chapter one

woman in white

♰

palo alto, california — october, 2005
stanford university

    A GRIN GRACED Cordelia's glossy lips as she ran her hands down the leopard print material that hugged her skin. She was going to a Halloween party at the other side of campus — as a cat, if it wasn't already obvious enough, hence the large, black cat ears that sat on her head and the eyeliner drawn whiskers that scattered across her face.

    The material of the top cut down into a short skirt, the hem just skimming her thighs — the strings that held together the back of the dress trickled down her back,  matching the black heels that sat comfortably on her feet. She didn't take a bag with her, anything she needed she just shoved in her bra or Jess' bag — much to the blonde's dismay, seeing as Cordelia had no bra on. The brunette rubbed her lips together, ensuring an even coat as she checked her eyeliner in the mirror. With a firm nod to herself she clasped shut the eyeliner and dropped it onto the counter.

    Cordelia exited the bathroom and made her way into the main room only to find Sam and Jess. "Jesus!" Cordelia jumped, hands clasping over her eyes. "I think I just saw Satan, what the fuck? Keep it PG, asshats."

    The pair jumped up, scrambling off of each other. "Cordy!" The blonde screamed at her cousin, jumping off of the couch to adjust her dress. Cordelia slowly removed her palms from over her face, her eyes then ran over the couple's costumes, Jess was dressed as a nurse and Sam? Well — Sam was a hobo.

   "Sam, what the Hell are you wearing?" Cordelia pulled a face as her eyes scanned up and down his figure. "You do know this is a Halloween party, right? You're supposed to dress up. Not dress down. If you can even call it that."

    "Like you can say anything," Sam scoffed playfully, shaking his head in dismay. "What was it you went as last year-?"

   "-A sexy cop," Cordelia grinned in reminiscence. She did look good in that costume. Then again, she looked good in anything.

    "No, that was the year before," Jess reminded her with a chuckle. "Last year you wore sweats 'cause Amir broke up with you and told everyone that you gave him-"

     Cordelia swatted a hand over her cousin's mouth with a warning glance. "We don't talk about that, okay? That was a dark period of my life." She then turned back to Sam with narrowed eyes as she reluctantly pulled her hand from Jess' mouth. "At least I had an excuse to look like crap. You, however, don't."

  "Whatever. Can we just get tonight over with, please?" Sam rolled his eyes as they trudged out of the apartment, heading towards the elevator.

    "Have I ever told you how much of a Debby Downer you are, Sam?" Cordelia asked sarcastically, glancing over at the Winchester as the three clambered into the lift.

    "Yeah. About five times a day." The brunette man grumbled under his breath.

      "Huh," Cordelia breathed out. "Probably should make it six since it's clearly not doing anything to alter your brain-wave or whatever."

    "She's right, you know," Jess spoke, side eyeing her boyfriend as they watched Cordelia saunter out of the elevator. "Live a little," the blonde teased.

Just as Cordelia ventured down the steps of the building, her eyes were glued onto her phone when the sound of feet being dragged across the concrete was heard.

The brunette didn't bother looking up as Luis jumped out at her, waving his arms around manically in attempt to startle. The brunette looked up in boredom, resulting in the man shaking his head in dismay.

"What do you think, huh?" He asked, a wide smile sat on his lips.

"Whatever." Sam huffed a laugh out, shaking his head as he headed down the side-walk.

"At least I wore a costume," Luis defended with an eyeroll.

At his words Cordelia looked up from her phone and glared at the back of Sam's head. "See! I'm not the only one who thinks you're a Debby Downer."

"Man, if your sorry ass was trick-or-treating at my house, there would be no popcorn balls for you."

Sam glanced over his shoulder at Luis, "You gave out popcorn balls?"

Luis grinned widely, lifting a shoulder, "You could at least have gone as a slutty version of something. Slutty Dorothy, slutty Alice, slutty nurse, slutty cat-"

Jess and Cordelia both looked back at him with deadpanned expressions on their faces.

"I- I didn't mean you two."

"Man, what can I say? I've just never been a fan of the whole thing." Sam defended his lack of a costume.

"Or a fan of fun." Cordelia said dryly, smiling sheepishly as Sam glanced back at her with raised eyebrows. "Kidding!"

"Never been a fan — what? ... What, are you a Communist? Who doesn't like Halloween?"

But Luis never received an answer as Sam's smile dropped and he cast his gaze away from the Halloween decorations that hung from a fence.

♰

   "So, here's to Sam and his awesome LSAT victory," Jess raised her glass, followed by a tipsy Cordelia.

    "Alright, alright, it's not that big of a deal," Sam tried brushing it off in embarrassment.

   "Not that big of a deal, he says," Cordelia mocked. "This, Samuel, is a big deal."

    "He acts all humble but he scored a one-seventy-four," Jess added as she shared a look with Cordelia.

    "Mhm, is that good?" Luis asked, face pulling into a grimace as he took his shot. Followed by Cordelia as she took her own and Sam's — after noticing that it was untouched. The Winchester shot her a pointed look as she placed the shot glass back on the table.

"Scary good," Jess nodded, pushing her empty glass towards her cousin with a sly smile, watching as Cordelia poured the contents of her flask into her glass.

    "So there you go," Luis said as he walked over to Cordelia's side, hanging his arm around her neck — pulling her into him. "You're a first round draft pick. You can go any law school you want."

"Actually, I got an interview here. Monday." Sam told them with a small smile. "If it goes okay, I think I got a shot at a full ride next year."

  "Hey," Jess shook his leg reassuringly. "It's gonna go great."

   "It better," Sam grinned looking back at his girlfriend.

Cordelia rolled her eyes, "Of course it will, you're smart, Sammy, like, freak of nature smart."

   "How does it feel to be the golden boy in your family?" Luis asked, Cordelia let out an accidental snort covering it with a cough as Jess roughly stood on her foot, sending her a glare.

    "My, uh — my family doesn't know," Sam brushed it off, Cordelia and Jess shared yet another look.

    "I would be gloating!" Luis chuckled, the stench of his alcohol breath hitting the side of the brunette's face. "Why not?"

    "Cause were not exactly the Brady's," Sam playfully threw popcorn at George.

   "I'm not exactly the huxtables," Luis teased before looking at Cordelia, he playfully bowed before holding his hand out to her. "More shots, milady?"

    "You read my mind," Cordelia took his hand and the two sauntered off to the bar, ignoring the protests of Sam and Jess.

"Don't be late in or I'm locking you out!" Cordelia heard the faint voice of her cousin call out after her.

The brunette merely glanced back with a giddy grin on her face and flashed her the bird.

♰

    Cordelia Adriana Moore was well and truly wasted.

   It was at least one in the morning and Cordelia had been ditched at the party, Jess and Sam had left early, like the pussies they were — leaving Cordelia to her own devices.

    The girl looked she had just gotten laid — well, she had, but that was not the point, her appearance was not caused by her extracurricular activities. She had spent at least an hour on body shots, people doing body shots off her and her doing body shots off of others. Luis had ran off to get laid, leaving Cordelia with their other friend Brady, who, for some odd reason, found it rather amusing to shove the Moore woman into every bush he saw.

   Fortunately for Cordelia, Brady got laid as well — giving Cordelia a chance to leave.

   The walk seemed a lot faster as the girl was hammered, entertaining herself as she sang I Want It That Way loudly down campus — swinging her heels in her arms.

   Cordelia groaned in realisation as she stood outside of her apartment building — Jess had her fucking keys. So much for giving them to Jess.

   "Ah, shitttt," Cordelia whined in dismay, throwing her head back dramatically as she turned to the fire exit stairs, Sam and Jess' apartment set in her sights.

   "Cordelia!" A voice called out from behind her. "Cordy!"

   The girl spun around fast on her feet, stumbling slightly only resulting in a chuckle to vibrate through her body. Her head tilted as she saw a black Impala in her parking space, come to think of it, where the Hell was her car? The girl shook it off as she pulled the sunglasses from her face before she paused — she didn't know how they got there, weird.

   "Samuel?" She called out with squinted eyes as she caught sight of her friend with an unknown man. "Is that you?"

   Sam rolled his eyes at the name. "Yeah, it's me. Sam."

   "Oh, thank God," she groaned as she threw her shoes at him. The Winchester's eyes widened as he fumbled to catch them. "Take them for me will you, Sammy? They're too heavy and my arms are gonna break off in a second."

   Sam raised his eyebrows, ignoring Dean's snickering behind him. "They're-"

   "Who's your friend, Sammy?" Cordelia cut him off as she pushed Sam aside, stumbling over to the unknown man who lent against the Impala.

    Sam opened his mouth before shutting it again, his eyes narrowed as he hesitantly answered, "Uh, my brother-"

    "Dean." The Older Winchester cut him off with a charming smirk.

   "Hm," Cordelia's eyes ran down his body, with a smirk of her own, what? She could admire an attractive man. His body lent against the Impala as his lips held a cocky grin. "I'm Cordelia."

   "Pleasure to meet-"

    "No! You're not doing that, we don't have time for introductions."

    Cordelia and Dean paused, turning their heads to look at the agitated Winchester whose eyes were now the size of saucers. "Okay, rude," the brunette drawled, eyeing him weirdly. "Sammy, the adults are talking," she slurred, frowning at his interruption.

    "You need sleep," Sam told her as he hesitantly walked over to her and his brother.

   "No, I need food," Cordelia sighed at the thought of a cheeseburger.

    "I'll find you some food then," Sam promised as he grabbed onto her arm, attempting to pull her away from Dean, who stood dangerously close to her as the two lent against his car.

  "I also need some tequila," she winked playfully in the younger Winchester's direction.

    "No you don't, you need to sober up-"

   "The night's still young Sammy," she grinned as Sam dragged her away and up to his apartment. The girl sighed in annoyance but nonetheless, let him, slipping a small wiggle of her fingers to his brother as Sam pulled her away.

   "Sam?" Cordelia heard a familiar voice call out. "Is that Cordy?"

   "Yeah, I found her outside," Sam told Jess with a sigh as he handed Cordelia over to her.

   "Hey, Jessicaaa," Cordelia grinned, playing with the blonde strands of hair.

    "Hey, Cordy," the blonde sighed with a small, toothy smile.

   "I'm heading out now. Ow-" Sam began to tell his girlfriend, moving his leg as Cordelia flopped onto the couch — kicking him in the leg.

    "Alright, I love you," Jess said, giving him a quick kiss on the lips.

   "I love you too," he smiled softly as he headed to the door, chuckling in amusement as he heard a drunk Cordelia gag to herself.

     "Ugh! I hope you both choke."

AUTHOR'S NOTE !

jess definitely chokes on somt only it's smoke