"Get up!" Cass screeched as she breezed into Erin's room. Fully intending on waking the girl up and having a good day. She was going to forget about her problems and have a good vacation. No matter what.
She ripped open the curtains to release some sunlight into the room, and Erin groaned, pulling her covers over her head.
"Nope! Not happening! Up!" Cass screamed again, ripping the covers off of her sleeping friend.
"What the hell!" Erin yelled, giving the other girl the best glare that she could while the sunlight was scorching her eyes.
"Oh relax, it's 1 in the afternoon!" Cass rolled her eyes, crossing her arms and staring at Erin.
"Uuuggghh!" Erin groaned, flinging herself back down onto the bed
"Beautifully said. Be downstairs in 10!" Cass smiled and made her way out of the room and downstairs to make some toast. She hadn't been eating as much as she normally did and her stomach was very displeased with her.
"I hate you, by the way" Erin snarled as she came by and stole Cass' toast. Cass didn't care as long as her friend was up and ready to hangout. She simply made more and they were off.
They decided to go into town to do a little shopping, and both definitely spent more than they needed too, but hey a girl always needs more clothes than necessary right?
After shopping for a few hours the girls decided to stop at a small cafe and rest their feet. After ordering their drinks, Erin decided to spark a conversation that Cass knew she couldn't avoid.
"So about last night…?" Erin began, hinting that Cass could go anyway with the conversation she chose. Cass sighed and gathered her thoughts, and Erin let her.
"I'm pretty hurt about everything that happened, but I'm not still as devastated as I was last night" Cass started, and it was true. She had laid in bed mulling everything over in her head and while yes, his words hurt, she couldn't really expect him to feel that strongly about her, they barely knew each other. But from what she had learned, it was clear that Marko got whatever girl he wanted, and that's what he's used to. It didn't seem that he had ever liked a girl, so he didn't know what to do, say, think, or feel when he supposedly found the one meant for him. No, she couldn't fault him for that. She could fault him for kind of leading her on though, she knew she had let him do sexual favors too soon, and that was her fault.
"Explain" Erin raised a brow and rested her chin in her hands.
"Well, I can't expect him to like me. I met him 2 days ago, he doesn't owe me anything. Meaning he can say and do what he wants, same as me." Cass shrugged and accepted her drink as the waitress came back to their table, and then was off again as she took their meal orders.
"Ok, I can see that. But what about your kiss with Paul?" Erin questioned
"What about it?" Cass asked confused
"Marko was pissed when you 2 kissed, like he grew fangs and changed eye colors pissed, that's not really fair of him to be like that towards you and you not be that protective in return." Erin clarified
"Yeah and I get that, but I also think that had to largely due to the fact that Paul is like his brother." Cass shrugged
Erin didn't say anything for awhile, silently thinking about the whole situation.
"So what are you going to do then? You gonna avoid him the rest of the time you're here?" Erin asked
"No, probably not. I'm going to avoid him tonight, mostly because I still need time to really get my thoughts in order, but also because I just really wanna have a lazy night with you and watch movies." Cass finalized the plans and didn't leave any room for discussion, not that Erin was complaining because she didn't feel like walking the boardwalk.
"So Dwayne?" Cass raised her eyebrows suggestively. Erin merely rolled her eyes at the girl and moved her drink so the waitress could place their meals down in front of them. Erin bit into sandwich and chewed thoughtfully, Cass on the other hand scooped up soup and waited for her answer.
"He's cute isn't he?" Erin finally asked
"Definitely" Cass agreed
"But you don't.. Like him right?" Erin asked, beginning to feel both anger and insecurity.
"Absolutely not. I think he's….interesting but nothing more than that." Cass said and Erin nodded, clearly agreeing that, that was the appropriate term to describe Dwayne. That or mysterious. Once the girls finished eating they made their way over to the salon and both got a little color in their hair, nothing drastic but not exactly subtle either. They left the salon feeling happy and pampered, which is exactly why they finally made their way back to the beach house. At this point it was nearly dark and the girls settled onto the couch fully content with snuggling up and watching as many movies as they could. They had chosen a horror film, though Cass was unsure why because neither of the girls were very good with being scared.
They had gotten to a particular scary point in the movie when someone banged loudly on the door. Both girls immediately screamed and the bowl of popcorn that Cass had been gripping with her life had been thrown up into the air, popcorn raining from the sky and onto their heads.
"Shit! You guys ok!?" Paul screamed from outside of the house, clearly thinking something was wrong other than him scaring the shit out of him. Cass stomped her way to the door and flung it open, giving Paul her best glare. He stared at her for a few heartbeats and then started cracking up.
"Oh my God! Did I scare you!?" Paul asked, still laughing
"Of course not! We're watching a movie!" Cass denied
"Then.. then why is there popcorn in your hair! Hahaha!" Paul laughed again and bent over.
Cass glared at him before she started chucking pieces of said popcorn at him, he dodged a few before catching the others and stuffing them into his mouth. They were both laughing before Cass sobered up.
"What are you doing here Paul?" Cass questioned
Paul scratched the back of his neck "I just wanted to check on you guys. Santa Carla isn't exactly safe, and I just wanted make sure you guys were ok. And I wanted to make sure you didn't hate me." He looked to the ground then, obviously scared of her answer.
"I don't hate you Paul. In fact I don't hate any of you." She simply stated
"So you still wanna be my friend?" Paul mumbled, scuffing his shoe on the ground.
"Friends? When did we decide that?" Cass exclaimed, mocking surprise
His head popped up and he gave her a wide eyed stare before he saw the huge smile on her face. He smiled back but shook his head.
"You're mean" he pouted
"Yeah yeah. Wanna come in and join girls night" Cass asked
"That's an insult to my masculinity but you have good popcorn, so yes I do." And then he stepped inside and Erin greeted him with a friendly smile and wave. Cass decided that they definitely needed more popcorn since the other bag was on the floor, and on second thought maybe 2 bags would be needed with Paul being here.
She settled onto the couch in between Erin and Paul with a bowl of popcorn on her lap and they resumed the movie. Both Cass and Paul reached for the popcorn at the same time and their hands brushed, Cass jumped and withdrew her hand, a slight blush coating her cheeks.
"Sorry" she whispered, covering her face with her hair.
"S'fine. Your hair looks good by the way" Paul complimented, shoving a handful of popcorn into his mouth. Cass smiled in thanks and grabbed popcorn for herself. The music picked up and she realized that a jump scare was coming, she tensed her body waiting for it, when right at the jump scare someone knocked on her door. All 3 of them yelling this time, Cass' hands going up in the air and the popcorn flying, Paul was here this time and caught it right as it was about to tumble down onto them.
"What the shit!" Erin yelled, clearly tired of being interrupted and being scared abruptly too many times.
"Oh the popcorn! Thank god for you Paul!" Cass chirped and patted his head, making her way over to the door. She swung it open and her smile dropped immediately.
"Who is it?" Paul called
"Your friends" Cass deadpanned, staring at the 3 men in front of her, she heard a curse and then Paul was speeding his way to her
"Well that's not very nice Cassandra" David drawed, giving her a sarcastic smile.
"I'm not a very nice person" Cass answered honestly
"What's up?" Paul asked, coming into to stand behind Cass.
"We were wondering where you were, we haven't seen you since we left the cave" Dwayne answered for all of them. Marko looked furious that they had found Paul here, but Cass couldn't find it within herself to care.
"Oh. Yeah I stopped by to see if they were ok" Paul shrugged, clearly uncomfortable with being caught.
"And why do you need to do that?" Marko seethed, taking a step forward
"Marko, chill. That was nice of Paul to check on them, we all know how dangerous Santa Carla can be" David swung his arm out and stopped Marko short, though it didn't stop the snarl that he aimed at Paul.
"We're watching movies is all" Paul said, bobbing his head.
That probably wasn't the best thing to say, and judging by the closed eyed look of Dwayne, he agreed.
"What!" Marko growled, looking between Cass and Paul. Cass had enough of the dramatics.
"Chill the fuck out. If you wanna count bumping hands over the popcorn bowl awkwardly something to be jealous of, you have issues." Cass sniped
"I'm not jealous!" Marko defended
Cass snorted, "yeah and I'm the Queen of England!" she rolled her eyes and Marko gave her a death glare.
"So can we join you?" David asked
"Sure!" Cass invited them in and closed the door. She really hoped they didn't have any friends that would stop by and scare her again. She eyed Dwanye and hoped that he would sit next to Erin. He eyed the spot as well and Erin tried to remain unfazed. He chose the recliner next to the couch and Erin deflated, obviously upset. Cass sat in her spot and Paul hurriedly sat next to her. This left the loveseat for Marko and David, Marko looked pissed as he passed Paul and plopped down on the loveseat.
"So what are we watching?" David asked settling in, crossing her ankles over one another.
"Some horror film. Now shush!" Cass put a finger to her lips and resumed the video
David raised his hands and focused on the movie. Did Cass mention that she hated scary movies? Cause she did.
A girl was running and the killer jumped out at the last second, slitting her throat in one fluid swipe, Cass screamed and jumped, ending up halfway in Paul's lap. The startled scream that Paul was about to let out was muffled by a rush of air coming out of his mouth from Cass landing on top of him. Erin had scrambled partially in Cass' lap as well, so they were all a pile of limbs. The other 3 boys watched, the only one that seemed to find it funny was David. Marko and Dwayne looked annoyed. Dwayne stared at Erin for a second before grabbing onto her ankle, Erin screamed and thrashed, causing Cass to jump backwards more, the movement drawing more breath out of Paul from her rising higher onto his lap.
"Why would you do that?" Erin questioned
Dwayne merely stared at her before he dragged her by her leg and lifted her onto his lap. Cass' mouth dropped open and she stared wide eyed at them and Erin didn't move a single muscle. She gave a quick glance to Cass who shrugged her shoulder and turned her face towards the screen, trying not to stare at the two. She had completely forgotten that she was on Paul's lap until he situated her until she wasn't sitting completely on his dick and her elbow was jabbing her in the rib cage. She blushed and mumbled an apology.
"Tis ok. Just please don't jump and crack your head against my jaw" Paul pleaded, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her towards him.
"I shall try" Cass agreed, focusing back on the movie. She could feel Marko's eyes on her, and could sense his eyes traveling to Paul's arms around her waist. She had become enthralled back in the movie when she heard her name being shouted into her head. She did a semi jump and Paul mumbled a 'what the fuck' before Cass' eyes darted around. Her eyes landing on Marko.
"Can you hear me?" Marko asked inside of her mind and Cass' eyes widened, giving a short nod and whispering yes back.
"Good. Get off of his lap." Marko said, and she could hear the anger in his voice
"No" Cass replied
"Cassandra" he growled and she didn't give a damn. She was comfortable, warm, and felt safe.
"You'll feel safer in my arms baby. Come here" Marko said softly and Cass looked at him, his eyes pleading with her.
"Why should I?" Cass questioned, finding herself really wanting to follow his command.
"Because I know you want me just as bad as I want you" he replied simply
"You don't seem like you want me Marko" she seethed
"I know. I'm sorry I suck at this, this is all so new to me. I just answered his question without thinking, and to be honest I'm not ready to explain how I feel to them just yet." He sighed
"How you feel?" Cass questioned
"Yes believe it or not I do feel Cassandra" he sighed again
"That's not what I meant" Cassandra replied
"Look can you please just come over here and I'll talk to you in private later. Please" he begged. She sat there for a long moment, before tapping Paul's hands. He immediately let her go and gave her a questioning look. She shrugged and gave him a smile walking over to Marko who opened his arms to her and lifted her onto his lap, cradling her against him. He gave a small kiss to the crown of her hair and wrapped his arms tightly against her. Nobody said anything and all acted like nothing had happened.
She snuggled her way into him more and he whispered 'thank you' into her hair, she nodded and looked up at him, giving him a small smile. He returned it.
"Wanna go upstairs?" he whispered and she nodded, she got up and lead him upstairs. She caught Erin's small smile at her and decided to ignore it. She lead him to the very back guest room and took a seat on the edge of the bed.
He paced for awhile and it was giving Cass a headache so she decided to start the conversation "so what did you want to talk about?" she asked, crossing her legs. That didn't seem to help because he ran his hand through his hair and a sudden image of her fists locking into it and pulling it came to the forefront of her brain, she pushed it away frantically and hoped he hadn't seen. He stopped walking and stared at her with dark eyes. Of course she wouldn't have that luck. He chuckled but came to sit next to her, grabbing her hand in his and interlocking their fingers, he stared at their hands for a long moment.
"I'm not good with this. With any of this. I'm not used to caring about anyone besides my brothers, and I'm certainly not used to opening up and having a meaningful conversation. Not even with them" he sucked in a breath, and Cass let him work through his own thoughts.
"I like you Cass. I liked you when I first saw you but I didn't want to freak you out. When you said that you had been having dreams about me, I got scared. That's the first sign of a mate and I didn't know what to do or how to act or feel. I fully prepared to ignore you and hope to not see you again when David thought we should talk to you. And you were this funny, sarcastic, full of life person that I was instantly drawn to you. You make me smile in a way I forgot how to. But I'm very good at fucking things up, and that's what I did. When Paul asked about you, it made me so mad. I didn't want to talk to them about you, especially him since you 2 had kissed." he stopped and let out a low growl
"I know Paul would never go after you in that way, but still the sight of his lips on yours, and his hands on you tonight" he shook his head "it just does something to me. I've never been an angry person, just mostly vindictive. But I was so angry when I saw that. I might have been able to kill him. Because you're mine. You're not just some random girl on the boardwalk, you were made for me. We were made for eachother and no Vampire takes that lightly." He looked at her then and cupped her face, gazing into her eyes with such an intensity that Cass had troubles thinking straight.
"I know I said a lot, but I just wanted to get it out before I forgot or lost the nerve" he murmured, rubbing his thumb on her cheek.
"I'm not really mad about things. I figured that out yesterday night. I was hurt, but I can't really blame you, we don't really know each other. You didn't owe me anything and you certainly didn't need to give me an explanation. But you did, and that's enough for me." She smiled at his and leaned further into her hand. He smiled at her again, and she was lost in it.
"We'll get to know each other, I'll learn everything about you if you'll let me. I want that with you Cassandra, whatever you're willing to give, I'll take. I'm greedy and I want everything to do with you." He exhaled and pressed his forehead to hers.
"So my dreams about you was the first sign we were mates?" she asked, needing to know more. He nodded and seemed to mull over his next words.
"Yes it is common for mates to dream about the other. I had a dream about you, but it is very fuzzy, but I remember you eyes." his other hand lifted and played with her hair, "you dyed your hair, it looks good" he gave her forehead a kiss.
"Thank you. So now that I know you, am I still going to have those dreams? Because I don't want to watch you die anymore" she asked in a shaky breath, gripping his shoulders with her hands.
"I'm not really sure. I don't think you should though" he closed his eyes
"You really think we're meant to be together?" she whispered, almost breathless.
"I do" he confirmed
"Then kiss me" she whispered, moving back to look him the eye.
And he did. He kissed her saying how sorry he was, and he kissed her like it was his first time kissing her, and like it would be his last. He kissed her with promises being made. And he kissed her like he really believed they were meant to be together until whenever the end of days came.