."

Amber sighed. "You're right. I'll call her later and apologize. See if she wants to go look at bridal dresses together since we are both brides."

Ted smiled and kissed her. He knew she loved her family even if they fought with each other. He just hoped that she was wrong about Alex. That whatever feeling she had about him was nothing but her being overprotective.

"I'm proud of you." He said. She looked at him. "You're being very mature about this."

"Yeah, I'm sure everyone else sees it that way too."

"Do you want to head back?" She shook her head. "Alright, I'll call Randy and tell him."

Ted called him and told him they would see them the next day. Randy told Ted he and Dena would come over later and picked up his car.

Randy hoped this would be the end of it between Amber and Holly. He wanted his sisters happy and even though he and Ted hadn't always got along, he knew he would be good to Amber like he knew Alex would be good to Holly. Their parents would be happy to know the girls were happy and that was all he wanted for them. To be safe and happy.

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