In the *** House

"What am I?" Victoria raised an eyebrow as she looked over at Tate. They had been laying on her bed together, Tate flipping through one of her books as she attempted to do her homework. "I mean like...to you..."

Victoria could feel the heat rising in her cheeks. She had a feeling she knew what Tate was talking about and it scared her a little; the question had been so unexpected. Victoria liked Tate, a lot, but she wasn't sure he felt the same way so she wasn't exactly sure how to answer his question.

"What do you mean?" A part of her wanted him to just drop it, but she knew Tate better than that and even Victoria couldn't deny that even she was a little curious as to where the conversation was going.

Closing the book and setting it behind him, Tate scooted closer to Victoria.

"I mean..." Victoria felt her pulse quicken as his brown eyes scanned her face before landing on her lips. "Have you ever thought about what it would be like..." Tate hesitated again, bringing a hand up to tuck a lock of Victoria's hair behind her ear.

Victoria couldn't have spoken if she'd even knew what to say. Tate had never been so close to her before; she could feel his breath tickling her nose and all she could think about was the last time he'd kissed her. It wasn't anything, just a simple kiss on the top of her head, she knew it hadn't meant anything and yet the feeling of his lips against her skin...

Victoria watched, breathless, as Tate's face continued to inch closer to hers. She wanted this, she wanted him and she wasn't certain for how long exactly, but it felt like she'd been waiting forever.

As her eyes fell to his lips, Tate stopped, a wicked grin spreading across his face.

"So, you do like me." Victoria swallowed hard, focusing back on her homework before Tate could see the color rising in her cheeks. It wasn't even as if she'd never been kissed before, it was just different with Tate and a piece of her wanted to be angry at his tease, but she was too embarrassed.

"Shut up." She sighed, trying to act fine though Tate could see the embarrassment on her face. He hadn't intended to humiliate her; Tate was genuinely happy. He liked Victoria, more than he'd ever thought possible and the fact that she liked him too only made the feeling all the better. She wasn't like other girls and he felt a connection to her that he'd never felt with anyone else. He watched, only for a second, as the pink rose in her cheeks before gently grabbing her chin to make her face him.

His grin had vanished; he wanted Victoria to know this was him being serious, that this wasn't some game he was playing. There was very little in this world that Tate Langdon cared about, and Victoria was far above it all. He had already killed for her and he knew, without a doubt, that he would again if it meant keeping her safe.

She didn't fight his touch nor did she turn away as Tate brought his lips down to meet hers. Victoria's lips were soft and warm against his own and Tate found his right hand wrapping around the base of her neck to pull her closer.


Victoria pinched her lips together tightly in disapproval as she turned her head from left to right. She was annoyed with herself; why was she so pale? She looked like a ghost. At least Violet had a little tan to her, but of course Victoria couldn't have been that lucky. Her eyes were nice though, her bright blue orbs framed perfectly by her long, dark eyelashes; they were, in her opinion, her best asset.

She wasn't even sure why she was so suddenly concerned with her looks. She wasn't even certain if she and Tate were officially boyfriend and girlfriend now. Besides, he liked her the way he was already, so why was she freaking out about her looks all of a sudden?

They'd made plans to meet later in the basement, though for the love of her, Victoria could not decide on what to wear. Currently she was dressed in a baggy, worn, beige sweater, ripped skinnies and faded, orange high tops. Maybe she she should dress more girly?

Lifting her sweater just above her belly button, Victoria turned sideways, examining her slight pudge. She'd never worked out a day in her life, what had she been expecting a six pack? With a frown she began sucking in and pushing out her stomach. Rolling her eyes, Victoria let her sweater fall back over her stomach before crossing her arms in frustration; Tate was making her a mess.

A soft creaking from behind her tore Victoria's attention away from her mirror. It sounded as though something was under her bed, and the only thing she could think was Tate was trying to mess with her.

Walking slowly over towards the sound, Victoria came to a pause beside her bed. She'd barely leant over to take a peak when a hand popped out from beneath to grab her ankle, causing her to let out a small shriek.

"Trick or treat, smell my feet, give me something good to eat!" Addie exclaimed, smiling broadly as she crawled out from beneath Victoria's bed.

"Addie!" She was more embarrassed than annoyed; how long had Addie been hiding underneath her bed? Victoria hoped she hadn't witnessed her observing her stomach in the mirror.

"I want to be a pretty girl for Halloween!" The request threw Victoria off, causing her to forget her slight annoyance over Addie's intrusion.

"Wait, what?" Taking a step back, Victoria raised an eyebrow questioningly.

"Make me a pretty girl like you, Victoria."

"Addie," placing a hand on her arm, Victoria sat Addie down at her desk. "You are pretty, why would you say that?" Victoria did think Addie was pretty with her dark eyes and long, silky brown hair, though she could guess why Addie would think that. By today's standards, if you didn't look like the pencil thin models in the magazines than you weren't pretty.

"No!" Her reaction caused Victoria to jump a bit. "Make me a pretty girl."

If Victoria was being completely honest, she had no idea what she was doing. She'd never been one to wear makeup and act very feminine, though she supposed if Addie had to choose between Victoria and Violet, Victoria was the better choice. As un-girly as she may have been, she was still more girly than her sister, Vi.

"Don't be surprised, but..." Victoria was careful as she applied the eye shadow. It wasn't even her own makeup, she didn't own any, it was all her mothers. "I'm not very good at this..." It wasn't blending and the turquoise was making an obvious oval shape around Addie's eyes.

"I don't care." Addie opened her eyes to catch a glimpse of herself in Victoria's mirror. "I like it."

She wasn't sure if Addie was telling the truth, but it brought a smile to Victoria's face. Never in a million years had she thought she'd be applying makeup to someone's face.

"How old are you, Addie?" Although it was a bit of a nosy question, Victoria couldn't help but to wonder. She assumed Addie was around her age, though then again she was also probably just aging well.

"A lady never reveals her age." It sounded more like a response Constance would have given rather than Addie, but Victoria didn't press the question. Taking a step back, Victoria examined both of Addie's eyes to make sure the the eye shadow was even before reaching for the blush. "Is Tate your boyfriend?"

"I don't..." Victoria had been wondering the same thing, and she was about to admit her uncertainty on the matter before another question popped into her head, "how do you know Tate?" He'd never mentioned that he knew her neighbors so as far as Victoria knew they were total strangers.

"I talk to him when he comes here for his head shrinking." Victoria paused, giving a slight shrug. That made sense as much as Addie liked to sneak in. "He likes you, I can tell. He thinks you're a pretty girl." Addie stated, matter-of-factly, causing the color to rise in Victoria's cheeks. He'd never told her directly, though she should have assumed as much; and here she was worrying about not being girly or thin enough for him. Maybe she and Addie had more in common than she realized.

"I guess..." She wasn't completely comfortable discussing Tate with Addie, mostly because Addie didn't seem very shy when asking questions and Victoria was prone to red cheeks.

"Are you a virgin?" The blush slipped from Victoria's fingers as she'd gone to set it back down. Grabbing her hairbrush, she decided to play it off as though the question hadn't surprised her.

"Are you?" Victoria was, but she didn't want to tell Addie that. At seventeen it wasn't completely unheard of, though it still wasn't a topic she was comfortable with. She hadn't even told Tate, of course he hadn't asked her and she was thankful.

"Hell no." Victoria couldn't tell if Addie was lying, though she didn't care to linger on the subject in fear Tate would be brought up.

"Addie," grabbing a lock of Addie's hair, Victoria slowly began to brush through the chocolate locks, "why do you keep breaking into our house?"

"I like it here!" Addie was instantly offended, though seemed to calm down rather quickly. "My friends are here."

"What..."

"Wow!" Before Victoria even had a chance to ask, Addie had spotted herself in the mirror and was overcome with excitement. "Victoria, I'm beautiful!" Giving Addie a reassuring smile, Victoria continued to brush through her hair, though the question was still burning in the back of her mind; what 'friends' were Addie talking about?