To Love A Beast

three || TLAB

•••Allison•••

"Allison," I felt my shoulder being shaken. "Wake up, dear. Come on, Allison. We have reservations."

I buried myself deeper in the blankets. My first thoughts when I woke should've been something along the lines of 'How did I get here?' But no, I was too busy trying to latch on my dream of ginger haired singers handing me a teddy bear.

"Want me to wake her, Aunt Jo?" The teddy bear in my dream spoke. That voice, I know that voice. I recoiled when the bear spoke again. "Rise and shine, Alybear. Your welcome banquet awaits."

The blankets were suddenly ripped away from my body, making my eyes pop open from shock.

"Hey there, princess," a grinning Tyler stood at the foot of the bed, my blanket in his hands. I glared at him as hard as I could.

Before I could open my mouth to tell him off, Aunt Jo came back into the room. What is it with the woman and disappearing when I need her most?

"Dinner in an hour, Allison," she pulled me up from the bed and pushed me into what I assumed was the ensuite bathroom. "I'll lay your clothes out on the bed. Don't take too long in there. We still need to fix you up."

I was tempted to take my sweet time in the bathroom just to spite Aunt Jo, but I was a bit afraid she'll let Tyler drag me out. A quick shower would suffice. Anyway, it was just dinner.

I came out of the bathroom, and sure enough there was an outfit laid out for me on the bed. A dress. Really? And what's that? Pumps. Great, just great.

I sighed, shaking my head. Don't get me wrong. I didn't have anything against dressing up. I just found it a bit weird to have to doll myself up for dinner with Uncle John and Tyler. They've seen me at my absolute worst so I doubt they'd care about what I wore. We must be going out to somewhere fancy if Aunt Jo thinks I need to look extra presentable.

Making sure the door was locked, I dropped the towel and proceeded to change. It was my first time seeing this outfit. Aunt Jo must've packed it among her own things. She probably knew I brought mostly casual stuff. In my defense, I didn't expect to be going anywhere else that required dressing up.

Right, I scoffed at myself as I pulled out the small make up kit I stuffed in my bag.

The Vaughns are our hosts during our London stay. It's their hotel we're staying in. Dressing up is a prerequisite when out in public with them. In fact, I think the only time I've ever seen Uncle John look anything less than presentable was when he was called to the Emergency Room at three in the morning. That was three years ago. The night I-

"You decent?" Three rapid knocks on the door followed by Tyler's voice snapped me out of my thoughts. I narrowed my eyes at my reflection, deciding that no one would notice my make up was absentmindedly done. It's not as if I even wore that much.

"Aly?" Tyler's voice filtered through the door again. "I swear if you fell asleep again in there, I'll break this door down and-"

Rolling my eyes, I yanked the door open. Tyler stumbled in, nearly toppling over. Hey, it wasn't my fault he was leaning on the door! He should've known I would open it at one point.

Tyler regained his balance, glaring at me the whole time. Then he gave me a once over.

"Do I pass your inspection, Oh Unbalanced One?" I asked him sarcastically.

"You clean up well, Alybear," he smirked. "Dad's called to tell me they're on their way to the resto. Better get going. Shall we?"

He offered me his arm. I raised a brow at the unexpected gesture. The impatient side of Tyler sighed, grabbed my hand and loped it around his. I didn't flinch. Good.

Tyler kept me by his side the entire trip to the hotel lobby. We garnered a mix of curious (the older folk) and scathing (probably Tyler's fangirls) looks. My escort was either oblivious or good at ignoring them. A black town car was waiting for us outside to take us to the resto. Tyler opened the back seat for me and Aunt Jo to slip in before he got in the passenger seat himself. He and Aunt Jo chatted on the way, leaving me alone most of the ride.

We arrived at our destination in about 10 minutes. I stepped out if the car as soon as a valet opened the door. We followed after Tyler into the brightly lit building.

"Reservations for John Vaughn," he flashed his million dollar smile at the clearly flustered maitre d'. "I believe the rest of the party's already here. We're running a bit late."

"Yes, sir. They've arrived half an hour before you. Please follow me," she giggled at Tyler. Her hips were swaying exaggeratedly as she walked before us. I shook my head at the her lack of subtlety.

"Joanna, Allison," Uncle John stood to greet us as soon as we neared their table. "Glad to see you've arrived safely. Hope you haven't had any trouble this early in your trip."

"We're fine, John," Aunt Jo smiled affectionately as he pushed her seat in.

Someone cleared a thought beside me. I turned to see Tyler waiting for me to be seated. I smiled at him as I sat down.

"Are we waiting for someone else?" Aunt Jo gestured to the other empty seat.

Just as both of the Vaughn men opened their mouth to speak, we heard a shrill shriek near our table.

"Aunt Jo! Allison!" Sarah Vaughn came rushing towards us. As much as her heels would allow, that is. "I missed you guys so much!"

Aunt Jo stood to hug Sarah. Sarah, in turn, leaned down to crush me in her embrace. As soon as Sarah was seated, the table was filled with animated chatter between her, Aunt Jo, and Tyler. I was more like Uncle John, preferring to sit and observe. I spoke only when spoken to.

When dessert was being served, Tyler turned his megawatt smile to me. I tensed, slightly afraid of what he had up his sleeve.

"I got your fave, Alybear," he said proudly.

Sure enough, before me was a slice of lemon blueberry cheesecake was set in front of me. To say I was flattered that Tyler remembered would be a serious understatement. I mouthed a quick 'thanks' before practically inhaling dessert.

"I had a wonderful evening, guys," Sarah beamed. "These next few weeks are going to be absolutely perfect!"

"Anything for you, princess," Uncle John smiled at her fondly.

"Thank you, daddy," she returned the gesture before turning to face me. "Before I forget, I'm meeting an old friend for lunch tomorrow. How would you like to come with me, Aly? I have a feeling you'll like my friend."

From the corner of my eye, I saw Tyler's eyes narrow and Aunt Jo smirk. Uncle John, being Uncle John, shook his head.

I wanted to decline, but Sarah looked at me so hopefully that I caved. Eh, weakling.

"Oh, we are going to have such fun!" Her smile was blinding when I nodded.

Why did I suddenly have a bad feeling about this?

._._._._._.

Lexie Ainsworth as Allison Brent

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