Pomegranates and Desire

No New Friends

"I can't believe I let you two talk me into this." Serena grumbled to Blair and Chuck as the driver pulled up to the place they agreed to meet Persephone. A small, hole in the wall, pizza place that looked half ran down and out of business. "Well you want to make sure she's not competition." Chuck shrugged, looking at the building in disgust.

"With this kind of taste, she isn't." Blair crinkled her nose like she smelled something rotten. As they walked in, Serena spotted Persephone with a tall, well built, bald man standing behind her whith her back to the wall. She wall talking to him in hushed tones, a pizza on the table in front of her. "Oh! Serena!" Persephone waved them over, having just spotted them.

"Persephone. Hey. This is Blair and Chuck." Serena motioned to them, introducing them to her. Persephone smiled at Blair and nodded. "Nice to meet you Blair. Danny told me about you." Persephone motioned for them to take a seat. "I'm sure you were told about me." Chuck gave a smug smirk to which Persephone turned up her nose. "Yes. By Jenny. Not as nice to meet you Mister Fish." She sniffed as the man behind her tensed.

Chuck's face fell as he cleared his throat. "Yes well. It's Bass. Besides, the past is the past." He tried to wave it off. "This is Brutus. He will he accompanying me." Persephone ignored him, knowing all about Jenny's first meeting of Chuck and not caring for him in the slightest. Brutus gave a nod but stayed quiet. Blair and Serena shares a look. This was going to be a long lunch.

XoxoxoX

"Miss Waters. It is time to go." Brutus spoke for the first time since they got there over an hour ago. "Ah. Yes. I must be going." Persephone said as she looked at her watch to confirm the time. She stood up and nodded to Blair and Serena, ignoring Chuck like she had been the whole time. As the two walked out the door Serena sighed, slumping into her chair.

"How are you supposed to distract her if she hates you?" Serena glared at Chuck a halfheartedly. "How was I to know she would take such offense to the incident? She wasn't involved." He shrugged, not really caring what she thought of him, only caring that she would be a challenge, and he loved a challenge. "I should have known" Serena groaned, putting her head into her hands. "She's practically family according to Dan." She pouted.

Blair had kept quiet but finally sighed. "She's not competition, as I said. You'll be fine. This is ridiculous. If she does start posing a threat then we'll deal with her, but she's not." Blair stated, not wanting to waste her time on someone who would willingly eat at a rundown pizza place and knew Dan Humphrey from childhood. "I guess you're right." Serena relented.

XoxoxoX

The sun had set as Persephone finally got home. She slipped off her shoes as Brutus punched in the code to the alarm system. "Roland will be taking my place in an hour for the night shift. Do you need him to bring anything?" Brutus asked as she flopped onto the couch, face first. A muffled sound came from the couch. "I'll take that as a no. You should get ready for bed Miss. You must be up early in the morning." Brutus reminded her.

Persephone gave a halfhearted salute and tiredly pushed herself up. "I can't believe I let you and my mom talk me into going to the same school as Danny. The private tutors and homeschooling was just fine." She sighed, rubbing her eyes. "Yes but a normal teenage life will do you good. You cannot continue on this path. Your business is doing well but your social life is lacking. You need to network, yes?" Brutus grinned at the girl he saw as a daughter. "I hate when you're right." She grumbled, heading to the bathroom.

XoxoxoX

"You could have told me earlier today instead of waiting until late at night." Persephone hear Dan laughing through the phone. "Well I'm not exactly thrilled with it." She grumbled, laying onto her bed. "Jenny will be. You going to our school will be great. You'll get to see us every day and get to know Serena." He pointed out. He could here her muttering under her breath. "I was just fine being on my own." She huffed.

"You had Brutus and his crew. That doesn't count!" Dan laughed. "Well, security is important!" Persephone smiled. She could always count on Dan to make her smile. "I guess it won't be so bad." She relented, looking at the ceiling. "I promise." She could practically hear the smile in Dan's voice. "Danny boy. I swear if I have so much as one bad day I'm holding you accountable." Persephone joked, earning another laugh from him.

"Listen, Perce. It's getting late. I'll see you at school tomorrow." Dan yawned, prompting her to do the same. "All right. I guess you're right. Good night Danny." She rubbed her eyes, looking at the clock by her bed. "Night Perce." He said, hanging up. With some grumbling Persephone turned off the lights and went to lay down, a knock on her bedroom door stopping her.

"Goodnight Miss." She hear Roland say in his thick Scottish accent. "Goodnight." She called and finally laid down, drifting off into a dreamless sleep, just as she likes it.