Chapter Text
Present
The sunlight filtered through the wavy curtains, the golden glow filling the room along with the constant chatter from outside. There were car horns and yells of ‘Vegas’ from hen parties like their own. Carol’s eyes fluttered open as a ray of light hit her closed eyes. She blinked slowly, opening her eyes to the harsh light, the aching in her head, begging her to put sunglasses on. She looked upon the wide clear windows and their beautiful view of the Vegas strip.
There was not a cloud in the sky, and the weather in May was delightful. The children were still at school so there were no family holidays going haywire, and the sun was hot enough to leave you sun kissed. The energy around was alive. In the night it was electric, but in the day it was a gentle energy filled with discovery and wonder.
Carol moved a hand into her hair, rustling the blonde ringlets. The smell of champagne lingered in the air, compliments of the Venetian, especially when your best friend and bride to be, Abby, had rented a Chairman three bedroom suite. Yes there were many compliments. Too many compliments. Carol’s head reminded her as it pounded against the hand that pressed against it, trying to massage it slightly.
She could feel the soft sheets caressing her bare skin which was a little odd because she usually slept in her silk slip, but she must have gotten too hot. Now she thought back, she couldn’t even remember last night. It was a black and white blur of laughs, drinking, applause, gambling and more drinking.
Even the mere thought of drinking made her stomach churn. Her eyes wandered aimlessly around the room, thinking about how she let herself get into this state, before they landed upon bottled waters stacked neatly in pyramid formation on a small coffee table. She breathed a sigh of relief as her body yearned for the hydration it so desperately needed.
Slowly but surely, her brain forced her limbs to move so she could grab the liquid miracle that sat so close, yet so very far from her tired body. She started to lift her weary body from the bed only to feel her legs clash with another warm smooth pair and an arm tighten instinctively around her waist.
She looked down at the arm that draped across her naked body caressing her flat abdomen, making her skin break out in goose bumps, before it relaxed once more. Her mind was a little slow to catch up. At least it’s a woman’s arm. She could tell by its slender shape which looked so familiar and comfortable, yet she couldn’t connect the dots.
She slowly turned in the embrace, the soft fingertips of the stranger’s arm trailing along her skin as she did so, making her shiver as her head throbbed. When she was finally over and forced her eyes to open, her breath caught in her throat. Next to her lay, a very tired, and vey naked Therese Belivet, steadily breathing as she pulled Carol a little closer, aligning their bodies subconsciously. Her dark brown hair lay over her angelic face that rested upon her palm which was slightly pink from the weight of her head.
Carol froze, not knowing what to do as she felt small puffs of air leave the brunette and wash over her face. She blinked sporadically, trying to process just what the fuck was going on, scrunching her eyes and forcing her brain to think. She tried to force the memories out, but with the amount of alcohol she had consumed, it was like they were locked away. All she knew was that they were both naked, in a hotel bed, entwined with wandering limbs and very, very, hungover.
She reached a hand out, resting it on the silky skinned shoulder, shaking the sleeping woman lightly. Nothing happened at first apart from the flex of the brunette’s fingers on the small of her back and a little grunt. So Carol shook her a little harder, until the green eyes pried open, to tell whoever it was that disturbed her slumber to fuck off, only to catch in her mouth when she saw who had awoken her. Carol lay above her, shrouded in golden sunlight, her grey eyes a little clouded and confused, her thick lips that had the stain of last nights red lipstick still on them, whispering her name softly.
It was then her eyes snapped wide open as she saw Carol holding a sheet up to cover her bare body, and moved her leg only to find Carol’s trapped between them. What the fuck is going on?! - Was the first thought to mind, shortly followed by – Wait, why is she naked? She bolted upright, her head not matching the quick pace, making it slide around in her skull excruciatingly. It distracted her for a moment as she clutched at it, only to open her eyes once more and remember her situation, looking down at her own body which was equally as naked.
It was as if suddenly, the touch of Carol’s flawless skin burned her as she scrambled to get to the other side of the bed, ignoring Carol’s pleas to calm down, misjudging the bed’s size and falling off the edge, her back hitting the cool marble floors with a thud knocking the air out of her.
Carol’s eyes widened as she heard the thud of Therese falling, taking some of the bedding with her. She rushed over to Therese’s side of the bed, looking over the edge. “Therese! Fuck are you alright?” She asked quite concerned as she had hit her head, which was not good for the state they were already in.
“Fucking hell…” Therese wheezed as the air slowly began to filter into her lungs once more after being knocked out by the impact. She opened her eyes to see the blonde beauty staring down at her worriedly, her hair haloing around her concerned face, holding a white sheet to her chest to withhold some modesty that Therese clearly lacked as she lay naked on the floor, only getting her breath back.
“Here, take my hand, I’ll help you u-” Carol stopped mid-sentence as she outstretched her left hand to the naked brunette who was regaining her senses on the floor, reaching for the said outstretched hand, wondering what was wrong.
“Carol…?” She asked as the grey eyes were transfixed on her hand that was reaching to help Therese. She could see the soft silver and white reflection of something shiny cut along Carol’s face which was odd because there was nothing reflective in front of her. “Carol, are you going to help me or wha-Ow!” She yelped as the blonde grabbed her hand, pulling her towards the bed roughly. “What the fuck are you doing, are you crazy…no…”
“No…” Carol repeated as she stared at their matching hands.
“You’re fucking with me.” Therese said pushing herself off the floor, not really caring that she was fully in the nude since they were both way more distracted. Carol let go of her hand and flumped down on the bed, staring at the ceiling, feeling a little sore between her thighs, knowing the reason but not quite believing it.
The blonde brought her hand to her head, before holding it out in front of her once more. “We’re married…” She said looking at the ring that matched Therese’s.
Therese flumped down on the bed next to the blonde, the sheets puffing out cool air around her. “Oh. My. Fucking.-“
///
“-GOD! Abby! You’re getting married?!” Carol squealed, as her best friend showed off her new engagement ring feigning ignorance as Gen had asked for her permission a couple days prior.
16 Days before the wedding…
“Yep! I woke got in last night from work and Genevieve was down on one knee surrounded by candles, our floor covered in rose petals, fairly lights hung from the ceiling. There was a white string quartet, and they played the song that was playing the night we met. I just dropped my bags and she told me I was the love of her life. And she asked me to marry her…”
“AND?!”
“And of course I said yes!” Abby said, shedding a tear of happiness on the memory.
“My best friend is getting married! YOU’RE GETTING MARRIED!” Carol said bouncing from foot to foot.
“I KNOW!” Abby said joining Carol in her celebration, hugging her childhood friend close as they bounced in glee.
“Wait! Wait! Wait!” Carol said pulling back, not really caring that the customers the store were looking at them as if they were crazy. “When? When are you getting married?”
“The beginning of summer.”
“Abigail! It’s the end of April!”
“I know which is why you are going to have to pack your bags for a week. Gen has arranged everything using some of our contacts to hook us up, and obviously we own Waterloo so we are taking time off! We have a bachelorette to go to.”
“Your dream one…?” Carol asked, knowing her and Abby had planned the auburn’s wedding and built on the idea since they were 13 years old. At one point in their friendship, it could have been their wedding, but Carol had already had one with Harge, and by the time she had divorced him, what they felt between them had changed.
“MY dream one…” Abby confirmed, reminiscing on the big A4 folder that was filled to the brim with ideas.
“We’re going to Vegas?!” Carol asked excitedly, knowing that was the dream.
“WE’RE GOING TO VEGAS!!!”
///
15 days before the wedding…
“Yes I just couldn’t contain myself any longer…” Genevieve finished telling Carol the story of her proposal. Abby kissed her passionately, clearly head over heels in love.
“So Genevieve onto the important stuff. The bachelorette. When? Where? Who? What? I need answers.” She winked taking a sip of her bourbon on the rocks.
Gen chuckled. “Well, I know Abby has wanted a Vegas Bachelorette since she was little, so a Vegas bachelorette she will have. When? 12 days. Flights are booked. We are all staying in a three bedroom Chairman suite in the Venetian Casino and hotel. We thought we would have a joint bachelorette. I know I don’t want to spend any time looking at anyone else but her.” Gen smiled. Their lovesickness making Carol feel a little soppy too. “Hopefully there will be six of us. Small group, big times. So Abby and I, you obviously, and then my friends Phil, Dannie and Therese.”
Carol choked on her drink a little. Abby watched her fairly amused. “T-Therese?”
“Yes… that means cat claws away missy.” Abby warned. “Now I know you two don’t particularly get along-“
“Get along? Her boyfriend is the most discourteous insolent person I have ever met in my life and she is just down right rude.” Carol said, shifting a little uncomfortably, remembering the night they met and all the evenings they had been forced to share since.
“Yeah, well let’s be honest, the time Richard came was a rough night.” Gen chimed in, also reliving the disaster.
“Rough night? Richard clumsily broke a $700 pair of shoes, and Therese clearly thought I was some rich stuck up bitch and couldn’t even look me in the eye. Who am I kidding, she still does. I swear on our big nights out I am nothing but nice, but she’s so… so… infuriating.” She said, downing the drink in her hand.
“To be honest Carol, when you don’t have money and someone wears a pair of $700 heels to a seedy bar, you tend to think they are a rich stuck up bitch.” Abby admitted, deflecting the daggers from Carol’s gaze with a chuckle.
“Anyway! Its five or six days!” Genevieve said nonchalantly. “How bad could it be?”
///
Present
“Could this day get any worse?! We’ve only been up for three minutes!”
“Ok, Therese. We need to calm down…”
“Calm down? CALM DOWN! We are fucking married Carol!” She said raising her ring finger, the mere fact it was there was creeping her out. Therese was never one for marriage. Especially to someone she had known in total less than seven days and didn’t always get on with. She had only cut off all ties to someone else mere hours ago.
“We don’t know that yet.” Carol hoped, she prayed as the brunette stormed back and forth. “Plus, will you quieten down, Abby, Gen, Phil and Dannie could be out there.”
“We don’t know that? We don’t know that?! We have matching rings on our wedding fingers, Carol!”
“We could have bought them as a joke. I mean do you remember anything from last night? Because I sure as hell don’t.”
“Do I remember anything? Carol, I don’t think either of us have stopped drinking on this trip since I saw you on the fucking plane. I barely remember my last fucking name… Oh shit. Did I take your name?! Therese Ross?”
“Ok… we need to calm down. We also need to either find the marriage license or check the nearest chapels. That way we can see if we actually did get married and if so…” Carol said, looking about the room for the slip of paper, not spotting anything apart from their clothes, flung on the floor.
“How are we going to do that with our jam packed bachelorette itinerary?”
“We can slip out of lunch. Say we don’t feel well or we wanted to go sight seeing. We’ll check then.”
“But I’m really fucking hungry…” Therese whined.
“Is that what you’re thinking of right now?! Food?!”
“Well, I’m pretty sure that all I have consumed in the last 24 hours are varying types of alcohol so screw me if I’m starved… talking about screwing… did we…?” Therese gestured to the bed a little awkwardly.
“Darling, no offense but I don’t think I put the hickeys on the insides of my thighs, or you put the nail scratches on the length of your back.”
Therese snatched up her underwear and bra from the bed, sliding them on as she jogged over to a mirror, looking at her back and the ten angry red lines that ran down it. “Fucking hell, you wild cat, you didn’t have to tear me apart.”
“Calm down, Dracula. I didn’t ask for bite marks on my neck either. I mean how the fuck am I meant to cover those? It’s 35 degrees outside and I’m going to have to wear a fucking turtle neck jumper.” Therese turned around to the dishevelled blonde, clearly confused as it was scorching outside. The grey eyes rolled. “95 degrees Fahrenheit.”
“Yeah that’s more like it…” Therese frowned picking up a bottled water, throwing Carol one.
“Thanks.”
“Don’t mention it wifey.” Therese said, making her way to the twin bathroom they reluctantly shared, hearing Carol splutter a little behind her making her smile a little.