Author Note: I know this is a short chapter, but I thought it was a good place to finish so... I hope you all like it! please review and ask me any questions if you have them (except what happens next coz I am NOT telling! :P) I love EVERYONE who is reading this (especially the people reviewing) xoxox

Chapter 3

After I had reached a safe enough distance away from Stefan's charming bride, I stopped and scanned the room for Damon's mop of black hair. Damn! Why does everybody here have to have dark hair? Realising I wasn't going to get very far based on the back of peoples' heads, I plodded off in my clunky heels.

As I passed different people, I judged them from a distance as an alternative of having to converse with them to look at their faces. Too short, too tall, too fat, too thin, too- oh sweet baby Jesus! Why's that man wearing a dr- it's a woman. It's a woman. Stop staring. Keep walking. Don't look. Head down. Keep going. Keep-

"What's a pretty girl like you doing with her head down?" My head snapped up and I looked into the midnight black eyes of Damon Salvatore.

"Damon!" I cried, and hugged him (yes, I'm a hugger). Instead of spluttering for air and prizing me off his chest they way Stefan had done, the elder Salvatore brother put his arms around me in an equally strong embrace and squeezed me till there was no oxygen left in my lungs. Gasping, I pulled away and tried to breathe again. "I'm stronger than my weedy brother aren't I?" Damon smirked, a wicked look in his coal eyes. "Yeah," I coughed, "you saw that?"

"It was very entertaining." He raised his eyebrows in a little wiggle that made me forget to breathe for a moment.

"Remind me again why Stefan's the one getting married and not you."

"You wonder why I'm not married?" He seemed slightly taken aback.

"Well yeah. I mean, every girl in this room would dance with you, no hesitation."

"Including you?" His eyes seemed to smoulder. Breathe!

"Umm... yeah. And anyway, when you wiggle your eyebrows and do that eye thing, how can you expect girls not to fall at your feet?"

"Wiggle my eyebrows?" He wiggled his eyebrows at me, smirking all the while. "Eye thing?"

"You know... that... thing... the thing you just did a minute ago." I could feel my cheeks heat up and I dropped my head in the hopes he wouldn't see.

"Why don't you show me?" He took a step closer, and my breathing faltered again. I honestly don't know what was wrong with me. So much for intimidating boys, then. "Erm... I can't do it" I peeked up at him through my lashes and I swear I saw him stop breathing for a second. I blinked, and when I lifted my head up, he was as relaxed as always. Maybe I imagined it...

"Why don't you come and dance with me whilst you practice the 'eye thing'?" Damon said as he offered me his arm. Was he flirting with me? He couldn't be. But I had no objections to dancing with him so I hooked my arm through his and let him lead me to the centre of the ballroom. Smiling his crooked smile, he took my hand and began to waltz me to the crooning violins. He spun me and whirled me in every direction, and I was so grateful I had picked up some dancing skills at finishing school.

As the pace of the music increased, so did his dancing, and I found myself almost out of breath trying to keep up with him. Either he was a pro at making his dancing look effortless, or he had unlimited energy, but whichever, I knew I would collapse in a minute. Thankfully, the violinist took pity on me and the tempo slowed right back down to a gentle waltz.

I spent several minutes lost in the moment, but soon enough, I realised that almost every pair of eyes in the entire room were upon us. "Damon," I hissed, "can we move somewhere a little less conspicuous – everybody is staring at us!"

"And you think we'd have more privacy in a corner?" he murmured, a hint of sarcasm coating his smooth voice.

"Yes. I do."

"Well let me tell you Alicia, everybody would gaze at you wherever you were." My heart stopped.

"What?"

"Look at you."

"Huh?" I looked at myself, wondering if I'd spilt something down my dress.

"You look absolutely stunning." The sarcasm was replaced with a silkier, more seductive tone.

"I... um... thanks." If I thought I was blushing before, it was nothing to how my cheeks were flaming now.

He drew me in a little closer and I could feel his breath on my face. "If you want a little more privacy, I'm sure I could arrange something." He was definitely flirting with me now.

"I... okay." I replied, as it dawned on me that I actually wanted to spend as much time with him as possible.

The smile still etched on his face, Damon offered me his arm once more and led me towards the ornate doors.