Abigail could only gaze loathsomely toward Patten and Evie; whom danced like there was absolutely no one else in the room but each other.
It was unfair and extremely biased for her to even be jealous, but honestly, when your 'significant other' was off doing who knows what, who knows where, she had the right to feel cross. Abbi was stuck, twiddling her thumbs at this lonesome table while she repeatedly received all-too-knowing stares, and Nathaniel wasn't even anywhere around.
The candid truth was that she was the only human in the house, and as much as she tried to hide the fact, Abbi felt ostracized, and alone. Plus, the one person who was supposed to be by her side, well, wasn't, leaving her under a dark cloud of rabid lightning.
I knew this would be a bad idea, she thought to herself.
The music around them was slow, slow enough for the desolate feelings inside her, to become useless. What's the point of being angry if no one's there to feel bad for you?
Abigail sighed, leaning on her hands as she studied the diverse vampires, all spinning around and around in their lovers' arms, like they had an eternity to do so - to be careless and free (which, technically speaking, they did). Abbi, however, could only reminisce in how un-free she was.
Not for the first time, she longed to see her mother - the one person who just might be as eccentric as Evangeline. She wanted to feel the familiar rough carpet of their lowly apartment underfoot, and smell the outside air (actually rather putrid compared to the air she has been breathing).
There was nothing like the knowledge of being out of place; Abbi didn't belong here, and instead was only temporarily comprehending this world - his world.
And just when Abigail suddenly felt the overpowering sensation to let go a frustrated scream, someone tapped her shoulder.
Abbi slowly turned her head, hands constricted into tight fists. She already knew who it was by just the way the hairs on the back of her neck were standing straight up.
Nate offered her an apologetic expression as he held out a deep blue flower (where exactly he got the plant, she was unsure of) and smirked with sappy intentions. "I'd say I'm sorry, but I have a feeling it won't help anything."
She smoldered, turning her shoulders away from him. "Once again, your instincts are correct." Abbi could hear the chair next to her loudly scrape back as Nate took a seat, his hands resting on the white tablecloth.
For a while, only silence rung between the two of them. He, fidgeting awkwardly in his chair, while she was enjoying every second of his discomfort.
"Listen, Abigail, I am sincerely sorry ... but I had to settle matters with my cousin; the time slipped by so fast and I thought I'd left you with Evangeline and Patten-"
"God, you're a moron." Abbi said dully, keeping her head turned towards the dance floor. Beside her, Nathaniel was silent one moment, then in the next, was thrown into a small fit of uncharacteristic laughing. She he had to keep her own reason straight to stop herself from laughing with him.
Abbi put her thumb and forefinger above her eyes; trying not to succumb to the humor of it all.
"I think we've thoroughly established my level of intellect; now, can we please dance?" Nate tried to hush his unstoppable pour of giggles, and with the way his shoulders were still quivering, she assumed it would be best to just take his hand and start twirling - lest Nathaniel from imploding in on himself, and all.
Abbi put her smaller hands in his bigger ones, eyeing the boy speculatively as she stood up in a trance-like state. "Fine, but if you abandon me again, I'm taking Jeffery and we're leaving - without you." She clarified, watching Nate as he gracefully lifted himself from the chair and pulled her into the frock of vampires.
She immediately felt like there was a target on her back, like huge laser beams were striking her down as soon as they started dancing. As Abigail nervously turned in Nathaniel's arms, he watched her - blue eyes calm as can be.
"Abigail, Love, focus on me," Nate murmured. "See only my face and do not worry about the others. Feel only my hands, my words, and don't let anyone distract you from such."
And so Abbi did, concentrated on Nathaniel so hard everything else dimmed in comparison. She couldn't see those scrutinizing glares, couldn't hear the hushed whispers ... the only thing that was even absolute was her own heart; racing in time with the person's across from her.
He held her too close to be anything but what it was - two people in obvious, irrational love. Call it what they wanted - illegal, taboo - but when Abbi was faced with the consequences, the one thing that she still had was Nathaniel Drake - and so far, he wasn't going anywhere.
So, she wrapped her hands firmly around his neck, bringing them both together. Nate's hands draped around her form, giving Abbi the secure warmth she longed for. The faraway music entranced them into a world so different from the one they lived in. Abbi was positive she was seeing ribbons and stars and smiles; she could feel Nathaniel's own luminescent smile sparkling down upon her.
Abbi's breath hitched when he dipped her - his mouth was so inexpressibly close to the curve of her collarbone, it would only take one more inch for those lips to caress her skin and-
A loud clinking awoke them from their reveries. Nate pulled Abbi back up to full height, his face gone slack as he admired something beyond her shoulder with curious blue eyes.
She turned her head to see what it was that had caught everyone's full attention.
Patten stood at the heart of the dance floor, Evie grasping his arm as the both of them studiously watched the gathered crowd around them. In Patten's other hand was a wine glass - thankfully - filled with a bubbling drink. He held it above his head, attempting to gather as much attention (as if it wasn't already solely focused on him) as he could.
After what seemed like a strangely unneeded silence, Patten cleared his throat, glanced down at Evie, then looked back up at the other guests.
"Friends, family, and incidentally - a bunch of other people that I had no idea existed ... I would like to propose a toast," Patten started.
Abbi shared a look with Nathaniel. "Nate," She whispered, eyes darting back and forth to see if anyone else had noticed her interruption. Fortunately enough, the rest of the vampires truly were hypnotized by whatever Patten had to say.
His eyes moved to her slowly as he raised a questioning eyebrow.
"Um, what about the rehearsal part of tonight?" Abbi mumbled under her breath.
Surprisingly, they'd just cut straight to the toasting - which was odd, according to any other rehearsal dinner, typically, there was a reason it was called a 'rehearsal' ... and there didn't seem to be much reciting going on.
Nathaniel leaned forward, probably to get closer to Abigail, when he spoke. "Evidently, thanks to your complaining," He chuckled silently, "we missed quite a lot." She guessed he was done talking to her, because Nate quickly turned his heed back to the speakers.
"Before I get to the inevitable acknowledgements, I want all of you to take these few seconds in thanking yourselves - thank yourself for being important enough for the bride and I to even want you at our wedding, much less the rehearsal dinner." There was a ripple of quiet laughter throughout the crowd before Patten continued. "After that agreeable note, I want to thank you all myself. Not only have you endeavored to be in our company, but you've also been a tremendous help in our future."
Patten's face turned serious as he regarded everyone with maudlin eyes (knowing Patten, he just might be drunk giving this speech). "I would like to thank our families for not only paying for this entire night, but also being the ones to stick Evangeline and I in this arrangement. As it is, I no longer find your parenting skills ghastly, and without those inconceivable attributes, I never would have found the one person whom I want to spend my forever with."
Abigail couldn't help but glance up toward Nathaniel's face. The look there was one of genuine and sincere happiness, a look that warmed Abbi's heart in witnessing.
Nate really did care about the couple standing before them, as much as probably Abbi had grown to in the time they'd spent together. And besides the matters weighing down her own heart, this single moment was one of regardless hope and a sunrise of endless possibilities. She felt content for the first time in weeks. Who knew that joy would be for two friends and their everlasting horizon ...
"And then there's all of the people who might as well claim the title of 'friend'; I want to thank you; thank you for the encouragement you've all but shoved down my throat - because without that friendship, I wouldn't be able to stand here today. You've been with my through turmoil, and you're here with me now, so the best I can do is say, thanks.
"Then as for the rest of you, whom I can't say I recognize," - Another distinct laugh from the guests - "It means that you care enough to wish a stranger good luck in his marriage - which is incredibly flattering. Either that, or you're just here for the free food."
A couple of people coughed into their fists, looking down and away - most likely in guilt.
"Now that my pathetic gratifications are out of the way, I'd to turn the spotlight towards my father - who is paying for the entire affair." Patten grinned and turned his head towards his father, who was making a big deal out of being camera shy.
The scary thing was the fact that the man, or should Abbi refer to him as a boy, looked roughly the same age as Patten, and if he hadn't made the distinction clear, she would've thought them to be brothers.
As Patten's father took the center of attention, hiding behind the 'modest-guy' act, Nate quickly turned his head away, his face suddenly heating with distaste. Abbi watched him curiously. "What is it?" She asked.
Nathaniel didn't answer immediately, and with him standing there - terse and coiled for an attack - her intrigue was seized by the hands of a nosy seventeen year-old-girl.
"His father; the man's a cheapskate and the only reason he had a hand in arranging the marriage was to get a good hand in the Wrights' savings." Nate seethed, his teeth grinding together.
Abbi cocked her head, eyes flickering from Patten's dad to the boy next to her. He sure put on a good act, Abbi thought, for it was impossible to see any wrong in the man up there now - he was grinning naturally and talking in riddles and spewing jokes, just like his son.
After that, she was watchful over Nate - who seemed to be ticked off at anything Patten's father had to say - the toasts from there went from Patten's family, to Evie's, and each one got longer and more tiresome. A few of the guests had even stepped up to give a few good-natured words to the bride and groom - who looked anxious, from what Abbi could tell.
Before she realized it, the night went by rather slowly - except for dinner; that was quick (especially when the only thing being served pumped through Abbi's own heart), that Abigail just had to point out to Nathaniel. Once again, she was right and he was unsurprisingly wrong - that idiot. Which left her in a fit of stomach growling and excessive whining.
All in all, the rehearsal dinner became slow, the drinks were watered down, and the music that had once been romantic was now making Abbi's head drag and her eye droop. Evangeline and Patten were constantly surrounded by a flock of giddy vampires, and not even their parents could get a farewell in, so that left Nathaniel and Abbi to have to leave without a goodbye.
The night around them had dropped to a cold chill, an odd thing, considering it was still July and the sun baked the land during the daytime. Grey clouds covered the moon and the stars and they were left only to bask in the dark.
Jeffery was still waiting with the car, just up the drive, and Abbi was practically skipping toward him. Only, Nathaniel had other ideas. To her own sagging dismay, Nate stopped her with his hand, holding her back by the expanse of endless trees.
Abigail couldn't even give him a demeaning glare before she was pulled under the opaque shadows of the nearest tree trunk.
She gasped, a shiver gliding its way down her spine. "What's the meaning of this?" She demanded, her sleep-less state turning sour with agitation.
"Have you ever been hiking, Love? Hiking in the middle of the night?" He asked eagerly, unfazed by her anger.
Abbi glowered, almost to the point of baring her teeth. "No! Now stop your stupid shenanigans and let's go home!"
But Nathaniel wasn't listening at all, instead he laughed - the pale circle of his beautiful face the only thing she could see in the shroud of obscurity. She was about to question his sanity when he suddenly let go of her hand - leaving Abbi alone.
She didn't have to see to be able to tell what was going on.
Nathaniel was gone - long gone, from what she could tell - probably sprinting off into the compact woods, expecting her to follow his whimsical idea.
Oh, but did that half-wit know her well, she guessed he would know exactly how she would react, and boy, it was tempting to go back to Jeffery and make good on her promise, but Nathaniel (in this case) was correct.
Abigail gave one last lingering glance towards the warm car, then, without further adieu, spurred off into the intricate maze of wood, after a vampire who wanted to go night hiking in the middle of an unknown forest - Abbi scoffed;
How Typical.