Everyone was there already, wandering around and talking to the press. We decided it would be okay for us to walk in together and pose for pictures. I tried to look the least disoriented I could manage. I went blind with every camera flash and if Ian's hand weren't behind my lower back holding me in place, I would've fainted. No doubt. All the paparazzi kept saying things like 'one more' or 'over here'. They were calling for Ian's attention most of the time. I figured it was because he wasn't looking at the cameras so I looked at him to be sure. As I predicted, Ian wasn't looking at the cameras. He was looking at me. Admiring me underneath the camera flashes but quite frankly it was me who lost all sense of self-location under his gaze. The flashes made his eyes even more brighter.
We stepped out of the picture-taking area and moved on to do some press.
First up, was a woman who looked on her early thirties wearing a witch hat. She went all shades of red just by looking at Ian but she seemed professional enough to look past it. She begun to talk before we could listen.
"And here we got Ian Somerhalder and Veronica Brooks. How ya' feeling tonight?" She said. I thought I'd had fun with it.
"I'm feeling...tall." I said looking down at my high-heels. Ian shook his head while laughing and his hand came up to rest on my shoulder. The woman laughed too before continuing with the interview.
"With those shoes? I don't blame you. But you look amazing!" She said. "The Joker, am I right?" She asked.
"Correct." I said. Ian was looking from me to the interviewer and back to me.
"And who did your make up?" She asked looking at my fake scars.
"Uuhh....well me." I said shyly. After she made a 'no way' face, I smiled at the ground. Is it really that hard to believe I have talents too?
"That. Is. Insane!" She said. I thanked her with a smile. "How do you know all that stuff?"
"Oh... I don't know. I just do." I said with a shrug from my shoulders. Sadly, Ian's arm went down my back.
"And, of all the things I thought I'd see today, Ian Somerhalder wearing a Batman costume wasn't one of them." Said the interviewer and laughed. Ian sent a smile her way and shrugged his shoulders.
"I felt like it was appropriate. There's got to be some one able to control this one." He said while wrapping his arm over my shoulders once again while we all shared a laugh.
"Oh please, Ian. It's her birthday. Cut her some slack." Se said. I made a surprised face, as if I've forgotten.
"It is my birthday. Come on, dude!" I told Ian.
At that moment, I felt a weight on me and a pair of arms wrapped around me from behind. I started laughing once I heard Alex's voice scream 'Happy Birthday' loud enough for everyone around us to notice and and laugh silently before returning to whatever they were doing.
She let go of me and I turned around to hug a Harley Quinn costume wearing Alex. The picture she showed me didn't made her justice, she looks a lot better with the make up and in person. Paul wasn't far behind her wearing a Robin costume. When we pulled away, I noticed the interviewer's confused look.
"And who do we have here?" She asked to top it off.
"Who do we what? Oh please! Come here, bae." I said as I laid my arm on Alex's shoulders and placed her on my side so the camera could see her. "This is my main gurl." I started saying with an accent. "And parter in crime. Literally." I said motioning the attention to our also matching costumes. Alex and I laughed and she answered the question.
"I'm Alex by the way." She said in between laughs.
Ian was looking at us both with amusement and Paul joined him soon after he caught up with us.
"But hold on a second." Said the interviewer. "We got another one matching. Where is this coming from?"
We all started laughing as Paul walked over to Alex's side and took her hand, unnoticed by anyone except me, who had a hold on her shoulders and felt her tense under his touch.
"Hey they said 'party' so I got my squad on and ready." I said throwing my arm over Ian's shoulders and with my other arm laying on Alex's shoulders already, I squeezed us four together a bit to prove my point.
The interviewer admired the view of us for a second.
"Wow..." She said. "And to think you wouldn't be here if it weren't for that contest..."
"Yeah...I feel lucky." I said looking at my friends beside me. Ian spoke up.
"No. I'll tell you who are the lucky ones right now." He said. He motioned his finger from Paul to himself. "This guys right here." He said and Paul nodded in agreement. I playfully rolled my eyes as they all chuckled.
"And, last thing before you go." The interviewer said to get our attention and, once she had it, she continued. "What can you tease about the new episodes. Knowing that Veronica appears in...how many?" I answered 'three' quickly. "Three episodes. Well now we know why you stayed this long." She said sarcastically for which I laughed with the others.
I let go of Alex and Ian and hold my coat in place to answer the question.
"Well, this next episodes are episodes that you'll definitely don't want to miss. A lot of character development is involved in the story. Lots of story-marking moments--"
"Shit goes down." Ian said cutting me off.
"Shit does go down. For real." I said. Alex started humming the song by Flo-rida, which let me know she got the joke. When they all started laughing and dancing around almost unnoticeably, I continued. "There you go. So don't miss it." I said as we started moving towards the left to carry on with other interviews. The woman quickly signed off saying her goodbyes and wishing me a happy birthday which I responded with a 'thank you' and a bow.
We kept walking along the line of people waiting to interview us. Paul and Alex were with an interviewer, I was with the one next to them and Ian squeezed my shoulder and kissed my temple before walking to the one next to me. I could hear thousands of people talking so I had to get a bit closer to the woman asking me questions.
I heard her asking if I was having fun to which I answered with a 'Oh yeah!'
"Have you seen any of your co-stars yet?" She asked.
"I haven't gone in yet but I've only seen Paul and Ian." I answered.
"You've got to see Kat. She's wearing a great vampire costume."
"Vampire?" I asked. "Well that's ironic" I said sarcastically which earned me a laugh from the interviewer.
"And about your costume," She continued. "I saw on Instagram you did really dyed you hair green." At the mention of my new green hair, I took my hair and laid it on my shoulder to show it off saying 'What? This?'. "Yeah. See now that's commitment right there." She said and we both laughed.
"So we know you were the lucky contest winner," she said and I nodded my head. "so we asked our twitter followers to send questions for you. But, just to be clear, you were a fan of the show before winning I assume, right?" She asked.
"Yes. Hardcore." I said.
"Great. And you also were an auditioning actress before winning too, correct?" To that, I gave a nod of my head and said 'That is correct'. "So that's out of the way. Now tell us, who do you look up to in the industry?"
I took a moment to think about my answer.
"Some one I look up to?" I repeated the question to myself. As I was looking around for a response, my eyes landed on Ian. He looked deep in conversation, surely talking about something far more important than Halloween costumes. My face went serious in appreciation as I got my response. "Ian. Ian Somerhalder. Yeah. His pretty......amazing. Not only as an actor for which I've known him for, but also as a person. His talent goes beyond words and his humanism goes without saying. I'm definitely lucky to have him as a friend." The last few words burned on my throat as I spoke them but I managed to smile afterwards.
"Those are really nice words to end the interview with." She said. Then she said her goodbyes and signed off the video as I walked away.
I walked passed Paul and Alex. I poked Paul's shoulder as I walked passed him and when he looked, I was on the other side already. When he noticed, he laughed as I kept walking but I heard him saying 'That was Veronica by the way. She's crazy.' to the interviewer.
I kept walking to the entrance of the party. I had to stop to take a few other pictures. I tried to pose the best I could, ruffling my hair up a bit and adjusting my coat. My vision was completely inexistent under the flashes so it took me off-guard when someone picked me up and threw me over their shoulder. In the three steps the individual took, my vision clarified a bit and I could see the soft black cotton that my hands were feeling. I was staring into Ian's back and his hands had a firm grip around my legs so I didn't fell. He laid me back on the group and when I looked at him, he was smiling. He threw his arm over my shoulders and we posed for pictures together again. This time, I hugged him and he wrapped his other arm around me hugging me back to unleash the raining flashes from the cameras.
"Alright, enough of this." Ian said. I looked at him in confusion. "Let's party." He stated walking me to the entrance.