The Wedding Crashers

Chapter Five

She just kept telling herself that. Through their third day of travel, she found that she had less to say and just ended up borrowing Sam's iPod to drown out the squabbling from the front. She'd curled up on the back seat with Layla to watch the scenery flash by until they had finally arrived in Seattle, taking out a motel room on the west side of the city-the one they were in now.

Leah flicked her mascara brush over her lashes and then examined her handiwork. She had very nice eyelashes, she decided, turning her head from side to side to gauge the effect. She was going light on the makeup today-she wasn't about to show up with the stuff troweled on like her "makeup appointment" with the spawn and her coterie no doubt would have left her-they all seemed to have this sick attitude that if you weren't a vampire, then obviously the only way you could come close to their perfection was through artificial means. Well, she may not be a sparkling blow-up doll, she thought with no little ferocity, but she wasn't chopped liver, either. With her hair up, her eyes defined, and some shimmer on her lips, she looked pretty damn good. And her outfit was just going to top things off.

They'd hit Seattle two days before the wedding-plenty long enough to get settled into a motel and then go find some clothes. The boys had it easy-they could just nip down and find a tux rental place (a task that was admittedly complicated a bit by the presence of Castiel, who had no idea what to do, nor even why they were doing it). The girls, on the other hand, had seen to their clothes before absconding with a couple of their illegal credit cards and hitting the bridal shops in the mall on their own.

So, yes, their dresses were off the rack, and at $200 on sale it was dirt cheap by the uppity Cullens' standards, but screw them-they were fine. Leah's was a long, slinky red sheath that hugged her body tightly and made the most of her relatively limited curves while highlighting her wolf-imparted muscle tone. It was strapless and showed off her shoulders and her collarbones, and she liked it. It was even red, just like the brat wanted, not to mention classic and "traditional" in the cut-but she'd be damned if she was getting any beadwork. Why not just go the whole hog and ask me to wear fringe and moccasins and feathers in my hair, you little bitch, she thought angrily. She'd instead rounded out her look with a pair of new, strappy black T-buckle stilettos, and so now she felt ready to take on anything.

Layla's dress was a deep emerald in color and fell a little bit above knees. It hugged her generous curves at the top and flowed out at the bottom. Emerald netting started at the sides of the waist and almost touched the floor. She decided on sliver heels to complete the look.

In the spirit of sexy rebellion, Leah detoured through Victoria's Secret on her way through the mall. She'd found a lovely black satin ensemble consisting of a tiny pair of panties and a gorgeous basque-which was beaded, she'd discovered to her vicious delight. She was almost sorry that she was skipping pantyhose-she'd have felt deliciously naughty showing up at the prim and perfect Cullens' wearing those underwear along with a garter belt and silk stockings. Ah, well-as the philosopher Jagger once said, you can't always get what you want.

She was wearing her underwear and shoes now as she put the finishing touches on her face. Her dress was hanging on the back of the door, still in its wrapper; she'd wondered if it would have been worth it to leave it out in the room, just for the satisfaction of being able to waltz out of the bathroom to put it on as she was now, just to see the looks on the boys' faces. Becoming a wolf had pretty much stripped her of all modesty, and it wasn't as if they hadn't seen her naked before when she transformed. However, they hadn't seen her all dolled up before, and she knew that despite what some people thought, less was more; she knew that being covered as she was was way sexier than just being naked.

Layla was putting on her own make up already wearing her dress. Her hair was let down cascading down halfway of her back. She had decided to go with a wavy style for her raven locks.

Leah unwrapped her dress and shimmied into it in the bathroom, not even taking the opportunity to go out and try and rattle Cas by asking him to zip her up. She smoothed the satiny fabric over her hips, her mouth curling in unconscious pleasure at the feel of the material against her skin. She was more comfortable in her jeans and a tee and sneakers, but she couldn't deny the little thrill of feminine satisfaction she felt at getting dressed up.

"You know I can sense the girlyness radiating off you," commented Layla applying her eyeliner.

Leah's smile widened as she turned and picked up the velvety box sitting on the edge of the sink. There was an element of feminine pleasure there, too-but she was well aware that it was mostly vindictive spite that warmed the cockles of her heart when she contemplated its contents.

"Never mind that's not girlyness that's pure spite I'm feeling."

Dean and Sam had dropped the girls off right in the heart of downtown to go shopping; Leah could tell by their exchanged looks that they were turning them loose in the more fashionable district, which meant they'd picked up from her comments on the Cullens that she'd need (and want) something on the nicer end of things. They had the good grace not to say anything, and as un-subtle as it may have been, she appreciated the thought. Overall, Layla and Leah had been a pretty cheap date, but had been wandering through the streets toward their planned rendezvous point with their plastic-covered dresses slung over their shoulders when it happened.

"Oh my god Leah that would go perfect with your dress," Layla gasped as she ran to a store's window.

Leah stopped, and realized that they were standing in front of Tiffany's. And there, nestled in white satin in the main display case, was a necklace and earring set, subtle and sophisticated, of rubies and diamonds in gold-perfect for her dress.

"Your dress needs a necklace because of the neckline," commented Layla. "This is perfect!"

"Layla that necklace is a quarter of a million dollars," said Leah. "I'll just get something from Wal-Mart or something."

"I'll just use charmspeak on the sales person and tell them to give it to me," Layla said grinning.

Leah shook her head. "There's too many people and cameras in there. It would look weird if they just gave us expensive jewelry."

"But I can tell that you want it!"

No. It was childish, anyway, not to mention petty, to want to show up wearing something that would merit the Cullen Stamp of Approval. Leah didn't need to prove herself. She would not lower herself to their level...although the looks on their faces would be so worth it-

A honk had jolted them out of their conversation, and  they looked up at the low rumble of the Impala's engine as it slid up to the curb. Layla flashed a smile at the passengers and Leah went around the back, rapping on the trunk lid so that she could put their purchases inside when Dean popped it open.  The girls then slid into the back seat-next to Cas.

Castiel. The angel.

"Please! Please Castiel can you do me this one favor," begged Layla pulling on the angel's sleeve. "I promise to give it back."

"Layla don-"

Leah was cut off as the daughter of Aphrodite glared at her.

"Leah Cas is the only one of us that can do this without getting caught," said Layla. "Besides like I said we'll return it when the wedding is over."

"Give it back?" Dean demanded. "Are you kidding? Do you have any idea what we could sell that for?"

"Maybe a tenth of what it was worth-if we were lucky," Sam answered pragmatically. "More likely we'd just get arrested for trying to fence stolen property."

"Exactly," Layla said firmly. "And anyway, I'm not going to ask him to steal for me-especially not for something so stupid. I just...I just want to borrow it. I just want..." She'd trailed off, unwilling to say what she just wanted, but her friends seem to know all the same.

Layla wanted Leah to feel like she was worth something. She wanted her friend to go to that wedding with her head held high. And that necklace was going to help her do that.

"Well, then, what do you say, Cas?" Dean queried after a moment, looking in the rearview mirror at Cas's concerned face. "The lady needs to look the part for this shindig. Gonna help out the damsel in distress?"