Wedding Crashers (Griff)

[Caitrin de Archer]

Caitrin looked down at the chain and pendant which now lay around her neck. It still held Griff’s faint aroma, and she smiled at the sight of it. It was, in her view, an unconventional way of celebrating an engagement, but they had never done anything by the book, why start now? It was a pretty little thing, and she was proud to wear it, and proud of what it symbolised. She did love Griff, she supposed she had always loved him and just not allowed herself to believe it. She knew now that he was the only one she wanted to spend the rest of her life with, even Pip could not compare to him. Her thoughts changed a little when she thought of Pip, she was his little secret, the one who was always there in the background, but she would have to change that. Caitrin loved Griff, and she was loyal to him; life had just thrown her a few grey areas that she wasn’t sure what to do with She would have to do something though, and quickly. “What do you think?” She asked, forcing herself away from her thoughts as she brushed her hair back into place, and turned around to show Griff how the pendant sat on her neck.

The fact he had not spoken to her Uncle before asking her did not surprise her. Her Uncle would probably have come straight from speaking to Griff to tell her exactly what was going to happen; though he may deny it, her Uncle was the worst gossip there was. “At least you don’t have to speak to my father.” She tried to keep her tone light, but she felt it darkening slightly at the mention of her father. He wouldn’t approve of Griff, and she knew that already. Her father was never fond of anything that she did, so taking Griff as a husband would be another disappointment to add to the list. He might even cut her off this time. It would have been a more worrying thought if she didn’t have her Uncle to look after her. Rouland had recently told her that she would never have to return to Mercia, which had meant a lot to her, it meant she had a home here in Camelot; one that she had never had in Mercia.

She shifted uncomfortably, she didn’t want to think about her father at a time like this. She wanted to be happy with her fiancée, not thinking on the ghosts of the past. Caitrin had never told Griff much about her childhood, mainly as it was locked off to her, and she didn’t want to revisit a lot of it. Without her realising, she traced her index finger across the cheek which had been split on one of her father’s more drunken days. As soon as she realised what she had done, she tried to disguise the action as an itch, and gave Griff a half smile, coming back to her usual self in the only way she really knew how. Shuffling forwards, she gave Griff a soft kiss, “Anyway, I don’t want to think about my Uncle right now.” She smirked, “There are more, interesting, things to do.” Again, she pressed her lips up against his, but her heart wasn’t completely in it, she was just trying to block out the images which had flashed across her mind. Caitrin deepened the kiss, and placed one hand on her soon-to-be husband’s chest. “Wouldn’t you agree?”