CHAPTER SEVEN

DRUNK DAMON...

At the party, surrounded by the foul smell of alcohol, drunk teenagers grinding their sweat covered bodies against each other and loud music blurring through the walls. Lilliana sat alone at the bar with a glass of mojito in front of her. She had initially asked for a bottle of water but the bartender refused with the reason "you're at a party and I only serve cocktails" She didn't know much about cocktails so she had said the first drink that came to her mind.

"Tell me something..." the bartender started, placing another glass of a cold mojito infront of the girl. Lilliana looked up at him with a raised eyebrow, a sign for him to continue.

" ...no offence, you're pretty but you don't exactly look like the type of girl who's always out at night.." that was true, she preferred her nights quiet and peaceful. Instead of a beer, she'd rather have a book in her hand. " ...so why did you come to this party?? I know it's definitely not for the soft drink" definitely, the girl nodded.

"Birthday girl privileges" she said with a straw stuck between her lips and took a sip of her mojito before explaining further "...my friend asked me to come with her" nodding her head toward the dancing Tessa. Who had quickly welcomed the wildness of the party, as soon as they walked in the house unlike Lilliana. Other than some of the basketball players who liked hanging around with Jake… Tessa's boyfriend, she knew no one else at the party.

"Oh" the bartender said, just as a guy plopped on the seat next to the girl's.

"Give me something strong" he told the bartender before turning to the girl.

" ...hello beautiful" he slurred, a supposedly sexy smirk on his face. Lilliana mumbled a small "hey" back and turned around in her stool to look for her friend who had suddenly disappeared amongst the crowd. She cursed when she did… pinned against the wall by a boy wearing the familiar burgundy baseball jacket that only Roseville High basketball players wore but wasn't her boyfriend. That much she could tell from just looking at his back… he was built and had long hair reaching over his shoulders, whereas Jake's hair barely touched his neck if she remembered correctly and she doubted a week would be enough for him to grow it to that length.

Putting her drink down on the counter, she jumped off the stool and approached the two in long wide strides. With every step she took closer to them, she could see her friend's futile attempts to get away from the boy and walked even faster "Hey, let go of her" she growled, grabbing the boy by his arm and ripped him off of Tessa.

"Hey, what's your problem bitch??" He growled, stumbling back to maintain his balance and knocked a vase off the cabinet in the process. Ignoring him, Lilliana wrapped her hand around Tessa's waist and swung hers over her shoulders before leading her through the drunk teenagers toward the exit.

"Where are you taking me??" Tessa slurred, just when they sat foot outside the house onto the front porch. Gulping deep breaths in of the much missed fresh air, the girl gave her a simple answer "home" this was one of the reasons why she couldn't let Tessa go out alone or get drunk like she did. Tessa always seemed to lose control of herself at the smell of alcohol.

She walked Tessa to her car and opened the passenger door. Carefully helping her inside, she strapped her seatbelt on to keep her from falling and closed the door before running around the car to get in the driver's side. Sitting behind the wheel, she inserted the key and turned the car's ignition on. She placed both of her hands on the steering wheel and looked in front of her ready to drive away from the club but hesitated. She knew how to drive, it was just that she hadn't driven a car since her mother's death. Her fear of getting in another accident always restrained her.

"I'm calm, I'm calm… " she repeated, trying to convince herself and took deep breaths in of air to calm down her heart hammering in her ribcage as sirens rang loudly in her ears. Memories from the past clouded her vision, memories that always seemed not so far out of reach to haunt her.

Closing her eyes, once again she took a couple of deep breaths in before opening them again and said "I can do this" but could she?? Her fingers clenched and unclenched around the steering wheel with uncertainty, the action only proving to be surprisingly therapeutic for her.

Slowly, she regained control. Her breathing went back to normal and her hands stopped shaking… warmth rushed back to her fingertips. Slightly turning her body to the side to grab the safety belt, she ran it across her chest to the other side of her body but stopped when a thought crossed her mind, filling it with a lot of what ifs. What if she got in another accident?? And what if this time her friend gets hurt because of her??

No, she shook her head. She couldn't risk it, she couldn't risk losing one more important person in her life. She let go of the seatbelt and pulled out her phone from one of her jacket's pockets. She logged-in to a website and requested a Uber. It was safer for the both of them, a voice supportingly whispered inside her and she nodded agreeing with it. The two of them will get home and no one will get hurt.

To their luck, it was far past busy time. The roads were clear so the Uber didn't take longer than twenty minutes to arrive. Upon arrival, the girl politely asked the driver to help her load her friend in the backseat of the Uber before jumping in next to her and the car took off heading toward the Barnette residence.

"You can go through the gates,” Lilliana told the driver, just as he was about to pull up outside the gates to her house. Already dreading the idea of having to drag her drunk friend all the way up the driveway. She used her phone to put in the code to unlock the gates and let the driver inside. He drove up the pavement and stopped in front of the porch.

Mumbling a small thank you, the girl got out of the car and ran around to Tessa's door. Wrapping her hand around her neck and hers around Tessa's waist, she carefully helped her drunk friend out of the backseat and struggled to bring her inside the house. She left her leaning against the wall to lock the door before bringing her to the living room. Suddenly, Tessa hurled all of the alcohol in her system out her mouth along with little food she had before the two friends went to the party and in the process left Lilliana covered in vomit.

"Tessa!!" The girl growled, almost letting go of her and looked down at her clothes that were now sticking to her body. She shuddered in disgust, biting her lower lip to hold back the nauseous feeling she got from the strong smell that infiltrated her nostrils.

"Sorry" Tessa slurred, under her friend's annoyed gaze and sluggishly wiped her lips clean with the back of her hand. Lilliana sighed, walking into the living room and sat her in one of the couches. She took off her jacket and tight dress before rushing into the kitchen in search of some paper towels to clean herself and something liquid for Tessa to drink in order for her to regain some of her lost energy.

Flicking the kitchen lights on, she immediately grabbed the paper towel roll on the cabinet counter near the door and began cleaning herself. When she was done and satisfied, she threw the dirty paper in the trashcan before turning around to head to the fridge and let out a gasp covering her breasts with both of her hands when she saw Damon seating in one of the kitchen stools with a glass in his hand only then realising she wasn't alone. Embarrassed, she bit her lip and pressed her arms tighter around herself. She hadn't expected to find her father's best friend or anyone for that matter to be in the kitchen that late in the night. Why was he sitting in the dark?? She couldn't help but wonder, staring suspiciously at the man.

Calm as always, Damon looked up at the sound and, his eyes as if with a mind of their own, raked up the girl's body liking what they saw. Lilliana could've sworn his grey orbs turned a shade darker when they fell on her breasts spilling out of her small hands as she pushed them up together in an attempt to cover them or maybe her lust for him was making her see things??

Avoiding his eyes, the girl explained her appearance "I… I um… I'm sorry I thought I was alone, that everyone was sleeping" everyone who lived there was supposed to be sleeping at that time or at least her father was. She turned around to leave reprimanding herself for her stupidity and lack of intuition. She should've at least grabbed a robe from one of the guest bathrooms before walking around the house half naked. What if instead of Damon it was her father??

"Don't Worry, I don't fuck virgins"