Author's Note: I am not sure what to put here. People don't really do author's notes in 2023. Other than the standard disclaimer, blah blah blah. From the mindset of 2023 and the world we live in today, I kind of do wish I owned 7th Heaven... or, at least, the spin-off that will never be...winks #iykyk! Anyways, do we really need another Ruthie-centric fanfic?
The Pity Plus One.
It's what Ruthie Camden was known as. She was the one to get invited to all the weddings, yet was never the one to get married. Almost all her friends and colleagues were now either married, engaged, would get proposed to any day now – probably during one of those major Hallmark holidays coming up. One acquaintance was having 'serious' Facebook conversations with someone they met at the local library. David, Ruthie's youngest brother, recently got married to his long-time girlfriend.
It certainly hadn't come as a surprise that, being thirty-two years old, family members have long been asking her the dreaded question: when are you going to get married?, and she honestly didn't know. It was apparently still against the norm, even three decades into the twenty-first century, to be single at this age. The last serious relationship Ruthie had was the summer before her sophomore year of college.
A couple years later, once Ruthie had already graduated from college and moved out on her own, there were a series of encounters with a grade-school boyfriend. He'd been her first crush and her first time back when they were still in high school. It didn't go far beyond hook-ups and, eventually, they realized that they just weren't thirteen anymore; both were different people.
In the past ten years, there had been sporadic dates and attempted match-making at weddings.
Unfortunately, none of the interaction Ruthie had with these men went any further than a brief conversation over drinks and loud, blaring music. They would dance to a few songs, exchange phone numbers with a promise of texting or calling, and that would be it. She would never hear from them again, and Ruthie never bothered to reach out to them.
On this October's evening, Ruthie had been invited yet again to a wedding as a 'pity plus-one', a term her friends have come to refer to her as. This time, it was a colleague's cousin's high school friend who was getting married. It took her a minute to remember how the bride was linked to her; it was becoming a common occurrence now that most of her friends were getting married, Ruthie would be connected to their family member or grade-school friend to be utilized as their plus-one at weddings.
Ruthie absolutely hated it, but she couldn't complain if she was going to be completely honest.
This was an opportunity to get out and meet new people, even if she was never going to talk to them or see them again. Every so often, she'd bond with someone to the point where they'd add one another on Facebook, but they'd never interact beyond liking posts and pictures. And, besides, who could possibly say no to free drinks and food, while listening to music and dancing?
It made Ruthie feel like she was twenty-one again. So why the hell wouldn't she do it?
Allison, the cousin that Ruthie's colleague connected her with, had picked her from the hotel twenty-one minutes earlier. They were on their way to a country club for the wedding; it overlooked a lake and with the fall foliage just beginning to show itself, it was bound to be spectacular. While all of Ruthie's brothers and sisters have gotten married in a church, Ruthie hoped that – if she were ever to get married – that it would be at a place like this.
"Thanks so much for coming with me. My date canceled on me at the last minute; he had to take a shift at the hospital." Allison said as she pulled into a parking spot, but Ruthie knew this wasn't true and she knew the other woman knew it as well. She had no idea what her friends and colleagues were telling their relatives; but whatever it was, Ruthie didn't care.
At this point, she cared more about the free drinks, food, music, and dancing.
"You might actually know my friend's family, Ruth." Allison said, jolting Ruthie back to reality. She was startled enough that she didn't even notice the incorrect use of her name.
"What do you mean by that?"
A knock on the driver-side door diverted Allison attention away from Ruthie. The woman let out an elated cry, opening the door and hugging a bunch of screaming women as she got out of the car. This was the other thing Ruthie didn't like about being a pity plus-one; while everyone knew one another, Ruthie was a stranger to these people. She couldn't help but wonder what these people thought of a familiar acquaintance bringing a random person with them to their wedding.
"Aly! Oh my God, you need to see Tessa! She is gorgeous!"
Ruthie followed the chattering group of women into the country club, looking around for a familiar face, but she couldn't see anyone she recognized. She shook her head and let out a resigned sigh. Soon enough, the half-hearted matchmaking would begin; but before all of that, Ruthie was going to watch some random couple she never met before in her life exchange rings and vows.
The crowd slowly made their way through the hall of the country club and into the large dining room that overlooked the lake. The tables were cleared from the room, and the chairs were arranged in about forty rows, about ten seats to a row. Ruthie decided to sit close to the back, next to Allison.
The cousin of her colleague turned to Ruthie as the loud chatter quieted to a hum.
"The family is over there." Allison gestured discreetly towards several people in the first few rows, but Ruthie could only see the back of their heads. She nodded quietly in response, already not setting her expectations too high. She was going to be introduced to this guy tonight at the reception and the same damn thing would happen. They'd chat over a couple drinks and loud music, dance to a couple contemporary songs, exchange numbers with a promise of texting, and she'd never hear from him again.
This cycle would keep repeating itself until she got too old, wrinkled, and gray to be invited. Hell, for all she knew, Ruthie would be going to the wedding of her nieces' and nephews' grandchildren; and by then, the age-appropriate men would be widowers who were still grieving the loss of their one true love.
There was a time when Ruthie had seriously considered using one of those dating apps; but she had only heard awful things about it from reading articles online and directly from unfortunate souls who had bad experiences. She didn't want to put herself out there like that only to be victimized by sketchy men.
The wedding music began to play over the wireless stereo system. Everyone stood, turning in anticipation of the wedding party. Women in baby blue dresses, holding a bouquet of flowers in their hands, and men in deep royal-blue tuxedos made the slow procession down the aisle.
Once the wedding party had proceeded to their spot in front of the large windows that overlooked the lake, the orchestra music swelled and everyone fixed their sights on the door, where the bride appeared with a man who appeared too young to have been her father. It was probably a trick of the dim lighting, but for some reason he looked vaguely familiar to her.
You might actually know my friend's family, Allison's words from earlier echoed in her mind.
No. There was no freaking way that Ruthie knew someone who was related to the bride, who just so happened to know the cousin of her colleague from high school and lived twenty-five hundred miles away. What are the actual chances of that even happening? Something like one in a billion?
Yeah, no.
Ruthie shook it off and turned her focus on the bride, who was wearing a floor-length dress with beads along the neckline. Her wavy brunette hair was partially up, with loose curls framing her oval face. Her green eyes were damp with unshed tears as she bit her lips nervously. She looked straight ahead, towards the opposite end of the aisle, where the groom stood waiting for his soon-to-be wife.
The nervousness on the bride's face turned into a bright smile as she made the procession towards her future husband. Ruthie smiled, along with everyone else, ignoring the ache in her stomach as the groom took the bride's hand. They looked into one another's eyes for a moment before turning to the officiant.
That ceremony was beautiful, wasn't it? One woman was talking an hour later as they stood in the reception area of the country club. Theresa looked so happy, didn't she? A man said, his arm wrapped around the woman's shoulder. It's such a shame John couldn't be here today, a second woman shook her head, frowning. Theresa has grown into such an amazing young woman, the first woman said.
"Hey," Allison came up to Ruthie, ripping her focus away from the conversation nearby. She didn't mean to eavesdrop, but she couldn't help but wonder who John was and why he couldn't be there. Was he Theresa's father? What happened to him? And, more importantly, how was John related to this family that Ruthie supposedly knew?
"He's right over there. Let me introduce you." Ruthie let out a long sigh, following Allison through the crowd of people lingering. A lot of them were sipping on various brightly colored beverages and snacking on appetizers as they waited for the wedding party to be done with photographs.
All Ruthie could think about was how this would, once again, turn into another failed match-making scheme concocted by her friends and colleagues. When was enough going to be enough? When would people just back the fuck off and leave her alone?
It wouldn't. They wouldn't.
After all, she was the pity plus-one.
Forever and always.
Author's Note 2: Posted and Orphaned on AO3. But this is an upgrade, and I do want to continue. If I do post on AO3, I'll call it something else.