Charthur: Part II

Arthur glanced behind him briefly when he heard thank you from behind him. He gave her a small nod of acknowledgement, though his attention was more focused on Peter. The few times he had met him had been at Erin’s apartment. Usually he was too focused on making out with Erin to really do anything else. It was annoying, but who cared? But to have this guy be not only eyeing up another girl, but at his own wedding? When Erin was right there? Arthur grit his teeth. He didn’t appreciate anyone hitting on his girlfriend or playing his friend.

”She does,” Peter said, turning then to give a smile to Erin. She smiled back. ”And speaking of beautiful, you never mentioned how beautiful your girlfriend was.”

Erin nodded. ”Right?! The reason he’s been hiding her is probably because he’s scared we’d all think that.” She was joking, but there was a gleam in Peter’s eyes that made it very, very hard for Arthur not to slug him in the jaw right there.

”I haven’t been hiding her. We’re just not very public.” He defended, his brow twitching and arms tensing at Peter's words.

”Pssh. I don’t know if it’s a coincidence you didn’t tell us you had a girlfriend until you also told us you were going to be a father,” Erin said. Peter’s brows rose slightly – clearly he had forgotten all about that fact, even though he’d been told before – and then he glanced at Chardonnay again while Arthur’s side no longer blocked her.

”Ah, that must be why you’re so radiant. They say pregnant women get radiant, right?” Peter said. His tone was joking, but it still rubbed Arthur the wrong way.

As before, Chardonnay changed the subject back to Erin. Peter laughed at that as though this was all some big joke and leaned over to give Erin a kiss on the cheek. She was beaming as she wrapped her arms around him – her still sitting in Arthur’s chair and he standing beside her. ”Yes, she is, and I couldn’t be happier to be married to her.” He said, and for a second it seemed like he might have gotten the picture. Maybe her being pregnant signaled to Peter to back the fuck off. Arthur sure hoped so.

He glanced back towards Chardonnay, who had gotten up. He wanted to leave with her but unfortunately Erin and Peter were there, being annoying. Well, Peter was, Erin was fine. He told her it was fine and watched her go for a second, before he glanced at Peter and saw his eyes traveling to Chardonnay’s ass.

”Stop staring at her ass.” Peter turned slightly to look down at Arthur. Arthur grit his teeth. ”Now.”

”Arthur, he wasn’t staring at her ass.” Erin dismissed. ”Or if he was it was just in passing.”

”Yeah, in passing. I was comparing it to Erin’s, actually.” Erin laughed at the joke Peter made and Arthur’s face contorted to one of disgust. Erin noted his face and her smile fell for a moment.

”If you keep sizing up my girlfriend, I will slug you in the jaw.” Arthur snapped, his hand on the table clenching into a fist. Erin now sensed the tension and tried to get between the boys.

”Arthur, you know Peter’s just flirty. He doesn’t mean anything by it.” Erin said. Arthur glanced at her.

”He’s making Chardonnay uncomfortable.” He said. ”And pissing me off.”

”It’s OK. I get the picture Erin.” Peter held his hands up in mock surrender. ”I don’t want to piss you off dude, you just have a smoking girlfriend.” His eyes flickered towards the bathrooms. Arthur punched him in the arm, hard, causing Peter to wince and Erin to make a noise of protest.

”Erin, control your perverted husband before I kill him.” He said. Erin made a face and glanced at Peter.

”You did go a little far. Okay, let’s just give them some space for a bit! This is not how I wanted to meet Chardonnay. You need to let off some of that steam, big boy,” Erin teased, gently pushing Peter towards their table. And just like that Peter was back to normal, his hands sliding to Erin’s waist and ass, his hands all over her. Arthur glanced at them. He really didn’t understand how Erin was comfortable with a guy like that. He reminded him, vaguely, of Chad in a sense. He was in a relationship but still a huge flirt. Arthur could never date someone like that – he felt bad for Erin.

The table was still empty – Darren and Kyle were now talking to the new couple, occasionally glancing at Arthur. Arthur tried to ignore the gazes and sat down, helping himself to some water, too. No way did he need any champagne in his system with Peter here.

The music changed, and Erin and Peter quickly took to the floor to have their first dance. It was a nice song Erin had chosen, and at least for the moment Peter seemed entranced by Erin. Arthur watched them, waiting for Peter’s eyes to wander. Temporarily they didn’t, as he and Erin had some kind of conversation in whispered voices. Erin deserved better than someone who was going to eye up other women. Yet, she’d always had such crap taste in men. Again he found himself wondering what would have happened had he actually given Erin a real chance and dated her, and gave up screwing Chardonnay. At least she wouldn’t be stuck with some pervert for a husband.

The dance was almost halfway through when Chardonnay navigated her way through the crowd and came back to her seat. He glanced at her and leaned back, warily eyeing Peter. He didn’t seem to look in her direction.

”I’m sorry about him. I’ve never really liked Peter. I knew he was kind of trashy, but I didn’t think he’d be like... that.” Arthur wouldn’t have invited Chardonnay to this thing if he knew Peter would be such a creep. He glanced at her, shaking his head. ”...no, Peter’s always been a tool. He and Erin have been together for a few years, so he’s always had some kind of soft spot for her, but he still hits on other girls. Which is stupid, if you ask me.” He shifted, and on the floor Erin and Peter embraced one another with Erin’s head on his chest. ”He thinks all of it is some joke. I don’t get his sense of humor. You shouldn’t have been forced to deal with that.”

Arthur agreed with what Chardonnay was saying and it was something he had told Erin before, but something she always brushed off to his social personality. Arthur glanced at Chardonnay as she said it wasn’t his fault. That was odd. He had expected for her to blame him for everything. He chose not to comment on it – lest he give her an idea or something – and instead cracked a half-smirk at her latter comment. ”Good. Do it. I wouldn’t fucking blame you. I think Erin got the picture when I told him off earlier that if he tried anything again he was dead meat.” He glanced at Peter again, whose eyes had now begun to leave his wife. He wasn’t looking at Chardonnay, but Arthur was wary he may be looking at yet another girl.

He was such a douche. Arthur grit his teeth slightly. What the hell was with Erin’s shit taste in men?

When Chardonnay spoke up again, Arthur was glad the subject deviated from Peter. ”Well, I told you I met Erin through her cousin. And then I met everyone else through Erin, basically. It was the summer after we graduated – well, the next year after’s summer. There was an anime convention up in L.A., and she had room in her car so she brought me. We met up with Darren and Kyle there. Since then we’ve been to a few events, like other game cons and Pride in June, but we don’t really hang out much aside from as a group. It’s not like I’m best friends with any of them,” he shrugged, ”Plus they’re all easy to beat in Mario kart, so that’s a plus.”

Arthur noted the smirk on Chardonnay’s face, and was glad to see something other than a strained smile or a frown on her face. Arthur would rather see her being herself than trying to just ignore everyone and everything. She wasn’t good with people, so he considered it a good thing that now that it was just the two of them, she could actually show some expression on her face.

He glanced at the floor as the groom and bride separated with a kiss, and Erin took to the dance floor with her father. He zoned out for a moment, wondering what it might be like to dance with a parent at his wedding. The closest he would get would be dancing with Susan, who was basically a mother to him, but it just wasn’t the same. Still, he was happy for Erin, who looked up at her father like he put the stars in the sky.

Arthur glanced back at Chardonnay and leaned in the chair, popping his collar slightly to get some ventilation in the formal shirt. ”Yeah, I do, every year usually. I don’t really have much other opportunity to be a part of a community. I don’t really go all for it like Darren and Kyle do – last year Kyle put so much glitter in his beard he almost drowned.” He said. ”I mean, yeah, we’re not really that... exciting, I guess. But it’s something to do. Like I said, I mostly know these guys through Erin.” Maxine didn’t really know Erin that much, as evidenced by her not being there at the wedding. But she was the best friend Arthur had aside from his sister; everyone else was just a friend. And Chardonnay was just an enigma. He couldn’t label her, even if they were dating. ”I – “ He glanced back at Chardonnay, expression unsure. ”Do you ever go to any kind of events? I know you’ve invited me to a cooking one.” that he may or may not have ruined for her in the future. He still wasn’t sure on that.

Arthur shook his head. ”Well, it’s something to do.” It was less lonely than sitting around and doing nothing, too. It occurred to him how little they knew about each other’s ten years, even while they were screwing almost every weekend. Sure, the sex with Chardonnay was something he looked forward to every week, but he had other things to do. He wondered what she had done to entertain herself.

When she said video games were stupid he frowned. ”Hey. They are not stupid.” He said, ”Most of them – well the good ones, anyway – are put together really well. Some can even be like a movie almost, where you get to design your story yourself and make certain choices that change the outcome. I know you don’t like movies, either, but video games can actually be more substantial than just mindless battles.”

He didn’t expect to change her mind, though. Erin and her dad were nearly done their dance and Darren and Kyle were talking to a few people Arthur didn’t know. He glanced at Chardonnay when she said she didn’t do much. ”Not really surprising. I mean, you don’t really like people. “ He said. But it still sounded really... lonely to Arthur. He blinked for a second. ”So you go to grand openings for other restaurants? It’s probably only to scope out the competition, right?” He was only half joking, as he cracked a little smirk and nudged her arm.