Twisted and Broken Things

Sometimes, Hayden's life was confusing. Watching Twilight with Travis in one of the living rooms that belonged to her vampire captor was one of those completely and utterly perplexing moments. It became even more confusing when Brendon appeared in the doorway of said room.

"What are you watching?" he had demanded.

"Netflix," she had answered vaguely. But then Bella had said the word "vampire", and Brendon's scoff was unmistakable.

"You know, I think you'd like this, boss," Travis had interjected. "This chick is the worst actress I've ever seen, but the boy is definitely a piece of eye candy."

And then life had become all that much more bemusing when Brendon had taken a seat in the chair opposite her and turned his attention to the enormous television screen.

For the next half hour, Hayden had nervously shoveled handfuls of the popcorn that Travis had excitedly made for her and watched Brendon out of the corner of her eye. But then Edward had shown Bella his home and began revealing aspects of his personality to her, and Hayden had become entranced by the movie. As she watched, all she could think was, Why the hell does Bella Swan get that and I get this?

The prom scene at the end of the movie (and, admittedly, Hayden's sniffling) had been interrupted when Ryan had returned to the castle and located them in the living room. "What are you watching?" he demanded.

"Baby!" Hayden exclaimed, smiling enormously at the little fox hidden behind the cage's bars. He shuffled to the front of the carrier and poked his nose through the bars.

Ryan seemed to remember the caged animal in his hand and unlocked the cage. Basil eagerly shot out of the cage and teetered on the edge of the couch until he could step onto Hayden's shoulder and ultimately into her lap. "He's flea free," added the Dandie, mostly for Brendon's benefit.

"Told you so," Hayden shot at Brendon, glaring angrily at him. They had engaged in an argument that morning when she had discovered Ryan scooping a distressed Basil into the cat carrier. Brendon had insisted that he just wanted Ryan to take the animal to a veterinarian to make sure that he wasn't rabid and flea infested. Hayden, on the other hand, had argued that she had inspected her little fox thoroughly herself and that he had a clean bill of health.

"And to think we were having such a nice time," mused Brendon as he muted the credits of the movie. "Anything else you'd like to add now that you've been proved right?"

Hayden considered the offer but ultimately decided to continue petting Basil's ears contentedly. "No, that's all."

"Good." Brendon stood up and picked an invisible piece of lint off his shirt. "Why don't you get some things together, and I suppose we'll get on the road?"

Confusion grasped Hayden once more, and she shot Brendon a puzzled expression. In response, he sighed enormously and seemed exasperated by her once again. "I told you yesterday about the Christmas party that the Dandies are having," he sighed.

"Yeah," Hayden nodded, not sure of why that meant that they were going into town in November.

He pressed a hand to the bridge of his nose. "Shopping, Hayden," he announced, unsure of why she couldn't reach that conclusion herself.

"Well, excuse me," she simpered as she rose to her feet. "Where are we going shopping, my Lord?"

"Paris."

Instantly, Hayden stopped petting Basil for a second before she could gather her thoughts and control her reaction. All three of the vampires were staring at her intently, and Hayden decided to take her exit at that moment. "I'll be ready in ten minutes," she called over her shoulder.

Once she was out of what she guessed was the vampires' earshot, she began hurried to her room, clutching Basil close to her. "This is it, B!" she exclaimed as she set the fox onto her bed and pulled a small suitcase out from under her bed. "I'm going to be free!" Brendon could keep her under his thumb in his isolated castle and even the miniscule surrounding towns, but he'd have no chance in Paris. If she was ever going to be free, it was going to happen in Paris.

"I just have to wait until he goes to a bar or gets distracted by a girl, and then we're free, Bas!" she cheered as she finished throwing clothes into the suitcase. "We'll just sneak and... We..."

A small crack appeared in her joy, and the longer she stared at her baby fox, the faster the crack grew. Soon, it was a gaping hole, and Hayden sat down on her bed, pulling the fox to her chest. Basil sneezed and licked Hayden's arm. Although she wanted to think that she and Basil would be free, it would never be. She couldn't take Basil to Paris with her, and if she did, he would slow her down.

"I love you," she whispered into his ear. Tears welled in her eyes, and she pushed him off her lap. Basil curled into a ball on her bed and looked up at her with his enormous brown eyes. "I love you so much, Bas."

Then she picked up her bag and left the bedroom and the only light in her life since her arrival at the castle. She ran into Ryan on her way towards the door, and she couldn't help herself. "Ryan, you'll take care of Basil while I'm gone, right?" she requested, grabbing his arm.

"Uh, sure, Hay," shrugged Ryan. "But you know you're only going to be gone for a night."

It took a moment for her to force a smile on to her face. "I know," she tried to laugh, "But just in case we're gone longer than expected."

He laughed. "Sure, Hay, I'll take care of Basil. Have a good time in Paris."

She forced her smile to widen, then she hurried towards the enormous doors of the castle. Once outside, she looked over her shoulder at the beautiful structure for only a moment. Then she dropped her suitcase by the car and slid into the backseat. A moment later, the driver deposited her suitcase in the trunk and Brendon appeared beside her.

"So, Paris," she grinned excitedly.

Brendon heaved a sigh as he pulled out his cell phone and checked the time. "Why don't we play a game?" he suggested.

Although the suggestion made Hayden's eyebrows furrow in confusion, she shrugged her agreement. "Sure."

"Good," Brendon responded as he slid his cell phone back into his pocket. "It's called the silent game."

She glared at him but eventually decided not to pursue an argument. She turned her attention to the window and watched as the scenery very slowly changed from French countryside to the hustle and bustle of bigger towns and cities. It was a long, tedious drive, and Hayden fell in time before she could see the landscape become that of the French capital.

When the car pulled up outside of the Christian Dior store, Brendon cleared his throat and began to move until he realized that Hayden's head was lolling on his shoulder. He stared at her face for a moment, watched the dark eyelashes rest against the tops of her clear cheeks, smiling as her rosy lips parted to reveal her white teeth. He had never realized it while she was awake and constantly arguing him, but there was something about her that he found... beautiful.

The thought shocked him, and he moved his shoulder abruptly. The sudden movement woke her, and she looked around for a moment, seeming disoriented. "Where are we?" she yawned.

"Dior," he said. "Hurry up."

Her stomach fluttered with excitement as she pulled herself out of the car and turned her head from side to side. For having slept in a car for such a long time, she felt pretty good. "Why aren't you like stone like Edward?" she mused as Brendon held the door open for her.

Without even looking at him, she could tell that he had rolled his eyes. However, he did laugh, which was different from his usual exasperated reactions to her questions. "You have the most inane inquiries," he remarked. "But to answer your question, it is because Edward is a figment of a semi-creative woman's unconscious mind."

Hayden pursed her lips but decided not to reply. Instead, she took a moment to absorb the luxurious store that they had just entered. Everything was decorated in a shade of white, taupe or gray, and the entire store was well-lit. There were white shelves housing handbags, and jewlery was protected by glass cases. There were purple grey couches for shoppers, and a woman was standing near the center of the room in front of a large display of hydrangeas.

"Bonjour, Monsieur Urie," the saleswoman smiled. While Hayden's family had never been hard for money, they had never been so extravagant that she had reason to enter the Dior store frequently. When she was visiting her grandmother, they would visit the store if her grandmother needed an outfit for an event or wanted to buy Hayden a very special gift. As a child, Hayden had always thought of the store as a magical place.

As an adult, Hayden had the same feelings about the world of Dior. While Brendon talked to the woman, Hayden couldn't help but peruse the cases of sparkling gems. She touched anything she possibly could, feeling like a child but loving the luxurious materials all the same.

"Hayden?"

She spun around, instantly removing her fingers from a scarf. The saleswoman smiled, as though she knew how much Hayden was enjoying the shopping experience. "Monsieur Urie called ahead, and we have some pieces that we think you might be interested in," the woman explained. "If you would follow me, mademoiselle."

With an apprehensive glance at Brendon, who simply smiled and seated himself on one of the grey settees, Hayden followed the woman to a dressing room that was as elaborate as the rest of the store. There were beige carpets, a white gilded mirror, and another grey settee. There were several dresses hanging on the white hooks on the walls, and the saleswoman unzipped the first dress before telling Hayden that she would be outside if she needed any help.

The first dress was beautiful, a red satin creation. It was sleeveless with a deep V in both the front and back, and a bow that tied in the back. The dress hugged her waist and hips and flared out gracefully around her knees. Once she had assistance zipping it, Hayden shuffled out to Brendon.

It was a terrible pick on Brendon's part, which he realized as soon as he saw Hayden. She looked great, but the color was much too tempting. Whenever Brendon looked at her, all he could imagine was sinking his teeth into her neck until she was nothing but a lifeless hanger for the dress. His mouth was watering.

"I think it's too... long," he finally announced.

Hayden frowned. "I mean, I'm sure they can shorten it," she said as she glanced in the mirror.

"Nope." Brendon shook his head fervently. "Next dress."

The next dress was white and made Hayden feel like she was auditioning for the part of an angel in a Christmas special. She refused to leave the dressing room, which annoyed Brendon. While she pouted, he put in a call to the Shangri-La hotel and requested his usual suite. He became even further irritated when he was told that his usual suite was unavailable due to a convention that was in town. But instead of demanding why he paid so much to ensure that his suite was always available, he accepted the first room that was offered and returned to the uncomfortable grey couch to find Hayden standing in the room in a new dress.

Instead of being hungry or annoyed by her, he was mesmerized. The dress, made of a matte black fabric, had a demure square neckline and capsleeves. The detailing was intricate, such as the black silk buttons that began at the bottom of the back of her neck and traveled down the back of the dress. Where the buttons ended, the material flared out.

"Well?" Hayden demanded as she turned to face him. "What do you think?'

"It's beautiful," he admitted.

She smiled. "I was hoping you'd say so. I really like it, too, and the next thing that you picked out is orange and really puffy so I was hoping we'd stop here."

They both laughed awkwardly. "Okay, I'm going to change," Hayden decided. She hurried back to the dressing room and was soon clad in her regular clothes again. When she joined the front of the store again, Brendon was handing over his credit card to the saleswoman. "What, no yachts or small countries for us today?" she chuckled.

The saleswoman laughed, and Brendon forced a smile. "I love your sense of humor, dear," he ground out.

By the time they left the store, it was rush hour in Paris. They sat in traffic for nearly an hour, which did nothing for Brendon's disposition. By the time they arrived at the Shangri-La, Hayden had no interest in sitting through dinner with Brendon. "What do you mean you don't want dinner?" demanded Brendon. "I made reservations!"

Hayden rolled her eyes and began digging through her suitcase. "I really don't think that missed reservations are going to be the end of the world. Especially for you." Finally, she gave up with her search and just brought her whole suitcase into the bathroom.

Brendon ground his teeth together and dropped onto the bed. The room was much smaller than usual with only one double bed. He grabbed the remote and began flipping through the channels. From the bathroom, he could hear the sound of the shower, and Hayden's pulse began to slow down the longer the water was running.

Strangely, he found that the original Dracula movie was on. As he watched Bram Stoker's creature seduce a poor, innocent woman, he found himself driven to dig through his suitcase for one of the small pouches of blood that he had packed just in case. The day with Hayden had been stressful and confusing, and he felt that he deserved processed blood at the very least.

While Brendon usually liked his blood either hot or very cold, the blood in his bag was room temperature. He considered going in search of a microwave but decided that would be hard to explain and simply added some ice cubes. When Hayden exited the bathroom, he was stirring the concoction with a pen.

She scurried from the bathroom door to the bed, which Brendon found unnecessary until he realized she wasn't wearing pants. "What's missing here?" he inquired playfully.

Hayden glared at him. "I don't like sleeping in pants," she explained, trying to keep her tone even, "They're restricting." She snatched the remote from him and rolled her eyes at the current movie. "How fitting."

She began absentmindedly flipping through the channels, her speed slowing down as she became distracted by the lights outside the window. The Eiffel Tower had always been Hayden's favorite thing in the world. Brendon followed her gaze. "When I was younger, I used to make my grandmother take me to see it every time I visited her," she smiled. "I could never go to the top, though. I've got this ridiculous fear of heights."

Brendon loved the way her face morphed into a soft, thoughtful smile. Her hair was beginning to dry in unbrushed waves, her nightshirt was misbuttoned, he was out of blood, and she had stopped channel flipping on VH1. "Have you ever seen something so beautiful?" she sighed as she glanced back at him. She laughed when she saw his face. "Why are you staring at me like that?"

"Yes," murmured Brendon, "I have."

Although only a minute or so passed, it felt like Brendon was staring at Hayden for an eternity. His eyes traveled from her gold-flecked hazel eyes down the bridge of her straight nose and ultimately to her rosy lips. They suited her face and looked incredibly soft. He felt compelled to lean forward and press his lips to her.

In a way, Brendon wished that the kiss could have lasted forever. When their lips met, he could tell that she didn't think he was a vile, repulsive creature. Their lips fit together divinely, and her cheek was soft beneath his hand. She leaned into the kiss, and Brendon would have gone on kissing her for much longer if she hadn't paused for a shuddering breath.

The moment they parted, Brendon was out of the bed and striding towards the door. "I'll be at the bar," he announced, unable to meet her eyes.

Once the door shut, Hayden let herself drop back onto the pillows. She had no idea what had just happened between them, but she was so perplexed by the kiss that escaping was no longer on the front of his mind.