After finding Vanessa's dream dress, we went into full on wedding preparation mode. Vanessa and I talked everyday trying to make sure that everything was perfect for her big day. The boys oversaw the guest list, V and I were in charge of the decorations, and the rest of the obligations were split evenly amongst the group. I've always heard that wedding planning and preparation is stressful, but I had a lot of fun getting everything ready with Vanessa. I contributed everything working out to everyone's bright attitudes. Throughout the entire process, we were all super excited and positive. Something about working with your best friends on a huge project feels different, better somehow.

Vanessa sighs as she lays down on her bed. "That's it. Everything is officially as it should be. Now, we can finally party!"

"Tonight is going to be amazing!" I say dreamily. "I've never heard of anyone else doing a masquerade for their bachelor and bachelorette party, the idea just blows my mind!"

Alec and Vanessa decided that they wanted to do a joint masquerade party instead of the traditional bachelor and bachelorette styled parties. The two parties are going to go to separate hotels afterwards though, so that they do get to some separation before the wedding. The wedding is on Halloween, and they wanted their parties to match the occasion. Their theme is red and black, which I think is so cool.

She smiles. "Thanks! I'm so excited! I can't believe it's tonight, everything is moving so fast."

"I know! I can't believe by the end of this week you'll be a married woman!"

She giggles. "I can't believe I'm marrying Alec and you're dating Grant."

I laugh too. "Who would've thought we'd be with the two biggest players in town."

She slowly sits up. "We should start getting ready, it'll take us awhile."

"Let's do it!" I agree.

As suspected, we spend hours getting ready, reminiscing on how we got here the whole time. It's been so long since we've hung out after I moved to LA, and I've felt a little disconnected from everyone. When Vanessa told me they'd found their dream wedding venue here in LA, I cried tears of joy.

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Vanessa comes out of the bathroom looking flawless in her long silky red dress that had a exaggerated slit on both sides and matching red lips. Her long black hair was straightened, and she paired her outfit with shiny black pumps that lifted her at least an extra six inches off the ground. My favorite part of her outfit was the black sparkly mask that covered one side of her face, drawing attention to her large brown doe eyes.

"Wow!" I gawked.

She stared at me; her mouth gaped. "Wow yourself!"

I felt a little self-conscious in my outfit after seeing her. I was wearing a long black dress that had a lowcut sequence top and the sides cut out. My dress had a single, less extreme slit up my left leg. I paired it with some sparkly red heels that weren't nearly as tall as Vanessa's. My mask was sparkly, black and red and covered my entire face. My hair fell in soft curls around my face and down my back, it had grown some since I moved to LA.

We stood there a minute, excited to be dressed up and going out. My phone interrupted our train of thought.

"Hello?" I answered.

"Hey Rinnie, we're just leaving now." Grant's voice makes my heart jump in my chest. I couldn't wait to see him all dressed up; I think Vanessa said they were all wearing suits.

"Rinnie, you okay?"

I hold the phone closer to my ear. "Yeah, sorry I was distracted."

"By what?" I can picture him smirking on the other end of the line.

I take a deep breath. "We're ready too, see you soon! Love you!"

"Love you too, but..." I hang up before he could finish his sentence. I know if I keep talking to Grant, we'll be on the phone for hours.

I take V's hand and smile at her. "Tonight, is going to be magical, let's go!"

She follows me out the door adjusting her hair as we walk to the car. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The building the boys chose for the party was breathtaking. I don't know how else to describe it besides an elegant vampire mansion. The decorations don't disappoint at all, there's dim lighting and shining candles all along the floors and tables. Everything looks romantic and medieval. The coolest part is the fog machine that has the entire place dark and mysterious feeling.

"I can't believe the boys pulled this off, I'm so impressed!" I yell to Vanessa, hoping she can hear me over the blaring music.

"I know, I love them!" She smiles and takes my hand. "Let's have a celebratory drink!"

I follow closely behind her, trying not to get lost in the fog. This party is going to be insane, I can already tell.

Vanessa and I are swaying along to the music, when she suddenly turns to me. "Shouldn't the boys be here by now?"

I take a sip of the red wine posed as blood and shrug. "Who knows with them. I can call Grant." I offer.

She nods, looking nervous. "Can you please?"

I take out my phone and hit one on speed dial.

"Hey Rinnie." Grant's voice comes through on the first ring.

I smile. "Hey, just checking in on you guys. Are you almost here?"

"Yeah, I'm sorry, the car sort of broke down, so we got held up."

"What?! Why didn't you call, we could've picked you guys up!" I'm mad. They could've gotten seriously hurt.

Vanessa is looking at me, trying to listen to Grant and I's conversation. I move my lips to say everything is okay although I'm not completely sure it is.

"We fixed it pretty quick, it was just a little problem with the breaks." Grant says nonchalantly.

I step away from Vanessa. "Grant, pull over right now, that is not a small problem! We'll come get you guys!"

He laughs it off. "We're literally pulling in as we speak, everything's cool. Don't worry okay?"

I take a deep breath, feeling relieved. "Okay, I'll see you shortly."

"I love you Rinnie."

I smile. "I love you too."

The more I think about Grant's car not functioning right, the stranger it seems to me. Grant's cars are always in perfect shape, he's constantly working on them and making improvements. How is it even possible his breaks weren't working right? The thought starts to make me feel uneasy.

Vanessa speed walks over to me the second I hang up. "What'd Grant say?"

"They had some car trouble, but everything's okay, they're here now."

She jumps excitedly. "I can't wait till they see us!"

I giggle. "I'm going to go pee really quick and then I'll be right back."

"Okay, it's right over there." She points towards a black wooden door down a long, thin hallway.

"Thanks." I say, putting down my now finished glass of wine.

When I come out of the bathroom, the fog is everywhere, I can only see directly in front of me. I feel around with my hands to get back to the large dance floor.

As I'm walking, I hit into someone's back. "I'm so sorry, I'm still trying to get used to this fog."

The tall man turns around and I nearly scream with excitement. Standing in front of me is Grant, looking more than amazing in his black tux, the little bit of the red shirt he's wearing underneath is peaking out, adding to the already perfect look.

Before he can speak, I reach up and pull him into a kiss. He hesitates at first, then he pulls me in closer and deepens the kiss. Something about this kiss feels different, it's filled with adrenaline and what I think is pent up passion. Grant and I kiss constantly, but never like this. It feels really nice.

He abruptly stops the kiss, leaving me feeling disappointed. I wasn't ready for the kiss to be over. "What's wrong?"

"I don't think you meant to do that Zeph." He sounds breathless when he finally speaks.

I'm confused at first, then it hits me. My heart sinks. "Grayson?"

"Yeah." His voice comes out strangled.

In that moment I wish I could disappear. I can't believe I just did that. "I'm sorry." 

"Don't worry about it, I'll go." He turns to leave.

I grab his wrist. "No! Come with me."

"It's really okay, it's no big deal. We can just go on with our night like nothing happened, because nothing was supposed to." I can feel his hand shaking in mine.

I tug him towards me. "No we can't. Please come with me Grayson."

He sighs. "Okay."

I quickly text Grant I'll meet him shortly, that I need to freshen up before I see him. I almost cry when he sends me picture of him with a pouty face saying to hurry up, he can't wait to see me.

"Where are you taking me?" Grayson asks after a few minutes of me running in circles.

"Upstairs." I say without slowing down.

Grayson laughs. "It's this way." He walks in front of me and pulls me in the other direction, to the stairs.

As we reach the stairs someone walks past us and freezes. "Hi Zephyrine."

My hearts starts pounding as if it's going to explode. I'm so not ready to face him yet.

I turn to see his stunning light blue eyes looking at me through his black mask. "Grant?"

He laughs but says nothing.

"Okay so not Grant. How do you know my name and why are you here?" I point a finger at him.

He smirks and avoids my first question. "Mutual friend invited me. I won't stay long."

Luckily for him I'm preoccupied. "Not to sound rude, but I really don't have time to talk right now."

"No problem, neither do I."

Grayson moves closer to me. "Who is this guy?"

I sigh. "Just some guy who stole Grant's face. I don't even know his name."

"Huh?" Grayson squints at me.

I dismiss him, feeling fed up with this mystery Grant. "Doesn't matter, we have bigger issues right now."

Grant's look alike is staring back and forth between us, amused. "Yeah I should go."

"Bye." I say and grab Grayson's hand to drag him upstairs.

"Oh and Zephie." I turn to the stranger, who is currently getting on my nerves.

"Who?" I glare at him.

"Don't worry, I won't tell Grant what you did." He smirks and walks away.

"What did I do?! What do you think I did?!" I yell after him, but he just keeps walking.