Disclaimer: I don't own anything except for the things you don't recognize! Song credit to One Republic, however I am using Silverstein's version.
I didn't get a chance to write at all during my break; I was too busy. Anyway I wrote this whole chapter last night once I got back to my dorm room. I spent a lot of my free time thinking of what I was going to do with this story and I never did decide on anything. But when I was writing this chapter last night my characters just kind of took control and you guys will see the result in the next few chapters.
"It's too late to apologize
It's too late…"
Apologize
Today was the day we had been waiting for all summer. Cady and Seth were getting married today. The house was in a state of chaos by eight and Seth was kicked out by nine thirty. The wedding was on the beach at four and that only gave us about six hours to get ready.
Today was all about teamwork, so while Mom worked on Cady's hair I did her makeup. And despite the fact that I jabbed her in the eye with the eyeliner twice she still had a smile on her face especially after she slapped me on the arm.
"Can you believe that I'm getting married today?" She asked dreamily as both Mom and I stood back to look at what we had accomplished.
"No, I can't. Now quit reminding me or I'll cry." Mom replied. "Now do you like your hair?"
"It looks great Mom, and Sadie, despite the fact you almost poked my eye out my makeup looks nice as well."
Cady's long brown hair cascaded down her back in loose curls just the way Seth liked it. Mom had added a spare white daisy we had hanging around from the flower arrangements to the side of her hair, giving her the total wedding at the beach feel.
"Your turn Sadie." Cady laughed manically as Mom pushed me down in the chair Cady had previously occupied.
By the time the three of us made it to the beach it was three thirty and most of the guests were already there sitting in the folding chairs that had been placed on the beach facing the little arch Cady and Seth were being married under. Personally the arch reminded me of weddings that took place in The Sims, but when I mentioned that to my Mom and sister they had only shot me a look.
"Sadie, go down and make sure everything is set up correctly please." Mom ordered as she pulled Cady closer for inspection of her makeup. I nodded my head and took my heels off before I hit the sand. I honestly didn't understand why we had even bothered with matching shoes since we were walking down the aisle barefoot anyway, but it was what Mom wanted.
"You look beautiful." Hunter smiled as he approached me in a pair of khaki slacks and a dark blue button down shirt. A moment passed between the two of us that I recognized as a clichéd movie moment when the two of us just stared at each other before I broke the connection.
I smiled a bit shyly, "Thank you, but Cady is the star today, not me."
He gave me a smile that showed he was going to humor me before he asked: "So how are the troops?"
"I've been ordered to make sure everything is set up correctly." I replied as my eyes scanned the gathering area; glad that we seemed to be off of the previous topic. Everything seemed to be just as Mom had specified, so I wasn't too worried. Instead I let my gaze rest on where Grace was perched in Paul's arms.
"I think Grace wants to see you; she was asking for Mama this morning." Hunter smiled knowingly as he followed my gaze to Grace.
"Paul won't mind if I go up to him?" I asked nervously.
"I think he's finally realized what a jerk he was."
"Will you come over with me?"
"Of course."
Grace noticed me first as Paul's gaze remained directed towards where Jared and Sam seemed to be having a conversation near the ocean.
"Mama!"
That immediately caught his attention as his head practically snapped around to face Hunter and me as we approached. I watched his face carefully as he took the two of us in. His gaze roamed over Hunter for a few seconds before he turned his attention on me. He stared at me before he gave me a slight smile. I hesitantly shot him one of my own before Grace started to reach out for me.
"She's been asking for you." Paul stated as he handed her over to me.
I nodded my head and hugged Grace close. I kissed her forehead and laughed when she immediately started to play with my necklace. The necklace didn't entertain her long and before I knew it she was reaching out towards Hunter.
"Can I talk to you for a minute alone?" Paul asked after I handed Grace over to her other uncle.
"Of course." I replied.
Paul led me away from the wedding area and down towards the ocean. The water hit my feet and I let out a shriek as I hastily pulled up my dress. I could only imagine what Mom would say if I came back with the bottom of my dress wet and covered in sand. Paul laughed at me until he remembered what we were here for.
"I was an ass."
"Yeah you were."
"Hey, I don't need you agreeing with me."
"If the shoe fits…"
"Well what about you? I didn't see you making an effort to talk to me!"
"Yeah and risk you going all wolfy on me? In case it escaped your notice; you have a bad temper."
"Like I would phase in front of you, Sadie. I may literally be a beast, but I would never hurt you."
The two of us stared at each other for a minute, scowls on both of our faces until almost in unison we broke out into laughter.
"I think I like our relationship that way better." Paul stated. "Not arguing all the time, but…"
"Yeah, I know what you mean." I agreed before I remembered our day on the beach not too long ago. "Then what did the kiss mean?"
"We're both passionate people, but you're right. It's best if the only way we are passionate with each other is through our little disagreements." Paul sighed. "Besides it's clear to me that Hunter likes you."
I blushed at that and scowled when Paul chuckled at me.
"He does not."
"I'm not going to lie to you Sadie, I'd rather have you to myself, but obviously that's not the way it's supposed to be. If it was I would have imprinted on you."
I couldn't help myself as I watched the sadness creep into his eyes again, I had to hug him. Once my arms were wrapped around his neck and his around my middle I whispered in his ear: "You're going to find your imprint one of these days and she'll be a better girl for you than I could have ever been."
Mom was angry that I had taken so long when I finally returned to where the two of them were waiting for me. She scolded me for about two minutes before Cady announced it was time to get the show on the road. Immediately after that announcement both my Mom and I surrounded Cady with our arms. Mom's eyes were glistening when we pulled away and after a second I realized that mine were too.
"Alright, I'm going to sit down now." Mom said after she dabbed her eyes with a tissue. "Remember what I told you about walking down the aisle, Sadie."
I rolled my eyes with a smile, "Yeah yeah, just go sit down."
She had only been gone for about a heartbeat when we heard her distinctive yell. Cady and I exchanged panicked looks.
"You stay here, I'll go investigate." I ordered Cady. "Whatever it is, I'll take care of it."
I had been prepared to deal with something like a messed up floral arrangement or loose ribbon on the arch, not the sight of my Mom facing down Adam Harrison. Everyone else seemed to be stunned into silence as I ran up to where my two parents stood in each other's presence after sixteen years.
"Mom, I'll handle this."
"Did you invite him?!"
"No! Now just go sit down."
I was surprised she listened to me as she walked to the front row of chairs and sat down in her designated seat; a seat that did not have another chair by it for the Father.
"You are not welcome here." I stated as I turned my attention back to my Father.
"Cady is my daughter and I will see her married."
"You didn't see her graduate from either high school or college so why should her wedding be any different?" I shot back.
"I'm staying."
"No, you're not. You've already caused enough shit in our life and I will not have you ruining Cady's day."
I knew that most children would not get away with talking to their Father like that no matter the age, but I figured I was entitled to since he really wasn't much of a Dad to me anyway. But even though I was ordering him to leave and he was receiving death stares from almost everyone he would not budge.
"I think what she asked is pretty clear, Harrison." Hunter spat as he walked up to stand beside me. "Leave. You're not welcome here by any of us."
"You have sixty seconds before we forcefully remove you." Paul added as he came up on the other side of me.
"I won't leave until I hear Cady say she doesn't want me here."
Both Hunter and Paul started to move in on my Father but I grabbed both of their hands and held them back.
"Cady has a right to know he's here." I sighed. "I can't keep this from her."
With that said I inclined my head towards my Father and silently led him to where Cady was waiting to find out what was going on. As the two of us walked into sight I saw her eyes widen at the sight of our Father walking along behind me before she turned those eyes on me.
"Sadie, what's going on?"
"He won't leave unless you tell him that you don't want him here."
"Okay…but why is he here?" Cady asked as her eyes roamed over him.
"Hunter brought him here for part of my treatment and I guess he decided to crash the wedding before his return to his other family."
"Can I have a few moments alone with him?"
I nodded my head before I turned and walked away to give the two of them some privacy. Even though I couldn't hear the two of them I could see Cady's face as she started talking to him. She looked angry and I wondered if she was saying all of the same things I had earlier.
After a few minutes our Father walked away dejected and Cady walked up to me with tears in her eyes. Neither of us said a word as I pulled her into my arms and held her tight. She didn't deserve this on what was supposed to be the happiest day of her life.
"Who's going to walk me down the aisle?" She asked sadly. "I don't have a Dad."
I nodded in understanding, "I'm going to walk you down the aisle, Cady."
She smiled and with a smile of my own I reached out and grabbed her hand in mine.
* * *
"Care to dance?"
I looked up from where I had been staring at Seth and Cady dancing close together on the dance floor and up into Hunter's eyes. His hand was held out in offering and without answering I placed my hand in his and allowed him to lead me over to the dance floor.
"Professionally speaking I think you're coming along brilliantly." Hunter smiled.
"How about friendly speaking?"
"I'm proud of you, but I think I've already told you that." He replied with a wink. "So, how did your conversation with Paul go?"
I decided it was best to leave out the little tidbit about Hunter 'liking' me and instead told him that both Paul and I agreed that we were meant to have a friendship not a romance.
"Besides I wouldn't be a good imprint to him or anyone for that matter."
"What makes you say that?"
"Being someone's imprint comes with a lot of pressure. An imprint holds the power to destroy a wolf in the palm of her hand. I've seen Seth; Cady's slightest pain causes him great pain and believe me Hunter, I will continue to have a lot of pain in my life. I might be getting better, but scars will always remain."
"Maybe what you need is a wolf to imprint on you; you deserve to be treated as the center of someone's world." Hunter stated as we gently swayed back and forth to the music.
"I don't want someone to fall in love with me because they have to."
"You know that's not the way it works."
"I want to be noticed by a guy because he's genuinely interested, not because fate says he needs to." I argued.
Imprinting was great; there was no doubt about that. It was the perfect kind of situation for women like my sister and Emily but I knew that it wasn't right for me. Imprintation would be too easy of a fix for my abandonment and trust issues; it would be obvious that that wolf would never leave me therefore I wouldn't have to come to trust him on that level. However, with my circumstances I needed to learn to trust a man the right way if I ever wanted to truly put those fears behind me.
I explained my reasoning to Hunter and watched as he processed it all. Finally after what seemed like hours to me he twirled me around before he pulled me back into his arms.
"You're absolutely right."