A/N: Thanks for the reviews, hope you like the chapter. :)
Shane didn't quite know what to expect on a dinner with Chris and Stephanie. He knew what to expect at a dinner with his parents. The conversation would be limited to work and the occasional flutter of conversation about someone they knew, some neighbor who had gotten some banal reward or a bit of gossip that they would forget immediately because gossiping was so beneath them. He knew what he was getting into when he went to dinner with his parents and it was his world so he was never afraid of it.
When it came to his sister and her fiancé, on the other hand, he had no idea what to expect. When he pictured them having dinner, he pictured a circus for some reason, Stephanie hanging upside down with a trapeze and Chris in clown makeup (which wasn't too far-fetched considering Chris had once disguised himself as Doink). He could just see himself, sitting there, surrounded by craziness and he suddenly wondered what the hell he was getting into with all of this. He knew they had probably just asked him to be polite, they did look a little surprised when he accepted, but he'd accepted and that was that.
It just all boiled down to the fact that he didn't agree with what his parents were doing to his sister. He wouldn't really count this as a rebellion, Shane had never been the rebellious type, but it felt like a defiance for sure. He was defying something his parents were set against, but what they were set against was so trivial. What was the good in missing their daughter's wedding? Stephanie may be a lot of things, a lot of weird things, but even Shane knew she was a good and decent person who didn't deserve to be treated this way.
And what about the future? He figured that Stephanie and Chris might someday procreate, were his parents just going to revolt against their own grandchild? He was not opposed to children and if Stephanie and Chris had one, he hated to think that he'd ignore it just because he and Stephanie didn't see eye-to-eye on a lot of things. It just boiled down to that. Was he going to be petty because he and Stephanie were different? He didn't want to be petty like that. He may be a lot of things, but petty and cruel, he didn't think so.
He was meeting them at the restaurant, Mexican they said, asking him if that was alright and while he didn't have Mexican food often, he liked it well enough. He pulled up to the place following their directions. They seemed to know every city they stayed in because they'd rattled off the directions to the place off the top of their heads. He started walking up and saw them standing outside the restaurant. Chris was leaning against the wall and Stephanie was pressed against him, not doing anything, just standing there, her chin on his shoulder as she spoke to him.
He walked up and Chris saw him first, pushing Stephanie away a little, "Hey, Shane."
"Hey, Shane," Stephanie said, her voice not robotic, her movements not jerky, no teasing in her voice and it was a refreshing change. "I almost didn't think you'd show up. I figured that Mom and Dad would've sent a helicopter to monitor you and then get a hypnotist to make you see the error of your ways."
"No, none of that," he said and he tried to sound casual about it, but casual for him was wearing a polo shirt and going to lunch at the club, not...this. Not that this was unusual, not like they were doing anything unusual. They were just standing there looking like a couple.
"Come on, let's go inside," Chris said as he opened the door for Stephanie, then allowing Shane to go through before he brought up the rear. Shane looked around. The place was certainly loud. There was a mariachi band playing somewhere and a lot of people singing along. He instantaneously felt out of place and pulled at the bottom of his polo shirt a little bit. Sure, he'd been in loud place before, but there was just something very nerve-racking about being here with his sister. He hoped she didn't end up dancing on a table.
Stephanie told them they were here and she apparently had made a reservation or something because they were seated immediately. Chris helped Stephanie into her seat and Shane was struck by how gentlemanly that was of him, but he didn't know enough about Chris to know if he was a gentleman or not. He just seemed silly most of the time so he didn't really know much else besides him, save for how he was in the ring.
"What are you getting?" Chris asked Stephanie as Shane looked at the menu.
"I'm thinking burrito, but then do I want a burrito when I know they have those awesome chile rellenos here? Plus, if I get the burrito I don't get the rice and I want the rice, I always want the rice."
"The rice is in the burrito," he pointed out.
"But Snooks, that's not rice by itself, that's rice in the burrito, it's included in the whole burrito, therefore it ceases to be rice, but in fact, just an element of the burrito itself," Stephanie told him.
"Then get the other thing and then order a burrito to go and you can eat it tomorrow," he suggested.
"Brilliant, I'm doing that," she said, leaning over to kiss him. "What would I possibly do without you?"
"You would live a burrito-less existence and be forced to never leave your house, I don't know why, but I think a life without burritos would constitute becoming a hermit, don't you think?" Chris asked.
"Well, of course I do," she said, "what are you getting?"
"Tacos."
"Yum, what kind, beef, don't get the beef, get the pork, okay," she said.
"What if I want the beef? You can't tell me how to eat, you know, there's nothing I've ever done that tells you that you can tell me how to eat. I don't tell you to lay off the Red Vines, do I, Stephers, maybe I want the beef."
"Fine, get what you want," she said, sticking her tongue out at him. "What are you getting, Shane?"
Shane had just been watching them with a strange fascination, like they were exhibits at the zoo. They were very much in tune with each other and they played off each other well. He'd never really observed it like this before. Sure, he'd seen it from afar, but never up close. He could see where people would think they were a fun couple and want to hang out with them all the time. No wonder they were so popular.
"I think I'm going to get the chicken enchiladas."
"A formidable choice," she nodded with approval. The waiter came over and took their drink orders, Stephanie ordering some huge margarita that came in a glass that seemed almost as big as her head. She took a sip before offering Chris a sip. He took a sip from her straw and then pushed it back across the table to her.
"So," Shane started, "have you guys made a lot of plans for the wedding? It's not too far away, is it?"
"We've given ourselves a few months," Stephanie answered. "I think that's enough time, unfortunately, we weren't able to get the circus animals that we really wanted. I was going to come in riding a zebra while Chris arrived on an elephant, it would've been epic."
"I did not want the elephant, I wanted to be the Liontamer because hello, Lionheart, it would've only been appropriate for me to be the liontamer."
"Okay, okay, go stick your head in a lion's mouth, Snooks," Stephanie said. "We've decided that we're just going to have it on this estate that we found in Connecticut. It's going to be nice."
"Traditional?"
"Oh, God no," Stephanie said. "We've got a few tricks up our sleeve. Just because it's in a traditional place does not mean it's going to be a traditional wedding, not by a long shot. It's probably better that Mom and Dad don't come because if they thought they were going to stick out like a sore thumb before, they are definitely going to stick out like a sore thumb now."
"They still should come though," Shane said. "I don't understand why they won't. I mean, I do, but I don't."
Stephanie shrugged. "I'm not going to let it affect me, but Shane, come on. Look, maybe you don't know this, but I'm not like Mom and Dad and I never have been. We don't see eye-to-eye on a lot of things and one of the biggest is Chris. And if they're not willing to compromise or accept, I'm not going to bother with it."
Chris grabbed Stephanie's hand. "We'll just go about our business and they can go about theirs."
"Exactly," Stephanie said. "I mean, I care that they're not going to be there, but if they're not going to be there, I'm still going to have the best, craziest, zaniest, wackiest, tackiest wedding, minus the tacky, I was just trying to go for something that rhymed with wacky and that was the first thing that came to my mind. Jackiest didn't sound right."
"I'm happy to be there for you."
"You know, Shane, you're alright," Stephanie said, deepening her voice. "I really do appreciate that you're coming. You know, Shane, you're not a bad guy, I mean, yes, I do think you're part robot and someday, your circuitry is going to burst free from your chest and I'm going tell everyone that I knew it before hiring the best computer guy to come over and reprogram you, but overall, you're a good guy, if you just came out of that upper-crust, nose-in-the-air, snobby crust."
"I hear the snobby crust is quite delicious though," Chris said, "very well seasoned."
"Of course, that's why it's snobby, all in the seasonings, Snooks."
"I'm not like you guys," Shane said.
"Nobody is like us, you see, very early in our friendship, Chris and I were both abducted by aliens and given totally new alien-like brains. It explains a lot, doesn't it?"
"It does."
"We're not saying be like us, because we're awesome," Chris said to which Stephanie nodded somberly. "Nobody could replace us."
"Except the clones we've been fostering in our basement. They're coming along nicely, they're toddlers right now."
"Yeah, that's true, but pretend you didn't hear that," Chris said, "but you could probably lighten up a little bit, just a little, a smidge, you can start by unbuttoning the top button on your shirt, I mean, come on Shane, both buttons, lighten up."
Stephanie laughed. "Unbutton, unbutton..."
"See, the lady wants it to happen," Chris said, jerking a thumb towards Stephanie.
"Don't you get tired of living so strait-laced, Shane?" Stephanie asked. "It's not like we're asking you to come over to the dark side or as I prefer it, the side of lights and rainbows and puppy-dog tails of awe and wonderment, but don't you just get tired of being under Mom and Dad's thumb all the time? I got sick of it in the womb."
"They're our parents, though, they've done their best."
"I acknowledge that they have tried," Stephanie said. "But at some point, cut the cord. You can't be tethered to them forever. Who was the last girl you dated that you chose to date and wasn't introduced to you by Mom because she felt like the girl was of the right substance to be dating her precious son?"
"Mom just wants the best for me."
"Is that what you want? If I let Mom get the best for me, I wouldn't be with Chris, but I know that Chris is what's best for me because nobody else is going to put up with what I like to call my little quirks."
"I like to call them annoyances."
"Quirks, Snooks."
"Annoyances, Stephers."
"Anyways," Stephanie said, ignoring him. "I know what's best for me and surely you have enough programmed in you to know what's good for you. Don't let Mom and Dad hold you back. Look at yourself, you're already defying them by coming to my wedding. It felt good, didn't it? I bet it felt good to do something that they didn't want, right?"
Shane thought about it for a moment and it actually did feel kind of exhilarating. He loved his parents, but maybe they didn't know everything. They'd shown that with not coming to Stephanie's wedding. He was capable of making his own decisions and sometimes he did feel stifled by them and their influence over him. He didn't always like his mom setting him up with some woman who was all style and no substance. There were only so many times Shane could hear about being part of the country club or some Daughters of the Revolution crap that he had no interest in.
"You know, it did feel kind of good," he admitted, though the admission was more to himself than to either Chris or Stephanie.
"We've succeeded, give me one up top!" Stephanie said, holding her hand up to Chris, which he slapped deftly. "The final fortress has fallen and we shall be victorious in the face of the evil powers. Rejoice, for today is truly one of victory!"
Shane just unbuttoned the top button of his shirt.