Who: Lexi Branson, Katherine Gilbert and Caroline Forbes What: Planning Elena's Bachelorette Party Over Lunch When: Backdated: Saturday, May 17th. Afternoon Where: A Restaurant Rating/Warnings: Family Friendly Status: Complete
Lexi had never thought that she’d spend an afternoon with Katherine Gilbert and actually get along with her. For a long time she’d disliked Katherine because of what she’d done to Stefan and Lexi saw her as just an immature, user, but that had been years ago now and none of them were the same person they were then and Katherine was a little older now and in a way, her and Katherine were somewhat similar. After all, they both disliked Damon greatly. However, their hatred of Damon had to be put to the wayside for the day, because they, along with Caroline were trying to plan Elena’s Bachelorette party.
The three of them had gone out a earlier that morning and got pedicures and now they were seated at a nearby restaurant, trying to decide what Elena’s would like. The plan was, once they had a few ideas, they would see if Rebekah was free and if so, they would stop by hers and Stefan’s place and go over them with her. After all, technically, Lexi wasn’t actually part of the wedding party while Rebekah was, but Caroline had asked for her help and until recently Rebekah had been busy planning Natalia’s birthday party. Lexi was sure that the other blond probably wanted to take some time off from planning anything, “Alright. So, number one is, no strippers.”
Things were a lot different since Caroline had returned to the OC. Or at least it felt that way. She had been spending more time with Katherine than with Elena. Her best friend was busy with her fiance and wedding planning and all that. Caroline didn't mind it too much though. It was just a little weird how different their lives were now, and how much more she had in common with Katherine and Lexi lately. Although the one thing she differed from them on was the fact that she actually liked Damon. The blond got along pretty well with him. She understood why Lexi and Katherine didn't like Elena's fiance, but as long as her best friend was happy Caroline would be happy for her.
The blond honestly didn't know the first thing about planning a bachelorette party. The only thing that really came to mind for her were strippers and lots of drinking. "Right" she couldn't help the frown that formed on her face. But it wasn't her party. She would do what Elena wanted. "We have to at least have lots of alcohol though. Can't skip out on that."
“Yes, lots of alcohol,” Katherine quickly chimed in from her seat sandwiched between the two bubbly blondes. Honestly, without it, Katherine didn’t know how she’d manage to make it through the wedding. It was bad enough she’d have to sit through the entire reception completely and utterly, cold-stone sober. On top of it, she’d have to actually hear and comprehend their wedding vows to one another and see the moment of impact with their lips. Just the thought made Katherine want to heave in her caesar salad. Her eyes drifted to her phone. Nope, still too early to drink. Damn it. Thankfully, she’d also have the two of them there to quell some of the disgust from her sister and Damon’s wedding and thankfully, she had a full, unopened bottle of wine at home. Sometimes life was just perfect. She picked up her fork and stabbed at the piece of lettuce on her plate with more force than was needed and almost sent it right on to her newest pair of designer jeans. That was a close one.
Katherine popped the piece of lettuce in her mouth and chewed for a moment in thought. What else could they have? Strippers were fun, but Elena wasn’t fun so that made sense, didn’t it? Why did her sister have to be so difficult? Why did she have to be boring and lame? Inwardly, Katherine rolled her eyes, while on the outside, the brunette reached for her glass of water. If only it was wine. She took a sip before speaking. “How about going out and dancing? Sure there is hot guys, but she doesn’t have to grind on any of them and there is drinking...hey! We could VIP too. It’ll be like our own private set-up and maybe when Elena gets too drunk or passes out we could still invite some strippers,” Katherine flashed a smile from side to side at her two “partners in crime” before shrugging her shoulders. “Or we could have some guys come back up there and play strip poker?”
“Here’s the thing about alcohol though. If we go out somewhere, you guys are all under twenty-one, so that means we’d have to go somewhere where at least one of us knows someone.” Lexi didn’t want anyone to get arrested or in trouble because of underage drinking, but she knew that, like herself, the younger girls enjoyed drinking and she didn’t want to deny them any fun. She took a sip of her water as she tried to think of something, “Have either of you ever been to a drag show? I used to work with a guy at Disney who is a bartender at this one club in Santa Ana, it’s usually twenty one plus, but I might be able to see if he could talk to his boss.” It was a long shot and would be much easier if she was currently a vampire and could compel people. Now that was something she was actually looking forward to when she eventually became a vampire. She didn’t necessarily want to become a vampire, but if she had to then being able to compel people to do whatever she wanted, well that was going to come in handy. She wondered if she should start asking around now about that whole daylight ring deal. She had no idea if she ever got one in the dreams, but as of the seventies, she didn’t possess one yet.
Caroline’s eyes lit up at Katherine’s suggestion. A night out dancing sounded perfect to her. Elena liked dancing too. They had just been talking about it the other day. Sure Elena had said she had wanted to go so she could push guys off and show off her engagement ring. But she still wanted to go dancing. And strip poker wasn’t exactly strippers, but it still involved guys stripping. That was definitely fun. “I like the way you think, Gilbert” Caroline said with a sly smile, picking a frecnh fry up off her plate, dipping it in some ranch dressing before popping it in her mouth. The blonde was never really one to watch what she ate too much. She probably should, but she loved burgers, fries, and pizza too much to give them up. Plus she still looked damn good so why diet?
Lexi did have a point. Caroline hated the fact that she was still underage. Of course she had a fake ID so it didn’t really worry her too much. She hadn’t been busted yet after all. “A drag show?” she asked raising a brow curiously. “I’ve never been to one, but it does sound fun” she couldn’t help the smirk that crossed her lips. It wasn’t exactly naked men, but they could still have a blast. Plus if Lexi knew someone she might not even have to worry about using her fake ID. “I’m in” she picked up her drink and raised in in a mock toast.
Katherine shrugged her shoulders. “You know how many guys would buy us three drinks? I don’t have enough fingers and toes to count that up Lexi babe,” she replied with a small smile. Of course, Elena wouldn’t accept free drinks would she? No, of course not! Because she was getting married to the dumb ass. Katherine rolled her eyes inward and stabbed another piece of lettuce with her fork. She wasn’t a fan of too much salad, but Ceasar was tolerable...mildly. Come to think of it, it was like her sister...tolerable on a very basic level most of the time. Before the other three could bring up that obvious point about Elena, Katherine raised her hands. “I know, I know. It’s Elena’s party or whatever,” she added quickly. So it had to be boring in an Elena sort of way, right? “She wouldn’t take a free drink if Brad Pitt offered it to her right now.” Katherine would take three of those, but again, it wasn’t her party. “So, Lexi, that guy is probably our best bet.” The three of them could accept free drinks, but they had to make sure, obviously, that Elena enjoyed herself too. Yes...her party. Her party. Katherine could have said that all day and it still wouldn’t have sunk it. It never would.
The brunette offered devilish grin at Caroline. The blond was indulging in french fries and Katherine was drooling beside her. Yes, Katherine didn’t really have to worry about weight either, but being a model or possible one, she had to keep herself up to the highest standards. Still, she couldn’t help, but stare at the other woman’s plate longingly when the others were absorbed in something else. “What can I say? I know what my girls like,” she said brightly. “But Drag show…” Katherine had no idea about that one. She hadn’t really ever been to one, but television pretty much showed you everything you wanted nowadays, didn’t it? Again, Elena’s party! For the millionth time, Katherine refrained from openly rolling her eyes. It could be fun...maybe. “To a Drag show!” The twin raised her glass in a mock toast along with the blond seated beside her. “And free drinks.” Hopefully.
Lexi nodded, making a mental note to get in contact with her friend to make sure they could come and drink and have a good time without anyone getting in trouble. A drag show seemed like the best option to have fun, some drinks and stick with Elena’s ‘No Strippers’ rule, “Another time, the three of us can go to a strip club and oggle all the naked men.” She grinned and took a sip of her drink, “I know that a lot of gay guys show up at this particular drag show, but I also know that there are straight guys who go so there should be plenty of guys to buy us drinks.” Lexi wanted to make sure that everyone had fun that night.
Caroline could tell Katherine wasn’t as thrilled about the drag show idea, but Caroline thought it would still be fun. During her time in San Francisco she had run into quite a few drag queens and they had always been entertaining and had the best personalities. It wasn’t strippers, but it would still be fun. Caroline was determined to make sure everyone had a good time. Especially Elena, but Katherine too. “We will have fun” Caroline assured her best friend’s twin. “Promise. And like Lexi said we can always go to a strip club another night. Or lots of other nights” she smiled mischievously picking up another fry and popping it in her mouth before nudging her plate towards Katherine a bit so she could indulge as well. She had noticed her eyeing them after all and the girl was gorgeous. She deserved to treat herself every now and then. “I’m thinking we should have it like the weekend before the wedding? But that is your’s and Elena’s birthday. I doubt that is how you want to spend your birthday and Elena will probably want to be with Damon” Caroline couldn’t help but sigh at that. She was happy for her friend, but she missed her too. “So maybe the weekend before that? Or is that too far away from the wedding and not enough time to get it all together?” Caroline was pretty sure they could pull off a party in no time, she had done it plenty of times before. But she wasn’t exactly sure what the protocol was for how far in advance the bachelorette party was suppose to be. “Once we figure that out I think we are good. It’s just a matter of getting it all together.”
Caroline had a better effect on Katherine Gilbert than anyone else. Strangely, she seemed to bring out the best in the colder, more brutal of the Gilbert twins. When Caroline nudged the plate of fries in her direction, Katherine reached out and took one, dipping it in the pool of ketchup and greedily devouring it. The fry alone was a delicious greasy treat and Katherine savored it for the two few bites she could before it was down her throat and in the pit of her stomach. “We could do it was weekend after our birthday,” she offered up after swallowing and reached for her half empty water glass. “Between the three of us, I think we could pull it together. Just make reservations at the….drag place,” Katherine was mildly impressed with herself for not rolling her eyes openly. “And food and drinks there. We’ll just save the strip club for the sexy single ladies,” she glanced between the two blonds with a sneaky, mischievous smile. “Maybe for my birthday.”