"Drinking alone. Why am I not surprised?"
Sitting at the hotel bar, Seth hears a familiar voice taunting him from behind. He doesn't turn around right away, and instead downs the remaining scotch in his glass to prepare himself for the inevitable outburst that's sure to follow. Over the years he and Vanessa have taken part in many a screaming fights in public, and this one will just be another one to add to the list. Resigned to his fate, he spins around to face his ex-wife. "What are you doing here?"
Much to his surprise, she doesn't scream or yell. She stares back at him with an unexpected resolve, her voice firm. "I came to say goodbye. Guess I could have left a pathetic voicemail message like you did but let's face it, I've always had bigger balls than you."
"I called you over and over again but you wouldn't pick up my phone."
"Doesn't matter now anyway."
His stomach clenches with anxiety. He's never seen her like this, so calm, resolute. She's always been a firecracker, volatile and passionate about everything. It was one of the things he first fell in love with until he realised how explosive their combination was. They brought out the worst in each other. The highs were high but the lows of their relationship, it had left scars that would remain with him permanently.
"We're done, Seth. I mean, we've been done for a long time, but I kept telling myself not to give up on you and I can't do that anymore. I'm a good woman, Seth. I'm a great woman."
"I know."
"And I deserve a man who loves me, who'll put me first no matter what."
"You do."
"And I can't share you with anyone, not even with your family."
He remains silent, watching the beautiful woman in front of him. She had been his fantasy come to life, everything he'd ever wanted rolled into a gorgeous, vivacious package - but there's only so long she could put up with someone fucked up like him. Hell, she'd stuck around a lot longer than he'd expected. Sadness spreads through him as it finally sinks in they're really, truly over. "I'm sorry."
She shrugs her shoulders, gives him a sad smile. "It is what it is."
"I do love you. I always have."
"It's not enough. I need more than what you can give me."
His gaze drops to the floor. "I've always been a little fucked up. You know that." She catches him by surprise when she steps closer, cradling his face in her hands. Her eyes peer at him closely, like they're memorising his face one last time.
"Be happy, okay? And don't let Richie fuck up your life anymore than he already has."
Her soft lips graze his temple and he wraps his arms around her, breathing her in one last time. It's a punch in the gut when she backs away and turns around, leaving him behind. He watches her disappear out of the hotel, out of his life. Forever.
Half an hour later Seth's drunk, fucking pissed off as hell, and all he wants is to scream but Richie isn't anywhere to be found; the asshole isn't answering his phone. Seth spins around in his bar stool, drink sloshing around in his glass and spilling all over the place. The motherfucker beside him is obviously annoyed but is too much of a pussy to say anything. So Seth continues to deliberately provoke him when he spots Kate running into the women's bathroom at the far end of the lobby.
He gets up, throws a handful of cash on the bar. "Adios."
"Good riddance," the asshole next to him whispers under his breath.
"What?" Seth taunts. "What was that? Did you finally grow enough balls to speak up?"
The guy ignores him.
"What? I'm having a conversation with myself now?"
"I didn't say anything."
"Really? I could have swore you just said 'get out of here'. Very rudely, I might add."
The bartender watches them both. "Look, we don't want any trouble here."
Seth glares at the old man behind the bar. "Fine. Then tell your customers to shut the fuck up."
He waits for the jackass to argue but he doesn't. Pussy. Feeling more agitated now, Seth storms towards the women's bathroom. He's itching for a fight, his body twitching with impatience. He enters the fancy bathroom, locks it behind him, all that pent-up emotion ready to explode at last when he finds Kate standing by the sink, crying.
In an instant all his anger is gone, replaced with panic and despair.
Her face is hidden beneath a veil of hair, her body trembling. He rushes towards her. "Kate, you alright? What's wrong?"
She looks at him, startled, her eyes red, face streaked with tears. "What are you doing in here?"
"Did someone hurt you?"
She swipes the tears from her face. "Yeah. Richie. And you. Over and over again."
She attempts to walk past him but he blocks her path, refusing to let her go. He peers at her, his hands curving around her waist. She's always been beautiful but now, holy fuck, she's incredible. He's hard, and he tells himself to snap out of it. This is ridiculous, it's not like he's a fucking teenager who can't control his erections anymore. He's a grown man for fucks' sakes.
"What do you want from me, Seth?" she asks, her voice filled with hesitation.
"I just want to talk. That's all. We used to be able to talk about anything, remember?"
He misses those days, when she was still so young and he cared about her without any of the complicated messiness that's between them now. In a weird way, he felt safe with her - which was ridiculous considering they were chased by vampires and hunters the entire time. But none of that mattered, because she was with him.
"I was always the one blabbering," Kate points out. "You never liked to talk about anything important, just the most inane, ridiculous nonsense."
He smiles. "Bullshit." His breath catches in his throat when her fingers suddenly trace his jaw-line, her golden-green eyes staring at him with such intensity it's like she can see all the dirty thoughts running through his brain.
"Seth?" Her voice is soft, throaty, and he wonders what she would sound like when he's fucking her and she's screaming his name.
"Yeah, princess," he murmurs, leaning in closer.
"Tell me all of this is going to end one day, that I'll be a normal girl again. That my life isn't always going to be like this."
His heart breaks for her, he knows exactly how she feels. Vanessa was supposed to be his one shot at a normal life but he'd realised a long time ago how impossible something like that was for him, but Kate... she still has hope, and she should, and she deserves a chance at a regular life, happiness. He rests his forehead against hers. "Your life isn't always gonna be like this. You'll be normal, and happy, and you're gonna forget about all those motherfucking bloodsuckers after a while."
He can sense her relief, her breath humming against his skin. She's so soft, so beautiful, and he never wants to let her go.
"I'll be in college," she continues, her fingers running through his hair.
"You'll be in college, in one of those sororities, having pillow fights with hot chicks every night."
She smiles. "And I'll fall in love, with one guy. And he'll be nice and sweet and everything I've ever dreamed about."
The idea of her with some frat boy makes Seth sick to his stomach but he knows how much she needs to hear this, to believe it. "Sure. Whatever you want, sweetheart." His hands linger along her back, down the length of her body, cupping her ass, grinding her against him. Her eyes widen with surprise, like she finally realised how much he's turned on by her. He expects her to be afraid, to run, but she doesn't. Instead she presses herself tightly against him, and he can feel her hardened nipples beneath the thin fabric of the barely-there dress she's wearing.
"He'll be blond-haired and blue-eyed, and nothing like you or Richie."
Her words hurt and he realises she's deliberately taunting him, provoking him for a reaction. He shouldn't fall for her head games or play into it, but he can't help himself. "Then be prepared for a shit ton of disappointment." He knows exactly how much she detests him using the preacher's special little nickname for her and that's exactly why he does it. "Because your pathetic little boybander is never gonna be enough, Katie-Cakes."
There's contempt in her eyes, and hate, and it makes him happy to see that he can still get to her, that he always could. When she tries to push him away he overpowers her easily, grabbing the back of her head to pull her in for a kiss.
He's not soft or gentle with her; after all, she thinks he's trash anyway so what's the point in trying to prove her wrong? Instead he kisses her with a frantic intensity meant to frighten her, terrify her, but instead her hands wrap around his shoulders, and her body pulses against his, rubbing against him with a deliberate flow that gets him so hard he's ready to explode.
He picks her up, pushes her against the wall, using his knees to balance her weight. Teeth against tongue, kissing and biting, they tear into each other. Her fingers deliberately brush against the crotch of his jeans and he exhales a painful groan. His cock aches for her, his entire body dying to find out what it would be like to fuck her, make love to her, to have her mouth wrap around his cock and suck him off. Oh fuck.
In a heated rush of urgency while she kisses him possessively, he pulls down the neckline of her dress. She's not wearing a bra, her breasts exposed and he pauses momentarily, just staring at them. Her rosy nipples are hard, flushed pink against her pale, porcelain skin. She's beautiful, so fucking beautiful. With a hesitant touch he runs his fingertips along her puckered nipples, circling them, teasing them.
Her eyes are closed, her mouth swollen, open, her body arched against him. He wonders if he can make her come from touching her tits alone. Not many women can orgasm like that, but Kate's never been like other women. His tongue laps up her right nipple while his fingers play with the left, and she's crying out his name, begging him for more.
He bites the spot between her breasts and moves on to her left breast, sucking her skin so hard he leaves a mark, and her nails dig into his skull, holding him firmly in place so he can continue. She's so soft, so perfect, and he just wants to lose himself in her entirely.
Suddenly the sound of keys dangling drifts in from the other side but it's too late. Seth's too caught up in the pleasure to react when hotel security walks in, grinning ear to ear at the sight of them fooling around. "This is the ladies bathroom," says the rent-a-cop, a pervy smirk on his face, watching Kate like she's something he can't wait to bite into.
Kate's eyes fly open, reeling with confusion, embarrassment, guilt. Seth tries to help her with her dress but she shoves him away, pulling up the fabric as she runs past him and security. The old bastard leers at her from behind before turning around to face Seth. "We rent rooms for that kind of shit, you know. Can't just take over the bathroom because you got an itch to scratch, even if she is a hot piece of ass."
Seth knocks him out with a quick forceful punch across the jaw, feeling a small bout of satisfaction - until he remembers the pained expression on Kate's face. And then he just feels horribly sick.
A/N - As always, thank you for reading. If you have the time, I'd love to read your thoughts!
