Bad Girl. - E Z (reading well .TXT) 📗

walked them past their upstairs living area, and down the hallway, stopping in front of his room.

His smile held a bit of an apology to it. "It's a bit of a mess - I didn't have the chance to clean it."

She only managed a shrug, to which he took as a prompt to open the door. He turned the handle, and Libia watched his hand with teeth clenched, as she tried desperately to reign in her nerves.

The door swung open, and she found herself staring at...

"Damon, you call this messy?" She giggled.

His room was spotless, save for a single shirt on the ground. His backpack sat against his glass-top desk, and a few papers were spread out, what she assumed was homework. His cream carpet was without one stain. The only messy thing in the room was his bed, which was adorned with a fluffy black and white comforter, matching sheets and pillows.

"It's huge," She murmured as she stepped inside. "I'd always wanted a big room."

"Why's that?" Damon inquired as he followed her in, closing the door behind them.

"Because then I'd have the free space to dance," She admitted.

A smile curved at his lips. "Speaking of that, we haven't put together a dance yet for Mrs. Vans."

She blinked. "We haven't," She realized, looking at him. "Isn't the debut in two weeks?"

He nodded, taking a few steps forward and catching her in his arms. "Yep."

She set her hands on his chest, her eyes worried as she watched her fingers play with his shirt. "What are we going to do?"

She hadn't even had time to worry about her dance class - not to mention when she and Damon were fighting.

He lifted her chin, leaning down to nussle her neck. "We'll think of something. Two weeks is a long time if we use it right," He murmured.

She closed her eyes, as his warm breath brushed her skin. She'd never been held like this before - never been so intimate. It was so comforting, and it also made her heart pound with nerves. It was all so confusing.

"Why do you make me feel this way?" She whispered to him, as her fingers gripped his shirt.

He shook his head, and his nose brushed her neck. "What way?"

"I feel so right here, in your arms, and yet I'm so nervous. Why is that?"

He closed his eyes at her words, feeling her hands tremble and realizing how much courage it took her to admit those things to him. He pulled back, and she opened her eyes to look at him.

He smiled down at her, a gentle smile that melted her heart and made her want to turn into mush. 

"I don't know, Libia. I feel the same way, and it confuses the hell out of me."

She smiled. "Really?"

"Really," He confirmed, his hand drifting up to her cheek and pressing into the soft skin there. "But I never want it to end."

She blinked as the earnest doubt in her eyes melted into a soft sea of understanding. "I don't, either."

Sighing, he leaned down and pressed his lips to hers. Her hands slid up to cup his jaw, feeling the stubble prickle her hands. He groaned as his hands made their way up her back, cupping her neck in a gentle embrace. 

It was gentle at first, their lips moving together slowly and lovingly, and then it deepened, and Damon pulled her even closer, one arm going back down to capture her waist. He lifted the other hand to slip into her hair, running his fingers down the length of it in a slow, soft movement.

A soft moan left Libia, causing Damon to smile against her lips. 

He pulled back, knowing they both needed air, and Libia opened her eyes to stare into his blue depths.

"You have no idea how much I missed those lips," He whispered, planting one more soft kiss on her swollen lips before her cheek.

Her cheeks flamed red, and she realized her hands still captured his face. She took one hand away, but the other slid up, and she ran her fingers through his hair. He closed his eyes, a smile curving his lips. Her fingers played in the strands, and it caused tingles to shoot up his spine. 

"Libia...," He trailed off, before leaning his forehead on hers. "I...need to tell you something."

His eyes slowly opened, and her mouth went dry at the apprehension, the sheer nerves that she saw there in his depths. 

She nodded, clearing her throat. "Go on."

He took a deep breath, and did something very unlike him - he broke their stare. He pulled back from her grasp, taking her hands in his, and holding onto them for dear life. "Libia...I-"

A knock inturrupted their suddenly serious atmosphere, and Damon's eyes closed. Libia furrowed her eyebrows as she called, "Yes?"

"Sorry, Mom and Dad just got home. They're getting out of the car now," Jack called.

"We'll be right out," Libia replied, "Thank you."

He didn't answer, so she turned back to Damon. His eyes opened again after a moment, and he looked up at her. "Damon...?"

A small smile lifted his lips, as he leaned down to capture hers in one last, heavy kiss that made Libia's knees wobble. "Let's go."

"Wait," Libia protested as he pulled her to the door, he didn't stop. "What were you going to tell me?"

"Later," He looked back to wink at her, but his eyes flashed nervously.

She watched his back with furrowed eyebrows as he led her downstairs, but as the front door opened when they reached the bottom steps, Libia's curiosity was replaced by the burning need to run and hide. 

Damon pulled her under his arm, holding her close as if he'd sensed her sudden change. 

In walked the two that Libia dreaded seeing - Rich and Lisbon Slain.

Jack and Carol came to stand by Damon, and Libia sensed a change in all three of them. She watched the light in Jack's brown eyes, which had been so bright when they'd met, dim down nothing, and his hands clasped behind his back as if he were meeting with a drill seargent instead of their parents. Carol wrapped an arm around her brothers, holding onto his sleeve, as she stared down at the ground. Even Damon wasn't as bright as he'd been - tensing up as if for a fight and holding Libia just a little bit tighter.

This wasn't a home, Libia realized. This was a boot camp.

Chapter Sixteen.

 

The silence when Rich and Lisbon spotted Libia was deafening. She found herself shrinking into Damon's hold as their cold stare bit at her.

"Dad, Mom, welcome home," Carol murmured quietly.

"Yes, thank you Carol," Rich said, his voice cool and collected, with no hint of affection for their youngest daughter.

And suddenly, Lisbon slapped a big, fake smile on her face.

"It's so nice to finally have you for dinner, ah...?"

"It's Libia, Mom, you know this," Damon half-growled.

Quickly, Libia trailed her fingers up his back, finding the familiar spot between his shoulder blades. As her fingers traced the line of his spine, he found himself relaxing without his consent. He almost shook his head in disbelief. The girl had more of a hold on him than he cared to admit to himself.

Libia forced herself to be bold as she smiled politely at the two that approached. "It's nice to see you both again." Of course she was lying through her teeth.

"Ah, yes, you as well," Rich told her, nodding his head, before turning to his oldest son.

"Jackson, did you manage to set up dinner?" He asked him.

It made Libia blink in the realization of the meaning of those words. They weren't polite, or even just a friendly question. They were demeaning and bordering on condescending - as if they didn't expect him to be able to, as if he were so below them that he bordered on being stupid.

She could feel her hands clenching, so she reached behind her and gripped Damon's shirt tightly. She could no longer keep her face polite, so she settled on keeping a smooth poker face.

Now it was Damon's turn to calm her down, sensing her want to speak up,  he moved his hand down to her arm and squeezed softly, before carefully rubbing up and down.

"As a matter of fact," Jack said, his face hard as he stared straight back at his father - accepting his challenge, "The roast is in the crockpot and has been since this morning."

Carol cleared her throat, squeezing her brother's hand once in a warning, before looking up. "It shood be ready in a few hours so...we should all go and sit on the back porch. I made lemonade."

They were all on edge as they watched them walk past, and when they dissapeared into the kitchen, the relief that relaxed everyones shoulders was palpable.

Letting out a deep breath, Carol looked over at Libia with a small smile. "I'll go and get the cups filled. Jack, will you help me?" She looked up at him.

He nodded, rubbing the back of his neck as he glanced at Libia and Damon, who were standing close together. He noticed Libia's hand clasping Damon's shirt in a vice-like grip from behind, and met her eyes with a smile of his own.

"Next time, we should have dinner at your house - Damon says your mom and brother are great people," He murmured.

Libia found a smile on her lips as she nodded immediately in agreement. "It'll have to wait a bit though - my mother and brother are still recovering from that virus."

"Of course," Jack's eyebrows furrowed in worry.  "I hope they get over it okay."

She released Damon's shirt to wave a hand in dismissal. "They're fine. My mom's a soldier and my brother is too hyper to let something like this pull him down for long."

Chuckling at the truth of her words, Damon dropped his hand down and thread his fingers through hers.

"Well," Carol pulled on her brother's hand, leaning slightly around him as she said in an obvious voice, "We're gonna go...get the lemonade ready. You come on out back when...you're ready," She shot Damon a wink, before hightailing it out of the foyer, dragging a reluctant Jack along.

Damon rolled his eyes, but was glad for the alone time with Libia. He turned to her and lifted her face with one hand, taking their intertwined hands and pressing his knuckles to her cheek. "I'm sorry about that. Our parents aren't really...well they're not exactly...," She reached up, planting a finger on his lips. 

"I understand, Damon. They're not social...in any way," She shrugged with a small smile. "I'm glad to at least have met your siblings. They're worth sitting through an awkward silence with your parents."

Laughing, Damon leaned down and planted a warm kiss on her lips. "Thanks Babe."

Giggling, Libia pushed on his chest before he could steal another kiss and began dragging him. "Let's not make them wait too long."

He groaned. "But they just gave us the go ahead to be alone!" He complained.

"That's not why we're here, Babe," She teased him dryly.

"Ooh, you've never called me that before," He said, stopping her with an abrupt pull of her hand and spinning her around to face him. She yelped at the sudden movement, laughing as he enveloped her in his arms. "I think I like it," He whispered in