It turned out that living in the Salvatore house wasn't that bad, but wasn't the best either. Stefan and Elena had become close so Charlie still saw her sister often, but she could also hear them making out which in turn triggered her gag reflex.
Damon and Stefan it seemed both had things for Elena, which made Charlie feel like trash. Of course she's not the favorite sibling, not even the favorite twin. But she could kill people and she had superpowers so it wasn't all bad.
"Morning Charlotte." Zach sipped his coffee as Charlie pulled a bottle of blood from the fridge. She was learning how different the two brothers really were. Stefan would give her lectures on the benefits of feeding on animal blood and then Damon would come behind him and swirl cups of human blood in Stefan's face. Knowing that Damon was well aware of Stefan's ripper binges, this made Charlie crazy.
"Morning Zach. Did Stefan already leave for school?" school had been in session for a few weeks at this point and Stefan usually went with Charlie to the high school.
"Yea, he left earlier. Damon wanted to see you though." This was unusual. Damon and Charlie usually steered clear from one another, especially after he tried to kiss her sister.
"Damon?" Charlie called, walking into the older brother's room. He was stepping out of the shower with a towel around his waist, making Charlie blush at the sight of unclothed torso.
"Like what you see?" he smirked. Charlie looked away before clearing her throat and speaking.
"Zach said you wanted to see me."
"Yes. I've decided that I want you to repay me for letting you stay here." Charlie looked at Damon, confused.
"I mean I have mone-" Damon cut her off.
"Today, you are going to skip school and come on a little…road trip with me."
"Where are we going?" she watched Damon button up his shirt with quick fingers.
"It's a surprise. Dress casual, meet me downstairs in 15." Charlie turned towards her room, which was just next door to Damon's. 15 minutes meant she didn't have time to shower, but she could brush out her hair and change her clothes.
The one difference between Charlotte and Elena was their hair. While Elena's was naturally straight and the girl used a flat iron to make it even straighter, Charlotte's fell in wavy ringlets down to her waist. It was the one difference that was big enough for people to be able to tell the difference between the twins. Sighing, Charlie pulled on a pair of dark wash skinny jeans, an olive green top, her favorite leather jacket, and her motorcycle boots. After a moment she took off her boots and changed into a pair of sneakers that she had recently bought but hadn't worn.
"I'm ready!" I yelled as I ran down the stairs. Damon was waiting for me, practically with one foot out the door.
"About time." He snuffed.
"Oh come on it hasn't even been 10 minutes." Charlie threw back.
"Whatever. Get in the car." Charlie grumbled while climbing into the front seat of Damon's car, wishing it were her bike instead.
"So where are we going?" Charlie thought maybe now that they were in the car that Damon would tell her but she had no such luck.
"Nope, not telling. Ask again."
"What are you, a Magic 8 ball?" she quipped. "Fine, then will you tell me how you got Jenna off my back about moving out?"
"We told her you're a vampire and that it wasn't safe for you to live there." Damon said as if it were nothing.
"You did not!" Charlie yelled.
"I did. And then I told her to forget it all and just remember that it wasn't safe for you to live with them and she let it go."
"So you compelled her after telling her the truth. How did she take the true parts of it?"
"Very understanding." Damon gave her a look that made her heart quicken.
"Fine, whatever. I'm going back to sleep."
"I like your shoes. Very un-Charlotte of you."
"Oh so you only like me when I'm not being myself? Why didn't you just kidnap Elena for this trip and save yourself the pity of only getting her look-alike."
"Oh stop. Contrary to what you believe, I actually have learned to like you better. I doubt Elena makes those kinds of noises while touching herself at night." Charlie's face turned bright red. She had hoped he hadn't heard that, but of course, vampire hearing assured he did. Charlie was actually curious if she would be able to hear Damon if he brought home a girl but so far he hadn't. Not for sex anyway.
"Shut up."
"I'm just saying, I think Elena is perfect and that makes her perfect for our perfect little martyr, perfect Stefan, don't you think? You and I are a little more rough around the edges. We like to have fun, which is why I brought you on this trip."
"Which is to…?" Charlie tried to find out the location of where Damon was bringing her again to no avail.
"Just get some sleep. We'll be there in a couple hours." Sighing, Charlie shifted in her seat to get comfortable and nodded off to sleep, wondering if Damon actually did like her better than Elena. That would surely be a first.
"Charlotte, wake up." Damon was shaking Charlie's shoulder to rouse the girl from sleep. He hadn't noticed before that she had a light smattering of freckles on her face but it made him appreciate her beauty for a moment.
"Where are we?" Charlotte grumbled. She was still sleepy but the clock read that it was almost 2 in the afternoon.
"New York City. It's time to get lost in the lights, my friend." Charlotte's heart raced. New York City? The city with so many people it took Damon almost a decade before he was caught feeding sloppily on people. Charlotte was excited, because with Damon around she was able to actually feed on people, which she enjoyed immensely.
"So where to?" Charlie asked.
"Hotel first, we're not going out until it gets dark. Then we can really have some fun."
The hotel room was large and full of natural light. It was on the top floor of the hotel and they had gotten some sort of suite. There was a couch and tv in one room and a king sized bed with crisp, white sheets in another. The bathroom was large as well, with a big shower that had one nozzle on each side so two people could shower at the same time. Beside it sat a deep tub with a jar of organic bubble bath and then the toilet was behind another door.
"This is amazing, D." Charlie said loudly.
"I'm glad you like it. I'm going to order room service, do you want anything?"
"Only if they have cake. Or cookies. Or a cinnamon roll. I want something sweet." Charlie told him.
"I'll give you something sweet." Damon said under his breath. Shocked, Charlie looked away from his face, which was giving her heart palpitations by the way, and started running the bath water.
"I'm gonna relax in the tub." Charlie told him. When the water had gotten hot enough, Charlie plugged the stopper into the drain and poured in the organic bubble bath, content when the bubbles started forming. What Charlie thought happened next and what actually happened next are two different stories.
What Charlie thought happened was that Damon left the bathroom with a nod and closed the door. What actually happened was that Charlie saw Damon leave the bathroom, but when she was undressed completely with her back to him, Damon opened the door again quietly to ask Charlie a question, but stood completely silent as he watched the muscles in her back move as she climbed over the lip of the tub and into the water.
"DAMON!" Charlie screeched, covering her chest up with the bubbles.
"I just was going to tell you that they have cinnamon rolls." He told her defensively, his hands in the air.
"Well then get me one." Charlie replied, as if it were the obvious solution. Damon turned to leave and this time didn't come back in. Charlie's time in the bath was full of concern for Damon's thoughts about her body even though he had been admiring her.
"Foods here!" Damon yelled. With prune-y fingers, Charlie pulled herself up out of the bathtub and dried off. Pushing her arms through the robe felt like pure bliss, and then she was ready for her sweet snack.
"Thanks." Charlie said awkwardly, watching as Damon unwrapped his cheeseburger and took a massive bite.
"Yup. So tonight I wanted to take you to a club I used to feed at." Damon looked at Charlie.
"That's fine. Uh, Da-"
"Charl-" Damon and Charlie both opened their mouths to speak at the same time.
"You go first." Charlie pushed.
"I just wanted to say that you're pretty cool, and I like having you stay with us."
"I was just going to say you have ketchup on your face." Charlie snickered. With a sudden surge of confidence, Charlie moved forwards towards him.
"Here, I got it." She leaned in then and licked the tiny spot of ketchup off of Damon's mouth, and that is what started their kissing frenzy.