A/N: Here is the long awaited CH7 that I promised you.
Disclaimer: If this was mine do you think the show would have ended?
Thanks: Hil, KT, and Nittany. At the rate it takes you guys to review you're never gonna see CH8. Well, Hil will because she ACTUALLY REVIEWS!!!!!!!
Chapter Seven
Caitie didn't say anything, she just ran out of the room, Val followed right after her. "Caitie!" Yelled Jamie standing up. He didn't care if everyone was staring at him. Which he was sure they were. He'd just proposed and Caitie had just ran out of the room. Jamie ran after her. "Caitie wait!" He couldn't help thinking that he liked the way her first name and his last name fit together so well. He saw Caitie disappear into the girls bathroom. 'She can't be in there all night.' He reasoned as he sat down in a chair to wait for her.
* * *
"Caitie, what are you going to tell Jamie?" Asked Val handing Caitie a tissue.
"I love him and I can see myself marrying him but I don't know. Maybe if he proposed under different circumstances I'd say yes."
"Are you telling me you're gonna tell him no?" Demanded Val. "When you just told me that you'd say yes under different circumstances. You love him and he obviously loves you." Caitie was silent, thinking over what Val had said.
"I guess I am going to tell him no. Maybe, I have no idea what I'm going to do." Replied Caitie after about ten minutes.
"If you want my advice-"
"I don't." Snapped Caitie. "This decision is hard enough for me."
"Well you're gonna get it anyway. I say that you should tell him yes. It's obvious to everyone how much in love with each other you guys are."
"Really?" Asked Caitie.
"Yeah, it is. I think all of Kingsport High knew it before the two of you did."
* * *
"Jamie, you wanna talk?" Asked Brooke softly, coming up behind him.
"I'm such an idiot. I never should have asked her me to marry me. You know, I even bought her a ring and everything. I was actually planning on asking her to marry me tonight when it was just the two of us, not when it was just the two of us and your whole wedding reception. I really screwed up one of the few thing in my life I thought was perfect."
"Jamie, I know she loves you. Remember the tape I made for Val's wedding present?" Asked Brooke referring to the video guestbook she'd made.
"Yeah." Replied Jamie quietly.
"Well Caitie said that it wasn't fair that Val got to get married before she did."
"Look, I know you're trying to make me feel better because my girlfriend probably just dumped me, but you're not helping." Snapped Jamie.
"Hear me out." Said Brooke holding up her hand to stop him from protesting. "You interrupted me before I was finished."
"Fine, go on." Snapped Jamie knowing that Brooke would never give up.
"After she said that it wasn't fair that Val was married before she was, she said that maybe she should start dropping hints to you."
"Really?" Asked Jamie sounding a little happier.
"Think about it for a minute. You've been with Caitie for four years. How long was your longest relationship aside from Caitie?"
"I don't know, two months at the most." He replied. Brooke took it as a good sign that he didn't know what his longest relationship was aside from Caitie. To her that meant that no one else mattered.
"It's obvious to everyone around the two of you how much in love with each other you are."
"Well, I still could have screwed up the best thing in my life." Said Jamie returning to his original state of mind.
"You won't know until you talk to her."
"Why else do you think I'm sitting out here? To look at the wallpaper?" Asked Jamie sarcastically.
"Well, the wallpaper is pretty." Commented Brooke with a small smile, which was returned by a glare from Jamie. "Right, sorry. No more jokes." They heard the bathroom door open and close quietly. "That's my cue to leave." Said Brooke when she saw Caitie. Both she and Val disappeared back to the reception.
* * *
"So, are we going to be invited to another wedding?" Asked Hank when Brooke and Val came back into the room.
"I don't know." Replied Brooke leaning against Hank. "Val talked to Caitie, I talked to Jamie."
"Well what did Caitie say?" Asked Tyler joining their group with Lindsey in his arms.
"She said that she didn't know what she was going to say." Replied Val. "I got the hint that she was leaning toward saying no." Added Val regretfully.
"What?!" Screamed Brooke. "She can't, Jamie and Caitie love each other."
"Why would she say no?" Demanded Tyler. "They've been together longer than a lot of people here."
"She said something about saying yes under different circumstances." Said Val.
"Well, what's that supposed to mean?" Asked Tyler.
"I think that Caitie thinks that Jamie proposed because she caught the bouquet and he caught the garter." Said Val.
"I think you might have it there." Said Hank nodding.
"I still don't understand." Said Tyler looking even more confused than ever.
"Even though they love each other, Caitie thinks that Jamie just proposed to her because he felt he had to." Clarified Val. When she spoke to Tyler she sounded very detached. She wasn't really directing anything she was saying towards Tyler, but she couldn't help the fact that he was being stupid and having trouble understanding anything. Just because she knew the answers to his questions and was asking and chose to answer them for everyone else didn't mean that she was any less pissed at him.
"But that's not true!" Exclaimed Brooke.
"What? " Asked Tyler in disbelief.
"When I was talking to Jamie he told me that he planned on asking Caitie to marry him later tonight." Said Brooke quietly. "I feel kinda bad talking about Jamie and Caitie behind their backs."
"Yeah." Agreed Hank. "They'll let us know."
"Hey, what's up?" Asked Jeff joining their group.
"Nothing, we're just talking." Said Tyler just as a slow song came on. Brooke and Hank immediately paired off. Tyler was about to ask Val to dance but Jeff beat him to it.
"Val, would you like to dance?"
"Sure, I'd love to." Answered Val as the two of them walked out onto the dance floor.
"Daddy, teach me to dance." Requested Lindsey.
"Sure, it's really easy. Just stand on my feet and I'll teach you."
"Look at that." Whispered Brooke to Hank a few minutes later.
"Tyler really loves her, you know." Replied Hank.
"It's hard not to love Lindsey."
* * *
Caitie and Jamie were walking along a path that went around the entire outside of the hotel. Jamie was the first to break the silence.
"Caitie. We need to talk."
"Yeah, we do. I just don't know where to start."
"I love you." Said Jamie. He moved to put his arm around her shoulders, but thought better of it. "Why'd you run out?"
"I don't know. I was scared."
"Why?"
"I don't know."
"I don't want to lose you." Confessed Jamie. "You're the best thing in my life."
"I love you and you won't lose me." Promised Caitie.
"Are you saying yes?" Asked Jamie letting a note of hope into his voice.
"No." Answered Caitie slowly.
"So you're saying no." Said Jamie dejectedly.
"No."
"This is going to change everything." Said Jamie sadly.
"No it's not, not if we don't want it to." Caitie tried to reassure him.
"Caitie, please. Whether we want it to or not things will change." Reasoned Jamie.
"Whatever I decide, I need you to know that I love you and that will never change."
"I'm not going to try to help you decide. Because then the decision won't truly be yours and this is something you need to decide on your own."
"When did you become so insightful." Asked Caitie, not sure if he's always been like that and she just hadn't noticed it before or if it was a recent development.
"When I fell in love with you."
Caitie didn't know what to say to Jamie so she stayed quiet.
"Can I ask you something?" Asked Jamie after a few minutes of uncomfortable silence.
"Sure."
"Why would you say yes?" Asked Jamie quietly.
"Because I love you and I don't know how I'd go on if I didn't have you and Val says that we already act like a married couple sometimes." Said Caitie softly.
"And why would you say no? I know there's one specific thing that's bothering you."
"I guess I'd say no because of the whole bouquet and garter thing. Where the person who catches the bouquet is the next person to get married and all that."
"I see." Said Jamie. "I'll be back in awhile. I just need some time to think." Jamie took his car keys out of his pocket, turned and walked off.
* * *
"Caitie, are you okay?" Caitie was sitting on a bench outside thinking about what she'd told Jamie before. It was warm outside with a light breeze and the sun would be setting in half an hour or so.
"Brooke, Hank. I'm sorry." Said Caitie, a tear rolling down her cheek.
"Why?" Asked Hank. "You've got nothing to be sorry about." They both sat down next to her.
"Just about everything in general I guess. Maybe because I possibly ruined things with Jamie forever. Maybe because I'm taking all the attention away from you two."
"If you and Jamie love each other as much as I know you do you'll work things out. And as for all the attention, I'm glad it's not on us. We wanted a small wedding, nothing big or fancy. But my mom and dad and Hank's dad got so into planning everything that it went a little overboard. Okay, so it was more my parents that went a little overboard. What did you tell Jamie?"
"That I needed more time." By now Caitie was crying harder.
"Are you okay?" Brooke asked again.
"No, I don't think so." Confessed Caitie.
"Do you wanna talk?"
"Jamie asked me why I'd say no if I did and I said that it was because of the whole bouquet and garter thing."
"Because of the superstition of getting married next. Because you thought that he felt he had to." Asked Brooke.
"Yes." Whispered Caitie. "I love him and it shouldn't make any difference as long as he means it right?"
"Right." Agreed Hank.
"Caitie, Jamie didn't propose because of the bouquet and garter thing." Said Brooke.
"What?"
"When you were in the bathroom right after he proposed I talked to him. He told me that he was planning on proposing tonight anyway, when it was just the two of you. He even said he bought a ring."
"What!? I've got to go, I think I made the biggest mistake of my life." Exclaimed Caitie jumping up. "And please, lets just keep this between us. We'll want to tell everyone for ourselves. Just tell everyone that you don't know what's going on."
"Got it." Promised Brooke. "We'll think of this as part of a wedding present."
"Caitie." Called Hank. She turned around. "Catch." He tossed her his car keys. "My car's over there." He pointed out where it was. She was halfway there before he stopped her again. "And one more thing."
"What?"
"Good luck!" Caitie knew exactly where to go. The EMS station was only a ten minute drive from where she was. She knew Jamie would be there, there was a huge rock about six feet by six feet wide and four feet off the ground where he'd always go to when he wanted to get away back in high school. Sure enough, when she parked her car in front of the station and walked around to the back he was there.
"Jamie." She called softly, it was so quiet that you could hear a pin drop.
"Caitie, what are you doing here?" He asked a little surprised.
"I'm looking for you. Isn't it obvious?"
"How'd you find me?"
"Easy, I followed my heart. That and you always came here to think." Replied Caitie. She kicked off her shoes and Jamie helped her climb up. She sat down next to him.
"I'm sorry." Said Jamie.
"I made a big mistake." Said Caitie at the same time. "Why are you sorry?"
"Because I was thinking about what I said. About not trying to help you decide and then I realized that what I asked you was the same thing. What'd you do?"
"Don't be sorry. I made a mistake about almost letting you out of my life. I'm sorry and I love you and I can't imagine my life without you."
"What are you saying?"
"Jamie, do me a favor and shut up and kiss me." Said Caitie. He didn't need to be told twice. It was possibly the most passionate kiss between them.
"Does that mean yes?" He asked
"Definitely." Said Caitie standing up. Jamie stood up too. He stopped her before she was about to climb down.
"We're gonna do this right." Said Jamie reaching into his pocket and pulling out a jewelry box. He opened it and took out the most beautiful ring Caitie had ever seen. He sunk down onto one knee again and took both of her hands in one of his.
"I love you Caitie Roth. I had the chance to see what it was like to almost lose you and I couldn't even imagine what my life would be without you in it. You're the best thing that's ever happened to me and the best thing that ever will. Will you marry me?"
Even though Caitie knew what was coming and they were technically already engaged she started crying so hard that she couldn't speak. She just nodded her head and Jamie slipped the ring on the third finger of her left hand. "Yes, I'll marry you." Answered Caitie a little belatedly. The rock was still warm and the sun was just starting to set. Jamie and Caitie laid down on the rock to watch the sunset. Caitie rested her head on Jamie's shoulder and he put his arm under her shoulders.
"Should we head back to the reception?" Asked Jamie later that night. It was almost completely dark out except for the streetlight that lit up the parking lot of the EMS station.
"What time is it?" Asked Caitie, not moving.
Jamie looked at his watch and was surprised to see that it was after nine. "We've been here for two hours already." Stated Jamie.
"We should get back. Brooke's gonna be waiting for us." Jamie stood up and jumped off the rock and turned to help Caitie down. She put on her shoes and she and Jamie started to walk back to their cars. Ten minutes later they got to the hotel.
"You wanna sit outside a little bit longer?" Asked Jamie.
"Yeah, that'd be nice." Answered Caitie, shivering a little. Jamie rested his jacket over her shoulders and she wrapped it around herself. Caitie looked down and saw her ring. She loved the way it felt on her hand. It was a thin gold band with a curve of tiny, diamonds just a little bigger than a pinpoint, almost as if a teardrop shape had been cut in half. The other half of the teardrop had been flipped upside down and intersected the other teardrop half. It was almost a loop, but not quite. There was a little hole where there was no diamond, instead there was a ruby there.
"You like it?" He asked her, noticing how she kept looking at her ring.
"Do I like what?"
"Your ring. I can always get you a different one."
"Don't you dare think about taking it back, it's perfect. And yes, I love it."
"I'm glad." He said, kissing her. "What are we going to tell everyone when they ask if we're engaged?"
"Lets wait until people notice the ring. Brooke and Hank already know, but I asked them to ask everyone not to ask us about it." Jamie and Caitie clasped hands and walked back into the party. It didn't take people very long to notice Caitie's new piece of jewelry, but it was Val who noticed first.
"So, are you two. . . ?" Asked Val, trailing off her sentence. Both of them just nodded. Val screamed and the good news spread quickly. The rest of the night passed quickly. Brooke's parents had paid for Hank and Brooke to spend the night in the hotel. They didn't have to catch a flight until two o-clock in the afternoon the next day.
* * *
At noon the next day Jamie and Caitie knocked on the front door of Caitie's parents house.
"Caitie!" Screamed her fourteen year old sister Kassie. "What are you doing here?" Kassie was thrilled to see her older sister.
"Aren't you going to invite us in?" Asked Jamie.
"Is anyone else home?" Asked Caitie pushing past her sister.
"Mom! Guess who's here!"
"Caitie, Jamie." Said Mr. Roth who was sitting at the kitchen table. "Have you guys eaten lunch yet? Come sit down and eat." He ordered pulling up two more chairs to the table. "Josh! Aaron! Get down here, lunch is ready. And your sister is here!" He yelled up the stairs to Caitie's eighteen year old twin brothers.
"Which one? Caitie or Chelsea?" Yelled one of them. Chelsea was Caitie's twenty four year old sister who lived half an hour away from them.
"Come down and see for yourself." Ordered Caitie.
"Is Jamie with you?" Asked Aaron.
"Course he is." Answered Caitie. "I'm starting to think that you like him better than you like me."
"Duh." Shouted Josh semi-sarcastically.
"Then you're lucky I like him and I'm keeping him around!" Caitie screamed up the stairs.
"Are the two of you staying for lunch?" Asked Caitie's mom after she kissed them both hello.
"I never turn down food that I didn't cook." Said Caitie speaking for both of them. Between herself, Val, and Jamie, she was the only good cook that lived in their house so she usually wound up cooking dinner. Jamie and Val were decent enough cooks that they would starve to death, but they wouldn't eat much variety. Caitie was trying her best to teach them to cook and Kain had helped Val learn the basics of cooking so she at least wouldn't burn water and screw up salads.
"Should we tell them now or after lunch?" Jamie whispered in her ear.
"Now." Answered Caitie.
"Don't think that we can't hear you two whispering." Said Adam coming into the kitchen. Adam was twenty six.
"Adam, what are you doing here?!" Exclaimed Caitie.
"I got some vacation time so I decided to terrorize Aaron and Josh by having to share a room with me for a week. What's your excuse?"
"Are you sure Chelsea's not here? Everyone else seems to be. We have something to tell you all." Answered Jamie.
"Caitie, are you pregnant?" Teased Josh, though she got the impression that he was a little bit serious.
"No." Said Caitie. "I'm not pregnant. Not for a few more years. But . . ." Caitie held up her left hand. "We're getting married." Caitie's mom and sister both started screaming at once, making the guys all cover their ears.
"Congratulations sweetie." Said her mom giving her a hug and almost suffocating her.
"Mom, please. If you hug me any tighter there won't be a wedding." Laughed Caitie.
"Sorry."
"So, when's the wedding?" Asked Adam.
"We haven't even been engaged for a full day yet." Said Jamie.
"Yeah, we're gonna make decisions like that later."
"Okay, now that that's outa the way lets move on to the more important things. Lets see the rock he got you." Demanded Kassie. Caitie happily let Kassie see the ring.
"Wow. James you've got great taste." Declared Kassie.
"I like to think so." Replied Jamie kissing Caitie.
"Are we gonna have to endure this all through lunch?" Complained Aaron.
"Ooh, endure. Big word for such a little brain." Taunted Josh.
"And that was such a generic insult." Said Jamie. Out of all of Caitie's family Jamie knew Aaron and Josh the best. "What's for lunch?"
"Soup and sandwiches." Said Kassie. "It's nothing special."
* * *
"We'd better get going." Said Caitie getting up from the table. "We still have to tell Jamie's dad and little sister."
"Caitie, you had better call us soon." Ordered her mom. "There is no way you two are going to get away with planning this wedding on your own."
"Don't worry Mrs. Roth. I don't think that we could plan a wedding on our own even if we tried to." Answered Jamie with a laugh.
"Welcome to the family." Said Kassie giving Jamie a hug. They said their good-bye's to the rest of Caitie's family and drove the forty-five minutes to Jamie's dad's house.
"Why couldn't we have called to him the good news." Grumbled Jamie. It had been Caitie's idea to tell his dad in person. Jamie had argued that it had been too far to drive and Caitie had countered by saying that they had nothing to do and that he was whipped and he had better get used to doing what she wanted. Caitie had to drive to his dad's house in order to get Jamie there. It was no secret that Jamie and his dad didn't get along and except for Thanksgiving, Christmas, and other major holidays Jamie didn't speak to his dad. There was also the rare birthday card.
"Jamie, I don't think that your dad would like to hear that we're getting married over the phone."
"Well, I'd prefer if he found out over the phone."
"Jamie, I love you and you're going to thank me for this later. You are going to get out of this car, walk up to the front door and ring the bell. Then we're going to tell your dad and Kelsey that we're getting married. I don't care if your dad hates me." Said Caitie cutting off what Jamie was going to say. It was no secrets that Jamie's dad disliked Caitie.
"Please, lets just go home and call them. Peter's going to find out over the phone." Replied Jamie referring to his twenty three year old brother.
"Jamie, Peter lives in Florida. I don't think we can drive that far. Besides, do you really want Kelsey to find out over the phone?" Caitie saw the expression in Jamie's eyes soften at the mention of his sixteen year old sister. Even though he didn't get along with his dad he loved his sister.
"Fine." Surrendered Jamie. "I'll go for Kelsey."
"Either way I win so whatever reason you have for going to the house is none of my concern."
"Jamie." Said his dad flatly when they rang the bell. "What are you doing here." It wasn't a question.
"We need to talk." Replied Jamie matching his voice. "Is Kelsey here?"
"Kelsey!" Yelled his dad up the stairs to where Kelsey's room was.
"What dad?" She yelled back.
"If you want to talk to me come down here, don't yell. Come here!" Yelled their father up the stairs, contradicting himself.
"You tell me not to yell and then you start yelling. What?" She asked angrily.
"Your brother and his girlfriend are here." He replied. He said the word girlfriend like it was poisonous.
"Jamie. What the hell are you doing here? You were just here a week ago."
"We needed to tell you both something." Said Caitie.
"If you came here to tell me you're engaged to that slut then-" He didn't finish his sentence. Caitie reeled back like she'd been slapped and Jamie put one arm around her to somehow protect her.
"How can you say that?!" Demanded Kelsey. "You never even bothered to give Caitie the time of day much less get to know her at all. How the hell do you justify calling her a slut?! She's one of the nicest people I know and if you even spent one minute trying to get to know her you'd realize that. I for one would be thrilled if they came here to tell us they're engaged."
"Well, seeing as how I don't give a damn what dad thinks and your opinion is the only one that matter to me I'm glad that you think that." Said Jamie.
"So you two really are engaged?" Asked Kelsey almost refusing to believe it.
"Yep." Replied Caitie. Kelsey's reaction was much like what happened at Caitie's house. "You're both invited."
"I'm there, if you need any help planning you can call me." Offered Kelsey.
"You bet we'll call you." Promised Caitie.
"Jamie, this is a mistake and I'll have no part of this. She's a slut and you could definitely do better." Said his father quietly.
"I already said I didn't give a damn about what you thought. And from now on I'll expect you to respect my fiancée. You're wrong, no one is better than Caitie."
"Get out of my house." Ordered Jamie's Dad.
A/N2: The whole point of this chapter was to hate Jamie's dad, and you're gonna see more of him, ::Flinches as everyone raises fists to hospitalize me:: Sorry, I hate him too, but I will get to torture him. Last time I checked foreign languages were voluntary classes to take, yet they force you to take math, does anyone see a problem with this? cuz I take enough foreign languages to last me the rest of my life.
Did anyone see Cadet Kelly and Shawn's pitiful amount of lines. Also he's going to have his own show on the WB pretty soon. I don't think anyone has a problem with that.
Okay, sorry. I've kinda got a headache now so I can't write much. Though the cause of my headache left the house a half hour ago to go torture the nice sales clerks at Kohls. Lets see, Hil's the queen of angst and Canada and Megan is the queen of Minnesota and Brooke's the queen of paperwork than what am I. I'm the queen of procrastination. This is what I'm working on right now.
1: Actually being able to type well
2: CH8
3: Rewriting "Secrets"
4: Rewriting "Revealed"
5: Rewriting basically everything I've ever written that I can stand to look at
6: Writing my HP fic.
7: Actually passing my classes
So I'll get CH8 out ASAP, but not before I get 120 reviews.