Blood Ties (NaNoWriMo 2015)

Fifty-Six

Much to my surprise, Damon was already dressed. I hadn't even heard him come in, but I supposed that when Ife left me alone in the bathroom earlier she might have given Damon his clothes and told him to find another place to get dressed.

"Hi," I said, beaming as his cobalt blue eyes roamed over me. Not in a creepy kind of way, but more like he was just trying to take it all in. I knew I still was.

"Hi," he replied, seeming a little dazed.

"Pick your jaw off the floor will you Damon?" Ife asked as she laughed and slipped past me, apparently she wanted to give us some alone time. I caught her winking at me as she ducked under Damon's arm.

Ife's jab seemed to help Damon come back to his senses. "Ember you look..." his voice trailed off and I felt heat run through my body again as he looked at me. "Wow," he whistled, that dazed look coming over him again.

"Thank you," I said, blushing right to the roots of my hair. It was an amazing feeling when I really loved how I looked on a certain or at a certain event, and that feeling was intensified times ten when you found out others loved your look too. "You look pretty 'wow' yourself."I'd always thought Damon cleaned up well in a suit and tonight was not an exception. The grey fabric was cut to flatter his lean frame, his red tie hung undo around his neck and that led me to wonder if he wanted my help to do the double Windsor properly. His black hair was combed and looked even softer than usual, his smirk, his cute and sometimes irritating smirk was as charming as it ever was.

He said nothing, Damon only continued to stare at me and I waved my hand in front of his face. "Hello? Anyone home?"

"Yeah sorry," he muttered, smiling at me, but I saw the embarrassment in it. "I just, um," Damon looked away, the embarrassed grin still plastered onto his face. "Here, I brought this for you."

He held out a square velvet covered box. Curious, I pressed the lid with the pad of my thumb and gasped. Inside was a large emerald pendant, the brilliant green gem was strung on a chain comprised of smaller diamonds and sliver. "Damon, this is beautiful."

"Glad you like it," he said, taking the ornate necklace from it's cushion and undoing the clasp. "I asked Ife to bring it. I wanted you to have something pretty to wear tonight."

I blushed, "Thank you, that was sweet of you."

Damon laughed, tickling my hair and I felt the weight of the emerald settle just below my collar bone. The metal and gem chain was cool against my neck, but I wasn't aware of it nearly as much as the tingling patches of skin where his fingers had brushed against my neck. "I try to be," he said. "You really do look beautiful tonight Ember," he told me. "Are you ready to go back into the shark tank?"

I laughed, feeling nervous butterflies mix with a warm happiness in my stomach. I knew I should be worried, the last time most of these leaders had seen me, I'd been near death. I hadn't had much time to make a first impression with most of them. I hoped tonight would be better, but I was fearful. Marilyn had said Damon and I were the strangest thing she'd ever seen and she was one of the kinder opinions about it. How would someone who was on the far side react? However, those thoughts didn't drag me down, at least not entirely. Damon's hand on my lower back, supporting me as well as his casual air and smile kept me calm. He was by my side, whatever happened I wasn't going to be alone in this.

I knew he had faith in me, knew he loved me and that was enough to help me keep some faith in myself rather than let my fears and natural tendency towards pessimism drag me down all the way.

"I think so," I said, smiling shyly at him.

"Glad one of us feels that way," Damon said, fiddling with the strands of his tie. "I feel like my heart is going to explode."

"Hey," I said, grabbing his tie and knotting it. "It's going to be fine, what's the worst that could happen?" Several possible incidents came to mind and I blanched. "Wait, do not answer that."

Damon laughed and adjusted my knot carefully, loosing it a fair amount. Guess my sudden fear must have made me tighten a little too much. "On the bright side," he said. "I do not think people are going to try and kill you tonight. Too public."

"Thanks for the reassurance," I said not willingly to admit that murder attempts had crossed my mind.

"That's what I'm here for," he said, bending down at kissing my cheek. The butterflies in my stomach reached an insane tempo and I knew I probably should have told him to avoid those kind of actions tonight. I couldn't afford a distraction no matter how good it felt."Shall we get going? I don't want to be late." Damon grinned at me again, but I saw the fear that was in it, he was as nervous as I was, probably more. He was fully integrated in this world of vampires and covens, this was where all of his friends and family were. I did not have nearly as much riding on this long-term as he did.

I slid my hand down into his and squeezed it once, just to remind him that he wasn't alone in this. He was going to have one ally in that shark tank and it was me. I fully intended to do everything I could to help him. "Damon," I said. "It's going to be alright, and if we do end up late for some reason, I will take the fall for it. If anyone asks, you'll just be the gentlemen who didn't want to abandon is lady for the night. As if that would surprise anyone," I smiled, Damon was certainly a gentlemen, a trait I found endearing.

I remembered after his father's funeral and the panic he'd felt. His fear of failure because he wasn't like his father or brother. I knew that fear was playing around in his head again. He wasn't the natural leader his father or brother had been, he wasn't as serious, he wasn't as willing to take a persons life and accept is as a causality and from my experience, he was also a great deal more progressive when it came to humans.

I knew he feared how those things would play out in his favor so I continued. "Just be yourself," some solid advice Ife had given me and I felt now was a great time to pass it on. "That's going to draw more people to you and garner you more respect than pretending to be something you're not. And I know it doesn't mean much," I said, feeling heat rush into my face. "But I think you're doing great and that you're father would be so proud of you. Even if he might not agree with everything, I think I'm right in saying Johnathan Lockwood had respect for any man who stood for what he believed in."

That got a smile out of him, that little smirk I was starting to love so much. "Thank you Ember," he said, bending down as kissing me. It was brief, but the emotions I felt stirring inside me weren't. Half a second later he pulled away, but my lips were still burning from the memory of his kiss. "For believing in me." He finished, another shy smirk gracing his face. "That means more to me than you think."

"Thanks for deserving it," I told him, thinking of Doc left a bitter taste in my mouth. I'd trusted and believed in him and now it was being thrown back into my face. "Let's go or we really will be late."

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