Blood and Bourbon

8

I hung up my phone, wishing I could just throw it at a wall. Imaging the trail if bodies I would have to leave between here and Mystic Falls if my brother and his pack of friends didn't figure out what it means to be ignored, and quickly.
Hanging my head, I took a sip of the hot coffee the overly perky waitress left for me.
I had cleared my thoughts off everything but the warmth of my drink when Katherine slid into the seat across from mine.
That and my friend Bella. Now that girl was incredibly human. With human problems and concerns, but I couldn't help but find myself being drawn to her. She had big brown eyes like Katherine, but hers were soft and kind, even when she was angry at the world and her forehead crinkles up, her eyes didn't hold half the hate that Katherine's she when she's in a good mood.
Of course, Katherine wasn't here to catch up with an old friend.
"Damon, I need you to come to Mystic Falls."
"No." I smirked, drnking a sip of my coffee.
"Ugh, I knew you were going to be difficult, look-"
"No, Katherine. I've told practically every breathing person in Mystic Falls, I'm not coming back. If they thought sending you here would honestly change anything, they've lost their minds."
She huffed, and centered her cold eyes on mine. "You've got to get over her Damon. This is ridiculous."
"Are you seriously pretending to care?"
"Ok, you're right, I don't care if you waste the rest of eternity here, but you need to come back for a few weeks. Because Klaus is closing in on us, and your dim-witted brother won't do what is necessary."
"I'm sure you can convince him." I said, standing up to leave the diner. I'm gonna need something stronger than coffee.
"Damon!" She rushed over to me. "If you don't come back, I will find something, someone who means something to you, and I will kill them."

It's been two days since I've spoken to Damon. I was staying away from our bar. I received a few phone calls and texts, but I couldn't bring myself to answer them. I just couldn't get the thought of him and that girl to stop circling around in my head. It was practically all I could think about. She was gorgeous, and thin, and tall. Of course, I didn't stick around to hear their conversation, but there's no way that a man and a woman that beautiful are just friends. One of them is bound to be attracted to the other.
"Bella, what's going through you head? You've got that look on your face" my mom said from beside me.
"What? Um... Nothing." I lied, shaking myself out of it and turned my attention back to the ground beef I was frying. My mom stood beside me, chopping up veggies.
"You sure it's not about a boy?" She asked casually.
"What?" I turned to her.
"Oh come on Bella! I may not be the best person with details but you're my daughter. I've noticed you haven't been coming in until late and that smile you've been walking aroumd with. Only a new boy in your life causes that kind of reaction." I was shocked. This whole time I was convinced there was no way she knew anything.
"Why didn't you say anything?"
"After what happened, I figured whatever, whoever, it was, was bound to better for you than sulking around over Edward." My mom smiled. "I do want to meet this boy, though."
Crap.

I slid into a booth that night at the bar, and took a sip of my drink. My mother's words still turning in my head. She was right. I have been happier since coming here and meeting Damon. I honestly can't remember the last time I thought of Edward or his family, except to tell Damon about them. Damon is a great guy, so sweet. If it weren't for the girl from the diner, I could see myself falling for him.
That said, the idea of my moms face when she sees his attitude and black leather for the first time would be hilarious.
It was there, in the dim lit booth, in the corner of the comfortably sketchy bar, that I saw Damon for the first time in two days.
He was sitting at the bar, in our normal spot, looking into a glass of "that cheap bourbon" he's always complaining about, and always drinking. He was looking awfully dejected for someone who had such a beautiful girl waiting somewhere for him. I felt my heart fall again. How could I be sitting here contemplating my feelings for a man who already has a girl? I must be a horrible person, thinking about what my mom will think of him when they meet, knowing there's a woman who would no doubt be heartbroken if that ever happened. I'd be causing her the same pain that Edward caused me, and I can't let that happen.
I was pulled out of my thoughts when I felt his warm body slide into the booth next to me.