Sue stared out the window of the library, admiring the brightly colored leaves that gently left their branches and floated to the ground. It was the middle of October and the weather was beginning to get colder, but she always loved the Fall and everything that came along with it, from pumpkins to leaves, to the smell of freshly baked apple pie that she hoped to receive from Nancy Donahue. So much had happened over the past few months and while it did take a lot of compromise and a lot of patience, Sue was happier than ever. She was happily married to the love of her life, although they were both very busy, they did their best to spend as much time together as they could. Their families came around when it came to their new marriage and Mike's health was improving every day. Nancy and Frankie were constantly busy planning both Sue and Sean's reception party and Axl and Lexie's wedding. After a doctor's appointment back in early September, it was confirmed that Lexie's pregnancy was actually a false alarm. Even though she had adjusted to the idea of starting a family, Lexie took it as a sign to be a little more careful and to focus more on finishing school. Mike had told Axl that he dodged a bullet. He knew from experience how hard it was to start a family at such a young age and he never wanted to see his kids struggle the way him and Frankie did for so long, but he was happy that he found someone to settle down with and was content with the idea of him getting married. Even Brad began dating someone new a few weeks ago that he met online through a local dating website. Sue was having a hard time focusing on her assignment and decided to head to the coffee shop to get a chai latte. She was feeling excited that the weekend was approaching because her and Sean had planned to go home for the first time since classes started because Nancy wanted to go over a few things for their upcoming reception. Nancy reluctantly agreed to schedule it for Christmas Eve as Sue and Sean wanted, marking the one year anniversary of their first kiss. The wind picked up as Sue walked back to her apartment and the temperature had grown colder than she expected that day. She began to start jogging, being careful not to spill her latte when she slammed into a familiar body as she rounded the corner, dropping the latte to the ground. The hot liquid spread across her thrift store suede boots, leaving behind dark stains.
"Whoa there, in a hurry to get somewhere? You okay?" Sean asked as he reached into his pocket to pull out a pile of gauze pads to help Sue wipe up the mess. "Sorry I don't have any napkins." He laughed. Sue gratefully accepted the gauze pads and dabbed at the stains on her shoes.
"Ugh, I was going to wear these this weekend. I guess I'll just have to find something else to wear. I'm fine...but wait, what are you doing here? I thought you had to work?" Sue wondered. Sean's schedule was always so unpredictable that she had a hard time keeping up with it. Sean smiled widely as he picked up the now empty cup, loading the soaked gauze pads into it and throwing it away.
"I was, but one of my classmates needed to pick up a few extra hours in the clinic and I took the opportunity to escape early so we can get a jump on the weekend! Sorry I didn't call, I wanted to surprise you at home and I was just going to do a little studying until you got there. Are you going back to the apartment now? It looks like we have pretty good timing now...minus the latte incident." He laughed. Sue was relieved that they would have some time alone before they had to make there way back to Orson and her excitement was obvious on her face.
"Yes! Let's get home!" Sue shouted excitedly as they locked hands and walked to the apartment.
It wasn't long until Sue had whipped them up something to eat. Over the past two months, she created a binder of successful recipes that she had found and tested out. She did have to ask Nancy for a few lessons and Nancy eagerly sent her videos of herself preparing a few dishes. Sue even suggested that Nancy start a blog with her cooking videos but she told her that they were family secrets and didn't want to share them with the world. Tonight, Sue cooked pork tenderloin and mashed potatoes and Sean happily gobbled it up. He was always willing to be the guinea pig for her recipes, even if they weren't all successful. After dinner, Sean cleared the dishes and stacked them into the dishwasher. After, he sat down on the couch and unbuckled his jeans, letting out a deep sigh.
"That was so good Suzy Q. My stomach feels like it's going to explode." He chuckled and Sue gently pat his stomach as she sat down next to him. "I can see that!" She joked as she pointed at his unbuttons pants. It didn't take long for them to grow comfortable with one another now that they lived on their own. They seemed to settle into married life way more easily than either of them ever expected. They spent the rest of the night binge-watching Netflix and cuddling on the couch. The next day, they made their way to Orson.
Sean and Sue met Nancy, Ron, Frankie, Mike, Axl, and Lexie at Fountains restaurant upon Frankie's suggestion because she had coupons from the mail. Sean and Sue were the first ones to arrive. Sean offered to go in the restaurant to reserve a table for 8 and Sue waited outside for the rest of the group to arrive. As she waited, a few other couples made their way into the restaurant. A small sedan parked on the other side of the lot and Sue's jaw nearly hit the ground when she saw who stepped out of the car. A young couple walked in Sue's direction, the man's arm around the woman's shoulders. It was Darrin and Carly. It had been a few years since she saw either of them because her and Carly didn't talk much after Carly started dating Sue's ex. Sue wasn't necessarily angry, but something about it caused them to drift apart. Plus with Sue being away in Gumford much of the time, she didn't run into residents of Orson that often unless she was home for the weekend. A smile of recognition spread across Darrin's face when he got closer and Sue awkwardly bit her lip and waved to the couple.
"Heeeeeey Darrin, Carly." Sue tried to sound happy but a hint of awkwardness was obvious in her voice. Her and Darrin parted on good terms, but it was still weird to see him face to face since they had once been in love...even if it was only a high school romance. "Hey Sue!" Darrin said cheerfully as he leaned in to give her a hug. Carly hugged her too and then stepped back with a small smile. "What are you doing here?" Darrin asked.
"Oh...well...I'm here with Sean and we're waiting for our families to get here for dinner. He just stepped inside for a minute..." Sue explained. She didn't know if Darrin knew that her and Sean were together and didn't really feel like bringing it up right now.
"Sean's here?" Darrin asked curiously. "I haven't seen him in forever! Is Axl coming too? It looks like we're going to have a Boss Co. Reunion." Darrin laughed. Carly tugged on his arm and he turned to face her.
"I'm just going to go put our name on the list and use the ladies room." Carly said nervously. Darrin nodded and Carly headed inside.
"So how have you been? How are the kids?" Sue asked. She was glad that Darrin had moved on and that she didn't have to hire a babysitter every time she wanted to go out for a dinner date.
"Oh...they are fine...exhausting but it's fine." Darrin sighed. He looked around to make sure no one was within hearing range of their conversation. "You know, Sue...I really feel stupid for proposing to you in high school. If I would have just kept my mouth shut maybe you and I would have been here on a date tonight." Darrin said. Sue's eyes widened and she struggled to come up with something to say.
"Well...that's just the way life goes I guess and so on and so forth and what have you." Sue laughed nervously and twirled her hair. Darrin took a step closer.
"I still think about you...us..." Darrin said as he gazed into her eyes. "I never thought I'd have a chance to be alone with you again but...aww hell." Darrin said as he stepped forward and crashed his lips onto hers. Completely stunned, Sue groaned angrily and shoved him away.
"What the hell are you doing?" Sue demanded. "You're MARRIED. AND SO AM I." She shouted as she held up her hand, revealing her wedding ring. She crossed her arms over her chest and stood as far away as possible from him on high alert.
"You are?" Darrin asked sadly. "To who?" He asked. Sue rubbed her arm, partly because it was cold outside and partly because she was still in shock and didn't know what was going on. Just then, Sean stepped into view and stood next to Sue's side, wrapping his arm around her and kissing her gently on the cheek.
"Hey, Suzy Q! You'll never guess who I ran into in there!" Sean started to say when he noticed Darrin standing and gawking at them, his mouth hanging open in surprise. "Oh...I guess you already know. Hey buddy, how's it going?" Sean asked as he instinctively reached his left hand out for a handshake, revealing his wedding band. When he didn't receive Darrin's hand in response, he shoved his hand in his pocket and returned to Sue's side.
"Are you kidding me?" Darrin asked Sue. Sue just shrugged and smiled awkwardly. Sean knew Sue well enough to sense the tension and he pulled her closer to his side, wondering what had happened before he arrived.
"Oh...I guess the news hasn't made it all the way across town yet." Sean chuckled. "Sorry I didn't tell you, dude. I thought you would have heard the news by now and honestly, I didn't think you would care since it was so long ago and you've clearly moved on with Carly..." Sean continued. Sue remained silent, feeling horribly guilty about the kiss, even though she found it completely revolting and she promptly ended it. Her heart belonged to Sean now and even though this situation was terrible, she felt a glimmer of happiness that she felt absolutely nothing when Darrin kissed her. Sue noticed Axl's car pull in and him and Lexie headed towards them. "Darrin? What are you doing here?" Axl asked. Lexie cringed because Sue had told her everything that happened with Darrin in high school. She moved to sympathetically stand next to Sue and suddenly Sue found herself sandwiched between Sean and Lexie, almost as if they were trying to protect her.
"Seriously dude?" Darrin shouted at Axl. "You gave me hell for dating Sue and you're just completely fine with THIS?" Darrin pointed at Sean and Sue.
"Heh...yeah well...what can I say...things change...people change. I'd rather not think about who is with the dorkface." Axl defended.
"Axl!" Sue shouted angrily. Axl just rolled his eyes.
"Sue, you can't deny that you didn't feel something just now when I kissed you." Darrin said stupidly. Axl and Sue shared a look and Sean let out a loud huff that Sue had never heard before.
"You WHAT?" Axl said, stepping forward in a threatening manner. Darrin took a step back. Sean gave Sue the saddest look that she had ever seen, but that was quickly replaced with rage when he turned back to Darrin. Sue tugged at his sleeve, silently begging him to calm down but it was a lost cause. In no time, Axl had Darrin pinned up against the wall, waiting for an explanation.
"I still love you, Sue Heck!" Darrin shouted while looking at Sue. That was all Sean needed to step forward and punch Darrin in the face. Darrin slid against the wall, down to the ground in shock. He had never seen Sean get into a physical altercation and it completely caught him off guard. Sue and Lexie gasped and Sue quickly ran over to Sean, pulling him away from Darrin. "Can we just go inside?" Sue begged. Sean shook his fist in an effort to shake off the pain, took a second to fix his hair and placed his arm back around Sue's shoulder as he led them inside. Before the door closed, Sue leaned back to speak to Darrin one last time.
"Actually, it's Sue DONAHUE." She corrected and Sean gave her a huge grin as they stepped into the restaurant.
Axl kicked Darrin's leg before dragging Lexie into the restaurant. "That's for the time you punched Sue in the face." Axl said as they walked inside.
Darrin stayed on the ground, feeling defeated as Carly came out of the restaurant to tell him that their table was ready. She noticed the bruising starting to appear around his eye and bent down to ask him what had happened.
"Let's just go somewhere else." Darrin said as he got up and walked back to his car.
A/N: The first appearance of Darrin! I don't know if he will make a return in the future, but I wanted to give Sean a chance to stand up for Sue and defend their relationship. Also, I always thought Carly was kind of a bad friend towards the end of the show, abandoning Sue to hang out with popular people, making out with boys in front of her, etc. It's all about Karma lol. As for Lexie, I wanted her to have a 'growing up' experience but didn't want her to end up getting married just because she 'had' to. I hope you enjoy this chapter!
