DAMON

My eyes shot open when I felt something move beside me on my bed.

What could possibly be on my bed?

Was it an alien? Or worse; the boogie man? I hated that guy.

I looked around and realized that I wasn't in my bedroom like I originally assumed.

I was in Sophia's house.

Then I remembered that I'd come over because she was screaming from her nightmare, and I decided to stay so she could feel safe.

"Dammit, dammit, dammit. I'm so dead. So, so, so dead." Sophia was whispering over and over to herself.

"Why is that sweetheart?" I asked, my voice husky from just waking up.

She jumped and whirled around to look at me, "Because its 11:30! We're late for school!" She exclaimed, rushing around her room in an attempt to find something to wear.

"Calm down, we can just call in sick." I suggested. It was no big deal if we missed one day.

"We can't just call in sick. Adults have to do that." She told me, frantically dragging a brush through her long blonde hair.

"If you be my mom, I'll be your dad." I joked, fighting back a smile when her eyes grew wide in horror.

"But that's lying. What if we get caught?"

I laughed, she was such a worry wart.

"Calm down Soph. I've done it a few times before, the school believes anything." I assured her, running an exasperated hand through my hair.

She chewed at her bottom lip and finally sat down beside me to contemplated my idea. My eyes immediately drifted to her mouth, I wanted to bite that lip, bad.

"Okay." She gave in after a few moments.

It took me a second or three to clear mind and realize what she said.

"Really?" I asked in disbelief, I didn't think it would be that easy to convince her to skip school.

She hesitantly nodded.

My lips lifted in a proud smile. Look at my sweetheart being all badass for once.

"Okay let's do this." I said and took her hand so I could lead her downstairs.

Once we found her home phone I dialled the school number and cleared my throat.

"Hello?" the secretary, who's name I couldn't remember, answered after a few rings.

"Hello, this is Mr. Mackenzie calling to inform you that my daughter, Sophia Mackenzie, will not be attending school today as she is sick." I said in a deep, businesslike tone.

Sophia put a hand over her mouth to stifle her giggles as I winked at her.

"Okay Mr. Mackenzie. And is there anything else I can do for you today?" She asked, and it almost sounded flirty.

"No thanks that's all. Have a good day." I replied and hung up.

"Did you hear how flirty she was? Very unprofessional." Sophia commented, rolling her eyes in annoyance.

"If I didn't know you better I'd say you're jealous." I teased and poked her in the side, causing her to squeal.

"I'm not jealous." She huffed, crossing her arms and jutting out her bottom lip.

For a second my mind went back to biting that lip but I quickly shook my head and focused on our conversation.

"It's okay if you're jealous. I find it adorable. Almost as adorable as your pout." I told her, taking her hand in mine to pull her to the couch.

"I still have to call the school for you." She reminded me as we sat down.

"They might get suspicious if you call right after I did." I told her.

She nodded in agreement and made herself comfortable beside me.

"So..." She said awkwardly.

I held back a chuckle and glanced at her out of the corner of my eye.

"So..." I mocked.

"Wanna watch t.v.?" She asked, picking up the remote from the coffee table in front of us.

I shook my head, "I'd rather do other things." I said suggestively.

She gasped and slapped me on the arm as I laughed.

"Boys and their one track mind." She muttered under her breath.

In an instant I was pinning her to the couch and hovering above her, "What was that sweetheart?" I asked playfully.

She struggled under me and said "Nothing. I didn't say anything."

I chuckled, "I don't think so. You definitely said something."

"No I didn't." She replied stubbornly as she continued to struggled against me.

I smirked "Wrong answer."

"Damon get off you big fa-" Her sentence was cut off by a fit of laughter when I started to tickle her sides.

"D-Damon st-stop!" She squealed.

"Nope." I said as I continued to attack her sides.

Seeing Sophia smile and laugh like that was just too precious to stop. She was even more beautiful when she smiled because her whole face lit up and her eyes shone with joy.

"Damon!" She screamed.

"I love when you scream my name sweetheart." I told her playfully, but I was being honest.

"Oh m-my god ge-get off!" She exclaimed and somehow managed to kick me off her.

"I like it rough." I teased from my new spot on the floor.

"You're so dirty minded." She mumbled as she caught her breath from laughing so hard.

"Yeah but that's why you love me." I sang childishly.

"Whatever helps you sleep at night." She replied sarcastically.

"Thoughts of you don't help me sleep at night, they keep me up, fantasizing about your b-"

"La la la la! I can't hear you! La la la!" She sang loudly, cutting me off as she covered her ears.

I laughed and took my place beside her on the couch again. That girl was just so fun to mess with.

"Are you done now?" Soph mumbled angrily, but I could see the amusement in her eyes.

"For now." I replied with a shrug.

She nodded, satisfied with my answer, and turned on the t.v.

After watching some show about a teen boy who could change into a werewolf, for about a half an hour I couldn't take it any longer. The guy never wore a damn shirt and his abs weren't even that great. I had way better abs than him but I bet if I never wore a shirt I'd be thrown in jail.

"I think you can call the school for me now." I told her.

Thankfully she agreed with me and turned that god awful show off, before walking across the room to retrieve the phone.

Once she was back on the couch beside me she look over at me worriedly, "What am I supposed to say?"

I rolled my eyes and replied, "Just say, 'This is Mrs. Blake calling to inform you that my son Damon Blake will not be attending school today because he's sick'."

"Okay, could you just repeat that one more time so I know for sure what to say?" She asked, batting her eyes at me. Her puppy dog look was very good, maybe even better than mine.

I rolled my eyes and repeated what I just said, making sure she knew exactly what to say.

Once she was positive she knew what she was doing she dialled the school number and lifted the phone to her ear.

When the secretary picked up, Soph confidently repeated what I told her to say and before long, she was hanging up.

"All done." She said proudly, grinning like a little kid after they tied their own shoes for the first time.

I chuckled and clapped sarcastically for her, silently admiring how adorable she looked when she smiled like that, and then internally cringed at how soft I was becoming with her. What was that girl doing to me?

Nothing. She was doing nothing to me. I was still the same Damon who didn't go weak over any girl.

I didn't even have feelings for her, despite what I told her on our first date.

I felt bad for lying to her about liking her but I needed to get things moving, I needed to know if she liked me so I knew if my plan was working or not.

She had to fall for me, not the other way around. That was the plan and I was sticking to it.

Sure you are. The voice at the back of my mind said sarcastically.

You like her. Another voice said softly.

It was like having a devil and angel on my shoulders, but instead of one telling me to do the right thing and the other telling me to do the wrong thing, they were agreeing with each other.

This was all so confusing.

Shut up and kiss her. They said in unison.

I looked over at Sophia who was happily watching that awful show about the teenage wolf again.

Maybe I should kiss her. It would help with the plan right? I could just use my amazing kissing skills to woo her.

And I'm allowed to kiss her if I want, we were dating after all. It wasn't weird if I kissed her.

So with my final decision made, I gently spun her so she was facing me and swooped down to press my lips to hers. But before I did I paused when we were just a breath apart to give her time to back out, and when she didn't I finally sealed the distance between us.

She froze in shock for a second, but quickly responded to the kiss, intertwining her fingers into my hair as my hands found their way to her waist.

Our lips moved in sync and the sparks flew like usual. I could get used to those sparks.

The kids continued but I wanted more so I ran my tongue across her bottoms lip, asking for entrance.

Soph gasped in shock since I'd never done that before, but granted me access anyway.

I smirked against her lips and eagerly explored her mouth for the first time, committing every inch to memory, as she did the same.

Without my consent, my hands went from her waist to under shirt and on her smooth stomach, drawing a quiet moan from Sophia.

I stifled a groan of my own in response.

Just as my hands were about to make it to her bra, someone cleared their throat, causing Sophia and I to jump apart.

We both looked up at the person who interrupted and I was surprised to find Garrett standing at the entrance of the living room, his arms crossed over his chest and a disapproving frown on his face.

"I find you guys adorable together, but seriously get a room. I don't want to see that." He said, breaking the uncomfortable silence in the room.

"Sorry bro, but its hard for me to keep my hands off of her." I apologized with a smirk, earning me a nice slap in the arm from Sophia.

"What are you doing here?" She asked curiously, returning her attention to Garrett.

"You weren't at school and you weren't answering your phone, I was scared you were murdered or something." He explained, finally coming fully into the living room and sitting down on the other side of Sophia.

"You know you don't need to worry about me." She told him sternly.

Garrett nodded, "You're right, I should've known you were with Damon, since you two are always all over each other, but I guess it's better here than at school." He teased.

I rolled my eyes and coughed to cover up my laugh when I saw Sophia's horrified face.

"We are not all over each other all the time!" She exclaimed, waving her hands around frantically, trying to get her point across I guess, and at one point she almost hit me in the face.

I gently grabbed her air born hands and held then against my chest as I said "Calm down sweetheart, he was just messing with you."

"Whatever." She grumbled, slipping her hands out of my grip, but calmed down none the less.

"Well I guess I should go and let you two have some quality, best friend, time together." I said after a few moments of silence.

"You don't have to." Garrett said at the same time Soph said "I'll walk you out."

I raised an eyebrow at the two of them as I got up from the couch.

"I'm so glad I'm wanted here." I said dramatically to Soph.

"Sorry but you're not good enough to hang out with us." She teased, throwing her hair over her shoulder as she got up from her seat.

"Alright, alright. I'll go then." I said, putting my hand up in mock defeat.

"Bye." Garrett called from the couch as Soph and I walked to the front door.

I shot him back a quick bye absentmindedly, but my attention was on Sophia who was getting closer and closer to me.

She gave me a quick hug and when she was pulling away I grabbed her waist so she stayed pressed against me.

"See you tomorrow?" I whispered in her ear.

"Tomorrow." She whispered back right before I planted my lips on hers for a short but lingering kiss.

"Goodbye then, sweetheart." I said once we pulled away.

"Bye Damon." She replied as I walked out the front door.

I looked over my shoulder and sent her one last smile as she closed the door, and then walked back to my house.

Once I was in my bedroom I flopped down onto my bed and decided to watch some t.v. And none of that werewolf bullshit Soph was watching.

I flicked through the channels and found Spongebob, my all time favourite show besides Scooby Doo, and started watching that. I couldn't deny that I was a kid at heart.

I don't know how long I sat there watching the ridiculously stupid yet funny show, but it must've been quite a while because when my phone rang, finally breaking me out of my Spongebob coma, it was getting dark outside.

I reached into my pocket and pressed the answer button without checking to see who it was, thinking that it was either Sophia or Alex.

"Hello?" I said into the phone.

There was a short pause before a familiar voice answered, "Hey little cousin."

"Dave hey! I haven't talked to you since you left town a few years ago!" I exclaimed, surprised and delighted to hear from him again.

Dave was always my favourite cousin, I thought he was so cool when I was a kid and I wanted to be just like him when I was older.

"Yeah it's been a while huh? Anyway I was calling to ask if I could crash at your place for a while?" He said, sounding exactly the same as the last time I saw him.

"You're always welcome here. When are you coming?" I asked, excited I was finally going to see my favourite family member again.

"In about two weeks, maybe a little less." He answered.

"Sounds good, so how've you been?" I made conversation, I didn't really know what to talk about with him but I didn't want the call to end.

"I've been better but I'm doing alright." He replied vaguely.

"Cool." I muttered, not really knowing what else to say to that. I had so many questions for him, like where had he been? What had he been up to? Any new girl he was seeing? But I didn't want to ask any of that right now because it didn't want to annoy him.

"Well I gotta go, but I'll see you in two weeks." He said and hung up before I could utter another word.

I was surprised by the abrupt end to the call but I didn't think too much of it. Some people just aren't good at talking on the phone.

I put my phone back into my pocket with a smile on my face. It seemed like everything was working out for me lately. My plan for Sophia was going perfectly, my popularity at school was rising, and now my favourite person in the world, other than my mom, was coming back.

Life was great.

But I had a nagging feeling in my gut that told me this wouldn't last forever.