Chapter 6
Leighton woke up to an empty bed but was feeling refreshed. She slowly made her way downstairs to see the Fairmonts and some other people she didn’t recognize but assumed to be Cal’s family (her mother?? Absolutely beautiful) all hanging out in the living room. Leighton tried to be quiet but sneaking into a room full of vampires and monster hunters is nearly impossible. All 9 heads turned to her with varying expressions. Cal’s family looked surprised and the Fairmonts looked a range of apologetic to amused, Elinor was mainly amused, happy to have her girlfriend back with her. Elinor greeted Leighton at the bottom of the stairs and took her hand softly.
“How are you feeling?” She asked in a whisper as they made their way to the room.
“Better for sure. Ready to eat.” Elinor chuckled at her remark and pulled her on top of her as she sat in a chair. Leighton was slightly taken aback. Elinor wasn’t huge on PDA aside from the occasional peck on the lips or minor physical contact but this was a lot for the vampire. As she scanned her eyes around the room she realized that Cal and Jules were in a similar position, clearly lost in each other as they talked, so Leighton relaxed. If her girlfriend was comfortable to be in this position, she wasn’t going to complain.
A few minutes later one of the chefs came into the room and announced that dinner was ready. The crowd found their way to the table and settled in. Margot and Sebastian were at the opposite heads with Elinor, Leighton, Juliette, and Cal on one side and the Burns family on the other. Leighton noticed the slight tension in the air but figured the two families got together often enough that there wouldn’t be any fighting; at least not during dinner. In the middle of the table sat a whole spread of foods ranging from salad to chicken to potatoes to quail. Leighton had never seen so much food before but was more than happy to try it.
“So”, Cal’s brother Apollo started, “ Leighton, how did you end up with the Queen Bee vamp anyway?”
Tatum barred her fangs at him which caused Leighton go put her hand on her thigh in an attempt to calm her. “Theo, right? Well if you must know. I had seen Tatum around campus, she actually almost hit me with her car, and I invited her to this party and we just kind of clicked from there.” Leighton ended the story with a slight squeeze to Tatum’s thigh and resumed eating her food.
Dinner overall was a success. Apollo found joy in pushing Tatum’s buttons and the vampire almost fell for the bait a few times but thanks to Leighton she managed to stay calm. Leighton also found herself surprised at how charismatic Cal was. The stoic teenager who Leighton met in the car was much different than the girl who was in an animated conversation with her girlfriend and brother, Theo.
As the most mortal of the group Leighton found herself being asked a lot of questions, some genuine, others condescending, but she answered all of them with a smile on her face. She was going to impress this group of people if it was the last thing she did. Every once in a while she would steal a glance and Tatum and her heart would nearly burst. Tatum for the most part hadn’t taken her eyes off of Leighton since she came downstairs. Both for protection and because of course. Leighton was beautiful, why would she ever look away.
As dinner wound down the group made their way back into the living room, Leighton not hesitating this time to curl up in her girlfriends lap and sigh as she felt the strong arms wrap around her with a kiss on the head to seal the deal. Watching her usually up tight girlfriend be so carefree and fun with her family was a different side to her and Leighton loved it. Elinor was clearly a daddy’s girl and it was fun watching their dynamic. Time had passed and Leighton found herself getting tired but she was clearly the only one who felt that way, the vampires never needing sleep and the monster hunters were instinctually on alert being in a room full of their natural enemies. She checked her phone and was surprised to find that it was 3 in the morning, way past when she would usually be awake. Yawning, the blonde started to get up and kissed her girlfriend good night.
“Tapping out already?” Elinor asked with a smirk although she knew it was bound to happen.
Leighton rolled her eyes at her girlfriend’s jab and made her way back upstairs to their room. Unbeknownst to Leighton and everyone else in the house, just outside waiting for this exact moment were Oliver and Carmen, gleeful smiles on their faces as they waited for Leighton to sleep to put their plan into action.