Begin Again Season Two
Episode 7: Monster Mash
"Lil, I'm sorry. Please let me in," Rufus said from the other side of the bedroom door. He knocked. "I've called the party off. Don't worry. People are leaving now."
Lily sniffled. "Go away, Rufus. I can't face you just yet. I'm not angry. You didn't know what it was. I'm just really embarrassed right now, okay?"
Rufus sighed.
Serena came up beside him. "She still won't let you in?"
"I'd be in there by now if she did," Rufus stated.
Serena knocked this time. "Mom, let us in. I'm really, really sorry! I was talking with Veronica, then I had to go to the bathroom. I didn't think the painting would be here yet. I thought I had time."
"Please, everyone just go away!" Lily cried. "I mean it. I simply cannot face anyone at the moment."
Serena and Rufus looked at each other and sighed.
"All right, Mom, we're heading back downstairs. If you need to talk, you know where we'll be," Serena said.
She and Rufus then headed down the stairs, where they met back up with Dan, Eric, Scott, and Veronica.
"No luck?" Eric asked.
Serena shook her head. "No. She's embarrassed, and refuses to see any of us."
"It's a good thing Chuck wasn't able to make it. That's one less person she has to worry about having seen the painting," Eric quipped.
"Do you mind if I try talking to her?" Veronica suddenly and quietly asked.
They all looked at her.
"I don't think she wants to see anyone right now," Serena told her.
Veronica shrugged. "She doesn't want to see any of you because you're family. Maybe she'll talk to me since I'm almost a stranger. I'm also a woman, so she can't be that embarrassed in front of a woman. It's the family members and men she's most embarrassed about seeing the painting I'm sure."
"It's worth a shot," Scott reasoned.
Rufus shrugged. "If you want to try, go right ahead. It's the last door on the left at the end of the hall." He motioned with his hand toward the stairs.
"I'll do my best!" Veronica said, heading up the stairs.
"She can do this. She majored in psychology in college. She's good when it comes to talking to people and listening," Scott revealed.
"I hope so," Rufus said with a sigh. "I want my own bed tonight. The couch is never fun to sleep on."
~Begin Again~
Veronica gently knocked on the door. "Lily? It's Veronica. May I please come in? I just want to talk. You have nothing to be embarrassed about. Trust me, I've seen people embarrass themselves a lot more than you just did. In fact, you weren't even the one to embarrass yourself. You did nothing wrong. You had a smoking hot portrait made for your husband, and other people saw it. It's nothing to be embarrassed or shamed about. In fact, you should be proud. Not everyone has a smoking hot body like you do, nor do they have your good looks!"
It was quiet on the other side of the door for a moment, then suddenly the door opened, and Lily peeked her tear-streaked face out. "You really think so?" she asked with a sniffle.
Veronica nodded. "Of course! Heck, I'm half your age, and I don't think I'd look as good as you do in that painting! Or even in person!"
Lily stepped back, and allowed Veronica in. However, as soon as Veronica was in the room, Lily shut and locked the door again.
"Take a seat," Lily said, nodding toward the bed. She then headed over and sat down on her side of the bed.
Veronica took what she assumed was Rufus' side of the bed, and faced Lily. "Honestly, I think all the men there were wishing they had a wife as hot as you, or at least that their wives would make them such a hot painting."
Lily bit her bottom lip. "People were laughing."
Veronica shrugged. "Well, you have to admit, the situation was funny. I'm pretty sure that's what everyone was laughing at—the situation; not the actual painting."
"Scott covered it pretty quickly at least," Lily reasoned.
Veronica winced. "Actually, once you were up the stairs, the blanket he used to cover it with fell, and everyone saw the full painting again. But look on the bright side—at least it wasn't a full on nude."
Lily picked up her pillow and pressed it against her face before crying out in frustration. She dropped the pillow. "Great! How embarrassing to have my son help open it, and then he and my other son saw it. I'm glad Jennifer wasn't here. Lord knows she'd have had something smart to say about it!"
"And Chuck wasn't here either, so that's also a good thing, right?" Veronica asked with a smile. She gently rubbed Lily's arm.
Lily smiled weakly. "Yes, that's good."
"Believe me, Lily, no one thought it was a bad painting. Though I can see why you'd be embarrassed. I'd be mortified if it happened to me," Veronica began.
"You're not helping!" Lily said with a wince.
Veronica rolled her eyes and smiled. "You didn't let me finish. I was going to add, but from the other person's point of view, it's not nearly as bad as you would think. I saw the looks on all of the men's faces. They were practically drooling! As for Rufus, he looked like he wanted to hump the portrait!"
Lily giggled. "Hump the portrait?" She raised an eyebrow.
Veronica laughed, and playfully pushed her. "Yes! It made me more uncomfortable to see the way he was looking at the portrait than the actual portrait itself! I felt like I was in some NC-17 movie."
Lily blushed. "So, no one looked disgusted?"
Veronica shook her head. "Are you kidding me? Far from it! You are smoking hot! There's no way in hell even a straight girl could be disgusted by that painting!"
Lily smiled big, this time very genuinely. "I think I'm finally ready to face everyone. Well, my family at least."
Veronica smiled. "Awesome! Scott and I are going to leave soon. I'm sure Serena, Dan, and Eric will too so that Rufus can show you how much he loved your gift to him." She winked and smiled at Lily.
Lily blushed and smiled in return. "Let's go."
So, Veronica got up off the bed, as did Lily, then Lily unlocked and opened the door, and they headed down the stairs to face the family.
~Begin Again~
Rufus was relieved to say the least as he saw his beautiful bride to be walking down the stairs.
"Lil, you came out of your room!" he said, rushing over to Lily, and taking her in his arms. "I'm so sorry I didn't wait to open it! I should have stopped right away when you told me no. I didn't understand why you were telling me no. Otherwise I would have stopped. Gosh, I'm such an idiot!"
Lily held him close in return. "You're not an idiot, Rufus. You were just excited to open your gift."
"I pushed him to open it. I was curious as to what it was. He wanted to wait, but I pushed and pushed, and I'm sorry," Scott said.
"And I should have made sure I was here for its delivery. I let you down, Mom, and I'm sorry," Serena chimed in.
Lily halfway released Rufus, but still kept an arm around him as she faced her children. "It's none of your faults. It was just one of those things. I don't want to talk about it anymore. All right? Can we just pretend that it never happened?"
Everyone nodded.
"Of course!" Serena agreed. She then turned to Veronica. "I don't know what you said to get her down here, but thank you."
Veronica shrugged. "t was no problem. I just told her the truth!" She smiled up at Lily, who smiled back at her.
"You picked a good woman, Son," Rufus said to Scott.
Scott smiled, and pulled Veronica close. "I know." He lovingly kissed Veronica on the lips.
Veronica kissed him back, looking so happy and in love. Rufus was really happy for them both.
They made small talk for just a moment more, then Serena hugged her mother and bid her ado, as did Dan, who hadn't said a word about the whole situation. Knowing his son, Rufus knew that he would discuss it in private with Serena later. Right now he was sure that Dan was more than likely as embarrassed as Lily was. Well, almost as embarrassed anyway.
After Dan and Serena left, Eric, Veronica, and Scott got ready to go as well.
"Do you all have a place to stay?" Lily asked with concern.
Eric nodded. "We're all staying at the Hilton. We made sure to get the same hotel so we can catch up, or in mine and Veronica's case, get to know each other better."
"Well, that will be nice," Lily said with a smile.
"And Mom, really don't even worry about the painting. The only reason I didn't like it is because my mother was in it. Let's face it, aint nobody want to see their mother half naked!" Eric said with a pat to his mother's arm before heading out.
Lily blushed. "And nobody wants their son seeing them half naked! Trust me, it wasn't exactly a picnic for me either."
Rufus grinned. He found his fiancé's embarrassment so incredibly cute.
After hugs, thank yous, and goodbyes, Eric, Scott and Veronica left, finally leaving Rufus alone with Lily.
Once the door was shut and locked, Rufus turned to Lily, and looked her in the eyes. "That is the best present anyone has ever given me."
Lily smiled. "You really like it?"
"Like it? I love it, Lil! You look so good in it! I'm sure I can get it for a couple grand at least at the gallery!"
Lily's face suddenly paled, and her smile quickly faded. "You can't sell it, Rufus. It was meant for your eyes only! I know it's already been seen by plenty more eyes than yours, but even so, the thought of some stranger putting it up on their wall... I simply can't bear it!"
Rufus grinned. "I'm kidding, Lil. Do you think I'd let another man hang that picture of you up on their wall? Never! You're mine—all mine, and the only eyes that will be seeing that painting from now on will be mine and yours." He licked his lips. "We'll hang it in our bedroom. "I'll warn you though, the more I look at that, the less sleep you're going to get!"
Lily blushed. "So, you think I look sexy in it?"
"Ugh, Lil, that has gone beyond sexy. That painting drives me insane! In fact, if you hadn't locked the door, I would have ravished you in our bedroom with a room full of people downstairs." Rufus was very serious. The painting drove him wild! When he had first seen it, he wanted to grab Lily and throw her down on the floor, taking her right then and there. Forget the upstairs! Though, in reality, he knew he'd have to act upon his desires in their bedroom if he didn't want to embarrass Lily even more or possibly even get them both arrested for indecent exposure.
"Serena said I should have done a nude, but I just couldn't! Thank God I didn't. I shudder to think of all those people seeing me completely nude!" Lily literally trembled.
Rufus pulled her closer to him, his eyes lowered with desire for her. "A nude would have been nice, I'm not going to lie. But I also love the lingerie. It's sexier and much classier. Plus, it leaves a little more to the imagination. Which of course means it makes me want to see more." He pushed the strap of her red dress off her shoulder, and kissed her now bare shoulder. "What makes it even nicer is I know for a fact that what my imagination sees is exactly what the reality is. Not only that, but being your fiancé means I can do everything to your body that I so deeply desire to do now." He slipped the other strap off her shoulder and began kissing that shoulder as well.
Lily shivered again, and this time Rufus knew it was for an entirely different reason. He knew she was aching for him just as much as he was aching for her.
"What do you so deeply desire to do to my body?" she asked in almost a whisper.
He moved his kisses to her neck. "Mm, I'd rather not say. It's something I'm much better at showing you." He picked her up.
Lily squealed. "Rufus! Where are you taking me?"
Rufus raised an eyebrow at her. "You really need to ask?"
Her eyes lowered with love and desire for him. "So you really liked the painting that much?"
"Even more than you think!" he told her.
Lily smiled big and sincere, and Rufus knew he had done his job of making her feel better. He then carried her up to the bedroom, for he was about to make her feel even better.
~Begin Again~
Just over two months had passed, and it was now Halloween. Scott had come back to New York with Veronica, for he was finally going to introduce her to Jenny. He had introduced her to Chuck before having gone back to Boston when he was down for the engagement party, but Jenny had been so busy, she hadn't ended up coming down to meet her after all. Now, Scott had begged and pleaded and finally convinced the whole family to get together for Halloween. They were going to have a party and dress up. Only family would be invited. He was glad they had all agreed instead of all going out to friends' parties like he knew most of them probably wanted to do.
This was important to him. He knew his adopted parents loved Veronica, and so far, it seemed his biological parents did as well. However, he wanted his semi-new family to really get to know Veronica. He wanted to really see how they all got along when having to spend the whole evening together. His reason was simple. He knew he had only been dating Veronica for just over half a year, but for him, that was enough. He planned on proposing to Veronica. His adoptive parents already knew. Since they were the ones to raise him, he figured they should be the ones to know first. Now, he wanted his biological parents and his newfound family to know. Veronica had no idea he was going to propose, but she would soon enough. He planned on proposing to her when they got back to Boston. He was going to take her to a nice restaurant along Boston Harbor. After, they would go for a walk by the water. Then, just like his father had proposed to Lily underneath the stars, he would get down on one knee and propose to her. He hoped she'd say yes. He was pretty sure she would. She seemed to love him as much as he loved her.
However, before all this could happen, he wanted to warn his family, and before that, see how they all interacted together. So, this Halloween meant something special to him. He just hoped it would turn out as he hoped. He planned on proposing to Veronica no matter what, but of course it would make him even happier if his family approved. He'd soon find out, he knew.
"So, how do I look?" Veronica asked, coming out of their hotel room's bathroom. "Do I look smokin' hot?" She grinned, then winked as she fluffed up her curly haired wig. She was Sandy Olsson from Grease after Sandy had changed her image to the sexier version of herself.
Scott looked at Veronica in her blonde wig, skintight black leather pants, black stiletto heels, and off the shoulder black top, and licked his lips. "Maybe you should do one of those paintings Lily did."
Veronica rolled her eyes, but smiled. "Don't be a pervert, Danny Zuko! Now go get changed. We're gonna be late!"
Scott grinned. "I'll be fast as Grease Lightnin'!" he promised before grabbing his costume and rushing into the bathroom with it.
"Yeah, I wouldn't recommend telling that one at the party!" Veronica quipped, though Scott could hear the hint of amusement in her voice from the other side of the door. He grinned. She loved his jokes and they both knew it! Still, he couldn't help but find it quite cute whenever she pretended to find his jokes unfunny. Oh, he could hardly wait to marry her! But first, Halloween night awaited.
~BA~
Veronica and I arrived at Lily and Rufus' place, where our party was being held. Rufus opened the door dressed as a giant waffle complete with a fake square of butter attached to the middle of the waffle.
Veronica covered her mouth and giggled. "Oh my gosh, that is so cute!"
Rufus grinned. "Thank you! Dan picked it out for me. He saw a couple's costume when he was at the costume shop shopping for his and Serena's costumes, and he knew he had to get me and Lily the costumes."
"What's Lily's costume?" I asked; curious.
"Why, Mrs. Butterworth of course!" Lily said with a smile and a wink at me and Veronica as she came up behind Rufus and placed a hand over his shoulder. Her costume was a flowing brown floor-length gown with long sleeves and a red apron that had the same design as a container of Mrs. Butterworth's syrup would have on it. On her head she wore a yellow cap that was a hat version of the cap to a bottle of Mrs. Butterworth's syrup.
"Oh my gosh, Mom, that is absolutely adorable!" I cooed.
"Do you want to see something really cute?" Lily walked way for a moment, then came back with Waffles the cat, who was dressed as a mini waffle. "I had it custom made!" she cooed.
I laughed. "That's crazy! Cute, but crazy."
"Aw! I think it's adorable! I love cats! Especially when they're dressed up. So cute!" Veronica cooed, leaning down to pet the cat's head.
Lily grinned big. "Me too!"
I smiled even brighter, and my heart warmed. So far, everything was working out just as I hoped. She was making Lily love her, just as I knew she would.
"Dinner will be done in two minutes! Everyone is waiting at the table," Rufus then announced. He grinned. "Making dinner in a waffle costume was not an easy task!"
"Then why didn't you wait to put the costume on until after you were finished?" I asked, an eyebrow raised.
Rufus shrugged. "I could have, but I didn't want to have to worry about changing after I finished cooking. I wanted to be able to just sit down and eat!"
"Fair enough, I guess," I said with a shrug. I headed to the table with Veronica, and everyone gave us a friendly greeting.
"I love the costumes!" Veronica said to everyone with a smile. Blair, Chuck, and Henry were dressed as Prince William, Kate, and George. Eric and Jenny were dressed as Chucky and Tiffany from Child's Play (when Tiffany was still a doll), and Dan and Serena were dress as Ken and Barbie.
"You all are so creative! I think Veronica and I must have chosen one of the most unoriginal couple's costumes," I said as I pulled out Veronica's chair for her, then gently pushed her chair in once she sat.
"So what if they're common? I think you both look amazing! Veronica, you look great as a blonde!" Serena said with a smile.
Veronica smiled back. "Thanks!"
I turned to Jenny then. "Jenny, this my girlfriend Veronica." I turned to Veronica. "Veronica, this is my sister Jenny."
Jenny extended her hand out to Veronica, who shook it in return. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Veronica! I see my brother has good taste!" she said kindly.
I smiled, grateful for Jenny's kindness. I knew with Jenny, it was kind of a hit or miss when it came to how she would react to people.
"Thank you! I love your costume. You look hot even dressed as a doll!" Veronica said with a laugh.
Jenny laughed too. "Thank you! I do try."
They grinned at each other.
I was feeling better and better about having brought Veronica here for Halloween. Everything was working out perfectly, and I had absolutely no doubt that proposing to Veronica was what I wanted.
"Dinner is served!" Rufus said, entering the room with Lily just then.
They placed the main course on the table, which was four plates of burned and bloody looking hand-shaped meatloaf. Each plate held a hand. The fingernails were made of onions, and the texture of the meatloaf along with the ketchup is what made it look burned and bloody.
"Those are so cool!" I said with a laugh. "How did you make those?"
Rufus grinned. "I found pans shaped as hands. You'd be amazed at what you can find at costume shops. They're not just for costumes anymore!"
Lily had gone to the kitchen, and now returned with two plates of deviled eggs made to look like eyeballs. They had red lines down the white part of the eggs, and the yellow part was dyed green to resemble green eyes. A piece of black olive was in the center of all of them to make them look like pupils.
Veronica squealed in delight, and happily clapped her hands together. "You guys make the coolest things! I'm so happy I get to spend Halloween with you guys!"
Lily and Rufus both smiled.
"We're very happy you could join us!" Lily said.
"And that you approve of my cooking! I hope you still do after you've tried it." He winked at her.
"Oh, I'm sure I will!" Veronica assured him.
"I have one more dish before dessert!" Rufus said. He walked past me, and as he did so, he whispered in my ear, "She's a keeper!"
I smiled and nodded at him to show him I agreed. She was a keeper all right, and I could hardly wait to make her my wife.
~BA~
The next dish served was little hot dogs wrapped in crescent rolls to make them look like mummies. The crescents were wrapped over the top of the hot dog, and then again at the bottom, leaving just enough space for the "face" of the hot dog mummy to peer out. The faces were made from ketchup or mustard, giving some red eyes, and others yellow eyes.
The conversation started then, and Scott was pleased that Veronica seemed to be the star of the party. They all wanted to know more about what she did for a living. She was a kindergarten teacher. She had majored in psychology, but decided she wanted something else to fall back on as well. So, she had gone back to school and gotten her teaching degree. She had recently gotten a job as a kindergarten teacher, and she loved the job so much.
"I'd like to get a job in an office somewhere as a psychologist eventually, but for now, I love teaching. I love kids, and seeing my class' cute little faces every weekday brightens my morning. I teach at an all day Kindergarten, so I'm very happy with my job!" Veronica explained when Jenny asked her about her work.
"That's really great of you! Not everyone has the patience to be a teacher. I know I don't," Jenny said.
"I'd pity the poor kids who got you as their teacher," Eric joked to Jenny.
Jenny nodded. "I would too!"
They all laughed.
"So, is fashion designing fun?" Veronica asked.
Jenny's whole face lit up. "Yes! It feels like a dream every time I see a model wearing one of my designs. And when someone buys one of my designs, well... There's no feeling like it!"
"I bet!" Veronica agreed.
Scott watched and listened as his family all got along great with Veronica, and she got along great with them. He was beginning to think he didn't want to wait for Boston to propose to her. So, after Lily and Rufus had cleared the dishes, and after Rufus had come out with a graveyard cake (chocolate cake with vanilla frosting died green with Milano cookies stuck in it that had RIP carefully written on them in black icing to make them look like tomb stones, chocolate cookie crumbs sprinkled over the frosting to look like dirt, and chocolate covered mini pretzel sticks all around it to resemble a fence), Scott decided he would definitely like to propose to Veronica with his biological family surrounding them. He had the ring on him. He just had to pick the right time now.
As if it were fate, Rufus suddenly spoke up. "Hey guys, I know we planned to all just hang out around here, but I heard there's a costume party at the karaoke bar that just opened up. After dessert, what do you say we all go there and show off our costumes? Obviously I love to sing, and I know a lot of you do too. It could be fun! We can dance and sing to Halloween songs. Or is that too corny for you kids?"
Scott grinned. He loved those kind of things, and he knew that Veronica did too. Maybe he could find a cute and unique way to propose to her there if they went. It could be really fun! However, he knew that Lily tended to be uptight at times, and Jenny found a lot of things lame.
Jenny surprised him, however. She shrugged. "Could be fun. I bet it would be less lame than staying here. Besides, I want people to see me in my costume."
Eric nodded. "I'm down for it."
"Sure! It sounds like fun!" Serena agreed.
Dan nodded his agreement as well.
"I always love some good karaoke! Lincoln Hawk has a Halloween song out. I wonder if it will be in the karaoke book! I could blow everyone's mind with how much I sound like the original. Unless they know I am the original, in which case, they will probably ask for my autograph since I'm that cool!" Rufus joked.
Lily rolled her eyes and playfully pushed him, but a hint of a smile showed she secretly found his antics cute. "I suppose we can go. But don't expect me to sing! A singer I am not!"
"I hear you sing in the shower. I find it adorable," Rufus said, kissing her.
Lily kissed him as well. "Adorable doesn't make it good."
"To me it does," Rufus told her.
Lily smiled, and they kissed again.
"Well, I'm all for it, but we have Henry. I don't think a bar is any place to take a six-year-old," Blair said.
"Maybe your parents will watch him," Chuck suggested.
"I can see. I don't think they're doing anything other than passing out candy," Blair said. She quickly texted her mother to ask her.
They all had their dessert then, and before dessert was over, Blair's mother texted her back that she'd be more than happy to watch Henry for a couple of hours.
So, after dessert, Chuck and Blair left to take Henry to Blair's parent's place. They were then going to meet back up with them at the karaoke bar.
Scott could hardly wait to get to the bar. He wanted to propose tonight. He was sure of it. All he needed was the perfect moment.
"I just have to go to the bathroom, then I'll be right out, okay?" Veronica asked him. She kissed his cheek.
Scott pulled her close, and kissed her on the lips. "I'll be waiting."
She smiled at him, and kissed him on the lips in return, then headed for the bathroom once Rufus had told her where it was.
Scott sighed contently, and gently squeezed the ring that was in his pocket. He carried it with him every chance he went mainly because he had spent a small fortune on it, and didn't want to risk it getting stolen. Also, he was spontaneous and knew there might come a moment where he'd find to propose that he hadn't planned on. He had wanted to be prepared, and it was a good thing too, for the moment had come. Well, it was soon to come. And when he found that moment, he was going to propose to Veronica, then spend the rest of his life making her as happy as she made him.
~Begin Again~
They arrived at the club, and Jenny pulled Eric by the arm toward the costume contest sign up. She and Eric looked amazing. She knew they would. She had made their costumes herself. She wanted to prove to everyone that they had the best costumes, and that she was an amazing designer. She had her business cards ready in her purse in case anyone wanted to know where she and Eric had gotten their fabulous costumes that, in her opinion, looked better than the actual Chucky and Tiffany's!
Rufus and Lily signed up as well, then insisted everyone else in their group sign up too. Jenny didn't mind, for she was that confidant about hers and Eric's costumes.
"Let's go sing some karaoke!" Rufus said after signing up. "Who wants to sing with me?"
"Don't look at me! I told you I don't sing!" Lily said.
"I love watching and listening to people sing, but I can't sing a lick either," Veronica stated.
"I will!" Scott offered.
Jenny grinned. "Go for it! A father and son duet!"
Rufus and Scott quickly headed for the karaoke book, and then picked a song.
"What did you pick?" Jenny asked.
Rufus grinned at her. "You'll see." He winked.
A moment later, he and Scott got called on stage. They grabbed their mics, and the music began to play.
Jenny, Lily, Serena, and Veronica all laughed as the opening cords to Stevie Wonder's "Superstition" began to play. Then, Rufus began the song, and Scott joined in.
Everyone was dancing, clapping, and singing along. Jenny was impressed! She had known her father could sing of course, but she hadn't realized how good of a singer Scott was as well. She knew he must have inherited it from Rufus.
She cheered for them when they were done, as did practically the whole bar.
Rufus and Scott high-fived.
"If you ever want to join Lincoln Hawk, I'll have a talk with the guys," Rufus told Scott with a grin.
Scott laughed as they exited the stage. "Thanks! I'll keep that in mind."
Jenny took her turn next, singing Screamin' Jay Hawkins' "I Put a Spell On You," which the kids of today knew better from the old movie Hocus Pocus. She did amazing, and she knew it. The applause said it all. She bowed when she was done, then flashed her tongue, and the rocker sign, and jumped off the stage to more applause.
Serena and Dan went next singing Michael Jackson's "Thriller." Dan was better than Serena, but Serena wasn't terrible. They had fun, and the audience didn't care about a pitch problem here or there. They got their fair share of applause.
"Come on, Guys! You have to sing! Who cares if you can't sing that well? Most people at karaoke bars can't sing. That's why it's karaoke. It's just for fun whether you can sing out not. Please? For me?" Scott pleaded with Veronica, Lily, and Eric.
Veronica shrugged. "I will if someone else does it with me."
Eric smiled. "I'll sing with you."
"You sing too, Lil." Rufus kissed her cheek. "Pretty please?"
"Oh, what the heck? I suppose I could if they are." She nodded toward Veronica and Eric.
"Yes!" Scott said; excited.
Jenny grinned. This she had to see.
"Let's go pick our song out then," Eric said with a sigh.
The three of them headed to the song book, and five minutes later, they were all on stage singing a bad, but not quite as bad as Jenny had hoped it would be, version of Ray Parker Jr.'s "Ghostbusters." They even had the crowd (Jenny and the others included) shouting out "Ghostbusters!" with them, and pounding their fists in the air. It was incredibly cheesy, but it felt good to be with family, so Jenny chose to ignore the cheese for the night.
The applause seemed louder for those three than the rest of them, despite their obvious lack of singing talent.
"You didn't sing so bad! You're better than you think! Come sing "Summer Nights" from Grease with me. Who knows? Maybe it will increase our chances of winning," Scott then said to Veronica with a smile and a wink.
Veronica giggled, seemingly on a high from her first performance.
So, they signed up and sang, and they didn't do half bad! Scott was right, Jenny realized. Veronica was a better singer than she gave herself credit for. Though, she wasn't the best, she was still better than Lily and Eric.
The audience seemed to agree as well.
Chuck and Blair arrived then, and after Lily made them sign up for the costume contest, Serena made them take a turn at singing. So, they signed up to sing Bobby "Boris" Pickett's "Monster Mash," and didn't do that bad of a job at singing it.
To this day, Jenny and Blair weren't each other's biggest fans, so Jenny hated to admit that Blair was good, but just this one time, she had to admit Blair was good. Just not to her face of course. She'd rather shave her head.
The audience loved Chuck and Blair's performance.
After the karaoke, they all danced to some music. It was all Halloween themed music, so some of it was corny, and some of it was good. They all had a blast. Jenny even danced with Veronica at one point. They joked with each other, laughed, and danced like no one was watching. They danced with crazy moves, not caring who might be watching them and thinking they looked stupid.
Scott and Veronica danced together as well of course, and Jenny couldn't help but notice just how perfect they looked together. She smiled. She hoped she found that one day. She had never really been in love, and she longed to know what it felt like to love and to be loved in return.
~BA~
I pulled Scott to the side as we were waiting for the costume contest winner announcement.
"What's up?" he asked with a smile.
"You're really happy with Veronica, aren't you?" I asked him.
Scott grinned brightly and nodded. "I'm going to propose to her tonight. I'm just waiting for the right moment," he announced.
I was surprised, but at the same time, super excited for him! Scott! Oh my gosh! I'm so happy for you!" I exclaimed.
"Sh!" Scott quietly warned, a finger to his lips. He looked to his right where Veronica stood only three feet away talking with Lily. He turned back to me, his voice lowered. "I don't want her to know until I'm ready to propose."
"Sorry!" I lowered my voice. "So, when are you going to propose to her?"
"Well, I don't want to lead into it. I want it to be something like, we're talking then I bring it up casually into the conversation. I don't want her to see it coming!" Scott replied. "Do you think she'd like that?"
I nodded. "I think surprise proposals are the best kind! After all, what fun is it if they already know it's coming?" I asked.
Scott nodded. "Exactly!"
"All right, Everyone! The winners of the costume contest are about to be announced! the MC said.
Everyone grew quiet as the MC spoke. "The third place winner, and winner of a twenty-five dollar gift card to Macy's is...Scott and Veronica as Grease's very own Danny Zuko and Sandy Olsson!"
I cheered and clapped as my brother and a smiling Veronica headed up to claim their prize.
"Thank you!" Veronica said, a cheery smile on her face as she took the offered card from the MC.
"You may have the whole gift card to buy yourself something nice," Scott said to Veronica, giving her a kiss on the cheek.
Veronica smiled. "I don't know how nice it can be for only twenty-five bucks, but I'll take it!" She kissed him in return.
"Second place goes to, Eric and Jenny as Chucky and Tiffany, from Child's Play!" the MC announced next. "Congratulations! Come claim your fifty-dollar gift card!"
Eric and I grinned, then headed to claim our fifty-dollar Macy's gift card.
"Thank you!" I said as I took the card from the MC. "I designed these myself!" I said it loudly so that everyone would know.
"Cool," the MC said, sounding unimpressed.
I rolled my eyes. "What did I expect from a bar, really? I should have known.
"And the first place winner of a hundred-dollar gift card to Macy's is... Lily and Rufus as Mrs. Butterworth and her waffle!"
Lily grinned. "Yay!" She grabbed Rufus' hand. "Come here, my Waffle!"
I cheered for my father and Lily, but I was still a little annoyed that a giant waffle and a life-sized bottle of syrup had beat out my Chucky and Tiffany costumes. But, like I said, what did I expect from a bar? Especially one that gave our Macy's gift cards.
Rufus took the card and held it up for all to see, smiling as if he were holding up the winning lottery ticket. I rolled my eyes. He could be so embarrassing sometimes.
The MC then announced the scheduled band, who came onto the stage dressed as Devo. They called themselves Devolish, They were corny as hell and I was ready to leave. We all were, but Veronica wanted to stay for one song.
"Oo, they're playing 'Whip It!' I love this song! Can we just stay for this one song? Please?" she asked, latching onto Scott's arm, and looking up at him with puppy dog eyes.
Scott smiled. "All right. I can never deny you anything."
Veronica kissed him, then they began to dance.
We all did, for we didn't want to be rude, and leave without them.
I blushed as I saw my dad and Lily dancing like morons. Rufus was doing the twist, and Lily was tilting her head to the side, pretending like she was pouring syrup on him. Veronica was laughing, apparently finding them hilarious. I on the other hand would firmly deny knowing either of them if anyone asked.
At one point, Veronica stood up on a chair, and shook so vigorously to the music that I thought for sure her wig would fall off. It stayed in place though. She shook her arms above her head and sang the lyrics loudly and off key. If it were anyone else, I would have thought she was a real loser. But when Veronica did it, it somehow seemed cool. I actually found myself standing and dancing on a chair beside hers and singing right along with her, only on better key of course.
When the song was over, we hugged while still standing on our chairs. "You rock!" I told her.
"No, you rock!" she said to me.
We grinned at each other. I saw Scott looking at us proudly. I knew he was happy to see her and I getting along so well. I just wondered when he was going to propose to her. He better do it soon, I knew, for we were all about to leave.
~BA~
They were all in good spirits, and talking about their costume wins as they exited the bar.
"We're lucky three couples from our group won instead of some strangers. I saw the list. A lot of people entered!" Eric said.
"You can never go wrong with waffles and syrup!" Rufus said, patting his waffle stomach, and licking his lips.
Jenny rolled her eyes. "My costumes were way cooler."
"We won second place, so we can't complain! Rufus and Mom won because theirs is unique," Eric reasoned.
"Whatever," Jenny said. She didn't mean to be a bitch, but she tended to get very competitive when it came to her designs.
They made small talk a little more, then they exchanged their goodbyes.
"We can share a cab," Jenny said to Scott, Veronica, and Eric, for they were all sharing a cab.
Scott, Veronica, and Eric all agreed. A cab was already waiting, so Eric asked if the driver could give them a ride to their hotel, and the driver said he could. Eric then opened the door for Jenny.
"Thank you!" Jenny said.
"I'll go around the other way," Veronica stated.
Jenny looked to Scott, who held a finger up to her, as if to tell Jenny to wait before she got in.
Jenny smiled, knowing Scott must be planning his proposal now.
Veronica was in the middle of the street, ready to turn right so that she could get in on the other side of the cab. However, Scott stopped her.
"Veronica, wait!" he called out.
Veronica stopped. "What, Zuko?" She had a smile on her face.
Scott smiled as well, and reached into his pocket for the ring.
All of the sudden, a loud screeching sound was heard.
Jenny looked toward the sound of the screeching, and her face paled. A blue convertible was flying toward Veronica without any sign of stopping, or even slowing down.
"Veronica, look out!" Jenny screamed.
Veronica looked, but it was too late. The convertible hit her hard, and didn't stop.
She smacked into the car hard, and hit the windshield before being catapulted off the car and onto the street a few feet away.
Lily, Serena, and Blair all screamed.
Chuck ran out toward the street with Rufus and Eric.
"Veronica!" Scott screamed. "Veronica!"
Dan held Scott back, clearly not wanting him to see what was a gruesome scene.
Jenny stood there, her mouth dropped open in complete and total shock. She couldn't move our speak. All she could hear was Scott screaming Veronica's name over and over, and screams from onlookers somewhere in the mix. She couldn't think, and she couldn't feel. All she could do was stand there and stare in total shock at Veronica's limp and lifeless body lying in the middle of the street.