(Sorry this took so long. I had a yard sale, started a new job, and had a tooth pulled, among other small things. Enjoy)
Erin
The boys had been slapped with clean-up duty as the girls lounged about upstairs, Erin knew they had to leave soon and she was dreading being alone until the next night. So she settled down with Cass on her bed and sat in a comfortable silence. She could hear the boys downstairs laughing and joking, the sound of dishes clanking together reverberating off of the walls. Cass would giggle every now and then and Erin was sort of envious that she couldn't be apart of the joke.
"So you and Dwayne, huh?" Cass asked, rolling over to wiggle her eyebrows suggestively at Erin. Erin tried to suppress the groan, but failed miserably. She was dreading this conversation, solely because she didn't know what to say. And he was downstairs and most definitely listening to them talk. "Relax, I told them all to stay out of our heads." She smiled, placing her chin into her hand.
"Yeah and what about you staying out of my head?" Erin retorted, faking a glare.
"I'm your best friend, I always knew what you were thinking before, now it's just more accurate, and a little more creepy." Cass cringed and Erin let out a small laugh, falling backwards onto the bed and scrubbing her hands down her face.
"I like him Cass" she mumbled "I like him a lot" she added on, finally voicing her inner thoughts. It was good to get the revelation out in the open, but now she couldn't take them back, and that scared her.
"He likes you to" she nodded her head and began picking at the duvet.
"How do you know?" Erin asked, actually afraid that Cass had straight up asked him.
"Marko told me" she smiled at the mention of his name, and Erin was instantly reminded that Marko and Cass were actual mates, like destined to be together. And she didn't know if her and Dwayne were. Cass and Marko were so different, and fate played the largest part in bringing them together. Not only that, but Cass had previously been dreaming about him before meeting him. Erin had yet to have a single dream about Dwayne, it was sad really.
"So you and Marko?" Erin winked and wiggled her eyebrows in the same manner Cass had previously done with her. Cass rolled her eyes and let out a tremendous sigh.
"I guess" she shrugged "I like him. But we've been through so much already, it feels kind of weird to keep trying." Cass shrugged again, still unsure of her own thoughts.
"From an outsider perspective, I think Marko has a lot of growing up to do. I think he is use to one way, and he doesn't like change. Almost like he's afraid of it in a way. Do I think he could have treated you better or handled things differently? Absolutely. BUT you can't exactly fault him for not knowing how to act. He likes you a lot, that is very obvious, but he doesn't know to act on it." Erin finished, and Cass nodded along to everything she had said.
"I know. It's just hard. You know I'm not the best at letting people in." she mumbled, playing with her fingers. Erin scooted down and wrapped the girl in a hug.
"I know. He did a number on you, didn't he?" Cass winced at the mere mention of her ex and it made Erin's blood boil. She may not be a killing machine, but she could definitely think of a few creative murder plans to be dealt towards the man Cass unfortunately considered her ex boyfriend. Cass groaned and shook her head.
"I can both smell and feel your anger Erin. You and Marko both get extremely angry when Levi is brought up." Erin froze at the name, and Cass did too. Obviously, just now realizing she had said his name. She hadn't said his name in months. Erin had almost forgot it. She let out a small growl, and Cass sighed.
"You know it doesn't hurt as bad. Whenever I would think of him, it use to almost paralyze me. But now, after everything with Marko, he just seems like someone that was never real. I know I'll always feel a small amount of pain, but I don't feel as hopeless anymore, you know?" Cass smiled then, getting lost in her own thoughts and Erin let her, knowing that she was in good ones, rather than the dangerous ones that Erin often caught her best friend in.
Cass
She wasn't lying. Thinking of Levi use to chill her to her bone, the thought of his face, name, smell would made her physically ill. And while she still hated him, it wasn't the all consuming hate she was used to. Perhaps that was the best part of becoming a vampire, old emotions didn't seem as intense anymore. It was the new ones and the important ones that stuck with her.
'Hey Marko?' she questioned inside of her head, picturing his smiling face.
'What's up ba.. Cassandra?' he finally questioned back. She frowned, they weren't exactly on the best of terms, but she definitely wouldn't mind being called babe. Especially hearing it come from his voice.
'Babe' he corrected and she could practically hear the smirk in his voice. She inwardly rolled her eyes at his smugness. 'Don't roll your eyes at me, you'll regret it. Babe' he snickered and she let out a slight scoff.
'You don't scare me teenager' she giggled and he let out a fake growl at the nickname. And it was then that she was picturing his face, and half smile she knew he would have, and the color of his eyes that she realized she was so incredibly lucky and grateful that she had him.
'Did you need something?' he spoke
'Yeah. I just.. I' she stumbled over her words, not really sure how to voice her thoughts, let alone string them into a coherent sentence.
'Hey. We'll talk when we get back to the cave ok? Face to face.' he sent her a smile and she smiled back. She looked at the clock sitting on Erin's nightstand and realized she needed to get back. Erin was knocked out with her head on her shoulder. She carefully laid her down on the pillow and threw a blanket over her, she moved the hair out of her face and backed out of the room slowly. Turning and closing the door quietly before skipping down the stairs.
"You lot ready?" she asked as she got to the bottom, making sure to keep her voice down.
"Is Erin asleep?" Dwayne questioned, his eyes peering up the staircase.
"Yeah, she passed out on me." Cass shrugged and looked at Marko. He was already looking at her, an unreadable expression on his face.
"Let's go then!" Paul whooped and everyone shushed him, Cass adding a smack to the shoulder. "Oops sorry!" Paul sang and gave an awkward grin to her before running out of the house. Cass could only roll her eyes at the blonde's actions before following him outside, making sure to lock the door behind her. Marko grabbed her hand and helped her onto his bike. He started it and revved the engine, warming it up. He picked up her hand and laid a small kiss on the palm of it, stroking over the spot with his thumb and placing it on his stomach. Her stomach did multiple somersaults and erupted in butterflies. She squeezed him and laid her head on his shoulder. She yawned lazily and he took off.
"You gonna be able to stay up and talk to me" he yelled over the loud roar of the motorbikes.
"Always have time for you" she mumbled back, squeezing again. He shook his head but she could feel that he was content. She knew they had a long way towards a healthy relationship, but she didn't think it was that far off. Things were already a lot better, maybe the thought of her dying scared the crap out of him and now he wasn't willing to make mistakes anymore. Not that she minded if he did, because relationships were built on mistakes, it's how you learned about yourself and your partner. How to grow together. Or that's what she assumed it was supposed to be like. She didn't know exactly. Her relationship with Levi made her question who she really was and who she wanted to be. He turned her world in so many directions that she didn't even know if she was in the same place as when she met him.
Marko's hand squeezing hers had her crashing back down to earth and anchoring her there. She hated when she dazed out like that, there was no room to dwell on the past and she knew it. But she liked to think that looking back at the past made her appreciate the future a lot more, and learn.
"We're home" Marko announced as he kicked his kickstand out, angling the bike and jumping off, turning to help her off the bike as well. He gave her a smile, a real one. Not a 'I know something you don't smile' and she genuinely loved it. His smile turned into a devilish grin and she felt like kissing him and hitting him at the same time.
"Kissing works. Hitting doesn't" he smirked and cocked his head, daring her to kiss him. She wanted to. God she wanted to. But she wouldn't. Pretty boys don't always have to have their way, at least not right now.
"I'll pass, thanks though" she beamed a smile and brushed past him, completely ignoring the pout that formed on his lips. His lower lip jutting out just the right amount that had her teeth urging to tug on it. Marko let out a low growl.
"Cassandra" he bit out and she didn't to turn around. She knew her effect on him, same as he knew his on her. She got to the stairs and stopped. She really, really, really hated these stairs. They were unpredictable and unsafe. If one board fell she would plummet to her death in the raging waves. Plus, the trek down them was enough to give her nightmares. The cliff was high up and she hated heights. She breathed deeply before making her way slowly down. It was a miracle in itself that she made her way up the stairs when she was chasing Paul, but she was fueled by anger and confusion. Or maybe it was the fact that she was going up and off of the cliff that had her mind at ease.
"Well if you keep up that pace, you'll be fried by the sun in 2 hours" Marko laughed, running by her and jumping down a few stairs. She screamed at his sudden burst of energy, that and he had knocked into her slightly, causing her to stumble.
"Would rather fry that fall" she seethed, gripping the banister tightly once she was sure she wasn't going to tumble and die.
"That's the dumbest thing I've heard!" he yelled, flying back up and scooping her into his arms. She screamed again, tightening her hands on his shoulders and trying not to flail.
"Put me down! Oh my fuck, put me down!" she screeched, closing her eyes tightly and burying her face into his neck.
"Zero chance. I have you where I want you and I'm not letting you go" he chuckled and pressed a kiss to the crown of her head.
"You can be sappy any other time but this one" she grumbled, finally peeking her eyes to look at him. He was looking at her, but they were descending and before she knew it, they were on the ground and she was jumping down to it. Once her feet met solid ground she whooped out a praise and considered kissing the solid earth.
"Please don't, I couldn't begin to tell you how disgusting that would be" Marko shuttered and she whirled to look at him. A glare perfectly in place, her finger jabbed out and poked him in the chest, hard. He pouted and rubbed at the spot.
"You little shit!" she yelled, "you know I'm scared of heights! Do you vampires have a therapist I can go to? Because I will need one for the damage done by you this past week!" she clenched her fists. He stared at her and then began laughing, she could hear the other boys laughing as well and she spun on her heel, racing down the stairs. Holy crap she didn't fall. She would worry about that later.
"What is so funny?" she threw her hands up once she got to the bottom of the stone steps and then placed them on her hips, narrowing her eyes at each and every one of these little shits.
"You're cute when you're mad" Paul blew her a kiss and she ran at him unexpectedly, tackling him with more force than she thought she had. They both went flying and he hit the couch hard. He let out a oomph and she was pinning his wrists down.
"Am I still cute?" she growled, trying to sound as threatening as possible. He stared at her wide eyed before smiling.
"Yes" he agreed and she looked up at the small table, trying to find something to piss off her own personal demon. She spotted a tube of glitter, where it came from, how it got there or what is doing/used for was something she didn't question. It was there and she was going to use it. She grabbed it and ripped off the opening, she gave one last glare to Paul who shouted in annoyance, trying to buck her off of him. His movements only caused the tube to dump out the entirety of the glitter into his hair. His hair was streaked was purple and blue glitter, and it definitely wasn't coming out anytime soon.
"Cassandra!" Paul cried, finally getting her off of him and shaking his head as best as he could, large clumps of glitter coming out but no where near how much her had in his hair. She was laughing uncontrollably and the other boys were crying in laughter.
"I will get you for this!" he seethed, pointing a finger at her and stalking off towards the bathing area.
"Sure thing princess" she laughed and he he yelled an "I hate you" over his shoulder before disappearing. Markp jumped onto the couch, wrapping her up in his arms and she wiggled until his elbows weren't jabbing her in the rib cage. She was resting on his lap and he was playing with her hair.
"That was perfect Cassandra. That'll be in his hair for days" Dwayne laughed and David snorted. "Weeks probably. His hair is all hairspray and glitter sticks to everything anyways. In fact, I think glitter will be in his hair for the rest of his life." They all started laughing again and Paul shouted an "I hate you all" before we heard him furiously scrubbing and crying out when glitter kept coming out of his hair.
"I say we dump glitter in his hair when he isn't paying attention. Will drive him banana's" Cass planned and all 3 nodded their heads in agreement.
"Well we're going to bed. Goodnight you two." David nodded to them and Dwayne got up to follow, sending a smile their way and heading off towards their sleeping chambers.
"Why do you guys sleep down there?" she questioned
"I don't know. Just always have" he shrugged and brought her in closer, ghosting hip lips over her forehead.
"Are there more comfy beds down there?" she asked, tilting her head back towards his lips. He chuckeled and shook his head.
"No beds" he pressed another kiss to her forehead, this one with more pressure and she forgot what he said.
"Couches?" she finally remembered to ask.
"Nope" he kissed her cheek, running his lips to her jaw.
"Then what the fuck?" she mumbled
"A bar" he murmured
"Mmm, alcohol?" she questioned. Wait, what? They were talking about sleeping right? No, they couldn't be. How did they start talking about bars? She missed a very large portion of this conversation and she didn't know how.
"No Cassandra, a bar to sleep on." he clarified.
"How the shit? Doesn't that hurt your back? A little bar digging into it? How in the world do you all fit on one bar?" she jerked away from his lips that were creating a trail of fire down her neck. He breathed out a laugh.
"We don't lay on the bar. We hang from it" he chuckled at her bewildered expression.
She imagined then hanging like a normal person would, hands on the bar. But there was no way they could sleep like that, that would be severely uncomfortable, and just downright undoable. Did they hang by their knees? What about the blood flow to the head?
"Hang?" she finally gasped out
"Yep. By our toes" he smirked and a look of disgust and confusion flickered across her face.
"Toes?" she questioned
"Yeah our toes lock onto the bar and we hang upside down like a bat" he kissed her neck.
She imagined them all hanging there like bats and it was...weird? How did they? What?
"Blood flow? Headache?" she mumbled "feet aren't weird, toes aren't big enough to grab a bar? Would have noticed if you had weird little….claws?" she voiced all of her weird thoughts but still didn't seem like she voiced all of her questions.
"They return back to normal when I'm walking or anything. They only shift that way when I sleep" his hands ran down her sides and grasped her tightly, picking her up and carrying her to her designated bedroom. He threw her down and tugged his jacket and boots off.
"Oh my God, you aren't going to show me them are you?" she scooted as far away from his feet as possible and looked anywhere but the floor. "Are mine like that!?" she mumbled pulling her socks off and wiggling her toes to make sure they were still toes. They were.
"No and they could be if I taught you" he laughed and laid down, pulling her into his chest.
"Oh good, please don't" she cuddled into his side and he lightly stroked her arm, shaking his head and mumbling a quiet "ok"
"What did you want to talk about?" he asked into her hair
Crap. She had completely forgot about that. How would she say it, what are words? How did she tell him that she liked him? I guess just say that? But it was more than just liking him.
"I like you" she blurted and her whole body tensed, he chuckled "I like you too Cassandra." he finally told her.
"No like, I really like you. I knew I liked you, but I didn't realize how much until Erin and I were talking about Levi" she traced a spiral into his collarbone and his whole body tensed.
"Levi?" he bit out
"My ex-boyfriend" she clarified
"Why were you talking about him?" he seethed, tightening his hold on her.
"I don't know how it started. But I just realized how everything with him doesn't hurt as bad. Like now that I have you and everything, he just seems so.. Unreal I guess" she shrugged
"Explain more" he whispered, kissing her forehead.
She groaned but nodded. "After everything that I went through with him, I just figured that I could never look at anyone the same. Especially a guy. He ruined me. And I thought that the pain he caused would be my utter ruin, and that I would be heartbroken the rest of my life. But then you come along and I don't even remember his name or him anymore. It's like he never existed. I know I'll always be cautious but I'm not who I used to be. And it's because of you." she looked up at him and leaned herself up on her elbow. He stared at her and licked his lips, her tongue darting out to lick her own.
"I guess what I'm trying to say is thank you. I know we got off to a rocky start and things didn't really go right, but I'm still grateful for you. You showed me a whole new world, and you led me to be a whole other Cassandra. Because I had forgotten who I was. I don't want to be that same girl anymore, I want to be who I am when I'm with you. When I'm with all of you." she smiled and his head jerked up to press his lips against her. Settling for slow and deep kisses. He crushed her against him and she let out a small moan, loving the feeling of being so tightly pressed against him and loving his tongue exploring her mouth.
"God Cassandra. I'm not good with words, but I get it. I was one way before you stumbled into my life and I'm trying to be someone better. Someone who deserves you. I know I'm not doing that great of a job but I'm trying and I will always try for you. And I will always protect you" he pressed his forehead against hers and this time she was lifting his head so his lips could meet hers, her teeth nipping his bottom lip and sliding her tongue into his mouth. Their tongues meeting and clashing, and exploring. Never growing tired of each other, and not needing to breathe. He finally pulled away and she cuddled into him.
"What did he do?" he finally asked, and she knew he had been wanting to ask for a long time. And she knew that it was time to finally tell someone. To tell someone everything. It was better to get it off of her chest, out of her mind and into the open air.
"I met Levi when I was 16. He was 18. He was this forbidden thing that I couldn't have because he was older and just so unattainable. His group hung out with mine, and we had mutual friends. I tried to stay away from him, and for the most part I did. He didn't notice me at first, and then one night it's like he saw me for the first time. He would constantly be around me, hugging me, kissing me, claiming me. And at the time I loved the attention. All of my friends warned me about him, but I didn't listen. I was too happy that a boy finally noticed me." I shook my head at my dumb 16 year old self and continued.
"He slowly drove all of my friends away, until I only had him and my grandparents. My mom had died giving birth to me, and my father and brother had died shortly after I met Levi. My grandparents were old souls and wanted to trap me in the house, and Levi made me feel like he was the only one I could turn to. I didn't realize it at the time, but he was telling everyone how much I hated them, and that I was crazy, I needed help. I was unstable and people should stay away from me, and eventually they all did. He would tell them horrible things about me, and horrible things that he made up that I said. One day I came home and there was a note on the table from my grandma. An envelope was right next to it. The envelope had $100 dollars in it. The note said that they wouldn't tolerate drugs in their home and I had the rest of the day to get my things out." I bit my lip and closed my eyes tightly, Marko brought me in and placed a soft kiss onto my lips before letting me continue.
"I didn't know what they were talking about. I had never done drugs before, maybe drink a little, but not drugs. I ran up to my room and Levi was just sitting on my bed reading a book. He looked up at me and noticed my emotional state, he immediately came to me and asked me what was wrong. He said they were delusional, that they didn't love me and was just trying to find excuses to make me leave. He said everyone leaves, and then eventually everyone dies, so it was better this way. He helped me pack my things, and then we stayed at his apartment. It was my darkest times there. He told me he loved me, and I didn't know if I felt the same way back. I was only 16, about to turn 17. I didn't know what love was. But he was all I had. So I told him I loved him back. And he told me that if I really loved him, I would sleep with him." at that Marko let out a growl.
"Marko you're not going to like a lot of this. So you'll need to try and stay calm" I pressed a kiss to his knuckles before diving back in.
"I wasn't ready to sleep with him. I had just lost my father and brother, and I had just been kicked out. But again, he was all I had left. I tried telling him I wasn't ready but he called me an ungrateful bitch. He hit me and split open my lip. He called me every name in the book, and he made me feel worthless, until I felt like the only way I would be happy and he would stop yelling and go back to telling me he loved me was to sleep with him. He didn't try and make me feel better, he didn't go slow and it was awful. I cried the whole time and he laughed, he kept calling me his slut, and his little worthless orphan. But at least he was calling me his, and that's all that mattered to me. This continued for 2 years. I wasn't allowed to get a job, I wasn't allowed to have friends. I could barely leave the apartment. I had to be completely naked all of the time, and I couldn't lock myself in anywhere. I couldn't contact anyone." I stopped and breathed out a sigh.
"I still wonder if my grandparents tried to find me, tried to get ahold of me. Guess I'll never know" I mused aloud and shrugged.
"Everyday he would come home for work and he would have sex with me. Sometimes multiple times and the soreness never went away, I was just numb. I had to cook dinner, completely naked. He took away all of my clothes, he burned them all in front of me. He left me with only his clothes, but I could only put them on when he told me I could. Cooking dinner or anything for that matter was the worst, especially if it was grease because it would pop and it burned. I could only eat however much he would let me because he said that I was fat, and that I needed to lose weight, the only way to do that was to hardly eat anything. There were times that I had to sit and watch him eat. He made me eat the worst food sometimes. Baby food, dog food, you name it. He said it wouldn't make me fat, and that if I threw up it was a bonus because then the food that I just ate wouldn't linger in my stomach. And a lot of the times the cooking wasn't the best, or he just simply didn't want that for dinner, so he would beat me. Sometimes with his fists, other times with a belt, anything that would hurt." I was borderline crying now and Marko had gone completely still, his expression one of absolute murder and sheer terror. I know it hurt him to hear this, but he needed to know.
"One night, I was fed up with it. I argued back that I was hungry, that I needed to eat or I was going to die. He laughed and said it wasn't his problem. His house, his money, his bitch, his rules. I told him I would leave, and he hit me. He hit me so many times that I was rendered unconscious. I was out for 2 days. When I woke up I was tied to the dining room chair. I was in so much pain, and I had bruises all of my body. I was covered in blood. He just knocked me out and strapped me to a chair. My vagina was sore so I knew he had still been having sex with me. He came home and he was pissed I was awake. He said he was mad I was awake because now he actually had to look at me when we had sex, and listen to me. And he would rather me be out cold or dead when having sex with me. So he started drugging me and it would knock me out for hours. Each time I woke up more sore than the last, and I don't know I guess I finally just stood my ground. I tried acting nicer towards him, to make it better. And in the end I found out everything he did. He admitted it to me in a sick sense of pride." I was so angry at this point that I wanted to find him and kill him, but I knew I couldn't. I wouldn't.
"He admitted that he drove all of my friends away. He admitted that he planted drugs in my room and told my grandparents that I was an addict, that he would help me. He admitted to all of the times he drugged me and raped me. And he loved it. He loved that he did all of those sick things to me. So I acted like it didn't bother me. And when he went to work the next day, I grabbed some of his clothes, and broke into his safe. I stole only what I thought I would need and finally left. I caught a bus to Washington, travelling mostly until I found a place I liked. Far away from my old life in Utah. I settled and worked at a clothing store, and once I turned 20 I got a job at Danny's bar. I couldn't serve alcohol but I could clean and cook, and that was enough for me. Then I met Erin, and she doesn't know any of this. Just that I had a really shitty ex named Levi who was horrible. She doesn't know where I'm from. I was afraid that if I shared too much, he would find me some how. And I know he's looking." she finally finished and looked at Marko for his reaction. He didn't say anything for a long time and it made her nervous. Maybe she shouldn't have said anything? Maybe this was a mistake.
"I'm so sorry Cass" he finally whispered, tugging her until every part of him was pressed against her. "God, I" he swallowed hard and pressed his face into her hair. "He never deserved you. You are beautiful, inside and out. You were never and never will be worthless, you mean so much to me. And so much to Erin and the boys. I will take care of you and I will protect you until I die, and I will kill him if I ever see him. He doesn't deserve to see the light of another fucking day" he seethed
"I will treat you better. I will be better. I will make up for what he deprived you of. We're going to make it Cass, we're going to be healthy and fun. And while I can be controlling I will never be that way, I will always put you and your needs above anything else. You're never going to feel alone again baby, never" he kissed her hard and she melted into his arms, showing her appreciation through her lips.
"Your life, your health, and definitely our sex will be much better" she laughed and he joined in after awhile.
"That's all already true. Especially the sex" she teased and his face went back to serious.
"I'm serious Cassandra. I'm going to be better. I'm going to take care of you." he whispered.
"I don't need you to take care of me. I need to you be strong, and I need you with me. I need you to hug me and kiss me and just be here. Be you, and that's enough for me." she whispered back.
"I can promise you that and then some" he gave her a soft smile.
"Will you sleep in here with me tonight? I get kind of lonely in here by myself" she hugged him and he chuckled.
"I will stay in here with you every night" he said
"No you don't have to, I know you'll miss your boys" she quickly said
"Nope. You're my girl, I wanna cuddle you. I'll see them during the night, sleeping time is for us and us alone." he grinned and sat up to yank his t-shirt over his head before laying back down.
"Pants?" She questioned innocently
"Pervert" he teased before getting up and stripping his pants off. No matter how many times she's seen him like this, it still knocks the breath out of her. He was beautiful. Desire, and perfection incarnate.
"Your turn" he says as he slides under the covers next to her. She shakes her head but strips down to her undergarments anyways.
"Much better" he mumbles, bringing her in and tucking her under his arms, the rising sun causing his eyelids to fall, and hers as well.
"Goodnight Marko, thank you for listening." she whispers, placing a small kiss on his lips.
"Always, dream of me Cassandra" he smiles and then he's out. She stares at him before kissing him and promptly falling asleep.
Paul
He hadn't been able to fall asleep, and he had heard everything Cassandra and Marko had said. He wasn't nearly as angry with Marko anymore, they were on the same side as each other now. Her ex boyfriend was going to die, he was sure of that. Especially when the other boys woke up and he told them. Goodbye Levi. Hello Death.