Doe's POV:

The stares you get while walking through the streets of this city alongside a vampire while it's bustling are interesting.

They differed from the ones I was used to getting on the occasions that I'd be here alone.

The pity mixed with the snobbish folk who took one look at me, somehow knew what I was, and deemed themselves superior.

The humans that were no better than vampires in that sense.

It didn't match the looks I've seen given to vampires who walked alone through here either.

Those were usually met with fear, their heads lowering before they'd quickly step out of the vampire's path.

Vampires weren't permitted to feed from these types of humans except on the night of the bloodmoon unless they believe that they were provoked.

I guess people give them their space just to be safe.

So when they're met with both, a pet walking right beside a vampire who looked happy to be here, they weren't sure what to think.

And since these people apparently don't know how to mind their own business, I figured that I had every right to see their reactions.

Most of them just looked confused or unsure, glancing us over multiple times to try to make sure they had labeled us properly.

Sneaking glances at Xander's mouth every time he spoke to see if he had fangs before making their decisions from there.

It seemed like a lot of work on their part, but obviously, they had nothing better to do.

Although, there was a bit of hypocrisy in that given that I was spending so much of my time evaluating their actions.

Xander on the other hand didn't seem to give a shit, not paying a single mind to anyone but me.

I stuck my hands into the pockets of the coat I had gotten a few days prior to warm them up a bit, figuring that maybe I should adopt his mindset for a bit.

"So where are we going first?" Xander asked, effectively surprising me.

Usually, he leads these types of outings, and even then...

"When have we ever had an actual plan during days like this?" I questioned back.

We just kinda wandered around and stopped at anything that we deemed interesting.

"True, I just figured since this was was planned in advance, maybe there was someplace specific you wanted to visit."

I had noticed that we were taking a route similar to the one I took alone while he had his little meeting.

I just shrugged as we took a turn, "Not really, I just figured that we'd get lunch at that sandwich place and then eat it at the park as usual."

"I see," just those two words held a hint of mischief.

My eyes then narrowed as I noticed that his walking wasn't as aimless as it usually was on these days.

He was leading me somewhere.

I turned my head away from him before rolling my eyes at the antics that I felt were just beginning.

It seemed like he caught on anyway judging by his quiet laugh.

Especially after I recognized more and more of the shops we passed until one, in particular, caught my eye again. The same music store he had met me by the last time we were here.

I had to reel back my instinctive excitement at seeing it again, trying to keep a straight face.

Still, I couldn't help but steal quick glances at the guitar through the window as soon as I could see it.

My heart sank as my thought the last time I had been here came back to me, causing me to look away and turn up my nose as if this shop didn't interest me at all.

In hopes that this wasn't where he was leading me and we could just keep on walking.

I want quite sure what his intention was, but I didn't have a lot of hope in myself in being able to hide my admiration of that instrument if he were to stop here.

And god only knows what he'd do with that information.

I forced myself to keep my eyes straight ahead, as we walked beside it, trying my hardest not to give any implication that I was interested in it whatsoever.

And it worked, I had managed to completely pass it without a hitch.

I released the breath that I had apparently been holding the entire time we passed it.

Wait...

The entire time I passed it. Alone.

Xander was no longer beside me.

My feet stopped under me as I turned back to see him standing right in front of the shop's window, staring thoughtfully at what I just knew was the guitar with a finger on his chin.

"Hey, Doe! This guitar looks pretty cool dont'cha think?"

The mischief was all over his face at this point, the confident smirk parading itself underneath that knowing look in his eyes.

Mine narrowed and my nose scrunched at the sight of it all.

"So this was where you wanted to bring me?" I asked, placing a hand on my hip and refusing to take a step.

"So accusatory," He tisked still with that wide smirk, "I just happened to think that it was neat, and wanted to hear your opinion."

The fake innocence in his voice further proved that this was 100 percent intentional.

"I'm accusatory because I'm accusing you, and I've already told you that you're a bad liar!"

His shoulders bobbed as he chuckled, finally dropping the act and motioning for me to return back to him.

I eventually did with a sigh I made sure he could hear.

"Care to tell me why you really brought me here then?" I huffed, not quite ready to drop my own act yet as I stood at his side.

"Because you were looking at this guitar like it would solve all of your life's problems and I wanted to see if that look would happen again."

My eyes widened at the sincerity of his answer, only then finally allowing myself to look at the instrument entirely.

That same curious pull in me shining to life as my eyes wandered over its intricate details.

"I was actually looking at the violin," I fibbed, pointing over to the matching cherrywood violin on the left of the guitar.

He was silent for a little bit too long, long enough for me to nearly turn back to figure out why before he playfully nudged my shoulder with his arm.

"You're also a bad liar," he spoke frankly.

"I'd be a great one if you weren't a vampire," I muttered, crossing my arms.

"Probably," He took a step closer to the glass, glancing down at the little sheet of paper hanging from the neck of it, "Lucky for me, I am."

My eyes bulged the second I realized that the 'little piece of paper' was actually the price tag.

Oh no.

"Don't tell me you're thinking of actually buying it!" I spoke with panicked disbelief.

"Of course I am," His tone was the direct opposite of mine.

"Why?!"

"Why not? You obviously want it, and the fact that you're trying to convince both me and yourself otherwise only further proves it."

I just stared at him, mind scrambling for something to say to try and dispute that.

Damn it he knew me way too well.

The main thing stopping me last time was because I didn't think Xander was serious about succeeding in keeping Layla away.

And even though he did succeed... for now... this still felt temporary.

This lie he made wasn't the end-all-be-all. There's no way the issue between Layla and I was over just because of that.

Not with a lie that could so easily fall through no matter how careful we were.

"I...," I had nothing. Nothing that he wouldn't catch as a lie, and I didn't want to tell him the full truth behind it either.

Not when she still had a grip on him.

Although, if anything, his willingness to get it only further proved that he had no intention of getting rid of me...

His head tilted as he saw the expression on my face.

"What's got you so hesitant? I'm sure I can help you figure out the basics and I'll get you some books to help you learn how to play too."

My grip tightened on the opposing arm at how serious he was about this.

Like he'd already thought it through.

"Because you're spending your money on it," was the best I could come up with.

He wasn't buying it in the slightest.

"Doe, I'm an heir, that's not really an issue," he responded monotonously

The amount of times that fact has slipped my mind...

"That doesn't mean you should just spend it on whatever!" I was grasping for any excuse that I could at this point.

"I'm not spending it on just whatever, I'm spending it on you. Because I want you to have it, and I think you'd work well with it instead of my old violin." He spoke like he was trying to ease away my hesitation.

If only it were that easy.

But it sounded like he'd already made up his mind on the subject.

Which caused the opposite effect of what he was hoping for.

It's not that I didn't want it. I did, I truly did.

I just didn't want to have the opportunity to call it mine... to finally have something that I could be passionate about just for that happiness to get taken from me for one reason or another.

I didn't want to risk that.

Just the very thought of it getting taken away again terrified me... Getting it ripped straight out of my hands with absolutely nothing I could to stop it.

The days since Xander told her I was dead have been nice... fun even save for a few instances on Xanders part and my own.

Not having to worry about what each day was going to bring me, not having to mentally prepare myself for what was coming.

Actually having a full amount of blood in my body.

I never realized how both mentally and physically draining that was for me.

Even now... even when she wasn't haunting me physically, it still felt like she had a collar around my neck.

Enough so that I didn't even want to let myself enjoy something like this because I'd rather not have it at all than enjoy it and have it taken.

To have her somehow come in and ruin it.

For her to somehow find out the truth and carry out what she deemed as my expiration date.

My nails dug into the sleeves of my coat.

I'd only let myself enjoy the small, temporary things for now.

Until a solution that's a bit more permanent presents itself to me.

I doubted I was ever going to snap out of this unless she was out of my life for good.

Which meant that she needed to be out of his, and that idea was still a bit farfetched.

He was going to the ball with her after all...

Who knows what'll come out of that with him if she decides that she wants to pull him back in. Then what? What's to come of me?

A thick feeling of dread began to fill me.

Which is why when Xander began to head towards the entrance of the store, my agitation shot into action and forced me to move.

I reached out and hooked my hands around his arm near his elbow, pulling back to stop him.

"Don't," I couldn't stop the word from escaping me.

My voice was nearly silent, only barely coming out in a forlorn plea.

Which he definitely wasn't expecting if the speed at which he turned his head told me anything.

I tried to hurriedly clear any telling look from my face, panicking even more for a different reason at what I had just done.

Shit.

The squint in his eyes told me that he was indeed trying to figure me out.

I wasn't confident that he could, not down to the specifics anyways. Either way, I didn't want him trying

I tried to keep those kinds of thoughts deep in my, and I was cursing myself for letting a part of it slip out with a single word.

Rarely had I ever let myself panic for a reason that involved Layla in front of him, and Even though he didn't know that she was the cause this time, I still was reacting as such.

"Doe what's bothering you so-"

"Just wait till after the ball...Please?" I hastily said.

Anything to just get him to drop it for now.

I'll have more answers after the ball... More of a gauge on where he stood with her.

More of a gauge on most of the things that were bothering me.

He wanted to question me, to try to push for a more direct answer to find out what I wouldn't tell him, but he didn't.

I knew that his mind was still buzzing, trying to use what he had to figure it out on his own, but he couldn't.

Not this time.

He instead just took a step back in the direction I was pulling him, confused, but cooperative.

I'd be confident enough to say that he didn't want to push it any further and risk ruining the carefree mood that this day was supposed to have.

"After the ball then," He repeated with a soft smile.

Relief flooded into me with my next long exhale, "Thank you."

Yet I still found my gaze turning back to the guitar.

One day... Maybe.

"You should get the violin though," My voice was still soft, "Or at least a bow so you can play yours properly."

"Me?" He questioned, taking the liberty of getting us to walk again.

I drew my hands away from him as he did, nodding.

"Yeah. I wanna hear you play. You had to have been good at it, right?"

He thought for a moment.

"I guess you could say that, though it's been a few years since I've picked it up."

"How long have you been playing it before that?" I asked, wanting to bring the mood back to a lighter one.

That, and I was genuinely curious.

"A couple decades," He answered like that was no big deal, "I picked it up after learning piano from Nico."

"You can play the piano?!" I gawked.

How did I not know that!?

The thought only then occurred to me that there was actually very little about him that I knew.

I've lived with this guy for nearly two years and knew almost nothing about his life

At least about his life before me.

His chuckle took the last bit of awkwardness from me.

"I can indeed. My mother is very musically inclined so Nico and I ended up following in her footsteps, I was just the only one who picked up violin."

There was an almost pained look in his eyes as he reminisced.

"We came up with some nice duets back when we had the time."

I nearly asked what made him stop playing, but I put two and two together before the words left me.

If he stopped playing a few years ago, then that was right around the time that their relationship started shriveling.

"Well, now you have to play for me with a violin, and a piano," I told with a tone that let him know that my decision was non-negotiable.

That smile returned to his face.

"You have my word."