𝐂𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐲 𝐖𝐢𝐧𝐞 ➸ 𝖽.𝗌𝖺𝗅𝗏𝖺𝗍𝗈𝗋𝖾

━━ ch. 04

chapter four

"LEILA," Jackson's mother, Hilary, grinned as she approached Leila and Jackson. Leila smiled as she held out container full of sugar cookies.

"I brought you some cookies," Leila responded, placing them in Hillary's hands, "I hope you enjoy them."

"You know I will," Hilary winked, before looking at her son, "Your father is wondering where you've been, he wants to speak with you."

Jackson huffed out, "About?"

"That's for you to find out, isn't it?" She retorted, watching Jackson move from Leila's side to go up to his father, Glen, as he spoke with Logan on the other side of the living room, "My boys are such a migraine."

Leila only let out a light laugh, "How have you been, Mrs.Fell?"

"I told you, Leila, call me Hilary. I am going to be your second mother soon," She joked and Leila nodded, "But I've been doing well. Council meetings are getting more difficult."

"Because of the animal killings, right?" Leila asked, "I've been hearing all about it in the news."

"Ah, yes. Media coverage certainly doesn't make it better. I've had almost ten people come up to me this morning, half of them concerned on whether this animal was going to attack their house pets in their sleep," A laugh escaped Hilary, and Leila forced out one herself so she didn't feel alone on her amusement. Leila wasn't a fan of the Fell family as they were prone to their secrets and mischievous, but she had no choice but to be around them.

"Leila," Jackson's cousin, Meredith, called as she approached them, "I hope my aunt isn't boring you with council talk."

Leila smiled, "No, just expressing the rise in concern for the animal attacks."

"Hm, animals attacks," She hummed, "I've grown tired of hearing about those lately."

"Well, you're only going to hear a lot more when you're officially in the council and taking your father's place." Hilary told her, causing a forced smile to appear on Meredith's face, clearly showing her disapproval.

Jackson refused to let Leila know the truth about Mystic Falls, finding it better for her to be protected from it. He'd secretly give her vervain everyday in her drinks to keep away from what resides in their town, which was vampires. He was clueless of her knowledge, in which she happened to know everything. She knew about the so-called 'animal attacks' and everything else that the council members keeps hidden from the rest of the town. She didn't mind that he kept this from her, especially since she was hiding her own abilities from him as well.

"Well, I am in need of a drink," Meredith suddenly said, "How about you, Leila?"

"Yeah, I'll take one," Leila nodded, watching Meredith disappear into the kitchen.

"Sweetheart," Hillary called her, bringing in Leila's attention again, "Jackson told me you guys haven't settled on a day yet for the wedding. Why is that?"

"Yeah, it's only because we think we have a lot of time ahead of us," Leila explained, slowly growing uncomfortable by the topic. She knew it was going to be brought up sometime this evening, she just didn't think so soon.

"Well, you know, summer is coming soon and it would be lovely for a wedding," Leila tried not to let her eyes go wide. This summer, she questioned herself, not wanting to voice her opinion. "It would be perfect since beautiful flowers will be bloomed and the weather would be great, so your hair isn't ruined- oh, that reminds me, did you pick out a dress yet?"

"Uh, no. Not just yet," Leila answered truthfully, causing a frown to form on Hilary's face, "There's just so many to choose from."

"Well, maybe that is what's keeping you from picking a date!" She claimed, before Meredith came back with their drinks, "Why don't Mere and I take you dress shopping? I know that once you find the perfect one, you will want to get married the next day."

A soft laugh left Leila as she sipped on the champagne Meredith gave her, hoping it was something stronger. Leila didn't want to think about her wedding, a part of her feeling the day would never come. She wanted to prolong it for as long as she could, though Jackson's family wanted the complete opposite. She felt once they got married, his family would pressure another thing onto her- which was children and that wasn't even considered a thought to her.

The rest of the evening felt like it was draining Leila as continued to hold onto her smile and kept her sentences short. Jackson's family would mainly talk among themselves, which felt like a blessing for Leila all through the night until it was time to head home. After giving their goodbyes, Jackson drove Leila back home, realizing that she was quiet when it was just them two.

"Are you okay?" He asked and she looked away from the window and at him, briefly meeting his eyes before he looked at the road.

"Yeah, I'm fine," She responded, "Just tired."

He nodded, "If you want, we can watch a movie tonight until you fall asleep."

"Didn't your dad want you back?" She asked, "He wanted you guys to talk more."

"It's just about the council," He shrugged, "And it's late, I'm really not in the mood to hear more about that since that's all that was talked about today besides our wedding."

"Yeah, your mom wants to take me dress shopping," Leila sighed, relaxing back onto the seat, "She's very excited for it."

"Yeah, maybe because I'm the only one out of her kids to be getting married," He laughed, glancing to see Leila's attention went back towards window, which caused his laughter to die out.

There wasn't much for the two to discuss and Leila was hoping he wouldn't force a conversation out of her because she was exhausted. This entire day along with work had drained her, but she didn't want to tell Jackson she couldn't come to see his family- she knew he wouldn't agree with the idea at all.

When he arrived to her house, she was quick to get out of the car, but glanced back to see he didn't get out after her, "You're not coming?"

"I don't want my father to hate me more than he already does," Jackson sighed out, "I'll be home later, okay?"

"Okay," She hummed and turned on her heels, not even hesitating on his decision. She wanted some alone time and be able to joy the silence that engulfed her house. When she got inside, she hurriedly kicked off her shoes and hung her sweater on the coat rack.

Leila smiled as her feet touched the bare floor, it's cold wood sending a chill up her spine as she lowered her hair from its bun. Her neighborhood was as quiet as her house, which she was glad for since she had moved in. She wasn't interested in knocking down her neighbor's doors because of loud music or obnoxious voices, like her old apartment.

She couldn't wait to go upstairs to take a shower, but a knock at the door prevented her from even making her first step. She furrowed her brows and looked through the peephole, only to see a familiar face she saw at the bar a few days prior. Cautiously, she opened the door, only to receive a wide smile from the male stranger.

"Leila, right?"