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2005 Spooky Awards

Weddings Are For This

by FayetheShipper

[Story Headers]

Weddings Are For This
By: FayeTheShipper
Disclaimer: I do not own anything that the Fox Network, TenThirteen or Chris Charter owns. Though I wish I did, as does everyone else.

Chapter 1 This was Supposed to be Special

Ring, ring ring. The annoying sound of my phone had me running from my bedroom barefoot as I attempted to put on my earrings in the process. I picked up the receiver and answered

"Hello?"

"Hey Dana! Remember the wedding?"

"Hi Jason, of course I remember! How on earth could I forget!"

"But you didn't send back your invitation yet. You're supposed to do that a month in advance, not a week!"

"Yeah I know..."

"Why didn't you send it back yet?"

"Because...I need to find a date first."

"How about MULDER?"

"I know, I know, I'm going to ask him, I just haven't figured how yet."

"Well can you do it quick? I need to know exactly how many place settings I need so I know how many extra to pick out."

"It's not that easy! He's my best friend and my partner...not my lover."

"You asked this guy to be the father of your baby, Dana. And he said yes! How hard could asking him to a wedding be, it's not like you're proposing."

"I know you're right. I'll do it today, I promise. I'll call you later in the evening to tell you what happens, okay?"

"Okay, good luck, Dana, oh and Amanda says hi and she loves you."

"Tell her I love her too, Thanks Jason, bye."

Oooh, no. This isn't ultimately clich. A friend's wedding, the dateless friend, asking the man she loves to accompany her for hopes of their relationship moving onto something more by watching other people vowing to share the rest of their lives together. I can say I'm misleading and almost deceiving by inviting Mulder to this wedding for my selfish hopes and dreams...But hell, it's clich as anything, right?

My very good friend Jason was finally marrying Amanda. They were meant to be from the beginning, you could tell. With these two, so many conflicts would arise out of nowhere, and yet they would always be able to come out as though nothing happened. Despite the superficial layer of their relationship seeming slightly weaker than people would expect it to be, their love for one another was great, nothing seemed to hit them hard enough to break. This was wonderful.

I could not have thought of anyone better for one another than these two. She was young, embracing life, beautiful with long blonde hair with glittering blue eyes, a much lighter shade than mine.

Her fianc was tall, blonde as well, and had a very high up stance. He was a lawyer and an outstanding one at that. He was a great opponent to argue and have saved many lives in a social, economic, and political sense. Amanda was planning to be the humble housewife.

A job I could never fulfill. I envied her in that way, where she would be able to make a beautiful housewife, whereas I would probably stab myself with a spatula if I didn't get some of the action of the world.

They love each other so much, it was unbelievable. I remember talking with Jason when we were younger, and he would tell me that he would love her forever, and I told him it was ridiculous to know what love is at such an age, but he has clearly proved me wrong.

He was like a brother to me, not like Bill was, he would torment me, more like Charlie. I was more than happy when they finally got together and I was more than ecstatic when they told me of their engagement. His love for her gave me hope that someday I will find the love of my life, and he will love me just as much as Jason loves Amanda.

I did find someone I love. But the problem is, I'm not sure he loves me in the way that I would want. This happens everyday, I know that, but I can't help but victimize myself and feel bad for myself.

A long time ago, I think when I was a teenager, I asked Jason to make sure that when I find the love of MY life, that he would make sure he was worthy enough and that he would be able to really truly make me happy, the way Amanda does for him. He promised he would, and now that I've found Mulder, I don't really need Jason to "test" him for me, but he insisted.

He said he would do it after they got acquainted, which would mean I have to ask Mulder to attend the wedding with me first. Oh, Jason's the clever one. This would ensure that Mulder would be at the wedding.

So how on earth do I ask him? I know I told Mulder about Jason and Amanda's engagement and how happy I was, but I'm sure he's forgotten. I mean it's not a very big deal for him, he doesn't even know them. And out of experience, all of my friends tend to...not like Mulder.

He would probably be reluctant about my asking him to the wedding. Would he think of it weird as well? That I'm asking him to come to a wedding with me? Oh, great. Now I'm full of doubt and I still have to get ready to go to work.

I've got 10 minutes to brew my coffee and get my shoes on. I'm going to wear my heels today, the big ones. They make me feel like I'm on top of the world and I can conquer anything in them. Obviously, it's not true, because I was knocked on my ass a few times in them, but hey, it's a psychological thing. I brushed my hair again with my hands, made sure my makeup was on the way I liked it, and I waited for my coffee. This is going to be a weird day.

Chapter 2 You're Not Interested, and I was Desperate

I walk into the office like I do every morning. I have my cup of coffee and my jacket is still on my shoulders.

"Morning, Mulder," I say as I put my coffee and brief case on the chair and I take off my jacket.

"Morning." He says to me. Oh, god, how am I supposed to ask him?

"Hey, Mulder, what do you think of weddings?" Whoa, oh Jesus, smooth move, Dana. What kind of question is that?

"What?" He asks looking up from the files, interested and confused.

"Um, never mind," Wow, he raised his eyebrow this time. That's my signature move, what the hell is he doing with it? I ask to myself as I smile. "No, really, never mind."I say as I shake my head and look down, trying not to show how embarrassed I was.

"Oh...okay" seems to not care. He isn't interested in what my question had to do with anything? All right, then. Obviously the word wedding means nothing to this man, so that would probably mean he wouldn't care about going to one.

"So, did you find anything interesting?" I ask as I try to sway the conversation in a different direction from my obvious discontent.

"No, not really, I have a few cases on spontaneous human combustion, but they all seem kind of hoaxy." He walked over to me and put three files in front of me. "You wanna take a look?"

"Yeah, sure. You know, like I've said before, Mulder, barely any of the 'spontaneous human combustion' cases are real if at all verifiable. " I started to flip through the pages and I looked into the autopsy report. 'Yes, this is what I feel like right now, I feel like you.' I said in my mind to the detonated corpse. "Well...this first case," Come on, keep talking, make it seem like you've never even mentioned anything to him. "the first victim was a heavy drinker, an alcoholic judging by his liver. He was also a smoker, you can tell just by the internal examination of his lungs.

There's a theory that combustion in human beings can occur when you have enough alcohol in your system and blood and you inhale the right amount of smoke with the same type of pressure adjustments and the molecules from the smoke rub against each other in your body causing this type of miniature electrical surge that's just powerful enough to cause a small ignition, thus causing the body to combust. This may be that theory at play here."

I finish my monologue of the elaborate scientific explanation that slowly puts me at ease. I'm always most comfortable when I am put in a position where I know what's going on and I'm in control.

"Yeah, that's why I said they're kinda hoaxy." He answered. "And also, it states in the autopsy report that the burns were worse on the inner connective tissues of the lungs. That ties in perfectly with the idea that smoke inhalation was what helped ignite it."

"You are correct, sir." I said in a strange sing-song kind of way. He smiled at me.

"See? I've been doing my homework," He starts as he moves closer to me, "and the rest of the files all reveal the same exact thing." He takes the files away from me, acknowledging that I don't need to see anymore. "So, what about a wedding?"

"Huh?" I ask pretending to be dumbfounded. Oh? Perhaps he is interested? "Oh, my friend's wedding, Jason and Amanda? Do you remember my telling you of it a while ago?"

"Um...No? Sorry, Scully, I don't remember stuff like that." He was flipping through files again. Okay, that's it, you're not interested, I got it.

"I'm going to get some more coffee, would you like some?" I pick up my cup and realise it's still significantly heavy with a lot of coffee still left inside. I hope Mulder doesn't see this as I pretend it's as light as a feather because of its emptiness.

"Oh, yeah coffee sounds great, get me a cup?" I just nod in response. "You know how I like it."

"Yeah, I do." A little bit of whole milk and a teaspoon of sugar. I say to myself as I walk out our office and enter the elevator. Of course I know how you like your coffee. I think to myself naturally. Why don't we just have a coffee maker down here?

As I walk through the hallway of the building and make my way towards the room with the best coffee, Agent Sanders stops me and gives me a huge smile. Oh, God...

"Good morning Agent Scully!" He says to me energetically. Hold on, Agent, I've only had one cup of coffee this morning; I'm not ready to handle your overly enthusiastic personality.

"Morning, Agent Sanders." I don't want to ask 'How are you?' or 'What are you up to?' because I'm afraid he's going to keep talking...he's going to do that anyway. Ready?

"So Agent Scully, how have you been? Any interesting cases lately?" If there were any, the rest of the bureau would already be setting pools by now to see if this one gets solved or not. Most agents vote against it. Bastards. But I know Agent Sanders is just being...himself, he only has good intentions.

"None at all." I answer as shortly as I can.

"So...uh, what have you been up to? Anything...interesting?" He put a kind of exaggeration on the word interesting and I couldn't help but wonder if he was hiding anything. Is paranoia contagious?

"No, nothing." You know, from this angle, Agent Sanders kind of looks like Pendrell. Pendrell had much lighter colouring though.

"So, uh, I hear you know Amanda?" He asks as he hands me the small packets of sugar. I open it and pour it into Mulder's cup of coffee. I take the small red straw and start to stir as Agent Sanders hands me the milk container.

"Yes, she's a very good friend of mine, how do you know her?" This is strange, other agents of the FBI know Amanda?

"She's my neighbor's cousin." 's uncle's barber's dog owner's son' I start to rattle off in my mind for my own amusement.

"Oh, really?" What are you getting at, Agent? Well I actually do know what he MAY be getting at, but I hope it isn't what I suspect it to be...

"Well since you're a friend of hers and her fianc's, you're invited to their wedding, right?" Shit.

"Yes, I am." Crap crap crap, just say 'No, thank you.' And walk away. Come on, you can be rude just this once.

"I was wondering if you would be my date for the event!" Sigh.

"I, um..." Crap, why the HELL can't I say 'no'?

"I heard from Kim that you haven't asked anyone yet, not even Agent Mulder, and I was hoping that the spot was still available?" Kim! You talk too much! Wait, 'Not even Agent Mulder'...? Right...Mulder doesn't care, he wouldn't want to come anyway...At least this way I wouldn't be alone. Ugh, and this was supposed to be special.

"Yes, um, sure. You can be my date for the evening." I am so reluctant, I am sure it echoes in my voice.

"Oh! Great! I'm honoured, Agent Scully! I'll call you tonight to make more arrangements!" Wow, he's sure happy as hell.

"All right, see you later." I smile...sweetly, or I intended it to be that way. Okay, well this really isn't so bad. Agent Sanders isn't necessarily unattractive nor is he a bad person. He really is a wonderful person and a good agent.

But he is no Mulder.

I shake my head in a defeated way as I grab the two coffee cups and make my way towards our office.

Chapter 3 Aren't We a Little Flustered?

"Here you go." I say as I hand him his cup of coffee. "Just the way you like it." I say with a smile.

"Thanks." He takes a sip. "Just the way I like it." He responded with a wink. Oh, god, this was almost enough for me to run up to where Agent Sanders was and tell him it's off, go back to our office and ask Mulder to accompany me to the wedding instead. Almost.

What was I going to wear? Something light...a nice beige colour seems like a good idea. What was Agent Sanders going to look like? I wonder how long we're going to be there for. I know Jason and Amanda said about 3 days including the Friday. Friday afternoon, the entire Saturday, which is when the actual wedding is, and the entire day Sunday for the wedding reception. Amanda's parents have a huge summerhouse that is to be used by all the guests staying, so that takes care of the expenses. I hope there are enough rooms for me to get my own room; I really hope I don't have to share it with Agent Sanders...

My thoughts are interrupted by Mulder's stare. What are you staring at?

"What are you staring at?"

"Is something going on, Scully?" He's onto me. What am I talking about, it sounds like I'm doing something behind is back.

"What do you mean?"

"You look like you're in deep thought. What are you thinking about?" Sigh, I'm thinking about how unfortunate it is that I'm a coward, and I used the fact that you don't seem interested as an excuse to not invite you.

"I'm just thinking about the wedding." Maybe he'll be jealous? How horrible am I...I want him to be jealous when it's my stupidity and desperation that caused this inner conflict of mine.

"Jason and Amanda's?" I look up, surprised that he even remembered at all. "I have a good memory."

"I thought you don't remember things that don't interest you?" I ask, pretending not to care again.

"I don't," He shrugged. "So, tell me, what are you thinking about?" He seemed very.... eager. That's odd, I wonder what's up his sleeve?

"I was thinking about my date for the wedding." So, what do you think, Mulder?

"Oh, really? Who might that be?" He asked almost mischievously, fully interested, was he anticipating my answer?

"Agent Sanders." I answer plainly. Suddenly I see his face change expressions. I can't tell what he's thinking. He looks shocked, if anything.

"Agent Sanders?" He asked choking a bit, distressed and slightly out of breath. "Are you serious?"

"Yes, I am. He seems interested in me. It was weird, actually, because he asked me. Apparently, he knows Amanda, some kind of crazy relation with neighbors or cousins or something." I said without giving it much thought. I didn't really fancy going with Agent Sanders, I wasn't interested in him, really. I guess something inside me really wanted Mulder to stop me.

"Well good! He's a great guy. I hope you guys have fun." I guess he isn't going to stop me. What was I expecting?

"Thanks." I felt broken inside. It's okay. I can get through this; it's not a big deal. We will just live our lives as we have been before. Platonically, nothing will change. I desperately didn't want for that to be the way I live my life, but I don't really know any other choices now. I suddenly felt dreadfully lonely.

"Hey, I'm going to ask Chuck for some help on this projector disk, it isn't working well, I'll be back in a minute." He jogged out the door. If possible, I feel even more alone. It's still warm and technically summer, but I felt cold.

He rode the elevator straight up to floor 4 to where Assistant Director Skinner's office was. Marching into the office entrance, he pointed at Kim and glared.

"Kim!" he scowled. "Why did you tell Agent Sanders that Scully didn't ask me to the wedding?" Kim looked up flabbergasted and flustered.

"Agent Mulder, What happened? What are you talking about?" She was genuinely confused.

"Agent Sanders asked Scully to the wedding. What is going on?"

"Oh, yeah, Agent Sanders and Agent Scully both know the couple, and Dana and I were talking about how she didn't have a date and she wasn't sure what to do, and then Agent Sanders was talking about it so I mentioned to him that Dana is in the wedding too. I didn't think it would be such a big deal, and I did say 'she didn't ask you YET'"

"Did you know that Agent Sanders is practically in love with Scully?" He was angry. Overtly angry.

"Well, yes, but I didn't think he'd have enough audacity to ask her himself!" she defended.

"No, no, you're right, sorry." He sighed heavily and started to pace around the room while chanting, "What do I do?" when suddenly Assistant Director Skinner walked into the room.

"What's going on?" He demanded as he glared at both Kim and Mulder. Mulder stopped pacing and looked up.

"I'm sorry sir, I was asking your secretary about insight into some personal information that I needed to know about."

"Well are you done, agent?" A.D. Skinner was intimidating and Mulder didn't know what else to do but leave.

"Yes, sir." He gave a 'we're not done yet' stare at Kim and nodded his acknowledgment in leaving.

After Skinner walked back into his office room, Kim came out of the secretary office and ran after Mulder.

"Agent Mulder!" She yelled to get his attention. She succeeded and he looked back at her, looking as though he was ready to scold her again. "I didn't mean to complicate things, I'm sorry." She was truly sorry. "Is there anything I can do?"

"No, I'm going to fix this."

"You know, she isn't interested in Agent Sanders." She mentioned abruptly.

"Then why would she agree to go with him?"

"Because you never seem interested in anything she wants to do."

"What? Of course I'm interested!"

"She said you never once considered asking her anything more about the wedding, nor do you seem interested in those kinds of social events."

"Well don't you think it would be weird if I came up to her and asked if I can be her date for the wedding when I barely knew about it?"

"Agent Sanders had the courage to do it. He's barely involved in the wedding."

"Damn it! She should've asked me!"

"You should've been more interested in what she had to say!"

They were like children arguing in the hallway. Both of them knew who was wrong, but he was too stubborn to admit it. He turned around swiftly and started his descend down to their office. Kim walked back into her office and to her desk and sat down. It'll work itself out between those two, she thought.

"I was interested. I am interested, god damn it. Why the hell does Agent Sanders have to know the damn couple? Why couldn't Scully just ask me, I was RIGHT there, I'd agree to go with her in a freakin' heartbeat, Why didn't I ask her about the wedding? I didn't actually forget, Jesus, what was the point of telling her that I forgot about it?" He was panicking but it didn't look like it judging by his face. He was pacing around in the small elevator till it stopped and opened to let a fellow agent in. "Okay, stay cool, don't confront her, don't do anything...else stupid, just go with it, I'll deal with it later..." He thought in his mind, preparing himself for facing Scully back in their office.

"How could you do this to me..." He grunted through his gritted teeth as he got off the elevator and walked through the small space that led to the basement office.

"Did you get it fixed?" That was the first thing I asked when he walked into the room. I knew he wasn't actually getting anything checked out by Chuck, but I wasn't going to confront him like that. He has his own secrets? Fine. So be it.

"What?" Ah, he's practically a deer caught in headlights. I don't want to cause further embarrassment to him but I guess I'm still upset.

"Doesn't matter, I'm trying to finish this report and I forgot the tox screen results, I think I may have left it in your car, can I borrow your keys?" I am so pathetic. I can't even be in the same room with him right now, this isn't like me. There's a long pause before he answers me. Did he even hear me? "Mulder?" I ask again, louder this time.

"Yeah, here." He tosses the keys in my direction and I catch them.

"I'll be right back." That was strange. Now he looks like he's in deep thought. What happened? Oh, well. If you don't care about me, I won't care about you.

Who am I kidding? I can't not care about you.

Back in their basement office

"What do I do...?" Mulder tapped a pencil against the desk impatiently as his mind whirled around possibilities. "How do I stop her?"

Chapter 4 It Will Not Be Blurted

Absolutely nothing happened for the rest of the day. We went about normal routine of reviewing paperwork and writing more of them. We had our minimum daily-required amount of banter and coffee to keep up from going insane. All in all it was a good day...except for the part where I now have to attend my friend's wedding with a stranger rather than Mulder. Okay, I have another one of those waves of anguish seeping in, I can feel it. I think it's about time to go home now.

"Hey, Mulder, what time is it?"

"What, you can't wait to get away from me?" He chuckled. I can't wait to get away from you because I can't get enough of you for me to be content with everything.

"I just have a lot of planning to do for this weekend, that's all." Shit, why do I have to keep mentioning it, it's like I'm hinting at it, I'm not anymore, I swear.

"Aah, well I'm sure whatever it is you're planning, it'll all be perfect. I know how meticulous you get when you have to prepare for stuff, even though it's probably not worth it." He had the notorious Happy-Mulder-Face-Smile on him that's so infectious that I have to smile in response. I love how he compliments me, though. It's not this full-on, dripping with unrelentingly sympathetic I-Am-Doing-This-Because-I-Think-You-Need-It kinda compliments. Actually, it's not necessarily sympathetic at all. He just seems to do it sometimes to keep me in line. I appreciate that so much more though.

"Yes, well it's because of the meticulous preparation that makes it the way I want it. I'm calling it a day, I'll see you tomorrow, Mulder." I said as naturally as I could. I didn't want to call it a day, but I was afraid I'll start blurting....things...that should most certainly not be blurted.

No, no, when I tell him I love him, it won't be blurted, it will be perfect. I can meticulously plan for that too.

"All right, see ya later Scully, have a good night." He called from over his shoulder and waved at me. I nodded in response as I made my way into the tiny hallway that lead to the elevator. I made my way to the parking garage and got into my car, started the engine, and drove off in the direction of my apartment.

Mulder sighed and started chewing on the pencil that was in his reach. "How the hell am I going to get her to stop...No...wait..." his dangerously paranoid mind started to turn. "she doesn't seem to mind...going with Agent Sanders...would she really rather go with him than with me? No, no. She'll change her mind..." Will she change her mind in time? Does he have any power or say in this situation at all? Not being able to consider the possibility of her dancing in the arms of another man or anywhere NEAR another man without having her face branded "Belongs to Mulder", he got up, turned the lights off in the office and headed for home as well.

Georgetown

7:38pm

I slowly dialed the number to Jason and Amanda's apartment. I was nervous. I knew why I was nervous, I was afraid that Jason and Amanda were going to yell at me because I didn't invite Mulder to the wedding. They want us to be together more than I do!.... Okay, that's clearly an exaggeration.

"Hello?"

"Amanda?"

"Dana! Hi sweetheart! How are you?" She's just the sweetest, she wouldn't get mad at me, but Jason is another story...

"I'm...actually not that good." I can talk to her about this.

"Why? What's wrong?"

"Okay, well remember how I was going to invite Mulder to the wedding?"

"Of course! We can't wait to finally see him!"

"Um...I don't think you're going to. He isn't coming."

"What, why?" She nearly shrieked and I cringed.

"Yeah...um, someone else is coming instead." Now I don't know whether I should tell her.

"...Who?" She asked so cautiously, almost afraid to know the answer.

"Agent Sanders."

"Jeremy?" That's what his first name is? Okay.

"Uh, yeah. Hey Amanda, can I meet with to you tomorrow? After 6 or something?"

"Yeah, yeah! No problem, we have to talk about what happened!" I suddenly hear a door close and a very poorly done imitation of Ricky Ricardo. It's Jason, and instantly my upset mood was lifted. That's so sweet. They really do love each other. It brought a smile to my face.

"No, no, Jason, there's no problem." "Who are you talking to on the phone?" "Dana." "Dana! Here let me talk to her too-

"Dana?"

"Hi Jason, how are you?"

"I'm good! So? How did it go?"

"Uh...fine! It went fine! Listen, Jason, I have to go, I'm actually meeting with Amanda tomorrow for a little bit, tell her to call me after 6 tomorrow, okay?"

"Okay, okay, no problem at all, busy, huh?"

"Yeah, you know me." I say without enthusiasm. "I'm going to go, Bye! Love you guys!"

"We love you too, bye." And people say I don't have friends. Well Jason and Amanda may be the only friends I have left outside of the FBI. Except for The Lone gunmen of course. Okay, well there's nothing I can do now, so I guess I'll just wait till I talk to Amanda tomorrow. Maybe she'll have some suggestions as to what I should do. Wow, I am just so so brainless, how did I get myself into this?

Mulder got to his house and decided it wasn't where he wanted to be. He would've gone to Scully's house on any other given night, but thought better of it. Realising he had no other choices that he could think of immediately, he flipped on the TV and heated some left over pizza from the freezer.

"Fa-ntastic." He grunted as he idly clicked the channels button on his remote control. "Another night spent alone with reheated pizza on my couch. This is the life." Mulder said sarcastically. He couldn't help but feel a bit of sorrow pass by him as he noticed how badly he wanted to be with Scully tonight.

The sudden idea that other men may take her away from him made him realise just how much he wanted her all to himself. He wanted to swat other men away from her life that were interested in her and keep her all to himself.

"I'm not selfish...I'm just in..." His thoughts were cut short by the ringing of his cell phone. He reached into his pocket to retrieve it and he rolled his eyes when he recognised who it was. The Lone gunmen.

"Yeah?" He answered his phone, kind of relieved at the thought that he wasn't entirely alone.

"Hey Mulder! We were wondering if you'd like to join us for some huevos rancheros! Frohike made extras!" 'better than reheated pizza' he thought to himself as he trashed the rest of his pizza in the rubbish bin.

"Sure, I'll be over in a few." He hung up, got his coat back on, and left for the gunmen's lair.

They spoke that night of his conflict with Scully. Advice from them? The blind leading the blind, he knew that, but getting a different prospective...getting three different perspectives, may help him a bit. They should write articles in "Cosmo", he thought. Byers-How to be a gentleman. Frohike-How to learn to be overconfident. Langly-How to maintain the blondest blonde hair.

"Mulder, I don't know what to tell ya." Frohike voiced after being silent for most of the time Mulder was explaining what has gone on. "Looks like she might just..."

"Don't!" Mulder exclaimed, purposefully cutting him off, "Don't say it!"

"...not want to go alone, and you were unwilling to go." Frohike finished his sentence. He knew what Mulder was afraid he was going to say and just smirked after seeing Mulder's face lose some of it's tension. "It doesn't mean she's necessarily interested in Agent whats-his-face."

"He's a nobody." Mulder said before taking another sip of his beer.

"Well, the gentlemen thing to do would be to let her go and have her own fun and if you two are meant to be, she will come back to you." 'Byers, Byers, Byers...what am I gonna do with you, man?'

"Yeah, well, I KNOW she's going to come back, that's fine...I just...it's a wedding, you know? It's special when you bring someone to it as your date...I wanted to go with her."

"No way were you planning to confess to her, were you?" Langly suddenly jumped in. He was fixing the frames of his glasses up until now.

"Well it seems opportune, wouldn't you say?" They all nodded and agreed. Suddenly the room fell silent as the three gunmen took another sip of their beers.

"You know what, Mulder?" Frohike said as he placed the now empty beer bottle into the recycling bin. "You have to go get her." 'Whoa, Frohike, I think you had just a little too much to drink. You want ME to be with Scully rather than you? Whoo Boy...'

"Frohike, you MAY be drunk..." Mulder started to speak as he got up and started getting ready to leave. "And besides, 'get her'? How? Convince her to go with me instead? Try my luck with charming her? Please, I can't even praise her straight, I always end up adding something like 'but that's just you' at the end because I'm afraid I've said too much..."

"Well just respect whatever she decides to do and if anything, just be her friend." 'Byers, I want to punch you sometimes, but I know you're right.'

"Naah, I love her too much to be content with being just her friend before I tell her how I feel. See ya later guys."

"Bye, Mulder, Good luck."

'I'll get you back somehow, Scully. You'll come back to me, I know it.' Mulder realised he may have been blowing things out of proportion, but he tended to do that when things don't go as planned.

He returned home and decided sleep wasn't something he was going to be indulging in tonight. He sat slouched on his couch and watched some old movies, talk shows, and porn. Surprisingly none of the above interested him at the least and all he could think about was what Scully was going to wear to the wedding. "Jesus..." He mumbled as he stared blankly at the television screen.

Chapter 5 I Can't Get Enough, Please Keep Talking

Corner Caf

6:42pm

"So...that's what happened. I am just so stupid." I said, shaking my head and taking another gulp of my coffee to try to swallow all the displeasing thoughts.

"Aaand Mulder hasn't done anything about it?" Amanda asked, fully and entirely concerned with what was going on.

"No, no, of course not. What would he do?" I asked as I started to stare into my cup of black swirls. Yeah, what would he do...he doesn't care.

"Are you sure he doesn't care? Are you sure he's not just hesitant?" I love Amanda. She is just so wonderful and understanding. I'm so very glad she is among the very few friends I still have.

"Probably not. He never seems to show interest in anything like weddings or dealings like that."

"Wait, never? He never asks about anything?"

"No, no, I don't mean that. There was this one time...a really long time ago, remember I went to James and Linda's wedding? Well when I came back, he asked me how that went, and asked me if I caught the bouquet."

"Wow, you remember that conversation? I barely remembered their wedding.""Well I thought it was sweet that he asked, even though it was random. I don't know...I guess I liked Mulder back then too. Actually, I can't remember when I started liking him..."

"Loving." She smiled and waved her finger.

"What?"

"You said 'Liking.' You meant Loving." Amanda, you are just the sweetest.

"I'm afraid you might be right." I answered with a smile.

"I am! And, since you do, and this is my wedding and it's special, you should really go with who you want to go with. Not like Jeremy, you know you don't even know this guy."

"Yeah, I don't. I don't think I'll enjoy it either, I mean...he's nice, but he's just so..."I couldn't really find the word for it. I also didn't want to be mean.

"Dull?" Yep, that's exactly it. I just nodded. "Yeah...his neighbor is my cousin Nathan and they're really close and we've all had dinner together a couple of times. So I figured, if I invite my high school English teacher, I should probably invite him too. We also have a lot of extra space, considering a lot of people can't show up that we expected would. I'm sorry about all this, Dana...I didn't think he would ask you to go with him."

"Oh, please, it's not your fault. I was the one that was an idiot and didn't ask Mulder. Amanda? I don't know what I should do." I was suddenly aware of the fact that I wanted to dance with Mulder so terribly and my daydreams of dancing with him at the wedding were gradually being destroyed...

"Well...I would much rather you go with Mulder. But I don't know how you would get 'rid' of Jeremy. And there's no way of getting around telling him that you'd rather be with Mulder, since you're all going to be at the wedding."

"Yeah...maybe it won't be so bad with Agent Sanders. I'll just call Mulder periodically." I joked, but half of me was serious.

"You know, I can just invite Mulder to the wedding? We have a lot of extra settings for tables and things, how about that?"

"That's so sweet. But that's okay...I mean that's just weird, neither you or Jason have met him yet and inviting him would be weird without giving him an explanation as to why, and I don't think there are any good excuses...aside from telling him the truth..."

"Yeah, and that's your job. All right, oh, wow! Look at the time, okay, Dana, I really have to go. Don't worry, honey, it'll all work out for the better." We got up and she gave me a hug and a kiss on the cheek.

"Yeah, time for me to go too, love you, tell Jason I love him too, okay?"

"Of course! Take care, okay? I'll call you on Friday!"

"Okay." We both left the caf and I headed for home.

Amanda quickly took out her cell phone and called her fiance.

"Jason?" She asked as the other end picked up.

"Yeah, what is it?"

"Do you know Dana's office number at the FBI?"

"Yeah, it's on the notepad, hold on, I'll get it. Why do you need it? Aren't you with her?"

"I was, but I don't want to call because of her, I want to reach Mulder."

"What, why?"

"Oh, no reason. I just wanted to ask him a question. Hey by the way, how many extra place settings did you order?"

"Uuuh...like about four. Why?"

"I was just curious. Did you get it yet?"

"Yeah, its 202-223-1013"

"Thanks. I'll be home soon. I love you"

"Love you too." She quickly wrote down the number with a pen on her hand and dialed it as soon as she ended her conversation with her fiance. It rang twice.

"Mulder." 'Perfect! He was still there!' She made a fist with her open hand and said a quiet winning "yes!"

"Hi, Agent Fox Mulder? This is Amanda, Dana's friend? Do you know who I am?"

"Uuh, yeah, I do, actually. You're going to get married this weekend, right?"

"Yes! Oh, so you do pay attention to her!"

"Huh?"

"Oh, never mind. Anyway, I was wondering if you were free this weekend."

"Um, I'm relatively free, yes. Why?"

"I wanted to invite you to our wedding!"

"Ooh, no, no, it's really fine. I mean you haven't ever met me, it would be sort of awkward to be invited to your wedding, the only connection we have is Dana, and it's kind of peculiar." He seemed to already have an answer ready for that one. Strange, Amanda wondered.

"Well...I know it would make Dana happy."

"Um...if she wanted me to come, then she would've invited me and not Agent Sanders." He sounded so thwarted that it made Amanda frown but it also grew her ambition to want to make him come to the wedding.

"I understand, but I would be delighted to meet you and it would be a pleasure to have you at the wedding, especially if you would...you know, be with Dana." 'Sorry, Mister FBI. I'm not givin' up that easily.'

"Miss, like I've said just moments before...Dana didn't invite me and it doesn't seem like it's some place I belong."

"Would it kill you to swallow your pride for a second," She was getting angry with him, 'why won't you stop being stubborn!' her mind yelled, "so you can be more than friends with her, or would you just let Jeremy Sanders take her and keep your pride which, by the way, seems kinda worthless right now?" 'Oh, that was genius. This is why I make Jason do all the talking...I wonder if he'll even consider it anymore...'

"Agent Sanders?" 'Wow, he didn't hang up on me?''

"Yes, him. Look, he's a nice guy, but nice isn't good enough. What is it that's preventing you from coming? Are you afraid that Dana is going to be mad at you for stopping her from going with Jeremy?"

"I'm afraid that I'm restricting her life for no good reason. She doesn't...belong to me. She deserves to have a life with whoever she wants to."

"First of all, its me that's getting married, not you. You make it sound like she's going to marry whomever she's going to take to this wedding. That's ridiculous."

"All right, well then I feel like I'm invading her personal space, like it's somewhere I should not be." 'Okay,' Mulder thought, 'if I don't watch it, I'm going to be telling one of Scully's good friends that I'm desperately in love with her, that's not good...why do I keep talking to this woman!'

"I can assure you you're not going to be. How about this, I give you the invitation anyway, and if you decide to come and grace us with your presence, we will all be more than honoured, and if you don't, that's fine, but remember, if you aren't there with her, someone else is going to be sweeping her off her feet. Or trying to anyway."

"Wha...I can't..No, there's..."

"I will leave you with that. Good night, Agent Mulder!" She said pleasantly as she hung up on the poor, frustrated, smitten FBI Agent. She grinned to herself as she started her the ignition in her car.

"Oh, he'll come!" She said confidently as she headed for home where her beloved fiance awaited her.

8:53pm

Mulder pondered this for quite some time. He had stayed in the office for about 45 minutes after he ended his phone conversation with Amanda. "Okay, well I'm going to use the invitation to the wedding as my last resort." He decided.

Mulder picked up his home phone and dialed Scully's number, thinking it wasn't too late to call her. He hadn't thought of an excuse to call her this time like he usually does, and the phone already rang twice. He was starting to panic, trying to think of a good reason to have called her.

"Hello?" Scully's voice floated through the receiver of the phone and into his ear. 'God, I love your voice...' was all he could think of in the midst of his panicking.

"Hey, Scully. It's me." He said as he has said millions of times before.

"Hi, Mulder. What's up?" There was some noise in the background and it sounded like she was washing the dishes. 'Ah, the domestic-Scully.' He thought with a smile.

"Oh, yeah I uh..."

"What?"

"Actually, I forgot. So how are you?" That was the best he could come up with. At least this way he would get to hear her speak for just a little bit longer.

"You forgot...? Okay. I'm fine, just finished washing the dishes. I'm going to be taking a shower soon." Mulder sat up and looked into his kitchen. Washing his dishes would probably be a good idea, he thought, as he got up and stood in front of his sink and started the water.

"Oh, yeah? That's good."

"Mulder? Is that water I hear running?" She sounded amused.

"Yeah, I'm washing my dishes too!" He said cheerfully.

"Wow, I didn't know you could be so...clean. But no, seriously, Mulder, why did you call?"

"I told you already, I forgot." 'I just wanted to hear your voice so I can sleep tonight...is that foolish of me, Scully? That I can't sleep at night because I don't hear your voice enough? Just please keep talking'

"Uh-huh. All right, I'll humour you for now, Mulder. But I have to go soon, my shower is waiting for me." 'No no, please don't leave me tonight yet.'

"Hey Scully, remember those spontaneous human combustion cases we were looking at on Monday?" 'Hah! This will keep her talking. I just want to hear your voice, Scully...'

"Yes?"

"Can you explain the theory to me again?"

"Now? Mulder, it's late, and I need to shower..."

"Do you not want to tell me the theory because you're afraid I'll disprove it?" 'This should get you.'

"...Spontaneous human combustion is thought of as a not so spontaneous reaction of chemicals within substances..." Mulder heard her explanation and listened to her voice. It was blissful to him and put him in a tranquil state. She had a low timbre that came with her stern personality, and yet there was also a girlish tone that seemed to rear it's pretty little head when she spoke of more contented things. Her voice is so steadfast and beautiful.

Just like her.

"...and that is the theory. Are you happy, Mulder?" She laughed into the phone and it made him shudder. Her laughing wasn't something he expected from this phone call. He loved it just as much as her voice, but it seemed more coveted considering he didn't get to hear it nearly as often as he wanted to.

"What's so funny?"

"I just don't understand why you wanted me to state that again."

"I just wanted to make sure I got all the facts right."

"All right, well that's all I can give you right now. Anyway, my shower, pymajas, and my bed are all waiting for me so I'm going to hang up on you now, Mulder."

"Okay, okay, I'll let you go for tonight." He grinned and couldn't help imaging himself next to her on her bed, watching her sleep.

"Thank you. Good night, Mulder."

"Good night, Scully. Sweet dreams." And the phone conversation was over. She went over to his bedroom and changed into his pyjamas and lay down on the couch.

"Thanks, Scully. I can sleep tonight." And he did just that, thinking of her.

Chapter 6 I Wonder If You'd Mind

7:48pm

Thursday Evening

Georgetown

Wednesday passed, as every other day does, nothing eventful, nothing worth remembering. I sat in my kitchen with my cup of coffee as I stared at my clock. It was Thursday evening already. I'd be leaving for the wedding around this time tomorrow...with Agent Sanders. All right so I guess I've come to terms, but not at peace, with the fact that it's my fault, Mulder barely notices, and that it's not a big deal. Okay, so I can't drone on that, what's done is done.

So, onto other things, what dress should I bring? I would have been one of the bride's maids, but Amanda wants a unique and simple wedding. She realised that having bride's maids would constitute her having to pick out dresses for them, and she didn't want to offend anyone with gruesome dresses, so she decided to let everyone just wear what they own on one condition, do not wear white or black. Fair enough, was what I thought at first, but then I noticed I only had three dresses that were not black. A red, beige, and mint green coloured one. Wearing a simple black one would have just been much easier than for me to choose out of my three.

By process of elimination, I am left with the beige one and the mint green one. My favourite dress is the mint green one. It's very classy with nice colouring, an open back that goes pretty low, and the dress just hovers above the ground when I wear my short heels. The material is wonderful and silky, but not quite silk. But I don't think I'll be wearing my preferred dress to the wedding.

I think I'll go with my beige dress, which is indeed gorgeous as well, but nothing in comparison to my mint green dress.

My favourite dress makes me feel beautiful, and the open back and the low hanging front makes me feel like a woman. Not that my suits don't make me feel like a woman, but there's something about this dress. I feel like I can have some girlish freedom that's a part of wearing this dress. Foolish? Yeah, a bit.

All right, so the beige dress it is. I honestly do not know what kind of future occasion I'm saving my beloved dress for. Most, if not all, of the friends I have left over have all gotten married already. Maybe I'll change my mind. I'll pack both of them and just decide there, I guess.

I started packing some other necessities as well when I heard my phone ring.

"Hello?"

"Hey Scully, it's me."

"Mulder, what's up?"

"Um, my new neighbor started a fire and the smoke circulated through all the rooms. The fire's out and everything's okay, but they're telling us to spend the night at someone else's place because of the smoke. Can I crash at your apartment tonight?" Oh, God, you're kidding me, right?

"Ooh, I don't know, Mulder. I've already had to deal with you for this week, I'm not sure if I can survive a night with you." I teased. Of course you can stay, Mulder. What are.... what are ...friends... for. Right, friends. Suddenly I'm hit with a full force of this sharp pain in my chest and realise it's my heart.

"Aww, come on, Scully! I'm cold, lonely and I have no where to go!" He joked as I heard other men talking in the background and him shuffling through his apartment.

"All right, just knock and come in when you get here."

"Thanks, Scully."

"Uh huh." I clicked the End button on my phone and set it back to where it was. Wow, when was the last time Mulder and I spent a night together? I actually love spending the night with him. If I can stay awake, we usually have good conversations on philosophy or just something to laugh about together. But I was feeling a bit regretful about this, wondering if I can stop myself from being impulsive and tell him something I really should keep to myself.

9:56pm

Thursday evening

Georgetown

Mulder came by about 10 minutes after he called. We ordered Chinese take-out because neither of us had eaten yet and decided to just talk.

"So...the wedding's this weekend, huh?" He started. I cringed and hated that I had to talk about it.

"Yeah...it's not a big deal."

"Aren't these your really good friends that are getting married?" He said with a mouth full of lo mein. I couldn't help but smile when I saw a bit of sauce left on his face. I took a napkin and reached over to wipe it off of him.

"Yeah, they are. One of my oldest friends too."

"Well then it's special..." He mentioned off-handedly.

"Yeah...I guess..." Man, how stupid am I, of course it's special...it's Amanda and Jason...

"What are you going to wear?" He asked with that childish grin on his face and his eyebrows lowered, attempting to be suggestive.

"I think I'm going to wear my beige dress." I took a sip of my beer. "Yeah, I was going to wear my mint green dress, but I decided against it."

"Why? Not special enough for you?" You read my mind, Mulder.

"Well, I'm not sure what I'm saving that dress for, but I feel like...it isn't the right thing to wear to this wedding." You see, Mulder, if you were my date for the wedding, I would've chosen that dress in a heartbeat. Agent Sanders just isn't you, Mulder, and I will not let myself wear that dress for anyone else. "And besides, it's not like the beige one isn't a nice dress."

"Why don't you bring out the green-"

"Mint green." I corrected him and he looked at me strangely, as though it was the weirdest thing in the world that I would address something as minor as colour to be so significant. "It's my favourite dress, and it's mint green." I said. "Hold on a second." I got up from the couch and went into my bedroom to get the dress so I can show him. It was hung in the middle of my open closet next to the beige one because I was deliberating on it before. I smiled and pulled the plastic off and walked into the living room. "Ta-da-." I said with a proud grin. I swear, if I didn't know any better, I'd say this dress stole Mulder's breath away for a second there.

"Hmm, well, that's a nice dress." He nodded.

"I think so." I said as I looked at it again for the millionth time. His eyes went from the dress to me and he smiled at me fully with some of his teeth showing. "What?"

"I just thought you'd look great in that dress." This caught me off guard and my eyes widened. I looked straight at him and I just nodded a 'Thank you'

10:51pm

I sat on the couch next to Mulder in my pyjamas, wrapped up in a blanket. He was wearing his grey t-shirt he uses as pyjamas and sweat pants. A blanket was wrapped around him too. We were talking about other things, nothing important, and we ended up watching a movie. I was not really paying attention after we finished our Chinese take-out and beer. I was actually quite tired and I fought to keep myself awake. I guess I ended up succumbing to the tempting peaceful feeling that sleep offers. I didn't even have enough will power to keep myself awake long enough for me to go to my own bed. Maybe Mulder won't mind if I used his shoulder as a pillow...I wonder if he'd mind...that's the last thing I thought of before unconsciousness took over.

Mulder looked over at Scully the second he felt pressure on his left shoulder. He couldn't believe it; she had fallen asleep on his shoulder. He tilted his head to rest his cheek on her head and inhaled. "Scully." He whispered as her fragrance encircled him. He scoffed a bit into her hair as he suppressed a laugh when she shifted uncomfortably next to him. "As much as I'd love to stay in this position with you...I'm sure you'd be more comfortable with a cushion for a pillow rather than my shoulder." He thought sincerely.

Mulder replaced his shoulder with a cushion and laid her down horizontally on the couch, as he slid off and sat on the floor, still facing her. Will you kill me if I watched you sleep tonight?

He tilted his head to the side and rested it on her hand that was placed next to the pillow. I promise I won't wake you...He reached his right hand over to where her left hand was and made soft circles on the back of her hand with the pad of his forefinger. Why can't you be mine?... He watched her sleep till her rhythmic breathing eventually caught onto him and he started doing the same. He hadn't realised he had grasped her ring finger as he fell asleep.

Chapter 7 Do You Believe In The Unconscious?

Mulder came down the street where it curved and he was running in my direction with Skinner next to him. He was wearing a beautiful tuxedo, a vision I've missed terribly, and was holding a bouquet of flowers. That was very like him, I mused. Flowers for my wedding day...Wedding day... I suddenly remembered. Wedding...

What?

WHAT!

No! This isn't right; it's not my wedding day!

"Mulder! Help! This isn't right, it's not what's supposed to be happening!" I yelled. "I'm not supposed to get married! Come back, I need your help!" I must've sounded like an idiot, but I could honestly care less.

The arms that were pulling me towards the chapel tightened as I tried to break free towards Mulder's direction. One of the arms that held tightly onto my body came up to my face and covered my mouth.

"Alright, Mr. Mulder and Mr. Skinner, you go on to the chapel now. She will be there in a few moments, just wait there, please." Said the owner of that arm. I all but bit that hand off when I nearly came loose.

Suddenly Mulder stopped turned back and looked me up and down and made this...face. This strange face, almost like a forced smile, but also something more...like the kind of face he makes when he's left his keys inside his house and he's trying to figure out a way to get back in. That was more of what it was.

One of his "Oh, no." faces.

Then he looks at me straight in the face and smiles fully at me and mouths something. I'm not sure what it was...but it almost looked like he mouthed, "You're beautiful" to me and he gave me a wink as he was ushered into the chapel. My body weakens and I can barely stand, my legs went limp at the thought of what he may have wanted to get across to me. I was lost in my own world.

When realisation set in. Wedding, what wedding? Surely it cannot be my wedding...oh, God...I look down and I see my wedding gown...

"No! No, this doesn't make any sense, what the hell is going on? What am I wearing? What wedding! Where are you taking me? Stop it! This doesn't make any sense!"

"Oh, come now, you're just getting cold feet, now stop being so un-lady like!" Someone scolded at me. 'Un-lady like'?

The people were pulling me towards the chapel with more force now, and I was pushed through the doors. Everyone was there, the Lone Gunmen, my mother, my sister, my father, and my brothers, some of my teachers from high school and some professors from medical school that I grew fond of. Some faces I didn't even recognise were there.

Where was Mulder? He would know what was going on, how to help me... In the midst of all the excited chatter and people admiring my dress, I looked towards the beginning of the aisle and surveyed the area a bit more. I looked at the end of the aisle and I saw the man who I've never met before in my life, my groom, was waiting for me. Mulder was nowhere to be found. I enter through another weave of doors and suddenly Skinner comes out of nowhere and starts talking to me.

"Look, Scully... I think you should go talk to him. He seemed pretty disappointed." He said matter-of-factly.

I didn't really know what he was talking about or who, for that matter. Something was telling me that he was talking about the groom because I was screaming about how little it made sense for me to marry someone under such ridiculous circumstances, but instead of asking "Who, the groom?" Something else possesses me to ask

"Who, Mulder?" The second I said it, I regretted it, I didn't want people to know that was who I was thinking of all this time.

I almost felt guilty, for getting ready to marry this other man that I don't even know while the only thing I could think of was Mulder.

What am I thinking?

I'm not supposed to get married! What is going on! Before I could take back my question, and ask a few hundred more Skinner answered

"Yeah, I think he was...crying." He said grimly. What? Mulder crying? What the hell... I have to go find him! Was the first thing that popped into my head after the series of incoherent questions. I used Skinner as leverage as I try to pry away from all the people hovering around me. The same group of arms that were pulling me into the chapel was pulling me towards the aisle now, and I can barely breathe because they're pulling on my dress. I suddenly hear people speaking clearly

"You know what you have to do"

"You know who you belong with, Dana!"

"Come on, Dana, fight this! You belong with someone else, you know that"

"Go get him! Go!" Oh god, what the hell are you all talking about? Was my first question, but scarily, I knew. I knew whom they were talking about. Mulder. I needed to find him, and in the second instant, a hand comes through the wave of people around me and I grab onto it as it heaves me from the groups of arms from the other direction. Another arm appears and tows me with such force that I go flying in that direction. I'm suddenly outside now with Mulder by my side, holding onto my hand. He gives me a quick wink and he starts running, taking me with him. We're running away from the mass of people that are chasing us. He starts to laugh and says

"Just like in the movies!" As he strides along side me. I keep stumbling because my dress is too long and my heels don't accommodate my feet very well.

"Scully, you've got to run faster! You're so slow today!" He exclaims.

"Mulder, I'm in heels and a wedding dress! You don't expect me to-" I retorted as he unexpectedly picks me up and lugs me over his shoulder.

"Mulder!" I exclaimed.

"It's faster this way, wouldn't you say? So I'm not carrying you over the threshold in the traditional manner, but hey! Tradition says nothing!" He joked as he ran with me on his shoulder. We entered a rather large building made of bricks, it seemed like a large studio apartment.

He quickly threw me through the door then slammed and locked the door behind him. He walked over to me and apologised for throwing me then helped me to my feet.

"You want to get changed?" was his first question after gazing at me. I nod as he looked for one of his extra shirts.

"Where are we, Mulder?" I asked, curiosity getting the best of me, and the fact that I have no idea what just happened.

"This is my old friend Pete's apartment. He said we could use this place to hide out for a couple of days. He was at the wedding, did you see him?" He asked as he emerged with a large white button down shirt.

"Mulder, I don't understand what's going on. The wedding...this, the whole scenario, what is this, what's going on?" I asked as I motioned for him to turn around as I started to undress. He turned in the other direction as he spoke

"The wedding, what do you mean you don't know?" He asked almost amused. I tapped his shoulder telling him it was all right for him to turn around. The shirt came all the way down to my knees, and I brushed myself off as I sat on the bed next to him.

"What I mean is that I have no idea what just happened..." I tried to make sense, but I wouldn't because I honestly did not know anything. I told him what I remember which was watching a movie with him on my couch in my apartment and the next thing I know I'm in a wedding gown waiting as maids stuck pins in my hair.

"Sounds like a dream, Scully." Was his answer.

"But it was all so real, and if so when did I wake up?" I asked.

"I don't know, maybe this is still a dream."

"It doesn't feel like one." I stretched my arms to touch his cheek. He closed his eyes as I made contact with his skin

"I hope it isn't..." was all he said before moving closer and kissing me square on the lips. My initial reaction was shock, but I let that go and returned his kiss. I loved it so...hoping to god it wasn't a dream.

"I hope it isn't either..." I said while my lips were still on his. Then everything went black and the next thing I now know, I'm lying on a bed with white covers and sheets arranged around me and my hand feels heavy.

The sun was shining through the open window and it was a beautiful summer morning. I look over and I see Mulder's head on the bed next to my hand and his left arm was being used as a pillow for his head, and his right hand was on my left.

I moved my fingers and I suddenly realise that his fingers are grasping my left ring finger. His entire body wasn't on the bed, his torso was slanted and his upper body was resting on the bed while his legs were on the floor.

He was still wearing the black trousers of his tux and his white button up shirt was half opened around his neck. I was still wearing the white button up shirt that he gave me too. I reach over with my free right hand and I smooth his hair over, I wake him up like that. I smile and he smiles.

Then he gets up, straightens himself out with one hand, not taking his right hand off of my left, and he kneels down again, only on one knee this time. He looks up at me hopefully from the floor and smiles nervously and asks

"Scully...Will you marry me?"

And then I wake up... I actually wake up. It was a dream and I woke up. No wonder nothing made sense, it was a dream... a dream...? My left hand feels heavy as the television's rhythmic hum brings me back to reality. The slight pressure in my arm tells me I'm conscious and awake.

But my left hand feels heavy...like it did in the dream. I look over, and sure enough, there he was. His head and arms were on the couch with the rest of his body on the floor of my living room. His hand was over my left hand.

I start getting nervous and I wiggle my fingers and feel the familiar touch of his fingers grabbing my left ring finger. My stomach starts to flutter as I remember the very last part of my dream. I reach over with my right hand and ruffle his hair.

I wonder when I pushed him off the couch?

I feel kind of bad that he came over so he would have a nice comfortable place to stay for the night and I end up pushing him off the couch I offered him. He doesn't wake up like he does in the dream, so I nudged him awake.

"Scully..." He mumbled as he awoke.

"Yeah, Hi, I'm sorry, I fell asleep, I must've shoved you off this couch." He woke up but he still didn't let go of my left ring finger.

"Ooh, yeah, you didn't push me, I was trying to get away from you so you don't drool on me..." He chuckled as he took his hand away from my left ring finger and rubbed his face.

"Sorry, Mulder" I say as I smile. "Here, I'm going to get to my bed, get up on the couch." I order him and he listened.

"Hey, Scully?" I got up and I was nearly out of my living room when he called.

"Yeah?"

"Sweet dreams." He said with a smile and a wink...

"You too." I nodded.

I force myself to try to sleep so I can dream just a little bit longer, but it doesn't work... I look at my left ring finger and it's still warm from his touch.

Mulder lay down on the couch and put his head on the cushion that Scully had her head on. He inhaled through his nose and savoured the familiar scent of Scully surround him. He looked at his hand and closed his eyes. "What was I thinking....? It must've been all that wedding talk..." He smiled inwardly as he let himself fall back asleep, remembering the feel of having her around him.

Chapter 8 The Somewhat Strange Inevitable?

7:10 am

"Mulder! Get out of the shower! I didn't dry my hair yet!" I yelled at the bathroom door. I could still hear the water running and he's been in there for about 15 minutes already. I need to dry my hair, get my make up on and take the bagels out of the toaster. I'll do that first.

I ran into the kitchen and took out a paper bag and stuffed the now excruciatingly hot bagels in there. No time for coffee, we'll just get it at the office then.

"Mulder! The bagels are in the bag on my table!"

"Okay!" I hear as he emerges from the shower. He has his pants on and his top shirt is half open with his guinea-tee showing. I had to turn away to hide my smile. I am trying to act as nonchalant as possible, which is working, I'm quite good at hiding myself...God, I am so pathetic. "Do you know where my tie is, Scully?"

"I think it's still in your duffle bag," I say as I point to it lying next to the couch.

"Thanks." He buttoned up his shirt, put on his tie and grabbed his suit from the couch.

"Well, I'm ready! But you, Agent Scully, are not." He mocked me. I'm usually the one who is more punctual and faster at getting to the office or more groomed. Today, he is. So he wants to bask in his glory.

"You know, if it weren't for you taking up my bathroom, I would've..." I stopped. It was pointless, I will just let him bask.

"Yeah, that's right!"

"Could you be anymore childish?"

"Go dry your hair." He ended with a snicker. I wanted to kick him, but playfully. I went into my bathroom that was still warm and a bit steamy. I take my brush and start drying my hair. You know, I didn't look too shabby in that wedding dress? I kinda liked it. It was fun, considering I barely ever dress nicely for anything anymore. Or maybe I liked dressing up and having Mulder wink at me like that. Yeah...that's probably it.

Damn dream, I keep thinking about it and I can't stop...

We were out of my apartment by 7:40 and heading to the office. We arrived a few minutes later and we realised that both of us forgot the bagel I toasted for us.

"Mulder...I told you not to forget them!"

"No, you just told me where they were."

"So that you wouldn't forget them!" We both started to laugh as we walked through the garage and into the building. "You're buying today, Mulder."

"What! It was your mistake, you're the one that didn't tell me to bring them."

"Well, I let you sleep in my apartment, it's only courtesy for you to buy me lunch as a thank you." I said with am eyebrow raised accompanied with a smile.

"You know, Scully, it wasn't all that comfortable after I had to get off of the couch. I shouldn't have to buy you lunch." He smirked.

"It was your choice to get off that couch, Mulder. You could've woken me up at any time and asked me to move."

"Then you would've been cranky! You're grumpy when you just wake up."

"I wasn't today, was I?"

"No, but that's 'cause you woke up on your own, if I had woken you up, you would've cold cocked me. And besides, what was I supposed to do when you started to drool?" He was laughing again and couldn't keep his composure.

"I did not! I don't drool, Mulder." I said as I elbowed him, throwing him even more off balance. This is just way too much fun for my own adult good.

"Yeah you do!" He exclaimed as we made our way through the entrance and walked through the metal detectors.

"Mulder..." I warned, I honestly do not drool! I do not! But he just smiled and squeezed my waist. I did not expect that, and it both startled and tickled me. Now I lost my balance and I grabbed onto his hand for balance. He gave me an "I told you so" kind of look that also doubles as a "See? You DO need me" kind of look. We were both being immature, but I must admit, it's a lot of fun, sometimes. I love days like these where we're both having fun. Though I must confess, my dream had quite an affect on me and now I'm a bit...off. I couldn't stop thinking about it.

We walked into the empty elevator. I guess we were earlier than we thought, which is good.

"Hey Scully," He said as the doors closed and he pushed the level 4, where they have the room with the best coffee. "You know they disabled the security cameras in this elevator?"

"Really? Why?"

"Who cares why..." He looked at me with feign seduction. I wanted to laugh hysterically at his attempt and what made it worse was when he started to wiggle his eyebrows to amplify the joke.

"Ooh, Mulder," I said with fake sympathy trying to stifle my laugh. He then slammed his hands against the wall behind me and cornered me so I wouldn't escape, and that was it, we both lost it and started to laugh uncontrollably. It was indeed a hilarious moment. We were joking.... unfortunately. Nevertheless that was still a good moment. We left the elevator on our designated floor still chuckling a little bit.

We got our coffee and on our way down to our office when someone calls my name, and I know who it is.

"Agent Scully! Good morning! Oh, Agent Mulder, good morning to you too!" Mulder smiled his 'I'm trying to be polite' smile and I think I did the same.

"Good morning, Agent Sanders."

"So, big weekend, huh? I can't believe the week passed by so quickly! Have you packed everything already? May I call you Dana?"

"Excuse me." Mulder? That sounded strange, he sounded almost desperate when he said that. I guess he's going to the office without me; I'll just meet him there after I finish my conversation with Agent Sanders.

"Uh, sure. Yes, I've packed everything I need already and I'm ready to go."

"What time should I pick you up today?"

"Oh, actually, I prefer that we go in separate cars. I have a few extra gifts of mine that I need to bring and I need to get there a bit earlier than everyone else."

"I can go earlier too if you need to?"

"No, no, Agent Sanders, that's really okay. How about we just meet each other there at the location?"

"All right! That sounds okay, may I call you later?"

"Of course. See you later, Agent Sanders." Not that I didn't appreciate his enthusiasm in all of this...but it just wasn't right. Why do I feel like I'm betraying Mulder? That's so strange. You know what...maybe I should just invite Mulder too. It's not like Agent Sanders and I are anything exclusive and neither are Mulder and I...so it wouldn't really matter. Why do I suddenly feel fretful bordering on anxiety?

I walk down to our office where I find Mulder sitting at his desk with one of his legs up and crossed, chewing annoyingly on his beloved sunflower seeds. Something was off...

"Hey Mulder?" I crossed the room and set my coffee down on the desk."

"What?" He even sounded annoyed. I'm sorry, what could I have done? I think sarcastically.

"Well...Mulder, if you aren't doing anything this weekend...I was wondering if you'd like to join us for the wedding." He sat there silently, but noisily chewing on his sunflower seed that must've been liquefied by now. I was getting mildly scared because of him not answering and I wasn't sure what to do or say. "Mulder? Did you hear..."

"Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why are you inviting me to this?" He said with his head angled to the side with this nasty look on his face. I didn't even have time to open my mouth as he went on "What, Dana, is it pity? Do you feel bad for me? You feel like you're obligated to ask me there because you feel bad for me?" Why is he calling me by my first name in his ridiculing tone? What, because Agent Sanders asked if he could call me that? No way did Mulder think that far into this...did he?

"Mulder, what has gotten into you? I'm just asking if you'd like to come with Agent Sanders and me to the wedding..." What happened to the playful attitude of this morning? What was wrong with him? Wouldn't people generally be pleased to be invited to a wedding? I truly do not understand.

But something really shattered in him the second I finished my sentence, and he shot up from his chair and stood over me, signifying power.

"Look, Scully, that's nice of you to let me on this pity trip of yours that you are so genially presenting to me, but I don't even care about this or what you do or who you do..."

Oh, my God. What did he just say?

"What did you just say?" He realises he's gone way too far on that one and he leaves the room, grabbing his coat and mumbling

"I gotta get out of here" Now I was the one who was angry. This was not fair, how dare he say such things? That's what he thinks of me....

I wonder if he's coming back today, and if he doesn't, how am I supposed to cover for him...

Thankfully, I am leaving work early today to go to where Amanda and Jason are, considering how far it is, so just in case Mulder decide to come back, I won't be here. I can't tell if that's a good thing of a bad thing, but I am so upset with him, I'm sure I won't make any rational sense. How could last night have been so...so close and now it's as though we're in two different worlds.

I took three breaths to calm myself and stop myself from shivering. I closed my eyes once and attempted to rid myself of all the negativity that was rushing through me. It didn't really work, it just repressed it all. This was probably not a good thing. I wanted to fix things with him, but I didn't understand what was going on....What the hell just happened to us....

Chapter 9 When A Cantaloupe Was All We Needed

9:47am

Mulder drove furiously through the traffic and flashed his badge at any patrol officer that attempted to slow him down. He knew how unprofessional this was, to use his badge for any personal condition, but he wasn't thinking straight. His irrationality was beginning to get the best of him as he tried to think of what exactly he was going to do.

"Damn it, you asshole. What's wrong with you, she isn't yours...why did I have to yell at her like that.... God, and what the hell did I say to her? 'Who you do?' What is wrong with me!" His mind reeled as he smacked the steering wheel with his palm out of frustration. "All the damn time I act casual when she does things that I find irresistible, I walk off and pretend as though it was nothing so that she doesn't notice, I didn't want to ruin anything that we had and I fear rejection, and what do I get? I be 'careful' and everything goes to hell."

He didn't even take into account how long he's been driving for and takes out a map from the glove compartment of the car. Starting to make his way up the I-90 route he was still trying to figure out how to get to where Amanda and Jason were getting married. He didn't know the route exactly but he knew the general direction of where Amanda's family's summerhouse was. His plan was to get to that town and ask around. Not very proficient, but still a plan.

10:00am

FBI Headquarters

Basement

"I can't even concentrate anymore..." I sighed loudly. Drinking my 4th cup of coffee today I was trying to repress my anger towards my partner who had fully insulted me not long ago. Instead of indulging in another cup of coffee, I decided to call Amanda.

"Come on, pick up pick up pick up..."

"Hello?" It wasn't Amanda. It was Jason, someone whom I didn't anticipate to answer.

"Hey Jason. Is Amanda there?"

"No, sorry, she's going crazy and fighting with one of the caterers. What's up?"

"No, nothing. I just...I wanted to tell you guys I'll be there in a couple of hours. I'm leaving work early today so I can get there earlier, okay?"

"Good, good! We were afraid you may be a little late for the rehearsal dinner."

"Wouldn't miss it for the world."

"So you'll be here soon with Mulder?"

"Uuhh..." What do I say now?

"Oh, crap, okay Dana I gotta go. Amanda's having a fit and it's not all that fun watching anymore, I'll see you guys in a couple of hours!" And he hung up. I can't tell if that saved me or made everything worse. He still thinks I'm going with Mulder...man, am I going to get an earful. Which is something I do not need right at this moment. Being mad at Mulder is one thing, being told that I've done something stupid on top of that, which I even concur with, is another matter.

12:31pm

"Okay, a right up this street than left?"

"Yeah, if you go off far enough you should see this lake and it stretches into the area, I'm sure you won't miss it."

"Thank you very much." Mulder listened to the directions the old man gave him and it lead him to a huge white Victorian style summer house standing in between a couple of trees. "Wow." He got out of his car and knocked on the door.

"Hi, can I help you?" Jason said with a tired look on his face.

"Yeah hi, are you Jason?"

"Yeah, that's me, and you are?"

"My name's Mulder...you may have heard about me from Sc...Dana."

"Ooh! Mulder! Hi, it's great to finally meet you!" Mulder was almost overwhelmed with Jason's warm welcoming and cracked a smile that hasn't made an appearance since early this morning. "We didn't expect you guys to get here so soon!"

"Actually, it's just me." The smile vanished once again.

"What do you mean? Where's Dana?"

"Um...okay, to start the story, Dana didn't ask me here. You're fiance did. She more or less knows the situation." Mulder's stiff posture never waned.

"Uh, Mulder, can I call you that?"

"Yeah, yeah of course."

"Mulder, first of all, you don't have to be so formal with me, and second of all I'm glad that you could be here. But I don't understand, I thought she asked you to the wedding and I.."

"Yeah, uh, she and I got into a fight. I was a...complete ass, and I need your help..."

"Okay, but I need more of the details. Do you want a drink? A beer, maybe?"

"Yeah, that sounds good, thanks."

They spoke for about 40 minutes and it seemed as though they've been friends for decades. Jason understood Mulder's predicament and Mulder felt comfortable telling Jason of his dilemma.

"So, I'm here because...I need to...uh, get her back, so to speak." Mulder looked down at his hands ashamed at himself. "It's so stupid, I'm so stupid. She probably doesn't even know that I...feel for her this much, cos I'm always running away from it. Or I was."

"Okay, well she called before and she didn't sound so great, and now I know why. I'm going to give her a call again and see if she's feeling any different." With this, Jason pulled out his cell phone and waited for Scully to pick up.

"Scully."

"Hey Dana, it's Jason. When are you coming?"

"Hi Jay. I'm on my way right now."

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing, I'm fine. I have to go, I'll be there as soon as I can."

Jason nodded and looked at Mulder.

"Well there's definitely something wrong with her still." He said as he rested his cheek on his knuckles.

"Do you think she's angry?"

"Probably. I still can't believe you'd say that to her." Jason asked referring to the degrading comment.

"Me neither..." Mulder sighed. "but it was pity that she invited me, like out of courtesy because she felt bad for me and I didn't want that. I wanted her to want me and ask me because she wanted me to be there with her.

Jason nearly started laughing but suppressed it to a scoff. How could this Agent of the FBI be so blind and unaware? He decided not to address it and told himself that is something that Mulder has to realise on his own.

"All right, here's what we'll do." He got up and both of them went up the stairs as Jason explained the rooms to Mulder. "Okay, you can stay in the room right under Dana's for now, and I think whatever you do should be... notable." Jason said earnestly.

"She doesn't like drama."

"When it's not significant. Believe you me, Mulder, this is most definitely important to her." Mulder crinkled his eyebrows in a sceptical manner that made Jason explain more of Dana's past to him. "Okay, well when Dana was a teenager, she had a couple of bad experiences with guys and we had a whole big conversation about how she doesn't want to end up with the wrong guy. So that's when I told her that I'd make sure that whoever she thinks she's going to end up with is exactly what she wants, and I'd interrogate them. Which is kind of ironic now, considering you're an FBI Agent."

"That's generous of you." Mulder smile suddenly faded. "Um, Jason...Are Dana and Jeremy going to be in the same room...together...?"

"Haha, you really don't have to worry about that, we have a shit load of rooms and they're not going to be sharing one. I don't think Dana would much appreciate that either."

"Okay, so...what's going to happen, what am I supposed to do?"

"I don't know. That's something you have to decide on your own, the only thing I can tell you is to really tell her how you feel. That's what I had to do with Amanda. God, we were weird..."

"Really? Tell me, maybe it will inspire me."

"We've both been really strange though. Like before I told her I love her, we were best friends and when we'd fight, I'd always have to be the one to apologise because it was usually when she was PMSing." At this the both of them laughed, "So I'd buy her a cantaloupe."

"A cantaloupe?"

"Yeah, she loves cantaloupes. I don't know she's weird. My weird little bride-to-be." Jason said proudly. "But this one time, when she was going out with some guy, and believe me, I've been in love with Amanda since day one and it was really hard on me to go through guy after guy after guy and feel like I'll never be next,

but anyway she really liked this one and she'd keep telling me that she loves me. In the friend kind of way. But I hated it so much because

I kept thinking she would say that to me just to keep me there. So that I wouldn't go away, you know?

And I hated it, because I thought about how easily manipulated I was by her. Especially because she'd separate from me completely when she was with someone and just come back to me whenever she'd break up with them.

As though I was some kind of placeholder. Then I got over it and thought I wasn't in love with her anymore and just kinda went on with life with her still there, and I was attracted to her, yes, but I didn't contemplate loving her.

Then one day she and I were walking on ice, please don't ask why, I have no idea why, and apparently it was thin ice and she fell through and I freaked out and went in after her and I realised what I would seriously do for her.

Sooo I ended up letting myself love her again, but it was unrequited, and yes it sucked."

Mulder started thinking about all the times he thought everyone would thing of him insane for what he was doing, but in his mind everything and anything, no matter how foolish or mad, was justified because it was to save or impress Scully.

"And then what turned it all around?"

"Well, I don't know what kind of revelation Amanda had, but one day we were walking around and she just kind of turned around and went

'What do you think would happen if we were to go out?' and I looked at her and said 'Well I guess we'd go out, I don't know, what's wrong with you?' because I thought she was joking and she asked 'Would you kiss me?'

and I was seriously slow and incredulous and I said 'No, you have cooties.' And then she kissed me and I dunno, I fell into some kind of systematic shock or something and she went 'I don't have cooties. I love you.' And it definitely wasn't the friendly kind." Jason ended with a broad smile at the memory.

"That sounds pretty great."

"Yeah, and now I get to be with her till forever!" They both laughed and shared some other stories and little by little, Mulder was becoming less nervous about the whole ordeal.

Chapter 10 This Romeo Is Bleeding...But You Can't See His Blood...

3:27pm

Mulder and Jason went over what they were planning to do. Still not quite sure how Scully was going to react, Mulder repeated a couple of the ideas.

"I can't believe I still don't know what I'm going to do.."

"I think the flower plan was the best," Jason admitted, "but it's your idea."

"Where can I get the flowers again?"

"Just go to the florist. She's probably arguing with Amanda. God, I hope Amanda didn't kill anyone." Jason mused.

Over the past couple of hours, people started arriving to the summer 'mansion' to attend the rehearsal dinner. Everything was in place; the actual wedding area was in a large manor across the stream.

The lounge of the manor was turned into a ballroom area with all the flowers and decorations in perfect alignment, just the way it was supposed to be. The colourful flowers and plants lined the stream that separated the manor and the summer 'mansion'. The tables were set perfectly with the guest names in the cards with matching cards on the napkins.

Amanda, Jason, and Mulder all agreed to not let anyone know that Mulder was here until he met with Scully, so his card just said "Extra."

Mulder and Jason were walking around the lawn as Amanda met with each and everyone one of the guests who arrived. Among them was one of her best friends, Wendy. She was a sweet young lady with blonde hair, almost like Amanda's, who had broken up with her boyfriend 3 months ago.

Something like attending one of your best friend's wedding right after suddenly being single did not seem appealing and everyone understood.

4:16pm

Okay, so I was a little later than I planned, but I'm sure they won't be too mad at me. I have their presents and I have my bag full of my things for the weekend.

Including my dresses.

I contemplated long about which one I should bring, the beige one or my favourite mint green one, and I decided that this may be one of the last times I'm ever going to have the chance to wear that dress, so I brought it, and I brought my beige one just in case I change my mind. I plan things out way too much; it can't be good for me.

I parked my car on the street and proceeded up the steps to the mansion. I left the wedding gift in my car and I brought just my bag with my stuff in it.

"Dana!" Amanda greeted me at the door.

"Amanda, hi, I'm so sorry I'm late." She hugged me as though she hasn't seen me in forever.

"Aww, it's okay, no problem at all, here let me get your stuff!" She helped my carry my bag inside as we spoke about the wedding and what was frustrating her. It was truly wonderful to see her like this, so fantastically excited and scared at the same time. We sat at the dining table, which was about 9 feet long, and spoke a little so she would calm down.

"Can you believe it? They mixed the ribbons in the wrong places and I was afraid I was going to have to redo them, and I am so tired!" She laughed.

"Well at least you didn't have to do that, and you should relax more, you don't want to be tired for your wedding." I suggested as I sipped my tea. My 4 cups of coffee I had this morning isn't doing well for my nerves and yet I'm still taking in caffeine...

Mulder kept a safe distance from everyone after Scully arrived. He almost felt like a stalker every time he would hide behind something when she was coming near. The second he saw her he instantly wanted to run up to her apologise and tell her the truth, but he knew he couldn't do that.

Not here, not yet.

But every time they came close to each other, his heart would start racing, afraid that he'd see her, and he would dither and almost knock over something. He felt so ridiculous hiding like this and was sure that Scully thought something was going on, but she never looked far enough to realise it was him.

Scully got set up in her room settling all her belongings down on the bed. She pulled open the curtains and opened the window. "Thank god for long summer days..." she sighed.

He hadn't heard her speak to herself in a while. It was usually in this quite gentle tone that she doesn't use on him, usually. Normally, she has a low timbre that was beautiful in it's own way where he would be completely spellbound if he didn't have to pay attention to what she was saying.

But this, when she speaks to herself, her voice then is something different that he wasn't treated to. This made him want to go up to her even more and was surprised at his own will power. Her red hair shined brilliantly in the setting sun and that was it.

He started walking into her doorway when the doorbell rang.

He shimmied to his left and niftily avoided Scully as she walked out of her room. Scully met with Amanda on her way down from her room and they went over to the door together. It was Jeremy Sanders.

"Hi Jeremy." Amanda greeted warmly.

"Hi Amanda, congratulations!" They hugged briefly, "and hello Dana!" He gave her a hug as well. Mulder watched from behind one of the pillars of the staircase and could barely keep himself from jumping out. Jason came from behind him and stopped him before he did anything to ruin whatever he had planned.

"It's not worth it yet." Jason went to go greet Jeremy. Wendy came in from the kitchen area and was introduced to Jeremy. She shyly smiled and stuck out her hand for him to shake.

"It's nice meeting you..." She answered quietly. Did she just blush? Amanda thought as an impressively strategic plan started developing in head. Ah-ha, how perfect.

For the rest of the afternoon Scully mostly spent time with Amanda and Jason, though mostly with Amanda, talking about how life would change.

Scully didn't once bring up the topic of Mulder, and though she didn't vocalise it, he was clearly on her mind. Jason appeared in and out of the room, making sure Mulder didn't walk into the wrong room at the wrong time.

The rest of the guests mingled and because Dana and Amanda were talking most of the time, Jeremy Sanders couldn't keep to a conversation with Dana. Instead he spoke and spent much of his time with Wendy as they shared stories and jokes about the past.

"Yeah, I think I really like her." Jeremy said about Scully. "She's a special woman!"

"Oh, yes, she is. She is very wonderful." Wendy answered. Inside she sighed and realised Jeremy was too clearly interested in Scully and gave up. It's okay, she thought, I'll be okay.

"Hey, Dana..."

"Yeah?"

"Look over there."

"Agent Sanders and Wendy?"

"Yeah, wouldn't they look good together?"

"Actually, now that you mention it, they really would. Heh, I wonder if he'd start taking up an interest in her and ditch me. That would actually work out for me. It's not like I don't like Agent Sanders, he's a good person."

"We've had this conversation before!"

"Yeah I know." They both chuckled.

The Evening was making its way into the day and everyone was moved into the Manor. They all sat down and attended the rehearsal. Everyone that was there watched and listened to Amanda and Jason's wedding vows and a hoard of "Aww"'s were everywhere. Mulder sat in the very back behind many of the flowers so that he would be incognito.

All of the guests were dressed in what they were supposed to wear tomorrow except for the bride and the groom. Many objections were made to this favour but Amanda reasoned by saying something to the degree of "Oh, come on, it's only for an hour or two, honestly, how dirty can you get your clothes in two hours?" So everyone agreed.

Scully wore her beige dress.

No use spoiling her favourite dress. And besides. That dress was saved for someone else.

As the rehearsal went on, it was time to generally show the atmosphere of how the wedding should go on, and when everyone can start to dance and have their own time. Many of the guests were getting into the mood of it and Amanda and Jason's family members and many of their friends were dancing.

Jeremy asked Scully for a dance and she accepted.

She smiled.

She laughed.

She looks happy.

This stabbed Mulder's heart. "I'm supposed to be..."

This Romeo was bleeding, but you can't see his blood

It's nothing but some feelings

That this old dog kicked up

It's been raining since you left me

Now I'm drowning in the flood

You see I've always been a fighter...but without you

I give up

And I can't sing a love song

Like the way it's meant to be

But I guess I'm not that good anymore

But baby, that's just me

And I...will love you, baby

Always

And I'll be there till the stars don't shine

Till the heavens burst and the words don't rhyme

And I know when I die; you'll be on my mind

And I'll love you

Always

Now the pictures that you've left behind are just memories of a different time...

Some that made us laugh

Some that made us cry

One that made you...have to say goodbye...

What I'd give to run my fingers through your hair

To touch your lips...to hold you near

When you say your prayers try to understand

I've made mistakes....

I'm just a man

"Dana?"
"Yes?"
"I think I lo...".

When he holds you close

And he holds you near

When he says the words

You've been meaning to hear

I'll wish I were him

Cause those words are mine....

To say to you till the end of time

Jeremy was cut off by someone running frantically in their direction.

"Scully..." Mulder finally said almost out of breath. Not from the run, but from his adrenaline pumping so powerfully that it would knock the wind right out of anyone.

"Mulder?" Scully asked hesitantly. "What are you doing here?" She slowly came out of Jeremy's arms holding her as she asked her question. She asked completely staggered.

"I'm here to...I'm your date." Mulder finally spit out.

Sanders let go of Scully's hand and sighed as he dropped his eyes to his shoes, looked up once more and smiled sadly.

"Mulder..." she didn't know what to say. This didn't happen as often as expected, but he always found a way to stun her, unfortunately, not always in a good way.

She was still upset at him for the way he acted how he handled the situation earlier that day, but she still missed him. 'Oh, God...he came for me...' was her initial thought, but she didn't feel like giving in too easily. Oh, no, she's done that way too many times in their past, whether it be personalised or not.

"You hurt me, Mulder..." she started carefully "and now you suddenly arrive and want to be here?" She emphasized every word that she wanted to, making him feel as though he was about 2 feet tall.

"Scully, I've always wanted to be here" he tried, and considering it was his full honesty, it shook Scully just enough for him to continue as he advanced towards her...

Wendy came over and took Sander's hand and led him away from the scene.

"Jeremy, it's okay, come on..." she cajoled. And he followed.

Mulder moved closer yet, as he started, "Scully, I've known for so long, what I feel, how I feel its...it's something new...but not really, I just...I've felt this way ever since I care to remember and I feel new versions of that...emotion every time I see you, every time I touch you..." with this he came closer and touched her shoulder and decided to venture how long she would let him leave his hand there.

Not long.

She was upset, really upset.

"Mulder, you said yourself that you didn't care, " she shrugged his hand off of her shoulder. "Do you even remember what you said to me? How could you?" she started to vent her anger through the small tear that Mulder had provided for in their relationship. They were now walking dangerously on the line crossing friendship or partnership and tethering in the wrong direction would cause repercussions that neither of them would be able to handle. "I asked you to come here for a reason...how could you say that to me, arrive here and assume everything will be all right?"

He contemplated this. She was right.

"Scully, I was upset at the fact that you asked me to come because you felt bad for me, I wanted to come here, but only if you sincerely wanted me to be, but I was so sure it was out of pity," He rationalised.

"How dare you assume something like that!"

"I was afraid that I didn't want to get my hopes up for something too good to be true!" he countered. Her crossed arms were now a gesture to further amplify her frustration.

"I can't believe this..." she panted angrily.

"What? What can't you believe, Scully?"

"How stupid you could be for thinking I would pity you like that."

"Sometimes people do stupid things..." He offered his petty elucidation, knowing it would be pointless.

"That's no excuse for how you acted,"

"You're right, it's an explanation."

"No, it isn't."

Sometimes people do stupid things...

"Fine, its because I love you!"

She gasped and put her hand over her mouth as the words penetrated through her mind. The tears started to form and were threatening to make their way down her face.

"Excuse me..." she swallowed as she tried to jog out of the room.

"No, Scully!" Mulder grabbed her arm as she tried to run past him. "What do you feel? How do you feel about me?" He nearly yelled.

She tensed even more as she ripped her hand away from his and shook her head. 'This wasn't the way....this wasn't the way I planned this...'

"What..." He squeaked when she took her hand away from him. He mistook her action as rejection.

It's over.

Mulder was the one to walk away this time. He stepped heavily and his shoulders fell instantly when he was far enough away from her. "What have I done..."

Agent Sanders spotted Mulder standing outside with his hands in his pockets looking up at the sky. His face only held the tell tale signs of hurt and this made Jeremy realise everything. 'I can't love her as much as you can and she can never love me as much as she does you.' Wendy was next to him and she raised her arm to touch his shoulder. He looked down at her and smiled and took her hand.

A bit later, Jeremy and Wendy went to Amanda and Jason and told them what had happened. Though Amanda was nearly ready to break down because of all the turmoil, Jason was relieved. He truly understood this only happens when emotions too strong to put into words materialise into other forms of actions. Gestures too big to display rationally.

"Ladies and gentlemen, this is love!" He announced proudly like an idiot in the midst of it all.

Not thinking clearly, Amanda didn't understand her fiance's outburst and warned, "Jason..."

"Amanda, everything's gonna be okay, just watch." He reassured her as he kissed her. Jeremy took in what Jason blurted and thought for a little while...

After about an hour of walking around the manor and not really knowing or understanding what needed to be done, Scully walked out of the doors and sat on the steps outside. She spotted Wendy and Jeremy and got up to find somewhere else where she was alone. But before she could do so, Jeremy ran over to her and asked her to stop. Wendy smiled and stepped closer as well.

"Agent Scully." He greeted.

"Agent Sanders...I'm... so sorry for everything. I just can't process everything right now, I" She started to sob and her words drowned.

"No, Age...Dana. It's okay, I understand how you feel for him and I just wanted to wish you luck." Scully smiled and thanked him dearly. Wendy took his hand and they walked away.

"What do I do now...?" She sat on the steps again and stared out into the same sky that Mulder was looking into. Then Jason appeared through the door that she was sitting in front of. He stood in front of her.

"So, how ya doin', kiddo?"

"Heh, Jason, I really screwed up..."

"So I've heard."

"I don't know anymore..."

"Why are you not letting yourself be with him?" He asked as he sat down next to her.

"I-I'm afraid, I'm afraid of everything and...I just don't know anymore..." 'Heh, that's not true.' Jason said in his mind.

"Well then I guess you've got nothing to worry about anymore." He tested.

"What?" Scully asked confused and a little afraid of what he was going to say.

"He left, Dana. Like 30 minutes ago"

"WHAT!" she shouted as she got up

"Well if you don't want to be with him..."

"I never said that, of course I want to be with him, I love him!" She realised what she had said and understood what Jason was trying to get across to her.

"See? You've got nothing to worry about." He smiled.

"He didn't leave, did he, Jason?" She asked calming down and presenting a soft smile.

"Nope. And I can assure you, he's waiting for you."

"Jason..." She whined sweetly. He got up and hugged her.

"You love him more than you know, its okay to love him, Dana."

She nodded and smoothed her hair. "I know. I'm going to go find him."

"Go get 'im!" He cheered childishly.

And I will love you, baby

Always

And I'll be there forever and a say

Always

Chapter 11 Let's Start With Honesty

Scully went straight to her room and closed the door behind her. She unzipped her dress, slipped out of it, and pulled the other dress from the hanger. Careful not to mess her hair, Scully put on her favourite dress and stood in front of her mirror to make sure everything was just right. And it was. She wiped the very last sign of her crying previously off her face and inhaled an empowering breath.

Walking cautiously out of the room, she started to dash. Looking into all of the rooms, she searched for Mulder. After a looking through all the rooms, she eventually went outside in search for him.

A little breathless from her saunter, she found him. Mulder was standing aside the small creek the separated the two lands occupying the manor and the summer 'mansion'.

She wondered when he got there for he wasn't there when she ran across the bridge when she first went to change her dress.

I was going to start talking to him and start blurting, cos that's what I was guessing what was best out of our relationships...the blurting...despite my constant wont or need to try to make things organised and planned out.

But I lost my nerve and I suddenly wished for a detonated corpse to come flying out of the sky so I could talk about that instead...but no, no such luck. Then he moved.

"Scully...?" Looking at his face made me want to run to him, but I refuse to do that without talking...I've waited this long. A few more moments aren't going to kill me... "What are you doing here...?" He asked ever so painfully. Or maybe it is going to kill me.

"I'm here to...No, Mulder, I'm you're date..." I said, trying to say what he had said before to me. I had no idea how else to go about this but our usual routine of throwing words back and forth.

Her words took him by surprise. He wasn't defeated yet, but not yet victorious. For once and for all...

"Scully, I've thought long about us. And I thought I knew what you'd say. I don't mean to sound overconfident but I thought you loved me too. The way I love you. And I know I acted...poorly ...but that doesn't stop me from loving you. So I need another chance to ask you...do you love me?"

I didn't have to think about the answer, but I did anyway. I was thinking about how our lives would change and how it's already changed. What I would have to do in order to keep my sanity and his. I was thinking about how much nothing else mattered to me right now than to be with him. I was thinking about how much easier it would be if I were closer to him.

"I love you, Mulder." I said. It was the most perfunctory answer there could be but nothing else could've taken its place. Our lives were chaotic enough, at least let the start of our love life be simple and honest.

I don't think I was crying. It wouldn't be right if I cried right now.

The cool summer breeze swept it's way across the still green grass that was as green as it was on this side as it was on the other. The calla lilies swayed and the strong leaves were pulled away from where they grew and lifted into the air. The warm breeze turned into an abrupt gust and nearly pushed me from behind.

I walked over to him, so I was closer and he miraculously held out his hand. This was a wonder to me, but then again, so were our lives. Then he lifted my left hand and kissed it. Another mystery to me, but I didn't care.

"Will you let me love you?" I didn't expect such a question but I knew what I was going to say.

"Be careful with me..."

"Only if you let me love you." We were both tired of our arguing about nonsense when we both knew what we wanted and needed.

So we smiled.

"I love you, Mulder." I repeated again because it felt so good to say it the first time, and so right.

"Thank God." He said instead of the very expected "I love you, too." I guess this is exactly why I love him.

He never let go of the hand he was holding, the one he kissed. He just pulled me closer and hugged me while holding my hand. Like people do when they dance. Like lovers do before they kiss.

And like lovers do, we kissed. It was better than any other kiss I had gotten from him before. From anyone, for that matter. Not because it was filled with passion or rapture or hunger, but because it was perfect. More perfect than any word can ever describe.

"Oh, hey Scully?" He asked out of the blue without ruining the moment. "I love you, by the way."

So, this is when I shed my tear. I wish I hadn't for I'm sure I've cried enough for one day, but I guess I can allow this one to slip.

And this one.

But this one he used his hands to wipe away and this next one he used his lips to kiss away. I will never feel any more complete and thrilled in my life than I do with this man. You, Mulder, are my life. And I love it so.

"Oh." He started again. "I'm a genius, you know." What the hell was that?

"What?" Please don't let this be the start of something ridiculous, cos this is just too wonderful.

"I knew you'd look amazing in that dress." Mulder said thoughtfully.

That's right. I forgot, that night he slept over...I can't even believe he remembers this dress. Hell, I can't really believe any of this is happening, well actually, I can. His eyes lingered as he twirled me. I felt like I was hovering in the air when he spun me, just waiting to be caught by him again. And I was. You know, he still never let go of my hand? He closed his eyes and kissed my forehead. "You look incredible..."

I laughed embarrassingly. I replied with a shy "Thank you" that he barely heard but I knew he knew what I wanted to get across.

We stayed like that for a little while.

The rehearsal dinner started again, for....the 3rd time, I believe. But I wasn't here for one of them, and Mulder is by my side in this one.

His suit is a little disheveled with his collar a little out of place, and my obsessive-compulsiveness isn't handling that too well. I reached over to fix it and instead of impulsively jerking away, he leant in, closed his eyes, and puckered his lips, waiting for a kiss.

He looked bizarre, and I can understand that everyone else would think he's peculiar, but I can only think of him as wonderful and just cute. I didn't kiss him. I wanted to see what he would say.

"Aw, Scully, don't leave me like this, I know I look pretty outlandish."

"Yes, you do."

"Then relieve me of my nonsensicality."

"No, I think this is much more interesting. It makes it harder for you to talk."

"You know, kissing me makes it hard for me to talk too."

"Ah, you have a point."

"Do I win?"

"Will a handshake suffice?"

"Hell no?" He said sounding insulted. She then bowed forward and joined her lips with his. He smiled against her and her hair fell in front of her face and covered a bit of his face as well as hers. His hand came up to sweep the strand away as they stopped.

The night was not so young anymore and the rehearsal dinner was over. Now all everyone had to do was just wait for tomorrow without breaking, hurting, or killing anything.

Scully was in her room releasing the drapes on the curtains as she moved her bags aside to make room to accommodate another bag.

She stretched and yawned as she brushed her hair back and cracked her neck. She then started to sing a little bit. Very out of tune and very quietly. She 'sang', or rather spoke rhythmically, in a husky whisper, bringing out every meaning to the lyrics that had seemed to be hidden until now.

"...if you told me to cry for you, I could, if you told me to die for you, I would. Take a look at my face, there's no price I won't paay... to say these words to youu."

Mulder walked in through the door and dropped his bag on the floor as he went to scoop her up in his arms, dismissing her objection, as he swung her onto the bed. The white sheets flew up instantaneously then flowed back down in such grace that it reminded him of how she moved. She laughed as he tackled her gently on the bed. Her laugh created an atmospheric warmth in the room that only she could have made.

"Tomorrow's the big day." She said with her velvety voice.

"Yep. Today was our big day."

"Yes it was." She hummed. "We didn't steal their thunder, did we?"

"Nah, no one really noticed. Which is good."

"What are you, embarrassed of me, Mulder?" She asked inquisitively raising her eyebrow.

"What would you do if I said yes?"

"I'd have to kick you out of my room. Then I'd invite Agent Sanders over."

He looked at her wish such misery that she couldn't tell if it was sarcasm or seriousness.

She then took her hand and fingered his hair. Then kissed the top of his head as she giggled.

"Hey Scully?"

"Yes?"

"I love you."

"I know."

"Love me?" She nodded and the evening went by as beautifully as it came and the morning birds and dew denoted morning as they slept peacefully entangled under the covers together.

Chapter 12 The Beauty of Tradition is in the Repetition

Everything bloomed in the magic of the moment, vows were given, shared, and promised as many cried from joy and the view of their friends swearing to spend the rest of their lives together. The words spoken, as powerful as they were, held true meaning only to the two, as they finally kissed and walked back down the aisle as more of us stood up and cheered for their sake. White flower petals were used as replacements for the traditional rice that was thrown and it framed the view so magnificently that it looked like a dream. The photographer must've had the time of his life taking the pictures for this wedding, considering the loveliness of it all.

Amanda smiled wildly as Jason picked her up and spun her around. Everyone whooped and cheered again as literally everyone smiled and gave their appreciation for the two.

Couples kissed one another too, almost as an affirmation of their own personal connection to one another.

And of course, Mulder and Scully never let go of one another, not needing to adjust to their new path they've decided to take.

Everyone moved into the next room of the manor where the reception is to be held. The tables were decorated even more attractively than yesterday with the crystal wine and champagne glasses shimmering against the embroidered white table clothes and flowers that occupied the centre. "....and I just wanted to express how happy I am for you two, and that all I see is bliss for you two in the future." One of Amanda's friends toasted and everyone clinked their glasses. I decided to give a little thanks myself. I took the empty wine glass next to me as I started to jingle it with the fork. I cleared my throat when the room was silent.

"Hi, first of all, congratulations, Jason and Amanda, I can't state enough how wonderful this is. I've known both of them for a very very long time, and I must admit, I'd be lying if I said I didn't see this coming. Though they've both had some hard times in the past, it all came down to this moment that we've all been waiting for. We all knew this would happen sooner or later; it just took a while for both of them. I just wanted to thank you two for finding each other in your hearts, and making us realise the importance of love and the strength of it all. You two couldn't be more perfect for each other, I love you two."

Everyone cheered. Amanda cried. Jason smiled. I sat down and Mulder caught me and took me in his arms. "Sounds very much like two people we both know very well, doesn't it?" As he kissed me.

"Why do you think it was so easy to say?" I turned to him and smiled against him. Amanda and Jason gave their thanks to everyone again, and the lights dimmed, signifying the newlywed's first dance together as husband and wife. We all turned out seats so we were facing the creamy white dance floor. I tilted towards Mulder and whispered, "They've been practicing this for a while."

"Yeah I know, Jason told me."

Practice makes perfect, my friends. They were absolutely beautiful. Amanda waltzed onto the dance floor with Jason as they started their routine. What usually are mechanical movements seemed to flow wonderfully. Their polishing was perfect, pictures were taken, and sighs fluttered around the room as though following the invisible musical notes that weaved with sensation.

Their wedding song was beautiful. Then as they ended the transition smoothed over to the next song that was pleasantly more upbeat then their song. It was time for everyone else to dance and enjoy the rest of their time. Until the cake, anyway.

I smiled and waited for Mulder to do something. I knew he was going to do something, I was just anticipating what. Suddenly he got up and twirled around dramatically as he extended his right hand in my direction with his head tilted down, almost embarrassingly so. I let out a laugh as it all came back to me.

"Walking in Memphis, I was walking with my feet ten feet off the beale." This wasn't the song that was playing, but he was mouthing those words. So very Mulder.

I took his hand like I had long before, trying to remember everything and every move made that night. I didn't have to; he remembered everything for the both of us. He pulled me into his arms with much more force than needed, caught me and shrugged his shoulders, trying to pull me in closer. My dress flowed, following my legs as we danced. The mint green created an attractive contrast against his black tux.

We both smiled luminously as we swayed gracefully to the music. His enormous hands squeezed mine as he twirled me. This was new. But I loved the feeling of being caught again by him. Caught up in the moment, we bumped into the couple that was nearing us, as we both said our apologies, we soon realised it was Agent Sanders and Wendy. The four of us exchanged warm smiles and resumed our dances.

After a very long while of dancing, Mulder and I sat back down and resumed our meals. The lights were lighter again, as he poured in some delightful champagne for the both of us. We ate the delicious food and drank the delightful champagne. The cake had been cut already, as the photographer rushed to get a picture of the husband and wife sharing a knife and slicing the cake. We all clapped and cheered again. This never seems to get old. Mulder's hand slipped onto my thigh and gave me a squeeze. Neither does this.

Everyone got up to get cake as we just waited and talked for a while. While we were conversing, Amanda and Jason came up to our table. She was still holding her beautiful bouquet of calla lilies and other assorted flowers that accented everything about her dress.

"Ooh, are you going to throw it?" I asked as I put down my champagne glass.

"No, I'm not." She answered with just the right amount of quirkiness for me to wonder. "They're for you. I wanted you to have them, and I was afraid that you wouldn't be able to reach it before the others."

"Oh, gee, thanks." I said sarcastically referring to her latter comment. But I was truly grateful. "It's beautiful...are you sure?"

"Haha. Oh, Dana the next wedding we're all going to is yours! You're going to make him so happy!" She said earnestly as she bounced away with Jason. I swear, if didn't know any better, Jason winked at Mulder.

"What kind of tradition is this anyway?" I asked, as I smelled the bouquet.

"What, you mean whoever catches the bouquet is the next one to be wed?"

"Yeah, it's ridiculous. Don't you think?"

"Well, the beauty of tradition is in the repetition." He smirked. So very Mulder.

We watched the others dance to the music as the evening threatened the day's end. Mulder got up and tapped my shoulder. "It's kinda warm in here, want to go take a walk?"

"Sure."

We walked along side the creek and I smiled when we reached the area when it all began. Well...not "all" but where our new path began.

"That was a gorgeous wedding, wasn't it?" I said as I watched Mulder fidget next to me.

"Yeah it was. Those are pretty nice too. The ...white...things." He pointed to the bouquet. I had forgotten that I brought it with me, but I thought it looked kind of nice with the dress. He moved a little farther away from me than I had appreciated, but I didn't think much of it. Maybe I was smothering him. He then reached at my hand and brought it to his lips. Maybe not.

He awkwardly pointed to the bouquet again and said, "You know, Scully...the beauty of tradition is in the repetition."

"You keep saying that, Mulder, what do you mean?"

He cleared his throat and took his left hand out of his pocket. "Oh, my God..." He got down on his right knee, never having let go of my hand. I had a hard time breathing and yet it felt as though oxygen was the least important thing to me right now. I just hoped the reduced oxygen to my brain didn't deprive me of my decision-making skills.

"Scully...will you marry me?" I didn't have to think about this answer.

"Yes..." I said cautiously. And I'm crying again. Jesus, who cares. He slipped the cool silver onto my left ring finger and kissed my hand again before standing back up and kissing me. I held him close, not because I was afraid to let go, but because nothing was worth letting him go. After a while of calming down, he looked up at the star studded sky and loudly yelled a victorious "YES!"

I laughed...because of everything.

After 7 years together, and more than half those years loving each other, it doesn't take long to get to where you want after you finally stop denying it.

Years later, we're all going to look back at these couple of days, and thank God everything happened. And we're going to celebrate and make sure no one forgets anything.

After all, the beauty of tradition is in the repetition.

Oh my life is changing everyday

In every possible way

Though my dreams, it's never quite as it seems

Never quite as it seems

I know I felt like this before

But now I'm feeling it even more

Because it came from you

Then I open up and see

The person falling here is me

A different way to be

I want more, impossible to ignore

Impossible to ignore

They'll come true, impossible not to do

Impossible not to do

Now I tell you openly

You have my heart so don't hurt me

For what I couldn't find

Talk to me amazing mind

So understanding and so kind

You're everything to me

Oh my life is changing everyday

Every possible way

Though my dreams, it's never quite as it seems

'cause you're a dream to me

Dream to me

The End.

If you enjoyed this story, please feed the author.

Title: Weddings Are For This
Author: FayetheShipper
Details: 113k  ·  PG-13  ·  Standalone  ·  07/01/05  ·   Email/Website   
Gossamer Category(Keywords): Story   [Romance, Friendship]  
Characters: Mulder and Scully  
Pairings: Mulder/Scully Romance
SPOILERS: Generally all of the episodes before season 8, some references to specific episodes and lines

SUMMARY: Scully's friend's wedding and Mulder's invited.or not? A series of FORUTNATE events, a discover of something old and new but nothing blue


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