Taken and Misused.

[Elisabeth’s Point Of View]

Pounding.

That’s what was going on inside of my head when I woke up. I grasped my head between my hands because it felt as if it was going to fall apart. A groan slipped from my lips and I rolled over onto my stomach and pressed my face into the pillow. Wait; a pillow? I couldn’t remember anything past that party last night, what if this wasn’t my house? I sat up quickly, which only made my head spin rapidly, and looked around me. Nope, this was definitely not my room. The sheets were dark and the bed was a simple iron frame, the walls were a pale color that looked very aged and a large window let in light that was dimmed by the heavy curtains covering it.

“Oh mon dieu, where am I” I muttered, rubbing my head again, the quick movement I had just made had sent my head pounding again. I clutched it once more and willed it to stop torturing me.

“Good morning Princess” I groaned as I heard this loud voice boom through the room. It was Vaughn and that at least made me feel better about where I was. At least I wasn’t in the clutches of a mass murderer or something just as horrible. I heard him chuckle as I closed my eyes tightly when his footsteps approached the bed. “I’m sorry, it was just so tempting” he said, I opened my eyes to see him reach out to smooth out my hair but his eyes met mine and he seemed to have some sort of internal dilemma before he pulled his hand back and ran his fingers through his own hair. I gave him a weird look but he just changed the subject before I could question what was wrong. “So how is your first hangover going?” he asked, grinning again.

“That’s what this is? How did I get intoxicated so quickly?” I asked, rubbing my eyes.

“Seems you fell victim to spiked punch, and not just high school spiked punch, I would call what you drank vodka with a touch of fruit punch” Vaughn said with an amused smile. “Are you hungry? I made eggs and waffles-“

Right as those words left his lips the thought of food seemed to stir a beast to life inside of my gut and Vaughn looked nervous as he observed my facial expression. Then he muttered two little words: “oh shit” and was pulling me up and hurrying me into a room which turned out to be a bathroom. Just as we reached the toilet anything that had been in my stomach was coming out.

It was horrible and embarressing at the same time.

Vaughn didn’t say anything about how disgusting it was, he just held my hair back and rubbed my back in gentle circles, telling me I’d be fine the whole time. When I stopped he took a wash cloth and got it wet, first he pressed it to my burning forehead then he let me wipe off my mouth while he got a cup of water and flushed the toilet. I swished the water in my mouth in an attempt to get rid of the nasty taste. This had to be one of the worst mornings ever.

“I hate alcohol” I muttered as I chugged down another glass of water after Vaughn handed it to me. After I had calmed down Vaughn had given me some clean clothes of his to change into because mine were sweaty and dirty although I had no clue how they had gotten like that. Vaughn had just found it funny I couldn’t really remember everything I had done last night. But he did find it even more amusing to drop little bits of what I had done last night here and there. I sat on one of the counter tops in Vaughn’s kitchen in a pair of loose, dark green sweat pants and a baggy, grey t-shirt that had an engine brand printed on the front. I had tied my long, blonde hair back with a hair tie so that it stayed out of my face and now I was playing with the end of it. Vaughn was sliding a waffle and eggs onto a plate for me, he had put the breakfast into the oven to keep it warm until my stomach had stopped churning at the thought of food.

“I thought it was pretty funny” Vaughn said with a shrug of his broad shoulders. He set the plate down on the small wooden table in his kitchen and I slid off of the counter and sat down in one of the two chairs, as I passed by him I gave him a soft smack on the shoulder for his remark.

“If you hadn’t made me breakfast you’d be in for it” I threatened which only made him grin wider.

“Oh, really? What would you do to me?” he asked, sitting across from me and raising an eyebrow.

I stared at him for a moment, trying to think up a good reply but I had nothing. “Just hand me the syrup Vaughn” I muttered, poking my fork into the eggs while trying to ignore his soft laughter.

As I ate I remembered one thing from yesterday and I looked up at him before asking. “What did Marco show you guys?” the moment the question left my lips Vaughn tensed and an angry glint flashed through his eyes before he regained his composer. Just that quick slip let me know something was up.

“It was just a few new parts for our cars” he said and I assumed the “our” was him Marco, Darik, and Nathaniel. But I also had a feeling that he wasn’t telling me everything.

“Then why did you look angry just now?” I asked but he just got up and started washing the dishes he had made dirty.

“It’s nothing you have to worry about Princess” he said and before I could get stubborn with him he threw out another statement. “You got a phone call earlier this morning, I put your purse on the couch” he said while still washing the dishes. He was trying to end the subject but it wasn't going to work, I'd give him the illusion the subject was over but I'd get it out of him soon. I finished my breakfast with a frown directed at him then got up and went to get my phone, a large golden retriever was stretched out on the couch and as I approached his tail began to wag. This, I assumed, was Glory. He sat up and barked once, but it wasn’t threatening, just an excited hello.

“Glory, get in here and quit barking” Vaughn called from the kitchen; I turned to see him scraping the leftovers into his dog bowl. Glory couldn’t have moved faster, he was off the couch within seconds and I watched with an amused smile as he skidded to a halt in front of his dog bowl, almost barreling into Vaughn who jumped out of the way at the last moment.

I returned to my purse and pulled out my phone to see I had a voicemail. I clicked the send button to listen to it and soon the voice of my dance instructor, Mr. Dellmonte, met my ears.

“I hope you get this before six o’clock because I have decided to bring you and Stephen in for a short practice, your recital is coming up quickly. Anyways, be at the school at six and bring your Pointe shoes” the message was over and my phone began to ask if I wanted to delete or save it. I just hung up and slumped into the couch with a groan, I check the clock on my phone to see it was one o’clock in the afternoon already and I still felt like someone had punched me in the gut and head repeatedly.

“What’s wrong?” I opened my eyes to see Vaughn standing in front of me and drying off his hands with a wash towel, he looked worried.

“I have dance practice today at six” I muttered in reply.

“Don’t you ever get a day off?” Vaughn asked with a chuckle, obviously he didn’t find this situation to be horrible.

“Vaughn, I have five hours to get over this hangover thing and get back to my apartment without the manager spotting me looking like a wreck, get my dance things, then get to the dance studio” this all came out in a rush and it only made Vaughn grin wider.

“Don’t worry Princess, I’ve gotten people through worse” he said, ruffling my hair for just a second before pulling away like he had done something wrong. I looked at him weird but he pulled a grin over his lips again. “Just think of it as an adventure.”