ItsukoAkatsuki: Hi everybody! I'm just going to go right into the next chapter…
Personal Connections: Alaric in the novel was previously from Virginia but because the story takes place in Virginia I decided to keep him like in the TV show and make him from North Carolina and in the novel he was, previously, a psychology teacher from Duke University. In the novel Damon is the older brother but in the TV show Stefan is the older brother, I'm not sure why they changed that because I don't see the point but whatever. Anyway, Stefan never really knew his mother because she died when he was an infant and only Damon knew anything about her but he still was at a young age. In the novel Stefan and Damon were from Italy and not the town of Mystic Falls which I was GLAD they didn't keep because I found that to be very cliché.
In the last chapter we learned that Alaric is very passionate about his teaching as we saw in the classroom but sometimes he forgets who he is talking to. Elena and Bonnie are starting to piece everything together and Elena is going to be feeling a little threatened soon if Stefan keeps his eyes on Tami, Damon is starting to change a little, and now Alaric's gone crazy. What will happen, well, here's the next chapter…
#
Chapter 9: Unexpected Changes…
Alive and Kicking by Nonpoint
"Alaric!" Sheriff Forbes stood up immediately.
Alaric was looking straight at me, his hands on the arms of the chair, I tried to make myself look as small as possible.
"You cannot just come in and say something like that! What on earth are you talking about?" Sheriff Forbes yelled at him and took out her handcuffs. Alaric turned his head to her but kept his hands on the arms of the chair. "Don't pay stupid with me Liz. You know exactly what's going on here but you're not doing anything to stop it so I will." He turned his attention back to me and I tried to hide my face in my hoodie. "Mr. Saltzman, I do not know your connections with the city council but I cannot have this turn into an interrogation" the principal finally said something. "This has nothing to do with you" Alaric told him off.
"What insubordination! I could fire you for this Mr. Saltzman"
I don't think Alaric is worried about that. I don't think anyone can save me now.
"Come on, you're a tough cookie, you do this"
"Radcliff, you are not helping!"
"I don't know what happened to Vicki" I told him.
"Don't lie to me Tameryn. You know what happened; you do not need to lie for those things"
"They are not things Alaric!" I fired back without thinking.
"Alaric Saltzman, if you do not stand down I will arrest you. There is no need for you to come in here and accuse Ms. Copperfield of anything."
"Yes I do, because she's the only one who can tell me."
"I don't know what you're talking about, really"
"Do you honestly expect me to believe that?"
"Alaric, this is my last warning"
His piercing gaze was really started to get through to me and I felt my voice break "when I was at the Halloween party I was going to the bathroom and I saw Vicki and she was acting really weird. I thought maybe she had drunken too much because she kept saying she was going to be sick so I asked her if she wanted to go home but when we got outside she started freaking out and ran off" Please take that and go away Alaric…
Alaric smiled suddenly and then finally backed away but still close enough so only he and I could hear. "That's okay. If you don't tell me today you'll tell me someday because if you don't. I'll have no choice but to go after the Salvatore brothers myself."
"…why are you doing this?"
There seemed to be an inner emotion that went by Alaric's eyes but it disappeared quickly. "I'm not going to let them kill any more innocent victims. You think you're safe now but one of these days…" he didn't finish, he shook his head, and then stood up. "I thank you all for your time." Alaric nodded to Sheriff Forbes and the principal then left.
"…what just happened?" I heard Sheriff Forbes say in between her sighs. I was still unnerved however and my emotions were high-strung, wanting to burst out. I'm okay…I didn't tell him anything but he still knows. I have to warn Damon and Stefan…I don't know what he could do.
"Ms. Copperfield?" Sheriff Forbes put back her handcuffs.
"Y-yes Sheriff Forbes?"
Her face was soft "how about we do this another time?"
I nodded, "…sure" I got up slowly and picked up my bag. "Dr. B, is it okay if I just wait until second period. I don't…want to go back to his class"
"You have Mr. Saltzman for first?"
"Yeah." The principal reached for his memo pad and quickly wrote down a pass and handed it to me. "Thank you" I took it and swiftly left the room.
The hallways were empty except for some of the students that were visiting their lockers or skipping. I kept taking large breaths so I could calm down. I need to find Stefan, thankfully he has lunch right now.
"What a minute. There's lunch during first period?"
Look at the time.
"Oh yeah because I definitely have a watch with me right now"
It's almost eleven thirty. You forget that this school starts later than most schools.
"That's kinda weird but whatever"
#
I went outside and looked around for Stefan or possibly Elena, she probably knows where he's at. I didn't see them in the cafeteria so I went outside and looked. "Tami!"
I heard someone call me but when I looked I only saw Matt. "Oh…hi Matty"
Despite what happened to his sister he actually looked good and was smiling which could only make me cringe because of what I knew. "I was looking for you…I was wondering if maybe you weren't busy later…are you okay Tami?"
"…I-I'm so sorry Matty. I'm looking for someone right now but um…" I reached into my pocket and pulled a Bic pen and reached for his hand. "Here, you can call me up and tell me all about it okay? I'm sorry but I…"
"It's okay, you don't have to explain yourself to me" he gave me a smile that actually relaxed me for a moment. "Actually, Matty, have you seen Stefan?"
"Stefan? Uh…I saw him earlier but…I don't really know where he could-oh yeah, what am I talking about? I saw him go up to the outside lunch stand for some water earlier."
Really? I didn't care who was watching and I gave Matt a quick hug "thank you Matty"
"Oh, uh…not a problem" I walked away before he could say another word and made my way to the outside lunch line. There was a line so I couldn't see if he was standing in the next line.
"…Tameryn?" I wanted to groan. What now!? I'm trying to find someone here!
"Douche bag alert"
Erick and two of his wingmen came up to me and I wanted to gag at Erick's sleazy smile. "Shouldn't you be in class?"
"Like hell I was going to stay in there after Saltzman just got up and left."
Wow, I'm not surprised.
"But who cares about that…?"
"What do you want Erick? I've got something I got to do" I kept looking for Stefan but I couldn't see him anywhere.
"I just wanted to tell you how cool it was when you schooled down Shelby today. That was amazing…"
Yeah, right…wait…oh god is he flirting with me…ewww…
"So I thought, why not, how about I take you out sometime?"
No way…
"No thanks Erick, I don't know if you heard but I do have a boyfriend"
"Oh yeah?" He acted like he didn't care. I took a step back and his wingmen stepped closer. They were blocking me, I couldn't escape.
"So what? Just because you've got a boyfriend doesn't mean you can't hang out with me at my house" his sleazy smile didn't go away. Ugh…he is so nasty.
"This guy really is a douche bag"
"He's more slick than grease…in a non-gay way"
"Dude, shut up"
"So are you in?" he stepped closer and I couldn't step back, I was at the wall. "No thank you Erick. Now please get out of my way"
His wingmen didn't move and Erick smiled faded away; he reached for me but I slapped his hand away "don't touch me"
"Ooohh did you hear that boys? 'Don't touch me'" Erick mocked me and I glared at him. I felt like pushing him but I didn't want to touch him again. His wingmen and Erick got closer and I couldn't move.
"Hey!" I heard someone yell and behind Erick's shoulder I saw Stefan coming up to us. Thank goodness…
Erick turned around and acted tough "what the hell do you want?"
But Stefan was in no mood to mess around because he grabbed Erick's collar and pushed him into one of his wingmen. "You-stupid asshole" Erick got up and swung a punch but Stefan dodged it easily and used his foot to kick out Erick's left and he went down again. "Are you going to give me trouble?" Stefan asked the other wingmen but he shook his head and ran off. "Hey, where are you going coward!?" Erick yelled after the guy. "It isn't cowardice to run away from a fight. It's cowardice when a guy thinks he can gang up on a girl." Stefan grabbed Erick's collar again and used his strength to pull him up. Wow…
"And I don't take it too kindly when someone is messing with my-" The color on Erick's face was starting to wipe away so I grabbed Stefan's arm. "Stefan! Stop it…he's not worth it"
Stefan held onto him for a second longer and then let Erick drop. "You just got lucky" Stefan growled and Erick scrambled to get up. "Don't think this is over Salvatore! I'll make you regret this…you too you little emo bitch" he pointed at me and Stefan stepped closer but Erick, and his wingman, ran for it. 'little emo bitch'? Really?
"Are you okay Tameryn?" Stefan turned to me. "You saved me again" I said embarrassed.
"Don't worry about it." He put his arm over my shoulders and brought me over to his side. I felt my face go red and my heart was pounding which made him chuckle. "You have a bad habit of getting into trouble"
"…I don't try to. It just happens" I admitted. "Then I guess I'll just have to keep my eye on you from now on"
I didn't know if he was being serious or if he was joking but my face went red either way. "…Don't worry though, I'll be here whenever you need me to be"
Huh? What did he say?
I looked up at him and he smiled at me which caused a warm wash throughout my bones. "Did you see me?"
"No, but I felt your rising distress so I came to find you. I had been feeling it for a while so I thought something was really wrong"
He can sense my distress? He came looking for me…that's so nice…
"I had Alaric for first period and he didn't give me much trouble at first but then I was called in to speak with Sheriff Forbes…"
"I was too" he mentioned. I pulled away from him a little so I could his face. "But Alaric came in and said that he knows about Vicki and he wanted me to tell him where you hid the body"
Stefan's face grew serious then and he crossed his arms. "-But I didn't tell him anything and he said unless I do; he's going to go after you guys" I stepped up to Stefan and grabbed his shirt. "I had to tell you because I'm not sure what he could do; and if anything happened to you or Damon I would feel terrible." His face softened a little. "He may be a Hunter but he forgets that we are vampires."
"But what if he goes to the council? Or the Mayor, and tells them who you are…when I was at the party I came across the Mayor and Alaric talking about the possible vampires here…if the Mayor knows-"
Stefan reached forward and put his hands on my shoulders. "-it's okay. Just leave it to me, alright?"
I still felt worried but he was right. There really wasn't much I could do; even if I told Alaric the truth he would still go after them. "Is there anything I can do to help?" I asked him, I didn't want to be a burden.
"Just try and stay out of Alaric's hair. Alaric isn't a fool; he won't go up and take us on."
I sighed a little. I feel so useless…and responsible.
"-Hey, you can count on me okay? I'm not weak enough to get taken out by some school teacher" a small smile crept on my face but I was still really worried. Stefan looked at my arms and neck for some reason. "Alaric didn't put his hands on you again did he?"
"Oh no, Sheriff Forbes was in the room and I'm sure she wouldn't have let him. I have to say that he's bold; that's for sure"
"I'm not worried." He said it easily but that only made me feel more worried. "Just…don't do…anything reckless okay?" I said slowly; trying to put as much volume into my voice as I could manage.
He nodded and then pulled me to him. I didn't want to cry but after everything that happened already today I wasn't feeling as happy as I did this morning, I was more nervous than ever. No one could see us because we were behind the wall so I felt more comfortable hugging Stefan back. I could only cling to him, my fingers digging into his shirt in the back, and hope that nothing bad happened. I always knew Stefan had big hands but I felt even tinier when he held me close. Every reasonable thought went out of my mind and I could only think about how warm Stefan's embrace was. Whenever I was hugged by Damon I always felt that warmth but with Stefan I felt a different warmth, a more protective warmth, like he wouldn't let anyone hurt me.
What the hell am I thinking!? I'm hugging Elena's boyfriend…and Damon's brother!
As soon as that realization hit I wanted to pull away but I just couldn't. I am going to be in so much trouble for this…is that…Aqua Velva?
"Hahahahaha!" I heard Zeboriah burst into laughter.
"Zeboriah! You're ruining the moment…this is so sweet."
I rolled my eyes behind my closed lids. Thank you Randy.
"You are so welcome. See Zeboriah, at least someone cares about me"
I felt like I was on cloud nine but eventually we had to pull away and that happened when the bell rang. I quickly detached myself from him and felt so embarrassed but he just smiled at me. "I'll see you later Tameryn. If Alaric bothers you again just call me okay? Or if you're ever in trouble."
"Okay, Stefan" I watched him walk away and after he was gone I felt so bad. I can't believe what I just did.
"Oh cry me a river, it's not like you had sex with him or anything. It was just a hug, friends hug and comfort each other."
You're not helping Zeboriah.
But despite my embarrassment I couldn't help but feel a smile well up in me again.
#
"Finally, school is over!" I stretched my arms over my head and cheered. Today had been such an annoying day but I was finishing it off with a smile. Plus, Damon was going to pick me up and we were going somewhere. Just the two of us. I couldn't wait and I almost ran out of the school. I nearly ran over Caroline as she suddenly appeared in front of me. "Oh, Caroline"
"Going somewhere?" She looked at me suspicious. "Yes actually. Excuse me"
"Hold on! You're still not seeing Damon are you?"
"…maybe?"
She groaned. "If I were you I would just dump him. He's a total player; he is always flirting with other girls."
"No offense Caroline but I think I can judge that for myself" I walked back slowly. She was taken aback; that I even said anything that didn't sound like 'yes ma'am, I'll do whatever you say, and those shoes just look so cute.' Ugh…
"Just don't…fall in love with him or anything because he'll break your heart…just like he did mine"
"I'll keep that in mind. I'll see you later" I waved goodbye and went outside where Damon was waiting for me just like he said. I felt my problems just melt away when I saw him and I went up to him immediately. "Did you miss me?" he asked. "Of course I did." He opened his arms and I went into them for a hug. I felt butterflies in my stomach and I didn't want to pull away but we had to. "So where are we going?" I went to the other side of the car and dropped my bag in the backseat before getting in. "It's a surprise" he told me, he got in next to me and started the car.
I felt more and more of my problems being blown away with the wind as we drove out of downtown. I thought we were going uptown but then Damon took a left and soon there was nothing but trees. I started to feel a little excited. After a little bit more driving I started to hear the sounds of water crashing on rocks. "You're taking me to Mystic Falls?" It was the beautiful waterfall that was just west of town.
"You spoiled the surprise but there's more…"
"More?" I felt even more excited and soon the trees parted and there was Mystic Falls, I've heard about it but I had never seen it until now and it was breathtaking. "Oh, wow…it's beautiful"
Damon parked the car and then got out. "Come on, there's still something else I want to show you"
I got out and followed him down a bit a ways away from the waterfall but not too far before I saw a little picnic set up. "Oh, Damon"
"Surprise" he said with a smile and kissed me on my forehead. This is really cliché but I don't care
#
Stefan had just gotten home and was going back to the study where he had left several books open. He had been spending the last three days trying to find out anything for Tameryn but so far he hadn't found anything but he still had more books to look through before he would have to look somewhere else.
There wasn't much to go on except for the fact that Tameryn wasn't able to be compelled which he wasn't seeing in the books about witches and fairies. Vampires could still be compelled and so could Hunters so that could only mean Tameryn wasn't something he had probably seen before which made him nervous but she wasn't a creature that was incapable of taking their blood; he had seen Damon give her some of his blood to heal Vicki's bite and she took it just as well as anyone.
Stefan spent a whole good hour looking through the books before the sunlight was beginning to disappear behind grayish clouds. "It looks like it's going to storm" Stefan said to himself. He put down the book he had in his hand and sighed. He looked at the row of bookshelves and couldn't believe that none of those books were helping him. Stefan could turn to the internet but it would be a waste of time. He wouldn't get the answer he would be looking for. Maybe I should go to the cemetery. There's still some books left in the church. Maybe I'll have better luck there.
Stefan pondered that for a moment before picking up his leather jacket and his keys.
#
"I think it's going to rain. You might want to put your hood on" I told Damon. The sun had been slowly hiding behind dark rain clouds. We had been out here for almost an hour but I didn't want the rain to spoil my day with Damon. "Yeah, I should" Damon got up from the picnic blanket and went to put his hood up, he had a bright red mustang convertible and the top was currently down. There was a ripple of thunder and I started to pack the picnic up. "I don't remember the weather guy saying it was going to rain today" I said as I put the basket in the car. Then I went up to the wood railing and watched the waterfall. I love to come here another time and sketch it, it would look really beautiful with some oil pastels and some wood fragrance.
Damon came up next to me. "It's a nice sight isn't it?"
"Yeah, they never had anything like this back in New Orleans. We just had the swamps and the alligators. We lived near the swamp so at night you could hear the all frogs singing and the sound of the locus in the trees." I felt myself reminisce back when I was younger and I would go to sleep listening to all those sounds. But I liked it here too; it was really quiet at night which was also nice.
"I can't believe that swing is still up" I heard Damon say and I followed his glance until my eyes came to an old rope swing. "Has it been there a long time?" I moved my arms off the wood railing, I felt a splinter go into my arm, and walked up the swing. The wood seat looked weathered but the rope still seemed strong. "This swing has been here since I was a kid"
"This swing is a hundred years old? Wow…"
"Yeah…I used to come up here and swing whenever my Dad or Stefan were giving me trouble. It seems weird looking at it now…" he tugged on the rope and it held pretty well. "What was Mystic Falls like back then?"
"…It was a lot quieter but a lot of people were passing through to get to Richmond so we got guests all the time."
"Was your dad the Mayor?"
"No, but we were the wealthiest family then, other wealthy families liked to visit, and tried to get us to marry off their daughters" I laughed a little. "Did you ever have your eye on someone?"
Damon sat down on the swing and paused for a long minute. "…Did I say something wrong?" I quickly apologized but his velvet smiled appeared and he grabbed me and sat me on his lap. "No…it's just…old stories. Old flames. Nothing to apologize over."
"If it's okay to ask…what was her name?"
"…Katherine Petrova. I can still remember when she first came. I had just come home from fighting in the Civil War…"
"You fought in the Civil War?"
"Yep."
"That sounds cool and sad at the same time. You probably saw a lot of death."
He shrugged. "A little, but I never really had time to think about it. I had joined in late because of my age so I didn't get to see the really brutal stuff. But anyway I had come home when I found Stefan out in the garden with a beautiful girl."
"That was Katherine?"
"Yeah. According to my brother she had just arrived from Georgia and she was going to stay with us for a while…" Damon drifted off into silence. "You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to. I didn't mean too-"
"-It's okay. I've heard a lot of things about you and your family. It's only fair that I talk about mine." He gave me a quick peck. "Yeah but I don't want to force you to talk about anything you don't want to. I'd hate to make you feel uncomfortable."
"It's just…a lot of things happened" he drifted off again. "Is that how you became a vampire?"
"…Yeah, Katherine was a vampire."
Oh…something must've happened to her.
There was another crack of thunder and then rain came pouring down in heap loads. We both jumped up and went to the car but I was already completely soaked by the time we did. "Man what a rain fall. It just all came out." I looked out the window and watched the rain fall and the lightening shined up the window. "That's one thing about Virginia." Damon had his smile back so I immediately felt better. I was indeed curious about his past but I didn't want to bring up any bad memories he had.
"You're completely soaked" Damon touched my hoodie. "So are you"
We both laughed a little and he turned the car on. "I live just up the road" he said and we started going back up the road. "You live around here? I thought you lived up where the estates are at."
"No, the whole land is ours and the Boarding House is still there."
"I can't wait to see it" I reached for Damon's hand which was lying between us and he closed his hand over mine and brought it up to kiss it.
#
"Oh, wow, this place is as big as my last house" I stepped inside the house and marveled at its gothic beauty. Everything inside seemed like I was looking inside an antique house. "I'm glad you like it" he said and gave me a surprise kiss on the mouth. "I'll get you some warm clothes"
"Okay" Is he talking about his clothes? I felt my face erupt with blush as I took off my shoes and wet socks. I couldn't believe that it rained so quickly. Even my hair was completely soaked but I resisted squeezing the water out onto the hardwood floor. Man, this place is so nice and cozy. There was a fire in the fireplace so I went towards it to warm myself up a little. I folded my pants up so it wouldn't drip. I'm glad I used that Revlon baby lotion on my legs. I felt so nervous. I heard Damon coming back. He had some clothes in hand and a towel. "Here you go, I hope they're not too big"
"Thank you" I took the towel and began to dry my hair. "So, how do you like the Boarding House?"
"It's really nice. It's must be great to live here. My last house was this big but it still felt suffocating, you know?"
I finished with my hair and Damon cupped my face. "Why must you be so cute?"
I chuckled a little and shrugged. "I don't know"
He flashed the velvet smile and came closer. My hands curled in his shirt as he kissed me and I felt myself getting warmer and it wasn't from the fireplace. He suddenly pulled away, "hurry up and get out of those wet clothes before you catch a cold" I couldn't help but grin like an idiot as I went into the downstairs bathroom to change. The clothes he had given me were plaid boxers and a black collared t-shirt. I almost died of embarrassment and hid my laughs behind my hand. He gave me a pair of his boxers…I couldn't help but laugh but I didn't want to keep him waiting. His clothes weren't that much bigger but he was taller than me so the shirt went past my waist a little bit.
I was putting my hair up in a messy bun when I came back into the living room and caught Damon putting his shirt on; I turned around immediately. I could hardly think at all and of course my face was probably as red as a tomato. How did I get this lucky…? I asked myself.
"You didn't have to turn around" I heard him say and I didn't miss his playful voice. "…I know"
I slowly turned around and he had put on a long sleeved V-neck shirt and jeans. He sat down on the leather couch and I sat right next to him but he caught me and laid me on his lap. "I should get you to wear my clothes more often" he said and I bit down on my lip. I was so nervous; I didn't know what to say. His hand felt warm on my bare legs while his other hand was on the small of my back. I felt so content and I looked up to catch him looking at me with…somewhat of a sincere face…if I was right. "Thanks for today, Damon, it was really nice"
#
Damon couldn't help but get lost in those big dark green eyes of Tameryn's. He had been pondering the whole day why he was feeling like this. It had been a long time since he felt anything quite like how he was feeling right now. Thinking about it, his mind went back to Katherine and how she used to make him feel whenever she was around. It almost surprised him how different he felt with each one. When Damon had been chasing after Katherine he had always felt torn; mainly because he knew that Katherine was also in love with his brother and not so much him which caused him both anger and confusion but even just having a casual day like today he got more feelings of love dwelling within himself with Tameryn then he ever did when he was with Katherine for a long period of time.
But…Tameryn wasn't Katherine. Tami was more innocent and open minded. She didn't like making him feel uncomfortable like Katherine used to do and Katherine was more teasing than anything else. Tami was more true with her feelings and she was always blushing which he couldn't help but smile at. Even before he met Katherine he had never really believed in true love, it seemed almost foreign to him. He thought he had found the meaning to that when he was with Katherine but after what happened and what she did; he couldn't forgive her. He had spent over a hundred years yearning for her and when he finally thought he could bring her back he discovered that she hadn't been in the tomb under the church and that she had been alive and well this entire time…and she didn't care. Not about him; not about anyone…she had only cared about herself.
"Thanks for today, Damon, it was really nice" Tameryn said to him and that feeling of love was coming back so much that he was actually beginning to feel…nervous?
#
"I thought so too" he finally said and I relaxed against him. I was in a peaceful world when the door suddenly opened and I heard "am I interrupting anything?"
I froze in my spot, I knew who it was that had just come in. I opened my eyes to see Stefan coming into the living room. Oh my…it's Stefan! I hid in the collar of Damon's shirt.
"I didn't think it was possible for you to get any redder but I guess I was wrong…"
Shut up Zeboriah…
"Yeah shut up Zeboriah. You are ruining the moment yet again"
"Say that to my face again you little bitch"
"Do you mind?" Damon asked Stefan.
"Don't forget I live here too Damon"
"Yeah but you bring Elena here all the time so shut up" Stefan went into the kitchen. "Are you feeling okay?" Damon asked me. My face must really be red.
"Yeah, I'm perfectly fine" I mumbled and he brushed his fingers against my cheek. "Would you like some hot tea?" he asked out of the blue.
"Uh…sure, I love some" I got up to move but he held me down and just moved out from under me. "I'll be right back" he winked at me and I giggled.
#
"You getting jealous Stefan?" Damon couldn't help but ask him when he entered the kitchen.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Stefan took a bite out of an apple. "You know exactly what it means" Damon joked and got a cup from the cabinet.
"I'm actually really shocked that you could be so loving Damon. I've never seen this side out of you…ever."
"Yeah well, I'm tired of loving someone who will never love me back"
There was a brief silence between them with only a few passed looks.
"Now if you'll excuse me. I've got someone waiting for me" Damon left the kitchen and Stefan had the sudden urge to hit something.
#
"Here you go" I took the tea cup eagerly. There was a nice aroma to it and it tasted great. "Thank you
"You're welcome" he picked up my legs and sat underneath them. "Alaric didn't give you a rough day did he?" he asked me.
I saw Stefan stop out of the corner of my eye. "Just what you would think" was my answer and soon I heard Stefan going upstairs. "Finally buzz kill man is gone" Damon pulled me closer and gave me a big kiss. I had to put down my cup before I kissed him back. He suddenly chuckled a little, "what?" I asked him. "You taste like herbal tea" I snickered and gave him another kiss, I surprised myself again at my own boldness.
"…I guess I have found my lost girl" he said after a moment and I remembered what we were talking about this morning. The look he was giving me was such a warm look that I didn't know what to do. I felt his hand on my cheek and then it moved to touching the strands of my hair. I don't know where it came from but I suddenly felt playful and I got up. "Who said you've caught me yet?"
I went into the kitchen and soon enough he was following me. I'm acting like a little kid but I'm having so much fun.
"Watch out little girl, I'm coming for you" he played along and I used the counter in the middle of the room to separate us. "Can you catch me, middle-aged man?" I recalled calling him middle-aged earlier.
I kept moving away from him and then I jumped for the living room but using his vampire speed he caught me and he let himself fall with me landing on top of him.
"Aww…I guess you caught me" I pouted a little but then smiled down at him.
"This is a bit suggestive"
Ohmygod shut up Zeboriah. You're making even more uneasy. Can't you do something else for a minute?
"I guess I can…come here Radcliff…I'm going to kill you over what you said earlier"
"No, Ohmygod!…run away!"
I refocused on Damon as he brushed some of my hair out of my face and then rested it on my cheek. He looked at me with unreadable eyes for the longest moment.
"…I love you"
Everything seemed to stop at that moment. Did he just…!?
"…Damon…do you mean that?" I had to be sure.
He looked at me for a moment and then his velvet smile appeared. "Yeah, I love you Tami".
The front door opened and a unfamiliar female voice said "I never thought I would see the day…"
We both turned to the voice and a tall blonde girl was standing there.
"Lexi?"
TBC…
