Chapter 7 – The Wedding
A/N: I know I know….I need to type faster…but here it is…^_^;
Poke.
Pokepokepokepoke.
She groaned, opening her eyes. At first she was disoriented, forgetting where she was, but then it came to her. The rows of pews, the drifting scent of lilacs…she was in the church, and she had already fallen asleep. She rubbed her eyes and yawned as quietly as she could before turning to Raven, who shook his head toward her. The priest was droning on, and she remembered why she really hated religion.
It was SO boring.
Raven had woken her up near the end, which she was appreciative of. It meant she didn't have to sit long through it. She turned her head to look around a bit, and found Kurt giving her a dirty look. She sighed and slouched a little, again wondering why she even bothered coming. It wasn't like her family even liked her. It was that whole 'I hate you all' speech she made to them, probably. She did hate them, most of them, even though she clearly remembered her mother telling her that family was all she had.
It was the only thing she could even hear her mother saying.
But the fact was, if it weren't for her cousin that was getting married, she probably would have not been invited at all. She was on good terms with this cousin, and was glad that she had found someone good to marry. But her family, hell, the whole rest of the family…looked down upon her.
She figured it didn't help she had a date that wasn't exactly the most normal looking person…
Her family would always be idiots. And they weren't good idiots, either…not like Kurt, who meant well but always fell short. No, they were just nasty, mean people who only liked people like themselves.
So she was the black sheep of the family, even when Kurt, the guy she grew up with, was the most respected.
That was probably one of the million reasons why she hated Kurt sometimes. Hated how good he was. Suddenly cheering sounded and she figured they were pronounced married. She wasn't in much of a celebrating mood after getting shot glares the entire thing. It was amazing how even on this happy day they still found time to make her life hell.
Raven must have noticed her scowl as she slumped in her seat, because he patted her shoulder and, with much effort, she flashed him a smile in hopes of not looking like she was mad at him. She was just mad at the situation.
The precession passed by as the two watched, and she spotted Chris in the adjacent pew. He flashed her a smile, and she smiled back, if only out of duty. Once she congratulated her cousin, she stepped to the side with Raven, making sure to be as anti-social as possible. Not that the people there made that difficult – no one even gave her a second glance. They just passed her up to say hello to the more accepted members of the family.
"Stay close to me." She muttered to Raven.
"Any closer and we'd probably look like we're making out."
A pause.
"Wanna make out? Platonically?"
He looked at her sternly. "Sam!"
"What?! It was worth a shot! You're just not…adventurous."
"Why am I thinking your boyfriend holds the same mentality?"
Sam pursed her lips. "Details."
"Not saying hello, Sam?" Sam looked toward Chris, walking over with Lilian on his arm. She smiled at Sam who nodded back. Neither girl really ever spoke to one another.
"Sorry, but apparently it's impolite to yell across when a wedding's going on. I learned something about religion, see?" she glanced at Raven who rolled his eyes. Earlier before they were talking about her religion…or her lack thereof, anyway. Not that he was into it…
Later on in the day, after hours of pictures and traveling, the party began. Sam, Raven, Chris, and Lilian all sat at the same table. Because Kurt had it like that. It was the 'I wish you weren't here' table, Sam guessed.
Sam couldn't help but think of Rob. There was something bugging her about the whole thing, and it wasn't on his part. It was Stephanie, she seemed…up to something. Not that that was anything new. In fact, she always seemed to be plotting against her. But never was Rob anything apart of it…
Maybe she knew. It wouldn't be surprising, after all. They weren't always careful…but still, the thought was unsettling. It instantly made her wish Rob would just give up his loyalty and leave the company and that bitch forever.
Laughter filled the table and jarred her into reality. She managed a smile, though did not know why she was supposed to laugh. She guessed it was just over one of Chris's long stories about the hilarity of his life.
And then the two were gone, out on the dance floor, and she was left with just Raven again, who looked as if he was about to fall asleep in his very expensive soup. She nudged him and he glanced over at her with a sleepy smile.
"Hopping party." He stated dully.
"Oh yeah. Leave it to the Angle family to pick the worst old songs possible." Sam agreed, squinting her nose in disgust.
"I still don't know how you grew up to be so…so…"
"Not an Angle?" she offered.
"Yeah. I mean, I look at your studious cousin over there and there is no family resemblance at all." Raven nodded, sitting back.
"Well, if I remember right, my parents were kinda different too. Not so snobby, not so 'You better do good'-like in attitude. They died so long ago it's kinda hazy, though. All I really remember is the home videos my aunt has of us." She shrugged. "Plus when you're an orphan in a family that isn't yours you're prone to rebel. That might be it too." She looked toward him. "How about you, Raven? I don't think I've ever heard anything about your past."
He exhaled slowly at that, staring steadily at his drink, not saying anything. Sam noticed he automatically seemed tense at the subject and decided to drop it. And, to break the tension: "Come on, let's dance."
He looked up at her, looking a little surprised. He fidgeted a little. "I don't dance."
"I bet you say that to all your dates." She grinned.
"I don't think I've ever had a real dance date."
Sam frowned at this, but was not swayed. "There's always a first time for everything."
She extended her hand out to him and he stared at it. With a single sigh, he took it and stood, making a face as he did. "I can't dance." He pointed out more clearly.
"Nothing to slow dancing, Rav. Move your feet back and forth and act like you know what you're doing." She took his other hand. "Okay, go."
They really did start in a clumsy manner, but soon Raven sort of got the hang of it. Of course, the fact that Sam was –that close- to her was making him more nervous then anything else. He didn't understand how she could be so completely oblivious to his continuous crush on her…and how he can never act upon it, no matter how much he wanted to.
It was enough to dampen his mood for the whole night, the mere thought of being that close to her and having no way of saying anything. She…she was probably the reason why Molly broke it off with him, not that he blamed her for that. She didn't know what she did to him.
She smiled toward him at one moment and he reluctantly smiled back, willing her to understand his dilemma.
He knew she wouldn't.
~~
She said her goodbyes to Raven as she made her way upstairs, to her room. She was tired, dead tired, more because she was bored to tears at that wedding. If it weren't for Raven, she probably would have fallen asleep there.
She fumbled with her key and slipped it in after much work. When she did, her eyes adjusted to the sudden flickers of pale yellow candlelight, in which she stared at in surprise.
And he stood there.
She smiled toward Rob, who was dressed in his suit, and walked toward him, closing the door behind
"What's this?" she asked him as she approached.
"My apology for needing sleep?" he offered, pulling a rose from his coat pocket. Sam felt herself blush as she took it.
"You didn't need to…"
"I wanted to." He cut her off. He looked her over. "You look beautiful, Sam."
She rolled her eyes with a half-smile. "I hate it when you suck up this bad."
"Is this a good bad or a bad bad?" he questioned curiously.
"What do you think?"
"Well, I'm still standing, so I guess it's good, no?" he guessed.
"Good answer." She smirked.
She sat on the bed, stretching. "Can I get out of my dress?"
"Not until I get one of the dances I missed tonight."
"More dancing?"
"Yep."
"Do I have to?"
"Of course you do."
"Damn." She pouted, then let him pull her up into the usual slow dancing position.
"No music?"
"I thought I'd serenade you with my beautiful voice." He grinned innocently.
"I don't think that'll be the greatest idea. No one likes losing their hearing, Robert." She rolled her eyes.
"Robert?" he laughed. "No one has called me that since 2nd grade."
"Why, was that the last grade you completed?" she asked with a snicker.
"Well, if you're calling me Robert…" he twirled her quite gentlemanly and when she faced him again he continued: "I'll call you Samantha." She cringed at the thought. "That's what I thought."
"That's just evil, you blackmailing me with my own name." She grumbled.
"I don't think so." He laughed. "It's a pretty name, though. Don't see why you bug out when people call you that."
"Because that's what it is: a pretty name. Don't put fear into people with a name like Samantha. So that's why." She explained with a confirming nod. "What Hardcore wrestler has a name like Samantha?"
"You." He nodded.
She made a face again.
"I'm going to change my name to Killer or something." She decided out loud to herself.
"I don't think your cousin would like that." Rob pointed out.
"Are you trying to make this idea more and more pleasing to me or what?"
Rob only shook his head. "You're a strange girl, Sam."
"And you're the one who liked me first. That says a LOT about you."
"Very true." He agreed.
"And you still like me, somehow." She added and he nodded.
"You're too cute not to like." He snickered.
"If you want to leave this room with everything in its right place…"
"What, you ARE." He insisted with a nod. They had stopped dancing, much to Sam's relief. "In a ass kicking way, of course. That's what makes you special."
"Have I mentioned today that you flatter too well?" she groaned. He smiled. "Making me a softie, I should kick your ass for…"
He cut her off with a single kiss, and she made no attempt to stop him. He was always good at quieting her.
"You realize if you weren't so romantic you would not get laid nearly as much, right?" she asked as he laughed out loud.
"Sam!"
"Well its true, you know."
"You have no concept of keeping some things on your mind inside, do you?"
"I'm very opinionated." She nodded brightly. "It's how I get my best fights."
"Like Austin?"
"Like Austin." She confirmed, then paused. "Wanna have fun?"
He raised a brow. "What kind of fun?" And then, at the look she shot him, he gave an odd smile. "Oh…okay."