I Love You, I'll Kill You

It's hard to deny a vampire such as Desmond when he's so much stronger. Before I could utter another word, he had pulled me to him and rested a hand on my waist and connected the other one in mine. I felt like I was going to die from a heart attack.

"Grace, relax," he said in his serene voice as the music started again. I watched in horror as all the other dancers stopped dancing and moved to the side so that only Desmond and I were the ones dancing on the floor now.

"W-what are they doing?" I stuttered, unable to speak while he had both hands on me while he gave a tiny and attractive grin. After glancing around the other creatures, hoping that they would continue to dance so that we could disappear in the crowd, my eyesight turned back to Desmond. We weren't moving to the music, just standing on the dance floor. My heart was beating so fast that I was sure it was going to burst at any second. Why did I always have to panic? Well, because that's who I am—a panicky type of person.

I let out a tiny gasp when Desmond brought me even closer, even though we had the whole ballroom dance floor to ourselves. I could see from the corner of my eye that all of his family was smirking at us, that is, except for Aurelia. She was still being surrounded by attractive vampires who were all trying to get her attention at one time. Without my knowing, Desmond began to move me with him as the dance started. I tripped over his foot, finally realizing that I was dancing. Well—sort of.

He chuckled, holding me tighter to keep me from falling. "Your name doesn't fit you," he said with amusement, knowing that I was going to retort to his comment. I fought not to send him a glare, and succeeded. I also fought the urge to say something rude, but surprised myself by sighing instead. I'm not the only one astounded by my actions.

"No upset reply? And I thought I knew you," Desmond declared with slight revelation hidden in his voice. I continued to look at the other vampires and other creatures as we danced across the floor, twirling and gliding. I was finding it hard to look at him when trying to tell the truth.

I shrugged my shoulders. "I'm trying to be nice. It is your birthday, after all. This is your party. I would hate to ruin it more than I already have." I finished in a low tone, realizing how much trouble I had been all night. I had made him mad by being found with Cain. He was furious to see me alone with Cain in the garden. Not only did I ruin his night by being seen with his maker, but I also had to depend on him to find me in the woods, surrounded by gigantic wolves. Once again, he had saved me.

"Why would you say something like that?" he asked with confusion visible in his voice. My eyes tipped up from the feet I was staring at and looked into his eyes. My heart fluttered faster at the sight of his perfect eyes. Again, I shrugged, finding it the only thing to do as a response. This was not like Desmond. He was not the type to be sympathetic or kind toward humans. Heck, he drank blood from them to keep alive. He blinked, waiting for me to say something. I felt us twist around on the dance floor while the orchestra continued to play.

"I guess—it's just that I've been such a nuisance tonight. You've had to leave your party a couple of times. And for what? To save me," I uttered, my eyes returning to our moving feet. My eyes widen when I felt his finger slide under my chin, slowly lifting my head up. Finally, my eyes connected with his, sending shivers through my body. It felt like time was slowing down.

"I would rather be saving you than being at this party," he said in such a soft tone that it didn't sound like Desmond at all. I couldn't breathe while the words tried to settle into reality. The world finally stopped and froze when our eyes don’t break apart from each other.

"Of course, it's all part of the job," he added, breaking the gaze and released the hold on my chin. My mouth dropped open in disbelief. After all those kind words, he had to ruin the moment and say something like that. My face scrunched while I closed my mouth and felt my lips curve into a frown. My next move caused everyone to gasp.

I slapped Desmond across the face.

All was silent for a moment while his head stayed to the side, his eyes hiding behind his bangs. Even the orchestra had stopped. I went to take a step back, but was unable to do so because of the hold around my waist. It wasn't until now did I realize that I had made a big mistake.

"I-I-" I tried to speak, but found it nearly impossible to utter a word. I could now hear whispers from the watching crowd as they gasped and shook their heads as though I had just slapped the Queen of England. I again attempted to escape Desmond's hold, but he refused to release me while his eyes remained hidden. I knew that they were probably red by this point.

Everyone was practically standing on their heels when he lifted his head. I stared at him in puzzlement when I saw him smirking. His eyes were still a light caramel color, much to my surprise. With his elegant hand, he reached to his still white cheek and touched it, as though it were red like any other human's cheek after being slapped.

"Okay," he began, "I deserved that one." Everyone who had been whispering seemed to whisper even louder, making the room seem very loud.

"I'm sorry?" I inquired, not believing the words coming out of his mouth. Once again, he had taken me by surprise with his words.

His eyes rolled, taking his hand away from his cheek. "Don't make me repeat it," he said with a sigh. I shook my head to make sure I wasn't dreaming again. He smirked again, watching the confusion and other emotions rush across my face in seconds. He turned to all the staring spectators with a small smile on his face, making sure to keep an arm around my waist to keep me from tripping over myself while I debated with my mind about the whole situation.

"Thank you all for coming tonight. It has been a pleasure seeing you all. Unfortunately, this young lady and I must be getting back home. Please, stay as long as you wish," he shouted, his voice echoing in the large ballroom.

"Not so fast!" Selene, Desmond's sister, yelled as she made her way through the tight crowd and into the large and empty gap to reveal herself. Both Desmond and I stared at her with lost looks while she gave a mischievous look while resting her hands on her hips.

"You are still forgetting one thing," she said, her voice echoing just as loud as Desmond's. The smile that was on his face fell into a small frown.

"And what would that be?" he dared to ask his smirking sister. Her smile grew at his question. Everyone remained quiet while they waited for Selene to say the words.

"You actually forgot two things. First, we haven't had the chance to sing Happy Birthday."

Desmond's frown turned glummer and glummer at each word. "We're leaving,” he said in a low tone so that only I could hear the dread in his voice. Selene caught on quickly when he grabbed the upper part of my arm and readied himself to run.

"I don't think so, Desmond! Now!" she shouted. Within a blink of an eye Darien and Lucas hade their hands on Desmond's upper arms, making sure that there was no way of escape for him. I knew Desmond wouldn't dare harm his brothers or sisters. I turned my head to see Celeste, Desmond's mother, grabbing my arm to make sure I didn’t try to assist Desmond in any way. By this time Selene was practically jumping up and down with excitement.

"Excellent! Now, you and Grace are not moving until we sing Happy Birthday and let you open at least one present." It seemed that Desmond had no choice, seeing as this was his party/ball, much to his dismay. Everyone in the room was smirking, except for Desmond and me. I could see Dawn and Ivan chuckle as they watched the scene play out before them. Selene lifted her hands in the air to silence everyone before opening her mouth and began to sing.

"Happy Birthday to you," all voices echoed in the large ballroom as they started to sing. Lucas and Darien laughed while they sang while Desmond growled and sent them dark looks. They made him madder when they leaned into him and began to rock back and forth, looking like drunkards. I couldn’t hold back a chuckle; Desmond looked so miserable while being rocked from side to side, his brothers throwing their arms around his shoulders and throwing their arms out as though they were toasting.

"Happy Birthday toooo yoooooou," The song ended with claps and loud whistles.

Celeste pulled me closer to her and bent her head to me to speak to me over the loud crowd. "Grace, I would like to thank you. Despite the look on his face right now, I know that Desmond is very happy. In fact, I haven't seen him this happy in a very long time. What you've done for him is more than you'll ever know," she said, speaking loud enough for me to hear over the crowd. My cheeks turned warm with embarrassment. I nodded my head and mouthed You're welcome. She didn't know why Desmond kept me with him, and it was probably best that way. It would break their hearts if they knew the truth.

"Now you get to open a present! It's from all of us," Selene said, skipping over to Desmond and her brothers with a box in her hands. It wasn't a large box, but still a fair size. Darien and Lucas finally released him so that he could open the present. With a single tug, he pulled off the wrapping paper. Everyone remained silent while they wait for what was in the box.

He lifted out a small, red plastic wrapped daily calendar. I got one last Christmas, so I knew what size they were. A smile traveled across his face when he read the title on the front of the calendar. I tensed when his gaze turned to me. I lifted an eyebrow when he motioned for me with his hand to come over to him. I did so, making sure to bring Celeste along with me.

"Look at the wonderful present. What do you think? Useful? I think so," he asked, handing me the day calendar. I took it and read the title. I coughed at the black lettering written on the front. Lucas and Darien snickered at my reaction.

"You've got to be kidding me," I said after settling my coughing. My muscles tensed, feeling Desmond's arm wrap around me and bringing me closer.

"What? You don't like it?" he asked with amusement, already knowing the answer.

I sent him a glare. "No offence, but Sex, Every Day In Every Way—Position For Every Day Of The Year kind of rubs me the wrong way." Lucas, Darien, and Selene laughed louder when I spoke out the title's name so that everyone could hear. I could already tell that they were the ones who had bought this for Desmond. Parents usually didn't get their kids such profound presents. Again, Desmond chuckled and grabbed it from my hands, putting it back in the box.

"Thanks guys; it's just what we needed," he said, sending a glance down to me when he said we. I turned my gaze away from him and to the floor before I showed the embarrassment in my eyes. For the third time, I mentally thanked Dawn for putting so much make-up on that it covered my red cheeks.

"There's still more," Celeste said, grabbing Reyes's arm and walked him over to the rest of the family. For some reason, they didn’t ask for Aurelia to join the family. I glanced to her on the other side of the ballroom. She was still talking to other attractive vampires, as though it didn't matter to her that it was her brother's birthday. It burned me up inside that she was so self-centered. Desmond followed my line of sight and caught on to what I was thinking.

"Don't worry; she's always like this when she's at parties. I've gotten used to it over the years," he said while the other members of his family searched through the box for the other present. I shook my head, not believing a word of it. I had never had any siblings. If I would have had any, I would force them to be part of the family, even if they needed the attention of others at the moment. Fury getting the best of me, I forced myself out of Desmond's hold and marched over to the giggling and gorgeous vampire.

Most eyes in the room watched me as I crossed the marble floor with a defiant look on my face. Aurelia continued to act like I wasn't even there, even though the male vampires that surrounded her had turned their gaze to me. Finally—when I stopped less than three feet in front of her—she turned her gaze to me. As swiftly as I could, I grabbed a hold of her wrist and tugged her away from the surrounding vampires. She almost lost her balance in her high heels, but caught herself like any other vampire would.

"What the hell do you think you are doing?" she demanded with pure disgust, glaring at me. I made sure to keep a tight hold on her wrist so that she couldn't escape, and if she did, I would go swinging with her arm.

I returned the glare with the same fierceness, if not more. "I'm doing what I think is right. You haven't spoken a single word to your brother all night, and it's his birthday. He may act like it doesn't bother him, but I know otherwise." I could feel all eyes on me. My voice was now the only voice echoing in the large ballroom. She tried to pull her wrist away, but my hold tightened, refusing to release her.

"Now go be part of your family. You owe it to them and especially Desmond tonight." She stopped struggling, her brown eyes glancing behind me and to the rest of the Cervantes family. I released the hold on her wrist and waited for her to walk away, or walk past me to her family. She looked from me to her family a couple of times before making up her mind.

She turned around and returned to the crowd of vampires. I frowned and let my head drop while shaking my head. It didn't make sense to me why someone didn't want to be part of their family. It was now my one true wish that I could be with mine once more, but I knew that now that was not an option.

My eyes lifted once more, hearing high heeled shoes walk across the marbled floor. Aurelia appeared once more out of the crowd, this time holding a small present in her hands. I couldn’t help but give a tiny smile. She walked up to me and glanced down to me. She was at least half a foot taller than I was. Our eyes connected for a moment before she continued onto her family. With her long gait, she stopped and stood in front of her family in seconds. Without a word, she walked to Desmond and held out her present.

"It's not much," she said in her elegant voice when Desmond took it from her. The rest of the Cervantes watched with tiny smirks on their lips as Desmond grabbed her hand and brought her into an embrace. For a moment, I felt a twinge of jealousy, but let it slide when the hug was short. Selene skipped over to me and grabbed my arm and tugged me back to the family. It felt strange to be the center of attention while at least 200 vampires and other creatures watched us. Desmond slowly opened the present, unlike the other one, acting like he was savoring the moment of being with his sister and having a present from her. Slowly, he lifted the lid of the box. For a moment, all was silent while everyone waits for his reaction.

"Wow..." he whispered. He lifted the object out of the box and revealed to everyone. It had to be one of the fanciest watches I had ever seen. It had so many features on it that I couldn't count them.

"Let's see here...tourbillion, power reserve, striking-mechanism torque, moon phase, perpetual calendar, sunrise time, leap-year indicator, sunset time, sky chart and some others that I don't even know. Dang, how much did this thing cost you?" Desmond asked, still unable to take his eyes off the beautiful watch. Aurelia lifted up her finger to her lips and pretended to seal her lips. I felt like I had done something right.

"And you can't forget your last present!" Selene exclaimed, grabbing the box from Celeste and bounced over in front of her brother.

Putting his hand in the box, he lifted out a wine bottle. "Excellent," he said with slight excitement. He turned his head to me. "Don't even think about laying a finger on this," he warned. I glowered as a reply, crossing my arms over my chest in annoyance while scoffing.

"Why can't she share it with you? We got it so that you both could share it," Lucas said with confusion, looking between Desmond and me. The rest of them waited for Desmond's reply.

"The last time she got a hold of alcohol that was expensive; she drank the whole thing in less than an hour. I had to take care of her the rest of the night because she passed out." Lucas and Darien exchanged lost looks again. I lifted an eyebrow at them when their lost looks turned into mischievous ones.

"What's the matter, Desmond? Usually you'd be getting a girl drunk to take advantage of her," Lucas began with an evil smirk. I could feel the room turn darker as Desmond glared at his brother.

"Yeah, Desmond; are you having a change of heart? Man, Grace, he must really like you." Darien chimed along with the play. Desmond took a step toward his brothers.

"Whoa there, boys," Selene said, jumping in between them. "Let's not ruin the night by fighting."

"I agree," Celeste went along with Selene, still staying by Reyes's side. Sighing, Desmond slowed down and returned to stand next to me. He grumbled a few words under his breath before handing me the wine bottle. I blinked a few times, looking at the wine bottle with confusion. I read the bottle and let out a gasp of disbelief.

"Da Sliva's Vintage Port 1865?! That's so old!" I exclaimed, and my voice echoed throughout the ballroom once again. They all stared at me as though I had just spoken a different language.

"Your point? That's really not that old," Darien joked, crossing his arms over his chest.

I rolled my eyes. "Of course you don't think it's that old. You're a vampire. But to a human, it's old," I explained. They didn't think that over 100 year old wine was old enough. Aurelia whispered in Desmond's ear before walking away and returning to the awaiting vampire boys on the other side of the room.

I looked up to him, wondering what she had said to her brother. "What did she say to you?" I was practically sounding like I was begging for him to tell me.

He looked down to me and lifted an eyebrow. "Happy Birthday. Why?"

It was my turn to lift an eyebrow at him. "She couldn't say it aloud?" I asked.

Desmond smirked. "To tell the truth, this is quite a change for Aurelia. What you said to her really changed her in a matter of seconds." I decided to take that as a compliment. Desmond had never really given me a straight thank you. But, then again, he was always the one who was saving me, so I was usually saying thank you. I stared at him for a moment longer before letting my vision wander to the rest of the ballroom. To my surprise, most of the vampires had already left.

Desmond glanced to his new watch and shook his head and said, "Looks like we don't have much time before the sun rises. We better get going." He was hinting that he didn't want them to be stuck in the castle because of the sun, which was undoubtedly Cain's or Lucifer's.

Celeste nodded her head and said, "All right. Well, Happy Birthday." Then she brought her adopted son into an embrace before letting the rest of the family do the same. She turned to me and reached for my hand. When I gave her my hand, she rested it on the palm of her hand, resting the other on top of mine.

"I want to thank you, Grace. I know I said it only a little while ago, but I just want you to know how much you've done for our family. Never have I seen a human do such a risky thing as to stand up to a vampire, and a hot-headed one like Aurelia, no less. For one night, you've brought us all together. If it wasn't for you, this party would not have been the same," she spoke in sincere voice.

I smirked. "I can't argue with you on that last comment," I said with a sheepish smile.

She slapped the top of my hand playfully. She knew what I was trying to say. "Goodnight, child," she said before turning around to return to Reyes. He nodded his head to me when I caught his gaze. I smiled and waved, watching them walk up the stairs, Darien and Lucas pushing each other at each step. I smirked at their goofiness. I felt arms wrap around me from behind, and tensed. I looked down and noticed that they were not Desmond's, but feminine.

"Goodbye, Grace. I hope that we'll meet again soon," Selene said, releasing her hold around my waist and ran to catch up to the rest of her family, which only took a couple of seconds. Within a blink of an eye, she was out of sight. Looking around the large ballroom and empty ballroom made me realize how much larger it really was.

"Well, that was quite a party. I don't know about you guys, but we're ready to hit the sack," a familiar voice came from behind me. I turned around and smiled, happy to see the blonde and red-head. Both Ivan and Dawn were looking like they were about to pass out on the floor. Dawn's arm was slung around Ivan so that she didn't fall to the floor.

"Jeeze, what happened to her? She looks like hell," Desmond commented, or in laymen’s terms, insulted the tired looking Dawn.

Instead of getting angry and yelling at Desmond, Ivan laughed. "You wouldn't believe it, but that punch was stronger than we first thought. I think that's why we're both a little on the tired side. Let's get to the limo and get out of here...I'm about ready to pass out." Ivan's speech was a bit slurred, but understandable enough that we got his drift.

I blinked, suddenly feeling very tired. I yawned, unable to hide how tired I was. I yelped, feeling two arms lift me and begin to carry me. "This isn't necessary," I complained, even though being in his arms was very comfortable and warm. Desmond didn’t reply, but shook his head as he carried me up the stairs. Ivan did the same for Dawn. She wasn't looking very good compared to Ivan.

She must have drunk a lot. I concluded, clutching tighter to Desmond.

The limousine was waiting for us when we made it outside. The sun was only moments away from rising. Ivan climbed into the car first with Dawn before Desmond slid me into the limo. He climbed in next to me and closed the door before the car took off at a quick speed. I tiredly glanced to Ivan and Dawn. She was sitting in his lap, talking inaudible things to him, looking very drunk as she hung all over him.

"Are they married?" I asked, noticing rings on their fingers. I heard Desmond sigh beside me.

"Isn't it obvious? Like I said, they've been together before death. What I meant was that they were married before death," he explained.

"Oh—that's nice," I murmured, leaning my head to the closest thing, which was Desmond's shoulder. I felt his muscles tense at how close I was. I didn't care at the moment. My head felt like it was about to burst. In fact, my whole body felt like it was going to fall apart. I let out a tiny moan of pain, which was enough to make Desmond twitch uncomfortably. I didn't understand why, but didn't care anymore. Sleep caught hold of me quickly, but not before I felt a warm arm wrap around me and bring me closer to the body.