I had just started dating Erin when her dad was getting re-married. I was her guest at the wedding, and I could tell straightaway that this was going to be an experience. Maybe not good maybe not bad, but it was going to be an experience. You see, I would have the distinct misfortune of having to get to know everyone in both of these families at the same time I was supposed to be Mr. Romantic at this wedding. So I would simultaneously have to entertain Erin, while getting to know her entire family, her entire New family, and not knowing either the bride or the groom. Joy of joys, this was to be my first real test as the new boyfriend.
Now, I can't paint myself a picture of ineptitude, I did at least know enough to stick close to Erin at all times, and I had the obvious advantage of having met her father the night before. My conversation with her father was long, boring, and more than a little threatening. He made it very clear that Erin was not someone he would tolerate trifling with, and that he still very much valued her presence at family functions, so I was a little bit intimidated to begin things.
Bless her, she knew just how to settle me down.
The night before the wedding, the two of us were staying at her dad's house, and I couldn't sleep a wink. It was decreed at the outset that she would be staying upstairs, and I would be staying in the basement, but that hardly stopped two creative lovers such as ourselves.
When I heard footfalls at 2 AM, squeaking the floorboards on the stairs, I knew just what to expect. It would be Erin, coming for a late night tryst to calm our nerves. I heard those feet thump-thumping down the stairs for what seemed like an eternity, until I heard the door knob turn and the door open.
"Psssst...Are you awake?"
Now this was strange, this was a voice I didn't recognize. I was certain it would be Erin, but even in hushed tones I could tell that this was someone else entirely.
"Hello?"
"I thought I heard something in the garage. I was wondering if it was you," a feminine voice, albeit a whisper, came from the doorway.
"Where's Erin? I know it's late, but I thought you were her."
"Well, I'm not, I think she fell asleep two or three hours ago."
I could smell something strange coming from that doorway too, and every time she spoke, the smell wafted past my nose. It was a sweet smell, but pungent too, something I recognized, but couldn't put my finger on.
"Wanna get some fresh air?" she asked me, finally, and I wasn't sure what to say.
"I guess so, but what the fuck is that smell? I can't figure it out, and it's driving me nuts."
"Come on out through the garage, we'll figure it out."
I followed her, as I was told, as she walked through the garage door and flicked on the light. I could see she was wearing clothes from a night out at the club, and she walked like she was three sheets to the wind. As she stumbled to the front of the garage, she reached up and opened the overhead door, which was a clear strain for her, as she was only five feet tall, and drunk as fuck.
"Help me, would you for Christ's sake?"
"Oh sorry about that, hold on."
I came around the front of her and grabbed the older looking handle she was using to open the large faux wood door. As I lifted upwards, I felt something awful happen in my back and I doubled over to make the pain stop.
"Fuck fuck fuck that hurts."
"What's wrong with you? I thought we were getting this door open."
"Gimme a minute, I think I hurt something in my back"
I managed to extend my back enough to get the door up, and then I walked out into the cold, dewy night to breathe a little easier. I took a deep breath and then decided to get to the bottom of things.
"So who are you anyway?" I finally got around to asking.
"I'm Becca, the one Erin apparently didn't tell you about."
"Oh oh, right, the sister. I'm sorry, it's nice to meet you, I'm Bastian, Erin's boyfriend."
Had I known what was about to take place, I don't think I would have stopped it, even knowing how far Erin and I have come as a couple. I trust her implicitly, as she does I, and I wish to death I had another solution to the conundrum that this young woman became, but I'm a man after all, and there was no stopping the feeling I got.
"Bastian? That is the weirdest name I've ever heard. Is it foreign or something?" she said in typical American fashion. If it's different, it must be 'foreign." Americans have a strange sense of humor.
"Oh, yeah, it's German, but my parents aren't actually from Germany, I'm originally English."
"Wow, we'll see how you get along in this all French-Canadian family, they don't take kindly to strangers."
I could see she was joking, but I was hardly in a laughing mood, my back hurt like hell, and I still couldn't figure out that fucking smell. I was ready to write this young woman off when she surprised me a little.
"Do you want some?" she offered me a puff of what I assumed was a fag, but the smell finally made sense to me as I sized her up.
"Oh, I don't know, I haven't touched the stuff in months, it'll probably make me sick."
"That'd be the first time I ever saw someone get sick from smoking weed," she was right, I would have to come up with better than that. And besides, I loved the stuff; I could hardly ignore the opportunity to soothe my nerves at this point.
I grabbed what I now saw was a fairly spent roach, and cursed my luck that she hadn't gotten me earlier. Upon lighting it, I realized there was no chance of a cherry there, and handed it back to her.
"It's spent. Fuck, that really would've hit the spot right about now."
"Here, try this then," she offered me something more substantial, and I was all too happy to light up the blunt in my hands.
I was puffing away happily for the next two or three minutes, as we sat and looked at stars. It was tough to see anything for the artificial light all around us, but we made do with the brightest of constellations, until she finally brought up Erin.
"So, how long have you known my sister?"
"Seems like forever, but in reality, it's more like eight or nine months. We only started dating maybe two weeks ago, we were just friends before that."
