Tempted | Kai Parker

twenty four: crowds

By the time Caroline and I had arrived at the party, the Salvatore House was already swarming with familiar faces.

Even although I had wanted to get there when the place was a little quieter to ease me into the situation, Caroline had insisted that, in her words, 'the guest of honour', had to arrive fashionably late.

And Caroline was always right.

Apparently.

The sound of the party alone was enough to send my nerves into overdrive. And Caroline must have noticed my palms trembling by my sides because she quickly slipped her hand into mine as we walked through the front door.

The moment we stepped foot into the house we were met by a sea of faces lit up by colourful flashing lights. Some of the guests smiled, or waved at us, some were already drunk, judging by the way they were stumbling around.

I wasn't even aware that we knew this many people.

"Well, Care, it's certainly busy." I declared, straining my voice to be heard over the booming music.

"I know!" She exclaimed. "Isn't it great?"

I mean I don't know if I would have used the word 'great', but it was definitely something.

As we continued to battle through the crowd in search of our friends, my senses seemed to go into overdrive. I could feel sweat starting to bead in my palms. I could smell an overpowering concoction of alcohol. I could see far too many people in order to focus on just one. And the obnoxiously loud music rung through my ears so violently that it obscured the greetings that several familiar faces offered me whilst Caroline tugged us through the crowd.

The whole overwhelming ordeal left a bitter taste in mouth.

When we finally reached the living room, my lips puffed out a small sigh of relief as Caroline pointed out our friends. Seeing the faces of Elena, Bonnie, Stefan, and Damon allowed my rapid heartrate to calm, only slightly, thankful for some much-needed comfort.

As we approached the group, I found my lips tugging up into a genuine grin. Each of their faces was crinkled with unfiltered joy, giggles falling from their lips as they chatted merrily. And after my stint in 1994, I had truly forgotten how good it felt to just see their smiles.

"Hey guys." Caroline beamed as we finally joined them.

"You two finally decided to show, huh?" Damon grunted.

He liked to pretend he was grumpy, but he still wrapped his arm round my shoulder with a little squeeze and gave Caroline a playful smirk.

"Aww, were you missing us, Damon?" I teased.

The vampire rolled his eyes as released his grip on me to take a swig of bourbon from the glass in his hand.

As Damon let me go, I quickly turned towards the girls with a wide grin. Bonnie wore a stunning emerald green dress and Elena an equally striking royal blue one. Both girls had been finished off with stunning attention to detail, from shoes, to jewellery, to makeup, and hair – they just looked perfect.

"You two look amazing." I complimented as I embraced both of the girls in my arms.

"Us!" Bonnie scoffed. "What about you?"

"Seriously Andie, you look - wow." Elena gushed.

"Oh, stop it." I giggled. "You guys are too sweet to me."

A smile twisted across my lips as I began to feel the shakiness in my bones subsidise. And now that I was in my friends' company again, I almost felt like a normal teenage girl. All of those pesky little worries that nagged at my brain just seemed to fade into insignificance.