Injection

by Reid Wright

After totally destroying Vilikosto's training room, with the help of the person she most loved to hate, Demetra must venture out of Finland in search of new training grounds and new experiences. However, when she ends up walking into one of the coldest places on earth with the last person she wants to be with, only one question comes to mind; Which one of them would be walking out?

16. Chapter 16: Party Pleasures

A/N: Woo Hoo! FINALLY! hehe! OK well first off, let me just note that, once again, the chapter ended up being way longer than I had expected - like INSANELY long this time, so yet again I had to split it (bet you're tired of hearing that, huh?). The good news is, the second part is pretty much finished, it just needs a few finishing touches, and obviously to be edited so I will do my utmost to get that out ASAP! Lol, I wont promise an ETA this time but God-willing it will be out in the next few days! After all, it's just getting good, right? And I'll let you in on a little secret; the next part is actually what I was most excited for! Hehe

Having said that, I worked VERY hard on this part too, and although I may have rushed a little bit here and there, and let a few things slide that I normally may not have, I'm fairly confident you will consider this one worth the wait! (I hope! Hehe). So, without further adieu, I (SUPER ANXIOUSLY this time!) await you guys' thoughts and opinions on this one! Hope you love it! -folds hands pleadingly-, cause I sure as heck loved writing it! :D

OK, OK! Enough build up! Sheesh haha. On with the show!

Disclaimer: Yea, I do not own the amazing characters of the BB world. You know this. That's life...

---

"Alright you antisocial butterfly! It's time to get your stubborn butt ready!"

Although her bedroom door had all but imploded inwards, Demetra merely looked up with mild curiosity when an excitable pair burst into the room, followed closely by a much calmer silent silhouette.

"Ready for what?" Demetra asked calmly, turning her attention back to the book in her hands. As expected, the excitable brunette at her door blew up.

"Don't you play coy with me missy!" Victoria scolded, one prettily painted hand on her hip, the other lifted to point an accusatory finger at her Captain. "You know damn well, ready for what! Do you know what time it is?! There's only five hours until people start arriving!"

"I promised to make an appearance." Demetra replied cooly, still not looking at her sisters. "Nothing more. I'm as ready as I'm going to be."

The younger brunette looked ready to have a stroke.

"You are not wearing that to the party!" She demanded, her face beginning to turn a shade of fury.

"I'll wear whatever I damn well please." Demetra retorted testily.

Of course, this initiated a round of heavy arguing between the two brunettes.

"Guys... seriously..." Keisha said wearily, sweat-dropping. "Can't you two talk like civilized beings for once...?"

While the pair bickered back and forth, Kage made her way over to her Captain's closet and began rifling through the contents. She'd expected to be in there a good long time, and she'd been prepared for it. But it didn't take long at all for her to find what she considered the perfect item; stuffed in the far back corner of the closet, hidden behind a collection of training belts and gear. Curiously pulling it out, Kage moved to unzip the garment bag, a smile coming to her face as soon as she realized what she was holding.

Exiting the closet, Kage took the article from the bag and held it up. With a sharp whistle, she managed to halt the argument going on across the room. Turning towards the silent blader and also instantly recognizing what she was holding, two of the girls' faces lit up, their eyes practically sparkling.

"Yes!" Victoria exclaimed enthusiastically. "That's it! That's absolutely it!"

"Ooooh! I always loved that one!" Keisha seconded, her hands lifting and fisting before her. "I can't believe you've never worn it, Demi!"

Finally, Demetra looked over her shoulder with an air of boredom, and when Kage lifted the hanger a little further, gave it a little shake, Demetra's expression froze and turned dark as she too instantly recognized the article.

"Oh, hell no!"

-;-

A loud groan echoed around Demetra's room as her hand was swatted for the umpteenth time in the past hour or so. The girls had taken it upon themselves to help her get ready, and as the hour-long minutes dragged on, Demetra's patience grated dangerously low, while her temper began to rise to soaring heights. So far she'd uncharacteristically grumbled and complained about near every minuscule thing the girls did, and it was when Victoria was adjusting the dress's skirt around the elder brunette that Demetra's fidgeting reached its peak.

"Would you quit picking?!" Victoria scolded, again for the countless time, smoothing out the new wrinkle Demetra had made. "God, it's like dealing with a child!"

"How can you blame me?!" Demetra snapped irritably. "This hideous thing is atrocious! It's tight, it's uncomfortable, it's ugly as sin, and there's no way I'm going to be able to walk in it without breaking my damn neck!"

Reaching down to fist a handful of the skirt material, she yanked it up and shook it angrily at the girls.

"And why the hell is there so damn much material?!" She growled angrily. "This thing weights a bloody ton! It's completely impractical! It's pointless! What a ridiculous waste! I will never understand fashion!"

Finally fed up with her captain, Victoria's own temper finally snapped, and the other two girls sweat-dropped as they watched her face turn an unattractive shade of scarlet.

"You don't have to understand it, Demetra!" She exclaimed furiously. "Just wear the damn dress!"

Momentarily stunned, Demetra stared at the other brunette, for the first time making no overreaction or response when the younger brunette slapped her hand hard, forcing her to release the bunched up material in her fist. After blinking a few times, Demetra eventually made a face and crossed her arms as she finally allowed her girls to finish up.

"Well don't expect me to wear it well!" She grumbled moodily. "Or long..."

Victoria snorted humourlessly as she adjusted a piece of material on the back before zipping the dress up, deliberately roughly.

"I swear, I am never having kids." She grumbled moodily too. "If for no other reason than I'm terrified they'd turn out just like you!"

Demetra mimicked her irritated snort and gave the younger girl a glare over her shoulder.

"You should be so lucky!" She snapped back.

Beside the two, Kage and Keisha exchanged amused looks.

"With friends like that, who needs enemies, right?" Keisha teased playfully. Kage gave her an amused-weary expression.

"God help their enemies."

---

Bobbing his head to one of his favourite songs echoing from the phone in his pocket, Enrique Giancarlo cheerily sang under his breath as he went about his business. He was supposed to be helping set up for Demetra's birthday party that night, and for the most part he had been, but seeing as he was currently mostly alone in the room - save a few household staff members lending their assistance in the background - he'd decided now would be a good chance to spice things up a little.

Hearing a pair of familiar voices from across the room, the blonde looked up and smiled to see his girl and his best friend chatting amongst themselves as they made their way towards him. Quickly finishing what he was doing, Enrique slipped the object in his hand inside his jacket before the two caught him, then turned away from the table in front of him to face the oncoming duo and await their approach.

"Caio, mi tesoro." He greeted the brunette with a purr, then his greenette friend with considerably less sentimentality. "My loyal compadre."

Victoria's eyes narrowed suspiciously as the gorgeous blonde leaned down to give her a heartfelt kiss. When he pulled back, she was still eying him with suspicion.

"You're up to something." She stated bluntly, making her beau chuckle.

"I'm not up to anything!" He denied with a laugh. "Can't a man be happy to see his lady fair?"

Working her jaw for a minute, the brunette studied her handsome boyfriend, which he allowed her to do with a completely innocent expression. She looked him over head-to-toe, then looked around, trying to find something out of place. When she noted nothing out of the ordinary, she looked back to Enrique, who was giving her the most baby-doll face she'd ever seen him wear.

"I'm not up to anything." He repeated. "Honest."

Well, if that wasn't the icing on the cake...

Victoria forced her expression to relax. Looking up into the blonde's stunning blue eyes, she gave him her best steamy stare, which visibly melted him. Instantly captivated, stunning baby blues were glued to his girlfriend as Victoria stepped towards him, placed her hands on his chest, pressed herself against him. Magnetically, Enrique's hands slipped around her waist, slid around her back, pressed her close while his eyes lidded feverishly when the beautiful brunette in his arms tipped her head upwards, deliberately slowly, to press their lips together.

A deeply satisfied sigh purred from Enrique as his girlfriend kissed him just the way she knew he loved; slow and deep and with all the hunger he felt surge inside him whenever he looked at, whenever he thought of her. Goosebumps raising across his skin, Enrique felt himself coming undone as Victoria's hands slowly and methodically roamed over him; across his chest, inside his jacket, around his back, until eventually they came to his backside and gave him a teasing, hot little squeeze, which of course made an embarrassing sound of approval rumble from his throat.

Just when he'd forgotten they weren't alone, and fully intended to give the little tease a taste of her own medicine, Victoria suddenly ripped herself out of his embrace, startling the blonde and causing his eyes to pop open.

"I knew it!" She exclaimed suddenly, holding up a very familiar object for him to see.

Blinking for a moment to regain his bearings, Enrique eventually focused on the object in his girlfriend's hand, and recognizing it, began patting himself; first his chest over his inside jacket pocket, then the pockets over his backside. Immediately he realized they were all empty and a wry grin spread across his face.

"Damn, I always fall for that..." He muttered with a low chuckle.

Giving him a stern frown, Victoria lifted her other hand, and the blonde could now see two identical objects in that one as well.

"Three, Enri?!" She exclaimed scoldingly, shaking the empty bottles at him. "Are you kidding me?!"

Giving her an innocent shrug and half-cocked grin in return, Victoria glared at him.

"Is this what I think it is?!" She demanded hotly, giving him the stink eye.

"Depends on what you think it is." Enrique replied coyly, reaching for her hips to pull her against him again. But she took a step back out of his reach.

"Don't try to butter me up!" She demanded, determined to stay strong. "This is that Widow Maker stuff you and Johnny were going on about isn't it? The stuff with the stupidly high alcohol percentage!"

Once again, Enrique lifted a single shoulder for another cute shrug.

"It could be..." He replied evasively.

"Please tell me you didn't dump all this crap in there!" She begged, gesturing towards the gigantic punch bowls on the table.

"Would you rather I lie or just stay silent?"

"Enri!" Victoria exclaimed, hands dropping to her side as she gave him a scandalized expression. Much to her chagrin, the blonde looked anything but remorseful.

"It's not a big deal, mi amore." He said with a laugh.

Reaching out to slip the empties from her hands, Enrique placed them on the table beside him without taking his eyes off her, then reached out to take her hips and gently pull her against him again.

"It's not like anyone is going to be standing here drinking from the watering hole all night." He reasoned sensibly. "Most people will probably have a drink or two and then move on."

Leaning down, Enrique affectionately nuzzled her nose which usually made her laugh, and might have worked this time had she not been stubbornly biting her cheek. The blonde chuckled in her stead.

"It's not going to kill anyone." He reasoned softly, placing his forehead against hers and looking her in the eye. "Just consider it a little liquid courage for those who need it... and there's sure to be some!"

Seeing the still dubious look on the brunette's face, he laughed again and leaned back a little this time to give her a warm look.

"It'll be fine!" He insisted charmingly. "Relax, OK?"

Furrowing her brows stubbornly, Victoria felt herself caving.

"But... Enri, that's not-"

"Enri is right, Cherie. It'll be alright." Oliver said with a hint of amusement in his tone, the first thing he'd said since their arrival. "We'll keep an eye on it and make sure no one goes overboard. Don't worry so much."

Chewing her cheek indecisively for a few moments, Victoria opened her mouth to argue one last time, but the deep kiss suddenly sealing her lips swallowed up her words, and completely washed any further argument away.

---

"So Tal, how's it feel to be seeing your ice princess again so soon, huh?"

"Yea, that really was some awkward goodbye, man! Geeze, I mean, I expected a hot make-out sesh or somethin'!"

"You gonna tell her how much you missed her? Cause your attitude's been pretty embarrassingly pathetic since she left, let me tell ya."

"I'd hold off if I were you. Didn't really seem like she was gonna miss you much. Wouldn't want to make a bigger ass of yourself than you already have."

Having ignored the majority of his friend's good-natured pokes during their journey from the Villikosto private plane, Tala finally turned his head to narrow his eyes in a nasty glare at the blunette who'd last spoken.

"Yea well, you'd know all about making an ass out of yourself, wouldn't you?" He snapped sharply at Kai. "And I didn't miss her!"

Turning away from the group, Tala looked back to the window as their limo turned up the long drive that would lead to the massive mansion.

"Much..." He tacked on under his breath.

Not having heard his last remark, the guys turned their jeers on Kai.

"What are you so cocky about, stud?" Bryan teased the blunette. "I don't exactly remember her jumping your bones either."

"I actually remember her goodbye to you bein' pretty cold, Prince Charming." Ian egged on.

"She might not have picked Tala." Spencer added with a wry grin. "But I think it's pretty safe to say she didn't pick you either."

"That why you spent so much time getting ready, Kai?" Ian asked suggestively. "You hoping to swoop in and sweep the fair princess off her feet while Tal's down for the count?"

"Yea, hoping to move in for you final last ditch effort, Kai?" Spencer teased.

"I dressed up because it's a party." Kai grumbled, crossing his arms moodily. Though no one missed the fact that he didn't deny their accusations, nor did he further elaborate, which made the three grin like fools.

"Heh, speaking of dressing to impress." Bryan said with an amused grin, turning towards the resident blonde. "I never knew this was a costume party! What made ya decide to dress like a monkey, Spence?"

Spencer's face reddened as his friends poked fun at his expense.

"The invitation said formal..." Spencer muttered, tugging uncomfortably at the tie of his fancy tuxedo jacket. "Plus you guys said you were dressing up too..."

"I am dressed up!" Bryan said with a grin, gesturing to his brown pants and simple long-sleeved sweater combo. "It's clean and there're no holes!"

While his friends continued with their playful ribbing around him, Tala once again tuned them out as the massive mansion finally began to rise out of the horizon. Instantly his gut twisted sickeningly, and Tala felt his pulse begin to race.

"So Tal, you didn't answer us, man? You nervous or what?"

Knowing his friends were only trying to tease him didn't help ease the sickening knot in his gut one bit. In fact, hearing Bryan's teasing question now, only made the knot tighten.

"What the hell have I got to be nervous about?" He muttered sarcastically, not looking at them as he watched the massive mansion looming towards them, very much resembling a gigantic starving beast waiting to swallow him whole. "Not like the next few hours are gonna decide my future or anything..."

For a few moments there was silence in the car while the rest of his team exchanged looks. When they looked back to the redhead, there was a mix of expressions on their faces.

"Dude... you're seriously stressin' over this aren't ya?" Ian asked quietly.

All he got in response was an indignant scoff that definitely did not quality as a denial. Feeling suddenly guilty and sympathetic towards their friend, three of the four gave the redhead as much comfort as they could think to, even if he didn't look at them so see their expressions.

"Don't worry, man. I'm sure she's lookin' forward to see ya." Ian attempted comfortingly.

"Yea, I mean, she can't stay mad forever, right?" Spencer supplied, even though he wasn't really sure if mad was the right word, or what the girl in question had to be mad about if it was.

"And if she is, places like this always got good booze!" Bryan tacked on with a huge grin. "Just give the word and I'll help ya sniff it out, man! And we'll drink ourselves stupid til the sun comes up!"

"Ill keep that in mind." Tala muttered, a small smirk of amusement coming to his face in spite of himself.

However, when the car finally made a sweeping swing around the circular driveway, slowed to an eventual halt before the gigantic stone steps, he had to literally swallow a rise of bile that instantly rose in his throat.

While his friends chatted with varying degrees of excitement as they all piled out of the car, Tala waited until the very last second, putting off the inevitable as long as possible. But eventually he knew he had to face the music. So, swallowing down another round of bile that rose in his throat, he reluctantly slid across the seat, hauled his leaden body out of the car, and stepped out onto the stone paved drive with a measure of dread. Tipping his head back, Tala stared up at the Vilikosto mansion like a mouse facing off a starving lion.

"Yea. Nothing at all to be nervous about." He thought morbidly.

Heaving a heavy sigh, Tala lowered his head again, willed his feet to move and finally force him towards the waiting beast, and hoped to God no one would be able notice what a complete nervous wreck he was - least of all the one who had made him what way.

---

"This is totally nerve-wrecking! I feel like my worst nightmare is happening before my eyes!"

Keisha looked towards Victoria, tipping her head to one side as the brunette wrung her hands nervously.

"What, you mean the one where you spend months on one dress, only to have the whole party tell you it's hideous?" Keisha teased playfully. The comment earned her a wry grin from her brunette friend.

"OK, second worst nightmare." Victoria replied half-playfully. "I'm talking about Demi standing us up in front of virtually everyone we know! Where the hell is she, she's over half an hour late!"

"Maybe she's making us sweat it out as punishment for everything we put her through today." Keisha offered up, trying to make her friend feel better.

"Yea... yea that's totally it." Victoria agreed nervously. "She's just being petty, that's all.."

"She'll be here any minute." Kage said with a forced calm expression, though it was obvious she was a little uneasy herself. "You're both worrying too much..."

"Maybe she ditched you for a round two of remodelling the training room. That was a good bit of fun the first time. Hate to be the poor bugger on the receiving end the second time round."

Turning towards the new voice, the small group noted Johnny McGregor walking towards them with a teasing grin on his face, and a second pretty redhead on his arm.

"You're a right barrel a honey for the nerves, McGregor..." Cece muttered sarcastically, giving her beau a swat to his broad chest. Of course, it only succeeded in widening the Scot's grin and making him chuckle.

"Heh heh... Yea right..." Victoria laughed nervously, visibly beginning to sweat. "She wouldn't do that to us..."

"No way..." Keisha added uneasily. "She totally wouldn't! Not after all the hard work we put in, right?"

There was a deafening silence for a minute or two until three of the Villikosto girls sweat-dropped.

"She totally would!" Both younger girls groaned morbidly.

Their reactions made the remainder of the group laugh.

"You're all worrying too much." Max said with an amused chuckle. Leaning down he brushed a delicate kiss to the petite redhead's temple, gave the tiny hand in his a comforting squeeze. "I'm sure she'll be here soon."

"Yea, you girls know her better than anyone." Enrique agreed. The arm around his girlfriend's waist tugged her closer, as he affectionately brushed her hip with his thumb. "You're probably right, she's probably just trying to make you sweat it out."

"And even if she decided not to show, it's her choice, right?" Lee offered up, trying his hand at a bit of comfort. "I think most everyone here is pretty used to Demetra's uh... frosty personality. And there'll be a party no matter what, so stop worrying."

The girls all relaxed visibly at that. Beside the Chinese blader, the hand in his gave him a gentle squeeze, making him look towards his own partner. Kage gave him a warm, grateful smile, which made a light pink flush stain his face. Leaning into her, he pressed a feathery kiss to her cheek, just before her ear.

"You're welcome..." His deep voice rumbled quietly, which chased a delicious shiver down the silent blader's spine.

"Thanks guys..." Victoria sighed.

"Yea, you guys are right, it is Demi we're talking about." Keisha agreed with a lopsided smile. "We're totally stressing too much over this."

"Or maybe not enough." Johnny piped up, ever the pot stirrer. "I mean, sure, it's her party and her choice if she comes or not. But it is a party in her honour. You guys'll sure look like a bunch of idiots if she doesn't show."

All three of the girls' partners, as well as his own date, turned an angry look on the redhead.

"Johnny!" They scolded in unison, Cece punctuating the exclamation with a punch to his arm. Unfortunately, the reprimand didn't have much more effect than the first time, and once again merely made the redhead laugh as he rubbed his arm.

Before anything else could be said however, and before the Villikosto girls could panic again, the main doors of the party room opened, and to the relief of her sisters, the guest of honour finally made her appearance.

"Oh thank God!" Victoria exhaled in extreme relief. "I swear I'm gonna slap that stunning face first chance I get!"

"About time..." Keisha muttered, sweat-dropping. "There's nothing fashionable about being this late..."

Demetra walked into the room, looking weary and clearly uncomfortable. At first there wasn't much reaction, but as first merely a few people absently glanced her way, soon more eyes were magnetically drawn to her, until eventually a murmur ran through the crowd, quickly followed by a deathly hush as eventually near every eye in the place was on the birthday girl.

Immediately, Demetra halted in her tracks, visibly tensing, as she made note of the faces staring at her.

"She's totally gonna bail." Victoria stated bluntly.

"Totally." Keisha agreed, eying her Captain with pity.

"I think you two better go rescue her." Kage suggested hurriedly.

"Yep! Damage control!" The younger girls agreed, surging forward as one.

Rushing forward the two younger girls flanked Demetra's side, hooking their arms through hers in both an effort to comfort her, and a ploy to prevent her inevitable escape.

"Ladies and gentlemen! The guest of honour has finally arrived!" Victoria announced loudly with her trademark one hundred watt, teasing smile.

At the announcement, a loud, polite applause erupted from the crowd.

"You two owe me so big for this!" Demetra hissed under her breath as she stood sandwiched between them straight as a board. "I hope you enjoy tonight because I assure you, it will not be happening again!"

"Yea, yea. We're shaking in our sexy mile-highs, hottie." Victoria teased out the side of her mouth.

"They're all here for you, Dem!" Keisha muttered, lifting her hand to try and calm the clamour. "Just try to have a little fun for once will ya?"

When the din had calmed a little, the petite redhead lifted her voice to address them all.

"OK, OK, I think our birthday girl has had enough spotlight for now. So on that note, let the partying commence!"

With another loud cheer, the music started up and the majority of the crowd began to take the petite redhead's advice. Demetra let the sour expression she'd been fighting spread across her face as the two girls tugged her forward, leading her back to their waiting friends.

"Why can't you two ever listen to what you're told?!" Demetra grumbled at the two beside her. "I told you not to go overboard! I told you I didn't want anything to do with this ridiculous charade! You know how much I absolutely hate-"

"Oh quit complaining, grouch!" Victoria scolded, completely unbothered by her Captain's frost. "It's not like we're raking you over the coals! It's a bunch of people here to celebrate you! It's not exactly torture or Capital Punishment."

"I beg to differ..." Demetra muttered under her breath.

"Besides, if you really hate it that much, you can always check out early." Keisha said encouragingly, ignoring the brunette's gloomy attitude. Her comment made the brunette beside her perk up.

"Really?" Demetra asked hopefully. "How early are we talking?"

She received a sharp look for that.

"Only if you at least try to enjoy yourself first!" Keisha demanded warningly. Demetra deflated and an almost pout crossed her face.

"Hey, Happy Birthday Demetra!" Someone greeted her as they walked past.

"Yes, Happy Birthday! You look great!"

"Save a place for me on your dance card, Birthday girl!"

Bombarded by similar sentiments on their way past, it was everything the girls beside her could do not to crack up at the face the brunette was making, watching as Demetra's combined fluster and annoyance mounted to terrifying heights. By the time they'd finally reached their destination, feeling to the tall brunette like she had indeed been dragged over hot coals, Demetra's patience was hanging by a thread.

"Happy Birthday, Demetra." Enrique said politely, for once not risking any usual theatrics as he wisely made note of her dark countenance.

"Happy Birthday, mom!" Max added cheekily with a huge grin, clearly much braver than the other blonde. "Lookin' good for your age!"

"Happy Birthday, Demetra." Lee hurried politely before her glare burned a hole through Max's soul.

"Well, at least the outside's a helluva lot more attractive than the inside!" Johnny said with a cheeky grin. Beside him, Cece placed a hand to her forehead in embarrassment, muttering something under her breath everyone knew was anything but a compliment for her boyfriend.

"Ignore the caveman, lass." The female Scot said when she'd lifted her face to give Demetra an embarrassed smile. "You look lovely. Happy Birthday to yeh!"

When everyone in presence had said their piece, Demetra had a brief moment of relief thinking it was all over for the time being. Unfortunately, her embarrassment wasn't quite over just yet.

"Mademoiselle, Demetra!" A cheerful voice said from behind her.

Turning to see a familiar greenette approaching the group, she recognized Oliver Polanski smiling with his hand lifted before him, looking like he intended to embrace or touch her.

"Happy Birthday! You look-"

Her hand abruptly snapping up between them halted the Frenchmen in his tracks, instantly cutting off his polite greeting.

"Great. Good. Lovely. Yes. Thank you!" She spat tersely, clearly having had more than her gut full of the fawning already.

Blinking at her in astonishment for a minute, Oliver soon chuckled before lowering his hand again, instead joining the ranks of his friends while wisely deciding to keep his hands to himself.

"Well. I suppose no one can accuse you of chasing the spotlight." He teased playfully. "But yes, you certainly are all those things."

"Ya see that, he only gets away with this stuff cause his face is too pretty to hit!" Enrique teased, only half playfully.

"Nah, he's only getting away with it cause Demi's too flustered to think straight, right now." Max added playfully.

"I can't decide if you guys are brave or stupid..." Lee muttered, also only half jokingly.

Thoroughly annoyed, and feeling her blood pressure sky-rocketing now, Demetra looked away from the group and their playful banter, determined to find a distraction among the crowd. She wasn't really looking for anything in particular, just something to distract her, but when her eyes locked on a pair of familiar polar blues across the room, she instantly froze. Feeling an intense wave of heat wash over her, Demetra felt her pulse begin to race as Tala stared back at her with an intense gaze she could only guess the source of. She desperately wanted to turn away, to stick her nose in the air and pretend she hadn't noticed him at all, to pretend he was about as noticeable as a fly on the wall. But it was like her gaze was glued to him. In fact, it took Keisha nudging her ribs to cut the stare down off.

"Oooh! Lookie here!" She cooed excitedly. "Someone's coming to see you, Demi! And boy does he look good!"

"What?" She asked airily, blinking herself out of her trance.

Absently, she turned in direction the redhead was looking, and almost instantly a frown came to her face when she saw a familiar figure cutting his way confidently through the crowd towards her.

"What's with the face, Dem?" Victoria teased. "Geeze, he's not that hard to look at!"

Ignoring the two beside her, Demetra watched a little wearily as Kai came closer until he was directly in front of her. Stopping, he flashed her a heart-throb grin that at one time would have melted her bones. Now, oddly enough, the most the sight of him gave her was a mild stirring inside at best.

"Happy birthday, Cinderella." The blunette teased playfully.

"Thanks." She replied bluntly, giving him a dull expression. Receiving another, this time sharper, nudge to the ribs, she had to resist an annoyed sigh before tacking on; "Thank you for coming."

Seeming unperturbed, Kai merely lifted his hand towards her.

"Dance with me."

A small smirk of amusement quirked up Demetra's lips in spite of herself, suddenly reminded of a near-identical situation seemingly a lifetime ago.

"It never ceases to amaze me how demanding and self-entitled you can be, Hiwatari."

"Don't pretend you don't love it." He shot back cockily, wiggling his fingers suggestively. "Come on, birthday girl."

Releasing a snort of amusement, Demetra unconsciously glanced to the side, looking across the room to the place she'd been staring previously. But the polar blues that had captivated her moments ago were now nowhere to be seen. Fighting back the frown threatening to crack her face, Demetra turned back to the blunette.

"Fine." She said, placing her hand in his still outstretched one. "Just one dance. But don't think this is going to lead to anything more than what it is."

His smirk widening into an amused grin, obviously getting her little throwback, Kai closed his fingers around hers and turned them towards the crowd.

"Wouldn't dream of it." He replied, going along with the reminiscent joke.

Leading her deep into the undulating and shimmying bodies, Kai stopped them somewhere towards the middle before turning to her and releasing a hand to slip around her waist, pulling her tightly against him.

"Is it just me, or do you get better looking every time you know I'm gonna be around?" He asked slyly, starting up their lazy go-round.

"It is absolutely just you." Demetra shot back bluntly, making a low, deep chuckle rumble from the blunette. When he spoke again, his voice was low and even.

"Seriously though, you're pretty easy on the eyes, birthday girl. As usual."

"Thanks." Demetra forced herself to reply flatly.

His words absolutely did not have the effect on her that they used to, nor did his look, or his touch. In fact, already, her eyes were absently scanning the sea of faces to try and pick out one in particular, the only one she was really interested in spotting; though she tried to tell herself it was merely out of curiosity and in no way a deep sense of aching longing.

Through most of the song, Kai tried in vain to hold her attention, to make conversation with her, but when he did manage to receive a response from her, they were short and uninterested at best. Somewhere near the end of the song, just when it was finishing and began to seamlessly bleed into the second one, Demetra heard a small snort from her dance partner and turned back to him this time on her own.

"You know, I've got this memory." Kai said cryptically, his voice a low rumble. "And although it seems like a lifetime ago, I can remember it like this morning."

Demetra furrowed her brows, eying him curiously as he gave her a little spin before continuing.

"I was in a room exactly like this one, dancing with this really hot brunette, to a really stupid song you couldn't pay me to willingly listen to. Damned if I cared about that though, cause I'd put it on repeat if it meant that dance would last longer. Back then, that really hot brunette couldn't keep her eyes off me."

Kai released her and gave her a bigger spin, twirling her outwards. When he reeled her back in again, Demetra was looking over her shoulder at him while he gave her an intense look she hadn't seen from him in a while, one mixed with something she hadn't seen from him before at all.

"This time it seems like she'd rather look anywhere but at me."

Feeling a tug of guilt at his words, Demetra was unable to resist the frown from splitting her face this time. Untangling herself from his arms, she turned around, facing him again. She felt like she should apologize, but the words got stuck in her throat, so instead, she simply reached out to place her hands back on his shoulders. This seemed to satisfy the blunette because he once again initiated their slow go-round, but he was still looking at her intensely.

"Someone else's arms you'd rather have around you right now, Demetra?" He asked lowly, a somewhat bitter edge to his tone. Demetra's frown deepened, but before she could reply, Kai cut her off.

"I'd say don't answer that, but it'd be a waste wouldn't it? I know you wouldn't, even though we both know the answer pretty damn well."

This time Demetra felt a surge of frustration, and an exasperated sigh expelled past her lips as she stopped their movements.

"What do you want from me, Kai?" She asked him in exasperation. "Yes, there was a time when one look at you made my blood run hot, is that what you wanted to hear? But that time is gone, and I can't give you what I no longer have!"

Kai studied her expression for a long minute, a deep frown coming to his face now too.

"I came here thinking you might still have some kinda lingering feelings for me, that I still had some kinda chance..." A flash of pain crossed his face as he looked at her now, and when he spoke again, his voice was strained. "But I really don't, do I? You really have made up your mind... even after everything that moron put you through, you're still holding out for him, aren't you?"

Knowing full-well who the blunette was referring to, and fully unable to deny the accusation, Demetra turned her face away from him. Releasing her, Kai gave an unamused snort.

"Unbelievable." He said with an air of frustration, reaching up to drag his fingers through his hair. After heaving a matching sigh, he looked back to the brunette in front of him.

"Well, I guess there's not much else to say, is there?" He said bitterly. "I mean, good luck would be a waste, wouldn't it? Not like you need that."

Noting the stung look on her face when she looked back at him, Kai heaved another heavy sigh, this time one of defeat.

"Sorry..." He muttered under his breath. "You didn't deserve that."

Placing a hand on her hip, Kai leaned in to press a delicate kiss just before her ear.

"Happy Birthday, Demetra..." He whispered, a tiny crack in his strained tone.

Pulling back, he turned without looking at her or allowing her to look at him, and in a moment, he'd been swallowed up by the crowd. Demetra watched him until he was gone, and for a while, she stared into the jiving bodies as her mind wandered.

Soon, a voice at Demetra's elbow broke her from her thoughts, and turning to look, she noted a certain redhead at her elbow, though not the one she'd been secretly hoping to see again.

"You look like you need a little girl time, girl!" A very intoxicated sounding Emily slurred, grabbing Demetra's hand. Beside the redhead, a little pinkette she recalled being called Mathilda, giggled as she took her other hand.

"Yea, come on! Forget about boys for a while! Dance with us birthday girl! You look like you really need it!"

Grimacing, Demetra made a face at the two way-too happy girls.

"What I need is a drink." She said bluntly.

Slipping her hands from the ones grasping hers, Demetra turned on her heel to go and do just that.

-;-

As soon as the strong smelling liquid slid across her tongue, Demetra instantly made a face. Making a mental note that it didn't taste right; nothing at all like Victoria's usual infamous flavourful punch, she gave it the stink eye.

"Yea, I know that face. You're right, it's not my usual recipe."

Looking to her left, Demetra noted the brunette in question, making her way towards her with a pair of blondes; one whom she was developing a soft spot for, the other whom she most certainly was not; the former accompanied by his redheaded adorable ray of sunshine.

"Oooo... yea I'd be careful with that if I was you, Dem." Keisha said teasingly when she stopped before her Captain. "Enri kinda spiced it up a little, as he puts it.

Turning her gaze towards the ex-playboy in company, Demetra narrowed her eyes on him.

"Why am I not surprised?" She said icily, placing her cup on the table when the blonde in question gave her a sheepish expression.

"On another note." Victoria interceded before things got ugly. "Couldn't help but notice that little display with a certain blunette! Things looked pretty steamy there for a bit, Dem! Rekindling a little old flame are we?"

Despite making a face of irritated disapproval, a little pinkish tinge still bloomed across Demetra's features.

"I assure you, those ashes have long gone cold." She replied bluntly.

"Riiiight..." Victoria drawled, giving her Captain a wide grin.

Despite the fact being mostly true, Demetra had no further argument for it, so she decided in favour of the harsh contents of the punch bowl after all. In fact, the more her girl friends teased and pestered her, the quicker and easier the contents of her cup drained; so much so that after her third one, the teasing expression on Victoria's face morphed into an uneasy one.

"Seriously, Dem..." She warned slowly. "Take it easy on that stuff, it's wicked strong..."

"Awe she's OK, Vic." Enrique said with a laugh, gently hip-nudging his girlfriend. "She's a big girl. Besides it's her birthday, wouldn't hurt her to loosen up a little for once."

Fully expecting the inevitable backlash, more than one expression turned to that of shock - including the blonde in question - when Demetra instead lifted her glass to tip towards him in an agreeable gesture.

"I second that motion." She said pointedly.

The surrounding group blinked at the birthday girl for a few until finally, Enrique chuckled.

"Maybe you should lay off, Demi." He teased. "Must be hittin' you pretty hard if you're actually agreeing with me on something!"

This received another round of chuckles, laughter and more good-natured teasing until eventually Demetra had about all she could stand. More out of desperation to locate another distraction, Demetra began scanning the crowd again. As if magnetically, her gaze once again fell upon a very familiar face, which made her heart leap annoyingly and stomach do a sort of weird floppy thing. But this time, the beautiful polar blues of that face were trained on someone else instead of her, and the sight made her stomach twist sickeningly.

Across the room, Tala was chatting it up with one of the local girls. Demetra recognized her as one of the ditzy Barbie dolls from their class. She was hanging off the redhead's arm and laughing bubbly at something he was saying. For his part, Tala didn't seem to be overly engaged with her, though he was entertaining her heavy flirting, and he wasn't exactly pushing her away.

Feeling a sudden wave of nausea rock her, Demetra decided to blame it on the alcohol and promptly turned away from the scene. Slamming her glass down on the table a great deal more forcefully than she'd intended, made a silence wash over the group as they once again blinked at her with stunned expressions.

"I need air." She declared bluntly, turning to stalk away.

"Alone." She added before anyone could argue. And before anyone else could blink she was gone.

---

It was clearly unnatural that he would notice the movement in his peripherals, particularly among a vast sea of so many people, but when Demetra made her way towards the side exit of the room, Tala's gaze was magnetically drawn to her. Said gaze followed her as she crossed the gigantic room, then finally disappeared through the ornate door.

"But you obviously know all about that, am I right?"

Frowning, Tala turned back to the irritating blonde hanging off his elbow. For several hour-long agonizing minutes, he'd been trying to shake the girl off, but it was like trying to pluck a snarled burr out of downy-soft yarn.

"I have no idea." He said moodily. "In fact, I have no idea what the hell you've been talking about for the past fifteen minutes! I gotta go."

Completely immune to the no-doubt practiced pout he received, Tala gripped the girl's hand, pointedly removed it from his elbow, then whirled around to make a beeline for the side exit.

---

Standing in front of her bedroom mirror, Demetra stared at her reflection with a cloud of dark emotions on her face. She hadn't meant to end up in her room, she'd intended to go for a walk, perhaps through the gardens for a bit of fresh air to help clear her head. But as she'd walked, while her mind kept her busily distracted with thoughts of a certain Russian redhead, of a ditzy, bubbly blonde hanging off his arm - all hourglass curves and modelesque good looks - her feet had instead led her to her bedroom.

"Why did he have to show up looking so damn good?!" She thought, feeling a warmth envelope her at the thought of the handsome redhead in question.

Tala had show up that night in a pair of fitted orange jeans, black boots, a white button-down with black buttons and a v-neck black shirt underneath, topped with a deep navy blue dress jacket. He even looked like he'd spent a little time messing with his crimson locks. The only other time she'd ever seen him dress up so much had been on the night of their pseudo-date in the Village, and even then his appearance hadn't had the sort of devastating effect on her as it was this night.

Nipping her lip, Demetra's gaze rolled over the body reflected in the mirror. Her girls had outdone themselves as always; went to town with her makeup, swept her long silken locks up off her shoulders for once into an elaborate fancy up-do, complete with sparkly baubles, a diamond-crusted silver chain woven through, and a splattering of glitter spray to make her already glossy strands shimmer. The hateful dress they'd all gone gaga over was a black and white number; fitted from neck to mid-thigh, where it flared to an embarrassingly wide circumference and pooled annoyingly around her feet - a death-trap laying in wait to snare her. Narrowing her eyes on the top, Demetra reached up to hook her fingers around the high, lacy black collar practically painted around her neck. Though they hadn't dared say as much, she knew one of the main reasons her girls had approved of this dress so much, was because it thoroughly concealed the gruesome scars slashing from shoulder to hip, which she normally proudly wore unabashedly.

"I hope you enjoyed your fifteen minutes of fame." She growled at the material clinging to her. "Because after tonight your next destination is the fireplace!"

Reaching behind her, she managed - with some effort - to snag the zipper behind her neck, yanked it down with a vengeance, peeled the material from her shoulders, shimmied the dress down her body and let it flop carelessly to the floor. Stepping out of the pool of material around her feet, she gave the dress a defiant kick, sending it sliding across the floor and indeed to the foot of the fireplace. Snorting in satisfaction, she turned away from the torture device and made her way to her closet.

Originally, when she'd found herself in her bedroom, Demetra had intended to strip herself out of the weighty nuisance, to don her usual attire, or at the very least, something much more casual and comfortable. But as she once again thought back to Tala, about the extremely attractive girl she'd seen hanging off him without so much as complaint from his end, she'd quickly changed her mind.

Throwing open her closet doors, Demetra began to sift through the articles inside. She knew there wasn't much wow factor in there in regards to fancy clothes; truth be told, she'd probably just tossed aside the best of that, but she had expected to find something suitable eventually. However, the more hangers she combed through, the quicker she realized she really was completely fashion inept.

Eventually, her fury and frustration paramount, Demetra released a loud, furious cry. More out of anger and frustration, she reached out and stuck her hands in the centre of the line of clothing, thrust her arms apart to fling them sideways, sending all the hangers of items scraping across the racks and crashing into the walls of the closet as if in terror. Demetra reached for the closet doors, gripped them tightly, ready to slam them shut again, when something hanging on the back wall of the closet caught her eye, something only now visible after having thrown everything else aside.

Sucking in a sharp breath, Demetra hesitated a moment before reaching out and gripping the black suit bag with a shaky hand. Removing it from its solitary brass hook, she weakly pulled it towards herself, reached for the zipper on the front, hesitated again, then finally mustered up the courage to slowly tug the zipper down and expose the treasure beneath.

Her breath catching in her throat, Demetra stared at the now exposed article in her hands, her heart and emotions all going in a million directions at once. A part of her screamed to zip the bag back up, to put it back where she'd found it and forget she'd seen it. But a much braver, much more nagging part of herself encouraged her to remove it from the prison that had kept it hostage for far too long, to take it out and finally let it see the light of day.

After a good long, internal struggle, the nagging side of her eventually won. Swallowing hard, Demetra gently slipped the article from the plain black bag, hugged it tight to herself, then turned to make her way back to her mirror.

-;-

"Demi, so help me God, if you're hiding away in here, I swear I'm going to kick your stubborn arse into next week!"

Though the tone of her energetic teammate assured her the girl was obviously riled up, Demetra didn't so much as glance her way as she once again stood before her reflection.

"I knew it!" Victoria exclaimed, catching sight of her Captain and stalking towards her. "Seriously! Sometimes I swear I could just-"

Halting abruptly, the younger brunette gasped when she took in the sight of her Captain and realized what the elder girl was wearing.

The dress Demetra had rescued from the depths of her closet turned out to be a custom-made one - custom-made for her mother a long time ago. As Demetra had been informed by her brother, Yua had apparently had it made for herself with the intention of wearing it on the day their family would be reunited once again, an occasion she hadn't been alone in assuming would be a joyous occasion. Obviously, that day had never arrived.

Breal had given her the dress, probably expecting her to have worn it at least once. But Demetra hadn't ever worn it, hadn't ever been able to bring herself to. She'd told herself there hadn't ever been an occasion, that it wouldn't fit her properly, that it simply wasn't her style. But truth be told, she simply hadn't ever been brave enough.

Now, standing before her reflection, donning the article she'd always been almost afraid of, the fear was nowhere to be felt. Now, all she felt was a deep sense of regret. Turning at the waist, she looked back at her guest with a wounded expression.

"I waited too long..." She choked, feeling herself fill up.

"Oh Demi..." Victoria whispered, instantly filling up too as she took in her normally stoic Captain's expression.

Slowly making her way over to the other brunette, Victoria looked the dress over as Demetra turned forward again. The article was of a stunning emerald green silk, fitted to enhance one's shape, with a sweet-heart neckline. It was supposed to brush the floor after slanting tastefully downwards from the middle of the lower legs, was supposed to be a corset-type top, which buttoned up on the back and tied in a halter-style around the neck with beautiful silky ribbons. Unfortunately, Demetra was considerably bustier than her mother had been, considerably curvier, was quite a bit taller. The buttons didn't quite clasp, and the skirt brushed her ankles instead of trailing delicately along the floor as it was supposed to.

"I should have worn it before I blew up!" Demetra choked bitterly. "While I still resembled her enough to at least fit into it!"

Victoria released a chuckle of forced amusement she didn't really feel right then.

"You didn't blow up, dummy." She teased, attempting playfulness. "You grew up."

Approaching Demetra's desk, she rifled through it for a few moments until she found what she was looking for. Shutting the drawers again, she made her way back to her Captain. Demetra's gaze followed her with mild curiosity, watching as her sister approached her and took up position behind her. However, when the younger brunette lifted her hands and placed a pair of scissors at her shoulder, slipping the blades between the ribbon there, Demetra's eyes bugged in horror.

"What are you doing?!" She gasped in a mad panic.

Lifting her pretty blue-green gaze, Victoria levelled her Captain with an exceedingly rare, uncharacteristic serious expression.

"You trust me, right?" She asked pointedly, knowing the answer.

Eyeing her for a minute, Demetra swallowed hard again, bit her lip.

"Of course..." She whispered.

Giving the birthday girl a small, comforting smile, Victoria's expression turned serious again. Sucking in a sharp breath, Demetra tensed as she watched Victoria carefully cut the ribbon off, slipped it from her shoulders, then began messing with the back of the dress.

For several agonizing moments, Demetra waited as the brunette worked diligently, with quick, practiced hands. After finishing with the back, she made some adjustments to the skirt. When that was done, she stood from her crouch on the floor, once again looked at Demetra through her reflection.

"Kay. All done." She said softly, giving her Captain a somewhat watery smile.

Taking the tall teen by the shoulders, she gently turned her around to show her what she'd done. Looking over her shoulder, Demetra stared at the back of the dress displayed in the mirror. Where at first, the dress had been unable to properly clasp, Victoria had used the ribbon to criss-cross around the buttons and through the holes, making it a proper corset-style now and securing it firmly in place. With a few quick threaded fixes, she'd also adjusted the length and fall of the skirt to better compliment Demetra's height and shape. Now, the dress looked like it was made for her, instead of like she was playing dress up in her mother's closet.

Turning around to look at the front again, Demetra sized it up, then the back, then back to the front, until eventually she filled up for a second time.

"It's perfect..." Demetra choked, biting her lip once again. Victoria offered her another watery smile.

"Yea. It really is." She agreed, sniffling once.

Turning back around, Demetra wordlessly pulled her sister into a tight hug.

"Thank you, Tori..." She whispered with a strained voice, tone fully-loaded with emotion.

Sniffling again, Victoria returned the hug tightly.

"Hey, it's what I do." She replied playfully, her own voice cracking.

Eventually pulling away, Victoria sniffled one more time, reached up to carefully swipe the water from under her Captain's eyes, careful not to smudge the makeup.

"OK! Enough of that!" She said playfully. "I worked way too hard on that face for you to mess it up with some silly sentimentality!"

Pulling herself to her full height, she cleared her throat, sniffled one last time, turned to look in the mirror and quickly fix her own makeup. When she turned back to Demetra again, she placed her perfectly manicured fingers on her hips and gave the tall girl a mock-stern expression.

"Alright missy! You've got fifteen minutes!" She said playfully. "If you haven't returned to the party by then, I'm sending the calvary!"

A small smirk of amusement quirked up Demetra's lips at that in spite of herself.

"Noted."

Leaning forward, Victoria wrapped her arms around her in another hug.

"I love you, Dem." She said softly.

"Love you too..." Demetra whispered, hugging her back.

Victoria pulled away and turned to make her way to the door.

"Fifteen minutes!" She repeated only half-playfully as she opened the door.

"Yes master." Demetra replied sarcastically, turning to look back at her reflection.

As the door shut behind her guest, Demetra stared at herself yet again, this time with an abundance of new thoughts.

"Tala likes green..."

Catching the unexpected thought, Demetra made a face, told herself the fact didn't mean anything. But not so deep down, she knew better. Placing her hand to her stomach, running it down the cool, silky material, she felt her pulse quicken as she tried to imagine the redhead's reaction when he saw her again. She tried to convince herself she really couldn't care less, but soon gave up; even to herself she couldn't deny that for the first time, she found herself desperately hoping her appearance would be enough to draw the eye and stir the heart of another person.

---

"This place is like something plucked straight out of time..." Tala thought as he walked down the halls of the huge Finnish mansion.

The Nakamura, or rather Heikkien, family home was stupidly gigantic, unbelievably old, and filled with ancient relics and heirlooms from what seemed like a thousand generations. Tala was super observant however, and had always been good with details, so he was able to spot most of the modern touches throughout it as well; the little hints and proofs that showed the current residents now called it home, the not-so-obvious reinforcements to the structural integrity, and the impressive state-of-the-art security system; only recognizable thanks to his time spent under Boris' thumb.

Tala had left the party in search of Demetra, hoping to have caught her somewhere after her little escape, preferably alone. Unfortunately, she'd managed to give him the slip, and the idea of searching behind the insanely numerous door count of the place was far too daunting a task for him to willingly undertake. So, deciding to cut his losses and hope he'd happen upon her later, he decided to take the opportunity for another detour.

Just heading back to the party from the bathroom, trying not to be impressed by the modernized ancient-style architecture, Tala had just turned a corner that would lead him to his final destination, when the sight of someone exiting another corridor several feet ahead of him diverted his attention. Breath catching in his throat, he instantly recognized the tantalizing curve of a very familiar back, a back belonging to someone he'd so recently been desperately searching for. She'd looked pretty damn good, as she always did, in her previous fancy evening gown, but the dress she was wearing now was so perfect, fit and suited her so criminally well it completely wrecked him.

"Why did it have to be green?!" Tala almost whined to himself.

He'd always tried to deny he had a favourite color, always told anyone who'd ever asked that he didn't have such a pointlessly ridiculous preference. But the truth was, though he hated to admit it, he'd always had a fondness for the color green. Reason being, it happened to be the color of his mother's eyes. And although he despised the thought, tried so hard to make it not so, his mother had always been his happy place, the person he thought of when he needed an escape, despite how things had gone between them. Until Demetra came along, happy memories of his mother had always been the ones he clung to, the ones that had given him comfort and solace when life tended to get really ugly and messy. She was his safe place.

"Damn it, that dress should be illegal..." He thought, chewing his cheek. But it didn't take him long to admit it wasn't just the dress, it was her; it was the way the piece clung to and framed her so well it was like the thing had been specially made for her.

Chewing the side of his cheek, Tala considered approaching her, considered jogging ahead and snagging her, dragging her into one of the darkened alcoves along the ancient walls and commencing to show her the real reason he'd accepted her invite in the first place. He'd all but decided to do just that, when suddenly a second figure in his peripherals diverted his attention, this time one that made him halt in his tracks.

With a jolt of mild panic coursing through him and stomach knotting with dread, Tala watched with a deep frown as Breal exited an adjacent corridor, seemingly not noticing Tala or his sister at first. Soon enough though, having turned the corner and making his way in direction of the brunette, the Coach stopped abruptly for some reason, remained still for a moment, then eventually called after his sister.

Tala reflexively ducked into one of the alcoves he'd been considering, tucked himself behind the stone stand of some cheesy marble bust, and watched as Demetra stopped, turned to face her brother, who was now approaching her. From his position, Tala couldn't hear the exchange, but he continued to observe as the two talked. After a short length of time, in a sort of affectionate display Tala never imagined the blunette was capable of, Breal eventually leaned down to press a light kiss to his sister's temple. It was clear the gesture shocked Demetra as well because it was written on her face. Tala watched her say something to her brother, watched a cloud of disappointment darken her face at his response, before quickly morphing into one of almost amusement. Next moment, Breal was offering his sister his arm and the two turned to head back down the hall together.

The knot of dread in his gut tightening, Tala let the pair get a fair distance ahead of him before finally ducking out of the alcove and following after them, hoping desperately that Breal didn't intend to join the part; if that was the case, he could already kiss any chance of getting within a dozen feel of the birthday girl goodbye.

Fortunately, when they reached the party room, once again at a side door, Tala's fears were dispelled when the Nakamura siblings shared a last brief exchange before the elder dropped his sister off and turned to leave. Following the blunette with his eyes, Tala waited until the man was long gone before approaching the birthday girl. To his surprise though, instead of entering the room, he watched Demetra turn away from the ornate door and instead head towards an adjacent hallway, quickly disappearing around the corner. Intrigued, though the thought of facing her at last was quickly turning him into a nervous wreck all over again - especially with her looking like that - Tala hesitated another moment only, then headed off in direction of his stunning interest.

---

Having made her way through the mansion back towards the party room, Demetra had just turned the last hall that would lead her to her intended destination, when she heard her brother's voice calling her name. Halting to look questioningly back at him, she immediately tensed when she noted the storm of emotions on his normally emotionless face as he made his way towards her. Her first thought was that he was furious with her for ruining the prized dress, and it made a nauseating knot of dread twist her gut. But when he'd finally reached her, the reaction she actually received from him completely floored her.

"That's amazing..." Breal whispered, a completely alien smile on his face.

To say the smile shocked Demetra would be a severe understatement; it was warm and glowing and totally uncharacteristic. To see a smile on her brothers face was tragically rare as it was, but without having to think about it, she knew she had never seen him wear one like that as long as she'd known him.

"I know you've never seen it..." He said softly. "But my God... you really do look so much like her sometimes..."

Demetra knew what he meant, who he meant, and the thought instantly made her fill up again, which made her internally curse herself for being so overly emotional that night.

"You're right.. I don't see it..." She whispered, her voice cracking. But her expression softened nonetheless. "But you can keep telling me anyway..."

Breal's smile expanded just a little, warmed just a touch.

"As often as I can..." He replied softly as well. "She'd be so proud of you Demetra, I swear to you she would... And she'd love to see you wearing that dress..."

Swallowing hard, Demetra was unable to push down the tight lump in her throat, barely able to keep the infuriating wetness from leaking from her pooled eyes.

"I hope so..." She replied in a choked whisper.

"Would I lie to you?" Breal asked teasingly. Demetra scoffed with a small smile.

"Depends on the reasoning." She retorted smartly. Breal chuckled.

"Touché." Breal observed her for a moment, studying her, until eventually he heaved a sort of heart-sick sounding sigh. "Let's get you back to your ball, Cinderella."

A hint of amusement quirked Demetra's face at that, noting it was the second time someone had referred to her as such that night.

"If I must." She replied only half- playfully.

"You must." Breal insisted. "Both her and father wanted there to be a big bash when she wore that... for that dress to be part of a magical memory she could treasure forever... If you're going to wear it, the only right thing for you to do would be to make her dream come true."

Suddenly feeling overwhelmed, Demetra lifted her fist, pressing it to her mouth in attempt to stave off the water works, and also to hide the slight tremble in her lips. After a few calming breaths, she removed her hand and lifted her chin, gave her brother a single nod.

"I will... I swear."

Then, as if his smile hadn't stunned her enough, Demetra froze in utter shock when Breal leaned forward to press a light, affectionate kiss to her temple.

"I hope so, imouto." He whispered tenderly.

Clearing her throat, Demetra looked into her brother's face when he pulled back from her.

"You could join us, you know.." She said softly, hopefully. Unsurprisingly, she watched the blunette squirm a bit at the suggestion.

"I... don't think..." Trailing off, Breal frowned as he squirmed again. "I'm afraid I'm busy..."

Obviously noting his sister's disappointed expression, his own turned guilty.

"I apologize..." He added softly.

"It's alright, I understand..." Demetra forced herself to say, not really surprised by his refusal.

Still looking guilty, Breal once again stunned her when he offered her an arm.

"However, it would be my honour to escort you."

Another amused expression cocked Demetra's face at that.

"You've never done that before." She pointed out, giving him an odd look as she reached out to hook her arm though her brother's.

"I supposed there really is a first time for everything." Breal teased, leading them forward towards Demetra's original destination.

When they were finally standing before the door to the party room, Breal released Demetra and turned to her again.

"And this is where I take my leave. Don't forget your promise, birthday girl." An amused expression quirked his face then. "Though you know where to find me if you need an escape."

Demetra scoffed with amusement as that as well.

"Creepy old, creaky door, hidden beneath a labyrinth of musty old haunted passages, right?"

"That's the one." Breal said after a tiny chuckle. His expression softened, and his voice followed suit when he spoke again. "Make it magical, imouto."

"I will." Demetra promised again. Giving her one last affectionate glance, Demetra watched as Breal finally turned and left her alone.

Turning towards the ornate door, Demetra figured it was time to get back to the fray. Meaning to do just that, she reached for the handle, but she couldn't force herself to push it open. Standing there with her hand on the handle, Demetra tried in vain to force her fingers to push, to take the first step in making good on her recent promise. But deep down, she knew wasn't ready to rejoin the hustle and bustle just yet, to be fawned over all over again. Most importantly, he wasn't ready to face Tala just yet, namely because she was convinced he'd be able to see through her, and instantly know she'd gone the second round for him, gone that extra mile just to impress him, that she'd put in the extra effort this time, just for him. And if he did, surely he'd see the effort for the weakness it was and use it against her.

So, deciding to put off her inevitable self-inflicted torture, Demetra lifted her chin with a much prouder air than she felt just then, removed her hand from the door, then turned and stalked off in the opposite direction.

-;-

A deep, contented sigh echoed around the hall as Demetra stared out across the view before her. From her favourite spot in the whole mansion, a window seat over-looking a treasured view of a cherished part of the gardens, Demetra let her mind run blank. Leaning back against the wall, she tipped her head to the side, let the tension in her body slowly ebb away as she let the the serene scenery ease her frazzled nerves as it always had. For just a little while, she'd sit here, she'd collect her bearings, she'd regain her composure. Then, and only then, when she was good and ready, she'd return to the unwanted party in her honour and finally make good, to the best of her ability, on the promises she'd made that night.

Unfortunately, life rarely allowed things to go exactly as planned.

"Popular girl tonight, Princess. And here I thought you were completely unlikable."

Tensing at the sound of the familiar voice that had disturbed her solitude, Demetra turned towards the source and eyed its owner with an expression mixed with emotions. When she'd turned her gaze on him, she noted her unwanted guest outwardly flinch.

"I could have gone a lifetime without seeing that look on your face again..." Tala muttered with a forced, lopsided smirk.

"What look?" Demetra questioned tersely.

"A look that says you'd rather jump out that window then be in my presence."

Demetra studied him for a minute, watched him squirm uncomfortably, before eventually looking away again and staring out the window, forcing herself to focus on a random object outside rather then the redhead's reflection.

"Well, our parting didn't exactly come with sunshine and roses." She replied bitterly.

"No it did not." She heard Tala agree morbidly.

There was a tense silence between them for a long time until, not entirely surprisingly, Tala broke it.

"I've racked up a lot of regrets in my lifetime." He muttered, a considerable measure of pain in his tone. "Probably more then most people twice my age. But for what it's worth... I've never regretted anything so damn much as I regret that day..."

Demetra didn't respond, mainly because she wasn't quite sure how to. As such there was another silence between them, this one longer and more tense than the last, but eventually Tala once again broke it.

"I don't have any excuses for any of it, I know it was messed up." He scoffed in a self-depreciating sort of way. "Hell, the worst part's gotta be knowing just how messed up it was... Especially when I'm pretty sure I know why you were coming to see me..."

Demetra heard Tala take a long, shaky breath before continuing.

"Like always I let some... stupid stuff get under my skin and in my head... Even though deep down I knew-"

Trailing off, Demetra waited for him to continue. But when it seemed like he wouldn't, she filled in the blanks for him, knowing reflexively what was missing.

"You mean Kai." She supplied bluntly. "You let Kai get in your head again."

After a brief pause, Tala replied.

"Yea.. I mean Kai..." He answered quietly, his voice cracking with the admission.

Demetra was unsurprised by the confirmation. She'd often thought about that day in question, raked her brains over and over, combed through each and every detail leading up to the horrible moment of topic trying to figure out where it all went wrong. At some point, she recalled her conversation with Kai in her room before she'd gone to find Tala, recalled the sickening feeling in her gut caused by it, and recalled Tala's words and countenance when she'd eventually met up with him. Under the surface, she'd already suspected the blunette had played a part in the ordeal, as he often had. As such, Tala's confirmation didn't come as a shock.

Behind her, Demetra heard Tala release another self-depreciating snort.

"You might be interested to know that apparently I haven't really been a barrel of laughs since you left..." He said, obviously attempting to lighten the mood, but the implication behind his words struck Demetra deep. "And if it makes you feel better, that day has been a new source of nightmares for me.."

This time Demetra's gaze finally shifted to look at the redhead's reflection.

"You know, it might surprise you to know that doesn't make me feel better." She replied pointedly, though it was a partial lie. While she felt a pang of, probably misplaced, guilt and even sympathy for the redhead at having yet another ingredient to his already troublesome night terrors, it did actually give her some comfort to know that he'd at least been somewhat disturbed by her leaving, by what he'd done to cause it, and they way they'd left things.

"You don't say." Tala replied cheekily. "And here I thought your greatest pleasure in life was watching me suffer."

"You thought wrong." Demetra replied icily. "I suppose that means you don't know me nearly as well as you thought, Ivanov."

Still unwilling to look at his reflection, she missed the wince on the redhead's face caused by the impersonal use of his surname.

"Guess not..." He replied quietly.

There was another long silence between the two, a heavy, tense silence, until eventually Tala's voice cut through it yet again; almost frail and much softer than Demetra could recall ever having heard it.

"I never meant to do that to you, you know..." He almost whispered with a pained rasp to his voice. "The day you came looking for me, I mean... It wasn't supposed to happen like that..."

"No?" Demetra questioned accusingly, studying her companion's reflection now. "Tell me, how was it supposed to happen, Tala?"

She watched him turn his head away from her, watched a deeply tortured expression pinch his face, and it both surprised and intrigued her.

"Not like that..." He replied hoarsely. After swallowing hard, he closed his eyes, his brows creasing deeply. "I don't expect you to forgive me, or for you to give me back what I know I threw away. I just want to tell you that I know I made the biggest mistake of my life... and I'd give anything... anything to take it back..."

There was another long silence as Demetra once again studied the redhead. She knew he meant it, she could tell; it was in his voice, written on his face. She just wasn't sure what she was supposed to do with it.

"Is this you apologizing?" She finally heard herself asking, trying to make it sound more condescending and much less impressed and hopeful than she felt.

To her surprise, Tala opened his eyes and looked back at her. Though the pain was still there, he forced a half-cocked smile that didn't come close to reaching his eyes.

"If it was, would you accept it?" He asked her quietly.

Finally, needing to look him in the eye when she responded this time, Demetra turned in her seat and did just that as she face the redhead at last.

"I might." She replied shortly. "If I knew you meant it."

Tala's smile slipped a little, and his gaze was intense this time as he stared at her, so much so, it made Demetra's breath catch in her throat.

"I mean it." He said seriously. "I swear to God, Demetra... I mean it."

Swallowing hard against the sudden lump in her throat, Demetra lifted her chin as she eyed the redhead across her a moment. After a few beats she eventually replied.

"Fine." She stated shortly. "I suppose everyone's entitled to one colossal screw up in a lifetime."

To her both surprise and relief this time, an amused half- smirk cocked across Tala's fair features.

"Is this you forgiving me?" He asked teasingly.

"If it was, would I regret it?" She replied smartly without missing a beat.

"Absolutely." Tala shot back almost instantly, the smirk growing into a small teasing grin. Demetra snorted humourlessly.

"Hn. Honesty does not suit you, Wolf."

This time the grin widened into a full-fledged smile, which ended with a tiny chuckle. Admittedly, the sound made Demetra's heart ache longingly. Until she'd heard it, she hadn't realized just how much she'd missed that beautiful sound.

"I'll work on it." Tala said teasingly. Then he lifted his own chin a little to look down at her. "Well, since I've obviously caught you at a moment of weakness, I guess I'll try pushing my luck and give you your birthday present."

Reflexively, Demetra instantly perked up, straightening in her seat.

"You got me a birthday present?" She asked, trying her damndest not to let the sudden spark of excitement shine through her tone. Obviously she failed because Tala's face instantly split with another grin.

"What kind of idiot would I be if I showed up at a hot girl's party without a present?" He replied teasingly. "Wasn't easy either. I mean, what do you get the spoiled rotten brat who's already got the world at her fingertips?

Ignoring the ribbing she was more than used to from the redhead, as well as the heat that rose up her face and neck from the sly compliment, Demetra lifted her chin again as she narrowed her gaze at him suspiciously.

The spark of excitement grew to a bright flash as Demetra watched Tala stick one hand in his pocket, approach her, offer her the other. Eyeing him suspiciously again for a minute, she eventually decided to take the bait, placed her hand in his offered one, and allowed him to pull her to her feet. She tried not to think too much of it, to let it get to her too much, but when Tala didn't release her hand, Demetra felt her heartbeat begin to race in her chest. Doing her best to ignore it, she focused instead on the opposite hand as Tala pulled it fisted from his pocket and held it up before her.

Now the excitement was a roaring rush as Demetra stared down at the pale fist expectantly; her mind whirling and racing with guesses and possibilities. Her breath hitching, she felt a jolt course through her when he finally unfurled his fingers to let her see inside.

However, of all the objects that flashed through her mind, all the things she'd expected and considered, nothing could have surprised her more then what she saw sitting in Tala's open palm.

Staring for a long minute, Demetra's thoughts ran wild in her head, until eventually she lifted her face to look at Tala.

"Is this you trying to be funny?" She asked with a frown, unable to hide the deep disappointment in her tone. "If it is, let me tell you; your comedic skills need much honing."

To her annoyance, Tala chuckled again.

"So judgemental." He said, this time with an obviously amused grin. "Just cause you can't see anything, Princess, doesn't mean there's nothing there."

Demetra gave him a flat look.

"I'm not being judgemental, Tala." She replied bluntly. "There's nothing there!"

"Sure there is." Tala insisted cryptically. "And it happens to be the most valuable thing I could give you. So valuable, until this moment, no one's ever been able to pry it from my cold, heartless fingers."

Somewhat annoyed now, suddenly in no mood to play his stupid mind games, Demetra released an audible, irritated sigh.

"Fine. I'll bite." She replied moodily. "What is it?"

Fully expecting the gift to either be one of Tala's ridiculous tricks, or something terribly disappointing, either way something she'd regret asking for, she was mildly surprised when Tala leaned down at little, looking her squarely in the eye with an intense look that didn't at all match the teasing grin still on his lips.

"You ready for the best gift you ever got?" He whispered somewhat playfully.

Rolling her eyes, mostly for effect, Demetra forced a droll stare.

"I suppose there's only one way to find out." She replied sarcastically.

Tala's grin morphed into an amused smirk for a moment before his expression shifted again, this time, to Demetra's shock, to a somewhat nervous one. Further shocking her, he lifted his hand to her chest, placed it directly over her heart. Her brows furrowing, Demetra opened her mouth to question him on his puzzling action, but the words never left her lips.

The shocked gasp that erupted from her throat was instantly swallowed up when suddenly Tala's mouth sealed hers tightly. Her eyes widening, Demetra's heart all but stopped in her chest, a molten wave instantly washing over her from hear-to-toe.

In all her fantasies, every dream she'd ever had of this moment, none of them had ever come close to feeling like this. She'd always expected that if Tala were ever to actually kiss her, it would be rough, wild, demanding. But as she stood there in his arms now, noted the way his petal-soft lips moulded so deliciously perfectly to hers, how they pressed and moved so gently and tenderly against hers, Demetra realized that this was what she'd wanted all along; this was the way she'd always wanted him to kiss her, this was exactly the first kiss she wished she could have had. And most importantly, this was the person she'd so desperately wished she could have given it to.

When Tala eventually broke the fantastic, heart-throbbing kiss, he drew slowly away from her, as if allowing her to savour the taste of him; or perhaps allowing himself to savour the taste of her. Looking into his face, Demetra noted the light flush there, noted the clouds of desire and nervous longing she felt inside mirrored in his expression.

Once again, Demetra opened her mouth, meaning to say something - though she had no idea what would come out. But once again, before her words could escape, the hand Tala had placed over her heart lifted to her lips, effectively silencing her a second time - the other was still wrapped securely around hers. After tracing his finger delicately across her lips, making a violent tremor shiver sown her spine and raising goosebumps across Demetra's flesh, Tala leaned down to brush his lips against hers again.

"How's that for a present, birthday girl?" He whispered against her mouth. "Hope you're not too disappointed."

She wanted to give him a really witty reply, to give him a smart comeback. But this time her silence was her own doing, because Demetra found she was completely at a loss for words this time.

As if fully expecting this, Tala once again reached up to place his hand over her heart, pressing the spot tenderly, which caused Demetra's face to heat all over again, this time because she was well aware Tala could surely feel said muscle thundering against his fingers. Though if he noticed, or cared, he made no comment on it. Instead, the comment he did make shocked her to the core.

"I know you don't owe me any favours..." He whispered, a barely audible tremor to his voice. "But if you're in a charitable mood... then be gentle with it Princess, it's a lot more fragile than I like to let on..."

Completely stunned, Demetra was unable to respond either physically or verbally, and as such all she could do was stand there in a stupefied daze as Tala released her, pulled away, and finally turned to make his away out of the hall, leaving her behind.

It took several long beats, and Tala had nearly exited the hall, was about to turn the corner, when Demetra's brain finally kickstarted. His last words coming back to her, like a train smashing into a brick wall, the realization of just what the redhead had meant, what his present had actually been, hit her full force; hard enough to take her breath away.

"His heart..." She thought breathlessly. "His present was-... My God, was that him trying to tell me-"

Her eyes suddenly misting over, Demetra swallowed against the sudden searing lump in her throat.

"Tala!" She heard herself call after him, mentally cursing to hear the small crack in her voice.

To her relief, he stopped before turning the corner, and turned partially to look over his shoulder at her.

With no idea what she was supposed to say, Demetra approached him, noting how his gaze followed her unblinkingly, clearly uneasy. When she'd reached him, Tala stared at her expectantly, clearly on edge as he anticipated her response. Inside, Demetra felt her body going berserk, but she didn't want to give it any heed. Instead, she let her instincts and reflexes take over. Reaching up, Demetra placed her hand behind Tala's neck, pulled him against her and gave him the response they both so desperately wanted.

After his own eyes widened this time when Demetra sealed his lips in a searing kiss, Tala quickly recovered. Turning fully around to face her, his hands slid around her waist, coming to rest at the small of her back where he splayed his fingers, a gesture that melted her as he pressed her tight against him. A satisfied sigh of content vibrated from Tala's throat and through his lips, and Demetra felt his entire body relax against her as he returned her heated kiss feverishly this round.

When this time Demetra eventually broke the kiss, pulling back just enough to brush his lips as he had hers, she reached up her free hand to slip inside his shirt, placing her hand against his bare flesh over his heart, supremely pleased to find his pulse thundering against her fingertips as hers had no doubt done against his.

"I'll take better care of it than my own..." She whispered against his lips.

The chuckle that vibrated against her lips raised another round of goosebumps across Demetra's flesh, and although there was a playful smirk on the redhead's face, she'd never seen a warmer look in those beautiful polar blues.

"Not sure how comforting that is." Tala's deep voice rumbled quietly. "But beggars can't be choosers I guess... I'll take what I can get, Princess."

Removing the hand inside his shirt, Tala took a step back, looked her in the eye one more time as he gave the hand in his a light squeeze, then finally released her before turning and disappearing at last.

-;-

Quite some time later, when Demetra had finally gathered up her courage and wits enough to return to the party, her feet ended up bringing her to the last place she'd intended. Leaning against the long, elaborately decorated tables, Demetra was busily guzzling back the spiked punch like it was going out of style. Thankfully, everyone seemed to be avoiding her like the plague this time round, no one willing to approach or bother her - likely due to the corrosively dark look on her face as she stared moodily into the crowd.

"I was right." She thought morbidly, draining her cup before immediately moving to refill it again. "There was no way I wasn't right! He saw through me, he absolutely saw though me! He knows! He knows what I did for him, and he's using it against me, and now he knows he's got me completely at his mercy!"

Ever since she'd received Tala's birthday present, she'd been totally unable to still her thundering heart, been unable to stop feeling the amazing sensation of his lips on hers, the mouthwatering taste of his kiss, to shake the stupid high of euphoria that that one stupid kiss had given her. She tried to convince herself it was because she was so inexperienced, that Tala'd had so much more practice, and he was simply a much more proficient kisser than she was, he knew exactly how to make a girl putty in his hands. But in the end, she had to be honest with herself; the real reason she couldn't get that moment out of her head, was because it was a moment she'd wanted more than she'd ever wanted anything in her life, and it was given to her at the perfect time, in the perfect way, by the only person on earth she'd ever craved more than life-giving breath.

"Something tells me that punch is not a recipe mommy would approve of."

Turning to glare at the new arrival, swearing he'd materialized out of her imaginings merely to spite her, Demetra wrinkled her nose in irritation at the redhead.

"I'll have you know, my mother had excellent taste in drinks!"

Tala scoffed at that.

"Unless your mother was an alcoholic, I can promise you; good taste or not, she definitely wouldn't approve of the rate you're hammering those back, Princess." He retorted sarcastically. "Trust me, I know all about alcoholics."

Her gaze narrowing on him, purely out of spite, she drained her cup yet again, then turned for a refill, only to quickly repeat the process. Tala lifted an eyebrow at her as he crossed his arms, clearly unimpressed.

"Most people mature with age..." He grumbled with a cross between annoyance and admittedly amusement.

"Well as it happens, my name's not Merlot or Chardonnay." Demetra retorted smartly without missing a beat. This time the amusement was supremely evident.

"Smart ass." Tala replied, a grin helplessly splitting his face now. He hated to admit it, and it would only be to himself, but he was unable to resist being terribly charmed by the birthday girl's characteristic surly sarcasm.

For a few breaths there was only silence as Demetra's thoughts and emotions ran wild inside her while she, a little slower now, sipped the potent contents of her cup. However, eventually, she felt an uncomfortable sensation rising from her stomach up into her throat. She tried with all her might to hold it back, but despite her best efforts, it spewed from her mouth like a bottle of shaken pop.

"What sort of present was that anyway?! Are you telling me I'm to believe that just because you managed to corner me in a moment of weakness, even though you've obviously had plenty of practice swooning girls, I'm to believe that that really was you gifting yourself to me?"

There was a term for that kind of expulsion, one she'd heard her two younger siblings use countless times; word vomit. Well, she figured at least it was better than the real thing, though only just.

Watching Tala's face, another sickly feeling twisted Demetra's stomach as she noted a cocky smirk spread across his fair features, fitting in perfectly among his obvious supreme amusement.

"Why? You need a little extra assurance, Princess?" He practically growled lowly as he gave her a heated look.

The low rumble of his deep voice, along with the burning look in his eyes, made Demetra's entire body flare hotly, as well as chased a shiver of delight down her spine. Unable to look away from him, Demetra stared at Tala unblinkingly as he stepped towards her, slipped his hands around her waist and splayed his fingers across her lower back like he had in the hall earlier, a gesture that once again made her practically melt into him. This time Tala pressed himself close to her instead of pulling her to him, and when he leaned down, his eyes lidded heavily as he gave her a look that captivated her.

"For the record, you're not hard to look at in anything you wear... but I gotta admit, you make that dress look damn good, Princess..."

His intentions were painfully obvious this time, and this time, Demetra anticipated what was coming. But inside, she felt a mild sense of panic building in her too as she took in the redhead's words. Suppose he was just teasing her like he often did? Suppose she'd been right and he knew what she'd done; that she'd changed and chosen her current dress mainly for him. Suppose he saw through her, knew how she was feeling and was using it against her, it certainly wouldn't be the first time.

Feeling a sharp pain in her head as the confusion took over and mixed with the alcohol coursing through her, Demetra made a face before reaching up and placing her hands on Tala's chest.

"Back off. I've already given you your freebie tonight, Wolf." She growled, trying to make it sound angry. "I'm not that charitable."

Pushing hard, Demetra shoved Tala away from her, simultaneously stepping away from him. Unfortunately, the swift movement made her head swim and her world tilt on its axis. Reflexively, Demetra reached out to grasp the table while her other hand went to her head.

"Damn it..." She muttered under her breath, fighting to steady her vision again.

Instantly, Tala's teasing smirk dropped off his face to be replaced with a worried expression.

"Hey, you OK?" He asked in concern, his brows furrowed deeply as he studied her unblinkingly.

"I'm fine." Demetra lied instantly, swatting away the hand reaching towards her. "I just need... air. Or something."

Whirling around was a terrible mistake, because as soon as she did, Demetra's world tilted again, and this time her stomach lurched threateningly. Once again, her hand shot out to grab the table, but this time she missed. Instead, she felt that hand instantly wrapped in a chilled set of digits while its counterpart wrapped around her waist, steadying her.

"You're clearly not fine." Tala said sternly, though his voice was soft, and his expression was storm of concern and worry.

Looking up into those polar blues she always found herself weakened to, Demetra felt her heart do an irritating fluttery flip.

"Don't be so stubborn." Tala reprimanded scoldingly, gently tugging her against him. "Let me-"

"No!" Demetra snapped, cutting him off as she yanked herself out of his arms. "I don't need you to do anything, Tala! I don't need anything from you! I just need air!"

Forcing herself to turn, this time more slowly, away from him again, Demetra swallowed the heady emotions, as well as the physical bile, rising in her throat as she left the redhead behind and picked her way through the crowd as fast as she dared.

-;-

Eventually ending up outside, Demetra plopped down on her favourite bench, ironically enough the same bench in the view of her favourite window, the same window she'd been staring out earlier when Tala had first found her. Bending over, Demetra let her head drop into her hands with a loud groan, doing her best to ignore the splitting, searing pain of it as she tried desperately to get a hold of herself.

Feeling a very overwhelming combination of confused, hurt and flustered, Demetra couldn't help but wonder what it all meant. Though not so deep down, a bigger part of her knew exactly what Tala had meant, knew what his intentions had been, a smaller, weaker part of herself tried to convince her she'd been right about him; that he'd seen through her and had decided to use her weakness, as he always did, against her. In her drunken stupidity, it was the opinion of that weak and pathetic part of her she decided to cling to.

"Damn it... You're pleased to know you were right aren't you, you smug idiot?" She muttered to herself, forced to admit the redhead in question had been right, she should have sucked up her childish pride and listened to him for once.

"Can't really say I'm pleased." She heard a very familiar voice say. "Can't really say you don't deserve it though for being a stubborn smart ass either."

Her head jerking up to her left made Demetra's head swim again, and this time she cringed, a pained hiss seething past her lips, while she narrowed her eyes on the redhead standing there with a glare.

"You're irritatingly proficient at gloating..." She grumbled moodily, turning away from him then to plop her head in her hands again.

"Let's just add that to the long list of talents of yours truly, shall we?" Tala cockily replied teasingly as he took a seat beside her.

Rolling her eyes, Demetra made no comment, mostly because it hurt to talk just then.

"Regretting your cockiness yet, Princess?" Demetra heard him continue to gloat beside her, which made her clench her teeth.

"Shut up, Tala.'" She grumbled irritably, swallowing down another nauseous roll of her stomach. Her response made Tala chuckle, much to her further irritation.

Much like back inside, Demetra felt another uncomfortable sensation rising in her throat again, and she hoped desperately that this time it was the physical kind. But no such luck, it ended up being the worse of the two.

"It's your fault anyway." She felt herself spew before she could think to hold it back.

Beside her, though she didn't look at him to notice, Tala's expression was one of mild surprise, causing him to lift a brow as he looked at her.

"How do you figure that?" He asked, both somewhat annoyed and curious.

"I only drank so much to get you and your sorry excuse for a present out of my head..."

Despite hoping he'd get offended by the remark and leave, Demetra felt a knot of dread in her stomach when Tala instead laughed.

"Gonna take more than a few drinks to forget me, Princess." He crowed cockily. Demetra felt him lean a little closer to her, his voice a low rumble when he spoke again. "Though I can't say the implication's lost on me, or that I'm not flattered by the effort."

Heaving an irritated sigh, Demetra made no further comment, knowing it was useless anyway; clearly Tala's already normally sharp wit was far sharper than hers right then, and she knew a war of words with him at the moment would not be fruitful for her.

Hearing a soft shuffling sound, Demetra felt Tala's presence at her immediate left as he obviously scooted over to sit directly beside her.

"Besides... I think you know as well as I do, your highness..." He whispered at her ear. "You wouldn't wanna forget me even if you could..."

Making a face, Demetra felt a hot flush rise up her face and neck, temporarily drowning out the nausea to be replaced with a deep fluster. Once again she decided to keep quiet, this time because she didn't trust herself to open her mouth.

Instead, closing her eyes, Demetra took a good, long, deep breath in an attempt to settle her frayed nerves. She figured at the very least, with a few calming breaths, she might be able to regain some modicum of control again. Unfortunately, this was not the case.

"Oh God... that scent... what is that scent...?"

From the very first breath, a heavy, potent scent invaded her senses and completely overwhelmed her, causing another searing wave of heat to rush through her as she continued to breathe the intoxicating scent in.

"I know that scent... I love that scent... Damn it, what is it?!"

Her head a dizzying cloud of fuzz, Demetra continued to inhale deeply, her brows knitting as she tried to place the source of that delicious smell.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" She heard Tala voice through the fog. "You gonna be sick?"

Ignoring him, Demetra leaned a little to the right, trying to locate what she was looking for. She knew it, she knew she did; the answer was just under the surface, it was right there within her reach, so close she could almost taste it. The prospect was beginning to drive her mad with determination and desire.

"Hey.. seriously, should I be concerned or what?" Tala asked with a hint of obviously forced amusement, clearly he was concerned and confused.

Once again Demetra ignored him, this time leaning to the left. Now the scent was stronger and her brows furrowed again as she realized she was getting close. Behind her eyelids she tried desperately to remember what it was, why she loved it so much, but still the answer was just out of her reach.

It wasn't until she'd leaned over, so far she had to reach out and steady herself on the soft bench beside her, that the scent was finally so overwhelming Demetra felt her head swim again, this time from the dizzying desire it stirred within her. Pressing her hands into the firm softness of the bench, Demetra leaned further into the source, knowing she'd found it at last.

However for some reason, her discovery, and her reaction to it, seemed to startle Tala, and Demetra's eyes shot open when she heard him yelp in surprise.

"What the hell are you doing?!"

Blinking in startled surprise herself, Demetra took a moment to focus on Tala's wide eyes and the mess of emotions on his face. Blinking a few times, once she had actually focused, she eventually realized how close Tala suddenly was. Frowning in confusion, she let her gaze roll down the length of him, only belated realizing that what she'd mistakenly thought was the firm softness of the bench, had actually turned out to be Tala's muscular thighs, which her hands were now splayed atop, pressing firmly into him. In fact, if she were any closer to him, she'd be in his lap.

Now, normally, this sort of situation would have had her scrambling backwards, flushing every shade of scarlet under the sun. But as Demetra sat there, tipped her head to one side and observed the obviously shaken redhead curiously, the only thing she felt was a deep sense of satisfaction and longing.

"That's right...it's you..." She heard herself purr, eyes lidded heavily as she looked into his face. "Didn't I tell you... I'll always know it's you..."

---

Leaning against a wall outside the party room, Tala thrust his head back against it, closed his eyes, as he recalled the events that had just transpired. When he'd followed Demetra into the secluded hall, he'd had no idea what he was going to say to her. And when that moment had somehow morphed into the last thing he'd ever expected; when he'd ended up plucking up the courage to give her something precious, which he'd never even thought he'd want to give another living soul as long as he lived, when he'd walked away from her the first time, he'd thought that had been the end of it; he'd said his piece, done what he'd come to do.

But then she'd perused him, stopped him. And much to his supreme shock, she'd - so it seemed - returned his

sentiment with surprising vigour. When he'd decided to accept the invitation to Demetra's celebration, he hadn't even spared a thought toward the prospect of her forgiving him, never mind the idea that she might actually return the sentiment of his confession.

Reaching up to thread his hand through his hair, Tala inhaled a long, shaky breath to try and dispel some of the thunder in his chest.

"The idiot's just drunk, that's all." He told himself, recalling the familiar, faint tang of alcohol he'd tasted on her lips.

Convincing himself this was the case, Tala pushed off the wall, turned towards the door beside him, yanked it open with vengeance, and moodily stalked back inside, hoping to find a proper distraction among the irritating noise of the party goers.

-;-

Initially, Tala had intended to derail his maddening train of thoughts among the racket of the party. But as he stood there, pretending to listen to Emily and Kenny prattle on about an absolutely mind-numbingly boring topic of speed versus spin ratio, Tala thought for sure he'd give literally anything to jump on that old train again.

As if to answer his prayers, during yet another countless sweep of the sea of faces, Tala's gaze snagged on an intimately familiar figure making its way across the room in a beeline for the refreshments table. Watching Demetra pour herself a cup of the punch he'd long ago realized was unsurprisingly spiked, his eyebrow shot up as he watched her throw it back only to be followed by a second and then, to his stunned disbelief, a third. By the time she was pouring her fourth cup, Tala decided it would be a good time to intervene.

"Fascinating." He said bluntly to the two intellects below him as he pushed himself off the wall, admittedly having zero idea what the last thing they'd said had been. " 'Scuse me."

Without so much as a backward glance, Tala left the two debating teens behind to hazardly approach the punch table, and the girl drinking herself stupid.

-;-

Tala had only followed her this time because he'd been concerned, because with the astonishing amount of poison she'd consumed in such a short time, he'd been worried someone would find her bottom-up in the bushes, or worse drowning in a pool of her own sickness. Never in a lifetime would he have dared imagine the situation he now found himself in, but staring into Demetra's stunning silver dollars now, watching her watch him with her head cocked to the side in the most uncharacteristically adorable way, feeling the weight of her atop him as she pressed her hands intimately into his thighs, Tala felt like the world surely must be laughing at him, because surely this was simply some cruel joke. As such, he waited for Demetra to crack up, to assure him this was just a mean game she was playing to toy with him.

But the laughter never came. Instead, Tala's heart all but stopped in his chest when he heard her whisper something completely unexpected, even more so than her current actions.

"That's right...it's you... Didn't I tell you... I'll always know it's you..."

Tala felt a rush of heat as her words brought him back to a time not so long ago; a time when she'd uttered that very same sentiment to him upon her balcony in a very different situation. That hot rush intensified when her words were punctuated with an unexpected action.

Sucking in a sharp breath, Tala's teeth clenched when Demetra leaned down to burry her face into his neck. The feel of her inhaling deeply made a shiver vibrate down his spine. Swallowing hard, he lifted his hands to place on her arms, meaning to push her away, but the sensation of her lips latching onto the sensitive flesh of his neck made him bite down hard on his lip as a tremor of pleasure washed over him.

"Demetra..." He heard himself almost whimper, intending to command her to stop. But the single spoken word apparently had the opposite affect, because as soon as it seeped past his lips, Tala felt a seductive purr vibrate through her lips against his neck, and the sensation made him clamp down on his own lips again.

"Mmmm... I love the sound of my name on your tongue, Big Bad Wolf..."

The seductive admission was punctuated with a hot little lick to his neck, and Tala felt the combination of them both nearly undo him.

Once again, Tala made another feeble attempt to halt her advances, this time placing his hands on her hips, again meaning to push her away. However, this too had the opposite affect, because the brunette seemed to take it as an invitation - that or she was fully aware of his intent and was determined to refuse it - and Tala felt himself coming unhinged when she slid her hands up his body to his shoulders, before brazenly moving to plant herself confidently in his lap.

Straddling him now, Tala nearly whimpered when he felt Demetra's thighs squeeze his hips, felt her shift in his lap in a way that made an intense jolt of pleasure spark deep down, felt her thick, full lips tantalizingly nibbling and suckling their way up his neck, across his jaw and chin. By the time her face was in front of his, looking at him with a searing expression he was surprised didn't actually melt him, Tala's control was already hanging by a thread. As such, when she nibbled seductively at his lower lip, he knew she'd already won her prize.

"Kiss me."

The heated, needy whisper wasn't a request, it was a demand, and it was one Tala knew damn well he had no chance of refusing.

"Damn it, Demetra..." He heard himself rasp before finally caving.

Hands instantly rising to burry themselves in her hair, Tala shot forward to finally capture her lips in a desperate kiss. Tongue grazing along those lips he'd fantasized about more times then he could count, he was only partially surprised when they instantly parted to allow him entry. Happily taking the invite, Tala slowly slid his tongue past plump, silken lips, traced it along hers, allowed himself to explore her, to savour her taste.

He was used to being in control of the situation, to being the leader, but when Tala began to teasingly retract from Demetra, when he gave her lips a hot little lick, it quickly became evident that this would not be the case this time.

Before he could completely pull away, Demetra closed her lips around his tongue, which in turn made a kaleidoscope of color pop behind Tala's lids as an overwhelming pressure began to surge from deep down. Reflexively, a deep-belied groan of pleasure vibrated though him as Demetra sucked seductively on his tongue, drew him back to her, teased him for a bit, before eventually letting him free, only to invite herself in this time round.

Parting his lips with her own like a seasoned player, another groan rumbled from Tala's throat when Demetra slipped her tongue past his lips, not bothering to wait for an invite. With all the confidence and hunger of a partner who'd known her lover all her life, Demetra kissed him with the sort of scorching passion he'd only ever thought to fantasize about in passing. With all his experience and knowledge to-date, Tala was forced to admit that he was having trouble keeping up with her. To say no one had ever demanded so greedily of him, had never made him feel the way she was was an understatement; like he was the long-lost lover she'd been desperately starving for for so long, the sickness of her desire was so all-consuming she couldn't help but completely devour him. No matter how much experience he had, no matter how many lovely bodies had offered themselves to him, none had ever managed to dominate him, especially so thoroughly and completely as the ravishingly desirable creature atop him then. It was mind-blowing to think that he was only her second partner, and if he didn't know the fact to be true, Tala never would have believed it. In fact, with the way she was absolutely owning the situation, owning him, Tala couldn't deny he was totally and utterly at her mercy.

At his shoulders, Demetra's fingers dug deeply into the tense muscles between his blades, her thighs tightened, squeezing him between them once more as she shifted in his lap again to create another blissful friction between them. Her lips against his forced his mouth wider, licking and sucking and teasing him in a way that came all too torturously natural to her. And when she pushed herself up his body, forced his head back until she was leaning over him, dispelling any question that might have remained about her complete dominance over him, the combination of it all nearly tipped Tala over the edge as a loud moan of pleasure helplessly erupted from him.

Briefly, Tala recalled the little session she'd gifted him back in Russia, the little taste she'd given him of the talent of her hands in the training room. He'd thought that had felt pretty damn amazing, but that moment was a transparently pale comparison to the weep-worthy sensations her skilled hands were coaxing from him now.

Desperate to retain some sort of control of himself, Tala's hands left her hair, began to roam. Evidently this was a bad idea, because the feel of her firm yet soft flesh beneath his fingertips nearly unhinged him. Ending up at her legs, Tala's hands roamed the length of them from top to bottom. He'd just reached her ankles, made to make his way back up, when suddenly he felt a peculiar object there. His brows furrowing curiously, he ran his fingers along the soft discovery, and when his touch grazed over a tiny round, smooth object, he instantly recognized the threads, knowing instinctively he was feeling the bracelet he'd made her.

A powerful surge of emotion welled up inside him at the realization, embarrassingly choking Tala up as he ran his fingers along the threads again. He wasn't sure why the simple discovery rocked him so hard, but whatever the reason it very much did.

Swallowing hard against his now constricted throat, Tala's face screwed up as he felt a humiliating wetness prick the corners of his tightly squeezed shut eyes. Forcing his fingers to leave the source of his newfound emotional turmoil, his hands made their way back up Demetra's legs. Pressing deeply as he slid his fingers up her thighs again made Demetra moan against his mouth, which caused that aching pressure to surge inside him again.

Breaking the bruising kiss she'd been unhinging him with, Demetra nipped and nibbled her way back down Tala's chin, his jaw, his neck. While his hands continued to explore her criminally beautiful legs, Demetra's lips worked at his neck again. The feel of her nipping and teasing the sensitive spot made the colors begin to pop behind his lids once more, and in that moment Tala was sure there was precious little else she could do to coax any further bliss from him. A moment later, she once again proved him wrong.

Without warning, Tala felt an explosive pain erupt from an ultra sensitive pleasure point in his neck, and the sheer force of it made a loud, sobbing cry explode from his throat. Reflexively, he dug his fingers deep into the tender flesh beneath his fingertips, clenched his jaw tightly, felt the mounting pressure deep down pulse in tortured agony with the threat to tip him over the edge.

"Did it hurt?" He heard Demetra whisper hotly against his ear. Clearly she knew the answer, she just wanted to hear him say it.

"Yes..." Tala all but sobbed, biting his lip hard as he gave her the honestly she wanted.

"Good." She purred, giving his ear a nibble. "Then we're even."

Not by a long shot, Tala thought, because as he felt the throbbing pain of the vicious bite she'd give him, knowing it had likely been meant as a petty act of revenge on her part, he knew without a doubt that what he was feeling right then was the polar opposite of what he'd made her feel when the tables had been turned.

Demetra moved back to the area in question, began tonguing and suckling at his new wound. Though the feel of the pulsing pain she was creating, something that was clearly meant to be a punishing sensation, only succeeded in making the intense pressure that had been building inside him reach a tantamount peak.

"This isn't close to even..." Tala heard himself utter helplessly in another whimpered sob, his fingers flexing against her flesh for the sheer purpose of occupying them.

The hands on her legs slid upwards again, pushing her dress up her thighs as they went. It took everything in him to stop below her hips, to squeeze intimately instead of allowing his feverish, desperate exploration to continue.

"Does it hurt?" He heard her whisper again, nipping at the area beneath her lips.

Tala bit down so hard on his lip he thought he'd draw blood.

"It's good..." Was all he could manage, his voice raw and heavy. "Damn it... so good..."

Lifting her face, Demetra gave him a surprised look.

"Really?" She asked, clearly intrigued. "It doesn't hurt?"

"It does..." Tala whimpered, his eyes glazed.

"But you like it?" She questioned curiously. Tala swallowed hard.

"Yea..."

Demetra's brows shot up in surprise, but a moment later, a gleeful expression took hold of her face, reminiscent of a child who'd discovered a new fascination.

"Mmmm... you're a never-ending source of entertainment, Big Bad Wolf..."

When she leaned back down to begin spreading teasing little bites across his skin, Tala was sure the effort to restrain himself would actually kill him. Certain he'd had about all he could take, Tala tipped his head back, closed his eyes, flexed his fingers in squeezing pulses into her fleshy thighs, and painstakingly awaited the inevitable as he finally completely submitted himself to the dominating force driving his passion.

"What a cute little whimper you have... Let me hear that cute little whimper again, Wolfie."

Just like that, the blazing inferno she'd ignited inside him was instantly doused like a bombing of frigid water from a water bomber. Eyes popping open, Tala froze as her words shot ice through his veins. Admittedly, he'd known she'd been a little tipsy when he'd come to find her; it had been the reason he'd done so in the first place, even though he'd only done so out of concern. However, until that moment he hadn't realized just how tipsy she was. But as the ridiculously uncharacteristic comment rang out in his head, he was forced to admit that for her to say something so laughably stupid, she had to be completely wasted.

Suddenly feeling like she'd thrust her hand through his chest and yanked his still beating heart right out of it, Tala's teeth clenched tightly as he placed his hands on Demetra's hips and forcibly pushed her away from him.

"Stop!" He growled angrily.

Fully intending to ice her out, the look he got when Demetra lifted her head to look at him rent his already frayed heart down the middle, succeeding in snuffing out his anger.

"What's wrong..?" She asked in a suddenly self-conscious whisper. "I thought this was what you wanted...?"

His jaw tightening so much it hurt, a wounded expression clouded Tala's face.

"Don't look at me like that..." He pleaded hoarsely.

Damn right he wanted this, he wanted her! In fact, he wanted her so bad he was sick with it. But more than that, he needed to know it was what she really wanted too, not that he was simply a passing fancy, or a happy little experiment she'd come to regret later; he really did want her far too desperately for that.

"I thought you were my birthday present..." Demetra cooed softly, linking her arms around his neck and threading her fingers through the hair at his nape. "Don't I get to play with you..?"

Tala cursed colourfully under his breath when she began to teasingly brush her fingers against his scalp, when the sensation erupted goosebumps over the entirety of his skin. Reaching up to grasp her chin, he captured her lips again in a crushing, bruising kiss, only pulling away when a delicious moan vibrated from her and chased another her shiver down his spine.

"Where's your room?" He growled huskily, a wicked heat burning in his eyes.

Tala watched as Demetra's face lit up, a look of pleased satisfaction shining through her expression as she looked down at him.

"If I tell you, do I get the rest of my present?" She cooed coyly.

"Not the one you're hoping for, Princess..." Tala thought ruefully. However, he'd managed to retain at least enough intelligence not to voice that thought.

"Whatever you want, birthday girl..." He growled huskily instead.

This time he was pleased to feel a shiver of delight tremble down her spine instead, knowing she'd taken the bait when her arms slipped further around his neck.

"Mmm... allow me to lead the way then Wolfie..."

Inwardly cringing at the stupid, embarrassing dub, Tala forced the mask of desire to remain as he got to his feet, carrying her bridal style as he made his way back towards the mansion with his precious cargo cradled against him. Briefly, the moment reminded him of a certain occasion back at The Facility, on a night when he'd carried her back to her room just like this. But that night had gone very differently than this one, and although it had been pretty damn promising for a bit, he couldn't help but feel like this one wouldn't end much better. But then, he'd been wrong before, so he supposed there was little harm in hoping this might just be another of those times.