Meanwhile, back in the States...
Shelly spread an array of pictures out in front of her on the table. Pictures of bouquets, dresses, venues, make-up ideas, hair inspiration, color schemes; all her wedding planning inspiration. She tilted her head to the side and smiled at her pictures. Then she caught a glance of her engagement ring and smiled wider. She tipped her hand sideways to watch as the sun gleamed off the diamond.
"Nice ring." Came a voice from behind her, "Whoever bought you that must be quite a catch."
Shelly smiled, when she recognized the voice of her fiancé. He kissed her on the top of her head.
"Whatcha doing?" he asked.
"Trying to decide between the roses or the lilies for the table centerpieces." She said holding up two pictures.
Conrad looked at them thoughtfully and then shrugged, "Flowers are flowers."
Shelly elbowed him, "No they're not. This is a big decision."
Conrad laughed internally, "Whatever ones you decide will be the right ones.
Conrad had remembered Judd saying to him once after he and Vicki had had an argument that whatever he did, if he told Vicki she was right, the argument ended a lot quicker. Conrad found that Shelly was wired much the same way.
"By the way, you're not allowed to see some of these!" Shelly said, scrambling to cover the photos of dresses.
Conrad covered his eyes, "Fine, I'm not looking!"
She hid the photos. Shelly stood up and turned to face Conrad. She pulled his hands from his eyes and smiled at him.
"I love you." She said putting her hands on either side of his face and kissing him, "And I can't wait to be your wife."
"Eight months." He said with a grin, "Soon."
"Not soon enough." Shelly pouted, "I hope the next eight months fly. I want to be married to you. I want to share a home with you, I want you to be the last thing I see when I fall asleep and the first thing I see when I wake up."
"I want those things too." Conrad kissed her.
"Easy kids, wedding's not for eight months yet." A voice broke the silence and the two broke apart and blushed when they saw Mark smirking at them.
"What's up Mark?" Conrad asked.
"A bunch of us are going to dinner in town tonight, you two in?" Mark asked.
"Who's a bunch of us?" Shelly asked.
"Well me, Melinda, Ryan, Darrion, Janie, John and Lionel."
"Sure, I'm in." Conrad said.
Later that evening, the group of them went into town and found a nice Italian restaurant. Shelly and Conrad sat next to each other on the booth side with Ryan and Darrion next to them. Opposite them sat Janie, Melinda, Mark, John and Lionel.
"How's the wedding planning going you two?" John asked.
"Fine." Shelly responded.
"Uh I was talking to them." John laughed, nodding at Ryan and Darrion.
"Shut up." Ryan said going bright red.
Everyone laughed.
"I swear there must have been something in the water in the young trib force." Lionel laughed shaking his head.
"You mean Wormwood?" Mark joked.
"Very funny." Lionel said, "I mean, first it was Judd and Vicki, then Conrad and Shelly, now Ryan and Darrion. Who's next?"
"You know who'd make a cute couple?" Janie piped up, "Mark and Melinda."
Mark shifted awkwardly and they shot a glance at each other, "Uh… no. I don't think that we would… really."
"Well you did save her life once, Mark." Darrion said, "That'd be a really cute story for the grandkids."
Melinda went bright red.
"I think we need to find someone for you Lionel." Ryan ribbed, "You're the only one of the original four unattached now."
"Yeah, thanks for reminding me." Lionel said. "I'm pretty happy going solo for now though."
The group finished their dinner and talked more about life, love and everything in between. Melinda was oddly quiet. No one really noticed, no one except Mark. He could tell she was ticked off and his suspicions were confirmed after everyone went their separate ways and Melinda stomped off down the street in a huff.
"Melinda!' Mark called after her tiredly.
"I'm not talking to you." She called behind her.
Mark upped his speed and caught up with her, 'Come on, Melinda. What's wrong?"
"What's wrong?" she spat, stopping and turning around to face him, "You didn't have to be so quick to deny that you could ever have feelings for me. I thought we had a nice little thing going, but you must think otherwise."
"Melinda," Mark sighed, "I thought you wanted to keep this quiet until we figured out where it was going."
Melinda groaned, "I did but… I don't know. You just seemed so… unimpressed with the idea of being with me."
"It was a cover, Melinda. I was covering for us."
"Well maybe I don't want to cover it anymore." Melinda whispered.
"What are you saying."
"Mark… I really like you." Melinda said, "I've liked you since the day you saved my life… I think… maybe we should stop keeping this a secret."
"You saying you want to make it official?" Mark asked.
"I do." she replied.
A smile spread across Mark's face and he wrapped her into a hug, "Boy am I glad to hear that."
WE GOT ANOTHER COUPLE OVER HERE FOLKS. HOW LONG HAS THIS BEEN A THING? I dunno and I wrote it. Haha Sorry.. the more couples the better. Love yall! Poll: Who do you think Lionel would make a good couple with? Or is he better single?