Paradise City

Violet was in full-on panic mode.

Halloween was a day away, and of course, Violet had signed up to throw an extravagant party. Her house was already Halloween themed year-round, one could only imagine how out of hand it got when the actual holiday rolled around. We had spent the entire previous night carving pumpkins. I don't think I'll ever get the orange tint to wash off of my hands. Her pumpkins were all cutesy, little designs like cupcakes and bunnies. Mine, on the other hand, looked like spawns of the Pumpkin Satan.

It was her glorious idea to drive a whopping six hours to Provo, Utah in order for us to pick fresh apples from an actual apple orchard, just so she could make caramel covered apples. Also because she wanted to go on a road trip, but mainly because 'it'll be an experience we'll never forget'. At least that's what she said. I badgered her the entire way there and back, because we could have bought the same apples at the grocery store.

She had plenty of new polaroids to stick on her wall, though.

Violet had said that I was making a 'huge improvement', what ever that meant. In other words, I was moving on. There wasn't any time for me to stop and think about it, because if I did, I'd end up crying until my eyes hurt. It was best for me, and everyone around me, if I put the past where it belonged. Dean had been absent in my life. I expected nothing less. I told him I didn't want to see him, and he wasn't the type of guy to come 'round begging.

"Please tell me you found a costume and you're not actually going through with this two dollar zombie idea?" Violet asked when I emerged from my bedroom. She took today and tomorrow off so that she could prepare for her big party, I still had to go to work.

I walked into the kitchen and propped myself up on the counter. She had just gotten finished swirling the icing on another batch of cupcakes; these were chocolate with purple frosting and sparkly, candy bats on top. I took my finger and swiped off a gob of frosting and licked it off. "What's wrong with being a zombie?"

"It's not a Halloween costume unless you've spent over thirty dollars on it. Putting on gray face paint and homemade fake blood doesn't count. Where's the effort?" She asked. She was taking this too seriously. When I became her roommate, I don't think I knew exactly what I was signing up for.

"I'll have you know that some of my best Halloween costumes were the ones that required little to no effort, thank you." My phone began to ring on the counter next to me. "Shit," I whispered. Violet raised her eyebrows at me. "It's Dean."

"Answer it!" She yelled at me in a whisper. "And put it on speaker phone!"

I rolled my eyes and answered the call, then pressed the tiny speaker button so that Violet could eavesdrop. "Hello?"

"Hey," His voice was soft, sweet. A smile grew on Violet's face. "How are you?"

There were a million things I could have said to him; awful, depressed, full of regret, missing you like crazy, sad, lonely, empty, stupid. The list was a mile long. "I'm fine," was all I said. Violet motioned for me to keep talking. "Uh, how are you?"

"I miss you." He replied. Vi put her hands over her heart and sighed, she was clearly into this way too much. I didn't say anything, though. What was I supposed to say? Not 'I miss you too', even though that's what I was thinking. "Uh," Dean cleared his throat. "I was wondering if you wanted to grab lunch or something today?"

It took no time for Violet to mouth the words 'say yes' to me a dozen times. I pressed a finger to my lips, signaling for her to be quiet. There was no harm in lunch, was there? "I guess, yeah. Lunch sounds nice. I do have to work today, but I get an hour break at one if you want to meet me somewhere."

"Did you have a place in mind?" I could hear that smile again.

"How about Sammy's?" I asked. Violet nodded her head vigorously and I swatted her away.

"Sounds fine. I'll meet you there at one, then?"

"Yeah, it's right down the street from the salon."

"Alrighty then. I'll see you later, Sweetheart."

As soon as I hung up the phone Violet busted out in a squeal. She was practically doing a happy dance. "We've got to find you something to wear!" She exclaimed, running down the hallways towards my bedroom. She pulled a simple, burgundy dress out from the back of my closet. I wasn't a fan of how my boobs fit in it, which was why I never wore it. The tag was still dangling from the sleeve. She shoved it at me, shooing me into the bathroom.

"But Vi, I don't like the way this dress fits me." I whined.

"Too bad, so sad. It's going to look great." I unzipped the back of the dress and stepped into it, pulling it up over my hips. The problem was it was about a half size too small, and made my boobs look like they were two sizes too big. I opened the door and motioned at Violet to zip me up. It took her a minute, but when she finally got the zipper to the top, she marveled at how it looked. "Girl, that dress fits you just fine." Her eyes were glued to my tits. "Dean's going to love it."

She helped me fix my hair, like she had been doing every day for the past month. She used me as her style guinea pig, because no costumer would let her experiment on them. Most of her creations were nice, like today's, a simple side braid with a black bow.

"Make sure you pick up a costume on the way home." She yelled at me as I was headed out the door.

Work was boring without Violet. The first four hours dragged on as I waited for one o' clock. I felt myself becoming more and more nervous as the clock ticked. I hadn't seen Dean since he helped me move into Violet's, and even then it was extremely awkward after he handed me his old notes that he sent me. I still had them, too.

Violet, even though she agreed with my decision, kept asking me why I decided to end things with Dean. I didn't even know myself. I think that it was something James said, that we fought every other day. That was true, but it was more like every other month. Every time he came home from tour, there was something else to fight about. Some blonde bitch, or something he said to his friends. Yes, I was excited at the idea to have his child, and I wished everyday that I still could, but I couldn't imagine the arguments the two of us would have if there was a baby involved. Not to mention the fact that we'd be stuck with each other for the rest of our lives. Especially if he wanted some form of custody.

When the time finally came for my lunch break, I clocked out and walked up to Sammy's. It was one block away, there was no need to drive. Dean was already there, sitting in the back of the restaurant in a booth. My heart was pounding as I caught sight of him, sitting so casually, like he was the coolest guy in the world in his leather jacket. He stood up once he saw me and offered me a hug. I wrapped my arms around him, feeling my head get light. His cologne made me weak. I noticed his eyes fall down to my figure.

"You look great." He said as we both sat down.

It felt so strange sitting across from him like this. It didn't feel right. Not in a bad way, either. It was more that I knew this wasn't how it was supposed to be. "Thank you, Violet helped me pick it out." This was how it had to be.

"She has good taste." He added, rubbing his hands on his jeans. Was he nervous? "So, what's good here? This is the first time I've ever been here." He held a menu up but I could feel his eyes on me instead. I glanced up at him, but he adverted his gaze down to the menu. I couldn't help but smile a little bit.

"They sell pizza by the slice, and it's absolutely delicious. They also have great pasta dishes and salads." I told him. I looked up at him again, this time he didn't look away and there was a small smile gracing his lips. "Stop it," I whined. "We're supposed to be friends!"

He raised his eyebrows. "Oh that's what we are now, huh? And what, I can't smile at my friends?"

"No, you can't." I said sternly.

"Why's that?"

My smile couldn't be contained any longer, so I didn't even try. I shook my head at him, but didn't say anything. The waiter came and took our order, prompting our mood to become more serious and less silly. We sat in silence for a moment before Dean laid his hand face up on the table, motioning for me to hold his hand. I hesitated for a moment before I gave in, placing my hand in his.

"How've you been, Callie?" I thought for a moment as he rubbed his thumb in circles on my skin. "How have you really been?"

I knew that 'I'm fine' wouldn't cut it this time. He wanted a real answer. He knew I wasn't fine. Everyone knew I wasn't fine, but they pretended I was because that's what I wanted them to do. "I've had a pretty bad year." I told him honestly, shrugging my shoulders as I did so. "I lost my parents, moved thousands of miles away from my best friend, my apartment was broken into an vandalized, I was fired, I lost my baby, and found out that I couldn't have kids. I haven't been doing fine at all." I didn't want to be having this conversation with him.

"Is that what the doctor said? That you can't have kids?" I nodded. "Fuck, Callie. I'm so sorry." He squeezed my hand gently, his expression torn. He looked more beat up about this than I did.

"Don't be," I told him. "These things happen. Something's telling me that I shouldn't be a mom. Probably not cut out for it anyways."

"If it's any consolation, I think you'd be the perfect mom." He offered. I gave him a sideways smile. "But let's not talk about this sad stuff, alright? How's living with Violet?"

"It's no picnic. Don't get me wrong, I love the woman, but she is so cheerful and nice. Sometimes I just want her to be mad, like just once, but no! She's so happy all the time. I feel like I'm living in a house with fuckin' Snow White."

Dean laughed as out waiter sat our food in front of us. I kept an eye on the time, making sure I still had time to walk back to the salon without being late.

"How's living next to Kyle?" I asked him, not wanting to let the conversation drop for fear that it wouldn't pick back up again.

He chuckled, letting out a low whistle. "Kid's a fuckin' nuisance. He listens to his music loud enough that I'm sure the whole fuckin' building could hear him, and as soon as he knows I'm home he's banging on my door asking for bread or milk or some shit. I'd trade him for you any day."

The forty-five minutes that I had flew by. Dean offered to walk me back to the salon. As we stood outside, I could see all those old women peering out the windows, trying to catch a glimpse of the man I had always talked about. They were all so nosy. Dean took my hands in his and swung them between us.

"Violet's having a Halloween party tomorrow. You should come, if you're in town." I was trying to make progress, here. Go out to lunch, invite him to a Halloween party. Friends did that kind of stuff, right? I looked down at our hands. They probably didn't hold hands, but I'd let that one slide. "You don't have to dress up or anything, I'm probably just going to throw something together last minute."

"Count me in." He replied. "You should probably get inside before all those old ladies start freakin' out." He extended his arms for a hug and I accepted, squeezing him tightly. "I'll see you tomorrow, kitten." He said, ducking his head to giving me a kiss on the cheek.

When I got inside, every woman in that salon was staring at me. Even the costumers. "What?" I asked them, unable to hide the smile that had formed on my lips. They immediately went back to what they were doing, leaving me to my little cloud nine.

I rode that cloud all the way home, too. My smile never faltering. That was until I actually pulled into the driveway and saw the view that was the house. There were fake spiderwebs hanging from the corners of the porch, skeletons were posed all throughout the yard; two of them were sitting on the front steps posed to look like they were making out. There were a million plastic spiders hanging from the webs. I didn't think that she could do any more than she had, but I was clearly wrong.

"Did you get a costume!?" Violet screamed at me before I was even in the door. Kyle looked up at me from the couch, I gave him a small nod.

"Darn, I completely forgot!" I replied as I met her in the kitchen. There was at least one good thing about this party other than Dean being there; six kegs sat on the kitchen table along with a slew of black, plastic bags that could have only come from the liquor store. "Guess I'm going to have to be a two dollar zombie. Did Kyle bring all that?" I asked her, motioning towards the booze.

"Don't try to change the subject. If you think you're going to be a cheap zombie, you've got another thing coming. Not in my house, nuh uh! Kyle! Get in here I need your help!" She yelled. Moments later Kyle came barreling into the kitchen. "Can you finish these apples while I help Callie pick out a Halloween costume? It's not hard. Just dip it in the caramel, wait a couple seconds, and roll it in the nuts. Simple."

She left Kyle in charge of the caramel apples and grabbed me by the arm, dragging me back to her room. She was like Bridezilla but with Halloween parties. In the back of her closet was an entire trunk filled with old costumes and wigs and fake, chunky jewelry. I tried to reason with her that I just didn't want to dress up, that I didn't do holidays. Hell, I didn't even do my own birthday. She wasn't having any of it. Said no roommate of her's didn't not do Halloween.

"Here," she said handing me some kind of sparkly, blue fabric. "Wear this."

When I unfolded the costume I saw that it was a very short, very sexy take on a Cinderella dress. There was no way this would fit me. Violet was already shorter and smaller than me. This would be too tight and too short. "Woah, I can't wear this." I told her as I held it up to me. "My ass is going to hang out."

"Let it hang out, girl. That thing is nice!" She said. "I'm never going to wear it again, so if you want to add your two dollar fake blood to it, feel free. Dead Cinderella is a way better costume than DIY Zombie." She threw a pair of sky high, glittery, silver heels at me as well. "Don't freak out because there's a corset." A lump formed in my throat. "I'll help you lace it up. If it really and truly doesn't fit, I have plenty more to choose from."

I knew it was going to be awful from the moment she said the word 'corset', so the next night when I stared at myself in the mirror, barely able to breathe, I shouldn't have been surprised at all. Yet, I could not believe I let her talk me into this. I applied the fake blood to my neck and chest. Dead Cinderella didn't look too bad after all.

The party was bigger than I expected. Thank God the house had a huge backyard, because there were too many people to fit inside. Someone had built a bonfire, there was a DJ, people were doing keg stands, there was beer pong being played, and there wasn't a single person without a red Solo cup in their hand. I could see why Violet put so much of an effort into this. There were too many people to disappoint if it didn't go as planned.

I scanned the crowd for Dean, but he hadn't showed up yet. I did a couple shots with Violet who was aptly dressed as a circus ringleader. Her black, sequined shorts showed off her leg tattoos. I then downed a beer, and a few more shots. Dean still was no where to be found. I started getting the feeling that maybe he wasn't going to show up.

Kyle invited me to team up with him in a beer pong match, and seeing as I was already buzzed, I didn't do a very good job. Halfway through, the match, I spotted a familiar face stepping out on to the back porch. I grabbed some random guy dressed as a peanut butter sandwich and told him to take my spot as Kyle's partner.

I sauntered over to Dean, and he had to catch me so that I didn't fall on him. "You look- Wow, you look amazing. Dead Cinderella? This is last minute?" He asked, not able to tear his eyes away from my breasts.

I reached my hand up and placed a finger under his chin, forcing him to look in my eyes. "What are you supposed to be?" I asked, looking down at his grey leather jacket, black tank top and jeans.

"Dean Ambrose, he's this guy from WWE. You've probably never heard of him." He shrugged.

"Oh, I've heard of him." I replied, pointing down to his crotch.

He laughed. "How much have you had to drink tonight?"

"Enough." I told him.

"You should probably slow down." He pulled the cup from my hand and brought it to his lips, tipping it upwards. "I need to catch up with you." He took a shot glass from the table and downed it quickly, one after another, after another.

We made our way back to the beer pong table, and once again, I was no good. Dean was spectacular, though, but that was no surprise seeing as he was spectacular at everything he did. The music in the house was loud as we zig-zagged through a mass of costumed drunk kids; Halloween classics blared through Violet's sound system. Dean and I found ourselves in the middle of the living room dancing to 'Thriller'. I felt more alive than I had in a long time as he held me to him, swaying along with the rhythm. I was suddenly taken back to when we had danced at the club all those months ago.

I was becoming dizzy as the song ended. My body was becoming heavy. I grabbed Dean's hand and led him back to my bedroom, locking the door behind us when we got inside. "This dress is so itchy!" I said, reaching behind myself to scratch my back. It was proving to be too much of a hassle and I was still dizzy. "Help me take it off?"

Dean eyed me cautiously, knowing full well that I was completely wasted. He took a step towards me, turning me around so that my back was to him, and leaned me over the bed. He pushed himself into me, closing the space between us and untied the lace on the corset. It loosened enough for me to be able to try and slip the dress over my head. "Arms up." He instructed, and I did what I was told.

The dress wasn't easy to get off. Dean was trying his hardest not to touch the sticky, fake blood that was on my chest, even after I told him it was okay. Once it was off, I fell backwards on the bed, fully aware that I was in nothing but a bra, underwear, and knee-high stockings. I heard him let out a low breath, and looked up at him. "What?" I asked innocently.

"You're uh- you're gonna get that shit on your sheets." He said, motioning towards the fake blood. I could see that his jeans were becoming tighter by the second.

My body was becoming hot, half because of the alcohol and half because I was dripping with desire for him to do whatever he wanted with me. It felt like it had been forever since I had felt him inside of me, and I wanted it more than ever right here in this moment. "Will you clean me up?" I asked with a pout.

"Sure. Let me go get a towel." He replied and took a step backwards towards the door.

"There's no need." I told him, dabbing my finger in the syrup before licking it off. "It's just cherry syrup." I was trying my absolute hardest to be sexy, despite feeling like I was trying way too hard. I wanted him to make me forget everything. He breathed in before letting out a shaky breath. "It's okay," I told him through a smile, reaching my hand out to him.

He crawled on to the bed, situating himself in between my legs, locking them around his midsection. I giggled as his hands made their way up my sides. A dark smile grew on his face as he hovered over me, ducking his head to the crook of my neck; licking and sucking at the syrup. "Oh my God," I moaned, arching my back to him.

His lips met mine in a rough, hungry kiss that tasted like whiskey and cherries. I deepened the kiss, letting his tongue explore my mouth. He pulled away, leaving my lips feeling swollen and bruised, and moved back down to my chest. I tossed my head back at the feeling of him sucking at the skin right above my breasts.

"Callie," he whispered. It was barely audible over the music blaring the other room. "We can't do this."

"Yes," I nearly cried, pulling him back down to me by his beater. "We can."

"I don't want you to wake up tomorrow morning and regret doing this with me because you were drunk." I puckered my lips at him, trying to get him to kiss me again instead of talking. "Callie, I'm serious."

I sighed, looking him dead in the eye. "Dean, I've never wanted anyone more in my life than I want you right now. Maybe it is because I'm drunk, but does it matter? We're here now, let's just go with the flow."

He paused for a moment before cupping my breasts. He then completely ripped my bra apart, stretching the fabric until it tore. He attached his mouth to me; biting, nibbling, sucking. He reached down, snapping my garter straps and hurriedly pulled my underwear down to my knees. "You want me?" He asked through gritted teeth. I moved to push his jeans down but he swatted my hands away, pinning them above my head with one hand as he worked on his jeans. "Say it again."

"I want you." I whined. Oh my God, I wanted him so much.

Without another word, without wasting another second, Dean slid himself into me. He didn't take his time or allow me to adjust before he began pounding his hips into mine, grinding into me with each thrust. Everything felt so right. I reached my arm back and grabbed a hold of the headboard and held on to it tightly as he fucked me as hard and as fast as he could.

Dean held my head in his hands and kissed me. I moaned into his mouth at the taste. "Fuck!" He whimpered, slowing his pace down suddenly. Moments later, I felt him pull himself out of me. I pouted at him. There was no way he could be done already. "It's been a while, Callie. You haven't exactly been around lately." I still wasn't satisfied. "We always got the mornin', babe."

I nodded, slipping under the sheets. I was too exhausted to take a shower, and besides, there were probably kids making out in there or passed out in the tub. Dean fell beside me, pulling the covers over our shoulders.

I was happy, for now. The question was, would I be in the morning?