Early October
Pre-Wedding Parties!
Jeremy stepped onto the terminal and breathed a sigh of relief. It was the first solid ground he'd stood on after after a way-too-long flight from New York to France.
"One of these days you'll finally get use to being on a plane!" Teased Aelita.
"And one of these days you'll realize that's never going to happen!" He playfully needled right back.
"Jeremy! Aelita!" Called a familiar voice, and the young couple looked over and saw Sissi waving. With her was Odd, Ulrich, and Yumi. The two geniuses rushed over to their friends, both grinning widely. A flurry of hugs, fist bumps, and handshakes were exchanged as the group of friends reunited.
Jeremy and Aelita picked up their luggage from baggage claim and the group left the airport. They stopped by a local restaurant to get have dinner together, and do some catching up before they split up for Jeremy and Aelita's bachelor and bachelorette parties.
"So, will you now tell me where we're going?" Pleaded Jeremy, once they were on the road. Ulrich grinned at his buddy and said only one word.
"Camping!" Jeremy raised his eyebrows in surprise.
"What?"
"Yeah, we figured a little bit of time to unplug and relax before your big day would do you some good!" Odd added enthusiastically. "Which means it's time to hand it over." Odd reached up from the back seat and held his hand out.
"Hand over what?" Asked Jeremy, who was quite confused.
"Your phone," clarified Ulrich. Jeremy gulped and felt a small amount of dread surfacing.
"Can I at least let Aelita know I'm going to be out of touch for the night?"
"Nope! You're unplugging right now!" Insisted Odd.
"If it makes you feel any better, Sissi and Yumi know where we are and how to get hold of us. Yumi even helped pick the spot," reassured Ulrich. Jeremy reluctantly pulled out his phone and gave it to Odd, who turned it off and pocketed it with a grin.
After leaving the restaurant, Aelita, Yumi, and Sissi went to Odd and Sissi's apartment.
"Alright, there's an outfit on the bed for you, go ahead and get changed," urged Sissi. "I'm pretty sure I got your size right."
"Changed for what? Where are we going?" Asked Aelita.
"You'll see..." replied Yumi with a smirk.
The young pink-haired woman went to the bedroom and her did a bit of a double take at the black and white checkered miniskirt, metallic light blue tank-top, and black stockings that starkly contrasted the modest yellow blouse and jeans she was wearing. She shrugged then spent the next few minutes getting changed while wondering what her friends were up to.
Having finished, Aelita left the room and gawked slightly at Sissi and Yumi's attire. Sissi had on her own tank-top of hot pink, along with a black skirt. Her lipstick matched her shirt, and wore dark, smokey eyeshadow. Yumi wore a black long-sleeved shirt and black jeans with her midriff exposed, like she used to wear back in high school. Her lipstick was almost black, and Sissi, the only one skilled with makeup, was shading her eyes an emerald green.
"Looking good, girl!" Admired Yumi once Sissi was done.
"Just let me add a little makeup to you, and we'll be all set!" Added Sissi.
"Ok, but before we go any further, can you at least tell me where we are we going!?" Aelita was clearly starting to get a little nervous.
"We're going clubbing," replied Yumi with a smirk while Sissi steered Aelita to a stool and got to work.
"Umm... ok... I've never been to a club before," replied the pink-haired woman sheepishly.
"That's ok. You still like techno music and dancing, right?" Asked Sissi, who just used some hairspray on Aelita's hair.
"Yeah... I don't have to dance with random guys, do I?" She asked nervously.
"Of course not," assured Yumi. "Just dance with us, or on your own if you feel like it," she encouraged. "By the way, drinks are on me and Sissi's the designated driver."
"And bodyguard if needed!" The taller woman exclaimed. "Seriously, you're gonna need to beat the guys off with a stick!" She helped her friend back to her feet and led her to a full length mirror. Gazing into the mirror, Aelita hardly recognized herself. Sissi had stylishly done up her hair in a way that closely framed her face with a deep side-part. She had also applied lipstick and eyeshadow that matched the blue of her shirt. While it wasn't the sort of thing she would want to wear every day, it really was a good look!
"I'm always amazed at just how good at this you are," admitted Aelita.
"Well, she had good material to work with," complimented Yumi.
"The clothes and makeup are yours to keep," added Sissi. "You should surprise Jeremy with them one night, I think he just might like it," she teased with a wink, causing Aelita to blush slightly. "Ready to go?"
"Yes," replied Aelita with a deep breath.
After a couple miles on a bumpy dirt road, Ulrich pulled into what looked like a random patch of woods.
"Alright, everyone out." He ordered, just before exiting the car himself. Jeremy and Odd followed, and the Odd and Ulrich pulled out a couple of duffel bags. When Jeremy started to grab for his suitcase from the trunk, Odd stopped him.
"You can leave that. We've got you covered." Jeremy hesitantly let go of his luggage and shut the trunk lid. It was starting to get dark out, so Ulrich handed him a flashlight and turned on a battery powered lantern of his own.
The next few minutes were spent walking deeper into the woods with Jeremy getting more apprehensive with each step.
"We're here!" Announced Ulrich, and Jeremy gawked slightly in surprise.
Instead of a dingy camp site with tents like he'd been imagining, Jeremy found himself panning his flashlight across a massive black and silver two-tone recreational vehicle.
"Whoa!" He exclaimed. "Where did you get this!"
"The RV rental place," Ulrich snarked while unlocking the door.
The trio made their way inside and Ulrich turned on the light. Jeremy was blown away by how modern everything was, despite being in the middle of nowhere!
"We've got snacks, beer, wine, liquor, all sorts of mixers, and bunch of water and Gatorade to fight the inevitable hangover," informed Ulrich, opening a refrigerator to reveal its contents.
"We also brought a ton of movies: Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, Marvel, you name it!" Added Odd excitedly, who was likewise opening the doors to a large black cabinet with a huge widescreen TV inside. "Plus we've set up a few gaming systems. The selection has been optimized for multiplayer, but there's also a few single player gems we can take turns with if you want!"
"And enough gas to run the generator all the way until morning!" Boasted Ulrich. Jeremy grinned at his friends appreciatively.
"Well, I'll admit that you had me worried there for a bit, but you guys are the best!"
"Of course we are!" Bragged Odd.
"So, pick your poison!" Called out Ulrich as he emerged from the fridge with a bottle of beer in one hand and opened up an overhead cabinet full of harder booze with the other.
"And then take a look at the games and movies. From here on out, it's your call!" Exclaimed Odd.
Jeremy took the beer and cracked it open on a nearby wall-mounted bottle opener. Odd and Ulrich cheered when he took an extra large swig!
As they approached front of the line to the club, Aelita's started unconsciously bobbing her head to the thumping bass that could be heard from inside. After several minutes of waiting, they finally made it past the bouncer and through the front doors. Everywhere Aelita looked was a riot of color. From the neon lights of the decor, to the crazily dressed people! There were people dancing, drinking, and all in all just having a good time and Aelita felt her heart start to race in excitement!
"Wow..." she murmured, head still bobbing to the beat.
"Wanna hit the dance floor, or get some liquid courage first?" Asked Yumi teasingly, but Aelita had already started gravitating toward the mass of people moving to the music with a wide grin on her face, as if hypnotized by the spectacle. "Ok, dance floor it is," she said quietly with a chuckle. Her and Sissi followed their mesmerized friend.
Making their way into the crowd, the trio put their hands in the air and started swaying to the rhythm. It wasn't long before the three attractive young women started getting some male attention. However, Aelita never noticed, because Yumi and Sissi, mindful about Aelita's objection to dancing with random guys, made sure to discreetly run interference whenever any came by for more than a few seconds.
Despite that, three friends had a great time moving to the rhythm of the electronic beat. A while later though, Aelita started getting tired.
"I think I'd like that drink now," she shouted over the music to her friends.
"How are you guys not even winded!?" Aelita asked while they made their way to the bar.
"I do Yoga every morning, and me and Yumi still do our Saturday morning sparring," answered Sissi.
"I still spar with Ulrich pretty regularly too. He's too big for me to beat anymore, but it's still a good workout and great training!" Added Yumi. She flexed her arm jokingly.
"Maybe I should start doing Yoga too then. I'm really out of shape, and I don't really do the sparring thing!"
"I'll send you the links for some videos I follow when you get back from your honeymoon." Aelita grinned in appreciation.
"I'd like that, thanks!" It was then that the three of them arrived at the bar.
"What do you want?" Asked Yumi. Aelita was overwhelmed at the huge list of cocktails displayed behind the counter, and blushed at more than a few of their names as well.
"I don't even know where to start..." she admitted.
"How about the Sidecar?" Suggested Sissi. Aelita looked at the description and grinned.
"Sure, why not!?" Just then the bartender came over.
"What'll it be for you three lovely ladies?" He asked.
"I'll have a Cherry Vanilla Sparkler, a Sidecar for her," she gestured to Aelita, then turned to Sissi.
"And a virgin daiquiri for me please," the taller woman added.
"Got a DD, smart." He replied with a grin. "Coming right up!"
A few minutes later their orders came up and they enjoyed chatting for a while, sipping on their drinks.
"Hey! No screen-looking!" Shouted Ulrich.
"You can do it too you know!" Countered Odd. The three of them had just started the first match of a vintage first-person-shooter after they'd been playing a racing game for a while.
Crack
"What the...!" Shouted Ulrich as the sound of a shot rang out, just before his corner of the screen went to the respawn menu. Meanwhile, Jeremy just smirked.
"Hey!" Exclaimed Odd as he glanced at Jeremy's screen just in time to see his character's head in a scope's cross-hairs, just before another shot rang out. The character on-screen fell unceremoniously to the ground.
Several more minutes of this went by and at the end of the match Jeremy had won by a landslide.
"Alright, I want to know when you got so good at first person shooters!" Demanded Odd.
"For the most part I'm not, but I used to play this one all the time before transferring to Kadic," explained the young genius.
"Ok then, how about we do a team deathmatch next. Me and Odd vs you and a dumb bot!" Suggested Ulrich taking a swig of his beer. Jeremy downed the last of his latest drink. It was gin and tonic, which he found that he really liked."
"You're on!" He challenged.
The next several matches were a lot more even. While neither Ulrich or Odd could match Jeremy's scores, the AI bot allowed them to get plenty of points to compensate, and all three of them continued having a great time!
Aelita, Yumi, and Sissi had just arrived back at the bar after another round of dancing.
"Aelita?" The young woman looked around for the voice that called her name. A few seconds later she locked eyes with a familiar face.
"Chris!?" She exclaimed in surprise, recognizing the drummer of the now disbanded Subdigitals. The two stepped up to each other and hugged briefly. "It's good to see you!"
"It's good to see you too," he replied coolly, making Aelita a little suspicious.
"You don't seem very surprised to see me..." she said after a moments pause, causing the older man to chuckle.
"Well, when my favorite Uncle Jim tells me that a certain talented young lady is going to be making an appearance at my nightclub, there's no way I'd miss it."
"This is place is yours?"
"Yep, bought it a couple years ago after the Subdigitals split. Best investment I've ever made!" He broke into a smirk. "And a little birdie told me that somebody is getting married..." Aelita leered at her two friends and they looked around, doing a lousy job of trying to look like they didn't have anything to do with the meetup. Deciding to chide her friends later she turned back to Chris.
"You heard right. The wedding is in two days."
"Congratulations!" He replied with a wide grin. "You know..." he began slyly, "if you wanted to, you'd be more than welcome to spin a couple of tunes." He gestured to the DJ and Aelita gawked slightly.
"B-but I haven't done it in so long!" She protested.
"Oh come on, Aelita. You're a natural!" Interrupted Sissi.
"Yeah, you'd be great!" Added Yumi. Aelita glared at her two friends and they shut up.
"Well, what do you say?" Asked Chris getting her attention again. She chuckled nervously.
"I think in a little bit. Right now I kinda want a drink."
"Sure thing!" He turned toward the counter. "Hey, Francis!" The bartender came over with a grin.
"Yeah boss, what's up?"
"Her drinks are on me tonight!"
"You got it!" He replied with a wink toward the girls, and Chris walked off. Aelita turned to Yumi.
"You know that liquid courage you mentioned earlier?" She asked.
"Yeah."
"I think I'm going to need some..."
Game Over
"Awe man, I awmosht had it," lamented Odd after messing up the latest boss run in a hack-n-slash game. His state of heavy inebriation, however, meant that he wasn't actually anywhere near winning the encounter.
"That's alright," replied a somewhat tipsy Jeremy. Him and Ulrich chuckled at their drunk friend. His tiny stature severely limited his tolerance for alcohol... and his complete lack of restraint throughout the night hadn't helped things either! He attempted to take another swig out of his glass, but frowned when all he found was ice.
"More pweesh..." he slurred.
"Oh no," rebuffed Ulrich. "I think you've had enough!" The short blond slouched and stuck his lip out into a pout. "How about you lie down for a bit." He sighed dramatically, but laid down on the bed he'd claimed at the start of the evening anyway and was snoring loudly within a minute.
"Oof, it's gonna be rough getting any sleep with that going on," commented Jeremy. "I wonder how Sissi puts up with that."
"Probably the same way I used to." Jeremy looked at his large friend inquisitively. "With high quality earplugs." The two of them chuckled. "I'm getting another beer, you want one?" Asked Ulrich.
"I'll have another gin and tonic if that's ok, but I think this'll be my last one."
"Coming right up," announced Ulrich with a grin.
"I think I'm done with video games too. How about a movie."
"Sure, if that's what you want," replied Ulrich, handing off the mixed drink before plopping back down.
Jeremy about tried to think about what he might want to watch, but without the distraction of the video games, he found his thoughts turning toward his upcoming nuptials.
"Hey, you alright?" Asked Ulrich, startling Jeremy.
"What? Oh, yeah."
"Thinking about the wedding?"
"Uh huh."
"Getting nervous?" Jeremy sighed.
"Yeah, kinda. In two days it'll have been ten years since I first met Aelita. I don't know if it was quite 'love at first sight,' but I definitely fell hard and fast. Now we're going to be spending the rest of our lives together." Jeremy glanced over toward his friend.
"It is kinda like something out of a fairy tale, isn't it. You save the damsel in distress and live happily ever after!" Jeremy chuckled.
"You know full well we saved her!"
"Yeah, I suppose," Ulrich laughed, "but you still get to marry the girl of your dreams." Jeremy sighed
"I know, but sometimes it still feels like I'm going to wake up. She's incredible, and I'm just me." Ulrich reached over and pinched Jeremy's arm. "Ow," he exclaimed. "What was that for."
"To let you know you're not dreaming," he answered with a smirk. "Aelita is an amazing woman, but you're pretty awesome yourself good buddy. After all, how many people would have been willing, much less able to do all the things that you managed to pull off." The two exchanged glances. "I don't know of anyone, myself included, and by my count that makes you one heck of a guy."
"Thanks, Ulrich."
"You're welcome. Don't sell yourself short so much, alright?"
"Ok, I'll try. Maybe the nerves are just starting to get to me, I guess." Jeremy replied, feeling a little better. The two sat in comfortable silence for a few minutes and nursed their respective drinks until they were gone.
Ulrich, can I ask you a question?" Asked Jeremy, crunching on an ice cube.
"Sure, go ahead."
"Aelita and I are trying to figure out some things to do together. Before she was laid off, a lot of our together-time revolved around our work..."
"Oh, I think I get it. Now that's gone, you're kinda stuck wondering what to do next."
"Exactly. We both liked the idea of bike riding, but with winter coming, We decided we should wait on that one. New England winters can be brutal."
"That's probably a good idea." The two of them sat quietly together again for a few minutes before Ulrich spoke again. "You know, my mom would always pull out her puzzles in the winter. Sometimes we'd work on them together. It was nice."
"Puzzles?"
"Yeah, jigsaw puzzles." Jeremy looked at his friend with uncertainty.
"I'm not saying that it's 'the thing,' but maybe pitch it to Aelita anyway." The young genius's quizzical look gave way to a grin as the idea grew on him.
"You know what, I actually kinda like that. I see what she thinks. But for now, how about we pick out a movie!"
"Sure thing." Ulrich opened up the cabinet and the two of them started rifling through the collection.
Sissi had managed to make her way through the dance floor to the bar for a little refreshment. Aelita had just finished spinning her last song and Yumi had headed to the rest room.
Everyone, give it up for Aelita Stones!
The crowd cheered as Chris walked on stage with a microphone while the top of a pink head could be seen bowing.
It's been a great pleasure to share the stage with you again after all these years. Now... to all you fellas in the audience, don't go getting any ideas because in a couple days she is getting MAAAAARRRIIIIIIIIIIED!
Sissi stood up to see over the cheering crowd and saw a nodding and blushing Aelita, though some of the color in her cheeks could have easily been the Long Island Iced Tea she had before taking the stage!
So, what's the lucky guy's name?
Chris held the mic to Aelita.
His name's Jeremy, and believe it or not,
She got closer to the mic and giggled as if she was telling a secret.
I've loved him since we were twelve!
That solicited another round of cheers intermixed with a lot of 'awww's'
"I met him once, the guy's just an egghead. Waste of talent if you ask me," spoke a vaguely familiar voice. Sissi turned around so fast she pinched a nerve in her neck. She scowled as she saw the unwelcome form of Jacques, talking to some random girl. She rubbed her neck for a moment before storming over and cleared her throat loudly, getting both of their attention.
"Better an egghead than a creep with a restraining order and an attempted rape conviction," she said loudly enough to be heard clearly by the other woman, who quickly excused herself after shooting Jacques a dirty look. The dark haired man watched her go for a moment, then scowled at the tall woman.
"Are you serious?" He demanded. "I oughta teach you a lesson for..."
"As if you could!, I'm not just Yumi's friend, I'm her sparring partner and can hold my own against her husband..." Sissi smirked in satisfaction as Jacques paled noticeably. Her claim wasn't quite true, but he didn't need to know that! She'd yet to beat Ulrich since he moved back to france, but she was able to give him a workout! That was more than most people could claim when going up against a man of his size and training. "Besides, I'm pretty sure you're not allowed to drink on parole." Sissi pointed at the obviously alcoholic mixed drink in Jacques' hand. "And having established that Yumi is here, it might be in your best interest to leave." He shot the tall woman a glare. "Before I have to make good on my promise to break your legs..." He continued glaring, but was clearly intimidated and unused to talking to a woman beyond his weight class.
"Alright, look here missy. I'm not making trouble, I'm just here to have a good time. Since you guys arrived, I've been avoiding you. I just happened to lose track for a few minutes." The two stared daggers at each other for a moment.
"Well then you can stay right here." Sissi offered in begrudging compromise.
"What!? You mean just sit here in the corner? You're nuts, lady."
"Well, since Aelita is on a first name basis with the owner, we could have you simply thrown out," she taunted.
"You know what? To hell with this, I'm leaving. Getting harassed by you isn't exactly what I call a good time anyway!"
"Good riddance!" While he was walking away, Jacques whirled around.
"But I still say that cute thing on stage is wasted on the geek she's marrying. It'll never last!" Sissi smirked.
"She has a PhD in quantum physics which makes her one of the smartest people you'll ever meet." The punk's mouth dropped wide open in surprise. "You clearly missed the part where she said that she's loved Jeremy since they were twelve, and as a geek herself, she's better suited to that 'geek she's marrying' than you'll ever be with anyone!" Now rendered speechless, he turned back around and left for good without further retort
"I'm really getting sick of seeing that loser." Sissi turned around to see Yumi walking up.
"Yeah, me too. I had him shaking in his boots though."
"How'd you pull that off?"
"I told him I could take Ulrich in a fight." Yumi laughed out loud.
"That'll do it! Still, I think we should wait to tell Aelita about this until after the wedding and honeymoon," she suggested.
"If at all." The two of them nodded and made their way to collect their rather tipsy friend from the stage.
"I think it's probably time to hit the hay," suggested Ulrich after the movie had finished.
"That sounds good," replied Jeremy with a yawn. It had gotten very late and he'd had a few more drinks after his 'last one,' so he was feeling pretty drunk in addition to being tired.
Ulrich pulled a blanket out of one of the bags they'd brought with them and handed it to Jeremy, then grabbed one for himself. Before they turned in for the night, he also took a couple of medium sized waters from the fridge.
"Here, you look like you'll appreciate this in the morning." Jeremy groaned because he knew he was already going to be up all night relieving himself, but he took one of the bottles and drank it anyway. Shortly afterwards the two friends turned in for the night.
"I'm thinking that it might be time to get Aelita home," Sissi suggested to Yumi. It had been an hour since Aelita left the stage.
"That's probably a good idea," Yumi replied. She looked at the time and over to their pink-haired friend swaying with abandon in the crowd. Yumi was noticeably tipsy, but Aelita was very obviously sloshed and stumbling every which way! "She's going to be hurting in the morning, and it is getting pretty late." Catching an errantly flailing arm, Sissi got Aelita's attention.
"Oh, hi Siiissi," she exclaimed with a goofy grin.
"I think it might be time to call it a night. What do ya think?"
"Ya, I guesh I'm kinda gettin' tired," she slurred with a yawn. "I wanna shay bye to Chrish dough." Both Yumi and Sissi scanned the room until they found the older man talking with the bartender and made their way over.
"Bye, Chrish. Thanks for letting me up on shtage," exclaimed Aelita. "I had a lot of fun."
"You're very welcome. Its nice to see you again, and that you've still got it!" He replied. He glanced between the three women in front of him for a moment. "Do you need me to call a cab?"
"No, thank you," Sissi answered politely. "I haven't had anything to drink all evening."
"Good," Chris replied with a grin. "Make sure to get some water in her before she passes out!" He teased, gesturing to Aelita.
"Will do," said Yumi. "I should probably have some myself too!"
"Anyway, we're going now," added Sissi.
"Bye. Congratulations Aelita, and good luck!" She waved, then was half-led half-carried out and into the parking lot.
Once they arrived back at Sissi's apartment, Aelita staggered her way to the couch and flopped down. figuring that she was probably going to be down for the night, Yumi and Sissi went to the bathroom and started getting cleaned up and ready to go to sleep. Right as they were finishing up, a loud thump came from the front room and they rushed out. Aelita had fallen off the couch and was starting to crawl in their direction. She looked up and lurched once while covering her mouth. Yumi and Sissi's eyes popped and they immediately took one arm each and dragged their drunk friend into the bathroom making it just in time!
"One heck of a party, huh?" Joked Sissi while she lightly rubbed comforting circles on Aelita's back.
"Uh huh," Aelita replied weakly. "Tanksh..."
"I'm not sure if she's talking about the party or helping her to the bathroom," quipped Yumi, making Sissi chuckle.
"I good now..." murmured Aelita, who was resting her head on the toilet seat.
"It's a good thing I cleaned that this morning... really well," said Sissi with a laugh.
"Good thinking," responded Yumi, before turning her attention back to the sick woman. "We'll be nearby if you need us." Aelita just moaned. The two girls left, but Aelita didn't leave the bathroom for a very, very long time...
A/N: First off, I do not endorse drinking irresponsibly, ever. While some of the characters may have overdid it, both the guys and girls were responsible with their drinking. The girls with Sissi as the DD, and the guys by simply staying put and not engaging in other risky behavior. Second, below are the recipes for the mentioned drinks if any of you were curious. Please drink responsibly, and only if you are of legal drinking age where you live.
Sidecar cocktail:1 1/2 ounces cognac, 3/4 ounce orange liqueur (such as Cointreau),3/4 ounce lemon juice, freshly squeezed, orange twist garnish, sugar rim (optional)
Cherry Vanilla Sparkler: 2 oz unsweetened cherry juice, 2 oz saké,1/8 teaspoon vanilla extract, club soda
Virgin Strawberry Daiquiri: 2 large hulled strawberries, ¼ cup white sugar, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, ¾ cup chilled lemon-lime soda, 4 cubes ice
Gin and Tonic: 2 ounces gin, 4 to 6 ounces tonic water to taste, Lime wedge garnish
Long Island Iced Tea: ½ fluid ounce vodka, ½ fluid ounce rum, ½ fluid ounce gin, ½ fluid ounce tequila, ½ fluid ounce triple sec (orange-flavored liqueur), 1 fluid ounce sweet and sour mix, 1 fluid ounce cola, or to taste, 1 lemon slice
Again, I'm sorry about the lengthy interval between chapters again, but I was working some of the craziest hours ever for four of the last five weeks! Still, I hope the extra long chapter makes up for the wait, and I hope you enjoyed it. Not long now before the ceremony! :D