A few days before the wedding Evie walked downstairs to see her father, brothers, and Lucas sitting in the living room. "What is going?" she asked hesitantly.
Josiah grinned at her, "bachelor party."
Her eyes widened "Your taking Ben for a bachelor party? All of you?"
"Yep" her dad and brothers answered smiling smugly. She turned towards Lucas who was standing against the mantle with his arms folded, a scowl on his face. They had not talked since that night on the porch. He refused to look at her, "can we go?" He growled.
Ben suddenly walked in pulling on his coat. "Hey guys, sorry for the wait."
Lucas just walked to the door yelling over his shoulder "I will be waiting in the car." She winced hearing the door slam. Ben smiled at her and kissed her cheek "bye sweetie."
"Uh…bye" she replied a little unsure if this was a good idea. She grabbed her dads arm as he passed bye "Daddy" she said warningly.
He smirked at her "Yes, kiddo?"
"Be good."
"Always," he answered before winking at her and kissing her mom then following the boys out.
She looked at her mom "should I be worried?"
Rachel grinned at her "probably but there is nothing you can do about it. So come on, I have melted chocolate and orange slices with your name on it."
Evie grinned; she loved dipping oranges into melted chocolate. It was her one guilty pleasure. She followed her into the kitchen. She was actually grateful for some alone time with her mom. She had been wanting to talk to her about the conversation that took place between her and her dad.
"Ma, how come you never told me the story about how dad proposed?" Her mom placed the food on the table sitting down across from her.
She shrugged "I'm not sure, I just assumed you had heard from other family members or something. I guess it never occur to me that you did not know. Why?"
"Dad told me. That's what we talked about, your accident."
Rachel looked at her daughter giving a small smile "I really don't remember anything about the accident. It happened too quickly. One minute I was driving to school and then next thing I know I am waking up in a hospital bed aching all over. It was much more significant for your father. When he came running into my room. I had never seen him so pale, his whole body was trembling. Before I could say a word he was on his knee and asking me to marry him." Rachel laughed at the memory, "My first thought was only Noah would propose to me when I am covered in bruises and lying in hospital bed. Then my second thought was "I can not believe he finally asked me."
Evie smiled but then asked seriously "No doubts?"
Rachel grinned and shook her head. "Not a one, I did not even hesitate. I said yes before he could change his mind."
"How could you be so sure that daddy was the one?"
Rachel looked at Evie for a long time sensing that her answer meant a great deal to her. She finally answered softly "Because he was the only one who could touch me."
Evie looked confused "what?"
"One touch from him and I could feel a thousand sensations. No matter how often I would hold his hand I would still get tingles up my arms. Every kiss would bring more fireworks than the last. His hugs are the only thing that can comfort me when I am upset." She suddenly laughed "you know I am now to the point where I can not sleep unless he is there stroking my back"
Evie looked down at her orange quickly dipping into the chocolate and taking a big bite. Rachel just stared at her, sympathy shining out from her eyes "You know after twenty one years of marriage and I still melt every time he kisses me. No matter what happened earlier between us. No matter how mad, frustrated, or scared I am, his kiss still has the power to make me forget and make me feel like I am falling in love all over again. That's how you know Evie. Anything less is just not worth it."
Evie nodded then scooped up a big dip with her orange "this is really good," she mumbled her mouth full of chocolate. Rachel just laughed and took a bite herself.
Across town at Dave's Hotter than a Fryer Bar and Grill, sat the boys. Puck was sipping his beer as Ben and Josiah talked about music. It was obvious that Ben did not really know anything about it but he was trying and Josiah was giving him a lecture about all the rock music he had to listen too if he wanted to marry into the Puckerman family. Aaron kept quiet but he did ask Ben who he thought would win in playoffs and Ben just stared blankly at him. Aaron just rolled his eyes and decided not to even bother explaining. Puck was looking at Lucas though; he was staring into his beer as though he was trying to figure out how to drown him in it. He grinned at the poor boy, he knew how he felt. That day he thought that other kid was going to ask Rachel to the homecoming dance made him feel an anger he could not describe. Puck was pretty sure that Lucas really wanted to rip Ben's head off and knew he couldn't.
Suddenly the conversation was halted as the waitress came and put some wings on the table. The were the house special with a secret hot sauce that covered them. No one knew exactly what it was made of but they were the hottest thing you would ever taste. They all grinned as Ben grabbed one and immediately starting eating. After about three second his entire face went red and he started coughing. He grabbed his beer and chugged it down, then grabbed Pucks from his hands and gulped it down as well. "Water" he croaked out. Laughing Puck signaled the waitress and asked for a pitcher of water. He clapped Ben on the back, "now that will make your taste buds wake up" he joked. Ben smiled weakly and took a big gulp of water still coughing slightly. The others still chuckling grabbed some wings for themselves. They were more use to them and ate them carefully taking long sips of water before and after each bite.
"So Ben, what are you and Evie going to do for your honeymoon?" Aaron asked.
"I am not sure, probably nothing." He answered
"What, why?" Josiah asked reaching for another wing.
"I do not really see the point in something so trivial as a honeymoon. Besides me and Evie want to save all the money we can."
"Really, how come? Aaron asked curiously "are you saving for a better apartment?"
Ben shook his head, "No, its just Evie wants to finish school and we want kids right away. So we need to save so she can stay home for awhile when she does."
Before Puck knew what was happening, Lucas was out of his chair and had flattened Ben to the ground. Puck quickly got up and grabbed Lucas around the middle before he could throw another punch. It took him a good minute to get him off of Ben. His entire body was shaking with rage, his hands still clenched into fists. "I am going to kick your ass" he growled still struggling to get out of Pucks grip.
"Stop it" Puck barked in his ear forcing him to walk out the door. "Josiah and Aaron, help Ben!" He kept pushing Lucas out the door. "Move it" he commanded. He finally got him outside, as he jerked out of his grip he turned to Puck his entire face still red with rage. "Go home" he ordered softly.
Lucas glared for a moment before nodding and headed towards his truck. Puck took a deep breath before turning and helping his sons carry a stunned Ben to the car.
Evie was sitting on the couch watching a movie with her mom, feeling relaxed for the first time in awhile when the door opened and she saw Ben having to be supported by her dad and Josiah. Her mother gasped looking at Ben's eye, already turning black and purple. "Dad" Evie cried jumping to her feet running to Ben "What happened?!"
Before her dad could speak, Ben shouted "Your old friend sucker punched me! One minute we are talking and the next I am on the ground."
Evie looked at her dad "Lucas hit him!"
She saw her dad exchange glances with her mom before turning back to Josiah "Help him upstairs." Josiah nodded and grabbed his arm helping him as he walked up the stairs. As soon as they were out ear shot. Puck turned back to Evie and Rachel. "I am not sure what happened. One minute Ben was talking about you guys having kids and the next thing I know Lucas had hit him." Evie growled, she grabbed her purse stalking to the door "Evie!" She heard her mother cry "where are you going?"
Evie did not answer, knowing her dad would figure it out.
She drove straight to the garage and sure enough there was Lucas slamming down tools. She walked right up to him and pushed him as hard as she could. "What the hell is wrong with you?!" She shouted "How dare you hit Ben."
He did not say anything, he simply turned and headed back to his bike "Hey" she called, hurrying after him " I am talking to you."
"And this is me ignoring you" came his reply.
"No your not" she growled, grabbing his arm forcing him to turn "You are going to tell me why you decided to give my fiancée a black eye two days before our wedding."
He looked at her for a moment then speaking very slowly "No I'm not. Because if your too stupid to figure it out then too bad for you."
"What! Lucas I swear… Why are you acting like a jealous boyfriend?!" She demanded.
He suddenly slammed his wrench down "For crying out loud, Evie! Why do you think?! I am sitting there listening this jackass talking about you guys having kids! Your kids!" He shouted his face near hers. She noticed the pain and anger in his eyes, his whole body tight with tension. "How am I supposed to react hearing about the woman I love and some other guy!"
Evie stared at him stunned "What do you mean, the woman you love!" She shouted "You left! You told me I was not worth staying for!"
He groaned "What else do you want me to say!" He shouted back "You want me to tell you how much I have hated myself for that everyday since. Fine. I hate myself. I was a jackass beyond anything I could ever imagine. You want to hear how I still wake up in the morning and wish you were in my arms. That I would take that day back if I could!"
She glared at him "It still doesn't change the fact that you LEFT! You made love to me and then broke my heart!" She yelled
He closed his eyes, throwing up his hands "What do you want from me!" he shouted.
"I want my heart back!" She screamed. "I want stop thinking about you! I want stop wishing every night that you were the one holding me! Tears streaming down, "I want to stop loving you." She whispered.
He stared at her for moment before stalking over to her, his lips crashing down against hers. She did not hesitate, grabbing the back of head forcing his lips closer. He grabbed her waist slamming her hips against his, moaning she opened her mouth feeling his tongue slide against hers. She responded hungrily, never wanting to stop, not even sure she could stop. He scooped her up heading for his truck. She clutched at him as lips made their way down her neck. Then he set her down. Her back coming up hard against the door of the truck. He captured her lips again, his hands splayed out behind her head bracing himself. Suddenly he pulled away, his normal brown eyes black with need, "tell me Evie. Tell me you want me. Tell me your not going to marry this guy. Tell me that your going to give me, give us another chance?"
She looked at him, her heart pounding, she desperately wanted to say yes, but there was still that piece of her scared of letting him back in. Terrified of feeling that pain again. She did not think she could survive it a second time. "I am not sure" she whispered. "All I know right now is that there is a good man waiting for me. He loves me. I supposed to marry him on Saturday." He pushed himself off of her "Fine." He snapped "Marry him."
She glared "That's it. Marry him. That's all your going to say?"
He just stared at her, his face hard.
"Fine" She bite out, "see you Saturday." Stalking to her car, she wrenched open the door realizing that once again he was letting go. He was not going to fight. She blinked back tears as she pulled away, just once she wished he would run after her. Proved he cared enough to fight, demand that he loved her enough to do whatever it took. But he didn't, he was going to let her marry Ben.