A/N: I bet you thought you saw the last of me, surprise bitch.
I wanna thank you fantastic people who decided to read this story. I love you all so much and, rest assured, while MCR came back before I updated, I would rather eat vegemite again than give up on this story.
This chapter ends with a cliffhanger because I need some more time with the ending scenes, but it's been two lifetimes since I updated, so I split it into two.
the next chapter will dive back into canon events, technically a flashback canon event but still, i'll be happy to go back rewriting canon episodes.
Social Media's you can stalk me on:
Tumblr: Randomfandoming1, blog title - the musings of a fangirl.
Spotify: bluestarlings1 - playlist name: supernova
Shoplook(like polyvore): Randomfandoming
From now on I'll be showing the different style this Bonnie has via Shoplook. Kat Graham is beyond beautiful and the show fucked her over a lot. Her style will keep it's boho elements, along with the earthy tones. I'm not trying to style her like my OC, I just want to polish up her established style.
I'll probably find like 100x more mistakes later on, but I hope you all enjoy this chapter!
Nova knew that one little emotional outburst wouldn't make his issues disappear, that his feelings towards Katherine weren't going to be magically solved by this moment.
But this moment was still important. Even though it wouldn't fix the shit he was going through, it still meant something.
She pressed her lips together, her heart aching for him as his body shuddered beneath her fingertips; the movement was so slight she probably wouldn't have noticed if it weren't for how her body moved along with his.
Nova wasn't sure if he was shedding any tears, but it was obvious he was struggling to keep from bursting at the seams. After spending so long with his emotions turned off, it was a wonder he wasn't crying like a fucking baby twenty-four seven.
She would be.
She's an old pro at bottling up her emotions, and although it might be different for Vampires, she knew all too well how sometimes it was the only way to push through and survive a shit situation that would normally leave a person emotionally crippled.
But, at the end of the day, it was a double-edged sword.
Because, eventually, the bottle would turn against you, cracking until it burst under the weight of everything. And the feelings you shoved so deep down inside it, without a care to how small the bottle was - would spill out.
It would drag you deep down, below the sea that is now your emotions.
It was a toss up on whether you would sink or swim, or if you could even convince your brain to give a fuck about it.
Being cut off from your emotions for so long, only to suddenly be forced to pay attention left a person feeling over-emotional at best, wrung out and numb at worst. Numb was always worst.
She's had the displeasure of sinking a couple of times in her lives, it always took her a while to convince herself to at least try to fight against the feeling of drowning.
It wasn't fun to deal with, especially not alone.
Nova has always believed that there was a deep-seated need in everyone to have at least one person in their life who would be there for them when they were sinking too deep.
Not to rescue you or some bullshit, but to just... fucking be there while you fought for those brief moments of air - those brief moments of happiness.
Nowadays, she has so many people who would and have been that person for her as she would for them; but it would be years before the Vampire in her arms would have anyone like that in his life - before he let anyone be that someone.
And so, she decided, with his arms tightening around her almost painfully, her nose pressing into his neck and her arms squeezing him back in response, that she would be that person for him.
She doubted he would make it easy on her, but she couldn't just stand by and watch a friend drown alone.
Damon eventually began to pull himself back together, piece by piece, until he was no longer shaking and his arms loosened around her to a more bearable grip.
Nova really didn't want to let go of him - they were having a moment for fuck's sake - but the pins and needles feeling in her feet were slowly driving her insane. She couldn't help but start fidgeting.
"What the hell are you doing?" Nova felt him speak more than she heard, the feeling of his throat vibrating underneath her nose was an odd sensation.
From what she could tell, he sounded vaguely annoyed, but otherwise fine, the note of vulnerability was all but gone from his voice.
"We should probably leave before someone calls the cops," she replied, and it was a solid excuse, in her opinion.
Even though the Lockwood Mansion was surrounded by about half an acre of private land, with the way the party was growing wilder as the night carried on, someone would eventually make a noise complaint.
Honestly, at this point, she was fucking hoping for it just so she won't have to hear Tyler's music anymore.
Damon sighed dramatically at her words but his arms slid away from her as she lifted her head from his shoulder. She held onto his shoulders to keep herself steady, the uncomfortable numb feeling increasing as she stood on unsteady legs.
She shifted uncomfortably on the balls of her feet, trying to ignore the numbness in her toes as she gazed down at him with poorly hidden concern in her brown eyes.
"I get that you probably wanna go back to pretending you're alright but..." Nova's eyes wandered off as she tried to think of the right words to say, but nothing that came to mind seemed right.
What the fuck could she say?
Damon lightly squeezed her hip, pulling her from her internal panic as he stared at her with blue eyes that contained too many emotions inside to pinpoint. "But?" He repeated questioningly.
"But, I didn't just invite you here because I needed your help. I also wanted to see you, to see if you were... at least on your way to feeling okay," she said, shrugging a shoulder as she returned her brown eyes to his blue.
Damon looked unbelievably touched by her words, but then he opened his mouth, "Your concern for me is adorable, really. My undead heart is just bursting with warm and fuzzy emotions." He smirked at the look of annoyance growing on her face before starling her by standing without warning.
Damon looked down at her with that seemingly perpetual smirk of his, the height difference between them was even more noticeable when she was out of her usual heeled shoes.
She wanted to put her heels back on so she could look at him without having to tilt her chin up, but it didn't feel like he was trying to use his height as a way to intimidate her, and so she kept herself body relaxed.
Nova's face remained calm and impassive, but her Soul almost escaped out from her mouth fucking anime style at the feeling of his hand gently cupping her cheek.
"Don't you worry your adorable little head over me, Nova. My bruised ego and I will be just fine," he said, his thumb gently stroking her cheek, seemingly amused by something unknown to her.
Nova couldn't help but be surprised once again, this time by the use of her actual name falling from his lips. She could hardly remember when the last time he had called her by her first name, or if he ever had in the first place.
"Okay, but just a heads up, I'm more than likely still going to worry about you," she eventually replied, giving him a smile that was lazily returned.
She's seen him smirk a thousand times before, but this was probably the most genuine smile she's ever received from him. And by god, it was beautiful, his blue eyes lighting up in a way she's never seen from him.
Nova snorted at her sappy as fuck thoughts and quickly backed away from him before she did anything stupid, like, kiss him or some hormonal shit.
Goddammit, why were all of her friends so pretty?
Nova grabbed her clutch from the fountain and her stockings and shoes from the perfectly manicured grass. Though achingly aware of the gaze on her, she studiously ignored it in favor of carefully pulling her stockings up her legs and strapping her heels back on.
"I'm gonna go find my coat. Are you coming with or are you just going to stand there and look pretty?" She flipped her hair away from her face as she stood back up, sending him a questioning glance as she smoothed down the skirt of her dress.
"I think I'll stay here, savor the night a little longer," he replied, the amusement in his eyes taking a more dangerous gleam as they were drawn to something behind her.
Nova made a face at his words, turning around she wasn't really surprised to find a lone young woman stumbling out of the party, obviously drunk out of her fucking mind. She looked back towards him, rolling her eyes at the hungry look on her friend's face as he cocked his head, staring at the woman like a cat does a mouse.
She should probably be feeling panicked at him feeding off of a seemingly innocent woman, but the Council was still on high alert for anything that seemed even remotely Vampire related.
That was what she kept telling herself, but deep down inside she knew the truth was that her morals were fucked up enough to just not care.
"Whatever, Spike. Just don't fucking ditch me," she said, leaving him with a half-hearted warning glare before spinning on her heel and power walking across the beautiful green lawn and towards the mansion.
"Love you too, sweetheart!"
Nova kept up her pace but made sure to raise her arms high in the air so he could see her middle fingers raised high in the air. She could see the gazes of other people loitering outside on them and their antics, but she ignored them in favor of listening to the sound of Damon's chuckle with a small quirk of her lips.
She's always taken joy in being able to make the people important to her smile, this time was no different.
Nova felt tempted to go find the stoners and borrow - read: steal - some edibles from them, maybe down a few jello and vodka shots; but she knew that would be fucking idiotic to do while her dad was expecting her to come home sober.
So she settled for grabbing a can of root beer on her way past the cluttered snack table and tried to retrace her steps and find her coat.
Nova ignored everyone that tried to get her attention, keeping an eye out for her favorite blonde as she searched for her missing coat. But it wasn't her talkative best friend who she found, instead, she spotted Tyler, who was chatting with a group, among them was her ex, Kaya, also known as the girl who had just gotten compelled by her Vampire friend.
Nova wasn't completely surprised by the sight.
Tyler had been the one to unofficially introduce them after all, and she knew they were technically friends in the sense that their rich parents knew each other. He was also the only one in town Kaya really knew other than her grandparents.
Still, it was awkward coming face to face with her after, well, everything.
Before she could turn around and disappear into the crowd because nope, fuck that - Tyler caught her eye, drawing attention to her by waving her over.
Fucking dick, she thought even as she pushed her way towards them with a smile that looked more like she had smelled something disgusting.
"Hey, Novs!" Tyler greeted her, his arm wrapping around her shoulders.
Nova returned the side embrace even as she scrunched her nose up at the overwhelming smell of alcohol on his breath. Oh great, she thought sarcastically - if there was one thing that everyone in Mystic Falls High knew, it was that a drunk Tyler was a fucking idiot.
"I vetoed that nickname when we were ten, so unless you want me to call you Tye Dye again…" Nova trailed off threateningly, eyeing her childhood friend with a raised brow, her face practically screaming out her irritation.
To be fair, she wasn't too upset by the nickname, it was hard to find a good nickname for her - Damon had no problems with this, of course - but she couldn't help but try to pay him back for dragging her into this very much unwanted social interaction.
His buddies - minus Kaya, who hid her small smile behind a beer bottle - laughed uproariously at the nickname; their obvious amusement embarrassed her childhood friend, who wasn't used to being the butt of the joke.
"Chill, I was just joking!" Tyler hid his discomfort with a short, unbelievable laugh, his shoulders tense as he tried to regain control over the conversation.
The hypocrisy of Tyler Lockwood, raging dick most days, telling her to fucking chill was not lost on her. She tilted her head up towards him, his shoulders tensing under her indifferent and calculating gaze.
She decided to keep her mouth shut, for now, looking away from him as she took a sip of her root beer.
Tyler changed the subject by introducing her to his snobby, out of town friends whose names she had already forgotten mere seconds after being introduced. She would feel a little sorry about it if it weren't for the surprising and distracting amount of hostility Tyler was throwing her way.
"Hey, you remember Kaya, right?" Tyler dragged her back into the conversation by asking a question he already knew the answer to; she nodded anyway, wary, her eye already twitching.
"She's staying with her grandparents for the holidays!"
Nova met the young woman in question's gaze, sending her a small smile that honestly felt more like a grimace - and probably looked like one too if the awkward look on Kaya's face was any indicator.
"Hey," Kaya said, nearly too soft to be heard over the thunderous sound of teens singing along to the Pink's most recent hit, 'So What'.
"..Hi," she replied, almost wincing from the bitchy tone that came out of her mouth.
"...Hey, wait a minute, didn't the two of you use to date?" Tyler questioned, pointing between the two girls, continuing to play the oblivious drunk.
Nova lightly shrugged his arm off her shoulders, not too subtly distancing herself from him with a blank look in her eyes. Honestly, she would probably buy the bullshit act if it weren't for the look in his own eyes. Rage.
Tyler wasn't just drunk, he was angry. About what, she had no fucking clue, but she figured it more than likely had to do with her.
They didn't really hang out much anymore outside of school, parties, and the occasional group get-togethers. She still tried to think back on her latest interactions with Tyler, but things had been relatively normal between them until now.
The two of them have had their fair share of fights over the years they've been friends and so she knew from experience that the untriggered werewolf wasn't one to be able to conceal his anger for very long. He was already failing spectacularly.
Nova eventually chose to overlook the group of idiots who looked between her and Kaya as though they were shocked two girls were capable of being together outside of porn for their own pleasure.
"Sure, if you call a month of us sneaking around dating before she ghosted me then, sure, we dated," she replied shortly, folding her arms together as her own anger began to build inside of her.
As far as she knew, Kaya was still very much in the fucking closet and Tyler had just outed the girl to a bunch of douchebags she didn't seem to know. Fuck, she did she have an urge to kick him in the balls, again, the only reason she hadn't was the look on Kaya's face, begging her not to act on her violent thoughts.
"Right, sorry," Tyler said, his apology ringing false in her ears. "Hey, where is your date? Matt told me you were hooking up with the older Salvatore brother?"
Since when did Matt become such a fucking gossip girl, she thought to herself - since Caroline, her mind quickly supplied, her lips pursed as she stared at Tyler with increasingly blank eyes.
The rest of his 'friends' seemed to either be entertained or uncomfortable by the tension, either way, they kept their mouths shut as they watched the interaction with bated breath.
"We're friends, yeah," she replied, becoming resigned to such comments.
Tyler didn't seem to believe her but continued his questioning in another direction, "Okay, right. Well, as a friend of the Salvatores, can you tell me what the fuck their deal is?"
"Their deal?" Kaya piped in, visibly hesitant to intrude on what was obviously a spat between friends yet too curious not to ask.
Tyler was eager to answer her, his dark brown eyes that were filled with anger and mistrust never straying from Nova's as he answered. "These two dudes, brothers, come into town, claiming they're part of the Salvatore family. Thing is, no one's heard of them until now. But the oldest one somehow manages to cozy up to the Sheriff, and my mom, the Mayor's wife."
"Do you have a point? Or did you just want a gold sticker for your deductions, Sherlock?" Nova tilted her head with a mocking smile on her face, her nails digging into her arm as she grew more and more agitated.
"How the hell did you and those dickheads manage to convince Vicki to skip town, to go to rehab?" Tyler spat out what was making him act more dickish than usual, his hand tightly wrapped around his beer bottle.
Nova inhaled and exhaled through her mouth, turning towards the curious onlookers with a sarcastic smile. "Could you excuse us for a sec," she spoke with faux cheer.
Without waiting to hear anyone's response, she walked away, roughly grabbing the back of Tyler's shirt and tugging on it roughly as she walked.
"What the fuck!?" Tyler cursed at her.
He shuffled backwards along with her as he tried getting out of her hold before twisting his arm to reach her, successfully grabbing hold of her wrist and tugging on it as he tried to wrestle out of her hold.
Though it hurt like a bitch, she kept her grip unyielding as she marched through the crowd, her furious glare keeping anyone from stopping them.
And, well, if there might be some Magic aiding her with dragging him, she could hardly be blamed. He was a very broad-shouldered boy who tackled teens twice her size for entertainment; she needed all the help she could get and her Magic was willing to provide her with it.
Eventually, though, she grew tired of all of his squirming and sharply pulled on his shirt, the neck of it choking him and halting his struggle as she led him around like a dog on a leash.
Nova let go of his shirt as she waltzed into a vaguely familiar sitting room that was thankfully empty, ignoring him as he flung some overused curse words at her.
" - fucking crazy!" Tyler said, aiming death glares at her as he rubbed where the neckline of his 'MFHS Timberwolves' t-shirt had choked him.
"Next time you have a problem with me, come fucking talk to me about it, don't play games with me in front of your 'friends'," she said, standing with a straightened spine and unphased even as he towered over her with a furious look on his face.
She stared curiously at the vein on his forehead and the clenched fists+ at his sides before idly wondering if steam was going to come out of his ears.
"Or what?" Tyler was practically snarling in her face now as he seemed to barely contain himself from punching her in the face.
In another life, just the proximity of a tall, angry, broad-shouldered boy would have given her an anxiety attack. But right now, in this life, with her new upbringing and her Magic supplying her with confidence - some would say overconfidence - well, she was just curious.
Mostly curious as to why he was holding himself back from throwing the punch.
They haven't had an extremely physical fight since they were thirteen - he could be a bully, she could be a bitch -, their last fight had left them both with scars. And though she preferred to fight with her words rather than her fists, she idly wondered if it had anything to do with him realizing she had a vagina instead of a dick.
While she hadn't shunned the color pink or sworn off skirts, she had acted like a gremlin back then - more than she did presently anyway - not to mention her boobs were pretty much nonexistent back then.
She was annoyed by the conclusion.
"You were always a poor loser, Tyler," she replied, amused by the glower he threw her way. She quickly changed the subject, curiosity getting the best of her. "Vicki left ages ago, why the sudden interest now?"
No one was really looking for Vicki, not since she had called to reassure Matt with her cover-up story; but, to be blunt, not a lot of people had been looking for her anyway.
She was eighteen and everyone who met her knew that she hated this town and most of it's inhabits and was itching to get away; it was still suspicious as fuck to people who knew her better.
Tyler looked away from her, his nose visibly flaring as though he was a bull getting ready to charge - good thing she wasn't wearing red, she thought, amused by the thought -, his teeth audibly grinding together as he tried to reign in his temper.
Nova made a face at the unpleasant sound, running her tongue on her teeth with a sympathetic wince.
"She called me last night, said a bunch of crap about her wanting to have a clean break with me, that it was best if we stop seeing each other. For good. And that you and the Salvatores were the ones that helped her see the light or some bullshit." Tyler said the last part with a raised voice and a furious glare aimed in her direction.
"Huh, good for her," she replied, an impressed look on her face; the angry look he shot her made her look at him with unbelieving exasperation on her face.
"Oh, c'mon dude, deep down you have to know you were bad for her. Fuck, this town was bad for her. I'm happy she's trying to get her shit together." Nova didn't necessarily love Vicki or her borderline toxic relationship with Jeremy, but she only wished the best of luck to the girl with getting her shit together.
"Didn't know the two of you were so close," Tyler retorted pointedly, eyeing her dubiously but no longer looking like he was going to charge her like a fucking bull in a china shop.
Nova ignored him for a second, taking a quick glance around the room and sure enough, she spied her elusive coat lying on a familiar armchair. Making sure not to turn her back to him - she was confident, not fucking stupid -, she took several steps back until she was next to the chair and grabbed it.
"We aren't," she simply replied, sighing at the unsatisfied look on his face, she continued while she slipped on her coat. "Look, I ran across her in the middle of coming down from a bad high and, me not being a total heartless bitch, I guided her in the direction of getting help if she wanted it. I left the rest up to her."
Not a total lie, but definitely not the truth.
"And the Salvatores?"
"Are nosy little shits who love to get involved. They helped her get in," she continued to pull smooth lies out of her ass, and you know, one day, all of her lying was going to bite her in the fucking ass. Or neck.
Today was not that day, as her lies managed to calm Tyler down, and although he still looked angry, he didn't seem upset with her and so that was a win in her book.
"So, are we good? Or did you want to grill me some more?" Nova tilted her head, looking at him in a way that told him very plainly what would happen if he continued to question her.
Tyler simply bowed his head, stuffing his hands into the pockets of his jeans while he moved out of the doorway to let her through as she walked forward.
She felt a little bad about leaving him alone - Tyler didn't have very many people who didn't hang out with him for his parent's wealth, but Vicki had been one of them.
Nova couldn't think of anything to say to comfort him though - deep down, she wasn't sure if he deserved to be comforted by this breakup, after the way he treated Vicki -, and so she simply squeezed his shoulder before leaving the room in an awkward rush.
Nova hurriedly walked out of the mansion and outside, inhaling the air that didn't smell fucking horrible, her eyes on her phone as she walked down the stairs; 'spike is taking me home, need a ride? - Nova'
She leaned on the railing for a moment as she waited for her friend to reply, flinching when she leaned on the wrist Tyler had tugged on. Pushing her coat off her wrist revealed no bruises, but she knew it would hurt like a bitch for a couple of days.
Instead of being angry by the sparks of pain in her wrist, she grinned mischievously when her vindictive mind remembered the red circle around Tyler's throat.
She had problems, she knew this.
'Thanks, but no ty. Matt is taking me home :P - Caroline'
Nova proceeded down the steps, keeping an eye out to make sure she didn't trip over the bottles of empty beer cans thrown on the steps while she typed out an answer, 'ok. pls text when you get home and tell matty his BFF needs a bro hug. and an ice pack ;) - Nova'
She looked up from her phone for a moment, looking around her ride home she found him leaning against the hood of his car like he was in a fucking muscle car magazine.
'Message received ;D - Caroline'
"Uh oh, looks like you've got yourself a stalker," Damon said, lowering his voice in a mock whisper, a small smirk on his lips as he looked curiously behind her.
Nova was beyond confused by his teasing words, turning around in hopes of seeing her supposed stalker, her shoulders stiffen when she comes face to face with her ex walking towards them with an indecisive look on her face.
Despite her very apparent hesitation, she still approached.
"Can we talk?" Kaya said in greeting, her eyes flickering towards the Vampire in a way that said she didn't want an audience.
"Sure," Nova politely replied, even though she wanted to say the exact opposite, her curious nature made her agree. She turned towards Damon, who remained leaning against his car, watching them with unabashed interest. "Give me a minute."
"Take your time, sweetheart," Damon replied with a lazy smirk, making no moves to give them any minuscule of privacy, he continued to stare at them.
Nova groaned in frustration and wandered away from the car, not far enough for a Vampire not to hear, but the illusion of privacy was more for the other woman than anything else. She looked at her expectantly once they were far away enough to comfort the other woman.
"... um, are you and Tyler, alright?" Kaya asked, pushing her curls behind her ear in vain as it bounced back into her face.
"We argue like cats and dogs sometimes, but we'll be fine... Sorry, but could we skip the boring small talk and get to the point?" Nova asked without any bite, her voice simply exhausted as she rubbed at tired eyes.
She could only handle so many emotional chats in one night - why couldn't she be reborn into a silent film, she imagined what it would be like wistfully.
Kaya's shoulders slumped as whatever determination that had filled her not even a minute ago seemed to sap out of her. "I'm sorry," she said, her words simple yet filled with regret.
Nova didn't pretend to not know what the other woman was talking about, but she couldn't think of a reply and simply looked at the array of stacked rings on her hands, feeling juvenile as she avoided eye contact.
She wasn't heartbroken over being ditched by what was always going to be a short fling, but she could admit the abruptness of it all had fueled her abandonment issues that were more or less created by her birth mother.
"I shouldn't have just vanished, without even calling you," the other girl continued when she didn't say anything, her big brown eyes beyond apologetic as she anxiously waited for her to say something.
Nova squared her shoulders and met the other girl's eyes, her face indifferent as she folded her arms. "It was a dick move," she returned, her voice as neutral as her face.
Kaya's lips quirked into a tiny smile at her choice of words, her eyes still remorseful as she gazed at her, "Do you think you could ever forgive me?"
Nova tilted her head in contemplation with a teasing gleam in her own brown eyes, "I don't know... I was thinking we could make it into a lifelong grudge. Maybe drag any possible offspring's into it. Become the modern-day Montagues and Capulets."
This time her joke earned her a full-on giggle, her apple-cheeked smile just as disarmingly beautiful as ever.
"But, I guess I can find it in my heart to forgive you," she sighed dramatically, her lips twitching into a small smile before she continued more seriously. "I just, could you give a girl some closure and tell me why you did it in the first place?"
She was curious to know if it was anything she had done that had scared the other girl off, for future reference and all.
Kaya sighed heavily, her smile disappearing as quickly as it came as now she avoided eye contact. "Someone saw us kissing in town, not even an hour later the news reached my grandparents," she confessed, a weary look in her eyes.
Ah, well, fuck, was all she could think.
The person she had been in another life had to hide her sexuality if she wanted to mentally and probably physically survive growing up in a homophobic household.
Nova Bennett, on the other hand, had a completely different upbringing that, along with her Magic, gave her the unusual Gryffindor courage to come out of the closet.
Grams had always been blatantly supportive of the queer community, making sure not only her grandkids knew she was an ally but also making sure her students knew as well. That kind of support had helped give her the confidence to come out to her.
Dad had been a little harder to gauge, but he ended up surprising her by being completely supportive and nonjudgmental.
Telling her friends had been, well, not easy per se, but simpler as she had always suspected that they had already known.
Cheesy as it might sound, but with her family and closest friends supporting her, the rest of the town's judgment, no matter how vicious, hadn't mattered. It still didn't. She wouldn't let it.
But Kaya hadn't been ready to come out just yet. Most of her friends knew, but at the time she hadn't wanted her family to know just yet.
Nova had perfectly understood the need for secrecy, but they must have slipped up somewhere along the way of pretending to just be friends during their time together.
Her mind couldn't help but race with all the horrible things homophobic parents have done to their queer children - placed in mental institutions, neglect, sexual harassment, physical abuse, mental abuse, and conversion therapy were only some of the cruel things her mind could conjure up.
"Are you okay? They didn't hurt you did they?" Nova immediately questioned, closing the large distance between them and gently taking the other girl's hand -
Her shoulder's stiffened as a violent shiver surged down her spine, against her will she zoned out for a second as fleeting flashes of a Vision overwhelmed her; honey was poured heavily into a cup of tea, laughter could be heard, heavy rain hit the concrete blending with the sounds of sobs, blood - so much blood too much blood -
Kaya smiled softly at the show of concern, blissfully unaware of what had just happened as she simply shrugged her shoulders. "I'm okay. It took some time and explaining, but my grandparents are cool with me being pansexual. My very religious parents, on the other hand, are still giving me the cold shoulder," she replied, seemingly resigned to this fact.
"Shit, I am so sorry," she apologized, which was a turn of events; but should have known that something like this would happen, this town was always hungry for new gossip, regardless if you were young or old.
"Hey, no, no, it is not your fault my parents can't see past their faiths to see they're losing their only child. I only have one more year to survive and then I'm out of their house for good." Kaya was trying so very hard to make light of her broken relationship with her parents and thoroughly failing.
Nova knew the other girl was telling the truth, but she couldn't help but feel partly responsible. She gave the other girl's hand a comforting squeeze, receiving a soft squeeze in response. She had more questions on the tip of her tongue but they were interrupted by the noise of a phone ringing, and her question dissolved on her tongue.
"Sorry, I've gotta take this," Kaya apologized, pulling her phone out of the pocket of her red pea coat.
"That's alright, I should probably get back to my ride before he leaves without me," Nova replied, nodding her head and already backing away from the other girl.
"Okay, goodnight. And, I... thank you, for accepting my apology," Kaya said, her eyes soft on her as her tightly coiled curls fluttered in the soft breeze.
"Goodnight." Nova gave her a small friendly smile before turning around and leaving the girl to answer her phone call.
Other than the blasting of music coming from the radio, the ride back home was quiet as she contemplated everything that had happened.
Even though her best friend was being stalked and despite the fact she had a Vision filled with enough blood to fill a swimming pool - it was the conversation with Kaya that was at the forefront of her mind.
Nova's shoes were abandoned once again, her feet rested on the leather of the passenger seat and her jaw digging into her knee as she hugged them; her gaze was glued to the window, the scenery passing by her too fast to truly pay attention.
Most people found her odd, intimidating, unapproachable, never saying much to her face, yet everything behind her back. So she wasn't too surprised that no one had been brave enough to confront her about the drama she had unwittingly brought on Kaya.
But for the life of her, she couldn't figure out why her best friend hadn't said anything to her.
Caroline Forbes was good at prying information out of people that normally they wouldn't share, and if she couldn't pry it out of the person themselves then she would find another way. Usually by eavesdropping.
Nova wanted to believe that the blonde hadn't heard anything about this particular gossip, but the blonde had once informed her about a girl who thought she needed to wear more makeup, the girl in question didn't even go to their school.
So, yeah, it was very unlikely.
The only explanation she had was that her best friend had kept this from her.
Nova couldn't bring herself to feel too upset when she herself kept more than a handful of things from her as well, but she couldn't help but be confused as to why part.
She was jolted from her thoughts by the car driving over a pothole that she sometimes drove over when she was nearly home. Sure enough, by the time she convinced her eyes to refocus, they were squeezing into the only free parking space close to her house.
Nova was comforted by the sight, nearly every light was on in the house, her family was no doubt waiting up for her to come back home safely.
She turned towards the Vampire next to her, her lips twitching into a smile at the sight of his fingers tapping on the steering wheel to the beat of Metallica's Enter Sandman, his mouth moving along to the words.
"Well, I'll be damned, look at that, a smile!" Damon announced overdramatically, looking over at her with an expression of overdone surprise on his features.
Though she rolled her eyes at his shit performance skills, her grin only grew more pronounced on her face; it was a smile that seemed to be infectiousness as he couldn't help but look over at her with a crooked smile.
The smile was still lingering on her face even as she reached over to get out the car, heels and clutch in hand.
Nova blinked rapidly at the passenger door suddenly opening before she even touched it, she recovered soon enough, grabbing a hold of the hand offered to her.
"I guess chivalry really is dead," she joked, her tights doing very little to shield her feet against the cold concrete as she slid out the car.
Damon raised a brow at her words, leaning in towards her, he reached behind her to close the passenger door. "And that would be the third time you've made that joke, B.T.W."
"it's a fucking amazing joke," she said, defending her sense of humor, the offended look on her face only mostly fake.
Nova suddenly remembered what she had in her room, and so she held his hand tighter to gain his attention when it seemed like he was going to pull away from her.
"I have something for you, a gift," Nova said, biting her bottom lip in a poor attempt to contain her grin at the look of suspicious confusion on his face.
"Uh oh, did I forget an anniversary?" Damon questioned with a smirk on his lips, curiosity making him allow her to pull him towards her house without protest.
Nova pursed her lips to keep herself from smiling and dramatically turned on her heel towards him as they reached the door. Somehow she managed to frown at him, an enraged look contorting her face that she fought to keep.
"It's our two hour anniversary, how could you forget you - you ungrateful charlatan? Does our love mean that little to you?" Nova's words were full of theatrical flair, her hand went up to her chest to clutch at imaginary peals, a scandalized look on her face.
Although there was an amused smirk on his lips, he indulged her by playing along with her dramatics. "You wound me, Ms. Bennett. Forgive me for my insensitivity, but you surely must know how the two hours of our love excels all others," he ended his own dramatics by pressing a kiss to the back of her hand.
"All is forgiven," she said, sighing like she was a lovesick fool, and well, she had a whole speech waxing about their 'unbreakable love', but seconds after she spoke she broke character and couldn't contain her amused snort and neither could he.
They stood like that for a moment, grinning like a pair of idiots at their melodrama.
"My window is unlocked, if you'd like to see my gift," she said, biting her bottom lip in hopes getting rid of her ridiculously wide smile, it didn't work.
Nova quickly retreated into her home with a giant smile on her face before he could say anything in return. Closing and locking the door behind her, she was reassured by the sudden sound of rushing air that usually came with a Vampire speeding away.
She was quick to drop her shoes at the door and throw her coat on the couch before running up the stairs. On her way up, she absently noticed that the television was on but the living room was empty.
"Hey, welcome home," her dad's voice called out from the kitchen archway, halting her halfway up the staircase.
"Hey," she replied, spinning around on the stairs. She smiled at the sight of her Familiar nearly asleep in her father's arms, his half-lidded green eyes were on her as she approached them.
"How was the party?" Rudy inquired, watching as she scratched behind Merlin's ears, looking at her Familiar with a loving look in her eyes as he closed his eyes with a soft purr.
"It was alright, would have had more fun at home though," she replied truthfully, pressing a kiss to Merlin's head - rolling her eyes when the little shit licked her chin in response - before giving her dad her full attention.
There was an odd look on his face, one that she couldn't decipher, it went away the moment he noticed her looking.
Yeah, that wasn't suspicious, she thought sarcastically before choosing to ignore it for the moment. She didn't have the energy.
"Well then, I suppose you can cross off socialite as a possible career," Rudy remarked dryly, letting his arms drop when Merlin began to squirm to get out of his arms.
Nova snorted at the very true joke, watching as her Familiar walked back into the kitchen. Probably to gorge himself out on food, they always overindulged on food around this time of year. Her more than him.
"I was thinking about the four of us forming a family band. We could call ourselves the Dysfunctionals, not to be confused with erectile dysfunction." She smiled at him cheekily whilst she dodged the not so subtle probing of her future plans.
Slytherin she may call herself, but her future plans mostly consisted of staying alive long enough to at least graduate high school. Which was very ambitious, if she did say so herself.
"My daughter, the comedian," he replied, giving her a sarcastic glance as he dusted the black cat hair off of his previously clean sweater.
"I know, right?" Nova beamed up at her unamused father, internally wincing when she heard a floorboard creak upstairs. She yawned dramatically to distract her dad from the noise, her yawns turning very real towards the end.
"Well, I think I'm gonna go to bed early," she announced, already inching back towards the stairs.
Though she had slept most of the day away, everyone who knew her knew she had problems sleeping soundly, or at all - and so Rudy could only be relieved when he heard her words.
"Alright, well, sweet dreams, kiddo," he said, placing a kiss on her forehead before wandering back into the kitchen.
Once she was upstairs, she peeped into her sister's bedroom on the way to her own, her eyes were drawn towards the only light in the room, her twin's laptop; it hummed as it played the twin's overused DVD of 'The Princess Bride' at full volume.
Bonnie had laid the bulky device on her lap, yet her eyes were not on their favored movie but closed as she snored in her sleep.
Nova grinned at her sister's appearance - legs star-fished, neck leaning awkwardly on her shoulder, mouth agape, drool on her chin, the ends of her headscarf hiding one eyelid.
She mouthed the line's of the movie as it played one of her favorite parts of the movie, "My name is Inigo Montoya, you killed my father - prepare to die,", and then the rhythmic sound of clashing rapiers filled the room.
The grin stayed on her face even as she closed the laptop before carefully placing it in her sister's laptop bag. She unfolded the knitted blanket at the end of the bed and gently spread it out over her younger sister, who shivered without the heat that her laptop offered her.
Nova took one last look at her twin at the door, a soft smile on her face even while she slid her phone out of her clutch and snapped a quick picture of the amusing sight.
The flash didn't even stir her twin, who kept snoring peacefully as her sister sent out the picture to their best friends.
Cue evil twin laughter.
Nova quickly locked her door once she was inside her room, hanging her clutch on the doorknob before pressing her hands firmly onto the wood of her bedroom door.
"...Implorare secretum silentium," she quietly chanted, her Magic warm and welcoming while it expanded around the room as the soundproofing spell took place.
When she turned around she noticed that there was only one light in the room, it was the easel light and so only a small part of the room was illuminated.
The rest of the room was shrouded in darkness.
The window was fully open, her curtains danced lightly with help from the wind, the gentle breeze that entered the quiet room helped settle the sudden rush of nervousness that struck her upon entering the room.
Damon had made himself right at home by perching himself at the end of her bed, his gift already in his hands as he quietly stared at it.
Nova swallowed down the joke she was going to make about his presumptions and instead quietly sat down next to him, gazing at him as he stared at the painting.
She would never compare herself to the likes of Van Gogh and Da Vinci, or even newer painters like Peju Alatise and Yasutomo Oka but - and not to sound like the Dramatic Bitch she was, but undressing in front of a crowd felt less intimate than showing someone her paintings.
Painting often left her feeling as though she was taking the inner workings of her mind, heart, and Soul and placing them onto a canvas; it was why she was so possessive of her art, it was also why she hardly let anyone see her really personal pieces.
"It's a beautiful gift," he said, his words were spoken softly, his fingers tracing lightly over the various details in the night sky; the comet burned brightly in the near pitch-black sky as it passed by the equally brightly painted moon and stars.
"Thank you," she replied, keeping her voice just as hushed, feeling as though being any louder would break the moment. She couldn't help but be a little bit surprised though, by the genuine compliment falling from his lips instead of the flippant comment she had expected.
"Any reason for it?" He questioned with a raised brow, finally tearing his eyes away from the painting and towards the artist.
"What, besides our two hour anniversary?" Nova inquired teasingly, her shoulder brushing against his as she shifted more comfortably on her bed. She pondered on the question for a short moment before deciding to simply tell him the truth.
"I just wanted to paint something for you," she replied, shrugging her shoulders. "Think of it as an early Christmas present."
Damon didn't really say thank you to her, which, under normal circumstances would have made her annoyed; but honestly, the intense look in his eyes as he stared at her expressed more gratitude than rehearsed sounding words ever could.
"Anything I can give you in return?" He spoke slowly, his voice low and his words dripping with innuendo.
Nova grinned even as her eyes darkened with lust as she finally noticed how close they had drifted together; if she moved any closer their noses would bump together, a simple tilt of her chin and her lips would brush against his.
She didn't move any closer, but she didn't try to distance herself either.
"The only thing I want right now is to go to sleep without nightmares waking me up at four in the morning," she replied, slightly wistfully. "Insomnia is a bitch."
Nova blinked rapidly when she was left staring at thin air, her eyes flickered towards her gift, back in its place on her easel. The bed suddenly dipping behind her made her turn just in time to see Damon make himself even more at home by laying in the middle of her bed, his shoes already discarded on the floor.
"What are you and your bare feet doing on my bed, Spike?" Nova quietly questioned with a heavy sigh, utterly resigned to everything that was him.
"What does it look like I'm doing, Willow?" Damon asked, wiggling his eyebrows in playful suggestion as he leaned further on her headboard.
Nova examined him in mock contemplation, pursing her lips to stop the grin that threatened to stretch across her face, "Waiting to be painted like one of my french girls?"
Damon rolled his eyes they lit up with amusement, "You asked for a night without nightmares. And lucky for you, I'm kind enough to deliver on such a demanding request."
She snorted at the words 'I'm kind' coming out of his mouth.
"Maybe try explaining that in more detail?" Nova asked with faux sweetness lacing her voice, folding her arms and refusing to move until he further elaborated.
Damon leaned even further into her headboard and pillows with that insufferable smirk glued to his face, all but gloating.
Fuck if she knew whether she wanted to slap the look off of his face or kiss it off, it was a regular side effect of being in his presence.
"Not fun being on the other side, huh, sweetheart?" He inquired lightly, referring to her own cryptic ways. Thankfully, he put her out of her misery and stopped goading her. "I happen to be a vampire very apt at manipulating dreams."
Oh, It was oddly sweet of him to offer, but -
"One small problem with that idea - mother nature made sure that vampires can't fuck with the minds of witches," she reminded him, standing up and closing her window before she actually managed to get cold in Virginia's version of winter.
"Ah, but, there's a fun loophole around that."
"What's that?" Nova questioned absently, becoming distracted as she unbuttoned her cardigan before shrugging out the rest of her clothes; curbing the urge to leave them on the floor she folded them and placed them in her wardrobe.
"A little trust and pixie dust - and a lot of blood sharing."
Nova hummed but his words didn't register in her brain as she flung her bra in a random corner of her room before pulling on a Rolling Stones sweater along with some red shorts.
She froze when she heard a soft crunching noise behind her, the sound of it made her turn around towards him slowly.
In the sparse light, it took her a moment for her eyes to pinpoint where the noise had come from but soon they narrowed on the liquid that fell from his wrist.
"What the fuck?" Nova muttered to herself, quickly moving towards him as his blood slid down his arm. She hurriedly grabbed some tissues off her bedside trunk and pressed them to the open wound. "I just bought these sheets, don't get fucking blood on them."
Damon watched her fret over his spilled blood with an amused look on his face, eventually, he took the useless tissues from her and threw them into the nearest trash can.
"Why, on mother nature's earth, did you fucking do that?" Nova questioned with an incredulous look on her face, wiping off the blood that had gotten on her hands with another tissue.
"There's a spell. One that would allow me to enter your nightmare and manipulate them into something a lot more pleasant." He explained this all with a bored look in his eyes, the bite wound he inflicted on himself already healing back to unblemished skin.
Lucky bitch, she thought, even as she made a face at his words - she couldn't help but wonder if he was bored enough to be fucking with her.
"Why would a witch make a spell like that?" She voiced her confusion, as it didn't add up with the general agreement between Witches that, no matter how talented they were in bed, most Vampires were dicks.
"The blood sharing part makes the dreams feel very... intense and real," Damon replied, a devious smirk creeping onto his face as he seemed to remember something in particular.
Oh...Oh, wow, that was - "I mean, no judgments here, but that's kinda kinky," she said, trying to imagine creating a spell to share a dream with a Vampire just so she could bang them.
To be honest, it sounded like a hell of a lot of work for a quick fuck.
Damon shrugged at her words, thoroughly unashamed, he raised his brow at her with a lazy grin, "So, are you going to accept my generous offer to make your wildest dreams come true?"
"How do I know you're not just trying to get a taste, bat-boy?" Nova asked him with a smile on her lips even as she looked him over with mistrust in her eyes.
She was always desperate to try new things that would supposedly help her sleep without nightmares, but common sense and her Grams had taught her to be wary of letting Vampire's and their fangs near her blood.
Willingly letting one into her mind seemed like a big no-no as well, it would be fucking stupid of her to trust a spell that fucks with her mind, there was a fuck ton of sensitive information running around in there.
Damon scoffed at her with an impatient roll of his eyes, his hand quickly reached for hers, tugging her down onto the bed before she could even blink.
He looked at her surprised face with a pleased look on his face, though it was probably less so because he was proud at having shocked her and more because she was sitting in his lap.
Instead of moving off of him, she surprised him in return by letting her body sink all the way onto his, all but face planting into his shoulder, inhaling the cologne he had on in the process. Surprisingly, it didn't make her want to plug her nose like most cologne did, in fact, it actually smelled good.
"Don't overthink it, cat-girl. Just think of it as an early Christmas present," he replied, parroting the words she had spoken not too long ago into her ear, amusement in his voice.
He more than likely caught her sniffing, but she remained unashamed as she continued to inhale it, rubbing her cheek against the expensive fabric of his shirt - she obviously needed to go shopping with him, asshole he was, he still had good taste.
Nova made a face as the stupid nickname registered in her brain, before reluctantly peeling herself away from the surprisingly warm comfort of his body so she could look him over in the low lighting.
And eventually, he did the same to her, albeit idly.
She tried to see past the casual look on his face and, well, even without her scarily accurate Witch's intuition guiding her she would be able to decipher that he just wanted to return a favor.
"You don't have to repay me for the painting, you know? This is one of those rare moments where I didn't do something so you would owe me." Nova wanted to make sure he knew, slightly concerned he might feel indebted to her over a gift she had made on a whim.
"I know," he simply replied, blue eyes never straying from her brown as he quietly waited for an answer in a rare moment of patience.
Nova stared into space for a moment as she seriously thought about the implications of performing this spell.
She'd have to momentarily trust him to be telling the truth about the spell, to not try to drain her dry, to create something nicer than what her mind came up with constantly.
And...
Well…
"...Okay," she eventually agreed.
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