Never Means Forever

I slipped on the clothes that I had picked out and was met by Damon as soon as I left the bathroom. “Come on!” he exclaimed in a crazy tone, and pulled at my elbow, lightly.

“I never said I was going to skip school today, Damon.”

“But you’re going to.”

“No, I’m not.” Damon turned around and looked at me, his gaze at my neck.

“Where’s your necklace?” he asked. My hand went to my throat. “The one you wore all the time? You know to protect you from me and all that.”

“I left it, remember? I didn’t think I’d need it,” I said, softly. I looked down, avoiding Damon’s stare. I had indeed left the silver necklace Damon gave me the previous year back in San Francisco. “I think Stefan probably has it.”

“He’s giving a necklace to Elena,” he stated, nonchalantly. I shrugged, sitting on top of my bed.

“And that pertains to me because?” He shrugged as well, jumping on top of the bed. I closed my eyes, my breaths soft. Damon bounced on the bed, trying to get me to go insane with him, but I wouldn’t budge. So he did the one thing, you’d think he’d never do. He stopped, crawling on top of me, his legs on either side of my thighs, and tickled me. “Damon!” I screamed in between my giggles. My phone rang, and Damon stopped for a second, reaching over me to get the phone from under my pillow, his legs still holding me down.

There was no use in struggling, Damon’s grip was vice-like. “Hello? Aria’s phone,” he answered. “Yeah, Stefan, I’m with her. Big deal.”

“Ugh, Damon get off of me!” I said, pushing against his chest. He gave me the phone, rolling off of me.

“Stefan, can we talk later?” I said into the phone. “Five o’clock, the Grill?” I asked. Stefan consented to my request and hung up the phone. I threw my phone back on the bed, standing up to get some breakfast. I grabbed a bowl from one of the cabinets, and poured milk into it, taking a box of Fruity Pebbles from the pantry. Taking a bite of my cereal, I sat at the table where my unfinished homework lay. I pressed the button on the remote that turned on my iHome. I had carefully wired it so that it played throughout the apartment, strategically placing a set of speakers in each of the rooms. ‘Poison’ by All Time Low filled my ears.

I’ve got a house in the back of my head, but I can’t find a permanent resident.

Damon sat in the seat next to me, resting his chin in his palm. He sighed as he watched me eat. I shoveled some more cereal in my mouth, avoiding Damon. Instead,I concentrated on Alex Gaskarth’s beautiful, entrancing voice.

On a silver platter your wish came true, see your heart of gold turned platinum.

After a few more bites of the now soggy cereal, I stood up to go to the kitchen and rinse my bowl out.

You drank the poison, and I let you in. Would you trade that heart of gold, for a minute in my skin?

“I’m not skipping school,” I said, finally. Damon shook his head, appearing next to me.

“Yes, you are,” he said in a tone only my father would use. I cringed at the thought, ignoring Damon, and packing my bag for school. By this time, the track had changed and ‘The Authors’ by VersaEmerge started playing. Damon rolled his eyes, watching me sing softly along with Sierra Kusterbeck.

Impact is inevitable, and it’s up to us.

“You know you can sing so much better than her,” Damon said, finding my stash of beer, opening the bottle and taking a swig of the alcohol. I shook my head at him, slinging my bag over my shoulder, and putting my shoes on. I took my iPod out of my iHome, sticking it in the front of my bag, and pocketed my Sidekick. “I’m serious, you should start a band. You’d become famous.”

“One: I can’t sing as well as her. Two: I’m more of a dancer anyway. Three: I don’t wanna be famous.” Damon frowned, standing in front of me. “I need to get to school, Damon. Please move.”

“One: You can sing better. Two: I know. You still owe me a trip to the studio with you. Three: Why not? And I’ll drive you.” I sighed, letting Damon walk in front of me, his fingers playing with the keys to my baby. He unlocked the car, sitting in the front seat, putting the keys in the ignition and giving me a grin when he heard my baby purr. I climbed in, smiling. I felt like everything was how it used to be when I was San Francisco with Damon and Stefan. I missed those times, and sometimes even regretted leaving.

Damon whistled as he drove towards the school, rolling down the windows, and changing the top of the car so it was open. My hair flew behind me, and I leaned my head against the leather seat, closing my eyes, just enjoying the wind. I opened my eyes about ten minutes later, when I felt that we should’ve been at the school, but saw that we were heading out of town.

“Damon Salvatore! Where are we going?”

“I told you that you were going to skip school.” Damon grabbed my bag from my lap, taking my iPod out of the front pocket. “Plus, we’re not going that far.” He plugged the device in with the cord I bought, so I didn’t have to only listen to the overplayed rap and pop songs on the radio. “And don’t worry; I’ll get you to the Grill before your shift.”

And honestly, I’ve been begging for answers, that you and only you can give to me.

I relaxed against my seat, knowing that I couldn’t get Damon to turn the car around.

“Why’d you do it?” I asked, referring to the people who had died the previous day. I absolutely despised it when Damon killed people. It was hard getting used to.

“Do what?” he asked, cluelessly, but one look at my face made him realize what I was talking about. He grimaced while turning into a street, but answered me with a shrug. “I was hungry, duh.” I shook my head, refusing to look at him. “Raya, babe, it’s not like I can help it.”

“I asked you not to kill the people here. How hard is that? There are blood banks and even the diet Stefan is on. Why not use one of those roads?”

“Raya, I’m sorry, okay?” he said, earnestness in his voice. “I can’t help it.” He looked straight ahead, concentrating on the road, but I knew it was just a façade. Damon barely ever showed sincerity and sensitivity, so the whole apologizing thing was pretty big for him.

“It’s fine,” I said, softly. “Just try not to, okay?” I flashed him a big smile, and we continued our journey in pure silence. Damon stopped the car underneath a tree a few minutes later. “Come on. We have to walk the rest of the way.”

“This isn’t going to be like Twilight, right? Where you take me to some amazing place where you can show me how you glitter and then we make out,” I asked, sarcastically.

“This is the real world, babe. Though I wouldn’t mind the last bit.” I scoffed at him, but softened at Damon’s smile.

“As if you’ll get me to kiss you.”

“Actually, I could easily do that.” I pouted.

“Don’t pull that compulsion crap on me.” Damon grabbed my fingers, leading me to wherever he was taking me. I shrunk back from his touch, slowly taking my hand from his. Wiping my hand on the front of my jeans, I followed Damon, walking at least a foot behind him at all times. I bit my lip, jumping over a log and tripping over it, landing on my stomach

“You’re as clumsy as ever,” Damon said, still facing towards his destination. I scoffed, rolling on to my back, using my elbows to prop me up. He turned around, crouching next to me. “Come on, get up,” he ordered, holding out his hand. I took it, both of us standing up.

“You’re as bossy as ever,” I remarked, brushing off my jeans. Damon picked a few leaves out of my hair, brushing the strands out of my face, his fingers running against my cheek. I looked away, moving past him. Damon sped past me, appearing five feet in front of me. Feeling the wind rush past me, I smiled, jogging to catch up with Damon. “You’re mean.”

“I thought that came with the vampire part,” he said, shrugging. “Come on, Aria. You walk too slowly.”

“I thought that came with the human part,” I mocked, settling onto the ground. “Damon, I’m tired, how much longer will it take to get there?” Damon sighed, pulling me up off the ground.

“Babe, it’s only like five feet from here,” he said, his head tilted towards his right.

“Fine!” I let Damon grab my hand to drag me through the trees to a secluded spot completely uncovered by trees. It was by a cliff, a waterfall falling from it, splashing water into a pool that lay next to the cliff. A little stream ran through the clearing, giving it a haven sort of look. My jaw dropped. “Damon, it’s so beautiful.”

“I used to come here back in the day all the time. You’re the first one I’m showing this place to,” he said offhandedly, trying to disguise the fact that he was nervous. He sat down, grass rippling around him. I sat next to him, crossing my legs under my body. For the first time, he didn’t have anything to say, and neither did I. Damon stood up, stripping off his shirt, exposing his toned abs, pulling down his pants so that he was only dressed in his boxers. I looked away. Even though we were strictly friends, I couldn’t help but think he was attractive. I had to be blind to think that he wasn’t.

He dove into the water, swimming to the waterfall. “Raya, get in the water!” He shouted, under the drone of the waterfall. I sighed, screaming back that I didn’t have any clothes. “Just strip down to your underwear! It’s just me!” I bit my lip, before taking my t-shirt off, popping the button of my jeans after. Awkwardly, I pulled my jeans off, covering my body with my arms after the articles of clothing were off and I stood dressed only in my underwear and bra. Damon materialized next to me, grabbing my upper arm.

“Aria, relax. You look fine. You know there’s no reason to be nervous with me,” he said, looking into my eyes, surprisingly not showing any signs of trying to compel me. I relaxed into his arms, letting him lead me into the water. After a few hours of just hanging around in the cool water, I got out, wringing water out of my hair. I stepped into my jeans, quickly wearing my t-shirt.

“Damon, I have to get to the Grill! Can you drop me home so I can change?” I yelled over to him, where he was sitting at the edge of the water, his legs dangling into the crystal clear liquid. He groaned, getting up and putting his clothes back on.

“You’re such a bore, Aria.” I cheekily grinned at him, walking ahead of him. He quickly caught up to me, throwing me over his shoulder.