AN- Little fluff at the end and I don't do fluff well...at all. Still, it should meet with your approval. I hope.
"What did you do?" Vanessa took a step back, an uneasy smile plastered on her face.
"It was an accident, I promise you that." David took a step towards her only to be held back with her hand on his chest.
"You're not invited." She said coolly. "And you still haven't told me what you've done."
David turned his head away for a moment, trying to find the words that wouldn't make her hate him and that wouldn't make him feel guilty.
"I made someone else." He said quickly.
Vanessa cocked her head and laughed loudly. "You made someone else? What does that even mean? You found someone else? I'm just trash? A midnight snack now?"
"Don't say that. It's not true." David put a hand on the doorframe and a foot on the threshold to prevent her from closing the door. "She drank the blood before I could stop her. I don't even want her."
"So kill her." Vanessa said, staring at the vampire with a hard glare. "You're good at that."
"It's not that simple. We have rules. I can't kill one of my own. She drank my blood therefore I am responsible for her."
"So she's like a pet, a stray you're forced to care for."
"It's more than that. Star is—"
"Star." Vanessa exclaimed incredulously. "That tramp from the boardwalk? She's the one taking my place?"
David slammed a hand against the door. "Shut up. No one is taking your place."
"You're a real ass, you know that?" She tried to close the door but David's foot was preventing her from doing so. "Get your foot off."
"Not until we talk about this."
"There's nothing to talk about. Obviously you have yourself a new toy. I'm just the worn model." Vanessa patted herself down absentmindedly looking for a cigarette, frowning when she found none. "Look, I know you don't want anyone to know your secret so go ahead and get it over with."
David took a cigarette from his pocket and gave it to her. "I'm not going to kill you."
"When did you turn coward? Go ahead, I'm not afraid." She lit the cigarette with trembling hands and stared at the glowing end in the darkness.
"What is with women?" David growled as he leaned against the doorframe, tilting forward slightly to narrow the gap. "We tell you one thing and you either think we're saying something different or you go off and do something completely opposite of what we just said."
"What's with you? You take girls and string them along, pretending you love them and that you'll be there but then you dump them on the side of the road, drained dry, when someone better comes along." Leaving the door open, Vanessa turned her back to him and walked past the cluttered hall to the living room. "You're still not invited."
The vampire entered despite the warning and followed her, watching her as she walked over to a tattered box in a corner. He stared at the curve of her back, the angle of her back, the angry lines on her face. David watched as she pulled a handful of brushes from the box and rose to her feet. She might as well have staked him the look on her face was so murderous.
"Leave me alone." Vanessa said so quietly he might have missed it if not for the exceptional hearing.
"No."
"Don't you get it, you ass? I was using you, getting my rocks off. Everyone wanted you so I took the challenge. The only thing was you found someone new before I did. I don't love you, I don't even like you."
"You're just saying that." David held out his hand. "Calm down and listen to what I'm trying to tell you."
"I don't want to listen to you." She screamed and threw the brushes at him. They missed by a foot. "I hate you. Understand? I hate you. You're a pathetic waste that has to feed off others to live. You're a leech." A tear rolled down her cheek and she quickly brushed it away, her eyes blazing with hurt and fury. "You just drain everyone dry."
"Kill me then."
Vanessa sniffed and her breath caught in her throat. "What?"
"You heard me. If you hate me so much then kill me." David left her for a moment and went to take a knife from her kitchen. He returned and held it at arms length, the handle to her. "Take it."
"Don't be stupid."
"Why? If you hate me so much then you'll enjoy this. It'll be painful for me, excruciating. I may even scream."
"You're a pig." She turned her back to him but he went to stand in front of her, the knife still poised in his hand.
"Go ahead, Vanessa. I'm just a leech, remember? It would be better for everyone if you just finish it."
Hesitantly, Vanessa took the knife from his hand and pointed it at his chest. "I really do hate you." She whispered.
David could hear the tremble of her voice, smell the salt of her tears, hear the quickening beat of her heart and he smirked but didn't feel the usual elation and mastery that came with it. He only felt a shred of remorse as he saw the blade glimmer in the low light of living room.
"Why are you doing this?" Vanessa asked. "What are you trying to prove? That you're so strong death doesn't scare you?"
"I'm not afraid to die but that's not what this is about." David stepped closer to her, closer to the blade.
She didn't move even though the tip of the knife dug into David's chest. "Then what? You don't think I'll do it?"
"I know you could do it. If you really hate me you'll do it but you'll just kill yourself."
"How do you figure that?"
"We've got a connection, Ness. When I die a little part of you dies too."
"I think I can live with a little." She pushed the blade deeper into his chest, enough to draw enough blood but not enough to reach his heart.
David clenched his teeth at the pain but didn't move away. "If that's what you want."
The blade clattered to the floor, the sound echoing eerily in the silence. "You're pathetic. You made a mistake and now you want someone else to erase the pain of it."
David watched as she turned away, grabbing a backpack on her way out.
"Where are you going?" He asked.
"Anywhere but here."
"No you're not." David responded automatically.
"Who's going to stop me? Bye, David. You better go before the sun comes up." She yelled from the front steps as he stared skeptically.
David raced after her, threw himself in front of her kneeling at her feet.
"Look at me." He ordered. "Never in my life, mortal or vampire, have I ever kneeled for anyone. I am telling you that I love you and that what happened tonight was a complete accident. Star may be one of us but she's not mine. I don't want her. Listen when I tell you that I'll do anything to keep you with me." He dug his sharp nails into the major artery of his neck. "If you love me then drink my blood, be mine completely."
Vanessa stared at the blood dripping from his neck and then in his eyes. Her face was blank, her lips parted slightly in surprise and her eyebrows slightly arched in something akin to fear.
The wound healed quickly so he did it again. "Do it and if not then just kill me and save us both the pain of separating. You don't know what it's like for us. It hurts, Vanessa, and I'd rather kill myself than be subject to this kind of pain." The wound closed again so he dug the nails into the tender flesh again and then again into his wrists. "What do you want from me? Anything you want I'll get for you, I'll do."
It was overwhelming for the vampire to be subjected to this kind of emotional torment. He had never known what it was to be in such distress so that it hurt to simply breathe. Changing his facial features, David sunk his fangs deep into his wrist again and again, hardly noticing Vanessa anymore.
"David, stop. STOP." Vanessa cried, grabbing his mutilated wrists in her hands, the blood trickling from between her fingers.
"Why?" David growled. He looked up to find tears coursing down her face and her shoulders shaking with the sobs.
"I do love you I just hate what you did." She cried. "Just stop hurting yourself. Please, you're hurting me."
David breathed heavily, his head spinning from the loss of blood. Her blood filled his nostrils. He could taste his own on his tongue but resisted the urge to feed. "I'm sorry."
"Yeah, you are. Look at you." Vanessa gave a shaky laugh as she gestured to the blood on the path.
"Come back with me."
"What about Star?"
"Paul and Marco can look after her. She's still my responsibility though."
"I understand. Family's important to you. Alright, David." She brought her bloodied hand to her mouth and licked a little blood off her fingertips. "I'll come with you."
AN- FINALLY FINISHED! Now I can start posting the sequel to I Can't Love You. Hope you enjoyed and remember that reviews equal love.