The 'not a date' date

By the time I reached home again- packets of clothing and black hair dye in hand, I was relieved to see that the weather had begun to change. Clouds were beginning to gather in the sky, smothering the warm, golden rays in their grey dullness and the air had begun to take a strange smell which always came with the expectancy of a storm. It had been a while since I'd seen or experienced the wonderful storms of my hometown, and I was greatly looking forward to it.
Chester greeted me at the door with a beaming smile and a, "Welcome back, Miss Jasmine. Andrea has left you lunch on the kitchen table if you are hungry."
Despite it being quite a while after lunchtime, I did not refuse the offer of food and, as soon as I placed my packets back upstairs in the room I was occupying, I went down to the kitchen. I was relieved that Andrea was not there and resorted to eating in there, labelling it as the safest place in the house for now. She had made a beautiful chicken and feta salad, garlic bread and some fruit salad. I ate quite quickly before placing my dishes in the dishwasher and then going back upstairs to complete the task of changing my hair.
The hair dye stuck onto my gloves and coated my blonde hair in its thick, sludgy darkness as I mixed and meshed it into my hair. Once every single ounce of blond was totally covered, I washed my hands off and decided to go and check whether or not my exam results had been released yet as I waited for they hair dye to take effect. So, I got out my laptop from my bags and began logging onto the website. I waited a few moments- with bated breath- before my results showed up. Immediately relief shot through me and I sighed, content. Despite Damon being particularly annoying during the week of me having to take this board exam, I actually had passed. Finally, I had successfully achieved another thing completely independent of Lucien, and the feeling was unimaginably satisfying and liberating.
Once I was sure that the dye had sunk in, it was already 6 p.m. and by then, I realised that I needed to actually get ready to go and take Damon out to dinner.
The shower was... not as relaxing as I'd hoped it would be, especially considering the hair dye was such a dark colour and it took much of my time to actually wash out. As soon as I was finished with my shower, the first place I went to be the mirror where I gazed at my appearance in shock. My black, short hair actually did a good job of making me somewhat appealing looking. As though I were some sort of specialised secret agent in some sort of modern spy movie, and I ruffled it up, then tousled most of it to the side and tucked the other section behind my ear. I wondered, for a moment, what Damon's reaction would be when he saw it, but brushed the thought away with a red blush.
I then began getting dressed into something casual: a short, white lacy top which, when paired with a pair of blue high-waisted jeans, exposed a small section of my stomach. Once I was satisfied with my appearance, I went downstairs and tried waiting subtly in the living room area on one of the dusty gold sofas.
"The Master should be home any moment now... Oh goodness, you look very beautiful Miss Jasmine. Almost like you did the first time you came here." Chester said.
I blushed, thanked him and then said, "I-I'm not waiting or anything." I was honestly just trying to sound more composed than I actually was- and it was Damon's entire 'date' concept that was messing me up.
"Sure, you're just sitting in the living room staring at the black screen of the flatscreen television..." He said with a wink, and then left before I could yell at him.
*Breathe Jasmine... just breathe. It's just grabbing dinner. Nothing special. You are over-complicating this.*
I let out a breath, closed my eyes and then opened them, certain that, by now, I was slightly more composed. I was, however, proven wrong when I heard Chester say, rather loudly, "Oh hello Master Michaels!"
Immediately my heart rate began to soar, and I began breathing unbearably heavily. Eventually my overthinking reached its peak as I tugged on my hair and wondered if it was too short or if my clothes were too casual or if-
"Jasmine?" Damon called out.
I closed my eyes, one more time. I was Jasmine Spectra, an Alpha wolf, a Vixen and finally, 'The Vixen', and no matter what Damon's reaction to me would be, I would still be okay, and I'd still be strong. It was, after all, only Damon…
Slowly, I turned around, and then looked down at his expensive shoes.
He let out a little gasp, and immediately I thought, "Oh fuck, he hates it!" But it seemed I was wrong, according to the next words which left his mouth.
"You look so... sexy." He said.
Immediately I gazed up into his gentle hazel eyes and blushed, before tucking a strand of hair behind my ear. "You really think so?"
He smiled, nodded and then neared me. "You look so beautiful Jasmine. Your hair kind of reminds me of the first time I ever saw you. Goddess, I thought you were the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. I still do."
I now smiled at his comment and took a hand he held out for me.
"So, are you ready for our date?" He asked.
"Firstly," I began, "it's not a date. And secondly," I gazed at his clothing, "you need to get dressed into something different. We are literally getting take-out; we're not going to discuss a merger."
He chuckled and then a deep, mischievous smirk appeared on his face. "How about, you and I go to my room, and you choose what I should wear?"
I raised my eyebrows, contemplated and then nodded. "Fine, you clearly don't know how to dress for occasions, so I will do the honor of dressing you."
My tone was quite formal, and I folded my arms as he and I both walked towards his room which he let me borrow. I began sifting through his numerous cupboards while he sat on his bed, watching me carefully as I threw out pairs of clothes.
"Hmm... I don't like this." I said, throwing a shirt on a growing pile right next to the cupboard.
Damon chuckled, "So are we going to spend the whole night removing clothes from my cupboard?"
"Shhh! You're ruining my train of thought... Oh! What's that over there?" I then removed a grey sweatshirt from the back of his cupboard with a black rose on the back and the words, "tainted" printed on the front.
Damon stared at it in horror. "Hell no!"
"Hell yes. This with those grey sweatpants I threw onto the bed."
He sighed, ruffled his hair and then asked, "We won't be getting out of the car... right?"
I shook my head no, and he sighed again, taking the sweatshirt from my hands. I smiled and then left the room for him to change.
It took a few moments before he opened the door and stepped out nervously. My heart nearly fell out of my chest as I took a glance at him. He looked so much younger now than he did in his suits and, in all honesty looked so much more relaxed and... handsome in his normality.
"Wow! You look like you could steal hearts like this."
"I could steal hearts in anything I wear, Jasmine." He muttered.
I laughed, "Yeah but now you look worthy enough for me to walk you around on a leash."
He laughed too, and then wrapped his hand around my back. "Let's get going. Chester!" He yelled out as we made our way to the door.
"Yes, Master Michaels?"
"You and Andrea are dismissed."
Chester nodded and then, when Damon was not looking, shot me a mischievous glance which I returned with a bright smile.

When we arrived at the car, I stopped Damon before he opened the door up. "I'll be driving."
He looked at me, stunned and shook his head. "No, I'm driving."
"Damon Michaels, you better hand me the keys this instant before I forcefully rip them from your hands. I said I'm taking you out on a date, not the other way around-"
As soon as the words left my mouth, I placed my hands over it. Damon stood there, arms folded and a smug look on his face. "Date, huh?"
He then threw me the keys, looking quite satisfied while I was practically turning into a tomato. Sometimes I honestly dug my own grave. This was one of those dreaded times.

"So, where are we actually going, Jasmine?" He asked, as I took my fourth right turn.
"Somewhere I loved going back when I was working for you. On stressful nights when I didn't have any Vixen jobs to do, I'd just go there, order through the drive-thru and then sit in the parking lot in the silence and the peace."
"It sounds quite significant to you." Damon said.
I nodded and said, "Yes, it is, but I'll talk more about it when we get there."
It took a few more minutes before we arrived at the drive-thru of the fast-food restaurant, and before I reached the drive-thru speaker, I asked, "How much fast-food experience do you have?"
Damon looked at me and shook his head, "Enough to know that I want the ‘Giant Cheeseburger’ special with a large chocolate shake. Don't underestimate me Jasmine, you're not the only one who enjoys eating."
And clearly, I had underestimated him. I'd forcibly tried to make us as different as possible to give myself as many reasons as to why we wouldn't work as I could. But now that I was really getting to know him, I found that in some ways, we were quite similar, and the barrier between us was beginning to break slowly.
Once we had ordered, paid and received our food, I parked somewhere dark and secluded so we could eat in peace. It was then that a few drops of rain began falling on the windscreen, and I smiled, excitedly at the idea of it raining.
"So, you were saying, about the times you came here?" Damon asked after taking a sip of his chocolate milkshake, snapping me out of my rain-induced wonder.
"Yeah, it gave me time to think..."
He turned to me and I turned to him, his hazel eyes holding me for a moment, as he asked, "What did you think about?"
"You..." It came out unexpectedly and I quickly corrected myself, "I mean, work. I'd think about all the work I had, and I'd wonder if I could get it all done. I also wondered about my future. I wondered whether I'd be stuck being a Vixen my whole life. Back then the world was so big and daunting and every day I wondered how long before it would swallow me whole and kill and take me like it had killed and taken so many other things I once loved."
I hadn't a clue why I chose to tell him this, it all just seemed to come out of me. These unshed thoughts and feelings that I usually kept to myself were now being shared with the one person I never even thought would care.
"I'm sorry..." Damon began, his face falling slightly in sincerity, "you seem to keep losing everything and everyone. But I can try and promise you this.” He then leaned in and shifted so that he was fully facing me. “I promise you, Jasmine, that I will not leave your side. I will be with you every step of the way until you get sick of me. And even then, I still won't let the world take me from you. Because you deserve at least one thing of your own in your lifetime, and I'd be happy to be yours... if you'll forgive me for all the things I've done to you-" He then paused, looked away, then said, "and, I think I'd like to explain them to you now-"
"-you don't have-"
"No, I need to, because we can't move forward until I've explained it all to you."
And so, I sat back, ready to listen to him.
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So excited for the next chapter! Damon is finally going to explain himself to Jasmine... hopefully! I hope you all loved this chapter. I honestly love writing and creating the small cute moments between Damon and Jasmine.
Stay safe. Stay healthy! Sending you all my love!