Jenna stood by the entrance of the hotel, surprised by the events that occurred only moments ago. Homer had run out of there so fast that she did not see which way he went yet she continued to scan through the darkness, hoping to spot him somewhere nearby. She knew that something in Homer's past had come back to haunt him, whoever this girl was that had just gotten married really upset him and she was curious to find out more. But should she go out and look for Homer? Comforting him was probably the best bet and to learn more about this person, but would Homer want to talk about it?
Jenna turned around and looked to where the stranger was dancing, the song they had played for her and her new husband was now over and a new song was playing for her and her father. Jenna moved forward and watched them dance while her brother played a slow song about love and life. One that he had written years ago in high school and would only play it during special occasions. She loved hearing it, and the song was perfect for the lovely lady and her father who looked a bit sickly from her point of view. But perhaps it was just her imagination, or maybe he always looked like that, either way they still looked very happy to have a nice daddy daughter moment.
Jenna let out a sigh, it kind of made her miss her father, he was still alive but lived in Atlanta with a big business firm with her mother. They moved there years ago and both Jenna and Mick had no interest in moving, they were old enough decide for themselves and stayed put in their little island paradise. Homer had met her parents two Christmases ago, and both approved of his charming nature, thank goodness, she really had no idea what would have happened if her parents did not approve. Maybe she would have just tried to get them to like him because he was an amazing guy, too bad she had no idea why he suddenly ran out on her moments ago.
After watching a few more minutes, Jenna decided to see if she could find Homer. Carefully making her way through the crowd she walked back to the entrance and stood outside looking every which way, hoping to see his familiar shape among the many cars, palm trees, and buildings. But there was no sign of him, she knew a park was nearby and she wondered if he was there. It was probably best to try that place first and then work her way around the area. She was about to walk off when a voice called to her.
"You were with Homer weren't you?"
Jenna turned around and there was the woman she had been watching and questioning only moments before. Why was she even out here? She should be inside, at her own party enjoying the company of so many people celebrating an amazing occasion for her.
"Uhh…oh yes of course, but he just ran off," Jenna replied calmly.
"Ran off?" Marge asked.
"Yeah he watched you dance and started to cry, then he just ran off without waiting for me. I really don't know why. How did…I mean I don't mean to ask but how did you know him?" asked Jenna.
"We went to high school together, never actually met until Senior year, he asked me out on a date to the prom during a tutoring session I gave him for French, I said yes before he told me that the tutoring was just a scam, that he never took French, he just wanted to get to know me better. Well he still thought I wanted to go with him and well he tried to pick me up that night, but I turned him down and went with my husband in there. He wasn't very happy about it, in fact he followed me around for a few months hoping I would get back with him, but I never did. Apparently he still hasn't forgotten about it," Marge replied.
Jenna listened intently to the woman's story; it was something she had not expected at all. Homer had once told her that he never fell in love with anyone and that she was the first. Now someone he knew from his past was emerging and saying that he had fallen in love with her. Was it really true or was this woman making up a silly story and she just knew Homer personally? She had just met this woman and she had no idea what she was really like, only that she knew Homer and something had set him off.
"I better go find him then," Jenna finally said.
"You want me to help you at all? He might need some talking to from me again," Marge replied.
Jenna stared back, surprised that the bride of the party was offering to help to look for someone when she had a whole bunch of people waiting for her in the hotel. "But your party," Jenna said worriedly.
"They won't miss me too much, I told my husband Artie that I was going to say hello to Homer and I would be back soon. Everyone seems to be getting drunk any way," Marge said.
"Well if you're sure I guess I would like your help, I think he went to the park, so we can search from there," Jenna said.
"Alright then, just lead the way, I will try to catch up with this dress, the shoes can stay behind," Marge said as she set the shoes aside by the entrance. "Oh and before I forget, my name is Marge."
"Pleased to meet you, I'm Jenna," Jenna said as she held out her hand to shake Marge's. Then with a nod, both girls made their way toward the park, hoping to find the troubled soul.
Homer let his legs dangle from the edge of the dock; the water barely touched his toes as he looked down at it with a sad face. He could not believe he had crashed the only wedding he never wanted to attend. He could not believe Marge had ended up marrying the one person that did not seem fit for her. But apparently they did well together and that's all that seemed to matter to them since they wanted to live their life together forever.
He would have loved to have done that with her, he knew he fit with her, but Marge did not believe it was possible. He knew he lost her years ago, but why did it still hurt so much? He was with Jenna now, he should be happy about that, but for some reason he sensed there was something lacking about her and he had no idea what. Sure he still loved and cared enough about her, but at the moment, well he just couldn't put his finger on what it might be. He let out a sigh and pulled the ring from his pants pocket. He stared at it for the longest time, watching the color sparkle and dazzle in the moonlight. He really did pick out a lovely ring; he just wished he actually had the heart to propose.
"Homer?" A voice suddenly called from behind.
Homer gasped with surprise and quickly put the ring back into his pocket before turning around to find not Jenna, but Marge staring back at him with worried eyes. She looked lovely in the moonlight, just like the night of the prom, only more dazzling and more mature. She had not aged much, in fact she still had the same look to her from the last night he saw her after the graduation party all those years ago. Her hair had grown longer and was up a little bit higher, but other than that she was still the same woman he fell in love with years ago.
"Oh, hello Marge. I uh…didn't mean to crash your party, I just wanted to have some fun since Jenna's brother was performing for you tonight," Homer replied.
"Well you didn't ruin it or anything so I forgive you, but what are you doing in Key West any way? Do you just follow her brother around?" asked Marge as she moved forward and actually sat down beside him. Homer held his breath, surprised she had done so.
"No, I actually live down here now, I work for a friend of mine who owns a bar down here, I've been here for about two or three years now. I've kind of lost track," Homer replied with a sigh as he looked back at the water, avoiding her eyes.
"That's wonderful Homer! Looks like life is working out for you, especially since I see you have a girl," Marge said.
"Oh Jenna? Yeah we've been together for a while, met her the first day I got here, but I didn't ask her out until a few months afterward. I was a little shy about it, especially after the time I asked you out, I didn't want it to end the same way," Homer said.
Nearby, Jenna, who was still searching for Homer, heard his voice and looked up to find him talking to Marge on the end of the dock. Instead of joining them, she decided to eavesdrop and quietly made her way down underneath and leaned against a pole to listen.
"That's wonderful! I'm happy for you! I was hoping you would one day find someone to make you happy," Marge said excitedly.
"Yeah…" Homer replied with a sigh and continued to look down at the water, never bringing his eyes up to look at Marge.
Marge looked back at him, apparently by the way he was acting, he was still not over her. It had been nearly five years now, they had barely gone out at all during those few weeks in high school and yet he still seemed to care about her. It was a very strange feeling to Marge and she really did not know what to think about it. Would Homer think about her for the rest of his life while she was happily married? She had told him once that he needed to focus on the future, but apparently that was hard for him to do.
"Are you not happy?" Marge asked.
"Oh I am happy, but I've been trying to get you out of my mind for months now and it sort of has been working. A few times I've gone a few days without thinking about you, but then you show up again and now I have to start over," Homer said as he looked back at Marge with sad puppy dog eyes.
"Homer, why do you still care any way? We only talked for a few months before going our separate ways and we only dated for a few hours, we never even kissed," Marge said a little worriedly. Now things felt as if Homer had been stalking her even though he was thousands of miles away on an island.
"Because I think you should have given me a chance, I just wanted to get to know you better because you seemed like an amazing person and I was right because you are. I thought things would work out between us, and it sort of did until I became honest with you and just because of that, you got angry. Do you get angry when Artie is honest with you?" Homer asked as he raised his voice a little.
"Now Homer, it's a little late for that isn't it?" Marge asked.
"Well do you?" Homer asked.
Marge sighed, he was never going to forget this, even when he turned old and senile the one thing he would remember would be her. "No Homer I don't."
"See I bet you would have had patience with me and would have loved my honesty, but instead you go out with the stupid nerd and I'm stuck with finding a spare for myself to make me happy."
Neither Homer nor Marge heard it, but Jenna let out a surprised gasp at what she had just heard. Did he really mean that, or was he that angry at this strange girl she never knew about?
"Well has she?" Marge asked.
Homer looked back at Marge, she liked honesty and he knew he had to tell the truth. Jenna wasn't there so he knew he could say what he wanted without her getting mad, well at least he thought so any way. He had no idea she was a few feet away where the beach began listening to everything they had to say. Jenna was now on baited breath, ready to hear what Homer had to say about her and what she meant to him since day one.
"She has, but I still think you made a mistake, I still think we were meant to be together. But of course I am usually wrong, and that Jenna is the one for me, but then why do I still think about you?"
Marge pondered what Homer said for a moment, she really had no idea what to say and it was making her uneasy. She was ready to go back to the reception, away from him and back into Artie's arms. That seemed like the best solution to her, he needed to sort this out on his own, it was too late for her to give him a chance now, she was married to Artie and that was that.
"…I don't know Homer, but like I've said before, stop thinking about what might have been, it's over, take care of yourself and love the woman you are with now. Soon you will realize that it did work out okay and that the right choice was finally made."
With that being said, Marge got up and started walking away, back to the hotel to be with her husband, family and friends, leaving Homer alone on the dock to think things over. But he only had to think about it for a second though. He realized what her last name was now and it just didn't seem to fit her at all. Everything didn't seem right to him and even though his dating time with Marge was short, it still felt like years because he had such a great time with her. Sure he made her stay up all night, but it really didn't hurt her GPA, it was just a fun little academic thing that she didn't even pursue further. So really, he did her a favor, but that still wasn't enough and now she seemed so happy, but to Homer, it just didn't seem right.
"Marge Ziff!" He said with great spite after thinking things over for a moment.
Marge turned around and saw Homer standing behind her and glaring, his fists tightly clenched as if he was ready to rumble with Artie for Marge's affection. That was enough to make Marge back away further, to run and never look back. To never see the young man who always pined for her. She didn't care if he loved her, she didn't love him and he needed to understand that.
"Homer, I never loved you, so stop it, stop pining for me, move on before it destroys you," Marge yelled loud enough for Homer to get the message.
But Homer didn't seem to get it, instead he moved forward, his fists still tightly clenched. Marge backed away, thinking about running but knew that Homer would probably catch up to her. She knew she had to fight back and was just about ready to smack him in the face when Jenna suddenly appeared and did the job for her. Homer leapt back with surprise before staring back at Jenna; she had never done that to him before so this pain was new to him.
"Homer, how dare you try to injure someone for not loving you, you should be ashamed of yourself," Jenna yelled as she stood between Marge and Homer.
"I wasn't going to hurt her," Homer began while he rubbed his face.
"Yeah right and Ernest Hemmingway wasn't suicidal. She doesn't love you Homer so leave her alone!" Jenna yelled.
"But…" Homer tried to respond but Jenna glared back at him, Homer quickly backed away a little, afraid Jenna would slap him again.
"Marge, go back to your party, I am going to have a little talk with my so called boyfriend," Jenna said with so much spite in the word "boyfriend" that even Homer knew he was in big trouble.
Marge said nothing but quickly made her way off the dock and back toward the hotel, the party would most likely be missing her now, and now all she wanted to do was curl up next to Artie in the room and forget the whole fiasco ever happened. She hoped that Jenna would deal with Homer properly and that he would finally get it, it would probably take all night but hopefully something good would happen in the end. She wasn't interested in finding out; hopefully she would never see him again.
Jenna watched her leave, making sure she was heading back safely without Homer following her, but Homer was too afraid to move, not after what Jenna had just said and done to him. It was best to keep his tail between his legs and look innocent.
"I can explain Jenna," Homer began.
"Oh can you now? Or do you even want to talk to your so called spare!" Jenna spat.
"Jenna, I was just making a point to Marge, I really didn't mean it. I really do care for you," Homer replied.
"Oh really? And yet you've thought about her the entire time we were together, how do you think that makes me feel?"
"Umm…not happy?" Homer asked as he twiddled with his fingers.
"Not happy! Not only am I not happy but I am furious! You still had your mind on another woman while we went out together, while we talked together, why I bet you even had your mind on her during our most intimate relationships!"
Homer looked at the floor as Jenna said this, not only was he guilty of all three, he was too ashamed to say yes to all of them. He just let Jenna figure them out on her own which she of course did only seconds later.
"I can't believe it! Homer, you backstabbing bastard! You've betrayed me, all because you can't let go of your freaking past!"
By this time, Jenna was almost screaming as she talked back to Homer. Poor Homer could not even speak up; he was that shocked that Jenna could get angry about something he had kept a secret for all these years. He knew what he had done was unforgivable, but he tried to get Marge out of his mind, he really did, and he thought Jenna would be the perfect candidate for that. But it didn't work, and now as he thought about it, she really was just a spare to fill the void that Marge had abandoned before she even tried all those years ago. Homer looked back at her, she was a little hard to see under the moonlight, but he could see her just enough to see tears forming in her eyes. He knew it was not because she was yelling at him but because of the secret he had kept all those years ago.
"If it makes you feel any better, I still love you and want to continue being with you," Homer said after many moments of silence.
Jenna let out a sigh as she faced the other way, trying to think of a good comeback to him so that he would understand how much this hurt her. Finally she turned around, letting the tears fall down her face and spoke. "Homer, I want to tell you about Dwight, the boyfriend I had before you. We met after he broke up with his girlfriend due to some issues that I have long since forgotten. He said he was over her, he said I mattered more to him than she ever did. Until one day I caught him, I caught him with the girl on the beach. We had a long discussion about what happened, and we almost split, but he did not want to and said he promised he would never do it again and that he still loved me dearly."
"But as the months went by, I felt our love was not as strong as it once was and it didn't feel the same at all. I was feeling miserable around him but he did not seem to notice and I knew after a while that he really did not love me as much as he said he did. I knew it was true when I found him with the girl again four months later. And that's when I finally said goodbye, when I finally said enough, I wasn't happy and I was ready to move on.
"I spent a few months, getting over Dwight, hoping that I would find the right love one day, and then I met you. I knew right away that something good would come from you and I was so happy when you finally wanted to spend time with me, especially since you said that you never fell in love with anyone, until I learned the truth tonight. So don't say you love me because I know in your heart you really don't, if we continue on like this we will both be miserable, knowing that you are pining for someone else."
Homer stood there, amazed and saddened by what Jenna said. He felt terrible now; he had come into her life promising a good relationship, one that would go far if he was able to propose. But now was not even the right time for that. She would probably only stare at the ring for a while and then angrily say no. But he wanted to fix this, he had spent a long time with her now, he did not want to give up, she was the reason for his happiness down here, not the fishing or the job, but to finally have a girlfriend. To finally feel like he was needed and felt like he belonged there, to finally accomplish something at the right time. But would Jenna want to fix it too?
"Jenna is there anything I can do to make it up to you. Fix it all so that it will be just a funny memory?" Homer asked as he moved closer to her and tried to grab her hand. Jenna quickly pulled it away from him and started to cry.
Homer waited for her; let her regain her posture so she could decide what she wanted. Sure they had some fond memories together, but tonight changed everything; it was a heavy blow for both of them and one that Jenna could not take lightly, not after what she had told him. Jenna had to decide what was best, what could work, what could make them both happy. As he waited, he began crying too, knowing that he lied to her and had broken her heart by calling her a spare. As he thought about it, he realized how selfish that sounded, he felt terrible about it and even thought of running away before knowing the answer. But he knew he had to hear it, he knew what Jenna was going to say would change both their lives.
"I'm going to Tampa and I am getting my degree starting this summer," Jenna began between the tears.
"Oh good, I am glad you want to pursue that, I'm still not sure what my degree will be but…" Homer began before Jenna interrupted.
"You will stay here, if I want you back in my life then I will come looking for you," Jenna replied.
"But I said I could make it up to you, I could do anything for you," Homer said as he desperately tried to get her to change her mind.
"And you could start by leaving me alone and letting me go my separate way. If you can't commit to someone then its best to let them go," Jenna said.
Homer let out a heavy sigh, he knew he tried and he knew there was no stopping her. It was like trying to get Marge to fall in love with him but it not working out. He was now a bachelor again and there was no way of knowing if he could ever win Jenna back, he would just have to wait on the sidelines and see. Or he would have to move on again and find someone else, something that seemed too impossible to do at the moment.
"Can we still be friends?" Homer asked hoping that maybe they could keep in touch as the years go by.
Jenna looked back at Homer for a brief second, her eyes misty with tears before finally moving forward and grabbed Homer to kiss him on the cheek one last time. "Goodbye Homer, I hope things turn out better for you one day."
Before Homer could even respond, Jenna was walking off the dock and down onto the beach in the direction of where she lived. She did not look back nor did she stop to think about what she had done. She just kept walking away from the person she thought would be in her life forever until she finally knew his true feelings. Homer watched her go, he watched her silhouette become smaller and smaller as she moved down the beach until she was nothing but a speck near the horizon. The only proof that she had been there were the few footprints that had not been washed away by the waves.
Homer let the tears fall down his face; he could not believe that a great relationship could change just like that in an instant. Things were so perfect, then Marge had to suddenly appear again, Homer just couldn't seem to keep his luck going. He pulled out the ring from his pocket and held it in his hand for a moment, staring at the lovely detail that it had been given months ago to be sold. It was the perfect engagement ring for Jenna, but to Homer it was now useless. There was no use for it any more now that Jenna was out of his life. Finally without a second thought, Homer clutched it in his hands tightly before throwing it as far as he could into the water. He watched it sail through the air before it landed in the water with a soft plunk, leaving ripples behind before a small wave engulfed them. There was now no trace of the beautiful ring Homer had worked so hard to get, instead it was now part of the ocean, and there it would remain.
A/N: You know sometimes when you write something, it makes you feel for the characters and well sometimes it makes you cry. This sort of happened while writing it, but then when I went over it again the next day, for some reason it just didn't seem as sad as I thought. I really don't know maybe it's just my imagination so I will let you all decide. But yeah look what I just did! Did he deserve it? Maybe. Is there a reason behind this? Yeah probably.
Oh and remember when I said that this will be a long story, well I think I am just now getting to the halfway mark. Yup I still have a long way to go. But hopefully that will not keep you away from it. Hopefully you will want to stay tuned for more, because things are going to get a little nuts around here. And yeah it was a long chapter but I think it got the point across really well. Next chapter probably won't be as long, but I am probably lying so don't believe me until you see it, heck I was surprised by how long I made this.
Any way please review when you all can, I will have my next chapter up in the near future.