Hi, sorry for taking time to post this chapter but I have a lot going on at school and such now, so I write when I have the inspiration and the time to. Please tell me if there is any mistakes that I've made or such, and I'll do my best to fix them! Right now I haven't started chapter four, so I can't guarantee hen it'll be published but I'll try to be quick writing it. (By the way, I switched my spellcheck to german when I had atest the other day, and it won't change back so if you were to find a german word hidden in here somewhere it's the stupid spellcheck on my laptop)
Oh ,and by the way; All the CSIs won't be in this story. Hodges and Wendy, for example, I chose to cut out.
"Okay, we all have shoes to wear – Now we just have to find the perfect dress!" Maxine declared, already on a wild hunt through the racks. "Easy, Max" Natalia chuckled. "You'll have plenty of time to try them on."
It was Friday afternoon and Maxine, Natalia, Catherine and Calleigh were shopping for the party. After an extensive search through their closets at home and the shops at the mall, they had finally found shoes for everyone. Usually they'd start with the dresses and work their way from there, but they had decided to change things up a bit. Calleigh, ironically being the one in the group with the largest shoe closet by far, had bought new stilettos, and Catherine had as well. It was quiet at the mall today; usually it was crawling with people. This school year had started off with a bang, these past weeks had ben filled with one test and presentation after the other, leaving nearly no time for them to hang out and enjoy a good time together. Now there was finally an opportunity to go to a party and just have fun; without having to worry about getting all the necessary work done by Monday. "I think I just found my dress!" Catherine announced as she stepped out of the dressing room. "Wow" they all said in unison. It was definitely a flashy dress, but if anyone could pull it off it had to be Catherine. It was short enough to show off her legs perfectly, yet not too short. It had a deep neckline, but it still left the most important parts to the imagination. The fabric was made of gold sequins, almost making her glow. "I know you just found your dress!" Calleigh said. "You look incredible, there's no way you're not buying it!"
Catherine smiled, and even blushed a little in which she did so rarely. "I guess it's settled then. You guys found anything yet?"
"No, but we haven't even gone through half of the dresses here yet" Natalia replied.
"Hey, Nat. I tried this on but it wasn't entirely my color. You should totally try it on, I bet it looks amazing on you since you're so tan and all." Catherine handed Natalia the dress and literally pushed her into the dressing room before she had the time to give her an answer.
Shortly after Natalia hesitantly stepped out. "Cath, I think this is a little low-cut for me. It shows a lot of cleavage." The dress was orange, and indeed low-cut. It was tight around her upper body and hung loose around her thighs. "You have a lot of cleavage to show!" Catherine smiled back at her. The brunette locked none less than stunning. "I feel like I look like a pumpkin" she argued, not really worried about the color, but about the amount of skin showing. "In that case you must be the hottest pumpkin in the world" Maxine chimed in. "Ryan will go crazy."
"You really think so?"
"I don't think he could've done better even if you'd been wearing a garbage bag. With that dress he will drag you to a bedroom before you've even stepped inside the front door" Catherine replied, still reveling in the sheer pleasure of finding this dress for Natalia.
"Ahh, I hope so," Natalia said. "I think I need to help him along a little bit."
"What do you mean 'help him along'?" Maxine asked, her curiosity now seriously awakened.
"Well, he hasn't really taken any initiative. I don't know why."
"Oh my God, you guys haven't… " Calleigh blurted out a bit too loud before realizing she shouldn't call it out in the middle of the store. She lowered her voice and continued: "You haven't had sex yet?"
Natalia blushed, this was the first time she admitted it to anyone. She'd been wondering for a while if she should tell them or not, but she thought Ryan might get to it anytime soon and decided to wait. "No."
"I'm sorry for sounding so surprised! You guys have been together for a while now, I just figured you were having sex already" Calleigh said, thinking of how she wished she'd taken things a little slower in her previous relationships. "Please don't feel like we're rushing you into anything, I totally understand if you're not ready."
Natalia sighed. "I actually wish that was the problem; I am more than ready and Ryan can't seem to take the hint!" They all chuckled at her; it was just way too easy to imagine. Natalia dropping hints at Ryan and him not picking up on them at all. "Then you should take control over the situation. I mean, let's face it; your boyfriend is a little slow" Catherine argued, amused that Ryan was totally oblivious to the fact that a girl wanted to sleep with him. "I know, but I'm so scared that he might not want to! I'll be standing there looking like an idiot."
"Come on! He is a guy. Besides; sleeping with you will probably be the peak of his life!" Maxine debated. Natalia chuckled and hid her face in her hands. "Oh my God, I can't believe I told you that. How am I going to do this?" She couldn't help but laugh at the situation. "First, I think we should get you some new, sexy underwear. Just stay there and let me find something for you" Calleigh said excited, always one up for more shopping. "I don't know, don't you have a dress to find anyway?" Natalia replied, anxious Calleigh might bring her something too vulgar. "We're halfway through finding our dresses and we still have tons of time!"
Natalie gave in, not that it mattered since Calleigh had already made her way to the lingerie racks. "Just don't find anything too sexy!" Natalia called after her.
"Natalia, it's underwear! If anyone's special enough to get to see it, it might as well be sexy!" And that was it, there is just certain people there's no reason in arguing with, Natalia thought. Calleigh Duquesne was one of them. Actually, so were Maxine and Catherine. Remind her again why she had so strong-minded friends?
Eventually, she ended up buying underwear she wouldn't even have the guts to try on if the other girls hadn't pushed her to do so. She felt anxious, but also excited, to show it to Ryan.
The girls had decided to move on to the next store on their list to find dresses for Calleigh and Maxine. As they walked, they spotted some well-known faces walking towards them. "Hey guys! What are you doing here?" Natalia exclaimed and hugged her boyfriend. "Probably the same as you do" Ryan smirked.
"Dress shopping?" Catherine asked dryly, not able to withhold the sarcastic comment.
"We are helping Lou get an outfit for the party" Eric said. "Actually, we're done."
"Is it really that hard for guys to figure out what to wear?" Maxine asked, genuinely interested in the answer as she felt like all guys wore pretty much the same type of clothes to every party. "No", Lou smirked. "That's why we're done already."
"You guys look like you're done too. Want to come with us for pizza?" Eric asked them, his stomach rumbling as to emphasize his recent request.
"Sorry, but looks can be deceiving. We are far from done, I haven't even found a dress yet" Calleigh answered, even though she would kill for some pizza right now. "I feel bad for you guys" Eric said, turning to the other three girls. "Shopping with her never ends."
They all laughed, also Calleigh who remembered the times she's dragged him with her for 'only a little while' in which turned into hours. Silence suddenly laid upon them as a group of people walked by and bumped into Natalia, causing one of her bags to slip out of her hand. An entire rainbow of laces fell on the floor. Bras, thongs – you name it. Natalia's turned fifty shades of red and she mentally slapped herself in the face for buying the stupid lingerie.
The guys were left somewhat speechless. Ryan is one lucky guy, Lou thought to himself.
Calleigh reacted fast. "Oh my, you guys weren't supposed to see that" she started off, her southern accent now evident in every pronounced word. "I'm sorry, I'd rather not have you know what my lingerie looks like. Thanks for carrying my bag for me Nat, but I can take it from here." She felt so bad for Natalia right now; she figured she could bear the brunt of this one. Especially since she was the one who encouraged Natalia to buy it in the first place. She picked up the garments and put them back in the bag, noticing that Eric raised an eyebrow at her, obviously enjoying the current situation. Oh, she was definitely going to hear about this later, she thought. While Natalia was still a little taken aback by the situation, Maxine and Catherine struggled to contain their laughter. Had it been them who lost sexy lingerie on the floor it wouldn't even have mattered, but of course it had to be Natalia.
Eric watched the blonde pick up her laced underwear, trying not to get too caught up in the thought of how she looked wearing them. That might lead to an extended stay in the men's bathroom. He shaked off the thought, and shot her an amused look instead. This she wouldn't get to hear the end of just yet. Ryan was a little disappointed it wasn't Natalia's after all, and Lou silently thanked God that he chose Miami for this school year, it looked like it could be an interesting year. He hadn't been bored even a second since he came here. He could totally picture Catherine wearing something like that as well. "Alright, if you guys are done staring we have to get going" Catherine said, snapping all the guys out of their thoughts. They mumbled some words of agreement in return before they said their goodbyes to the girls.
Natalia waited until the boys were out of sight before she almost jumped Calleigh, and Maxine and Catherine broke down laughing.
"Oh my God, I'm so sorry! You did not have to do that for me!"
Calleigh simply shaked her head and shrugged. "That's okay. I have some of the same stuff anyway; it may as well have been my lingerie that fell out. Besides; you wouldn't want Ryan to see his surprise prematurely."
"Thank you so much Cal, what would I do without you?"
The girl's went on with their shopping, and eventually their treasure hunt for the perfect dresses had been narrowed down to a few candidates. Both Calleigh and Maxine was now busy in each of their changing rooms, trying on the variety of dresses they had brought in side with them.
"Are you excited for tomorrow night?" Catherine asked casually as she and Natalia were sitting outside of the dressing rooms waiting.
"Do you mean the party or the…" Natalia didn't have to finish her sentence; of course she talked about the sex part. If Catherine Flynn made a list of her favorite subjects, sex would have to be in the top three. "I'm very nervous, but I trust Ryan more than anyone else in the world." Natalia decided upon brutal honesty, she felt like she and Catherine had gotten to that point in their friendship by now. Unlike many girls her age, she hadn't given 'her first time' that much thought. She only had one criteria; it would have to be with someone she loved and trusted. Ryan was both. Just thinking about it made her feel warm inside, a nice yet strange feeling of satisfaction.
"It's nice to hear you say that. Everyone wants their first time to be with someone they love, but it rarely works out that way" Catherine said, the familiar trace of irony no longer in her voice. "I'm guessing it didn't for you" Natalia commented, intrigued, as she didn't know the details of Catherine's past.
"I had a lot of fun with Eddie" Catherine began, referring to her ex-boyfriend Eddie Willows. "A lot of fun, in which sometimes led to trouble. My first time was with him, in the ladies room on a concert we snuck into. While we were at it all I kept thinking about was how the place reeked of beer and cigars. We got kicked out the same night, actually." Catherine smirked. "It wasn't all bad. The sex was good and he was exactly the kind of trouble I was looking to get into, but I never loved him. I envy you. You're about to share one of the most personal moments of your life with someone you love and trust."
Natalia was baffled. She had never thought Catherine could or would open up like this to anyone, especially not to her. She had known her for some time now and this was by far the most personal she had ever gotten during all their conversations. Natalia had always thought of Catherine as a mystery; everyone knew that she had quite the interesting past but no one knew the details to it.
"I didn't think you believed in love" Natalia joked, not really knowing how to handle this sudden honesty from Catherine.
"I believe it exists for some people. You seem to be one of them" Catherine simply answered. She had given it some thought. She had believed she loved Eddie for a long time, until one day she realized she really didn't. After that Catherine had doubted the existence of love, but Natalia and Ryan seemed so damn happy. Maybe, she thought, it could happen for her one day too.
Their heart-to-heart was interrupted by Maxine's excited voice from the dressing rooms. "Okay, me and Cal are ready to blow your minds! You ready?"
"Bring it on!" Catherine cheered, and out came the two girls.
"What'ya think?" Calleigh said, twirling and bowing once for show. Her dress was black, tight all the way from her chest to her thighs, and quite low cut-as well. Maxine's dress fit the same description; only her was bright red and had longer arms.
"Calleigh was worried her boobs might fall out, but I think if she uses tape then it won't be a problem" Maxine explained.
"You're going black and red, I like it! Classic and sooo hot" Catherine said, running her hand over the fabric of Maxine's dress. "We'll all be dresses to kill."
"You both look great!" Natalia grinned; she was really looking forward to this party.
"A day spent at the mall is never a waste of time" Calleigh said, in an informational tone of voice. "Now we need to eat though."