Chapter 1~
As Forgetful As A Gunshot
It was common knowledge now: I had the greatest best friends; naturally they knew me so well and because of that fact: they could do no wrong as far as she was concerned. Speaking of the lovely ladies they had blindfolded her, promising that it'd be worth it once she saw where they took her—but she was no idiot, the pulsating music drew her like sunshine to an empty sky, she could barely hold onto her giggles. The strip club was exactly what she needed, after yet another fight with the oh-so irresponsive Queen Carol of Bitchdom—who had informed Caroline she wouldn't be gracing her with her appearance at her own daughter's wedding—she felt more than drained.
It was obvious Elena and Bonnie were trying to tell her something: so right then and there she decided she'd let it go, tonight she'd have fun, tonight was her fuckin' bachelorette party after all!, and true to her word she ignored the dread that came with the thoughts of getting married in 48hrs—she was just going to live in the now! Of course it was easier said than done. See they had obvious deeper intentions then fulfilling a dream, they were hear to distract her, this entire party was to distract her; they knew she was a wreck.
Hell Caroline was sure Mystic Falls as a whole community knew she was a wreck, she could feel apprehension like the perfume she wore, painted on her skin as if it belonged there, and as much as she loved her life now she couldn't help but ask: what did I do wrong? Why am I so unhappy? When will I flourish? They were the same questions you heard in high school when your boobs where smaller then everyone else's or you were taller than the boy you liked; petty problems and conundrums that should have been answered when you were still taking career placement tests.
Somehow along the way Caroline had missed the class on problem solving and was now perpetually lost, she lived a life that didn't make her happy, nor did it come close to fulfilling her, she loved a man whom was safe and whom she loved; but he didn't thrill her, her job was a safe and prosperous one but she hated it, each day she left the confines of her home she put on a mask: the mask of a vapid blonde to hidden under her narcotic tendencies to notice the snarky looks, and playful jabs that are a little bit absent of playful truth was? She fucking hated the person she'd become, and that was one thing that had followed her through High School and beyond, but she owed it to her girls, tonight she'd be the actress she was destined to be "Ready, Care?" Elena's elated voice sang over the music, "of course!" she shouted back, "alright!" Bonnie sang "1…2…" never the patient one Caroline yanked off the blindfold grinning and shouted "3…!" the girls laughed, not at all surprised that Caroline didn't want to wait. She looked around in awe at the club, bathed as it was in red light, leather and alcohol as far as the eye could see, all of the small tables had been pushed to the back, and a rectangle of comfy sofa-type leather seats sat surrounding a stage like structure, were a single silver chair sat a pink cape with furry tripping trailed along its back "welcome to desire" Bonnie whispered seductively in her ear—which was a shock since Bonnie was queen of prudes—"surprise!" Elena sang from her other side, Caroline was more than a bit shocked "you guys… y-you" she feigned tears, "you rented out an entire Dick bar just for me!" the girls all laughed and hugged "please" Elena began "don't let Marr water you down Care" she just smiled and hugged them to her, through everything they were her rocks; the original true blue besties there through thick and thin, maintaining every bit of emotional stability Caroline could never truly reach.
She'd never pay the debt she owed the two girls now hugging her, not for all the times they'd been there when her "happy" parents divorced. When her mom took a one way first class trip down bitch avenue, they were even there when she had no one to blame but herself—like with… No. Like everything else neg. she would put it away to cry over at a later date, tonight she'd do something she'd been pretending to do for 3 1/2 years now: genuinely happy.
Bonnie took Caroline's hand suddenly, Elena taking the other "first things first Care" Bonnie began, "its showcase time" Elena finished for her, the girls like a well-oiled machine "the boys come out, they woo you, you make with the picking and he's yours for the night" Caroline grinned as Bonnie finished: free boys & booze? Behave a voice in her mind whispered but she made no promises, after all no one would speak a word in here tonight it was the code.
The two girls pulled her along, she waved and hugged her other friends who'd been invited as the other women took their seats surrounding the stage, a few girls from high school where there like Susan, and Meredith only stopping to give a genuine hug to Vicki—matt sister—when the brunette sauntered over to her kissed her cheek until finally she came to the stairs that led up the cat-walk like stage and Bonnie and Elena plopped her down in the cape draped chair, the two girls scurried down to the seats right in front of her and gave her deviously encouraging grins "you're gonna love this!" Elena whisper/yelled—more the latter then the former—but she knew that, they didn't need to tell her. She was going to pick out a boy-toy, and ride out her troubles—figuratively of course, she was going to ditch her apprehension about Matt and her worry over the issue of Carol, and most importantly beet down the rising memories that came with her thinking about him and those damned haunting eyes.
The lights dimmed then, cloaking the stage she sat on in darkness except for a few filter lights that lined the sides of the catwalk, she looked straight ahead at the cloaked of velvet red that hid backstage from her, and in true Caroline fashion she whooped with the excitement into the darkness, her body already swaying and pumping to the melodic techno beat, when a voice sounded from over the dark covered space of the club it was the rather deep and lustrous voice of a woman "ladies, ladies I can see that where eager to get started" it sang, Caroline looked down at Elena and Bonnie and the three girls screamed in response "was that the bachelorette? Well we can't keep her waiting" the music suddenly changed abruptly to something much faster than before, and lights flared to light like tiny sunspots around her, they flickered playfully with the beat and chased the darkness around the packed club "whose first?" the voice drawled, when the light stopped flaring and dancing and suddenly focused on the curtain of velvet in front of her a guy suddenly stood there.
He was naked except for some conveniently placed clouds of cotton, and big white angel wings tied to his shoulders; naturally he was extremely hot all wild blonde hair, blue eyes and pouty lips—which was all fine and dandy, until it hit her that he looked exactly like Matt, which of course killed the fantasy.
The night gradually descended hell hill after that, guy after guy took the stage, there hot gazes locked with the voluptuous blonde—yours truly—some bolder then others; approaching and stroking as she allowed, there playful smiles and lust-filled eyes would be enough for any girl there—and if she tried she could even pretend they were enough for her, but she couldn't find interest nor could she shake her emotions, they clouded every receptor in her head labeled anything positive from happiness to pleasure, her troubles followed haunting her in the forms of the men's faces and personas a blonde here; to represent Matt, one disguised as a cop or a ranger to be Carol, and naturally the dark haired ones to be her biggest regret.
When Bonnie and Elena noticed they tried prodding her, whispering things across the small space like "oh, he's blonde! You love blondes!" or "look at that body, Care!" and she tried to play along—giving an Emmy worthy performance—but they were her best friends and they immediately saw through her and before long like so many other things in her life, she could feel the self-sabotage: she'd ruined her own bachelorette party. Even the playfully seductive lady-voice above noticed her pout, "my, are beautiful bachelorette is tough to please" she'd sang, "however… we've got someone whose never had any complaints in fact…don't tell any of the others but he's a crowd pleaser and a pantie teaser and…" she paused dramatically, "this girls favorite Ow!" then suddenly the room went completely dark, and the music died. Something like excitement forced her to sit up in her chair, she crossed her ankles in a lady-like-queen-bitch gesture and flipped her hair "move a long wouldja!" she yelled into the cloaked dark, she must have said the magic words since in that moment Rihanna's Disturbia began playing, and above her a circle of lights took shape: a blinding yellowish glow in the form of a full moon, the projection so real that she thought she could see craters in the ceilings dark tile, then a howl pierced the lustrous black, and she couldn't pretend to be uninterested any longer, she felt enamored then: the power of theatrics had effectively possessed her attentions.
She nearly jumped out of her flesh when lips brushed the shell of her ear, and a velvety voice that sent lust and regret through her like the worst form of vertigo, curling around her bones like wicked ice "long time no see, angel", his voice itself was warm and thick and Caroline's body immediately responded, she felt as if a switch had been flicked and said switch had read: emergency shutdown, she'd recognize that voice anywhere and the fact that she recognized it in a strip club was testament to that fact, it was a no brainer: a dead ringer for the biggest mistake in her life, and her greatest heartbreak, the lone bringer of both unparalleled pleasure and a mass of crippling pain, the one person that could break the fragile girl of glass she'd become, the lights hit the stage and Caroline's breath caught wrapped in a vice around her lungs, her hearing seemed to dull for only the sound of Bonnie and Elena gasping behind her, she'd been right: "hope you're not afraid of the big bad wolf girls!, be careful he's not housetrained"
Authors Note: This isn't your run of the mill fic, it's pretty dark though it might not seem like it right now, but as i start it going it goes to some pretty dark, deep places and if your looking for a mushy happy ending type story, stay tuned because i'm sure i can help you out, but as for Disturbia its not the one. If you have any other questions please, go right ahead and ask me :]
Review if you've got the time!