The Wedding Crashers

Chapter Two

The bride's family. The Cullens. Those filthy, self-righteous bloodsuckers were going to be waltzing all over her home-and her so-called family was just going to let them. That old, buried coal of resentment surfaced, and that thought fanned it into a flame. "I left La Push because I couldn't stay there with them-I couldn't live like that-and I thought that I'd finally put all that behind me. And now," she bit out, "I have to go back for a wedding."

She looked up, and there were Sam, Layla, and Dean, and even though they didn't know much about her life before, they were looking at her with more genuine feeling than she had ever gotten from any of her so-called family back home.

Her family-they didn't know the meaning of the word. She was there just for their convenience, and their convenience was to treat her like shit. They didn't care about her, not even enough to hate her; if they'd hated her, they'd have thrown her out and told her never to come back. But she was not so fortunate to have their hate, only their unreasoning contempt. She was merely their designated whipping boy, and it was just because she wouldn't-couldn't-fight back.

And suddenly, as she looked into the strong, open faces of her friends, she knew what she was going to do.

"And you three are coming with me."

Their compassion quickly gave way to alarm. "Hey, now, Leah-you're hot and you get naked all the time and everything, but we don't do weddings," Dean was quick to say.

"And why not? When was the last wedding you went to?" she shot back.

He opened his mouth, but closed it again quickly and looked off with pursed lips. She eyed Sam, who screwed up his mouth and shrugged his shoulders. "Come on, guys. When have I ever asked anything of you?" she said. "I don't want to-" She paused, inhaling a breath through her nose before continuing. "I can't go back there alone. Not after all this time, and right into all of them together like that. I need you guys to come with me. Please."

"I'm in," Layla said smiling.

Layla being the daughter of Aphrodite loved weddings so Leah wasn't surprised when she agreed so quickly. It was the boys that she was going to have trouble with.

Part of her felt badly about it, but like any knight errant, these two were quite susceptible to damsels in distress. She wasn't faking her upset-but she wasn't bothering to hide it, either.

And, true to form, she could see their defenses crumple. They weren't happy about it, but in the exasperated looks they gave each other, she could see their acquiescence. She broke into a wide smile. "Thank you," she said, and it was sincere, and she couldn't help but stand up and reach across the table to seize Dean in a hug and drop a kiss on his cheek before doing the same to his brother.

"Yeah, yeah," Dean said dismissively, shrugging her off. "But you are so gonna owe me for this one," he said, whipping out his index finger at her and poking it in her face.

She grinned. "Next stop we have with a kitchen, I'll make you a chocolate cream pie," she said sweetly.

He blinked at her, and then nodded approvingly. "I was gonna suggest that you bring me a beer and massage my feet while I watch the game, but that works."

She snorted at him, but the relief that was coursing through her was quite real. "And you, Sam?" she asked, near giddy at the thought of not having to face the pack alone. "You want me to make you a big plate of tofu and organic bean sprouts?"

As a fellow red meat eater, Dean laughed appreciatively, while Sam simpered wryly back at her but then answered, "Thanks, but no. My price is that at our next stop, you get to share a bed with Dean-I get to share with Layla."

"Sammy boy you're making me blush," said Layla laughing.

"So you have a crush on my Layla now do you," Dean said glaring at his brother.

Sam raised his hands. "Dude, Dean-you like to cuddle, and you drool. And you snore," he added to Leah. "You two are welcome to each other."

"I do not snore!" she exclaimed in outrage over Dean's own vehement denials of any such sleeping habits.

Sam just crossed his arms and smirked. "Hey, you two believe what you want. But I'm the one getting a decent night's sleep out of the deal."

"You know Sam is right it would be nice to have a decent night of sleep," Layla said nodding.

Leah pulled a face at them; Dean just shot Sam the finger before turning to her and asking, "So, what's the plan, then?"

She sighed, her jovial mood fleeing her once again, and raked her hand through her hair; it was getting long enough to be in the way, and she'd have to cut it soon. "It's up in La Push. That's way out on the tip of the Olympic Peninsula in Washington."

"Cool-that's actually one of the few temperate rain forests in the world," Sam said. "I hear the scenery is fantastic."

"What the hell does that even mean," Dean wanted to know, irritated, "and how the hell do you know that?"

Sam just rolled his eyes. "It means it's a genuine rainforest, but it's not tropical-they still have seasons. And I know because I read things other than Busty Asian Beauties."

Layla glared at the older brother. "You're still reading those! I told you they were disgusting!"

Dean glared at his brother while Layla continued to yell at him.

Leah rubbed her arms, ignoring the snark-fest starting up around her; she was getting uncomfortable just at the thought of going back home, but she reminded herself that she'd have company.

Company who valued her for herself-and who weren't fettered by the mental chains that kept her at bay.

"Yeah," she said, cutting into the catfight. "It is pretty up there, and so's the beach, near where I lived. Popular with surfers-and cliff divers," she added sourly, remembering. "That's where the wedding will be. It's in about two weeks, June 17th, and we'll need to be there in the morning." She eyed the three of them. "This is a wedding, guys, and it'll be the works, I can tell you: formal dress, full ceremony, champagne, dancing, receiving line-the works."

Dean looked pained and Layla looked excited; Sam just gave her a look and said, "What, you think we can't shape up and play nice for a day?"

"Guys-I'm serious," she said. "This is the wedding of my pack leader. And the bride's family?" she went on. "Those guys are seriously white collar, and they are very, very into outward appearances and first impressions."

Sam and Dean weren't even bothering to pay attention to her lecture anymore; they were just rolling their eyes at each other and smirking at her. Layla on the other hand was thinking about what she was going to wear

"This is important to me, guys," she said, standing up and leaning over the table, ignoring Dean as he peeked down her shirt and Layla hitting him upside his head. "I've asked you to come, and you agreed, so now you have to play ball." She looked at the trio dead in the eye. "I want you three to be on your absolute worst behavior."