9. Hanna
In the ladies room, I'm pulling remnants of cake out of Faith's hair while Thea wipes out the last remaining buttercream stains from the dress.
Faith is upset but she's calmer now. Alec must have said all the right things to make her forgive his most Alec-y screw up ever. Besides, she's still beautiful, cake hair or no cake hair.
For some reason, the Wizard of Oz creeps into my mind.
"Weddings and brothers and chimps..."
"Oh dear."
"It's oh my, Thea."
"Hmmm?"
I look down and over at her and scowl slightly. She's blushing. Why is she blushing? "What's up with you?"
"What?" She stares at this spot on Faith's dress as she swipes at it with a wet towel. She's avoiding looking at me. I know this mostly because there's no stain there anymore.
I catch Faith's eyes instead. She's trying very hard not to say anything, but mutters to herself anyway as she applies a little bit of lip gloss in the mirror. "Alec."
"Yeah, he really outdid himself this time," I tell her. And he did. I mean, between letting a chimp loose at Faith's wedding and coming out of nowhere to chase down said chimp with...
Thea.
I look down at her again and she's still working on that mystery stain, avoiding looking up at either of us now.
That's so...
Oh.
Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh!
Snap!
My eyes get huge and Faith puts a finger to her lips, encouraging me to drop it for now, but I was kind of looking forward to a bit of a distraction for the time being. Anything that might take Faith's mind off of what may or may not be up with me is a good thing in my book. Even if that means Alec might take the brunt of Faith's frustrations right now.
I love the kid to death, but better him than me, ya know what I mean?
I take a deep breath in and let it out, thinking about how deep I've managed to get myself in it this time.
I talk about Alec, but I'm the mess here. All he's got to worry about is a little bit of monkey business.
With Thea.
I snort.
"What?"
"Nothing."
"Speaking of things that are up," Faith starts. "What is..."
"Time for you to get back to the masses," I tell her quickly, petting her hair like it's perfect again. "Jon's waiting for you."
I smile at her and Thea stands, acknowledging that she agrees. "All gone," she says, referring to the stain she'd been working on. Of course it's gone, it wasn't even there to begin with.
Sneaky.
Faith's eyebrow raises, questioning the two of us, but decides we're right. "We're having a pow-wow later," she says, pointing at the two of us before she turns and leaves. I can see Jon out in the hallway, extending his hand for her to hold on to through the rest of the reception. When the door closes, Thea and I seem to have had the same idea as we both speak over the other in hurried whisper yells, like we think the entire crowd is going to hear us.
"Are you boinking Alec?"
"Did you and Decker have a fight?"
"What?" we both ask. Then we laugh and it's the first tension release I've felt in hours.
"Did you seriously just ask me if I'm boinking Alec?" Thea says through giggles but she's totally blushing again and I know that even if she isn't... she wants to.
"You two seemed like you were maybe in cahoots together with that whole chimp fiasco a little while ago. Canoodling possibly, even."
"I wasn't," she says, flustered. "I mean, we weren't..." Then finally, she blurts out, "I mean, he just wanted me to hold his monkey."
I give her a smirk and cross my arms. "Is that what they're calling it in West Africa these days?"
Thea's eyes get big and she slaps my arm.
"Why do you have to be so..."
"Meticulously astute?" I say, completely serious.
"Smart assy," she rebuts.
"Painstakingly perceptive?" I add.
"How about cocky?" she asks me sarcastically. And okay, she has me there. A little bit.
I'm laughing because I know she's having dirty, dirty thoughts about our boy already. Before I can give her some more hell about wanting to do Faith's little bro, though, she changes the subject on me.
"What's wrong with you and Decker he looks like he's got chest pains."
My amusement fades with that question. I feel deflated. I feel... tired.
"You okay, Hanna?" she asks. And it's not a question most people need to ask me very often. I usually keep it together, I'm usually the one telling everyone else to relax, but right now...
"I don't know, Thea, I don't if I can do this. I'm not..."
"Good at keeping secrets?"
Now who's cocky?
We take a moment to appreciate the irony of that question, but I know she's right. I wasn't made to keep things from Dad... or Faith... especially them. I'm just thankful I at least had the sense to tell Thea because I might be falling apart at the seems by now had I kept this from her too.
She puts her arms around me and I let her. "You and Deck are gonna be fine, you just need to talk."
"We'll talk," I promise her. "I'll talk to Deck... I'll talk to Faith..." I fade and she finishes with a sing songy voice.
"You'll talk to your dad..."
I don't confirm or deny that one, but I do clarify that it won't be today. Not if I can help it, anyway. It's Faith's day.
"I will though, I just have to find the right time."
Thea smiles and assures me, "The right time has a way of happening whether you plan it or not, Hanna."
And I'm not positive she's talking about me anymore, but I leave it alone as we go to join the rest of the wedding party again, kinda extremely happy for her that she's been "holding Alec's monkey" for him.
Back at the table, I find that Jackson is gone. He's probably off playing with Alec's monkey somewhere and as soon as I think it, I change the word "monkey" to "chimp" because it's a whole lot more disturbing thinking about Jackson holding Alec's monkey than it is to think about Thea handling it.
I'm distracted by another of the male species out in the crowd of people before me, who seems to be irritated with something. Or someone.
"You're chewing your fingernails, that can't be good."
Decker has taken Jackson's empty seat next to me. I wonder how long he's been there and how long I've been stressing, then release my nail from the confines of my teeth as his hand makes soothing circles against the small of my back.
"Dad's in P.I. mode."
He lets out a soft chuckle as he takes my hand in his. "And what's new?"
"And drinking."
"Oh."
Oh shit is more like it.
"And he's got that look. He's been eyeballing you for pretty much the entirety of the wedding and most of the reception."
"Should I go get my kevlar from the trunk of the Hummer?" he jokes, but I'm not laughing. It's not funny. Then I look over at him once his words sink in. I'm unexpectedly turned on by that remark..
"You brought your kevlar?"
He's quite sexy in the kevlar.
A slight shrug from him and then he grins halfway. "Ya never know, right? Especially at a function thrown by Masen."
True.
Still.
There's something going on in that overworked head of my father's. I notice as he makes small talk with my mother at their table. Every so often he peeks up at Decker and me... mostly Decker. Then he says something to her I have to assume is not very nice because she's rolling her eyes and shaking her head and he's continuing with the drinking.
I have to talk to him soon.
I also have to talk to Decker, though, and since I sleep with him at night, I turn to face him head on and look into those soul searching eyes that grab me every time.
"I'm sorry," I tell him quietly, because I don't care what kind of issues we might currently be having due to our... circumstances. I know I love him, I know he loves me and I know for a goddamn fact that I'm going to be with him forever, and whether he likes it or not, he's stuck with my family. Psychotic as one of us may be, from time to time.
"No, I'm sorry," he tells me, bringing my hand up to his lips before finishing. "I didn''t mean..."
"I know you didn't."
"We'll work this out."
I smile. "I know."
Our foreheads lean against each other, then he kisses me with those perfect lips of his. Nothing too passionate, although I can feel it through our connection that he wants to make it passionate. That I want to make it passionate.
God help me.
He stays at the table with me while Jackson is MIA. Time passes, the reception is managing to move along and I'm managing to get through this event when Jonathan's best man stands and makes his toast, reminding me that Thea's going to give one... and that I was supposed to give one before that.
Shit.
I down the glass of champagne I've been poured. "Fuck me."
"You forgot, didn't you?" Decker asks and we laugh because when it comes to things like this, I am a huge procrastinator. I never know what to say when it comes to matters involving the heart. I'm usually a show-er not a teller, but I can't let Faith down so I start thinking of some things to say as the best man ends his speech.
People are clapping and hooting and hollering and I know I at least have a little bit of time before I need to get up in front of everyone to say something meaningful so Decker and I scooch over closer to the bride and groom and lean in. Thea and the best man lean in too. We're all huddled and I make an offer.
"I'll pay you a hundred cash right now if you speak for both of us, Thea."
She shakes her head as she giggles and Faith dives right in. She knows I forgot but she's in her happy place. "I don't think so, Hanna, you're not getting out of gushing over me that easily."
"You'll do great," Thea encourages, but I'm not so sure I believe her.
I'm about to double my offer when Dad approaches the table.
"Hey kid," he says to Faith, then after a beat or two he adds, "Just thought I'd come by and wish the happy couple all the best before Hanna's mom and I head back to DC."
He's got this smug look on his face that's all too familiar. Like he's just cracked a case and he's holding his glass up toward the wrong couple, making a very pointed look at yours truly.
My heart sinks.
Oh no.
My eyes dart frantically for Mom who's nowhere in sight as Faith lets out a soft giggle. Her head tilts and her eyebrows scrunch a little.
"You're not going to stay for Hanna's speech?" she questions. I can tell she's both confused and amused and luckily thinks maybe he's just drunk.
Decker though, he's white as a ghost and Thea's eyes have widened to an extreme circumference.
Dad never lets his eyes leave mine. "Oh I think I've heard her say enough by not saying a goddamn word at all, don't you, Hanna?"
"Oh. Shit," Deck whispers from beside me. I want to curse too, and the fact that Dad is cursing despite the presence of Faith and Thea means he is really pissed.
My first instinct is to tackle him and get him as far away from Faith as possible, but I know that can't happen so I do my best to try and extinguish the situation another way before it burns out of control.
"Dad."
"What's the matter, kid, haven't you told them yet, either?" he asks me and I can't really think because I'm busted. I am sooooo busted. I feel the blood rushing to my cheeks and try not to look around at the faces that must be staring at me right now.
Especially Faith.
"I mean that's what this is all about, right?" he continues, waving his drink around and I'm one hundred percent positive he's going to either spill it... or throw it. If Mom were here, she'd never let him go that far. I don't think anyway.
Where IS she?
"Love and trust... getting married... spending the rest of your life with someone you haven't even fucking told your parents you're serious about yet?"
My mouth drops because even though I know he knows, I can't believe he knows even though... I should have known... I mean he's a fucking detective for Christ sake, what was I thinking?
My heart cannot take this.
"Hanna?" Faith inquires from the middle of our group and I finally look over at her, then Thea, kind of begging for some help here but she looks about as dumbfounded and helpless as I feel. So I give my father my attention again, and even though I have zero ideas on what to say right now, I start again. "Dad... I..."
"You what? You wanna introduce me to your husband now?" He scowls at his next comment. "This a good time for you?"
"W...what?" It's Faith again, she's completely stunned and I'm completely fucked. "Did he just say husband?"
I don't know who she's asking and don't even try to explain, I just leave. Leave the table, Faith, Thea, and Decker, who I think has gotten up to follow me. I hope, anyway. As far as Dad... I'm not really sure where he is anymore. He could be aiming his Colt at Decker by now, or maybe me. Who knows.
I finally catch sight of Mom. She's watching and waiting from the back of the ballroom, but not getting into the middle of what's going down other than to open the door and hold it for me. I want to run through it but I'm stopped by Mr. Masen, who's noticed the commotion and has made his way over to intercept me, Tyler flanking him.
I'm biting my lip so hard now, because honestly, this is most definitely Alec-y. It's so Alec-y, I just out-Alec'd him with his damn monkey. Chimp. Whatever.
Dammit.
I can hear Thea taking over the situation up at the bridal party's table, not skipping a single beat as I'm about to lose every last bit of control I've been holding onto throughout the day. God bless her for not letting my bullshit ruin Faith's day. Karma is going to be rewarding that woman big time for the good in her heart.
I can't look at Mr. M. but I find Tyler next to him, assuring me with that subtle way he has about him that I shouldn't worry. Too much. He's also reflecting the need to ask me what in the hell I've gotten myself into this time.
Take a number, my friend.
"Everything's fine, Mr. M," I tell Faith's dad, as composed as I possibly can. "I'm just gonna... have a talk with my dad here, I guess. Outside. I hope."
"She guesses," my dad mumbles from in back of me somewhere, then pushes past all of us. I follow with my mother behind me, and Decker in the rear. I give him one last look of "I am so sorry I got you into this" before the door closes behind us.
Dad's already spewing out half curses like, "What the F..." and "How in the H..." and then finally he gives up. He puts a hand to his mouth and rubs at the five o'clock shadow that's forming rather early.
So I speak for him, managing to somehow find my voice, figuring if I'm going to be adult enough to run off and get married, I may as well act the part of an adult.
Right?
"We were going to tell you..."
"Oh you were going to fucking tell me, were ya?" he says with anger spilling from his words. "When exactly the fuck was that gonna happen Hanna? When you're pregnant with your first kid?"
He realizes what he said and his face turns to stone. He looks like he's gonna hurl. That doesn't happen often. I think I just broke my dad. "Are you fucking pregnant, Hanna"? he asks, then turns to Decker. "You get my little girl pregnant, motherfucker?"
He goes to wrap his hands around Decker's throat. I think he was going for the throat anyway and I stand in between them, but it's my mom who stops him.
"Edward," she says, putting a hand against his chest and he looks down at her with anger.
"If he fucking knocked her up, Swan, I..."
She nearly laughs at him and I can't figure out why,but am glad at least one of them doesn't seem to want to kill me.
"What?"
"Would you please just... talk to your daughter?"
Dad breathes out and I see his face relax a little, then he nods to mom and they both face Decker and me. We're holding hands now. Decker perhaps a little more tightly than I, but still...
"You wanna start from the beginning of... whatever the fuck this is?"
My head moves side to side. I don't even know where the beginning is.
"I was out near Vegas, after a job Tyler and I had finished. He went back home and Deck had leave so he met me out there..."
Dad looks like he's gonna say something, but Mom stops him. "Let her finish, Cullen," she says with that authoritative voice. She hasn't lost her edge and I smile despite my nerves.
Dad is not amused.
I continue before something else gets started.
"The second night we were there, we got to talking..."
Decker adds with a glint in his eyes about the memory, "We were standing outside the Bellagio." He looks down at me. "You were watching that show they put on every night with the lights and water... you were in complete awe of the technology it took to put something like that together and I couldn't take my eyes off of you."
I'm blushing at my husband's recollection.
God. My husband.
Suddenly it was like my mom and dad weren't even there. It was just me... and Deck.
"I knew it, ya know," he told me, pushing a stray hair out of my face and behind an ear. "Even before I officially met you. I knew you were it, but I also knew you were kinda reserved about getting serious with people."
"Before?" I asked him. He'd never told me that before.
Decker nodded. "I was so afraid every day of losing you, that you'd finally come to your senses and tell me it was time to cut me loose."
I was lost in his eyes. As always. "It was never going to be time."
Suddenly, our perfect moment of bliss is over when Dad decides he's had enough of the lovey dovey bullshit, as he would put it.
"So what, you decided to get her drunk and talk her into marrying you in fucking Vegas?"
I let out a frustrated sigh at my father's quip, then I looked over at him with a tightness growing in my jaw. "It was my idea, Dad."
His brow shot up. "Come the fuck again?"
"That's right, I asked him. It was perfect for us... we didn't have to worry about planning, or guests or..."
"Listening to the voice of fucking reason?" he says. Then he eyes my finger again, like he had the night before. "Where's the ring then?" he asks, tilting his head toward Deck. "Didn't this jackass even buy you a goddamn ring?"
I huff at him in disgust at his blatant ill will toward Deck, then I reach into my clutch and pull out the solitaire diamond Decker had bought for me.
I slip it onto my finger, right where it belongs. Then I show it to him.
"I knew you'd fight me on this, Dad, I knew you'd do everything you could to stop me from marrying a cop, so..."
"So you thought the proper way to really stick it to me would be to fucking run off and elope?"
"I just..."
"Do you have any idea what could have fucking happened to you, Hanna?" He laughs with bitterness all around it. "No, of course you don't, that's the problem isn't it, you never fucking think."
Decker tries to interject. "Sir, I..."
Dad points a deliberate finger at him. "You shut the fuck up before I explain how I really feel with my Colt up your ass."
"Dad!"
"What if this guy works for someone like Muldoon, huh? He could have..."
"He doesn't work for the wrong side." Jesus!
Dad eyes Decker again. Daring him to say something. And he does. Of course he does. He's Decker.
"I don't work for the wrong side, sir."
"Yeah? Well that's exactly what someone who works for the wrong side would fucking say, now isn't it?"
"God! You are so paranoid!" I scream at him, unable to compose myself anymore. He makes to say something... to cut me off, but I need to get this out. I'm almost hysterical. Not quite, but almost. "Don't you think I checked him out myself? Do you not have one single solitary ounce of faith in me that you think I'd be stupid enough to marry some dumbass with an agenda?"
"I didn't say..."
"I am not some silly little girl who falls for just anyone. He's it, Dad... and I am smart enough to know that. And tough skinned enough to deal with his bat-shit crazy ideas that make him stay up late and work double shifts and go after people that will most likely get him killed someday, but not if I can help it... and..."
My cell phone buzzes, and even though I know somewhere inside that this conversation is more important, I check to see who's texting me anyway.
Habit, I guess.
You aren't dead are you?
Thea's words take me away from the adrenaline rush momentarily. I'm almost afraid to text her back, thinking it'll jinx me, but I send her a short one, compromising on my reply.
Not yet.
It's not until my dad says something that I remember where I am again.
"Hanna."
I slip the phone back into it's place and wipe under my eyes. Just in case tears are there. "What?"
His face has changed. So has his demeanor. He's backing off. Something he only does when he knows he's crossed that line with the women in his life. Two in particular, that is. His worried look is staring down at me.
And now maybe it's me who's broken.
His clenched jaw tells me this is hard for him. "I know you're not stupid... and believe it or not, I have more faith in you than I probably fucking have in myself," he says, then adds with a little bit of teasing, "Most days."
"Dad..." I'm almost crying and God, I hate crying. So I take a breather. While I do, Decker questions me on one point of my rant.
"I don't think my ideas are that bat-shit crazy."
I laugh through teary eyes I'm refusing to let win, but I'm so frustrated at this point. Mom is damn near looking entertained, which is starting to make me realize something and Decker, who's been fairly patient up to this point, takes a step toward my father, who's most certainly not backing off of him. Not yet.
I try to warn him off but Dad beats me to it, eyeing my husband while still managing to direct his words at me.
"Maybe you were right," he tells me. "Maybe I woulda tried to stop you."
Mom barks out a laugh and immediately covers her mouth. Dad turns a raised eyebrow to her and continues, "But that's only 'cause no one's ever gonna be good enough for you."
Now Mom's cocking an eyebrow and Dad finally concedes. "And... maybe because he's a cop."
He looks at me with a tired expression, then, like he's lost some long-standing battle.
He hasn't lost anything. Especially me.
We seem to be having a moment of silence with each other for the girl I used be. I have to admit, there's a part of me that will always want to stay that girl. The one he beams with pride over when she learns some new tactical defense or tells him about some take down she participated in with Tyler.
The other part of me that wants to be Mrs. Decker Thompson... and Hanna Cullen-Thompson, head of security for Masen Enterprises (some day)...
"Mr. Cullen, I know exactly how you feel about the police force over in DC, sir, but I'm not part of anything like that. I became a cop because I wanna take the crime rings down a peg or two before it gets too out of control in our area."
Dad's eyeing him like only my dad can, but Decker doesn't care. In fact, it fuels his cause.
That would be me, by the way.
"I love your daughter. I'd kill anyone without a single thought over the consequences if they hurt or attempted to hurt one single beautiful hair on her head, and if you have a problem with this," he motions between the two of us, "With all due respect sir..." He seems to resign himself to the fact that he might just die at the hands of Edward Cullen for what he's about to say, but doesn't really give shit. "That's just it... it's your problem, but I'm not going anywhere. Not as long as she'll have me."
I don't think I'm breathing for the next few minutes while Dad and Decker have their own personal stare down. I can tell Deck is sweating over what he just said and quite frankly, I'm wishing I had him get that kevlar out of the Hummer after all... but then finally, Dad says something that catches me by surprise and yet, not so much.
"You sound a lot like Hanna's uncle."
"I have a lot of respect for Sergeant Cullen, sir. He's a good man."
Dad gets thoughtful for a moment. Quite a few moments, actually. He's not quite done with his inquisition. "I suppose you're working your way up the ranks. Gonna get yourself a nice cushy job, make tons of money."
He's baiting my husband. And I want to roll my eyes as Decker smiles at him. "I don't think so, sir."
Here comes the scowl. "And why's that?"
And here comes the rebuttal. Decker's about to go all high horse and conspiracy theory on Dad.
"Seems to me, I'm most likely to do some good a little lower down the totem pole... the further up the ladder, the more corrupt things appear to get, that's all."
This is one of the reasons I fell in love with the guy in the first place. He's got a lot of the same qualities that the other man in my life who look up to does.
Don't tell him that.
Dad's brow furrows, like he's not quite sure he believes what he's hearing, but I do.
"You sayin' that because you think it's what I wanna hear?"
"Hell no, sir, I might still be young but I've seen enough suspicious activity within my own precinct that I know what's what."
"Huh," Dad muses and that's when I know that even in the smallest of amounts... Deck just won the stubborn ass over. Plus, it probably just sunk in for Dad that we've saved him a shitload of money by not having a huge ass wedding.
The two of them immediately start into a conversation regarding the ins and outs of ideas they both have and who they have them about.
Mom and I fall in behind as we all make our way back into the reception. We make eye contact and she winks at me before putting an arm around me, followed by a kiss to my cheek.
"You knew, didn't you?" I ask her and she just tilts her head a little as she smiles and keeps her eyes fixed straight ahead of us.
"I suspected."
"How did you...?"
"Moms aren't stupid, Hanna," she says. "I know that look, I've experienced that look. I still do, as a matter of fact."
"Decker's?" I ask, giving him a thoughtful glance as he gets more and more animated talking with my father. But Mom corrects me one last time.
"No, yours."
And even though suddenly I'm not looking forward to holiday meals with the two conspiracy theorists in the family yapping about who to trust and who to take out from now on... I know everything's gonna be fine.
Just like I planned.
My only problem now is... I have Faith to face. Who is waiting for me on the other side of the door as I pull it open to let the rest of my family inside.
There's a quiet moment between all of us before Dad, Decker and Mom all abandon me. I'm standing there, waiting for the hell that is Faith's fury to be unleashed. She's had a hell of a day and this, this might just be the thing to push her over the edge. Alec was forgiven for the chimp and the cake, but I've committed a serious crime against the Thea/Faith/Hanna BFF code of conduct, and I deserve to be shunned for ten to twenty. Maybe more.
I suck so bad.
She's looking at me and I'm looking at her, and I'm bracing myself. I know she has every right to be mad at me. Friends don't get married without telling their best friends.
I was going to tell her.
I was.
Just when I think she's going to let me have it, she goes ninja on me, throwing her arms around my neck. I wonder if she's trying to kill me and if I'm going to have to hip-check a woman in a wedding gown when I realize she's hugging me. At least I think she's hugging me. That or she's trying to suffocate me. That's when I see Thea behind her, trying not to laugh.
I cough. "Faith... can't... breathe."
She lets go and there's a damn smile on her face. "You sneaky little... I can't believe you did it before me!"
I'm pretty sure I've done everything before Faith. Let's be real. The girl thought french kissing was kissing while in France. And don't get me started on the pictures I had to draw to get her to understand what sixty-nine meant. Thank God Dad never found those before I had a chance to burn the evidence of the vastness of my knowledge. That could have been awkward.
"Are you mad?"
"Well, I'm a little mad that I don't get to throw you the biggest, most ridiculous bachelorette party ever because believe me when I say, sister... payback was going to be a bitch!"
Now I'm laughing too. There's no way in hell she could top the party Thea and I threw her but hey, if she wants to think she could have, I'm gonna let her have that one delusion.
"You're sure you're not mad at me?"
"Are you happy?" she asks, gripping my shoulders and looking at me with those big, innocent Faith eyes. Lord, this girl could melt the hardest of hearts with one look. I blush and she knows the answer, so she doesn't wait for me to say anything. "That's really all there is to it then, isn't it? If you're happy, then I'm over the moon."
"I'm so glad Hanna's ring and Alec's monkey are out in the open," Thea sighs. "Now that there are no more secrets between us, we can just let loose and enjoy the rest of the night."
I narrow my eyes at Thea.
Faith puts a hand on her hip.
"What?" Thea asks.
Alec waltzes by with Kiko and winks in Thea's direction.
The three of us laugh and Thea hides her face behind her hand. "I swear I just held his monkey."
"For now," I chuckle.
The three of us hug each other one more time in a fit of laughter before getting back to the reception. Dad's decided to stay a while longer after all, and has kidnapped my husband to boot. Mom is in on the conversation as well now, and I don't exactly want to be a fly on that table, so I finish up my co-maid-of-honor duties with Thea. Later we watch the bride and groom leave us for their honeymoon, holding on to each other, waving frantically as they drive away.
Alec maneuvers his way through the crowd to where we're standing when the car is no longer in sight, and the two of them have this moment there, in the midst of everyone, that makes me feel like I'm definitely intruding. So I tell Thea I'll see her before she has to leave and I make myself scarce so she can go... hold his monkey for him or something.
At the end of the day, I'm exhausted but overwhelmingly happy... surprisingly.
I witnessed my best friend getting married to the man she adores, I got to be there when my other best friend discovered the possibilities of a new love, I managed to let go of a secret that's been killing me for weeks, I made peace with my Dad and I did it all without having a mental breakdown. For the most part.
I go looking for Decker and find him just a short while later, leaning up against a wooden post by the Masens' stables. He looks like he's talking to one of the horses and I can't hold back the smile that spreads across my face.
"Don't tell me even my Dad got tired of listening to your bat-shit crazy ideas. You have to talk to the animals now?" I tease and he puts an arm around me before kissing the top of my head.
"I was just telling Eclipse here how incredibly lucky I am."
"Really."
He nods. "He says you're trouble, but I told him... I like trouble."
I move around to the face him and slide my hands underneath his jacket and around his waist. "You like trouble, huh?"
He hums as he puts his soft lips up against mine and I can feel his answer pushing up against me.
I like trouble too.
"I hear there's a cozy little place inside those stables where we can go get into some trouble together."
I smile and waggle my eyebrows a little for him. Decker narrows in on the doors to the building. "You think Masen has security cameras in there?"
He's so paranoid.
I nod for him, then pull him with me to go find that spot I mentioned. "Come on, Thompson. He might have cameras, but I know how to disable them with a bobby pin."
A/N: Thanks to Miss SueBee for all the time she takes to make sure we use proper grammar. Thanks to the ends of time to Amy & Marie (they are both up for Fic of the week over at The Lemonade Stand by the way, go vote) for making room in their lives for me. I love them dearly. And thanks a bazillion times over to you all for reading these stories. There are special places in our hearts for these girls.
You can vote for Amy's o-fic (The Weather Girl) over at So You Think You Can Write once a day until the 11th. Show this talented woman some lovin' so we can find her published works on our shelves some day. I've added the link to our profile to make it easier to find for ya. THANK you for all your support.
Big, big love. Always.
xoxoxox