I honestly didn't think that Damon was gonna follow through on our planned date Saturday, but there he was, waiting out in front of City Hall as my shift ended. He opened the passenger's side door, kissing my cheek, "Good to see you made it out alive, babe. Hop in."
I nearly wretched at the kiss, but I knew I had to keep up appearances as his girlfriend, "Thanks so much, sweetie."
First we went bowling and I was rather impressed with how good he was, but then I had to remind myself that I was dealing with a vampire over 145 years old, so of course he would be good at anything physical. After bowling, we had a nice dinner at the Grill, where Matt, Caroline, Tyler, Vicki and Bonnie got to witness Damon and I's shameless flirting.
But then came the part of the evening I wasn't expecting. Damon drove us out to Steven's Quarry and I got out and asked, "What are we doing out here?" Damon just laid out a blanket and got down looking up at the sky, "Damon, what on earth is this?"
"Lie down next to me and you'll see."
I did as I was told and looked up only to gasp. The stars and constellations were so stunning. I began pointing out the ones I knew as Damon pointed out the ones he knew. I took a picture of the sky with my phone as well as Damon and I. It was honestly so sweet and so real that it made my heart race a little more, but I crushed the feeling just as fast, reminding myself that Damon already had a girl in mind and as soon as he had her, he would be gone. And even if it didn't turn out that he got Katherine, he cared about Elena more because she looked exactly like Katherine.
I frowned and sat up to make sure Damon didn't see the sad and disappointed features cross my face. He touched my shoulder, "Hey, Tabitha, are you feeling okay?"
I quickly rubbed away a stray tear at hearing him call me by my name and came up with an excuse, "Yeah, I'm just having a tough time keeping my eyes open is all. I'm afraid that if I stay laying down then I'll fall asleep."
"Well then, go ahead and fall asleep. I'll watch over you and then wake you up so we can watch the sunrise together."
I laid back down and faced him, looking deep into his pale blue eyes, "You do know you're a helpless romantic right?"
"I'm not too sure about that, but you can think whatever you want."
I looked at him seriously, "If I fall asleep, are you sure I'm gonna be safe?"
He kissed my forehead, "100%, why?"
"The last time I fell asleep outside was when I got kidnapped. My parents and I were on a camping trip and I had a tent to myself. The man came in as soon as we were all asleep and kidnapped me."
Damon turned on his side and then wrapped his arms around me, drawing me to his chest, "I promise you, Tabitha, that if anyone even thinks about taking you from me, I'll drain them dry. If anyone were to hurt you then I'd tear them limb from limb."
I chuckled slightly, "Thanks for the gruesome imagery just as I'm about to fall asleep."
"No problem, sweetie. Now get to sleep."
I nodded, snuggling into his chest, "Goodnight Damon."
"Goodnight, Tabitha."
*Nightmare*
*As soon as I woke up chained to the wall, I knew exactly what was happening. I knew I was dreaming and yet I couldn't wake up. I was trapped, and I couldn't escape.
I heard the far door open and close as the raper shuffled to the door in front of me. I could never escape him.
As soon as the door opened, I struggled, starting to cry. However, all of a sudden someone ripped him apart from behind and as the dead body hit the floor in front of me I gazed up at my savior.
"Damon?"
Damon knelt down and ripped the chains off of my arms and untied my ankles. "I'm sorry that this ever happened to you, Tabitha. Come on, we're getting out of here."
I took his hand and he led me out into the light. I looked around and noticed we were in the hallway of the hospital, "Uh, Damon where are we?"
"I don't know, you tell me. We're still inside your head," Came his bored response.
I took a few steps down the hall and looked into the first window I saw. Tears of joy then flooded my eyes as I placed my hand on the window. I was staring down at the baby just behind the glass, "This is the day I first saw my baby."
Damon stepped next to me, squeezing my hand, "Wow, he's so small."
I nodded, chuckling, "Yeah, he was." I placed my forehand against the glass, sighing, "Thank you for saving me Damon."
I felt him kiss my head and slightly pulled me away from the window and toward the door, "Come on, you need to wake up if you want to watch the sunrise with me."
I nodded, "Okay." I kissed my index and middle finger, placing it on the glass, "I'll see you soon Clark; my baby boy."
I then let Damon pull me away from the glass and down the hall into the sunlight.*
I woke up still cuddled in Damon's chest. I looked up to see him smirking, "Morning."
I snickered, pulling away from him and sitting up to stretch, "Good morning to you too, Damon. Did you get any sleep at all?"
He nodded, sitting up next to me, "Yeah, but I woke up when you started screaming and went inside your head to see what was going on. I figured that I would wake you up since it's almost sunrise."
We sat together and watched as the sun peeked over the horizon. I took a picture of the sunrise and took another picture of the two of us in the low sunlight. Damon then took me home and I finished out my Sunday grading papers and preparing for the next week of classes.
Author's note:
Hey Readers, I have like 15 drafts for chapters already written for this book, so I decided to release a chapter early.
How are you liking it so far?
Good? Bad? Anything I can do better?
I'm not opposed to any CONSTRUCTIVE criticism or suggestions.
Thank you!!