With the heavy, navy curtains drawn over the window, the lights off and the little plastic glow-in-the-dark stars above her bed Addie could almost imagine she was back in her room at home. The bedding was all wrong though. Damon had switched the jersey cotton sheets she'd packed for a silky, crimson bedding set, much like the one he had. The linens even smelled like his once she had spritzed some of his cologne on them. Ginger, cloves, and sandalwood filled her nose as she buried her face in the squishy pillow she had been provided with. Addie wasn't certain if feeling like she was in Damon's bed made missing him worse or better.
The right thing to do was to call Damon, thank him for the bedding and the glow-in-the-dark stars, let him know that she had survived her flight across the Atlantic, successfully met up with the coordinators of London College of Music's World of Music summer program, and was settled into her room. That's what they had agreed she'd do before she took off but so much had changed from the moment she arrived at her departure gate. Damon was expecting to pick her up from the airport in two months. How was she going to explain that, instead, she would not be talking to him from July 16th, until she returned in time for school? Klaus wanted Damon to worry about her but she didn't want to do that to him. She needed to figure out a way to tell him that she'd be ok, she just couldn't contact him? If she tipped him off that she'd be with Klaus he would definitely get himself killed.
The sound of the door opening made Addie tense and her eyes burned as the light flipped on. She blinked several times trying to adjust to the brightness. Her roommate hadn't been at the orientation but they had apparently arrive. Once her eyes adjusted Addie moved off the bed to stand. Immediately she sensed a vibe from the beautiful blonde who dragged in two large pink suitcases; the girl wasn't dark but more of a snow cloud grey. Wearily, Addie leaned back against the desk on her side of the room and waited to be noticed.
Once the girl had her luggage in the room and shut the door she turned to scrutinize the room. "My God. This is the size of a closet," she scoffed haughtily in a polished English accent. Her eyes narrowed in on the made bed before focusing on Addie. "I see you already took the bed by the window."
Great. It seemed like she was going to spend the next two months sharing a room with an English version of Caroline. Not only that, but she would be working with her. Room assignments worked with one student that had been enrolled in the Music Production program and another student that was enrolled in the Music Performance or Composition program. The start move was to make friendly but Addie was keeping her guard up; this girl was a vampire.
Addie raised once shoulder carelessly as she crossed her arms and offered, "I'll switch beds if you want. I just picked this one so you wouldn't have to climb all over my stuff when you got here."
"It doesn't matter," the girl decided, lifting a suitcase onto the bed opposite of Addies. "I don't plan on spending much time in here anyhow."
The suitcase seemed to to be a bottomless pit as Addie watched her move pair after pair of shoes to the small wardrobe on her side of the room. She frowned as she saw there were no sneakers, particularly Converse. It could prove a real challenge for her to work well with the vampire. When the girl pulled out the hangers that had been left in the closet Addie decided to speak up again, "I'm Addie. Clearly, I'm the one in the Music Production program. Are you Performance or Composition?"
"Rebekah. I sing. I don't write. You'll be doing the composition," the girl dictated as she spared Addie a glance before returning to hanging a yellow top.
The hard, greyish blue of Rebekah's eyes caused a tightening in Addie's stomach. She had seen those eyes before, on another vampire. It seemed Klaus wanted to keep an extra close eye on her. Addie wondered if she could get the girl to confess about who and what she was. If she did, perhaps there could be a type of peace treaty. If the girl lied, it was going to be a long two months.
"That's cool," she responded lightly. Addie wasn't particularly fond of commands, particularly from vampires but civility would make things a lot easier. Besides, she liked composing and arranging her own music; hopefully Rebekah had decent vocal skills and a wide range she could work with. "Anything else I should know about you?"
Rebekah smiled as she shoved the empty suitcase under the bed and began to unpack the next one. Klaus didn't tell her whether or not to reveal what or who she was. If Addie knew, there was the chance that she wouldn't trust her no matter what. If Rebekah acted just like any other teenage girl, though, she could possibly make a real friend. "Yes," she decided. "We are going to have loads of fun together."
The idea of an English Caroline was almost bearable. But Addie wasn't about to have fun with a deciever. "Sounds like a plan. You should know, though, I'm on vervain. You can't eat me. You can't compel me," Addie smirked. That wasn't entirely true though. Rebekah couldn't compel her because no vampire coould. And, apparently, because Damon was the one to coach her into resisting compulsion, he was the only one that could drink her blood. The sample of Addie's blood he had given Caroline had caused her throat to burn.
Feigning to arrange her toiletries under the side of the sink Addie had left for her, Rebekah considered how she wanted to respond. Acting like she didn't know what Addie was talking about was a possible option; she could be paranoid and think everyone was a vampire. Klaus might have told Addie that Rebekah would be watching her, though, and if she lied, she definitely wasn't going to make friends with the girl. Figuring out what Addie knew was the most important thing. Rebekah straightened up, her eyes narrowed at Addie suspiciously and demanded, "What do you know?"
"I know you're a vampire. Everything else I think is just speculation," Addie admitted.
Rebekah's lips pursed in annoyance, causing the other girl to smirk. "What do you speculate?" she sneered.
"I've seen eyes like yours before. I know the man that possesses similar eyes has six siblings. I speculate that he must have a sister due to mathematical odds. I speculate you are Klaus' sister and are here on his bequest," Addie concluded wisely. She picked up her laptop from her desk and settled back on her bed, very aware of the vampire studying her.
Thinking of how to proceed, Rebekah went to reach for the necklace she always wore before remembering that it was lost. After 1000 years it was lost; she still couldn't believe that. Transparency seemed best as she already concluded the worst. Sitting on her bed, Rebekah scowled, "His bequest isn't exactly accurate. He daggered me in the 1920s only to wake me and give me an ultimatum, get daggered again or come here. I don't fancy the idea of two months at some music program watching my brother's newest fascination but I had no idea when he would undagger me again."
"Gotta love the idea of an Original babysitter," muttered Addie, opening up her Facebook.
"I'm not here to babysit you. Nik wants me to make sure you have a fun time and don't mourn over your sister the whole time or waste your time thinking of your boyfriend," Rebekah clarified. "So, I insist that we have a grand time."
Addie gave her a bored look before continuing to type her message to Jeremy and letting him know she had made it safely. Skeptically, she asked, "Why do you insist that?"
"If you have a good experience I get to see Stefan." Any darkness or negative energy Rebekah was generating seemed to dissipate. Klaus really had sent his sister to make sure she had a good time. If Klaus was holding something over her, like being daggered, and offering her something she wanted, Stefan, she was just as much his victim as Addie was.
A lead weight of guilt settled in her stomach. Stefan was still with Klaus. And she'd left Damon to track down his brother on his own. He never would have abandoned her if it was Elena who had been dragged off with the insane hybrid. Wait. Rebekah had said something important. Addie studied her for confirmation as she asked, "You know Stefan? How do you know Stefan?"
"He, Klaus, and I spent the 20s together in Chicago. We were quite… close."
"That's impossible. Stefan doubted whether or not Klaus was even real," Addie recalled as she remembered the first time Klaus' name came up. Had that really been less than two months ago? It felt like the threat of Klaus had lasted a year.
Rebekah frowned as she moved to finish unpacking. He brother was a manipulative little bastard. As she fished out her pink and purple sheets and began to put them on Rebekah explained, "My brother compelled Stefan to forget about us."
That didn't make sense to Addie. Klaus seemed like the type of person who loved to leave a lasting impression. Sensing something off, Addie asked, "Why would Klaus do that?"
"Klaus gave me the option of going with him or staying with Stefan. For picking love I got daggered and Stefan loss his memory of us," the vampire answered bitterly.
Addie ran her hand through her hair as she sensed something foggy from the other girl. It wasn't dark and malicious but it told her there was more to the story than Rebekah let on. There was a real reason Stefan had lost his memory of them. If Klaus was trying to be vindictive to Stefan, he would have left him memories of pining for someone he couldn't have. Erasing those recollections would be a gift; a bad one, but it would free Stefan from pain. There was no reason for Klaus to make Stefan forget him in Rebekah's situation. Addie debated on whether or not she wanted to call Rebekah out on her lack of the full truth. Only Damon knew she could detect when a vampire was trying to fool or deceive her and he had suggested that they keep it that way. Rebekah might question how Addie knew she wasn't telling the whole truth. Addie could just say she knew how to read people. Though, confronting her might not be the best idea as they had to spend the next two months together. That didn't make her any less curious about why Klaus had messed with Stefan's memory and had never brought it up over the course of their drama with him.
"I can see that," Addie lied as she sent Jeremy a message with her new telephone number. She started a group message to send it to Caroline and Bonnie, too. With international calling rates and her aversion to using the phone, it was highly unlikely anyone would call but there was always the chance of an emergency. "Klaus seems like he needs a lot of attention."
Rebekah laughed, "That is an understatement."
"So, if you've been daggered since the twenties how are you hip to technology?" Addie wondered. "I mean, you're not staring at my laptop like it's some alien device."
"My brother Elijah had the task of catching me up on everything 21st century," she answered, a hint of sadness in his voice.
Addie's lips pursed together in distaste. Sounding carefully detached she observed, "I almost forgot Klaus promised to reunite Elijah with his family."
"Yes, Klaus started with returning me to Elijah. Then, once he was done using Elijah, he reunited him with the rest of the family," Rebekah remarked in disgust. She elaborated at Addie's questioning look. "Over the centuries Klaus has daggered all of my siblings. That's why Elijah wanted to kill Klaus; he thought Klaus had actually killed everyone. He didn't know we were all just daggered. As soon as Elijah caught me up, Klaus daggered him, just like my other brothers."
"He really should have just ripped out Klaus' heart when he had the chance," Addie muttered to herself. "The world would have one less psychotic, serial killing, narcissistic vampire. Well, hybrid."
"Klaus did find it quite amusing that you had the nerve to call him that to his face."
Looking up, Addie remembered that Rebekah was Klaus' sister. At least she didn't seem to hold a grudge against her for trying to kill her brother. "Technically, I told it to my history teacher's face. Klaus just happened to be possessing him at the time. Though, I did know it was Klaus. That probably wasn't one of my wiser decisions."
The Original giggled, pushing her second suitcase under the bed, done unpacking. "He did say you tend to have a smart mouth. I think he doesn't really know what to do with that. Klaus is used to having everyone respect, fear, and revere him."
"I don't reserve the wisecracks for just Klaus. I don't discriminate. However, it is particularly satisfying catching the bad guys, such as Klaus, Damon, and Katherine, off guard with a deprecating comeback," Addie noted. It was possible that she may have been slightly hypocritical when she chastised Damon about stupid and reckless behavior.
Rebekah broke into a huge grin as she sat on the foot of Addie's bed. The girl eyed her warily; she would prefer if they didn't have to have the whole personal space discussion she always had to have with Caroline. "Damon's the one Klaus saved," Rebekah stated.
Addie shrugged contemplating, "In exchange for Stefan's freedom, Klaus' blood cured him. I don't really know if I'd consider that as Klaus saving Damon."
Some days, with Stefan lost, Damon seemed as if he preferred death than having his little brother be a slave to Klaus. She didn't know what to say to him on those days. Those days were the ones where she worried most about him. Tracking down every possible lead, no matter how useless it seemed, running off after Klaus, doing whatever suicidal plan that came to his mind to save Stefan, those were all Damon behaviors. When he was like that, Addie knew he was going to be ok, provided he didn't get himself killed. On the other days, she feared that the grief was going to consume him. Even if he wouldn't say it, Addie knew Damon felt guilty about the situation with his brother. That guilt, which seemed to be growing the longer Stefan was away, ignited a fear in her. Damon told her how guilt made him turn off his humanity before. She didn't think he was that overwhelmed yet but she didn't know how long he would hold out. Would Damon hold on to the hope of saving Stefan long enough to actually do so or would the combination of guilt and lack of progress get to him first?
Rebekah waved her hand dismissively, as if it didn't matter as to how Damon survived. "He's Stefan's brother."
"Yes," Addie drew out slowly, forcing herself to hold back a sarcastic comment.
"Klaus described him as crazy, impulsive, and utterly, disgustingly smitten with you. Is that true?" the vampire inquired, leaning in towards Addie as if they were exchanging secrets.
She couldn't help the twitch of her lips. Addie wondered if Klaus viewed Damon as "disgustingly smitten" for the same reasons she did. Like when he had sat outside her door the night Bonnie "died" to trick Klaus because he was afraid that she would have a nightmare. Or how he changed the preset lock combination so that all the numbers reflected something about her when he decided an actual lock was needed to keep the dagger Elijah in the cellar after the incident with the Martins. Nobody in the right mind took the time to change a preset combination. Or how the password to his phone was the numerical day of the month they were each born. Or, most disturbingly, the fact she made him feel more in touch with his humanity and it's became hard for him to do that when they were not in a good place. He'd cited that as being why he showed so little regard to killing the Martins; they had been fighting since he daggered Elijah when he promised her he wouldn't.
"No," Addie decided. "Damon skips right over crazy and is insane. He's not impulsive; he just has ideas that range from bad to suicidal and acts on them before turning them into actual plans. But he is completely and utterly in love with me in a way that borders on irrational and is most definitely disgusting."
"No love is rational and no love is disgusting," Rebekah insisted.
Addie's lips pressed into a thin line. Before Damon she hadn't even believed in love. To her love was something that once felt, it could not be unfelt, no matter how awful the other party may act or what challenges may be faced. There was no doubt in her mind that Damon loved her. He, himself, had said that he thought he knew love with Katherine and Elena but what he had felt with either of them failed to measure up against how he felt about her. While Damon had done some truly deplorable things and Addie forgave him time and time again, she still feared that he could do something so awful that she'd entirely stop caring for him. Damon was in love; she cared far too much for him.
"Perhaps no love is rational," conceded Addie. "There are parts of Damon's love that are disgusting, though. Rather, there are aspects that are so sweet that they are sickening. When Damon is sweet he gets needy and smothering and…. I never would have gotten involved with Damon if he was a sweet guy; I don't like him like that."
Rebekah studied her curiously. "He's quite different from his brother, then?"
Addie snorted in amusement, "Stefan is a pure saint. Damon is troubled and damaged and has a moral compass that does not point north. Stefan is reserved and collected while Damon is a slave to his emotions."
The Stefan Rebekah had known was no saint nor was he reserved. Interesting. "Do they look alike?"
"Not at all. At least not to me. Damon has this beautiful jet black hair. His eyes are - hold on," Addie sighed as she pulled out her cellphone. There was no way she could do justice to Damon's beauty. She scrolled through the device looking for a good picture of him. While she had an aversion to the camera, Addie allowed him to finally start taking pictures of them when it was established that she wouldn't get to see him for two months. Eventually she settled on a picture he had taken one morning before she had woken up. There was no way she would have allowed him to snap a shot of her curled up against his bare chest otherwise. Slightly anxious about sharing such a private moment, Addie hesitantly held out the phone to the other girl.
"Oh, wow. You two are adorable together," Rebekah insisted as she held the phone. It was no wonder why she hadn't tried to explain those hypnotizing, beautiful blue orbs. "He is gorgeous."
"Yes but don't tell him that. He's already more than aware of that and does not need his ego further inflated," Addie smirked.
Rebekah passed back the device debating her next words. Did she bring up how Klaus had mentioned Damon was in love with her sister and then to move on to give her condolences and apologize for her brother? No, it would just be best to keep the topic on Damon, though she was supposed to be making sure Addie didn't miss him so much. "I can see why my brother doesn't fancy you with Damon."
"Please, enlighten me because I do not understand at all. I wasn't aware he even had a problem with it. I don't see why it or I am any business to him in any manner."
The vampire giggled, "Nik isn't fond of anyone more handsome than himself. As for his interest in you, I can't explain it. All I was told is that you are special. I think Nik was particularly eager to dagger Elijah because he didn't agree with what Nik was doing. Elijah does not approve of what Nik has done nor does he endorse any of Nik's interference in your life."
Bitterly Addie replied, "I'm inclined to agree with Elijah. Personally, I'd much rather it be Klaus daggered."
"Are you not happy to be here?" Rebekah asked perplexed.
"No, I'm not," she admitted quietly. "I applied to earn my spot here. Even if you aren't applying for a scholarship you still have to be admitted based on an evaluation of your skills. I did not earn a scholarship and I will never know if I could have made it into the program on my own merit thanks to your brother. I could be completely unqualified for this and may certainly make a fool of myself in front of everyone.
"Besides that, I don't appreciate being blackmailed into spending my summer with Klaus. He's insane to think this is a peace offering in exchange for forcing me be with him when I return. I am most definitely not happy to be here if that is the price I must pay."
"There has to be more to this dress," Rebekah called out from the changing from.
Addie snorted as she filled in another cell of Sudoku on her phone, "You know, that's what I always say but it always turns out that there never is."
After three days of orientation and introductory classes and a day long scavenger hunt all across the city organized the program that made them familiar with the tube system and central London, Rebekah decided that the clothes Elijah had picked out for her were definitely not compatible with the contemporary fashion trends for teenage girls. She decided an immediate change in wardrobe was necessary. For some reason Addie had agreed when the Original demanded that she accompany her. Rebekah, while bossy and entitled as Addie had initially anticipated, proved to be decent company. Though, Addie suspected she only liked the other girl because it meant that she only had to pretend to listen rather than try and make conversation.
Rebekah appeared in a short, black cocktail dress. Second item down and one hundred to go. Addie had not realized that she had signed on to watch a runway show. Rebekah really was an English Caroline, if a bit more conceited and whiny. Though, she lacked all the perkiness of Caroline, which was what really annoyed Addie about the other girl.
"So women in the 21st century dress like prostitutes, then?" she scoffed.
Bored, Addie glanced from her phone to the dress. By modern standards it wasn't that provocative. She clicked her tongue and shook her head in mock disappointment. "You've been walking around almost three weeks. You're the one who thought the conservative clothes Elijah picked made you stick out. Really, you have to choose between fashion and comfort."
"You're mildly fashionable without looking like a harlot."
Fashionable would be the last thing she would call herself, Addie decided as she looked down at what she wore. Dark skinny jeans were in style, as was her purple cowl neck tank top. Her dark denim jacket was a hit or miss. The purple Converse were a fashion no, at least when paired with her outfit. But she would always wear Converse.
"I have no sense of fashion. I had my own stylist," Addie reflected sourly.
In a desperate attempt to rid the town of vampires she had struck a deal with Katherine. Addie was to grab Damon's attention which, in theory, drew Elena's jealous attention. She was never certain whether making Elena jealous was about causing problems between her sister and Stefan so Katherine could take the vampire for herself or if having Elena's attention on Damon was about making Stefan focus on his own relationship. Katherine said she was using Addie to keep everyone distracted from what she was up to with Mason Lockwood and the moonstone. In exchange, Katherine would make sure Stefan and Damon left town when she finished what she was doing.
Part of Katherine's instructions on attracting Damon involved a complete makeover, including a more feminine wardrobe, a small diamond nose stud, a belly button ring, and dying her hair plum maroon. It was really purple and it was the only part of the makeover that was slowly fading out. Katherine and Addie had come to a compromise on most of the clothes but there were still a few pieces hanging in her closet with the tags. And Addie hadn't tossed the clothes out once she was done working with Katherine because, by that point, she was interested in what appealed to Damon.
When Addie had approached Damon and told him she had made a deal with Katherine that would result in him not being in Mystic Falls he had responded quite well. He said Katherine's plan gave him the excuse he had been looking for to spend more time with Addie. Damon hadn't been the least bit mad; he only asked how they were going to convince Katherine that Addie was really working with her. For a while, Addie wasn't sure if she was playing Damon or playing Katherine. But somehow, along the way in helping her do everything Katherine wanted, in acting like he had fallen for her despite still being in love with Elena, she saw another side of Damon. There was a Damon that truly cared about her, a Damon that wouldn't let her die for failing to meet Katherine's demands. They worked together from a few days after Katherine came to town until Damon locked her in the tomb. Despite all their bickering and fighting through that journey they found each other.
"You know, I got dirty looks for wearing trousers."
Coming back from her memories, Addie cocked her head at Rebekah. What was she cross about now?
"Trousers. You know, pants," the blonde huffed impatiently.
Right, women dressing like prostitutes. "And now woman get dirty looks if they don't wear next to nothing," Addie shrugged. "Men are just a frustrating lot. They want you conservative. They want you to work at Hooters."
"What?"
She shook her head. "Nothing."
Rebekah's face scrunched up in disgust. "And what is this music? It sounds like a cable car accident."
For a minute Addie stopped and listened to the techno music. Being in Production, they had listened to a few songs composed completely on a synthesizer the first day of class. The same material must not have been covered in Rebekah's vocal performance couldn't help but not that the music did sound a bit like wheels squealing on a train track. "It's a bad example of dance music."
"People dance to this?" the vampire gawked, looking appalled.
Addie nodded as her phone started to vibrate. A lump formed in her throat as she looked at the caller ID. "Why don't you try some more things on?" she suggested, standing up. "I gotta take this call."
Addie headed off to a more secluded area, not wanting Rebekah, or anyone, to overhear the impending conversation. Just as her phone was about to go to voicemail she answer, "Hello?" Addie waited for the angry voice but only heard silence. She checked to see if the call was still connected; it was. Anxious, she whispered, "Damon? You there?"
"I'm here," he answered, his voice flat and cold.
Her teeth gnawed at her bottom lip nervously as she waited for him to say something. She had never found the courage to call him that first day and every day after that it just became easier not to. Addie had no clue how to tell him that she couldn't be coming home when they had originally planned. Telling him the truth about how she would be spending the rest of her summer once the program was over wasn't an option. Lying to him wasn't something she felt entirely comfortable with. Plus, Addie couldn't come up with a single, logical lie that would make sense and that Damon would believe.
Eventually he said, "I've been here since Tuesday, when you were supposed to call and check in. Where have you been?"
"How did you get my new number?" Addie wondered, trying to avoid confrontation.
"Well," his voice was full of a bitter humor, "Jeremy mentioned something about you liking one of your classes and I had to ask a question I never should have needed to in the first place: how did he know? Then I found out you've been talking to him on Facebook. I discovered you gave him your phone number to reach you in case of an emergency. And after two days of refusing, he finally told me in exchange for the power cord to his computer. Funny, huh?"
Addie ran her hand through her hair anxiously and shifted her weight uncomfortably. She muttered the only words she could come up with, "I'm sorry."
She heard Damon sigh loudly and imagined him running a hand over his face in frustration. Quietly, he demanded, "Exactly what are you sorry for, Addison? For not calling when you got there safely and settled, like we agreed? For making me panic and worry about you? For not giving me a way to contact you so I know you didn't get killed in the mob of 8.6 million people? For what?"
Pinching the bridge of her nose Addie settled on how she was going to handle not coming home when expect. It was gonna hurt him but it would keep him from getting himself killed trying to save her from Klaus. She had to start planting the seeds early to make it believable. Sincerely she apologize, "I'm sorry, Damon. I should have called you right away and I didn't. I'm sorry." Then the lies. "The first day was just an explosion of so much new information and after all the orientation and stuff, I was just so overwhelmed and tired once I finished unpacking that I just fell asleep. Then lessons started the first thing the next day. I wanted to call you afterwards but you wanted me to go into this willing to experience new things. I realized I couldn't do that if I was calling you every night because I missed you so I forced myself not to call. It just completely slipped my mind that I hadn't checked-in with you and that you might be worrying. I just… Damon, I'm so sorry." He didn't say anything for a long time. "Damon, please…"
"I'm not mad. I know how you can be when you get overwhelmed. And I understand not calling every time you miss me." He was silent again. She heard him messing with something. There was the klink of a glass on wood, most likely a tumbler. Her stomach twisted uncomfortably with guilt. When Damon spoke again she had to strain to hear, "Ads, I thought… I was more scared about how you were than I was when I was about to die. You have no idea…"
"I'm sorry," she repeated, not knowing what else to say.
"Just… can you try to contact someone at least once every other day? I get if you don't want me in your head constantly but you're in mine. I need to know that you're ok. Can you just send Jeremy a message letting him know you're ok? I need to know if I should be worried or not. Ads, I'm not trying to babysit you but I can't go through not knowing if you're alright again." He sounded tired.
The knot in Addie's stomached tightened. How many times had she worried about? It had been so selfish of her to do that to him. "I promise I'll do a better job of keeping in touch," she reassured him. "I didn't mean to scare you."
"I know. So, how is it?" he said brightly but she could hear the falseness.
Fine. Klaus' sister is my roommate so there goes my escape from vampires. Oh! And I won't see you until the end of summer because I'm practically going to be that hybrid freak's hostage.
Addie tried to keep her tone light and guilt free as she told him, "It's great. I went with a group all over London on a scavenger hunt yesterday. Tonight I'm going to go see the longest running play, The Mousetrap. It's a who dunnit so it should be good."
Damon laughed. It was a damn good play but Addie would not like it. Surely she thought she could figure it out using logic and reason just like one of her crime novels but no. He wished he could be there just to see her reaction. "That's great, love. It's an excellent play. You're not gonna go alone, are you?"
After a brief hesitation she admitted, "No, this guy in my class, Alex, suggested it so I'm gonna go with him."
A guy. Already. That was awesome. But it was what he had pushed her to pursue. Damon poured himself another scotch as he replied in a strained voice, "Good. That's good. I'd, uh, be worried if you were wandering around by yourself at night."
"Yeah. And Alex is so hot. Really tall, blonde hair, gorgeous green eyes," Addie gushed, rolling her eyes.
"Mmm."
"You reek of jealousy; I can smell you 3000 miles away. He's gay, Damon."
"I'm not jealous," he protested. "I'm concerned about your welfare."
She nodded and sarcastically emphasized, "Right. Gotcha."
"I'm - go have fun and check in in a couple of days," Damon grumbled.
Addie giggled; she'd never heard Damon be jealous before. Not over her, at least. "Ok. I'll talk to you soon."
"Alright. I love you."
Suddenly remembering she added, "Oh! Thank you for the bedding. The mattress doesn't compare to yours but that doesn't matter when all the sheets feel like yours. And I loved the glow-in-the-dark stars; it makes me feel like I'm back in my room."
Damon grinned, satisfied to know those little things brought comfort to her. "What kind of ceiling?"
She shook her head, surprised that he had remembered why she had thought about putting stars in his room. "Flat, like yours. Thankfully it wasn't popcorn like mine. The stars become so much more of a hassle to stick."
A/N: How is Rebekah going to make sure Addie has a good time? Any suggestions? Please comment. I'd love to hear who is a new reader and who has decided to continue their journey with Addie and Damon. Also, do you guys prefer shorter chapters (about this length) with more frequent updates or longer chapters with an update every 7-10 days?