As we were getting ready to leave, I grabbed my mother's arm. "We'll take Ashley home, Mom. We were thinking about getting drinks after dinner and we'd love her to come." Ashley still lived with Mom while she attended school, and they often drove together; driving was a touch uncomfortable for Ash.
My mom gave me a critical look. "Emma..." Ashley was also only nineteen.
"I'll make sure hers are virgins, Mom." I discreetly winked at Ash, to let her know that I had no intention of doing anything of the sort. Ashley never got carded, people just kind of let her do what she wanted, which worked out well for us on occasion.
My mom sighed, "Okay...be careful."
I rolled my eyes at her. "We'll be fine." I didn't mention that I had my own personal pit-bull alongside me, although, I really didn't think of Teren as dangerous...unless you were poultry, of course.
We all stood, and were about to start walking up the aisle, when Teren offered his arm to Ashley. My mom had been about to do the same thing, and she grinned ear to ear when she noticed that Teren had beat her to it. "May I?" he said, with as charming a voice as I'd ever heard him use. My sister flushed and nodded. Ashley took his arm and they walked in front of Mom and me. I smiled at Teren's back as they walked ahead of us, heads bent in low conversation. Sometimes he seemed so much older than twenty-five, like he was from a different generation, a sweeter, more chivalrous one. I suppose his house being full of strong-willed vampire women, had something to do with that.
Once outside, Teren gave my mother a warm hug, all the while still lacing his arm with Ashley's. Mom looked downright giddy as she hugged me, and inwardly, I sighed. They loved him...the baby talk was going to follow soon. I'd be surrounded by it on both sides. Although, knowing my mom, the baby talk was going to be preempted by the "marriage" talk. My mom did love a good wedding.
We waved goodbye as Mom pulled away in her little compact, and then the three of us piled into Teren's car. He drove us to a local bar that was relatively clean and relatively quiet. The lights were dim, to create an atmosphere of "let's drink more" I guess, but some people still noticed us as we entered. They all instantly focused on Ashley. She straightened her shoulders, gripped Teren's arm tighter, and dealt with it, as she did every day of her life. My blood boiled at what she had to endure, and I shot some nasty glares at the looky-lous.
Teren quickly led us to a small, round table in a back corner, on the opposite side of the room from the pool table, so we could actually hear each other over the sound of the balls clanking together. Almost immediately, a short, rather dumpy waitress was at our side. Staring at Ash, and not even bothering to hide it, she asked, "What'cha want?"
Teren ordered a beer and we ordered rum and Cokes. The waitress scuttled off and Ashley relaxed her posture, just a bit. I put a hand on her thigh and she leaned her head against me.
"Thanks for inviting me out," she said politely, looking at both Teren and me.
"Well...we did have a hidden agenda," I said.
Ashley lifted her head from my shoulder and stared at me; curiosity was clear in her large eyes. I shrugged my shoulders and lowered my voice, "We wanted to talk to you about something without Mom around. Something you cannot tell her about."
Her back straightened and her curious expression shifted to excitement mixed with worry. "Oh my god, are you pregnant?" She looked back to the bar. "Not to be a prude, but you really shouldn't be drinking if you're pregnant."
Teren laughed pretty hard and I knew he was enjoying the fact that my family was just as interested in babies as his. Well, maybe not just as interested. I lightly smacked her on the arm and she frowned. "No! God, no! This is about Teren, not me. He's...a little different," I stated.
Ashley eyed him with quiet wonder, and he sighed a little, clearly not liking what was coming. "You are? How so?" she asked, her eyes sweeping over him, searching for something that made him as different as she was.
He looked about to speak, but just then our drinks arrived so he shut his mouth and waited. The frumpy woman set down his beer and our drinks, while flicking not discrete glances over Ashley's body the entire time. I felt like screaming at her, "Yes, she's scarred, we know that," but I knew Ashley wouldn't want the sort of attention that would bring to her. Ashley smiled softly at the woman through her half disfigured lips, and even thanked her when she was done.
The waitress mumbled something about enjoying our evening and then slunk off to the other side of the room. Ashley brushed off the encounter as she always did and turned to face Teren, since she was still waiting for his mysterious announcement.
I started to worry that Ashley wouldn't take it as well as I thought she would. What if she screamed? The bar wasn't packed, but there were a couple of beefy looking guys playing pool, and another guy at the bar who had gone way past beer-belly and was shooting for keg-belly. While they probably wouldn't physically be a problem for Teren-he was pretty strong and dang fast, after all-he wouldn't get out of the bar without causing quite a commotion. But I quickly pushed that thought aside. My sister's reaction would be quiet and contained. She wasn't one to bring unnecessary attention to herself. And if I was alive and well after so much intimate time with Teren, then he obviously wasn't that dangerous.
With Ashley intently watching Teren, he seemed unsure how to tell her. He looked over at me and shrugged in an inquiring way. I puckered my lips and thought about the best way to say it without sounding completely insane. There really wasn't one. "Just bluntly tell her?" I suggested.
He thought about that, then shook his head and smiled. "She'll just laugh." I grinned, remembering my initial reaction to the blunt way he'd told me. Ashley looked between us, confused. Teren sighed and leaned towards me. "I don't think she'll believe it unless she sees it."
I looked around the bar again. Aside from the waitress and the three large men, there were a handful of other customers, another waitress and the bartender. A few people were still staring at Ashley; those people quickly turned away when my gaze fell over them. I looked back to Teren. "Can you do that...here?" He had his back to the main part of the bar, but the bartender could still possibly see. He seemed busy pouring drinks and chatting with keg-belly man, though.
Teren took a quick glance around. "Yeah," he said when he faced us again.
My sister was finally tired of being in the dark, so to speak. "Do what? What are you guys talking about?"
Teren met her eyes and held her gaze; a very, very faint glow emanated from his eyes in the dim bar lights. His face was completely serious and I got those nervous butterflies again. "Ashley, I need to show you something. It will explain to you why I'm different...if you let yourself believe. I'm only going to do this once, so please pay close attention."
He slowly opened his mouth and her eyes automatically tracked the movement. What was left of her brows furrowed in confusion as she waited. Slowly, and with more control than I realized he possessed, he extended his fangs to her. The lengthening of his teeth to sharp and unnaturally long daggers was unmistakable. Watching him do it left no room for misinterpretation-he was vampire.
My sister's eyes widened to saucers. "Holy...crap..."
He immediately popped his fangs back up and closed his mouth. Cocking his head to the side, he studied her reaction. He looked as if he were waiting for her to toss her drink on him, or try to kill him. Ashley did neither.
Pointing at him, she turned back to me. "Seriously? Vampire?" I nodded and she broke into the widest grin her scars would allow. "That's so freakin' cool!"
She and I both started giggling as Teren shook his head at us. "What is it with you Taylor women?" he asked. We both laughed a little harder.
Ashley started in on the questions. She asked a lot of the same ones I did-how old are you, what can you do, do you live on blood? After she asked the blood question she blinked, and before he could answer, she said, "Wait...I watched you eat food?"
Now Teren and I glanced at each other and started laughing. In hushed tones, Teren proceeded to explain his condition to her. He left out exactly what he had left out the first time he'd told me his secret-that he was dying and that his family had certain...expectations before he died. Watching Ashley shake her head in disbelief while trying to absorb everything he was telling her, I understood better why he'd left that stuff out on the first go round with me. It was a lot to take in all at once. He was right, segments were better.
While Ashley was laughing over the fact that he had a dog named Spike, a couple of guys walked near our table and sat at the bar. They were the sort of guys who looked like they believed they were Pharaohs, and everyone should really be kneeling at their feet. They seemed in a perpetual bad mood that everyone wasn't. They took one look at my sister and one of them muttered "freak." I was just about to rip the gonads off that one, when from beside me I heard a low, animalistic growl. It was impossibly deep and absolutely terrifying. The hairs on the back of my neck stood straight out. I stared at Teren in shock-the noise had come from him.
He snapped his head around to the men. "Apologize," he seethed. I don't know if it was his faintly glowing eyes, the deadly intent in his voice, or the otherworldly growl emanating from his chest, but the guys immediately sputtered "sorry," and took off to the other side of the bar. Maybe, like most bullies, they were just completely chicken when confronted by a true threat. And from what I had seen and heard from Teren just now, he was definitely a true threat. Maybe I'd have to rethink my opinion of him not being dangerous.
Teren spun his head back around to us; he looked pale and unsure of himself. I was about to ask him if he was okay when Ashley touched his arm. He started, but Ash was too excited to notice. "That was the coolest thing I've ever seen! I wish you could have bared your teeth, that would have been just amazing, but I know you can't expose yourself like that." She patted his arm, like he was an obedient puppy that had just defended its master. "Thank you, Teren."
Ashley gave him a friendly smile. Finally seeming to be more like himself, Teren returned her smile and held her hand. "Don't mention it." From the faint tightness around his eyes, I kind of got the feeling he meant that literally.
We finished our drinks with no further provocations, although the men seemed to be gathering up their courage on the other side of the bar; they were eyeing Teren with a We can take him attitude. Not feeling the need to risk a confrontation, that would most certainly end with Teren displaying one of his many extra attributes, we paid our waitress and headed back to the car. I looked back at the creeps and noticed that they were bumping fists and laughing with each other, like they had just successfully evicted us from the bar. Idiots. They had no clue how lucky they were that Teren had no desire to actually fight them. They'd probably pee their pants if he did bare his teeth at them.
Once we were in the car and zooming to my Mom's house, Ashley examined Teren in the front seat. Looking over her shoulder to me in the back seat, she asked, "Is him being a vampire why you broke up?" She nodded her half bald head at Teren as she spoke.