Title: Happily Ever After?
Pairing/Character: It's a surprise :)
Word Count: 1,027
Rating: PG-13
Summary: She was twelve the day she met her Prince Charming.
Spoilers: Vague through Season One
Author Notes: This is my first VM fic. Constructive Crit/Feedback is always welcome :) Massive love to storydivagirl for the beta.
Author's Note 2: Wrote this for Challenge #3 - "How I Met My..." at vmfanficutopia. It's a really cool community and there are some awesome stories there. Check it out!
She was twelve the day she met her Prince Charming. He waltzed into her life when she least expected it, but she knew the moment she laid eyes on him that they would be together forever. She was naďve enough to believe in happy endings.
She got older and learned that sometimes bad things happened to good people, that people weren’t always who they pretended to be and that the only man a girl could trust was her daddy.
But she still remembered that day as if it were yesterday…
***
Her best friend insisted that she come over for a swim to cool off after their soccer victory. She was always slightly uncomfortable at her best friend’s house. Her family was much more well off. She always felt like she didn’t quite fit in.
“Oh, stop being silly! Besides, my parents aren’t home. They’re at some snooty party.”
“Well, what about your brother? I don’t think he likes me very much.”
Her best friend rolled her eyes. “He’s an idiot. Don’t pay any attention to him.”
She shrugged and followed her friend home.
They had the house to themselves while they swam. After a half an hour or so, they decided to sunbathe instead. They had just settled down on their towels, when they heard a couple of loud, male voices.
Her best friend groaned. “Sounds like the idiot boy is home. And, unless he’s becoming a ventriloquist, he has a friend.”
The two boys entered the pool area, wearing swim trunks and carrying towels.
“Oh, you guys are out here,” her brother said, with obvious disdain as he looked at his sister and her friend.
“Yeah, and we were here first, so deal.”
“Fine, but we’re still going to swim.”
“Fine, just don’t get us wet.”
She caught the new boy’s eyes and they both shook their heads at the sibling’s fight. She gave him a shy smile, which he returned. It took her breath away. She had never met such a good looking boy before in her entire life.
They gazed into each other’s eyes, like characters out of one of the romance novels hidden in the shoe box under her bed, totally oblivious to the on going battle between their friends.
“Whatever. Are you going to be totally rude or are you going to introduce us to your friend?”
She finally managed to tear her gaze away from him when she heard her friend’s words. She had been lost in her fantasy of marrying this boy and having the perfect life with two point five children, a dog and a house with a white picket fence. And she forgot that she didn’t even know his name.
“Oh gosh, I’m sorry,” her brother apologized quickly. “Jake, this is my bratty little sister, Celeste and her best friend Lianne Reynolds. Girls, this is Jake Kane. He’s new to the area and he’ll be going to school with us in the fall.”
Lianne smiled again. Jake Kane. He even had a dashing name like a character in a romance novel.
The boys threw their towels on one of the lounge chairs around the pool and dove in. Lianne watched their antics wistfully.
“He is pretty hot, huh?” Celeste said, nudging Lianne.
“Oh, yeah, he’s okay,” she replied shyly. She always felt so inadequate around Celeste. Lianne had never kissed a boy and Celeste had kissed at least two. Jake Kane would probably be more interested in a girl like Celeste than a girl like Lianne.
“Don’t lie, you like him,” Celeste said confidently. “I think he likes you too.”
“Really?”
“He was practically burning a hole in your bathing suit staring at you.”
Lianne felt herself blush. “Do you really think he likes me?”
“Most definitely. I bet you two end up together.”
Lianne grinned. “I sure hope so!”
***
She upended her glass and downed her third gin and tonic of the night. When did life get so complicated, she wondered. Back when she was twelve, she was certain she knew all the answers. She was going to be Mrs. Jake Kane and Celeste was going to be her maid of honor and she was going to live happily ever after. Somewhere along the line, she and Celeste stopped being friends. She did date Jake all through high school, they were even named the king and queen of the prom, but when he went away to college and she stayed in Neptune working as a waitress, he gave in to his family’s pressure to find a more suitable girlfriend. Lianne was livid when she found out he was dating her former best friend.
Then she met Keith Mars, and, even though he was no Jake Kane, he was a good and decent man and he reminded her a lot of her daddy. She decided that she could be happy with Keith and she accepted his marriage proposal.
Six months later she ran into Jake. Celeste was out of town visiting a sick aunt and Keith was working the overnight shift at the police department. She wasn’t sure exactly how they ended up in bed together, but they both decided they couldn’t live without each other.
There were five more furtive meetings while Keith was working and Celeste was otherwise occupied. Then she got the call from Jake that Celeste was pregnant and he felt guilty. He told her that they had to stop what they were doing and live with the consequences of their decisions.
Two months later, Lianne realized she was pregnant. Keith was overjoyed. He always wanted to be a father. When the doctor calculated her due date, she counted back and realized it was entirely possible that Jake was her baby’s father. She tried to call and tell him, but was blocked from reaching him by his secretary at work and his housekeeper at home. She pushed the thought from her mind and decided that Keith would never know of her deception.
She finished her fourth drink and ordered a fifth as she remembered the day her daughter told her the name of her first real boyfriend.
“I’m dating Duncan Kane, mom.”