the dice was loaded from the start

First month, he thought to himself gleefully, whistling a happy tune. A month of owning the right to call a girl his girlfriend. Three years ago, he would have felt nauseous at the prospect of even touching a girl, although he had thought Mira Anderson very pretty when he first laid eyes on her. She was an exception. Only at the age of thirteen did Damien begin to perceive girls in a different light. He still found the girls in his year and younger than him nothing of much interest. It was the older girls, especially in the Slytherin common room, that he started labelling as eye-candies. One of them was Pricilla Cuffe, who would always spend her time gossiping in the common room. Damien would pretend to be writing in his book, but really, he was sketching the many different faces of Pricilla Cuffe. Besides her pretty eyes and her smile, the boy was drawn to the girl's hands. She would gesture a lot in her excitement, and he thought it all very appealing. It was not clear to him how the two began to talk, but talk they did.

When his infatuation with this older girl began to torture and eat him up on the inside, Damien could not hold back his love confession for Pricilla. It was his first confession, and she had accepted it, claiming to return the affection. The boy had been over the moon. He remembered how he ran everywhere looking for Georgia Wheelbarrow to ensure that his best friend got the news. A month of casual dating ensued before the couple threw themselves into an official relationship. It made Damien feel extremely proud, but mostly of himself for snagging such a desirable older girl. Damien was clearly overwhelmed with feelings for Pricilla. He was naive and idealistic, and basically believed that this girl would be his forever. Now, though, it was just the first month. He wanted to spend some personal quality time with her. It certainly helped that the school term had ended a week ago, because Damien wanted to show Pricilla his home. Yes, ever since he began to live at the d'Eath residence at the age of eleven, the boy could never really stop boasting about where he lives. He wanted his girlfriend to see it, for real. Lorcan d'Eath, being part-vampire, had chosen a rather private location in a Scottish forest for a home. Damien appreciated the choice thoroughly when he first stepped into the place, especially taking to the pool.

Never one who could talk much of the cold, Damien had worn a sweater over the shirt that he had picked out the night before. He had woken up earlier than planned, seeing that he tossed and turned with excitement for the entire night. It was agreed that Pricilla should come over for lunch. A week ago, the boy had informed Diddy, the house elf, of plans for today. He had also told it not to alert the family in case he got embarrassed for it. Damien had asked Diddy in the most polite manner they he could muster for all the favors of the day, in hopes that the day would go smoothly. Damien began to pace impatiently as he awaited the girl's arrival. The house was very quiet. Lorcan d'Eath only woke up before dinner, and since the holidays had begun, some of his siblings too. Others were out enjoying what the vacation could offer elsewhere. It all seemed to work for him.

Cilla was soo excited. She was hurriedly brushing her hair, throwing some stuff into her bag. Damien had invited her over and she was sooo excited! He had been staring at her a LOT in the Common Room, and suddenly she had come over one day.. and talked to him. He was super sweet, and super nice to her. And was definitely her type. He was younger then her, but that was okay! He was cute, she liked him, and they got along really well. Cilla had told her parents about him, and they had actually approved. He was just a sweet little thing. He had confessed his love for her, and she had been over thrilled. Not that they did anything besides hold hands. It was fun! She could definitely understand why people dated. It was just fun! Getting walked to class, meeting up with each other over the summer. They hadn't actually.. DONE anything, and Cilla was pretty well experienced by now.. she played around, but had never DATED.. so it was exciting.

But now.. she was getting ready to leave the house, and she looked at herself in the mirror for a quick moment. She was wearing a cute green summer dress, and black leggings. Her hair was pulled into a half pony, so that hair fell onto her shoulders in waves, but it didn't fall into her face. She smiled at her mirror, and checked it to make sure she didn't have anything in her teeth. According to Damien, she was going over for lunch, but she wasn't actually sure if she would be dining with just him, or his family. If it was his family.. well she was nervous... a lot of parents thought of the Cuffe's as wannabe Rich. Mostly because of her father actually worked for his money as the editor in chief of the newspaper. Cilla bit her lip, and sighed, before jumping into the car, and her chauffeur took her Damien's house.

Cilla stepped out of the car, and pulled on some sunglasses, looking around, her bag on her shoulder, and looked up at the beautiful house in front of her. "oohh." She said looking around, hoping to spot Damien somewhere close.

Suddenly, from out of the bushes, for there were many in this foresty area, jumped Diddy. Diddy had been very excited when his boy master, or so he called Damien, told him about the plans for the day. Diddy, a big softie and a romantic at heart, had spent his free time on romantic novels in the d'Eath library. Despite being a house elf, he was treated fairly, allowing leisure times whenever he is not needed. And the library was where you could find this house-elf, although there were many words that he could not read. Diddy merely understood when a hug or a kiss had taken place. Oh, and love. Diddy set his enormous eyes on girlfriend, certain that it was the girl's name, since boy master had referred to her as such.

"Diddy welcomes Girlfriend to the d'Eath residence!" Diddy began, attempting to sound like a good host, although he was not really the true host. The house-elf gestured towards a direction of the d'Eath house and shouted, "boy master, there!" Then remembering his task, Diddy jumped into the bush and disappeared for a moment, although violent rustlings sounded from it. Soon, he emerged again, but this time, he held a bouquet of roses in his hand. Damien had sent for him to procure it in the morning. Diddy had become extremely busy just for this occasion. He hoped for some good leisure time later, if Damien would allow. Diddy walked up to Pricilla and offered the flowers to her. As soon as that task was accomplished, he turned his back to the girl, but gestured for her to follow him. He began to walk into the house, leading the girl to Damien.

Damien had waited so long, although Pricilla was not late, that he had slumped himself comfortably into one of the chairs by the pool, and had fallen asleep. This happened, thanks to not sleeping the night before, what with the excitement. With his head resting lazily on his shoulder, Damien looked pretty deep into it. Diddy had not noticed the sleeping boy, and had basically brought Pricilla to where Damien was, and left to head to the kitchen to prepare the food.

Cilla giggled when a house elf appeared out of a bush, and called her girlfriend. She smiled at the guy, and looked down at him. It appeared that Damien took very good care of his house elves, for this one looked very happy. Cilla's eyes darted towards the house, and then back to the house elf, only to discover that he had disappeared into the bushes again. She giggled lightly and watched the bush shake, and the house elf appeared with flowers. "Ohhh!!!" She exclaimed, taking the flowers and immediately smelling them. "For me?! Thank you!" She said grinning at the house elf, only to see he was now walking away. Cilla waved excitedly to her driver, who drove off, and Cilla quickly took off after the house elf up the driveway, and looked around happily, looking for Damien the entire way.

Finally they arrived to a pool, and Cilla looked around, watching as the house elf walked away, and finally found Damien, slumped in a chair, fast asleep. Cilla giggled softly, and went over to Damien, crouching by his chair, she gently traced her fingers over his jaw, before she decided to surprise him awake. Leaning forward, she let her lips very gently touch his, and then run along his cheek, before she leaned back and looked at him, her hand still gently touching his cheek. He was so cute! Laying there, she just had to! Just had to kiss him right there and then. He may only be thirteen, but he was so darn cute!! Cilla giggled softly and kissed his forehead, and then his cheeks again, hoping to wake him with the soft fluttering kisses, and maybe get a real kiss in return to the gentle waking up that she was bestowing upon him.

First one, then two, then three, and it continued. Something soft and warm persistently landed on his face, but Damien was not afraid, nor was he put off by it. It felt --- wait, why is there a blur... Damien realized that his eyes were shut. He opened it quickly, only to squint at the sunlight that streamed it immediately. His expressionless face, however, transformed into one that was very pleased. The boy smirked when he realized that Pricilla must have arrived to find him asleep. He wondered if he should feel embarrassed about it, but pondered no further as he began to enjoy the girl's fluttering kisses. Although he thought about feigning sleep to continue to enjoy these little kisses, Damien had already open his eyes, so it was too late.

His hand reached up to the older girl, and he pulled her head down gently down towards his face as he reached for a real good and long kiss. As it went on, Damien felt his body pushing up towards the air which held the space between him and Pricilla. Unlike the older girl, he had never been intimate with anyone. His eagerness is therefore extremely revealing. Perhaps Pricilla should stop him before they kissed until no breath is left of them anymore. Damien certainly could not exercise that sort of control because, well, boy-hormones. He continued to roll his tongue over Pricilla's, tasting every bit of her mouth.

By this time, Diddy was almost done heating up the food that he had prepared. Wanting to check on his master, he poked his head around for a glimpse of the scene and found his eye going extremely wide. Diddy wondered about the scene, stared at it longer than he should, then guiltily scampered back into the kitchen.

Cilla was taken by surprise when she looked up at him, and saw his eyes open. She giggled, but suddenly he reached out, and pulled her down for a real kiss. It had been much to long! Last time she was intimate.. well.. it hadn't been good that was for sure. She wasn't even sure if Damien HAD kissed anyone... but here it was, and he was pretty good, she hoped it was natural and not practice that gave him his skill. He pulled her head closer, and moved up to close the space between them, as the kiss went on and on. She was taken aback by his eagerness, and pretty soon she was running out of air. Slowly, she pulled back and gasped slightly, leaning back on her heels. "You were asleep mister..." She said putting her hand on her chest and laughing lightly. "I was not expecting that! Where did you learn to kiss?" She asked giggling and moving so she was sitting on the edge of the chair he was sitting in, running her fingers through his hair gently.

"Long time no see love." She said giggling and leaning down to kiss him on the forehead again. She smiled and looked around the pool. "This is a lovely house Damien! I didn't realize it was so pretty!" She giggled lightly and flipped her hair over her shoulder, standing up, and crouching by the pool to test the waters. It was nice and warm, and felt perfectly chlorinated. "Wow.." She looked over at him. "We need to go swimming later!" She said giggling and standing up fully again, and spinning on the spot, holding out her arms to him. "Do you like my new dress? Daddy got it for me!" She giggled and spun around again, her arms over her head, before getting to dizzy, and having to stop, looking at him breathlessly, a twinkle in her eye.

When Damien felt Pricilla pull away, he wanted to groan a little, as if to complain that she did. But he held back, since it was just a month of relationship, and the boy still felt like he has a lot of appearances to upkeep, for fear of losing this girl as soon as he has gotten her. His eyes continued to stare longingly into the girl's, though, and it lingered there like how her taste was still lingering in his mouth. The boy's breathing began to be more calm, as opposed to the out-of-breath one that had just been, when he was kissing Pricilla.

Damien rubbed his eyes to get himself out of his sleepy stupor as the girl talked. "Well, there was Leah, Vanessa, Ann ... the list goes on" he offered mockingly when she asked about his kissing. Then quickly after some chuckles, Damien circled his hand around Pricilla's waist and brought her close to him again, just wanting to take in the scent of her. Whenever he smells this scent, the boy would always desire to bury himself into and against this place which he thinks to be the best place in the entire world.

"I learnt it from you, of course," Damien began again to rectify what he had said earlier. He remembered how just last week, Pricilla had showed him how to kiss, and he lapped up all that she taught quickly, and never stopped thinking about it. It was a step further than the usual hand-holding and hugging in school. He had thought his kiss to be a little sloppy. He had felt awkward doing it despite just being very happy to lock lips with his love. The girl did not seem bothered though, and that comforted him.

"Long time indeed. A week is too long, since we always get to see each other in school ... everyday." Damien made a sad face after he said that. He wished he was older, and that Pricilla could come and live with him for good. Well, if he was older, he would have laughed at that thought. Now, though, nothing was too fast to him. He wanted it all. The boy beamed once more when he was kissed on the forehead, feeling as if his happiness could explode him already.

"Yes, well. Father has quite a taste," Damien began, glad to boast about his father, whom he admires, and of course, the wonderful house. He had begun to not like talking about mother now. There was a change about her that displeased him. Besides, her apartment in the city had become too conventional for him. The d'Eath residence was the best he had seen. A house in the forest, he loved the idea as much as the house.

Damien nodded eagerly when Pricilla asked about her dress. If they were older, he might have made a cheeky remark about liking her without the dress. But now, he thought it amazing to see her just this way. "Your Daddy has quite a taste too, then." He smiled. Damien had never met his girlfriend's father, but had definitely heard about the man. Father had told him about Barnabas Cuffe, and Damien had thought the other man's job to be a pretty intriguing one.

Suddenly, Diddy entered the scene. "Boy Master," he ventured. "Lunch?" The house-elf had waited for the scene to become more ... acceptable before walking out.

Damien spun around and stood up, patting his hair down at the same time absentmindedly. He nodded to Diddy before turning his attention back to Pricilla.

Cilla looked at him sternly, before losing the look and giggling, unable to keep back the smile. She giggled when he pulled her closer and leaned her head on his shoulder. How was it, someone who was younger then her, could feel so much stronger then her, it was like her knees simply gave way, and her body just moved where he wanted it to go. It was nice in a way, unlike her other boyfriends, who only ever seemed to want to kiss her, not hold her, like Damien was doing now... it was hard to find in a pureblood.. a lot of them just thought of girls as a way to make an heir.. and then she was useless after that.. maybe Damien wouldn't be that way.. her parents were currently looking into his family records, and making sure things checked out alright.

"A week is a long time Damien!" Cilla said, pretending to sound hurt. "We can't walk down the halls of school, and hold hands, and kiss in the empty classrooms... I can't teach you how to kiss at all, or show off to my friends my adorable boyfriend, I'm stuck at Home, with my boring mother.. cause Daddy is always at work, and Mother just sits in her room, and I LOVE getting to see you... and your house is awesome!" She giggled, and leaned her head against his shoulder gently, moving into a more comfortable position with her hand against his arm.

"It is a beautiful place Damien, and your house elf is so cute! I loved the flowers!" She said bending down and picking up the flowers that she had laid on the ground next to his chair. "My house is pretty, but I like all of the trees around here.. ours feels like it's kinda out of place.. but it is nice! You should come over sometime... my parents wouldn't bother us." She said lifting her eyebrows to imply something that had gone unsaid. "Where is your parents anyway?" She asked, but suddenly spun around when she heard the voice of the elf. She glanced at the thing, and then looked at Damien, watching his reactions. "Lunch? Already? Are we gonna do anything after lunch?" She asked, puffing out her bottom lip, and pouting. She was afraid she'd have to leave directly after eating, and if they put off eating, then she'd stay longer.. or if they did something after eating, she could stay longer.. it all depended on what Damien wanted to do.

Damien felt very pleased that Pricilla seemed so happy about everything. She was definitely more chirpy than usual. This probably meant that he had done everything right so far, not that much had been done. But for starters, it went well. Damien thought about his plans for the day. It was nothing much, really. He was very idealistic, but pretty low in the creative department unless prompted by sudden inspiration. The boy had, however, thought of using the word. That L word. Well, to say it and mean it. He felt sure about his feelings. He even had dreams of their wedding. It was a recurrent one, that waiting-at-the-end-of-the-aisle dream.

He chuckled at how Pricilla talked on about memories they have made so far in school, his eyes placing the girl on a pedestal as he admired the beauty of her face. Damien was glad that he seemed to have a return invitation to the girl's house, a little curious at what he thought was a suggestive tone in her voice, but he had no idea what it meant. Slight confusion was revealed in his eyes, but he tried to pretend he understood anyway. He had always felt the need to act older than himself. He wanted to be everything or Pricilla, to be enough, to matter. He had always wanted to matter, and he would live his life always seeking to matter to someone and somewhere.

"Well, father's asleep. He only wakes up in the evenings. And mum ... well, she doesn't live with us." Damien frowned. He had wanted so much to paint positive dreams for his first girlfriend that he had never spoke of his troubles or miseries. For one, he did not want to appear weak. Furthermore, he thought she would not be interested.

Damien had planned for Pricilla to stay for long. His father would never mind. The older d'Eath has made the entire family accustomed to various women coming to stay over anyway. Sometimes, Damien would sneak up to the highest level of the house to listen at the door at what would ensure between these women and his father. He was always curious. Lorcan had explained sex to his son and encouraged him to be exposed to it as soon as possible. Although Marissa, the boy's mother, had tried to shield her son from such knowledge. Despite intentions for Pricilla to stay, Damien wondered if she would stay over like the women with his father. The boy had never had any girl over, let alone stay over. And he was sure to be teased the following day if any d'Eath should find out.

"Yes, lunch. I'm starving, Cilla! You get to feed me if you're not!" He added, teasingly. Before Damien could continue with his answer to the girl, Diddy appeared, trying to balance a tray above him. The boy got distracted, worried that Diddy would drop the tray. He continued to observe, but did not proceed to help, the house-elf. "Careful, Diddy," he sounded, sternly.

Cilla smiled. He was so innocent! The little curious look in his eye when she spoke not so innocently. It just made her giddy all over again. He was so cute!! "So no one is here right now.. well technically.. I mean your DAD is here.. but he wakes up later.. and it's still a LONG time until the sun goes down." She grinned at him happily and looked away, looking around the pool again, before her eyes came to rest on the House Elf that came in with lunch. He nearly topped right into the pool, but managed to catch himself in time, and she watched him, glancing at Damien to see his views towards the creature. Obviously he wasn't low enough to HELP the creature, but he did warn him sternly. That was a mark for him. Anyone who was willing to help a house elf wasn't really good in her books. Helping house elfs were a step above being a blood traitor in Cilla's family.

Cilla moved over to where the House elf put the food and grinned at Damien. "I am hungry! why do you think I came over here silly?" She asked shaking her head and looking at the house elf, nodding her head to it to show that it was time it left her and Damien alone. "I believe me and Damien are quite alright for now... we will call you when we are done." She said simply, and turned her back on the creature, looking at Damien and sending him a huge, toothy grin. "Your family really is very well off. How many of them do you have?" She asked, obviously meaning the house elves, but not really saying it directly. Her family had quite a few, for doing just about every aspect of the house besides Laundry of course. Seeing as that would set them free, of course House elves cleaned up clothes, but Cilla had been taught firmly that she should NEVER hand a House elf so much as a sock. Seeing as that would set them free, and it was rather hard finding a house elf these days.. hard indeed.

So Cilla had learned that they were there for cleaning her stuff, and she was not to help them. Not with anything, and her view of them changed to nothing above seeing him and looking away, as though they weren't there. "Well Damien, this is very nice, you should have told me you have a pool, I would have brought my swimsuit." She said giggling and sitting down leisurely to enjoy lunch with her new boyfriend.