A/N: While I'm not entirely sure if I'm done with this segment, I'm going to publish it anyway on account of I'm an asshole and you really deserve it, so I'll talk to you at the end, I guess. Warnings for... uh... some sads I guess, but that's just in the middle and there's happy everywhere else so yeah. There will be ONE MORE CHAPTER after this one. Just one last chapter.
Four Weddings and Not a Funeral because that shit's depressing
Part Two: Wedding Number Three
(Three)
"You're a junior in high school, you're 16, you don't know what you want," Sebastian said.
"And how old were you the first time you got married?" Sophie shot back.
"Eighteen, thank you very much," Sebastian snarked.
"And when you fell in love with him?" Sophie asked.
"A junior in high school," Sebastian conceded, "but that was totally different."
"How was that different?" Sophie retorted.
"That was me!" Sebastian shouted.
"Cut it out, you two," Hunter said.
"Help me out here," Sebastian appealed to his husband.
"While I agree they're too young to get married, I appreciate the sentiment," Hunter said. "When you're 18, let's have this conversation again."
"He's going to college, Hunter," Sophie said. "And I'm stuck in boring old Ohio."
"Ohio is not boring," Sebastian said. Hunter stared at him. "Okay it is boring. But you can't run your life according to some guy you might not even still like in a year."
"But I'm in love with him! I love Blake!" Sophie screamed.
"Trust us, honey," Hunter said. Sophie stormed to her room. Sophie and Blake had been dating for about a year, but he had graduated, while she was just starting her senior year of high school. Just as Hunter suspected, their relationship didn't last the summer, let alone forever.
When Sophie graduated from Crawford, she was the Valedictorian, the fact that she hadn't spoken a word of English until she was 10 not keeping her down at all.
"We're very proud of you, Soph," Sebastian said. "Can you watch Annie for an hour or so while Hunter and I move some furniture in?"
Flux was done. It wasn't that they'd broken up, they'd decided to stop playing. For a while. Maybe in a few years, they would pick it up again, but Hunter and Jeff wanted to spend time with their children. Sebastian was starting his own law firm in Ohio. So Sebastian, Hunter, and Anastasia were moving from the penthouse back to Ohio. Nick and Jeff were curiously moving just down the street, which might have had something to do with the fact that Nick had gotten a teaching job at Dalton, or it might have been because Sebastian had seen number 36 for sale and bought it for Nick and Jeff's anniversary. Jeff had gone to see about a job teaching dance at a local studio and was still waiting to hear back (NBD or anything, he's not the bass player for the biggest band in the world, he should definitely get a job). Nick had insisted the house was too much and they couldn't accept it. Jeff had told him to shut up.
Sophie had gotten over Blake and moved on to James, Patrick, Michael, and Ryan, and was headed off to Northwestern, where she went through Brendan, Justin, Ethan, and Victor.
It wasn't until Thanksgiving of her sophomore year that she actually brought a boy back to Ohio. Sebastian and Hunter held Thanksgiving at their house every year. Nick and Jeff cooked. This was going to be the biggest one yet. Kurt and Blaine were going to stop by, even though their real Thanksgiving was going to be at Burt and Carole's.
Hunter had convinced Courtney to come out with Collin, whom Hunter had seen a few times over the years, but no one else had.
Service announcement for people bad at math: It's been almost five years since Thad and Angelique's wedding.
"How many are we expecting from your side?" Sebastian asked Jeff as they set the table.
"Me and Nick, Gabi and Ben," Jeff said. "Kurt and Blaine, Ariana, Courtney and Collin, You and Hunter and Anastasia, Sophie and Sophie's boyfriend, Trent and his boyfriend, Lisa and Riley and little Amelia…"
"Nineteen, is that it?" Sebastian asked, looking at the several tables he had lined up.
"Everett and Chelsea, Kirby and Alexis, Tyler and Ashley, and, of course, Nate and Josh," Jeff finished.
"Twenty-seven," Sebastian said. "Still seems like we're missing two. What about Beats?"
"Well, I talked to Meredith last week and she said something… and anyway, not being able to make it," Jeff said.
"Damn, I miss Beats," Sebastian said.
"I know, right?" Jeff said. "I feel like we haven't seen him at all since he and Trent broke up."
"I don't think we have," Sebastian said. "Well, I mean, short of the wedding, I don't think we have at all." Lol, I'm not even going to explain. SUCKERS. Okay, now I feel bad. Here's the short version: Trent and Beats broke up, Beats and Meredith (aka Angelique's maid of honor from last month or five minutes ago or whenever you read the last chapter) are married. THE MORE YOU KNOW! Oops I broke up my other otp. Bwahaha you should know by now that I break up ALL THE OTPS. (A comprehensive list, feel free to skip (in chronological order): Niff, Klaine, Seblaine, Huntbastian, Nosh (or is it Nash?), Trebeats (Or Treatz? Idk.). Basically all the things. But I got most of them back together!)
"Well, it's gonna be a full house anyway," Jeff said. "I hope we have enough pie."
"Jeff, you made, like, one pie per guest," Sebastian said. "We're going to have leftovers for years."
"You say that every year," Jeff said.
"We don't have enough room for all these cars," Sebastian said.
"So some people will have to park at my house," Jeff shrugged, setting each fork delicately to the left of each plate. The doorbell rang and Jeff jumped.
"Let Hunter get it," Sebastian said.
"Sophie!" Hunter exclaimed. 19-year-old Sophie hugged her brother-in-law. "Where's this boyfriend of yours?"
"Parking down at Nick and Jeff's," Sophie said brightly. "Where's my brother?"
"In the front room," Hunter replied.
"Thanks," Sophie said, skipping brightly down the hall.
"Sophie!" Sebastian exclaimed.
"Hi," Sophie said with a wave from the doors. "Hi Jeff."
"Hi Soph," Jeff replied, still diligently placing silverware around the table.
"Where's Nick?" Sophie asked.
"Cooking. The last time we accidentally disturbed him, we almost got third degree gravy burns," Sebastian said.
"Alright then," Sophie laughed. "Anything I can do to help?"
"Yeah, there's some bowls of pickles and olives and butter and stuff on the counter in the kitchen, if you could bring them to the table, please," Jeff said. Sophie pulled up the sleeves of her sweater and got to work, disappearing into the kitchen. About ten minutes passed before there was a knock on the doorframe, and there was Cameron Duval leaning on the wood casually.
"Hey Cam," Jeff said, glancing up for a second. Then he did a double take. "What are you doing here?"
"I was invited," Cameron shrugged.
"Dammit, I told Josh not to bring more people," Jeff whined.
"Nice to see you too," Cameron said sarcastically. "No, Josh didn't invite me."
"Nick, then?" Jeff asked, counting his guests on his fingers.
"No," Cameron laughed. "How can I help?"
"Stuff in the kitchen needs to be brought out," Sebastian said. "Sophie went to get the pickles like ten minutes ago and disappeared, so make sure your brother didn't murder her." Cameron disappeared through the door to the kitchen. Jeff and Sebastian couldn't hear what Nick was saying but he seemed to be confused, then happy to see his brother, then… angry?
Nick stormed into the dining room. He stopped dead in front of Sebastian, pointed a finger in his face, and very firmly declared, "No."
"Look, I'm sorry for disturbing you, but I need to set the table, and I figured you wouldn't hurt children," Sebastian said, trying to get around Nick. Cameron and Sophie came back from the kitchen as well. Cameron was clutching his left shoulder, Sophie was carrying a tray of pickles.
"No," Nick said, slowly backing Sebastian toward the wall of the room, his finger still in Sebastian's face. "No, no, your sister is under the bizarre delusion that I would ever want you as my in-law."
"Soph, Annie's a little young to be marrying her off to Ben," Sebastian called over Nick's shoulder.
"What?" Sophie asked.
"Your sister and my brother are dating," Nick said angrily as Sebastian's back hit the wall.
"What?" Sebastian screeched.
"Yeah," Nick said, jabbing his finger at Sebastian one last time before Sebastian pushed him aside easily, proving he could have escaped all along.
"Is this true?" Sebastian asked Sophie, who nodded. "Well, that's great!" Sebastian extended his hand to Cameron to shake, and then pulled him into a tight hug. "Anything that makes Nick angry is fine by me, but–" Sebastian dropped his voice to hiss in Cameron's ear. "–if you hurt my sister, I will kill you." Sebastian released Cameron. Jeff was nearly dancing out of his pants in his excitement.
"Congratulations!" Jeff exclaimed. "So. How did it happen, where did it happen, how many times did it happen?" Nick swatted Jeff.
"Three?" Cameron guessed, looking to Sophie, who slapped him. "Ow! No! No, we were friends for a long time and–"
"Just stop," Sophie said, mortified. "He means this is the third time we've tried being a couple. The first two barely counted."
"Now, Nicholas, you are going to be happy for your brother, aren't you?" Sebastian asked.
"I guess," Nick said, grudgingly.
"Does he know Nick isn't short for Nicholas?" Cameron asked.
"Yeah, he does," Nick replied.
"But I do forget," Sebastian said. "Thanks for reminding me." He grinned.
"Oh, look what you did," Nick sighed. "I'll be in the kitchen."
"Just leave him for a little," Sebastian advised.
Cameron and Sophie were allowed to go upstairs to Sophie's room instead of continuing to help.
The doorbell rang again, and Hunter, who missed the entire conversation about Sophie and Cameron, answered the door.
"Courtney!" Hunter exclaimed, reaching to hug her, and placing a kiss on each of her cheeks.
"Daddy!" a little voice exclaimed and then something had jumped into Hunter's arms.
"Hey kiddo," Hunter said to his son. "I missed you. How've you been?"
"Okay," Collin said sadly. "When are you coming to visit again?"
"I dunno, squirt, my band's not playing anymore, and I don't travel as much," Hunter told the child.
"That's poopy," the five-year-old declared.
"Collin, what did Mommy say about that word?" Courtney asked.
"I don't care. I never get to see my Dad and that's poopy!" Collin exclaimed.
"We'll talk after dinner," Hunter said to Courtney as she took her child back from her ex-husband, frowning. "Make yourselves at home, living room is right over here…"
More guests arrived. Kurt and Blaine popped in, saying they would be back later. Lisa, Riley, and their daughter Amelia showed up, and Sophie immediately appeared to steal the baby. Anastasia and Collin were introduced. Hunter said they were brother and sister, Sebastian disagreed. The biggest disturbance was when Trent showed up - alone. Again.
"Where's James?" Hunter asked when Trent walked in by his lonesome.
"Broke up," Trent said sadly.
"Damn, heartbreaker, you do break up with a lot of guys," Sebastian said.
"Sorry about him," Hunter said, pushing Sebastian out of the hall. "Almost everyone's here. Good luck finding a seat."
"Thanks," Trent said, walking into the house and bypassing the crowded living room. Half an hour later, after even the rest of Flux had shown up, and everyone was just sitting down to eat, the doorbell rang again.
Everyone was confused, especially since the only empty chair was the one for James, next to Trent.
"I'll get it..." Hunter said offhandedly as Sebastian and Jeff counted guests on their fingers, trying to figure out who was missing. Hunter opened the door. A familiar face and another small unfamiliar maybe three year old face.
"Hi." It was Beats. "Hope it's not too late to crash."
"No, not at all. We've got an extra chair for you, and I'm sure we can make a space for this guy," Hunter said. "Come on in." Beats followed Hunter into the front room. "Look who I found!"
"Beats!" was the consensus. Sebastian shot a look at Trent to see if he was okay, and he seemed to be totally okay with seeing his ex and... his ex's son?
"Hey guys," Beats said. "Sorry to crash..."
"It's fine," Sebastian said. "You know you're always welcome here, bud."
"Thanks," Beats said. "This is Logan. Logan, this is... everybody."
"Hi," the three year old said.
"Gosh, all the kids have gotten so big, let's see if I can remember," Beats said, leading Logan over to the kid's table. "Annie I can always pick out, she looks just like her Daddy." Sebastian smiled, embarrassed, because people always said he, Sophie, and Anastasia all looked just alike. "And... Gabriella, and Ben, of course, and, uh, Collin's here, too?" Hunter nodded. "Can you remember all that, squirt?"
"No," Logan said.
"Alright," Beats laughed. He took the only empty chair, next to Trent, and the normal hustle and bustle of eating came back as everyone started trying to eat at once. "How've you been?" Beats finally asked Trent, in an undertone, so no one else could hear, not that they would have, since they were all wrapped up in their own conversations.
"Alright," Trent replied.
"Where's James?" Beats asked.
"Broke up," Trent replied. "Where's Meredith?"
"She fell in love with her dentist," Beats said.
"Really?"
"No, but that's what I'm telling people. Better than the truth."
"Which is?"
"She ran out on me and Logan," Beats said. "Doesn't want anything to do with us. We're on our own."
"That's awful," Trent said.
"She's nuts, I swear," Beats said.
"I really, honestly don't understand you sometimes," Trent said.
"What?" Beats asked.
"You go off and marry some crazy chick, you like dumb chicks, you like hot chicks, you left me for Mark in high school. Did you ever really love me?" Trent asked.
"Of course I do," Beats said. "And I know I've messed up my chance with you, and I'm truly sorry."
"How long since she left?" Trent asked.
"Six months," Beats said. "You?"
"Three days," Trent said.
"Ouch," Beats said. "How you doing?"
"Alright," Trent said with a shrug. "I broke up with him, so…"
"You heartbreaker," Beats smiled. "But why? Two years, wasn't it? What did he do to you?"
"Nothing," Trent said. "You already know the story."
"Marriage?" Beats asked.
"Yeah," Trent said. "I really do not… I just don't."
"Would you ever consider reconsidering that opinion?" Beats asked.
"What, for you?" Trent asked.
"For anyone," Beats said.
"No," Trent replied, shaking his head.
"Not a single person," Beats said.
"Nope," Trent replied, taking a large bite of turkey.
"Why not?"
"Don't believe in it," Trent said with his mouth full.
"But why?"
"Why should I?" Trent asked. "Are your parents still married?"
"Well, no, but–" Beats began.
"My parents haven't been together since I was four," Trent said. "Look at everyone in this room. Look at you with Meredith and Logan."
"Logan and I are much better off now than we were with Meredith, I don't see what the big deal is," Beats said.
"Why are you here, Beats? Did you just come because everyone else was going to be here or did you come because I was going to be here?" Trent asked.
"Honestly?" Beats asked. Trent nodded, taking a bite of mashed potatoes and I am really hungry right now. "I came to see you. To apologize for everything, and to see how you were doing. I love you, I've always loved you. Believe me, please."
"I don't know," Trent said, swallowing. "I just don't know."
It took a little while for Nick to warm up to the idea of being Sebastian's brother-in-law, but after dinner, pie, and a few drinks, he was in the basement, hogging the microphone. Cuz Hunter and Sebastian's basement is a lot like Rachel's basement.
"I didn't know you could get that drunk off just wine," Jeff said to Sebastian as Nick belted the words to Jet Lag.
"Oh yeah," Sebastian said. "You should have seen Trent the first time I gave him a few glasses. Wine is like magic, makes people divulge their secrets." Sebastian winked.
"Have you ever done this to me?" Jeff asked. Sebastian chuckled.
"Of course," he said. "Well, not so much wine… You can take the good stuff. First time out, six shots and you were wasted. Oh man, the things I learned about you…"
"I'm so concerned because I honestly don't remember this at all," Jeff said. Sebastian laughed again.
"No, you probably wouldn't," Sebastian said. "Only took seven shots to get you to sleep with me."
"Circumstance," Jeff shrugged. "Because I do remember that. Not that I want to."
"Me neither," Sebastian said. "But it's in the past, Jeffrey. Forget it."
"Sounds good," Jeff agreed. Nick finished Jet Lag and started yelling for Jeff.
"Baby, sing with me!" Nick shouted.
"Sing what?" Jeff asked, making his way through the crowd to the stage.
"Our song," Nick insisted. "Kirby, do the thing!"
There was a song that Jeff had written back in the Flux days for Nick. Sort of.
Remember that trip we took in Mexico, yeah
Hanging with the boys and all your senoritas
Now he's long gone, I'm like so long
Now I got my chance, now I, now I got my chance
Like damn, you could be the one that could mess me up
You could be the one that'll break me, damn
All them other girls say they had enough,
You could be the one that'll take me
I was solo, living #yolo , til you blew my mind
Like damn, you could be the one that could mess me up
I can't let you, can't let you pass me by
I can't let you pass me by
It was called Pass Me By and it had been an even bigger hit than Jet Lag. Pass Me By had been the band's second to last single.
"Now Cameron – where is my brother?" Nick asked. Cameron raised his hand from the corner of the room where he was talking to Sophie. "Cam, I want you to know I love you – and I love Sophie, and if you two want to be together, that is totally cool with me. But you know what isn't cool with me? Trent, Beats, for God's sake, we've been on and off with this for, like, half our lives. We all know you love each other. Kiss, make up, and get married. For the love of sanity."
"Really none of your business, Nick," Trent said, but everyone was looking at the two of them now.
"Just drop it," Beats advised Nick.
"Well, fine, in that case, just… hit it," Nick said, dejected.
"Hit what?" Beats asked.
"It. Anything," Nick said.
"Uh… okay," Beats said. "Uh…" A few more moments of decision and then he decided on a song. "Hunter, can I borrow your band and your music?"
"Sure?" Hunter said with a shrug. Beats whispered to Kirby, who nodded. Beats took the microphone from Nick, who protested, but let Beats do his thing because he never gets to do anything.
"I've really always wanted to say this," Beats said, fangirling a little bit. "Hit it!" Kirby did so, playing softly on his guitar and Everett joined in on the keys (because Hunter and Sebastian would really have a set-up for a band in their basement (JUST GO WITH IT)), the intro to one of Flux's earlier songs that had never been a big hit. Everett and Kirby had written it in high school, so it was dear to them, and to be honest, it was one of Beats' favorites.
I'm like that boombox outside of your window
I'm that DeLorean blowing past 88
And where we are going
Won't be needing no roads cuz
This ain't no 50 first dates
I'm talking bout starting out as friends
I'm talking bout real and not pretend
I'm talking bout roles of a life time
You and I can even write the end
Here comes that movie scene, one you hate, so cliché
That moment when we kissed by the lake, pouring rain
I ain't no superman but I can change the your world
Oo-oo-oo-oo-oo-oo
Here comes forever
Trent tried really hard not to be impressed, but secretly he was a huge sucker for that song. (And also it's R5 which basically means it's freaking awesome.)
But surprise! Trent and Beats are not wedding number three.
"You need to calm down," Angie said, putting her hand out.
"I can't! I'm too excited!" Sophie exclaimed.
"No, really, you need to calm down," Haley agreed.
"He might not even do it tonight," Angie pointed out.
"He's going to do it," Simon said, pretending to be completely uninterested.
"And how do you know?" Angie asked. Simon gave her a sassy look and Angie folded her arms, scowling.
"I need something to wear!" Sophie said. "What do you even wear to your own engagement?"
"Not what you're wearing right now, sweetheart," Simon said. "Not in a million years."
"What's wrong with this?" Sophie asked, looking at her green sweater in confusion.
"This is a moment you're going to remember for the rest of your life," Simon said, getting up from the arm of the chair and crossing the room to her closet. "You should be rocking this." If you couldn't tell by now, Simon is basically Sophie's personal Kurt Hummel. Simon pulled out a dress and the girls all made sounds of agreement. Also, Angie and Haley are Sophie's best friends, because she needs some friends.
It was Sophie's senior year of college at Northwestern. Cameron had graduated the year before and continued onto law school. It wasn't a huge secret that he was going to propose that night. Sebastian always had been sort of a blabber mouth, and since Cameron had called him to get his permission… I hope you can see where I'm going with this. Everyone and their mother knew about it at this point.
"Wow," Cameron said when he came to pick Sophie up. "I'm guessing you know, then."
"Everyone knows," Sophie said. How about, since it's the last chapter, I tell you what Cameron and Sophie look like? Or, I can leave it to your imagination, because I might ruin it. I don't want to ruin it. D: Skip the next two paragraphs if you want to keep your imagination, I guess, because I need to set my mother straight on this, because she is really, really wrong.
Cameron was tall, taller than Nick ever got, and it was a soft spot between the two of them. He wore glasses that I never mentioned before, but they're black, like, you know, glasses are. He could've gotten contacts, but he never really liked them and his face seems bald without his glasses. He has short hair, but enough to put product in if he wanted to, a dark blond color (and sometimes Jeff helps him put in highlights, because Jeff is helpful like that). Basically, he looks like my friend Ethan, but with greenish-brown hazel eyes (just like Nick's). I'm sure that's very helpful to you.
Sophie was tall too, at least for a girl, probably about 5'6 but she wore heels all the time so she never looked that much shorter than Cameron, and also she was classy. She had beautiful green eyes and slightly wavy brown hair to her shoulders, and basically if you know who Alison Brie is, she looks like her (except I think she has blue eyes? Not really sure, the picture quality on my computer is super crappy). Back to the story?
Is anyone else wondering why I never mention Jeff's sister? I mean, they're twins! I'm not going to suddenly involve her in the story, I was just wondering.
"Where are we going?" Sophie asked.
"You don't know?" Cameron asked. Sophie shook her head. "Then I guess it'll be a surprise." Sophie laughed a little. "Well, first we're going to walk for a bit, and I was going to do this reminiscing thing, like, 'Hey, Soph, do you remember the first time?' and you'd be like 'the first time what?' and I would say 'the first time we kissed'." Sophie laughed a little more, blushing. "You do remember."
Sophie and Cameron had been friends since they'd met at Thad and Angelique's wedding, but that was a few years ago. Sophie was a sophomore at Crawford and Cameron was a junior at Dalton, and the two schools had decided that a joint drama program was a really good idea after all, so they were doing a huge production of Mamma Mia with the Warblers playing most of the orchestra – the dancing orchestra. It was actually going to be really good. Auditions were held, and I'm sure you know where I'm going with this, Sophie got the role of Sophie, and Cameron was going to be playing Skye. Actually, now that I think about it, that wasn't that obvious.
They spent almost two months in musical rehearsals, both full cast, and just the Warblers, but finally they started the three weeks of blocking and dance rehearsals. It was the second time they'd rehearsed Lay All Your Love On Me, which for whatever reason involved a lot of partner dancing and a lot of spinning. Sophie, being Sophie, was wearing strappy three inch heels, which conveniently spun really easily on the stage at Crawford, but I really hope you can see the drawback to that, when she managed to trip over her own spinning feet, caught only by Cameron holding her arm, he pulled her into him and pecked her lightly on the lips. A friendly gesture. Sophie had blushed bright red and hadn't been able to look Cameron in the face for three days.
The campus security at Crawford was tight. It was almost impossible for guys to sneak onto campus, and forget about staying out past curfew. Lisa promised she would tell Sophie how to get passed security when she was a senior, but for now Sophie had to play by the rules. Basically, if the girls of Crawford wanted to hang out with the boys of Dalton, it needed to be during school-approved liaisons, like drama practice, Homecoming, or chaperoned coffee dates.
Sophie lived on the second floor of her dorm building. Her roommate, Nina, was very nice, and they did a lot of things together, for instance, the musical, and she wouldn't stop picking on Sophie for the kiss incident.
"You're going to have to kiss him anyway," Nina pointed out.
"But that's gross, he's my friend!" Sophie exclaimed, dropping her script on her desk impatiently. Something hit the window. "Is it hailing again?" Another hit on the window. "It's March, honestly, it shouldn't still be snowing." She crossed the room to the window to look out. Just as she pulled aside the curtains, the third pebble hit the pane and she looked down in surprise, to see Cameron Duval standing one story down. Confused and slightly shivering, she opened the window to talk to him. "What's going on?"
"Come on out," Cameron said, gesturing that she should join him outside. "And bring a coat, it's chilly."
"Why? And furthermore, how? I'm not climbing out this window," Sophie said.
"Don't be stupid," Cameron said. "I'll meet you by the door."
"But curfew…" Sophie said.
"Isn't til 11 on Friday, and it's 9:30," Cameron said. "Get a coat, come on." Sophie closed the window again and looked to Nina.
"Do what the man says," Nina advised. "It could be leading somewhere good."
"Ew! That's gross. He's my friend," Sophie repeated.
"Every time you get attention from a guy you don't want to date, just think of it as free presents and food," Nina told her.
"I'm pretty sure that's called leading a guy on and it's rude," Sophie mumbled as she grabbed her coat and left her dorm room.
Cameron met Sophie just out of the circle of light cast by the door to the dorm building, because he would get detention for the rest of his life if he was found sneaking around the Crawford campus this late at night, and soon they were in what Sophie knew to be Nate's car that Cameron was borrowing. Because Cameron didn't have a car, because his family lives in Texas. Sophie didn't make it back for curfew, they spent the entire night at Dalton, where there were almost no rules. The Warblers threw a heck of a party. It was the best night.
In April, Sophie started dating Blake. The problem with Blake was he was Cameron's roommate. He was on the Warblers and was also star of the Lacrosse team. He was a great guy, wonderful, he just wasn't Cameron. (At least that's what Cameron's problem with him was.)
Cameron was trying to be subtle, because let's face it, he was in love with Sophie, and he's related to Nick, so he ended up doing a whole lot of unsubtle things, including singing Flux's I Want U Bad at Nationals that year. Sophie wasn't at Nationals, they were in sunny Los Angeles and she didn't have a reason to go, since Crawford's show choir hadn't made it, but she was there at rehearsal one day, waiting for Blake to take her out.
I might just go crazy
Cuz you're my best friend's baby
But you got me thinking maybe, just maybe
I don't know what to do
I'm in love with someone else's girl
You rock my world
Cuz you're the one that I can't have
Girl, I want you bad
In my crazy mind, I'm with you all the time
Cuz you're the best I never had
And girl, I want you bad
"You know what was really funny, though?" Sophie asked Cameron as they continued their walk. "Everett wrote that song when he and Kirby were in high school about Chelsea, because Chelsea was with Kirby at the time, and now look at them."
"Everett and Chelsea are married," Cameron laughed. "I know, it worked out pretty great."
"Well, not if you're Blake," Sophie said.
"Well, I guess we had to sacrifice something," Cameron said. "He's fine, he got a girl pregnant and it wasn't you, so I think we're better off without him."
"That is true," Sophie said. They walked a little further. "So where are we going?"
"Well, do you remember when you first got to Northwestern?" Cameron asked.
"Yes," Sophie said. "And I ran into you. Literally."
"I like to think of it as you falling for me," Cameron said.
"You would think of it like that," Sophie said.
"Hey, it's a testament to persistence," Cameron said. "I knew you would eventually."
"You're such a jerk sometimes," Sophie smiled, tilting her head onto his shoulder.
"Nah," Cameron said. "Here's a question though. What's your favorite Flux song?"
"That's hard," Sophie said. "It's changed a lot, but I think it's probably If I Can't Be With You."
"I was hoping you'd say that," Cameron said, "because while I know you view it as a song written about how it wouldn't be worth being famous if the band wasn't together, it was marketed as a love song, and I love you."
"Yes," Sophie agreed.
"See, I had this whole thing planned, and I called a bunch of my buddies, they were all going to come and we were going to serenade you, and then I'd get down on one knee like this," Cameron stopped in the middle of the sidewalk to get down on one knee, fumbling for the ring box in his pocket, "and then I would say, 'Sophie Smythe, if I can't be with you, the sun will never shine, and the sky won't be blue, so please, please marry me." He held up the open ring box. She stared, but before she opened her mouth to speak, Cameron had stood up again to continue walking. "But I'm not going to do that now, because it wouldn't be a surprise."
"You're… not?" Sophie asked.
"Nah," Cameron said. "I'm not going to be predictable. I'm going to be unpredictable. Like my brother."
"Jeff knew Nick was going to propose for months before he did it," Sophie said.
"But when he did it was a total surprise!" Cameron insisted.
"How are you going to make it a surprise?" Sophie asked.
"Sort of like this," Cameron said as they finally got to their destination – an outdoor park. Soft music was tinkling out of a guitar played by a grinning blond guy sitting on a stool in the center of one of the rows between the plants. Sophie knew immediately it was Jeff. The boys had all worked together to write the song, but Jeff had eventually taken ownership of it.
But I'd give it all up, up, I'd give it all up
If I can't be with you
All of this stuff sucks, yeah, all of it sucks
If I can't be with you
No Oscar, No Grammy, No mention in my Emmy
The sun don't shine, the sky ain't blue
If I can't be with you
Cameron knelt down the held the ring out again.
"Marry me."
"Absolutely."
A/N: Um. Yeah, I really hope you saw that coming three miles away because I've sort of had it in mind forever. Just one wedding left, and it's still not Trent and Beats.
Trent and Beats will, however, have their own story called The Only Exception which I will eventually get around to publishing. So if you hardcore ship Trent/Beats like I do PLeaSE help me decide what the fuck their ship name is. Atm, I've got Trebeats, Treatz, like Beatshine... it's a lot easier to do in picture form, just draw a sunshine and a drum.
Anyway.
Samantha.