AN: Woo I had fun writing this one! Go to youtube and type in Black Black Heart (Original) by David Usher and listen, that's the song that was playing in my mind at the end of this chapter. Thanks as always. PLEASE REVIEW! Enjoy! This is the dress Laylas wearing at the club if you wanna know. sexy-electric-blue-plunging-drape-neckline-lace-dr ess
Laylas POV
It's been a couple days since the incident with Damon. I came back a few hours later. I made a stop at an all night diner and cleared my head. Elena and I hadn't really talked about it. I'm glad she didn't push it. And Damon and I…well he's made himself scarce lately. Last night I'd stayed with the girls at Elena's house. We all had so much fun, talking, giggling, and drinking a little. It was nice and care free. I'm genuinely happy I've made friends here. Although they were all a few years younger than I, I felt closer to my new friends here than I ever had anyone, especially Elena and Caroline. Well Damon too, I guess mostly Damon up until I had to realize my feelings for him and ruin it all. I vowed to push it all aside and go back to putting a wall up between him and me.
I'm back at the boarding house. I'd done a little day drinking to try to snuff out my negative racing thoughts. My iPod is on the dock on a bookshelf in the living room. I was in a classical music kind of mood. I set down my glass of bourbon…I may have taken a little from one of Damon's many decanters. I stand when I recognize the song from my last Pointe dance solo. Yes I was a classically trained dancer. My dream was to dance professionally, but that had gone out the window a while ago. I taught dance at a studio up until I moved here. Nocturne by Mendelssohn is the song playing. It was beautiful. I retrace the steps of my old routine and let my body ebb and flow with the music. I twirl around the living room in a daze. It feels good to be dancing again. I feel free. My trance is broken by clapping. I stop mid fouette.
Damon stands by the bookshelf with a soft smile on his handsome face. Anything but a smirk is disconcerting coming from him. He presses pause on my iPod. My hearts pounding in my chest; I hadn't exactly spoken to him in days. I feel nervous and a little frightened. Don't do this to yourself Layla, push the feelings back.
"Thanks for interrupting dick." Something like disappointment flashes across his face because of my distant snarky tone I'm guessing. It was better to pretend like nothing had changed, like he hadn't hurt me.
"I've always thought you seemed more graceful than most people. I had no idea you were actually Black Swan, explains a lot." My eyes roll at his equally snarky retort.
He glances at the glass I set down a few moments ago. He picks it up and swallows the last sip.
"Really? My A.H. Hirsch Reserve?" Like I know what that means. It tastes like any other burning bourbon. Not that I would know the difference. I'm not a connoisseur.
"Oh shut up you snob. It's just sitting there looking all welcoming, you don't exactly hide it." He narrows his eyes but doesn't comment back.
I plop ungracefully on one of the couches, lounging with my legs stretched across the cushions. "Shouldn't you be out snacking on sorority girls?" I didn't mean to let the bitterness slip. Oops, A.H. Hirsch and I don't mix. One of his perfectly arched eyebrows raise and he joins me on the couch, I shift my legs out of his way.
"Real subtle princess. Can you tone down the disdain; I just got home from a pretty draining bender." Nice to know. Wonder what he was bingeing on? Blood or booze? Or a lovely combination of the two?
"I thought it had seemed a little quieter around here, I didn't even realize you were gone. Explains my lack of headaches." Now I understand why Damon always diverts real meaningful conversation with sarcasm and snark, it's far easier than feeling.
He grabs my ankles and stretches my legs back out so they're resting on his lap. Uhg why!? Stop touching me damnit! It's doing nothing good for my garbled fuzzy brain and racing heart. I'm supposed to be pushing away these pesky emotions.
"You and I both know that's a lie, you missed seeing this ridiculously sexy body. Admit it Layla." I hate the way he says my name, it rolls off his tongue like it belongs there and has my stomach doing flips. I hate the way his eyes flash in that obnoxiously sexy way even more.
"Nope. I'd actually appreciate it if you'd get lost again. Stefan and I have been doing just fine on our own." His icy orbs narrow. Something about mentioning his brother being better than him in any way always seems to irk him.
"You keep telling yourself that sweetheart." I glare at his smirk returning. "So what's on the agenda tonight? I found a good bar outside of town, tons of top shelf booze." Ha, yea right.
I stand quickly, stretching my arms above my head. "No can do. Elena, Caroline, and I have plans." He looks unconvinced.
"You can't ditch the wonder vamps and whatever cheesy ice cream eating chick flick watching plans they have to go get drunk with your favorite drinking buddy?"
"Nope!" I pop my p loudly.
"I'm wounded, chunky monkey and The Notebook trumps drunken conversation and bar food?" I smile and walk towards the stairs, looking back before I go to my room.
"No, but a club definitely trumps you any day."
Damon's POV
That damn woman has been holed up in her room for hours leaving me bored with way too many thoughts plaguing my already on edge mind. I had to get away the other day. I have to admit Elena knows me waaaay too well. She knew exactly why I was doing what I was doing. Well fuck her. Doing stupid things is my thing. I wasn't exactly expecting my heart to sink and my stomach to drop when I saw the look of hurt and betrayal on Layla's face though. Not that she has any right to feel betrayed…not like I wanted to make her feel that way…on purpose. Ok, I was an asshole. I'll never admit it though. That was my way of dealing with all these newly emerging feelings for her. I didn't like it. My self preservation had kicked in and pushed me to slight stupidity. The days I spent away drinking my guilt into submission made me realize I needed to take a deep breathe and not act like a fool and hurt her. I do care about her…so I shouldn't hurt her, I don't want to see that look on her face again. I'll just pretend as if nothing happened and go back to being her annoyingly flirty charming friend. I can do that.
My brother is suddenly at my side and a minute later his girlfriend and Barbie come marching in. Both are a little more dolled up than usual, trying too hard to look sexy in short flashy dresses.
"You look great." My brothers cheesy expression as he kisses Elena on the cheek makes me want to gag.
"Layla we're ready!" Blondie's shrill voice echoes through the whole damn house.
Have you ever had a moment where everything seems to move in slow motion and you feel your eyes widen and your jaw almost hit the floor? I've maybe experience this twice in my long life up until now. Laylas descending the stairs looking so fucking good it should be illegal. Her hair is wavy, makeup smoky and dark, its alluring beyond belief. And her dress, Jesus Christ. It's ellectric blue with a plunging drape neckline, black lace is the only thing covering her tantalizing chest. It's short and tight and suddenly my pants are way too tight. She doesn't even glance my way as she joins her friends. The back is just as nice of a view, the black lace also covers the top half of the back of the dress and her amazing ass looks better than usual. Not to mention the black stilettos that make her curves a little more prominent. Well fuck me, she's sexy.
They all leave with waves to Stefan. I just stand there like a brainless moron as the door closes behind them. Stefan pats my back with a smug grin on his face.
"I can't remember the last time I've seen you this flabbergasted." I want to shove something sharp and preferably metal through his stomach.
"Fuck off." He holds his hands up, still looking amused.
"Layla's sure going to get a lot of attention tonight." He's trying to taunt me. I speed to the living room to grab the fire poker but drop it before I can plunge it through one of his organs. Blinding jealousy hits me with enough force to leave me breathless. I suddenly want to drag Layla back in here and demand she change her clothes.
No man on this planet deserved to see her looking like that. Except me. I push that thought back. The image of her grinding against some creep has my fangs descending and my eyes glazing over with blood. Hell no! I will rip every man in that buildings throats out before I let them touch her.
Stefan clears his throat beside me and a growl escapes my throat unbidden. "You ok brother?" He sounds and looks concerned. He should be. I take a deep breath.
"I'm going to the basement." I push past him. I need to rip through a dozen blood bags before I do something stupid to the next human I see.
Laylas POV
I'm drinking long islands and having the time of my life. The three of us are dancing like there's no tomorrow. I love it! I love being lost in the music like this. We're all giddy and laughing. I definitely needed this, the pumping music, flashing lights, body heat. All of it is a dizzying experience. I've never seen either of the girls compel anyone before until tonight. They got themselves in here no problem and hypnotized the bartender into free drinks all night. Elena said it's a one time deal.
Our circle of dancing is interrupted by a man approaching me. He looks nervous and sweet, not a creep. "Would you dance with me?" He's cute in an innocent kind of way. Caroline and Elena nod in encouragement and I agree. Why the hell not, he was harmless.
His name is Ethan and he's a pretty good dancer. My arms are draped around his neck and we move to the fast paced beat well together. Not exactly dirty dancing, just fun. I look over Ethan's shoulder at my friends and they give me a thumbs up. Suddenly both of their expressions go blank and theireyes widen. I feel a tap on my shoulder and turn in confusion.
Damon is standing there with a frightening look on his face. He's smirking but his eyes look murderous. Why is he here?
"Having fun?' His voice drips bad intentions.
"What are you doing here?" His smirk widens and my heart speeds up. Something's not right.
"Not happy to see me?" My dancing partner steps beside me and Damon's cold gaze goes to him.
"Is everything ok?" Ethan must notice I seem on edge. His eyes dart to Damon.
"Everything's just fine…for us. Unfortunately not so much for you." Before I know what happening I hear a sickening snap over the pulsing music and watch as Ethan's limp body hits the floor, his neck contorted. He's dead.
I tear my eyes away from his corpse and look at the murderous man in front of me. An evil grin distorts his beautiful face. I barely notice Elena and Caroline grab his body and speed away.
Tears cloud my vision as I push through the dancing people around me. How did no one notice the fucked up scene that just happened? I finally make it outside and into a nearby alleyway. I let my back hit the brick building behind me to support myself.
Damon is suddenly in front of me. Anger pushes to the forefront of my now sober mind. I clench my hand into a fist and swing at his face. I punch him squarely in the jaw. His head surprisingly swings to the side with the force of my blow. My hand throbs in pain, I shake it and curse. Damon grabs my arm to examine my now throbbing hand but I shove him away.
"Don't you dare touch me! What the fuck is your problem!?" He cocks his head to the side. I'm still crying in anger, I'm shouting at the top of my lungs.
"I didn't like that he was dancing with you." He sounds so nonchalant, like usual. I try to punch him again but he stops me mid swing. His jaw clenches as I yank my hand away from his grasp.
"So you snap his neck!? You killed him Damon! How could-" I'm cut off when the air is knocked out of me as my back hits the wall behind me. He pushed me!
His arms are on either side of me, I'm trapped. His eyes are blazing with too many emotions to name. My hearts racing for an entirely different reason now. I can feel the heat radiating off of him. He's so close to me.
My voice is barely a whisper in my nervousness. "What are you doing?"
He suddenly looks vulnerable. "I don't know. I hated that he was touching you; he didn't deserve to touch you. He wasn't worthy of you Layla. Dancing with you was the worst mistake he ever made." His fingers are dancing over the skin of my neck, tracing down my arms, his eyes following his path. I'm shuddering. What was happening? Why was he looking at me like this?
"I…don't understand." And I don't. Why did that upset him?
Blue eyes snap back to mine and my breath hitches at the emotion there. "You're mine."
Hot moist lips are pushing against my own. I gasp in surprise and his tongues tangling with mine. Every inch of Damon is pressed against me. Hands are roaming places they shouldn't be. I'm not stopping it though. I'm moaning, my hands are weaving through silken black hair, pulling him impossibly closer. My head lolls back as wet rough kisses trail down my neck. Sharp pain blooms where he was just kissing but he's moaning now and I don't care. I think he's feeding from me but it feels so damn good. I just cradle his head against me, comforting, offering him anything he wants. He can have every last drop. I think I could die happy in this moment. How did I become this fucked up?