Chapter Seven
Sebastian Salvatore was scared. He was two months away from making the final transition into a true vampire, his cousin had just found out she was a ripper, and now the Founders Council was suspicious of his family. But out of all of that, nothing scared him more than Poppy Maxwell—the mortal girl he'd fallen madly in love with. She'd proposed that he take her on a date before she decided whether or not she wanted to move with him if it came to that, and therefore this date was hugely important.
Damon watched his son from his doorway and chuckled, realizing that no matter how hard Sebastian tried, he would never have Damon's cool and collectiveness in a time of worry.
You try so hard to be me, Bastian, but in reality you're just like your mother.
He thought to himself as his child continued to rush around in a panic.
"Sebastian, calm down." Sebastian stiffened as he heard his fathers voice and turned to face him, sucking his meltdown deep inside of himself and throwing up his fathers cold outer exterior.
"I'm fine, Dad. Get out of here, I have to make sure I look impeccable for my lady." Damon snorted and rolled his eyes.
"Wrong answer, you know. I would have said that I have to freshen the impeccable, as there is never a time when all this," he gestured to himself "isn't flawless. I'm the eternal stud, you know, you can ask your mom." He said with a wink. Sebastian gagged.
"Um, I'd rather not. Thanks." His response only egged Damon on.
"Elena, Princess, Bastian wants to hear about how sexy you think I am, you got a minute? He's trying to recreate it for that Polly girl." Sebastian gritted his teeth and shot Damon an ice cold glare.
"Her name is Poppy." Elena walked in and wrapped her arms around her husband.
"Babe, leave him alone would you? You're riling him up before his big date." Damon's eyes warmed into a liquid azure and he smiled lovingly at his son.
"He knows I'm playing with him." He walked over and ruffled his sons hair and kissed the top of his head.
"Have fun tonight, treat her like a princess, and don't keep her out too late, okay?" No matter how old he got, Damon would always treat him this way, as he loved his kids more than anything. Sebastian couldn't help but smile, his irritation fading as he pulled his dad into a hug.
"I promise." When his parents were gone, he resumed his rather frantic search for the perfect outfit. He plopped down in his computer chair, about to give up, when he noticed that his father must have stuck a note to it when he'd been in here earlier.
Son,
I know it would be embarrassing for your mom or sister to see, so I'm going to keep them occupied in the living room and I want you to go to my bedroom. Get my favorite leather jacket—you know the one, and my favorite John Varvatos shirt. It's my lucky shirt, but you'll need to pin it together because all the buttons are missing. Please don't ask why.
-Dad
P.S. You have reservations at 2941 Restaurant, where I took your mother on our first date. It's expensive, so ask me for money when you leave, I guarantee you don't have that much to your name.
Sebastian grinned and shook his head. His father was awesome! He tugged on some dark wash jeans and ran to his parents bedroom.
Once there he immediately found the jacket, which was hanging on the bedpost on his Dad's side, but the shirt would require some digging in his parents closet, which he was a little apprehensive about. He sifted through the mix of Elena's tank tops and dresses and Damon's never ending row of black button-downs until he finally came across a button-less one that looked as if the popping of said buttons had been deliberate. It made him cringe a little to think about what purpose that had served, so he didn't think about it and just slipped it on. He found some safety pins and carefully clipped the shirt together in a away that made it look like the shirt was simply sewn that way and then put his dads jacket on over top it. When he emerged into the living room both Elena and Stefani gasped.
"Oh Ian, you look so handsome!" She cooed, pulling him against her and squeezing him. When Elena released him Damon shot him a lopsided smile.
"Hello my shadow self." He teased, his heart warming as Sebastian mouthed a "thank you" to him. He checked his watch and headed for the door.
"Dad…could I um, have some money?" Damon nodded and pulled out three one hundred dollar bills, not really caring that it was too much. He figured Sebastian would take Poppy for ice cream afterwards or something, his son was a cheese-ball like Stefan had been.
Once he was gone Elena smacked Damon playfully on the arm.
"Did you seriously send him wearing the shirt he was conceived in?!" Damon shot her his smolder eyes and leaned in close to her face.
"It's my lucky shirt, he needed it, you should have seen him pacing in his room." She giggled and connected their lips for a split second before a second thought pulled her away.
"Is he…driving the car he was conceived on?" Damon looked at her like she was crazy.
"Are you kidding me? Hell no, I know my son and I am not letting him drive my car! I let him drive Stefan's old Porsche, it has been sitting in the driveway untouched since he died, it's not like he's using it anymore." Elena shrugged and nodded, it was true. She had often wondered why they hadn't sold it, but she guessed now it could be given to Sebastian since he had his license.
"That night on the hood of your car was one of the best nights of my life." Damon laughed and kissed her again.
"I enjoyed every night we made a baby together, but my favorite by far was when Sam was made." He snickered as he watched a bright blush creep up her face at the memory. Elena had gotten pregnant the last time two years prior at Scarlett's eighth grade football game when she'd first started cheerleading, behind the bleachers in the gym where no one could see them. Elena chortled.
"That one was your favorite because it was the naughtiest." Damon growled suggestively at her.
"Maybe."
Meanwhile, Sebastian was driving to pick up Poppy, trying to air out the musty smell in Stefan's car by rolling all the windows down. It had been way too long since someone had driven this thing. He tried to turn it to a romantic station but the damned thing wouldn't go passed the Spanish station and he had to settle for ¡Corre! By Jesse y Joy, although from what Spanish he'd picked up on he knew this was a very sad song. He pulled up into her driveway and knocked on her door almost timidly. When she opened the door his breath was knocked out of him.
"H-Hi." He stuttered, admiring how she looked in the dimness of her porch light. She was wearing a romantic floor length pink A line Sweetheart Chiffon dress with a sweep train, and it hugged her curves in all the right places. Her hair was the best part, it was pulled into a curly bun on the right side and looked soft as a golden cloud. Sebastian was about to compliment her when his vampire hearing picked up on a faint crying and some yelling from within the house.
"Y-You look…um, is everything okay? I hear a woman crying…" Poppy quickly shut the door behind her and nodded adamantly.
"My mother probably, she just…she stubbed her toe or something I'm sure." Sebastian wasn't convinced of that at all, but he let it go and extended his arm for her to take.
"You look breathtaking." She seemed to make his favorite squeaking noise, though she'd obviously tried to conceal it, and he shot her The Smolder. He opened the door for her and then revved the engine, trying to impress her with his Uncles car. He was kind of hoping she'd think his parents bought him this after getting his license, he wanted her to think he was cool so bad.
"I um, apologize for the Spanish, the radio dial is kind of stuck." He said as they pulled out onto the highway. Poppy giggled.
"That's okay, I actually love ¡Corre!, I have at least one favorite song for like three different languages, I think language is a beautiful thing." When Sebastian had been younger Stefan and Damon both had actually tried to teach him several different languages, because apparently vampires had to adapt quickly to moving to new places, so this naturally intrigued him.
"What are they? I speak a little bit of everything just about." Poppy looked genuinely excited.
"Really? Even Italian?" Sebastian chuckled.
"Especially Italian." Poppy flushed and tried to hide how much that pleased her.
"Well, my favorite Spanish song is ¡Corre!, my favorite French song is Pour Que Tu M'aimes Encore by Celine Dion, and my favorite Italian song is Con Il Tuo Nome by Ivana Spagna." Sebastian was quiet for a few moments, letting all of that sink in before remembering what he'd heard at her house.
"Those are all quite sad. You're into foreign sad songs?" He was trying to make sense of it all but was drawing blanks. Poppy simply shrugged.
"I like any sad songs. Sad songs reflect the soul, don't you think? As for them being foreign, I just really want to travel. See the world, get away from it all. Especially to Italy." She said with a grin, causing Sebastian to be unable to do anything but smile back. Tonight it didn't matter, whatever she was going through he would figure it out and he swore to himself he would help her, but tonight everything had to be perfect. They pulled up to the restaurant and he got out to open her door.
"Consentitemi di fare la vostra anima riflettono una lieta canzone." He whispered hotly in her ear as he offered her his hand. She looked as if she were about to faint, but she took his hand and allowed him to usher her into the restaurant.
"Oh my God, Sebastian…" She whispered as she was over come by the intense smell of lilac and the gorgeous oil paintings on the walls.
"Do you like it? My father took my mother here on their first date. This is what started it all…" He trailed off with a sentimental smile, he'd always looked up to the love his parents held for one another.
"I love it." Sebastian could have sworn her eyes were saying "And I love you too" but he shook that thought from his mind. It was much to soon for any of that wasn't it? But that didn't mean he couldn't pretend that she was the Elena in this romance, and he was the Damon.