A Queen and Her Kings

The Chaotic Dinner Party from Hell

Cassandra took a deep breath as she began to walk down the stairs, Sam still on her arm, strappy red heels clicking. This alerted the others to her presence, and everyone was left gapping in shock as they bore witness to what had to be one of the most beautiful sights any of them had ever seen; Cassandra in a ballgown.

"Shén jiù jiù wǒ... ", Yue muttered in shock, and all of Heartslabyul, as well as Che'nya, despite the fact they didn't understand a word he said, was left nodding dumbly in agreement. Words failed them all, even Riddle and Cater, when faced with the astounding sight. Eiji and Kalim were red-faced messes, Shorter's sunglasses had fallen off to reveal his wide eyes as he openly gaped, Griffin looked like a proud brother, Skip had stars in his eyes, and Ash looked on the verge of tears.

"Lord help my poor soul... ", he muttered, before he dabbed his eyes with his sleeves and gave his girlfriend a watery smile.

"You look great.", the blonde said, meaning every word. Cassandra broke away from Sam and Grim went to sit on Griffin as she reached the bottom of the stairs and walked up to Ash. Smiling, she had to resist the urge to kiss her boyfriend due to Sam's presence as she took his arm. The redhead was left blinking in surprise as she noticed the tears welling in Ash's eyes.

"Why are you crying?", she asked quietly in confused concern. Ash smiled and abruptly pulled her close, wrapping his arms around her waist and burying his face in her shoulder.

"You... you're just so beautiful.", he whispered quietly in a broken voice. He inhaled sharply and released her.

"How did someone like me ever end up with someone like you?", he asked, extremely quiet so Sam wouldn't hear. Cassandra laughed and laid her head on his chest.

"Just lucky, I guess.", she mumbled. Sam watched the scene with a sad smile.

He didn't wish he was Ash, he didn't want to rip her away from the boy and into his arms; he just wished there was a place for him here. Sam frowned as he watched Cassandra pull away from Ash and hold something in her hand that seemed to be attached to his tie with a smile.

It was a flat, golden pin with the face of a lynx and green eyes of jade. Sam could tell all the material was all real and very high quality. He wondered how a person of their age and circumstances could afford it.

"You wore your pin!", she said excitedly. Ash nodded with a smile.

"Yeah, yeah I did.", he said breathlessly. Cassandra looked up at him, looking extremely happy.

"I can't believe you brought it with you when you came here... ", she said in astonishment. Ash smirked.

"It was in my gun holster. I usually keep it there as my lucky charm.", the blonde explained. Cassandra snorted.

"So that explains why I never see you wear it; it was a birthday gift I had commissioned especially for you, you know. The least you can do is wear it properly from time to time.", the golden eyed girl huffed. Ash laughed.

"I will, I will. So, are you ready?", the green eyed boy asked. Cassandra nodded, but her attention was soon diverted as she noticed that Sam was still there. Smiling, she removed her arm from Ash's and walked up to him.

"Thank you again for everything, Sam. When do you want the table and decorations back?", she asked. Sam gave her a sad smile.

"Keep them; the table, the lights, keep it all. They're yours now.", he said amicably, magenta eyes looking glazed over and sad. Cassandra looked taken aback.

"I couldn't possibly- !", she started to say, but Sam raised his hand to silence her.

"Don't worry about it, they were just collecting dust in my shop's storage room anyway.", he consoled, and bent at the waist as he took off his hat, holding it over his chest as he took the girl's hand into his own and placed a gentle kiss upon it.