Disclaimer: Buena Vista owns the Power Rangers. Erin's character belongs to EstiRose and Tigger, introduced in their story "Wallflowers" and used with permission. Kenny Loggins wrote "A Love Song" and Anne Murray put it on the charts. Adri suggested "I'll Go On Loving You," which was written by Kieran Kane and performed by Alan Jackson. Thanks and love to my immediate family, who are strangely interested in this story.
They submitted to another round of Shuffle The Wedding Party, but finally the photographer let them go. The DJ met them just inside the doors, in what was apparently the hall lobby, and suddenly Hunter realized he was about to give his toast. As he took Erin's arm, something made her smile.
"Ready?" she asked quietly, as the DJ disappeared into the hall and the music quieted a moment later. "Did you write a toast, or are you doing it off the top of your head?"
"Yes," he muttered. "Invincible" started to play, and he wasn't sure she even heard him. He watched Cam and Jeike stride through the doors, their rhythm surprisingly good for two people who had never met until yesterday. Jeike's doing, no doubt. Cam didn't adapt for anyone.
He peered through the doors while the others were introduced, located the head table and the DJ, and waited until he heard their names to walk out with Erin. He didn't see any of the people he passed, registering only round tables and white tablecloths. The wedding party's table was round, too, which made seating sort of a first come, first serve affair. He ended up between Erin and Kapri, a strange combination but one he was too distracted to pay much attention to.
Blake and Tori entered, waving, grinning, laughing at all the attention. The applause was almost loud enough to make the DJ's introduction unintelligible. He waited until they reached the table, clapped Blake on the shoulder, and started the walk back to where the DJ had set up. The piece of paper he had given Blake was in his pocket... was he actually going to do this?
Switching his glass from one hand to the other, he took the mike from the DJ and looked out at the fast quieting room. The entire wedding party was still standing, waiting for him to speak. Dramatic pause. Yeah... this he knew.
"Today is about family," Hunter said at last, committing himself to the words that were only now crystalizing in his head. "Our parents always told us that family was what you made it. Well, we're making one here today."
Yeah, he had written a toast. No, he wasn't using it. So?
"I asked Blake how he knew he loved Tori." His gaze slid toward Cam's and away again quickly, knowing nothing would distract him faster. "He said it wasn't about knowing. It was about feeling. He feels something for Tori that's stronger than blood, and he would know. He comes from a family that has nothing to do with blood."
Look at Marah, Kapri, and Cam. Blood didn't make a family.
"Love makes a family," Hunter told the room. "And it's not about knowing, or being related, or anything like that. It's just what you make it. Blake and Tori have made it about all of us. Blake and I are part of a family that's bigger than just the two of us again, and it's because of love.
"That means a lot to me," Hunter admitted, more quietly. "But I know it means even more to Blake. So thanks, Tori. And thanks to all of you." He raised his glass as he looked around the room. "Here's to love."
You knew it was a good toast when people repeated it to each other as they clinked glasses. He caught Cam's eye again, not surprised to find the other staring at him. Probably trying to figure that out... Cam knew that hadn't been what he planned to say.
Tori's mom was coming over to join him, now. She accepted the mike but held it away from them as she murmured, "That was lovely, Hunter."
He smiled, a little distracted but not immune to the compliment. "Thanks. Off the cuff."
"You speak well," she said, lifting her glass to him. He clinked his glass against hers automatically, and she smiled back. "Welcome to the family."
He found his way back to the table as she started to speak, and to be honest, he didn't hear a word she said. He was too busy trying not to look at Cam, tapping glasses belatedly and quietly with everyone at the table, and still trying not to look at Cam. Tori flashed a brilliant smile at him. He knew Blake was happy. His brother had the look.
What he didn't know was what Cam was thinking, and he had never thought it could make him this crazy. They found themselves next to each other in the buffet line, and all Cam said was, "Nice toast." Before Hunter could figure out how to respond, Dustin jostled him and Marah started bugging Cam about the food. Hunter was this close to telling her to suck it up and be adventurous, but what could he say to Cam in front of everyone else?
PDAs were one thing. Words were something totally different.
He suffered through the meal, trying not to come off as totally distracted when he really was. The food could have been great or terrible; he didn't know the difference. Had it really been only this time yesterday that he could look at Cam and smirk, totally confident that the look would be returned without reading any more into it? Now he knew why people made such a fuss over weddings. They were like some kind of time warp.
If the morning had crawled, dinner flew, which made him both grateful and nervous at the same time. As much as he wanted to know what Cam was thinking, he wasn't sure he could face him alone. Would he even be able to make Cam believe him?
He was going to spend the entire evening thinking about Cam, wasn't he. Not like that would be anything new. Not after the last 24 hours.
"The DJ says he's ready any time," Shane reported, leaning against the back of his chair. "What do you guys think?"
Blake set his glass down, looking over at Tori. "I think we're ready," she declared.
"Let's show 'em how it's done," Blake agreed, pushing his chair back and holding out his hand to her. She stood up, smoothing her dress out, and they followed Shane out into the clear area in front of the table.
Shane took his place off to one side as the DJ passed him the mike. The music faded away, and Hunter glanced over as Cam slid into the empty seat beside him. "Do you know what he's doing?" Cam asked quietly.
"Singing?" Hunter suggested. Cam rolled his eyes, and then Shane was speaking.
"I've known Tori for a long time," he said, smiling at the couple on the dance floor. "I want to say congratulations to her and to Blake. I know you guys will make as great a team as we did, way back when."
Brave of him, Hunter thought. Not exactly a wedding toast, and not a reference that most of the people here would get. But Shane was continuing, "It's my great honor and privilege to cover a song, appropriately titled 'A Love Song,' for your first dance together as husband and wife."
Hunter glanced at Cam, saw Cam raise his eyebrows. He had braced his elbows on his knees when he sat down, taking Erin's empty chair and making it look like he was just passing through. But Erin was on her way back, ducking away from whoever she had been talking to at one of the other tables, and Cam showed no signs of moving. Erin claimed Blake's chair on his other side without a word.
"There's a wind in a willow wood..." Hunter looked back at Shane as he started to sing, a little surprised that he had instrumental backup. How had he coordinated that with the DJ? "Flies so true and sings so good, and it brings to you what it sings to you"
Blake had never learned to dance, at least not as far as Hunter knew, but it didn't matter. He and Tori just held each other, turning slowly, Blake's arm around her and their clasped hands pressed between them. Tori smiled when he whispered something in her ear, and Hunter watched the relatives gather like their cameras had magnets in them.
"Like my brother the wind and I, he told me if I try I could fly for you" Shane's voice sounded surprisingly good here, and Hunter wondered idly how much he had been singing lately. "And I want to try for you..."
Sunlight was still slanting in through the windows, but there were flashes going off every few seconds. Hunter forgave Tori's photographer friend, because professional photographers seemed to be inherently flash-happy. But honestly, couldn't the rest of them just click the shutter like everyone else?
"I don't think this song is about the wind," Cam murmured.
Hunter glanced over at him. "Only you would look for hidden meaning in a wedding song."
"No, I mean I think I've heard this song before," Cam said. "I don't think it's about the wind."
Hunter shrugged, gaze wandering back to Blake and Tori. They looked perfectly happy, Tori's head resting on Blake's shoulder as she smiled at the people lining the dance floor with cameras. She must have picked the song, but he couldn't fault her choice.
"It's pretty," Hunter said at last, not taking his eyes off of them.
He felt Cam lean closer before he heard him ask, "Sorry?"
He turned his head. "It's pretty," he repeated quietly, looking away from his brother and drawing back a little when he realized how close Cam was. "I like the song."
"Summer thunder on moon-bright days..." The words surprised him, and he saw Cam's expression soften. "Northern lights and skies ablaze, I bring to you, lover, when I sing to you"
Cam looked away, but Hunter kept watching him for a moment. Cam wasn't distracted. He knew Hunter was still looking at him. Cam was avoiding his gaze deliberately, and that was kind of--
Don't say it, he told himself firmly. It isn't cute. There's nothing cute about it.
"Silver wings in a fiery sky, show the trail of my love and I" Blake and Tori were smiling at each other now, and they were doing a good job of ignoring everyone around them. "I sing to you, love is what I bring to you..."
It suddenly occurred to him that the rest of the wedding party might not know what was coming. Had that been his responsibility? "Cam, Erin," he whispered, gesturing to get Erin's attention. "All of us are going to dance after this."
Cam gave him an odd look, but he just tapped Kapri and repeated his warning. "We're not doing the family dances," he added quietly, catching Dustin's eye as he spoke to Kapri. "They're just going to have their song, and then one for the whole wedding party. Tell Marah and Jeike."
"I wanna sing you a love song..." Shane's voice drifted above the flurry of whispers at the head table, and Hunter saw Cam glance over at Jeike. "I wanna rock you in my arms all night long"
He had a feeling he was would be hearing this song on every visit with Blake for quite a while. He supposed there were worse things. "I wanna get to know you..."
He felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up in surprise. Cam had gotten up and his eyes were elsewhere, making nothing of what was apparently an absent-minded shoulder pat as he turned away. Hunter watched him as he circled around the table, taking his place next to Jeike again.
"I wanna show you the peaceful feeling of my home"
The song faded into silence, and he looked over at the dance floor in time to see Blake and Tori hug each other tightly. And damned if every single person with a camera didn't have to take a picture of that, too. He loved his brother, but did he need five hundred pictures of him dancing with Tori? And if he didn't, what was everyone else so worried about?
He had expected them to start the music again as soon as the clapping died down, but he had forgotten the cutting of the cake. Of course. There had to be yet another wedding ritual they hadn't fulfilled. He wondered if someone somewhere had a list. Would Tori throw her bouquet, too? And how were they going to serve that cake to everyone in the reception hall?
Blake and Tori were far too polite about feeding each other cake, which meant that he got no entertainment out of it at all. Erin amused him during the wedding party dance, though, and her whispered observations about the colors being worn by assorted relatives saved the experience for him. He managed to not watch Cam the entire time, anyway, and that was something.
When the DJ finally invited everyone onto the dance floor, he realized just what it meant to be the groom's brother. Apparently every woman in the hall had a claim on his time, if not as a dance partner than at least as a well-wisher. It was more than a little overwhelming, and he knew he wasn't going to remember a single one of them by tomorrow morning.
He finally exhausted the supply of relatives, or at least outpaced them momentarily, and looked around for Cam. He was sitting down at the head table, along with Dustin, Erin, and Jeike. The girls had wedding cake in front of them, and as Hunter got closer he could tell that the empty plates in front of Cam and Dustin had once held cake too.
"Hey," he said, hovering behind Cam and making no attempt to fit into the conversation. "C'mon and dance with me."
Erin looked up in surprise, as though he might be talking to her, but Cam knew what he meant. He didn't look particularly amused to be interrupted, either. "I'm not in the mood to kid around, Hunter."
"I'm not kidding," Hunter told him. "I'm totally serious."
Cam rolled his eyes, clearly not convinced, and Hunter stopped him before he could say anything. "Cam, don't make me look like an idiot, here." He put one hand behind his back and held the other out to Cam, the way Blake had when he and Tori were getting up. "Dance with me. Please."
Cam closed his mouth at that, studying him for a moment. Whatever he saw must have been enough, because the corner of his mouth quirked and he nodded once. Without a word, he took Hunter's hand and stood up, following him around the table and out into the cleared area that was serving as a dance floor.
"Can't remember the last time you said please," Cam remarked, as Hunter stepped closer to him and put a hand on his waist. "Hey--"
"I'm taller," Hunter informed him. "I lead."
"You're taller than everyone," Cam muttered. But he let his free hand settle against Hunter's shoulder, staring fixedly over his other shoulder so their gazes wouldn't meet.
"Yeah," Hunter agreed unrepentantly. "Convenient for me. I only had to learn to dance once."
That provoked a snort from Cam. "You can't dance."
"Can you?" Hunter wanted to know.
Cam frowned, surprised into catching his eye. "What?"
"Can you dance?" Hunter repeated patiently. It wasn't such a strange question.
Cam shrugged. "I can waltz. At least in principle."
Hunter suppressed a smirk. "Show me."
"What?" Now Cam was really looking at him strangely.
He tightened his hand on Cam's and forced him to stop, staring down at him intently. The song that was playing didn't have the right time signature and it was too slow to use every other beat. They were gonna have to make it up as they went. "Ready?"
He stepped into Cam, impressed when Cam's arm stiffened against his shoulder and he stepped back automatically. He did know the principle. Hunter stepped back, turning a little, and Cam followed. Where had he learned to waltz?
"Where did you learn to waltz?" Cam hissed, echoing his thoughts.
Hunter couldn't resist. "You waltz like a girl," he teased.
Cam's jaw dropped. "You--" He recovered admirably quickly. "You're not coordinated enough to waltz backwards!"
Bluff called. "No," Hunter admitted. "You're right. But like you said... I'm taller than everyone. I don't have to."
Cam just shook his head, and Hunter tried to turn him away from another couple. Cam lost the non-existent rhythm, and they came to an awkward halt. Cam smiled a little ruefully and remarked, "I'm used to leading, too."
"You're better than I am." The words were out before he thought about them, but they were true. Before Cam could question him again, he asked, "When do you wanna sing?"
Cam hesitated, frowning slightly. "You know... we don't have to--"
"I want to," Hunter interrupted.
Cam considered that, considered him, in what was probably an annoyingly thorough fashion. "Okay," he said at last. "Any time you're ready, I guess. I could do it now."
Now was fine with Hunter. "Let me talk to the DJ." He didn't move, though, not quite ready to let go. "Thanks for the dance."
Cam gave him a half-smile, as though he wasn't quite sure what to make of that. Like he didn't know what had made Hunter ask, and he still hadn't figured out why he was here. Just ask me, Hunter thought. Just say it again, and watch me say it back. I can't do this alone, y'know.
Cam didn't get the message, of course. The music had changed, faster now, and Hunter released him when Kapri called out to them. Cam rolled his eyes, saying nothing about Hunter's judicious retreat. He turned to face Kapri while Hunter made his way toward the DJ, and Hunter absently went over the words in his mind.
The DJ was perfectly willing to set up a second mike for Cam--was so accommodating, in fact, that Hunter concluded his brother had gotten there first. Blake had so much to think about that Hunter had barely expected him to remember they were singing, let alone warn the DJ in advance. But someone must have, and Cam was paying attention, because he turned up with his guitar in hand only a few minutes later.
They had agreed not to personalize this song. They had tried it, a couple of different ways, but it made Hunter sound as though he was talking directly to Tori. And while last night it had been funny, here at the reception it would just be odd. So they had agreed to perform it exactly as it was written.
They had agreed before, anyway. Cam was gonna kill him. If he didn't die of nervousness in the meantime. A toast was a toast. But if Blake had thought their performance last night was compromising...
He didn't even hear what Cam told the rest of the reception hall. But he heard the introductory chords, caught Cam's eye to read the intent there, and opened his mouth. He kept his voice low and soft, careful of the mike's range as he began, "When I look into your warm brown eyes--"
He saw the first flicker of surprise on Cam's face and turned away quickly, concentrating only on the rhythm of the song. He knew this. He knew the chords, and he knew the new words. "When I see the body I worship, revealed to me as you slip off your clothes..."
On the plus side, being so worried about what Cam would think meant that he didn't have time left over to wonder about anyone else. Was it appropriate for a wedding reception? For a room full of family? Should he have gotten at least one of them to approve it beforehand?
No. "I'm reminded that what I feel for you will remain strong and true," he said softly, gaze sliding across the room without seeing any of it. Cam thought it was a good idea, and ultimately, he trusted Cam's judgement about things like this. "Long after the pleasures of the flesh."
Whatever Cam thought about his improvisation, he didn't miss his entrance as the guitar slipped easily back to the beginning of the phrase. "I'll go on loving you," he sang quietly, and Hunter echoed the words into his own mike. So much easier to do in a performance than in an actual conversation, he thought wryly.
Cam strummed his way through a repeat of the intro, and Hunter was forced to look at him again when he didn't follow the expected pattern. Cam met his gaze with a raised eyebrow, nothing more, and settled back into the familiar chord progression without another pause. "Be it the wind, or thunder," Hunter said, almost missing the beginning of the second verse, "or the stars up in the sky...
"I don't know what brought us together." He remembered to look out at the rest of the hall then, finally, and he wondered if he sounded as off-balance as he felt. "What strange forces of nature conspired to construct the present from the past... but I'll go on loving you."
And if hearing those words sung back to him when they practiced had been entertaining and a bit disconcerting, now it just made him shiver. It was involuntary, and he really hoped no one could tell, because he could feel Cam looking at him in between every chord shift. If that wasn't obvious enough...
Hell, what did he care? He was the one who had asked Cam to dance. He was the one who had threatened a kiss in the parking lot, and had been unreasonably disappointed when it didn't come to that. He was the one talking about Cam in front of a hall full of people that had every reason to know and care what he was saying.
He gave up. He repeated the first verse without taking his eyes off of Cam, and if there were any doubt that it was more than just a performance then he thought they did a pretty convincing job of blowing it out of the water. All in a day's work, really.
"I'll go on loving you..." It was Cam's voice that trailed off with the last strum of the C chord, and Hunter stared at him, only vaguely aware of the silence that hung over the hall. Neither of them moved.
You could have warned me, Cam whispered, too quiet to hear. It was just the words on his lips and the snap in his eyes that said he was torn between amusement and annoyance.
No I couldn't, Hunter answered in kind. He settled on amusement, leaning forward to interrupt that wry smile with a chaste kiss. It made Cam close his eyes, tilting his head just a little, and damned if the entire room didn't pick that moment to start applauding.
They broke apart, Cam looking horribly embarrassed and Hunter with a grin that wouldn't go away. His thumb found the switch for the mike without looking, made sure it was off, and he couldn't get rid of that grin to save his life. "Love you too."
Cam's shoulders rose and fell in a sigh that wasn't audible over the sound of the applause. "Yeah, well..." His answering smirk was a little too warm to be convincing. "Just remember who said it first."
fin