Chapter 12


A week later, the beginning of May, Jessica and Lance were talking over a Saturday lunch. Lance was finding out what all Jessica was in charge of with the children during the summer.

"Well, mostly helping out with Sunday School, Wednesday night activities, Vacation Bible School, camp, and every other Thursday we have all day activities."

"Could you be a little busier?" Lance asked as Jessica took a sip of her drink.

"It’s going to be crazy, but I’ll have time for you. Don’t worry."

"How many finals are you going to have next week?" Lance took a bite of his burger.

"I only have three. Not bad to be taking five classes. Plus, I’ll be done by Friday, so I get to go home early."

Lance looked up from his burger. "You’re going home?"

Jessica nodded. "Yeah. I’m going home for a week after finals before I have to start hitting it hard and heavy with the kids."

"Do you want me to go with you?" Lance asked.

Jessica looked surprised. "No. Why?"

"Well, I thought you might want me to meet your parents."

"Why?" Jessica asked again.

"Well, you’ve already met mine and I thought they might want to know the reason you’re staying here this summer."

Jessica looked at Lance almost appalled. "You’re not the reason I'm staying here. The kids are."

"Didn’t you get the job to stay close to me?"

Jessica’s eyes widened. "No. It’s just a lucky coincidence."

Lance grumbled, "Well, that’s not what I thought."

Annoyed, Jessica replied, "Well, then you were wrong."

A minute of silence passed then Lance asked, "So, why don’t you want me to meet your parents?"

"It’s not that I don’t want you to, it’s just that I think it’s too soon."

"Too soon?" Lance almost recoiled at this statement. "Was it too soon for you to meet my parents?"

"No. It’s just different with Mom and Dad."

"How?" Lance asked angrily.

"It’s just is. I can’t explain it. Why is this such an issue with you?"

Lance folded his arms, sat back in his chair, and stared at Jessica. "I just think since you met my mom and dad that it’s only fair that I meet yours."

Jessica took the napkin out of her lap, threw it on the table, and said, "Well, I guess life’s not fair. It’s too soon. Sorry if you don’t understand that." Jessica got up and walked towards the bathroom. As she walked away she heard Lance mumbling about her being a drama queen and a witch. Jessica turned around, slapped Lance in the face, and said, "I’ll show you drama. Take me home!"

Lance sat there for a moment in amazement, then got up, grabbed Jessica by the arm and pulled her out into the parking lot. Lance pushed her towards his Jeep as Jessica pulled away from that same strong hand she had felt for the first time only two months earlier. The drive back to the dorm was silent with tension in the air. When they got to the dorm, Jessica got out of the Jeep without even saying a word to Lance. She stormed in the room and slammed the door behind her. 

From the bathroom, Meredith said, "You’re home early. Look on the bed at the outfit I’ve picked out for my date tonight."

Jessica threw her purse on the couch, jumped on her bed, the yelled, "Bite me!"

Meredith amazed at this outburst came out of the bathroom and asked, "What’s wrong?"

"Lance." Jessica grumbled.

Meredith sat next to Jessica and asked her what happened. Jessica told Meredith the whole conversation. Meredith understood why Jessica was so mad, but did inform her that slapping him was out of line. Jessica looked at Meredith. She saw the anger slip out of Jessica’s eyes as tears took its place. Jessica began to cry and fell on Meredith’s shoulder. Meredith patted her hair and asked Jessica to just call Lance.	"I can’t. I’m not wrong. It’s too soon. Plus, I don’t want my parents to think I'm staying for the wrong reasons. Yes, Lance is one reason, but he’s not the main one."

Meredith seeing that Jessica wasn’t going to feel better by the time she was going to leave, called Chris to cancel. They made plans for after church and Chris told Meredith to tell Jessica that he was thinking of her. The girls went and rented some movies, ordered a pizza, and had a pre-Chris 
and Lance night.

On Tuesday, the study day before the finals, Jessica and Meredith walked over to the BCM to escape from studying for a little while. When they walked in, Lance was sitting talking to Faris in the lobby. When Lance saw Jessica, he stood up and asked if she would go outside with him to talk. She said sure and Lance grabbed her by the elbow to walk her outside. About thirty minutes later, Jessica and Lance walked in, not touching, but at least smiling. Meredith asked Jessica if she needed to go to the bathroom. Jessica said no, but Meredith grabbed her by the arm and drug her in anyways.

"What happened?" Meredith asked excitedly.

"We basically made up. We both admitted we were wrong, but also right, if that makes any sense. He still thinks he should go with me Friday but is respecting my wishes on waiting."

"So, are you two okay?"

"Yeah, I think so."

The two girls walked out of the bathroom. Faris and Lance stood with Brad and Sara next to them. Lance asked everyone, "How does lunch sound?"

Everyone mumbled with no discernable answer abounding.

"I’ll pay." Lance said happily.

Everyone said sure and they all caravaned to Taco Bell. Meredith and Jessica were in Lance's Jeep. As he drove, Lance reached over to grab Jessica’s hand. Jessica took his hand in hers, but looked down at it like she had never touched him before. Meredith laughed to herself knowing that things were going to get back to normal with these two.

Friday, Lance helped Jessica put her stuff in her trunk. He leaned in to kiss her, the first kiss they had shared in a week, and told her to drive safely. She promised to call when she got home to tell him she got there safe and she looked forward to seeing him when she got back. He hugged her tightly, kissed her again, then shut her car door. He watched her drive away, then walked back up to the planetarium.




Chapter 13


Lance looked at his watch and realized that Jessica would be there soon to go out to lunch with him and Meredith. So, he walked out of his office and told Meredith to wrap up whatever she was doing. On Fridays, Jessica always came to the planetarium to go with Meredith and Lance to lunch. The rest of the week, Meredith and Lance would go without Jessica since she was busy at the church. When Jessica came into the office, Sara was right behind her. This was an odd sight so bluntly Meredith asked, "Sara, what are you doing here?"

Sara only smiled and said, "I was hoping to whisk you away because I just won three No Doubt tickets for tonight."

Meredith blinked and exclaimed, "No way!"

Lance looked at Meredith seriously and said, "Actually, Sara’s right. It is No Doubt."

Jessica could only roll her eyes at this realizing that Lance was picking up some of Meredith’s corny sarcasm.

"So, who’s all going?" Meredith asked ignoring Lance's comment.

Sara responded, "Well, I was hoping the three of us, if Lance can spare you the rest of the day and if he’ll let me have Jessica for the night."

Meredith turned to Lance and before she could even get a word out Lance said, "You can have the rest of the day off. Go have fun!"

Meredith smiled and asked Sara how she had won the tickets. She said that it was a radio contest and she had been the twentieth caller. She had then run over to the church to ask Jessica if she could go and then wound up at the planetarium to invite Meredith.

"So, the concert’s in Memphis?" Lance asked.

"Yeah. The ride home afterwards is going to be killer. We are going to be so tired." Sara responded.

"Well, Bug, why don’t you take my credit card and get a hotel room for the three of ya’ll. I’d hate for something to happen with ya’ll driving back so late." Jessica hugged Lance and thanked him for the consideration.

Meredith realized that they had already gotten several favors from Lance lately, but decided to push for one more. "So, can we go shopping with that credit card too?"

Lance smiled and said, "My parents gave that one to me, so as long as you don’t max it out, I don’t care."

"Cool! Thanks!"

The girls went to Sara’s parents’ house to get her stuff and drop off her car. Then they went to Meredith’s apartment to do the same. Last they went to the house Jessica was staying at to get Jessica all packed up. About an hour after the girls had first decided to go to the concert they were all in Jessica’s car driving to Memphis playing every No Doubt CD they owned. 	When they arrived in Memphis, they checked into a hotel, changed clothes, and freshened up before going out to dinner. While they were eating Meredith realized Chris had no idea she had even left town. She asked to use Jessica’s cell phone to call him. She let it ring for what seemed like forever, then hung up thinking it was weird that he wasn’t home.

At the concert the girls had a blast and rocked out to No Doubt. When it was over, Meredith again thought about calling Chris, but seeing how late it was decided to just wait. The next morning the girls awoke and headed straight for the mall. After each girl had gotten an outfit, Jessica informed them that they had spent enough of Lance's parent’s money.

"But we haven’t gotten anywhere near the max yet." Meredith complained.

That’s because it’s a platinum card and there is no max." Jessica replied in a motherly tone.

"So obviously he wanted us to spend until our heart’s content and my heart is not content yet."

"I don’t care. You’ve never even met his parents and you’re wanting to spend all their money. That’s just wrong. Anyway, we need to leave soon."

"She’s only joking." Sara said as she poked Meredith in the arm. "Just think of it this way. The sooner we leave the sooner you can see Chris. Hey, have you tried to call him again today?"

"I tried last night and I’m going over there tonight, so I’ll just wait to talk to him until then." In her most innocent voice Meredith asked Jessica, 

"Could we have one more meal on Lance before we go?"

Jessica tried her best to sound disapproving. "I don’t know...Oh, what the heck."

After the girls finished their meal, Jessica shook her head and said, "How am I ever going to make this up to Lance?"

Meredith laughed and said, "So that’s how it works between you two?"

Jessica rolled her eyes. "You know what I mean. This was so nice. He didn’t have to do all this. He is so sweet."

"Yeah, he is." Sara helped out.

"Well, so is Chris." Meredith chimed in.

Jessica laughed and asked, "Well, then, where’s his credit card?"

The girls all laughed at this then walked out of the restaurant to drive home.



Chapter 14


Jessica dropped Meredith off at Chris’s house before she took Sara home. As soon as Chris opened the door Meredith hugged him and said "You’ll never guess where I’ve been this weekend."

Chris responded angrily, "Yeah, where have you been?"

Meredith, not realizing the tone in his voice was anger, went on to explain the concert. "You wanna watch some TV?" Meredith asked.

"Why not?"

Meredith thought that this was odd since Chris normally tried to talk her into some basketball before they lounged around the TV. "Okay?" Meredith got the remote, sat at the couch, and started flipping through the stations. Chris came in the living room sat in the recliner and didn’t even complain when she flipped past a baseball game. Realizing something was wrong Meredith looked at Chris questioningly and said, "Are you okay?"

Chris replied, "I guess."

"Do you want me to go home?"

"Whatever."

"Well, I’m going to call Jessica and have her pick me up."

"Fine."

Meredith still confused about why Chris was acting so weird went into the kitchen to call Jessica. John, the youngest son of the family that was letting Jessica stay with them, answered the phone. "Hello?"

"Hey! Is Jessica there?"

"Yeah, but she’s asleep and Mom said not to bother her. I think she’s getting up in a little bit to go to her boyfriend’s house. So you can try again then. Bye!" He then hung up the phone.

Meredith a bit shocked by this hung up and decided to call Lance. 

"Hello?"

"Hey! It’s Meredith. What are you doing?"

"Nothing much. How was the concert?"

"It was good...um...could you possibly come over to Chris’s and pick me up?"

"Okay? Do you wanna tell me why?"

"Maybe later."

"Oh...well...I’ll be there in fifteen minutes. Okay? Bye."

"Bye."
As Meredith walked back into the living room she resolved to get to the bottom of this problem. "Well, Lance is going to be here in a few minutes to pick me up. So, do you want to tell me what’s wrong before I leave, or are you going to keep giving me the silent treatment?"

Chris looked at Meredith for the first time since he had opened the door. "Well, truthfully, I’m upset that you couldn’t show a little more responsibility and call me yesterday."

"What? I did call you last night. At six. I let it ring for forever and there was no answer."

"That’s impossible since I have an answering machine. Besides why didn’t you call me again, or maybe even as soon as you found out?"

"After I called you we were at the concert and all you would have heard would have been the crowd. And then the concert lasted until like midnight, which was way too late to call you. And honestly, I forgot in the excitement to call you earlier." Meredith then added, "Anyway, there’s no real reason to call you since we aren’t even a couple. So I made a call to someone I’m just dating."

"Don’t change the subject." Chris yelled.

Meredith a little less loudly asked "What is the subject?"

"Your irresponsibility!"

"Oh, I don’t need this from you. I’ve got a father that does this job just fine. He doesn’t need any help from you."

As Lance knocked on the front door Chris replied, "There was no need for that."

Meredith simply grabbed her bags she had stashed by the front door, calmly said "I’ll see you later, Dad!" and walked out the front door. Lance was a bit shocked by this statement and quickly shut the door. Before he could even turn around, Meredith slammed the passenger side door and buckled herself in. Lance got into his jeep, began to drive, and after two minutes of awkward silence asked Meredith what she had bought in Memphis.

She replied disinterestedly, "I got a nice outfit and some shoes to match."

"That’s good. So.....How was the concert?"

"It was fun."

"Did ‘No Way’ rock?"

"No way? Oh yeah...that was funny." She then giggled.

The rest of the way home Lance did his best to keep Meredith’s mind off Chris. When they got to Lance’s house he offered her a drink and the two sat down at the kitchen table in silence. Meredith broke it by saying, "I’m sorry I put you in the middle of that back there. When I called you I had no idea that that was going to happen."

"I’m more worried about you. Do you want to talk about it?"

"Thanks, but I don’t even really want to think about it."

"That’s understandable."

After a few minutes of silence Meredith broke down and told Lance the whole story. "I should never have gone to the concert. I feel so wretched." 

She then began to cry and Lance comforted Meredith as best he could. Jessica then walked through front door. When she saw Meredith she realized something is wrong since Meredith’s eyes are all red and she wasn’t at Chris’s house.

Lance stood up and said "I need to...run an errand." He then walked over to Jessica, kissed her on the cheek, and told her that Meredith and Chris were having problems and she had called him to come pick her up about an hour ago. Jessica smiled at him and then focused all of her attention on her friend.

"So do you want to tell me what happened?" she said in her most comforting voice.

Meredith smiled at her friend and then began to cry harder "I...I...I called him my dad!"

Jessica was surprised by this and asked "Chris? What lead up to it?"

Meredith explained the hour at Chris’s and how they had fought. "He hates me!"

"No he doesn’t. If he hated you he wouldn’t have cared where you were yesterday."

"But, I was such a jerk! He’s never going to speak to me again!"

"Yes he will. Just give it some time for the two of you to calm down." Meredith sighed deeply and the girls heard the front door open. 

Lance came into the kitchen, looked at Jessica, and realizing it’s was okay to interrupt, said "I bought some ice cream. Do ya’ll want some?"

Meredith was happy for anything to distract her from thoughts of Chris and readily agreed to some comfort food. The three spend the night watching television together.




Chapter 15

	
Meredith slammed down the phone after Chris had hung up on her again. Jessica was startled by this, looked at Meredith and said, "This is ridiculous. You can’t be on the phone for more than five minutes without yelling at each other. He has hung up on you every day that you’ve called this week. You need to just go over there and talk to him. Even if you have to lock him in the closet and yell at him through the door. You need to work this out."

Meredith fell onto the couch. "But what if I go over there and he slams the door in my face?"

"Then you open it back up and talk to him anyway. This has gone on too long."

A few moments of quiet passed by and Jessica started back into reading the magazine she had brought over to Meredith’s apartment. Meredith jumped up and said, "I’m going over there right now!"

"Really?"

"Yeah! You can stay here if you want."

"Well, I’m supposed to go over to Lance’s this afternoon. I’ll see if it’s cool if I just go ahead and come over. Good luck with Chris."

When Meredith arrived at Chris’ house, she knocked on the door and heard him coming towards it. He opened the door and looked shocked to see her standing there. He blurted out, "What are you doing here?"

Meredith was glad that he hadn’t slammed the door in her face like she had feared. "I’m here to apologize and so that we can talk. Can I come in?"

Chris turned and walked away saying nothing. Meredith took this as a yes and walked in. She said, "I want to apologize for several things, so here it goes. I'm sorry I yelled at you over the phone. I‘m sorry I didn’t get in touch with you last Friday. But most of all...I’m sorry I...I’m sorry I 
called you dad."

Meredith didn’t look at Chris for most of the apology. When she did finally look up at him, she looked directly into his eyes and saw a bit of confusion mixed with anger. He than began to speak. "That was really wrong of you to call me dad when I thought we got over the age thing in the beginning."

"The reason I called you dad wasn’t because of any age difference. It was because I felt you were treating me like a child. I would have said the same thing if you were younger than me." Chris was about to respond when Meredith cut him off and continued. "I don’t feel that I'm completely in the wrong though since I did try to call you and I didn’t have to since we aren’t an official couple. And even though you don’t think that this is a valid point, it is to me."

Chris took a deep breath, grabbed Meredith’s hand and led her to the couch. He then replied, "I didn’t realize I was being irrational about the dad thing. I guess we were just looking at this differently. I should also tell you that my answering machine’s battery was dead, so you could have called and it never picked up. And, I want to say I’m sorry. Since I don't officially have any claims on you, you didn’t have an obligation to call me, I guess."

Meredith realized that this was all she was going to get from Chris and decided to lighten the mood with a joke. "So now I'm a piece of land to place claims on?" she said with a laugh.

Chris was glad that she didn’t except any more from him. He said, "You know what I mean! So, you want to play some basketball?" They continued to talk and joke. Meredith stayed that night until Saturday Night Live was over.




Chapter 16


The following Saturday, Jessica, Meredith, and Chris were at Lance’s for dinner and a movie. Over dinner, Chris mentioned he wasn’t gong to take his normal vacation during July because he wanted to stay in town with Meredith. Meredith felt bad about this. Lance noticed her reaction and knowing how much the girls needed to get away said, "Well, Jessica and I going to St. Louis for the fourth. We are going to be gone for like four days. If you two want, ya’ll can come with us."

Meredith asked Jessica, "You’re getting that much time off?"

"Well, next week is camp and they are giving me the week after off to recuperate from the kids."

Chris asked Lance, "Could we really come? I’d love to get out of town...and going with Meredith would be fun."

Lance smiled and said, "Sure. We’ve already got two hotel rooms reserved. You could just stay in the my room and the girls can stay in Jessica’s."

Chris turned to Meredith. "Do you want to go?"

Jessica added, "The fireworks over the Arch and the Mississippi River are beautiful. My family went a few years ago and we loved it."

Meredith looked sheepishly at Chris. "I can’t afford it."

Chris just smiled at Meredith and patted her hand. "This would be all on me...and Lance."

Lance chuckled. "Yeah. And you know you love to spend my money."

A huge smile stretched across Meredith's face as she said, "Great! Count us in."

The day of the trip Lance made his last stop at Chris’ to pick him up. The two couples talked the whole drive there. Lance drove his Jeep and Jessica sat in the front seat. Meredith and Chris sat as close as the could in the back seat. When they arrived in St. Louis they checked into a nice hotel, dropped off their stuff, then made their phone calls to people to tell them they had gotten their safely. After about an hour, they all went down the street to a burger place to eat an early dinner before they went to the arch and walked the tents that lined the river. Every few tents there was a band giving a concert, so the four would stop to listen to a song or two before continuing on their way.	

That night they decided to go back to the room since they were all tired. They were going to change into their pajamas and watch a movie in the guys’ room. As the girls were in their room changing, Meredith asked Jessica, "Are you going to sleep with Lance tonight?"

Jessica was surprised at this and said, "We’ve only been together for four months. I'm not easy."

"No! Not ‘sleep’ together like that. Are you going to sleep in his room with him?"

Jessica shook her head. "No. That would make everyone uncomfortable. Plus, that’s just asking for trouble that neither of us wants to deal with."

The girls went into the guys’ room just as Lance hit play on the VCR. The two couples snuggled up on the guys’ beds. When the movie was over, Chris and Meredith said goodnight with a kiss. Lance had fallen asleep during the movie. Jessica tucked him into bed, then kissed him on the forehead. She said goodnight to Chris and then the girls went to their room to go to bed.

The next day, the two couples went shopping all morning and enjoyed the atmosphere around the arch that afternoon. That night, they found a nice spot to lay their blanket down to watch the fireworks over the river. The couples cuddled as the show started. An hour later it was over and they headed back to the hotel. Meredith and Chris stood out on the balcony of the girls’ room. They were just holding each other and looking at the skyline and the boats going down the Mississippi.

Then all of a sudden, Chris turned Meredith where she was facing him, planted a kiss on her, then began to talk. "Mer, I know these past few months have been a little weird, us dating and all, but I have something I want to ask you."

Meredith was a little scared, but not wanting to show it, smiled and asked, "What?"

Chris took a deep breath, cleared his throat, and then boldly asked, "Meredith, will you be my girlfriend? Man that sounds so jr. high."
Meredith laughed, kissed Chris passionately, then said yes. The two had a few more moments before they bounded into the guys’ room. Meredith jumped on the bed that Jessica and Lance were making out on, pushed Lance back, then grabbed Jessica’s hands and asked, "Guess what just happened?"

Jessica annoyedly said, "Interrupted a moment here."

"Who cares about that? Guess!"

"I don't’ know."

"Guess!" Meredith almost screamed.

Jessica leaned back and answered, "I don’t know. You got engaged?"

The guys both laughed as Meredith shook her head. "No, but what comes before that?"

Jessica looked confused. Then a light went off in her eyes. "You guys are finally a couple?"

"Yes!"

Jessica hugged her friend and congratulated her.

The rest of the trip, Chris and Meredith were attached at the hip. At times, Jessica and Lance would get annoyed at this, but realized it was only fair since Meredith had to go through the same thing when he and Jessica first hooked up. The drive back was quiet since Jessica and fallen asleep and Meredith and Chris just held each other or made out. Lance dropped Chris and Meredith off at Chris’ house then took Jessica home with him. The two girls hung out with their boyfriends for a few hours then went to their respective home to get a good nights rest. 




Chapter 17

The beginning of August, everybody was at Chris’ house for a barbeque. Jessica and Meredith were sitting in the kitchen while the guys were outside checking the meat.

"Do you realize we only have a few weeks until school starts back? Are you going to go home? I’m going to that weekend before, but that’s all." 

Meredith said, "Yeah, and I’m thinking about asking Lance to come with me."

"Have you changed your mind about him meeting your parents?"

"Well, they’ve been asking about him. Plus a lot has changed between us. When we first started dating we were really intense. Now, we’re more like an old, married couple. We’re comfortable with each other and our relationship and I want my parents to see that."

"Yeah! Ya’ll are an old married couple, aren’t you? I guess I just haven’t noticed much since Chris and I are the same way. So, when are you going to ask him?"

Jessica smiled. "Tonight."

After dinner, Jessica and Lance went to take a walk around Chris’ block to work off the huge meal they had just eaten. They spent most of the walk just holding hands and not talking. Then, Jessica asked if she could talk to Lance for a minute.	"Sure, Bug. What’s up?"

"Well, you know that school is starting back in a few weeks. Well, I’m going home for that week beforehand and I was wondering if you would go with me. I think I’m ready for you to meet my family now. I know that it could be too late for you to get that much time off and I know that last time we talked about this it led to that fight, but I just..."

Lance put both hands on Jessica’s face. He planted a kiss on her to shut her up. "I would love to go with you. But what changed your mind?"

Jessica tried to explain that she thought that May was too soon for him to meet her parents but she now felt that this was a good time. Lance was excited and asked about the details of the trip. After they had talked everything out, they walked back to Chris’. Jessica ran inside and told Meredith how well the talk had gone.

The whole drive to Jessica’s parents’ Lance was antsy. He couldn’t sit still and was constantly asking questions about her parents and what he should and shouldn’t say or do around them. All Lance wanted to do was make a good impression. Jessica did her best to calm Lance down. She told him to just be himself and her parents would love him.

When they walked into Jessica’s house, her mom hugged her and then Lance. Lance was a little taken aback by this. As they put their stuff in the rooms they were going to stay in, Jessica’s mom said to Lance, "We’ve heard so much about you. It’s so nice to finally meet you."

Lance was made very comfortable by how nice Jessica’s parents were. He did begin to understand why she didn’t want him to go home with her the beginning of the summer and one night apologized to her for the fight. Jessica was happy that they were on the same page about this whole situation and that made her comfortable about him being there that week.

The week was really good for everyone. Jessica’s parents’ became comfortable with the idea of Jessica dating someone that seriously. Jessica and Lance grew closer. Meeting Jessica’s parents and seeing how happy they were put the thought of a lifelong commitment with Jessica in his head. 

When they returned from their trip, it was time for school to start back. Chris and Meredith could see a definite change in the way Jessica and Lance acted and the things they talked about. They always seemed to talk about their future and how they wanted to be together. This began to rub off on Chris and Meredith. Within the next few months both couple seemed to be talking about marriage more than anything else.




Chapter 18


After Thanksgiving break, Chris and Lance began mentioning the idea of the girls coming back for New Year’s and spending it with them. They girls wondered why the guys were being so adamant about this. The only real information they could get from them was that something "special" was going to happen. The guys had already arranged for the girls to stay with Sara and her parents. When December 30th rolled around, Jessica picked Meredith up at her parents’ house, and drove four hours to Sara’s. They dropped their stuff off and headed to Chris’ house for dinner with the guys. During dinner, Chris and Lance were still very tight-lipped and only let the girls know that they were going to go to Memphis for a New Year’s Eve party and they were going to stay there overnight.

The next afternoon, the guys picked the girls up at Sara’s house and ribbed the girls for how much they had packed. Meredith trying to defend herself announced, "Well, if you guys weren’t so mysterious about the plans we could have packed lighter. A girl must be prepared for anything."

Chris joked, "Well, it looks like ya’ll are prepared to invade Canada!"

Meredith and Jessica both punched him in the arm. The two couples got into Lance’s Jeep and drove to Memphis. They checked into a hotel with a room overlooking the Mississippi River and began getting ready for dinner. They went to a fancy French restaurant and enjoyed the dinner and dancing they shared. After dinner the two guys decided they wanted some alone time with their girls. Chris took Meredith back to the hotel room. They went onto the balcony and were taking in the view and snuggling.

Chris commented, "This reminds me of the view we had in St. Louis."

Meredith said, "Yeah! Except, there’s no arch."

"Well, there is a drunk guy over there peeing. Look!" Chris said pointing.

"Oh gross! I don’t want to see that." Meredith giggled as she turned her head into Chris’ neck.

Chris laughed at her then raised her face and kissed her lightly on the lips. "I always have such a good time with you. No matter where we are, you make it enjoyable."

Meredith blushed. "Thank you! I feel the same way about you."

"Remember what we did the last time we were on a hotel balcony? I asked you to be my girlfriend."

"Yeah...I remember that Jessica thought you asked me to marry you..."

Chris slyly grinned at Meredith. "Maybe this time I should." He reached into his pocket, got on one knee, and said, "Meredith, you are my best friend. The first time I saw you, I knew you were special. I knew I was going to fall in love with you. I can't imagine spending the rest of my life without you. So Meredith," Chris continued as he opened the box and exposed a beautiful, simple diamond solitaire ring, "Will you marry me and make me the happiest man on Earth?"

"Oh my gosh! Yes!" Meredith screamed. She then quieted down and repeated, "Yes! Yes I will!"

Chris stood up, took the ring out of the box and slid it onto her finger.

"It’s so beautiful! I love you so much!"

Chris smiled. "I love you too!" The couple embraced then went inside where it was warmer to talk.

As this was going on, Lance and Jessica walked a few blocks from the hotel to the outlook over the Mississippi River that they had spent their one month anniversary on. When they got there, the couple just stood and looked out over the water.

"This is just as beautiful as last time. Thanks for bringing us here. This is just too sweet."

Lance smiled and put an arm around Jessica. "Anything for you."

Jessica rolled her eyes, but smiled at Lance. He kissed her on the cheek and said, "I've got an idea. Why don’t we dance?"

"There’s no music." Jessica questioningly looked at Lance.

"We don’t need music." Lance pulled Jessica in and they began to sway. A few minutes later, Lance pulled away and looked into Jessica’s eyes. 
"You know that I love you. This time that we’ve been together has been amazing. I can’t remember what it was like to not have you in my life. You’ve changed everything about me, for the better."

Jessica interrupted, "I feel the same way."

Lance put a finger over Jessica's mouth to hush her so he could finish. "In a few hours it will be a new year. All I've been able to think about since I met your parents is how I want to spend the rest of my life with you." Lance got down on one knee with Jessica's hands in his. "I want to start this new year knowing that you will be my wife, so...Jessica, will you marry me." 

Lance reached in his sport coat pocket and pulled out a box, opened it, and inside was a huge diamond ring.

Jessica began to cry and got down on her knees. "I...I...I don’t know what to say."

"Well, I know what I’d like to hear." Lance said with a smile.

Jessica hugged Lance and whispered yes into his ear. He kissed her passionately then helped her up off her knees. He put the ring on Jessica’s shaking hand, and she began to cry again. Lance held her until she stopped, then they walked back to the hotel to tell Chris and Meredith the news.

When Jessica and Lance entered the hotel room, Meredith ran up to Jessica and asked her to guess what had just happened to her. Both girls pronounced at the same time that they had just got engaged. When they realized what the other has said, they turned to look at the guys who were smiling like Cheshire cats.

Jessica asked, "Did you guys plan this?"

Chris nodded and pronounced, "You can’t say we aren't smooth."

Around eleven o’clock, the two couples went to a barge party that some of Lance's friends were throwing. They enjoyed the fireworks and kissed at midnight. Around two that morning, they want back to the hotel to get some sleep. They had planned on sleeping girls and guys since they had one room with two beds, but since they had just gotten engaged and they knew the other couple would keep them accountable, they slept a couple in each bed.

The couples woke up that morning around ten. They packed up and headed back. The girls spent one more night at Sara’s, then took their guys home with them for the last few days of Christmas break to talk to their parents about their engagements.




Chapter 19


Chris and Meredith opened the girls dorm room door to see Jessica and Lance putting up the last of Jessica’s stuff she brought home with her for the break.

"I thought you would be leaving later." Jessica said to Meredith.

"Well, we knew you were leaving at two and I wanted to see how things went with your parents." 
Meredith tossed her bags on her bed and began to unpack while Jessica sat on the couch.

"You won’t believe how romantic and sneaky this guy is. You know the weekend before Thanksgiving that Lance said he had to go out of town to the opening of the Mississippi State planetarium. Well, he actually went to my parents and asked permission to marry me."

"That’s a little old fashioned." Meredith stated as she put her suitcase back in the closet.

"I know and I love that. Last week was great not having to spring this news on my parents. We bought some bridal magazines," Jessica pointed to a stack of over a dozen magazines. "We've already started making plans."

"Like what?" Chris asked.

"Well, first Mer, how’d your parents react?" Jessica asked as she adjusted the new ring on her finger.

"Well, at first my parents were a bit taken aback by the news."

Chris chimed in, "Yeah, that two and a half-hour convo with your dad afterwards was great."

Meredith patted Chris on the arm. "Yeah, sorry about that. But after they spent some time getting to know him and seeing us together they realized that we are great for each other. Though, they are happy that we are going to wait until after I graduate to get married."

Jessica sheepishly looked at the ground as Lance said, "Well, we are going to get married in July."

Meredith exclaimed, "That’s only six months away!"

Jessica nervously laughed, "Yeah I know. I really need your help."

Meredith plopped down on the couch next to Jessica pushing Lance off and said, "Well, I’ll pick out the maid of honor dress."

Lance crossed his arms and looked at Chris. "What makes her so sure she’s the maid of honor?"

Meredith shocked, grabbed Jessica’s hands. "Am I not?"

Jessica smiled then threw Lance a glare, "Don’t listen to him. Of course you are, that is if you want to be. I mean, you have been here through all this. You were around before he was. I can’t imagine having anyone else stand up with me."

Meredith hugged Jessica. "Yes, yes! And I want you to be mine too."

Chris laughed. "They always have to do the same thing, don’t they?"

Jessica glared at both guys. "If you two aren’t going to be productive to this conversation, leave!"

Both Jessica and Meredith laughed. The guys just shook their heads. Lance chuckled, "What have we gotten ourselves into?"

"More than we can handle with those two." Chris quips.

Meredith grabbed the pile of wedding magazines as the girls talked about their dream weddings. Jessica pointed out stuff that she, her mom, and Lance had already picked out as possibilities.

After they talked for a while, the two couples settled down to watch a movie. In the middle of the movie Meredith looked at Jessica and said, "Do you realize that you’re going to be married during our senior year?"

"Yeah. I know. It will be a little strange, but I won’t have to be planning a wedding while I student teach and I could get used to the students calling me by my new last name."

"Hey, that means we can’t live in the apartments together next semester."

"I know. I’m sorry."

Chris jokingly interjected, "You could always live with me next year."

Both Jessica and Meredith looked at Chris. Meredith exclaimed, "No!" as she shook her head with a loving glare in her eyes.

Lance laughed. "I guess she told you."





Chapter 20


As the next six months passed, the girls stayed busy with wedding plans for Jessica and Lance’s day. They had chosen to have their wedding on the last Saturday in July, at Jessica and Meredith's home church. This building was a beautiful, large church with stained glass windows lining the walls.

On the day of the wedding, Jessica's dressing room was bustling with people. Jessica was sitting in a chair getting the finishing touches done to her hair. Meredith was talking to Sara, both girls in flowing lavender dressed, picked out by Meredith and Jessica. Jessica’s mom was trying her best to keep Jessica’s dad from crying as he watched his only child get ready to become a wife.

All of a sudden Jessica stood up and announced, "I quit!"

Everyone looked at Jessica confused as Meredith rushed to Jessica’s side.

"I can’t do this. It’s too much. I can’t handle all this. I quit!" Jessica fell back into the chair she had just risen from and began to cry as she mumbled to herself about how scared she was.

As everyone started towards Jessica to convince her she was doing the right thing, Meredith turned to tell everyone that she’d take care of it. 

"Jess, you love him. How many times are you going to do this? You know you’ve been wanting this since the first day you met him. Just think about how great things are going to be in like five minutes when all the stress is gone and it’s just you two up there telling the world you love each other. Now, take a deep breath."

Jessica laughed through her tears. "And go get him?"

Meredith hugged her friend. "Yeah!"

One of the ushers pooped his head in the room and said, "It’s time to start. Mrs. Davis, I’ll take you to your seat."

Jessica’s mom wiped a tear from her cheek, hugged and kissed her daughter, then wished her good luck. Meredith put Jessica’s veil on her. Jessica took one last look in the mirror. Staring back at her was a scared but excited girl about to become a woman. She smiled at herself knowing that she had made the right decision. Meredith and Sara paired up with Lance’s groomsmen. Derek was a friend of Lance’s from high school and his best man, Ford, was his brother-in-law. The music started and the two pairs walked down the aisle. Then Lance walked down escorted by his mother. Jessica’s dad then said it was safe for her to come out of the dressing room. Jessica grabbed her dad’s hand and walked into the foyer of the church.

Jessica’s dad kissed her on her forehead and said, "You know I’m proud of you."

Jessica sighed and hugged her dad. Then the music began to play for them to walk in. As the doors opened, the room was filled with family and friends standing and smiling at Jessica. As they began to walk, Jessica could feel the excitement build in her. The room smelled like roses and a warm, colorful light filled it as the sun came in through the stained glass. Jessica saw her BCM director, Arliss, standing up front waiting to marry her to Lance. Then their eyes met. She saw a tear run down his cheek past a huge smile. She looked down and blushed, feeling the same way she did when she first met him at the planetarium. When they finally reached the front, Lance kissed Jessica on the cheek. Arliss patted Lance on the shoulder and said, "Not yet buddy!" The whole room laughed.

The wedding went perfectly. Arliss preached about the characteristics of love. Jessica’s cousin sang Jessica and Lance’s song. Jessica had done a great job keeping her composure, despite every time she looked up at Lance, she saw tears escaping from his love filled green eyes. Then, when it came time to exchange rings, Jessica lost it. She saw Lance’s hands shaking as he put her ring on her hand, and it just got to her. She began to cry. Meredith was prepared for something like this to happen and put a Kleenex into Jessica’s hand so she could wipe away the tears before her makeup was ruined. Jessica then took a deep breath and put Lance's ring on him.

The wedding was completed with Arliss saying, "You may know kiss your bride...and this time it’s okay"

Again everyone laughed as Lance leaned in to kiss Jessica. The newlyweds walked down the aisle oblivious to everyone standing and clapping. 

About ten minutes later, all the wedding party and Chris went back into the sanctuary to take pictures. After the pictures were done, the wedding party drove to a nearby hotel where all the guest had already arrived and eaten lunch. Jessica and Lance had wanted to dance and have champagne at their reception and knew that the church was not the place to do that. The reception was as lovely as the wedding. The room was filled with flowers and bubbles. 

The couple danced to their favorite love songs. Both Ford and Chris gave heartfelt toasts to the new couple. Then it was time to toss the bouquet and garter. Jessica and Lance had made a deal with Chris and Meredith to make sure they caught them. Meredith had no trouble strong-arming her way to the front of the group and catching the bouquet. Chris, on the other hand, had some serious competition. After stepping on some toes, Chris got what he had come for. When everyone realized that Chris and Meredith had gotten the trophies, they all yelled that it was rigged. Jessica just smiled and said, "Whoops!" 

After a little while, Jessica and Lance went to go get changed. When they returned, the couple got into Lance's Jeep and drove to the airport. 

Lance’s parents had arranged a week on a cruise through the Bahamas for their honeymoon. The couple was excited to get there.	When they got back from their trip, they were both tan, happy, and ready to move all of Jessica stuff from her parents’ house to Lance's. The next two weeks before school started was full of days of rearranging stuff in Lance’s house so everything would fit and look nice. It took the full two weeks to do it, but they were happy with the way things turned out and couldn't wait for Meredith to get back in town so they could have her and Chris over to see the house. Plus, now it was time to start planning Meredith's wedding and Jessica was ready for the task.





Chapter 21


After a year of making hard decisions, finding the perfect wedding dress, and figuring out who would be in the party, it was finally the actual day. Chris and Meredith had decided to get married the first Saturday in June. Meredith was in the bride’s room of the local church that Chris attended 
getting final advice from her mother.

Chris and Meredith had decided to take pictures that didn’t involve them seeing each other before the ceremony. So, when her sister Aimee, Sara, and Jessica rejoined Meredith in the bride’s room, she stopped talking to her mom and asked, "How did he look? Was he nervous? Did he have anything to tell me?"

Jessica said, "He asked us the same exact thing. We told him you loved the roses and card that he got you this morning."

Sara said, "You know, it’s so cool that you two asked the same questions. I want that some day."

Aimee sighed. "Yeah, me too!"

Meredith coughed. "Um, the attention’s supposed to be on me." All four girls laughed.

When Meredith father came in the room, she knew that it was time and she grabbed her bouquet of red roses. Jared, Meredith’s younger brother, escorted her mother to the front. She was followed by Chris’ mother, escorted by Lance. Then Chris entered from a side door followed by Justin, a co-worker, and Angelo and Andy, friends of his from college. Sara then appeared at the doors in a long, classic red dress with a white bouquet and white gloves. She was followed by Aimee and then Jessica with no gloves. The piano then stopped and the organ began playing the wedding march. As soon as she was at the door, she saw Chris, who looked more handsome than she’d ever seen him in his black tuxedo with a red tie. He stopped fidgeting when he saw how beautiful she was. Meredith and her father began to walk forward and it felt like days before she actually got to Chris.

The ceremony went by in a blur for both Meredith and Chris. While they were lighting the unity candle, Chris kept cracking jokes and Meredith couldn’t help but laugh and remember why she was marrying him in the first place. When they were pronounced husband and wife, the couple embraced and were only brought back to reality by the organ beginning to play.

The reception was held next door in the churches family life center. While Meredith and Chris finished taking pictures, everyone next door enjoyed the food. When they arrived at their reception, they received a standing ovation. During the cutting of the cake, Meredith whispered in Chris’ ear, "Please don’t smush this all over my face." 	Chris respected her wish and only meared a bit on her nose and she did the same to him. They then shared their first drink together. Meredith, Chris, and their party got into the receiving line. Everyone said how nice things looked or how happy they were for them.

When Meredith’s mother congratulated her, she said, "You two were so cute lighting the unity candle."
Meredith leaned over to Jessica and said, "He was telling me dirty jokes up there. I hope she doesn't ask what he said."

Meredith had decided that since Jessica had been there for all of her and Chris’ relationship, she wanted Jessica to give a speech at the reception. 

Jessica stood at the front table and said, "I remember the first time these two met. I was on the phone one Tuesday afternoon when Meredith walked in the dorm room with a dreamy look in her eyes. She then proceeded to tell me everything she knew about this guy she had just met. I think she called him a hottie hot. In all the time I’ve known her, she’d never acted that way before. I distinctly remember her telling me about his ‘warm, brown eyes’ and his ‘cute goatee‘." As Jessica said this, Meredith's face began to grow red from embarrassment. "I was worried about the whole situation at first. This would be her first real relationship. But as time passed, I got to know Chris. I realized what everyone else did once they met him; these two are perfect for each other. Mer, you are my best friend. I love you. Chris, you have become the brother I never wanted," everyone laughed, "but am glad I now have. I wish you both the best in life and look forward to seeing you two grow old together." Jessica hugged Meredith and Chris, who was smiling broadly because he had never heard this story.

After thirty minutes, Meredith and Chris were ready to go on their honeymoon, so everyone assembled and as the couple ran by, the crowd tossed birdseed at them. They got into his decorated Tahoe and drove to the hotel where they were going to spend the night, then fly to Hawaii the next day.




Epilogue

The years seemed to pass by quickly. Chris and Meredith had two children; a boy named Zack and then two years later a girl named Elizabeth. They had chosen to start having children within a year of their marriage. After their second child, they decided that that was enough for them. Chris had become the band director at the college Jessica and Meredith had graduated from. Meredith had gotten a teaching job at Nettleton Jr. High. She was teaching algebra.

Lance stayed at the planetarium as the curator. He loved his job and was now teaching astronomy classes at the college. Jessica had also become a teacher at Greene County Tech, a private school just twenty minutes outside of town. She was teaching algebra and geometry. Jessica and Lance had tried for almost four years to have children, but were having trouble. Finally, when they quit trying so hard and thinking about it so much, Jessica became pregnant and gave birth to a girl, Kayla. Jessica quit working to became a stay at home mother.

Jessica kept Meredith's daughter during the day so she and Chris wouldn’t have to pay for a daycare. All in all, the two couples were happy with the way life had turned out for them. Most of all, they were glad that they got to experience this part of their lives together.