Chapter 3

"Chalice." Scott Williams nodded at her, his eyes moving to take in her soon-to-be husband. "You really upset your mother today." He said without preamble, his arms crossed in front of his chest.

Raking a hand through her hair, Chalice sighed heavily and crossed her own arms in front of her chest, staring back into her father's cold brown eyes. "Mom really upset ME today too, father. She doesn't seem to want to let the fact go that I want Stevie to walk me down the aisle instead of you." Her voice was just as cold as his as she kept her eyes narrowed. Mark folded his own arms over his chest, looking openly hostile, not appreciating this son of a bitch coming here just to upset Chalice.

Scott frowned at his daughter. His only daughter. "Your mother is traditional, Chalice. The way a woman oughta be." He said coldly, his eyes moving to Mark, and could sense the hostility from him. "Is there a problem, son?"

"Well I'm not traditional and if she can't accept that then I told her its really simple just like I'm going to tell you. Ready, DADDY?" She sarcastically called him that with fire blazing in her eyes. "Don't come to my wedding."

"You're worthless, Chalice!" Scott shouted, more then pissed off now, not believing his daughter used that tone of voice with him. "How DARE you talk to me like that! I'm your father!" He actually moved to strike her, only to wind up with his hand trapped in a giant fist. "Boy, you got two seconds to…" Scott didn't get to finish that sentence as he was picked up by his shirt and literally tossed out of the house, landing in the front yard with a sickening thud. Mark grunted wiping his hands together, no remorse in his eyes or body posture.

Chalice's eyes widened in shock as she watched her fiancé basically toss her father out on his ass. That didn't make his words sting any less though as she felt a few tears slide down her cheeks. "No father, YOU'RE worthless and guess what? You're not welcome to my wedding and if mom can't deal with it, then I don't want her there either!!" She shouted heartbrokenly before slamming the front door shut. The windows rattled from how hard she'd slammed it and ran up the stairs to her bedroom, feeling her heart shatter.

Mark was more then tempted to go out into the front yard and beat the Hell out of Scott, but he somehow managed to keep his temper in check. He had to stand there for a few minutes, clenching and unclenching his fists, forcing himself to breathe normally. Finally, he followed Chalice up the stairs to their bedroom, knocking on the door before stepping inside, and called out softly, "Darlin'?"

She was sitting on the bed, her knees drawn up to her chest, and was holding the cordless phone tightly in her hand. She wanted to call her brother. Needing his comfort at the moment, but couldn't even find the strength to breathe because she was crying so hard. She didn't even hear Mark come in as she finally took a deep breath and dialed Steve's number and put the phone to her ear. When he answered, she started bursting out in tears, crying so hard all Steve could hear were her heart wrenching sobs.

"Challie, Challie girl, ya have to calm down. I can't understand a word yer sayin'." Steve said patiently, concern evident in his tone. Come on, breathe and tell me what happened, honey."

"Father came…called me worthless…Mark threw him out…" She was heaving so hard from crying that she couldn't make a single sentence out and cried harder. She held the phone close to her ear as she curled up in a tight ball on the bed, coughing out a little, and heard her brother trying to calm her down. "Why does he hate me so much, Stevie?" She whispered out heartbrokenly.

Steve felt his heart break, not believing how cruel their father could be. "I don't know, Challie." He said honestly, not about to lie to her and tell her otherwise. "Listen darlin', I'm comin' over. I'm bringin' over yer favorite movie and a gallon of ice cream. Tell Mark to wear them fuzzy pink slippers I bought'em cause Stevie is on the way." Then he hung up.

Chalice couldn't even laugh at his joke as she hung up the phone, throwing it against the wall, and buried her face in her pillow. Her body shook and trembled violently, shaking her head back and forth, and clutched the pillow against her chest. She squeezed her eyes tightly shut, coughing out a little, and wished her heart would calm down. Would stop breaking from her father's harsh words. "Why does he hate me so much?" She kept whispering to herself over and over.

Not even feeling Mark pull her into his arms, he could only hold her against him, rocking her back and forth. His heart broke when he heard what she was whispering. He nearly sighed with relief when Steve came pounding up the steps. Having apparently let himself in. Mark had never been as excited to see his future brother-in-law and best friend as he was at that moment.

"I got chocolate, vanilla and yer favorite, Challie…" Steve announced, stepping in the room, spotting her and held out his arms, his blue eyes filling with pain.

Breaking away from her fiancé, Chalice instantly went into her brother's arms, wrapping hers around his neck, and buried her face in the crook of his neck as she sobbed violently. "I'm sorry, Stevie." She whispered out, holding him tighter to her. She didn't even know what she was sorry for, but just needed her big brother at the moment. He was the only one who could calm her down, especially after what just happened with their father, and hoped Mark didn't hate her for going to him. Steve would always be number one to her, no matter what. Even after she married Mark and hoped he could accept that.

Steve just held her tightly, resting his head on top of hers, swaying her from side to side. "It's alright, Challie girl, I'm here. I'm here." He soothed, rubbing her back gently. He looked over at Mark, pleased to find he wasn't getting angry or jealous. Just staring at Chalice with concern written all over his face and in his eyes. "Tell me what happened, honey."

"He came here and said I upset mom and that I was worthless after I told him that if him and mom couldn't accept the fact that you're walking me down the aisle then I don't want them there. He went to hit me and Mark stopped him and…" She started crying harder, not able to go on, and held her brother tighter, her entire small frame trembling violently against him.

His blue eyes widened, glancing back at Mark, who just nodded grimly to confirm what Chalice just told him. "He went to hit ya?" He echoed, his jaw tensing, his tone remaining the same. Though his eyes were shooting blue sparks. "Fuck them both, Challie. Ya already know I'd be damned proud to walk ya down the aisle. They don't need to be there darlin', screw them both!" Steve was pissed at the way his father had treated his sister and had been for a long time.

Sniffling softly, Chalice slowly pulled back from her brother, staring up into his eyes with her bloodshot ones, and wiped her tears from his neck. "Did you say you brought ice cream?" She asked, blinking a little, and cracked a small smile back at him. "Cause you know I love me some ice cream, brother of mine."

Steve nodded, smiling back down at her. Though, he was planning on paying their dear daddy a little visit, knowing Mark would be more then up for it too. "Yeah…I brought three gallons…and some Tequila Rose and those damned movies ya like." He informed her, looping his arm around her waist. "What do ya think? Should we drag yer ol' man downstairs and have a movie fest?"

Grinning from ear to ear, now through her tear filled eyes, Chalice nodded as she leaned her head against his chest before stepping away. She walked over to Mark, wrapping her arms around his neck, and hugged him tightly as she whispered, "I love you. Thank you for what you did." She then pulled back and took his hand and then her brother's leading them downstairs for some good ol' fashioned ice cream and movies.

Mark shook his head as Steve started filling bowls, heaping them with ice cream. "No…not that…Much." He groaned when Steve handed him one, staring down at it. He sighed, ignoring Steve's smarmy grin and glanced back at Chalice as he jokingly asked, "How can you eat this?"

"Yer not that old where ya can't remember ice cream!" Steve insisted, only half joking as he made his own bowl.

Giggling softly, Chalice was already snuggled up on the couch; her feet tucked beneath her, and had her huge bowl of ice cream in front of her, already eating it. Ice cream was the perfect food to make her forget about all the horrible things her father said to her earlier. She popped in the first movie she picked out of Steve's bag and laughed at her brother and fiancé. "I scream, you scream, we all scream for ICE CREAM!"

Mark shook his head, settling down on the floor in front of her. His back was resting against the couch since Steve had commandeered the spot on the couch next to her. He wasn't about to even make the attempt to fit his large ass on the couch with them. Screw that, he sure as Hell wasn't about to sit that close to Steve. The man was like a brother to him and they were best friends, but there had to be limits and that was definitely one of Mark's.

Steve snickered, waving his spoon in front of Mark. "Mmm…Chocolately goodness…Don't worry, ya still got plenty of time to drop the weight. We all know that's what yer problem is. Yer afraid yer gonna get fat." He accused, causing Mark to shoot him a deadly glare.

"I have to agree with you there, bro. Shit, I offered to make this man a steak last night and do you know what he said to me?" She started laughing when Mark shot her a deadly glare as well, but brushed it off, not bothered in the least. "He said and I quote 'There's too much fat on it and I don't want to risk gaining anymore weight, darlin'.'" She started laughing harder and took a spoon full of ice cream in her mouth, giggling as Steve shook his head back at Mark in disgust.

Mark growled, turning his head to glare at them both. "What I said, DARLIN', is ya need to trim off the fat first!" He corrected, not amused when Steve started snickering again. He loaded his spoon with ice cream and flung it at his best friend, smirking when it got him right on the top of his bald head. "Bulls eye, cue ball."

Chalice's jaw literally DROPPED to the floor when her fiancé flung ice cream at her brother, biting her bottom lip, and tried so hard not to laugh. Her face was turning as red as a cherry as she snorted, trying not to laugh, but it wasn't happening. She slowly reached over, taking the ice cream from her brother's forehead, which was melting rapidly, and held it out to him. "At least its chocolate, Stevie…" She giggled out, snorting more, and could already feel her sides aching.

Steve's blue eyes had narrowed into tiny slits when Mark did that. He waved her hand away, shaking his head. "No darlin', I'm good." He assured her with a wink before smiling innocently back at Mark. "Yer lucky I'm inna good mood. Otherwise, I might have to beat yer ass ol' man." He drawled and Mark just grunted in response. Steve waited until Mark looked away before dropping his bowl on Mark's head. Laughing like a mad man at the shocked look on Mark's face as the ice cream melted down his hair and over his face.

"Oh my god…" Chalice whispered out, her eyes as wide as saucers, blue as the ocean, and blinked several times. Her brother did NOT just drop his ENTIRE bowl of ice cream on top of her fiancé's head!! Chalice couldn't help it anymore and snorted before full out howling in laughter, rolling on the couch, and had to lean against her brother for leverage. Steve was leaning against her as the two rolled in laughter at Mark's expense.

"Payback's a bitch, Austin. Remember that." Mark growled threateningly, getting to his feet. He was more then a little tempted to attack Steve, but didn't want to ruin Chalice's good mood. "I'm going to take a shower, darlin'. Get this shit out of my hair." He explained, bending down to kiss her, smirking when some ice cream got on the tip of her nose, and licked it off. "Mmmm maybe I do like ice cream." He murmured, heading up the stairs with a smirk on his face.

Chalice did a full body shiver when he did that, still laughing, and watched as her fiancé walked upstairs. She then smacked her brother hard and folded her arms in front of her chest, glaring back at him. Though the amusement CLEARLY shone in her eyes. "Why did you do that? Can't you ever ONCE not antagonize or provoke him?" She asked, trying to sound stern, and bit her bottom lip to keep from laughing as the look on Mark's face popped into her head again.

Steve shook his head, nudging her with his elbow. "Now what fun would that be, Challie? Come on, ya can't sit there and tell me that was NOT funny!" He smirked at her, folding his arms over his chest. "Could ya imagine if we'd been on live television? The Undertaker gettin' dunked with chocolate ice cream?" He actually closed his eyes, imagining it.

Chalice couldn't stop herself even if she wanted to and burst out laughing again. This time so hard, tears were rolling down her cheeks. Her arms clutched her sides, not able to get the image out of her head, and laughed even harder. "Oh…my…god….I can SO see that too!! Mark would forever be known as the Dairy Deadman!" She started laughing harder.

"The Dairy Deadman?" Steve gasped, tears spilling down his cheeks as well, leaning against her, holding his sides. "Oh my god! He'd come out in his damned robe carryin' one of them old fashioned milk crates with the glass bottles!"

"Special delivery!" She shouted out and started laughing even harder, leaning against her brother as more tears streamed down her cheeks. "He'd be wearing one of them damned hats the milkmen used to wear. Ya know the squared ones? Only it'd be black and he'd roll his eyes in the back of his brain and go 'Mmmm milk does the body and soul good!'" She couldn't take it and doubled over on the couch, not leaning against her brother anymore, and started hitting it.

"The Undertaker, stealer of milk men's souls everywhere!" Steve chortled. "He snatches both yer milk and yer soul." He tried to stop laughing when Mark came walking down the stairs, forcing his face to stay straight, fighting not to grin. "Hey…what's up? …Milk man…"

Hearing her brother say that, Chalice doubled over in laughter again and actually fell off the couch, rolling around on the floor. She started kicking her feet while pounding on the ground, her stomach killing her from laughing so hard. She could hardly breathe as she clutched it, the tears streaming down her cheeks, and hit the carpeted floor so hard, the floor was actually echoing back at her. "The milkman…" She just laughed harder as she rasped that out.

Mark just stared at them like they had lost their minds. "I don't even want to know." He muttered, sinking down into his leather recliner.

"Hey Mark, now is usin' skim milk instead of whole considered cheating?" Steve asked casually, trying really hard not to laugh, but it wasn't happening as his face turned red.

"Steve, I can't take it!!" She gasped out, hitting the floor even harder with her tiny fists, and finally had to bolt into the downstairs bathroom before she pissed herself. Her laughter kept echoing through the cracks of the door and into the living room while she peed, hitting the sink as she clutched her stomach.

"Alright, what the Hell is going on?" Mark demanded, not wanting to admit it, but he was curious, especially after seeing Chalice flee the room.

Steve smirked broadly, quickly launching into a detailed description of their conversation. Not glossing over anything. If anything, he embellished. Making sure to drive home the whole dairy Deadman bit. "Hey! No violence!" He shouted when Mark tackled him to the ground.

"Say uncle!" Mark ordered, applying the headlock on his friend.

"DAIRY DEADMAN!"

Chalice finally walked out of the bathroom, still giggling uncontrollably, and stopped when she see Mark and Steve rolling on the ground with her fiancé having her brother in a headlock. She smirked and crossed her arms in front of her chest as she asked casually, "So, I take it the Dairy Deadman knows what his new gimmick is, Stevie?"

"I'd run cause you're next, darlin'." Mark grunted, wrenching Steve's head when Steve tried to break away. "Say it, Austin!"

"Dairy Deadman! Dairy Deadman! Dairy Deadman! Dairy Deadman! Dairy Deadman!" Steve chanted, still snickering, refusing to say uncle.

"I'm going to pop your head like a damn tick!"