Summary: It's TK and Kari's senior year in high school and they take a surprise Thanksgiving trip to America where things get super complicated. It doesn't look good for TK and Kari's relationship when Kari decides to move back to America and have nothing to do with TK. Can their relationship survive the test of time or will Kari's stubbornness keep them apart forever?
Hard to Love You
'Your Love Is A Lie'
(don't own Simple Plan either)
Kari stood on a small stool in front of the mirror in a small room in the back of the church. Her hair was perfectly curled. Her makeup was perfectly done. Her dress fit her body perfectly. It was a sweetheart dress with side straps, a tight corset that showed off her slender waist with a slight flare and poof at the bottom of the dress. Today was suppose to be the happiest day of her life, yet she didn't feel very happy. She couldn't help but think about last night. It replayed over and over and over again in her mind. Was she making the right decision?
Sora was helping Mimi and the other assistants with Kari's dress. They were making last minute adjustments to make sure everything looked perfect. Sora could tell Kari was thinking hard about something. She could read Kari like a book.
"Ya know, for a bride on her wedding day... ya don't look very happy hun," said Sora as she pinned the bottom of Kari's dress up.
"I'm very happy," lied Kari and gave Sora a fake, yet convincing smile.
"Are ya thinking about TK?" Sora calmly asked as she took another pin out and repinned it.
Kari quickly looked down at Sora. Her eyes nearly bulging out of her eyes. Did Sora possibly know what happened between her and TK last night? 'She couldn't know! Everyone was in the banquet room watching the slideshow,' Kari told herself.
"Ya know, I always thought ya would be getting married to TK," said Sora as she continued to pin Kari's dress.
Kari's heart rate quickened. Her body was starting to tense up. Sora obviously knew something. Kari hated playing mind games with Sora. She looked Sora directly in the eye, trying to figure out what she knew.
"I never thought ya would be getting married to a Nascar driver." Sora continued to say, "Brian is such a nice guy. I wonder what ever made him attracted to you."
Mimi started to look back and forth between Sora and Kari. She was beyond confused yet she continued to work quietly on Kari's dress. Kari kept looking into Sora's eyes, begging her stop. She didn't want to hear this anymore.
"It's not like ya have been the most faithful fiance in the world," said Sora as she casually took another pin out and repinned the dress.
Mimi and the assistants' heads perked up. They suddenly became very interested in the one-sided conversation. Yet they continued to work as if they weren't listening. Kari's face became red and she was so embarrassed.
"Everybody out!" Kari angrily said. Mimi and the assistants looked up at her and sadly walked out of the room. They desperately wanted to know what Sora meant by her last comment. Sora turned around in her light pink bridesmaid dress and followed Mimi out of the room. "Except you, Sora."
Sora turned around with an evil smirk on her face. She slowly walked back to Kari. Kari still stood on her pedestal in front of the mirror. She crossed her arms and angrily stared down Sora.
"What the hell Sora? What are ya trying pull?" Kari angrily asked.
"I'm trying to stop this mess before it goes too far!" Sora answered.
"Well thanks for your support!" Kari sarcastically replied.
"Oh please Kari. Ya can knock off the little charade! Ya can't honestly tell me ya love Brian. I can see it written all over your face," said Sora. "Ya still love TK."
"I do not!" Kari angrily retorted.
"Ya do too! I know that every bride is nervous as hell on their wedding day. God knows I was, but every bride is also excited to get married! And ya look like someone just ran over your cat," explained Sora. "Brian is a nice guy. He deserves someone who loves him with all their heart, not part of it."
"Well newsflash Sora! I do love Brian, with all my heart and we're getting married in..." Kari stopped to look up at the clock on the wall. "Less than fifteen minutes."
"Kari, stop lying to yourself! Your love is a lie. Save yourself a divorce and an embarrassing cover shot on People Magazine and just call off the wedding while ya still have time!" Sora begged her little sister-in-law.
"Are ya crazy? Do ya know how many people flew all the way here from America to see us get married?" Kari angrily asked, "they came for a wedding and a wedding is what they are going to get!"
"Would Brian still marry ya if he knew about ya and TK?" Sora asked curiously.
"How do ya know about last night?" Kari defensively asked.
"LAST NIGHT? I was talking about six months ago!" Sora exclaimed, "Kari! I can't believe ya! Cheating on your fiance once is bad enough, but twice?"
"I know, I know...wait, what?! How do ya know about six months ago?" Kari desperately wanted to know. If Sora knew about that, how many other people knew?
"That morning when we were suppose to leave Japan and fly back home, I woke up extra early to pack. Around 4:30 that morning, I called ya to see if ya were up but ya didn't answer. So I called again and again, hoping ya would wake up to your phone. When ya didn't answer, I went up to your room and knocked on the door. When ya still didn't answer, I went back to my room to get the extra hotel key for your room. When I finally opened your door, I saw you guys naked on the bed! It was kinda obvious after that," explained Sora.
"And ya didn't wake me up?" Kari angrily asked, "I almost missed that flight!"
"And how awkward would that have been?" Sora sarcastically asked, "Kari, it's apparent ya and TK are still very attracted to each other. Have ya and Brian gone as far as ya and TK?"
"No," Kari quietly and sheepishly replied. "I was kinda saving myself for marriage."
Sora shook her head in disappointment. "TK loves ya so much. He would do anything for ya. I bet you didn't even know he went to Charlotte right after you moved away to look for ya," said Sora as she watched Kari's eyes bulge out in shock. "Kari, listen to me. Go out there and call off this wedding. You and Brian weren't meant to get married."
"I can't," replied Kari sadly.
"Yes ya can!" Sora cheered her on.
"No, I can't!" Kari exclaimed, "any minute now, me and Brian are going to get married. We are going to fly back America and live happily ever after! And I will never see TK ever again. Brian will never have to know what happened last night or six months ago."
"Kari!" Sora said in a disappointed voice. She was beyond frustrated with her.
"Kari," said Angewomon as she popped her head in the room. "Are you ready?"
Kari turned around and looked at herself one last time in the mirror. She smiled at herself as she flipped her veil down over her face, "yes."
Kari stood in the back of the church. She watched as her wedding party started to line up. She closed her eyes to help calm herself down. After her little argument with Sora, she couldn't wait to get married to Brian. Just knowing Sora was against the marriage, it gave her an extra motivation to go through with it. She was going to risk her own happiness to just piss Sora off. Kari strongly believed if she had never met TK, Brian would have been her soul mate. She took a deep breath and zoned everyone out and mentally prepared herself for what she was about to do. 'I can do this.'
"Where's Tai?" Kari's cousin asked curiously.
Kari immediately snapped out of her meditation and tried to figure out what was going on. Angewomon was frantically running around asked people if they had seen Tai. Kari looked around herself to see if she could find him.
"Kari, have ya seen Tai?" Angewomon finally asked Kari after she had gotten the same answer from everyone else.
"No," answered Kari and angrily groaned. "Does anybody have a phone?"
The groomsmen patted their tuxes to see if they had their phone. In a day and age when everybody had a cell phone, luck was against Kari when none of the guys had their cell phone on them. Kari was sure none of the girls had their phones either since there are such limited places to hold a phone in a bridesmaid dress. Sora slowly walked up to Kari and lifted the bottom of her dress. She reached down and grabbed her cell phone that hung securely from her ankle bracelet. Sora kindly offered the phone to Kari and Kari snatched it out of her hand. She dialed Tai's number as fast as she could.
"Where are you?" Kari asked angrily as soon as he answered.
"Don't worry Kari, I'll be there in like fifteen minutes. I promise!" Tai quietly said on the phone and hung up before Kari could even respond.
To say the least, Kari was fuming. First Sora pissed her off and now Tai was late to his only sister's wedding. She turned around to see her wedding party waiting for her to tell them what to do.
"Tai said he'd be here in fifteen minutes," Kari informed everyone as calmly as she could.
Tai climbed the stairs of TK's apartment building. He was only halfway up when Tai started to get tired. 'No wonder why TK's in such good shape,' he thought to himself. In his hand he clutched an invitation to Kari's wedding. Tai knew there was no way he would be able to convince TK to come to the wedding. He hoped an actual invitation would change his mind. When he finally reached TK's apartment, he slid the invitation under the door and loudly pounded on the old wooden door. Tai bolted down the stairs when he heard TK walking towards the door.
TK was taking an afternoon nap in his parent's old lazy boy recliner when he was abruptly waken by a loud pounding noise. When the pounding didn't stop, he reluctantly got up and walked over to the door. He slowly opened the door only to find no one standing outside his doorway. 'Stupid neighbor kids,' TK thought to himself. It wasn't unusual for TK to open his door to find a nice "surprise" outside waiting for him from them. TK closed his door and started walking back to his chair. As TK walked away, something on the floor caught his eye.
TK bent down to pick up the bright pink invitation. How did he miss this when he walked to the door? He looked at the card to see it was an invitation to Kari's wedding. He was surprised that Kari would even invite him. He looked at the picture of Kari and Brian. He couldn't help but stare at Kari. She looked absolutely beautiful in the picture but he quickly frowned as he saw Brian standing next to her. As much as he kinda wanted to go, he couldn't stand to see Brian marry Kari. He loved her to much to see someone else marry her. As he walked back to his recliner, he threw the invitation in the garage.
TK tried to fall asleep again. He tossed and turned in his chair. He kept thinking about Kari and the wedding. Did Kari really want him there? He wasn't sure but it wasn't even five minutes after he threw the invitation away he knew what he had to do. TK didn't care if what he was wearing was wedding appropriate. He didn't have time to change, he had a wedding to go to.
Every pew in the church was filled. Kari's heart began to pound faster as she heard the pianist play those famous notes every bride wants to hear. Kevin, her dad, stood on her left and Tai stood on her right as they stood in the back of the church to escort her down the isle. Kari took one last deep breath and started walking down the long isle.
Kari couldn't help but feel deja vu all over again. She walked halfway down the isle before she realized this was her dream. The dream that she always dreamed since she was a senior in high school. Everything was the same, her hair, her dress, the church, the people. Thankfully this time there was no awfully sounding alarm clock to wake her up, she didn't cry and she could perfectly see Brian waiting for her at the end of the isle. He had a huge smile on his face as he watched her walk towards him. 'Brian must have been the guy in my dream,' she thought to herself. As she walked closer to him, she knew it was a sign she was doing the right thing.
Before she reached the end of the isle, Kevin and Tai each gave Kari a hug. They sat down together in the front pew next to Karen. Kari smiled as she turned around and walked the last few feet to Brian. Brian reached out to her and escorted her towards the priest. Kari could tell he was very excited. She wished she was excited as Brian. The music finally stopped and the priest began the ceremony.
"We are gathered here today to join together Brian and Kari in holy matrimony. Which is an honorable estate, therefore, it is not to be entered into unadvisedly, or lightly, but reverently and soberly."
Kari didn't have to see but she could feel Sora's eyes gazing down upon her as she heard the priest say those last few words.
"If any one can show just cause why they may not be lawfully joined together, let them speak now, or forever hold their peace."
Kari watched Brian's eyes. They wandered around the church. Kari started to look around too. She quickly glanced over her shoulder at Sora. If there was anyone who would speak up, Kari knew it would have been Sora.
The priest paused for a few seconds. "Since there are no objections, let us continue with the ceremony."
"I do!"