Chapter III – Drunk

Roman was a terrifyingly fast driver. She should have guessed by the car he was driving but still. Erica thought she was going to be sick. Roman had his sunglasses on and was smiling as the wind blew around them. He looked over at Erica and her frightened expression and his smile grew even wider.

"You okay love?" He asked. She opened her eyes reluctantly to look at him.

"Could you please slow down?" She asked. Her eyes were wide and kept glancing back at the speedometer. Roman laughed a long laugh that scared her even more before pressing down on the accelerator ever so gently to make the car pick up the speed. Erica put her head in her hands and gave out a quiet scream, "Please?" She asked again. Too horrified to open her eyes. Roman smiled and decreased the speed. She skeptically removed her face from her hands and opened her eyes. She found that the current pace of travel was more to her liking and nodded once to Roman who was smirking at her. She shook her head annoyed at his smugness, "Where are you taking me?" She finally asked.

"Where do you think I'm taking you?" He asked in an amused tone. Erica looked around at her surroundings and found that she was home. Or at her aunt and uncle's house anyways, where they were staying while their new house was being renovated. She bit her lip and looked at Roman.

"Can you come in with me?" She asked after a long moment of hesitation.

"Why?" He responded. He seemed confused, "Are you afraid of someone?" He asked, concern leaking into his voice as much as he tried to keep it out. She shook her head. There's no one home, she thought, that's the problem. As if he had read her mind he laughed, "You're afraid of being alone?"

"Not being alone in general!" She cried defensively, he was still laughing, "Just in that house." She whispered, "I usually just walk around until people get home." She explained. Erica felt that there was a presence in that house when she was alone. It was so eerie.

"Fine." Roman said and got out of his car then walking towards the house. Erica running to catch up to him, he locked it as she closed the door.

"Thank you." She mumbled as she caught up to his faster pace. She took his hand to slow him down. She didn't know why he was being so jumpy. Roman looked back at her; he intertwined his fingers in hers. Feels nice, he mused to himself and smiled. She smiled back warmly. This feels… right, her thoughts practically jumped out at him. He looked away, grinning. It wasn't in a nice way though, it was the smile when a plan falls into place.

"So…" Roman said, "When are your parents coming home?" He asked.

"They're both working late tonight. My uncle will probably stumble in drunk at around 5 and my aunt, well it varies with her." Erica explained. She gave him a sad smile as she unlocked the door.

30 minutes later… they were both curled up on the couch… his arm was wrapped around her and she was leaning her shoulder against his chest. Erica was watching the television screen where as Roman was watching her with growing curiosity. He liked that when he touched her, even in a casual way, her thoughts got terribly excited where as her face remained cool and collected. She really knew how to play 'em. If only the guy she was trying to fool couldn't read her mind. The show was over, she was saying something in an annoyed tone about the way it had ended. Roman wasn't paying attention. She turned towards him and blushed. His eyes were burning into her skin. Roman leaned forwards slightly; their lips were so close that she could feel the warmth of his breath. She was ready for him to kiss her. She wanted him to, more than anything. It was weird; she didn't know anything about him other than the fact that she was becoming infatuated with him even if they have know each other for so little time. Like Romeo and Juliet, she thought innocently. A small smile played at Roman's lips, their lips were about to touch when the door flew open and they both pulled away from each other.

"Uncle John?" Erica asked in a small voice, "Are you… okay?" The man at the door looked at Roman with an indifferent expression before his gaze stopped on Erica. A half empty bottle of whisky was swinging freely in his right hand.

"You are so…" Uncle John slurred, "Fucking perfect all the time aren't you? You aren't like Haven at all. You're not trying to rebel or to pick a fight. You dress nicely and act nicely. Perfect grades, perfect friends, perfect boyfriends…" His glare returned to Roman once more, "You would never do this to your parents. You wouldn't kill yourself and ruin their lives, would you angel?" Erica remained silent. She put her hand in her lap and just stared down at them, tears stingy in her eyes, "Of course you wouldn't." Uncle John finished and stumbled into the kitchen. Erica stood up and left the house as swiftly as possible. Roman followed her silently. She took a deep breath of the cool air and let it flow through her. It didn't help much; her chest was still ripping on the inside.

"Common." Roman said, "I know something that will help you." For some reason she trusted him and let him lead her to the car. Not questioning his motives as she probably should have.

2 hour later… Erica was really drunk for the first time ever. Really drunk meant something different to her than it did to other teenagers because she hadn't had more than a glass of Champaign at her cousin's wedding. The beer that Roman had handed her had gone straight to her head. She didn't know how he talked her into this and more than that she didn't understand why he didn't share the red wine he was drinking with her.

"Cause its not red wine love." Roman answered. She hadn't thought she had said that out loud but she must have… how else could he have known what she was thinking? Erica shrugged and tears escaped her eyes again. What he uncle had said had really hurt her, she didn't usually let people get to her like this but he had. He had gotten in her head.

"You don't think I'm perfect right?" Erica asked Roman, she sounded vulnerable. He gave her the once over and contemplated it for a moment.

"Sorry love, you seem pretty damn perfect from here." Roman said. She wrapped the oversized jacket he had given her around herself. The evening was getting chilly. The beach was long abandoned by tourists and the waves crashed onto a shore, which held only them. The sun was just disappearing beneath the horizon. Erica frowned at his answer.

"I'm not. I'm not an angel. I'm not perfect. I don't have a perfect life. I mean look where I am!" She exclaimed, "Orange County! California. The only place in the world that has a movie star as its governor! I mean everything here is so fake. Everyone has something to hide." Erica's words were getting mixed together.

"You're so cute when you're slurring your speech." Roman smiled at her.

She turned towards the ocean and whispered, "Even my drunk rants are perfect." She wiped the tears away from her eyes. Roman came up behind her.

"Why are you so afraid of being perfect." He asked.

"Because then everyone's going to have such high expectations of me and I know I'll just disappoint them." Erica told him. Turning around in his arms. They were so close now. He had his hands on her waist and his eyes were locked on hers.

"You won't disappoint me." Roman said. Making it sound so sincere instead of corny like she would usually see that line as.

"You say that now but…" Roman interrupted her by pressing his lips to hers. Cutting her off completely. She was so taken aback by how it felt that she let their first kiss go a little farther than it should have. She let his tongue explore her mouth but more than that she was concentrated on the level of intensity. Roman pulled away quicker than she wanted him to. He wasn't looking into her eyes anymore, his gaze was distant. Roman was seeing the future again… their future.

"Erica…" He moaned. Erica smiled; her hair was a different color now. It had much more blonde in it than red, he didn't know if he liked it or not. She was lying on his bed in his room. Staring up at the ceiling and looking as innocent as possible, "Don't be difficult." He finished.

"I'm always difficult." She responded with a smile playing on her lips, "You'll just have to get used to it." She kissed him swiftly on the lips and rolled off the bed. He stared up at her. He examined her from head to toe. Rested on her head was a white hair band, around her neck a golden necklace was hanging loosely. Roman recognized it immediately. It was his. It was the gold chain he had hung around his neck everyday since he became immortal. On it was a simple medallion with the word 'sempre' engraved which was Italian for 'always'. She was wearing it. He must have given it to her. This action confused Roman, never would he ever have planned to care this much about this girl… so much he would give to her the only worldly possession he had ever cared about. She was wearing a cropped light blue tank top, paired with a white miniskirt and to complete the effect, white Sketchers. He reached out to pull her back onto the bed but she just shook her head.

"Common Erica…" He grumbled impatiently. She shook her head once more and just played nervously with his – or her, he supposed – necklace.

"I don't want to miss anymore school, you said you'd drive me." She whined. Roman sighed and got up as well.

"Fine, you win this time… but you owe me one." He growled. She responded by pecking him quickly on the lips and skipping off downstairs.

"Thank you!" She called pleasantly over her shoulder. Roman rolled his eyes. He couldn't believe he was giving in so easily now. Time had really mellowed him.

"Roman!" Erica cried. Snapping Roman out of it. Her hands were around his neck and she was shaking him softly. Roman turned away from her. His eyes were suddenly stone cold, "Is everything okay?" She asked. Roman leaned in and kissed her viscously again. She was stunned momentarily. When he pulled away he knew she wanted more. He wanted her to. The future she had seen of her having that much power over him had disturbed him greatly. The good thing about the future though, it changes. Erica shivered in the breeze. Her hair still had the red he had liked so much in it, unlike what it seemed to be like in the future.

"Have you ever thought about making your hair more blonde?" Roman asked, he was curious.

"The more sun it gets, the blonder it gets, I've only been here a month or so… so it's not that blonde. But it will happen… why?" Erica asked. He shrugged.

"I just thought it would look good that's all." She smiled at him but couldn't hold back the shivers. It was cooler at night and the wind was really blowing. Roman rubbed her arms to warm her up. She leaned in to kiss him softly; he obliged and then put his arm around her and led her to his car. She stopped suddenly before opening the door.

"So what does this umm… mean?" She asked, searching for his eyes.

"What?" He replied, she looked suddenly nervous

"I mean are we umm… you know… dating or something close to that? Or are we just… I don't know… seeing each other sometimes? Or am I totally miss reading this and you just happen to make out with all your friends?" Roman laughed for a long time. She bit her nails and just stared at him.

"No, I don't just make out with all my friends." Roman answered, still smiling broadly, "I don't really care what you call us. It doesn't really matter. I like you." He said, brushing her cheek lightly. She nodded, still uneasy, "You want a drive home?" She nodded again. Roman tightened his grip around her shoulder and she smiled lightly. When they got in the car she fell asleep, her head nuzzled against his neck.

Erica woke up the next morning, the sun shining through the car windshield. She moved about in the leather seat uncomfortably. Opening her eyes she realized that she wasn't quite sure where she was. The white walls of her bedroom were no longer greeting her in the morning light. The lacey baby blue duvet wasn't twisted around her body. She was lying in… a car? Why am I in a car? She asked herself. Her mind was struggling to remember the events of the night before. She shot up in the seat and looked around frantically when she found it hard to recall anything. Then she saw the motionless figure beside her and she relaxed. Memories came flooding back and she found that they were good memories. They reassured her. She lay a hand on Roman's arm, he groaned slightly and moved around in the seat. She shook him a bit. She wanted to go home before anyone realized she was missing. Roman opened his eyes and looked at Erica. It took a short while to take in his surroundings. He stretched and yawned.

"Morning love." He said and smiled, leaning over to kiss her on the cheek. She smiled and then urged him to take her home, "So soon?" He asked. He seemed a bit disconcerted.

"I don't want my parents to know I was gone all night." She said. Not that they will notice… she thought. As if he knew what she was thinking he rubbed her back gently before grabbing the keys and revving the engine.

"I'm sure they're all worried sick and are going to give you hell when you get home." Roman told her. She didn't believe him though.

"You know what…" Erica changed her attitude considerably, "I don't want to go home." She smiled broadly at him. He scrutinized her expression.

"So, what do you want to do?" He asked.

"Whatever you want to do." She said and put a hand through her hair. She wanted to be carefree for once in her life. All her life she had never done one thing wrong and now she wanted to be different, alive. She wanted to live for the moment. And in this moment she was with Roman and she wanted to stay with him. Roman put the car into gear and put a hand on the steering wheel. He gave her one last mischievous smile before putting his shades over his eyes and speeding off.