Don't – Chapter III
"Help? No, no, if I do this, I do it alone. I have my reasons…"
I was still standing in front of Damon, who now had a look of surprise on his face. I hadn't come all the way here to make teams to kill my sister. I knew it wouldn't be easy, and I didn't want to put anyone in danger, considering the fact that Klaus was still after us…
"Hah, believe me, I have plenty of reasons, too." He said in a persistent tone.
"But… no. I don't need help, much less someone to worry about."
"Oh, you won't have to worry about me. I'm a big boy, I know how to handle myself." He smirked and turned around, walking to the small bar to pour himself another glass of whiskey.
I sighed. I wasn't really getting anywhere with this argument, so I just gave in for now. I would think of something else later…
"Well… what would you do, then? To help?"
"I told you I would help you do it. But then again, it will be rather hard. Anyway, I'm sure Stef will want in too, I guess that's kind of an… advantage." He changed his smirk for a grin. "I'll tell him later, it's getting late."
I hadn't noticed that I had lost track of time. It was probably nightfall already, and I was still here.
"You're right. Well, then, I should get going." I turned and walked towards the door. In a matter of a second he appeared in front of me and just stared.
"Where are you going?" He said suspicious.
I gazed upon his face. His dashing blue eyes were big and shiny. I had to look away.
"Um, I don't know. Out."
"Where are you staying?" He asked. He knew I wouldn't give him a straight answer.
"Well, you know… here and there. Streets are rather interesting, have you tried them?" I said sarcastically, hoping he would let me go soon. He laughed softly.
"Enough said, you're staying here."
"What? No, I can't. I won't, in fact…"
"Hey, first of all, you don't have a place to stay. I won't let you sleep in the streets. And if you do remember what happened yesterday, and I mean the part where they almost kill you, then the more reason for you to stay here." He said. "So I believe that's a point for Damon Salvatore, thank you very much."
"But… -"
"Ah! Don't." He raised a finger to silence me, and so I did. Ugh, I didn't like this.
"Now, come on, I'll take you to a room" He said, waling towards the stairs. I followed him reluctantly, I mean, what choice did I have left. He did have a point…
"Here." He opened a big door that led to an enormous bedroom. I noticed the huge bed and big windows at it's right. I also saw a small opening which led, from what I could see from where I was standing, a big, beautiful bathroom.
"Wha…- What is this?" I asked, astonished.
"It's my room." He said.
"Wow… so, are you a fan of hotel room catalogs or something?"
"Hmm, I take it that you like it?" He sighed.
"Anyway… No, Damon, I won't take your room."
He smiled. "Oh, yes you will."
"No… I mean, why don't you give me the room from earlier? The one in which I woke up today."
He laughed. "Seriously? It's all filthy from yesterday. Now, this is way better" He took a look at the room.
"But still! I already agreed with staying here for a while, you don't have to do this" I said.
"Just take it." I could see he was getting annoyed and tired.
"But then where will you sleep, huh? This is your room."
"God! You're very difficult, you knew that?" He said to me smiling. "Don't worry, I'll be in another room, okay?" He opened his arms and pointed at the dark hallway. "There's like a thousand rooms in this house, so chill. Or who knows, maybe I'll just crash in with Stefan" He smiled as he joked.
"Fine…" I said forcefully. I was getting tired too.
"Thank you." He said loudly and sighed.
"And what about…-"
"Clothes?" He cut me off. "I got it covered. There are some in the closet over there." He nodded and pointed to a space beside the bathroom. "Well then, I shall go now." He smiled and headed to the door. "You have yourself a good night." He said and winked at me. I just stared at him from the other side of the room.
"Yeah, goodnight Damon. Thank you."
"Anytime" He smiled again. It was as if it was kinda growing on me… "Goodnight, Lidya" and with that, he closed the door. I sighed.
Minutes later, I searched in the closet he had mentioned, and I took some pj's out. Simple: shorts and a tank-top shirt.
Sleep came easily for me that night. No worries, no dreams… just sleep. But I knew this wouldn't last forever. Not until all of this ended… Not only did I had Katherine, but also Klaus I had to worry about, and it wouldn't end until he was stopped… But even so… both Damon and I knew it was impossible.
I woke up late that morning, the clock marked it was almost 11:30 a.m., so I got up, fixed my hair a bit, and went downstairs. I was heading for the kitchen, but I hadn't seen anyone yet.
"Hello?" A voice finally called. I didn't recognize it though, for I hadn't heard it before.
I turned around to see a tall man, even taller than Damon, with light brown hair and green eyes. He stood there, looking at me with doubt.
"Oh, god. I'm sorry." I said looking at myself and grabbing my pajamas. "Um, you must be Stefan."
"D-Did my brother bring you here?"
"Damon? Oh, yes, he, uh, he did" I said. "He's really persistent" I smiled.
"I'm sorry. I know his behavior can be a bit… extreme." He put his head on his forehead and sighed. "Uh, I can take you home if you want me to" He got closer to me, and I could smell him. He smelled like forest, and blood.
"What do you mean? Is there something wrong?" I asked, confused.
"Well, didn't you… uh…" He stopped there.
Then, I knew what he meant. He thought of it wrong…
"Oh! Oh, no, no, you mean we… No, I didn't, I did not sleep with your brother if that's what you're talking about." I stuttered as I tried to get things right with him.
"Oh… um, I'm… sorry?" He said embarrassed and then laughed nervously. He half-smiled at me. It was odd seeing that after getting used to Damon's smile. "Well, then you didn't…-"
"Believe me…" A voice said from behind. "She didn't" Damon appeared beside me, smiling at Stefan. I turned to him and rolled my eyes.
"Damon." Stefan said and nodded.
"Good morning" Damon said to me without paying attention to Stefan.
"I made you breakfast." He said.
"Huh?" I said looking at him forcefully. So that's where the smell came from…
He sighed and rolled his eyes. "For you and Stefan"
Stefan looked at him suspiciously, while Damon turned around and led us to the kitchen. We entered and I saw three plates with eggs and toast on them.
"What's this?" I asked
"Since when do you cook?" Stefan said.
"Well, it's good for you to return to the human stuff once in a while. Don't get all feisty, I did it for all of us." Damon said handing me a fork. "Anyway, there are some blood bags downstairs if you want them." I gave him a look. "Don't worry, they're from the hospital. Besides, I wouldn't want to have to deal with the revenge of the bunny families Stefan just massacred." He got me to laugh a little.
"Okay, wait a minute. I believe my brother hasn't introduced us properly" He said.
"I'm Lidya Petrova," I said slowly.
"Wait, what?" He said seriously. Damon sighed.
"Okay, Stefan. There's not time for chatty-chat" He pointed at me. "Petrova. Katherine's sister. On good side; our side. Wants her dead like we do, but also a target for Klaus. Has been escaping. Almost died. Being my awesome self, I saved her and brought her here. We're going to help her and she's going to stay here with us. Ta-dah…" He finished, making my whole story into sentences that took 30 seconds to say.
Stefan remained silent, and then he said, "Can we trust you?"
"You can." I said. He looked at Damon, and he nodded. I could sense Stefan's nervousness, so I just smiled at him, letting him know that I could be trusted.
Later that day, Stefan went out hunting again and Damon had gone to get more blood bags to put on the storage, so I went upstairs having the house to myself. Then, I found books. Thousands of them, so I took 2 or 3 into Damon's room to read them later. I was about to take another one from the top shelf, but I started to trip. My body was heading towards the stairs, and my high-heel shoe broke as I stepped wrong. I lost my balance and grunted as I began to fell. "Shoot!" It all happened so quickly, but just before my body crashed down the stairs, something caught me.
"Ow!" I said. I noticed I was already on the floor downstairs, but I landed on top of someone.
"Ouch… Wow, you'd think that being a vampire would give you better reflexes." I opened my eyes and saw Damon. His body was below mine and his arms were wrapped tightly around my waist.
I sighed, "I just tripped."
"Of course you did" He smiled. I pulled off from him and stood up while taking my shoes off. "Sorry…"
"Are you hurt?"
"I'm fine"
"Well, I'm going to put these things in the basement, so please don't make me have to save you from breaking your back again" He winked.
"I was distracted, okay?"
"I'm just saying… My hero skills may not be available all the time." He said.
"Gosh, does your ego come with an on and off button? Because I would really like to turn it off."
He laughed softly "You're not that lucky"
I smiled as he walked away.
Night came quickly after the not-so-pleasant stairs incident. I went up to the bedroom and took a shower. When I got out, I noticed something lying on the bed. It was a long, beautiful dark purple dress with small, sparkling stones for decoration. I leaned in closer to look at it better.
"Nice, right?" Damon appeared and sat on the bed.
"What is this?" I asked, astonished.
"I got it for you" He said. "I thought this color would look good on you" He looked at me, and then the dress, like trying to picture me in it. "Oh, yeah, definitely." He smiled that Damon smile…
"And what's it for, may I ask?"
"You're wearing it to the Founder's Ball tomorrow. And you're coming with me." He said, not as a question, more like a statement.
"Excuse me?" I smiled.
"He sighed. "I'm sorry. Would you do me the honor of 'escorting' you to the Founder's Ball tomorrow night?" He bowed down a bit and smiled.
"Do I have a choice?"
"Nope. I have to protect you, remember?" He said. I just stared at the dress. "Anyway, I think this is settled, so get some sleep, and I'll se you tomorrow." He said and headed for the door. I was still staring at the dress… "Goodnight" He said
"Goodnight" I responded just before I noticed he had already disappeared.