Ben Montgomery

The idea of moving was becoming more and more a reality, something she didn’t want to initially be open to, but now as he spoke about the dangers and hazards, and hell, even her own family, there wasn’t much of a reason to stay. “I love you.” She uttered after a moment of silence. Viv was stuck in her own thoughts as she got lost among the sea of options. She really had the chance to make her ow path now, and wherever she saw herself, she always saw Ben with her. “Whatever we end up doing, wherever we go, as long as you’re with me, I think I’ll be happy.”

"We could live anywhere, and as long as we’re together it will be perfect.” Whether it meant living here or in Hawthorne, or even a cardboard box, Ben wanted to spend every day he could with her. A small smile came across his face as he took a step backwards, pulling out the ring. “I know this has all moved quickly, and this is only going to move this along more, but I love you. No matter what happens, where we go, the good, the bad. I want to go through all of it with you, and only you.” Ben got down on one knee, “Viviana, will you marry me?”

She shook her head back up at him, the ideal date becoming an easy ideal vacation, even better than she could have hoped for, despite all the terrible news coming from home. “I…I needed to get away from all of the things happening there. You’d think the town was cursed or something with all the events getting ruined.” She sighed back as she looked to him. “You know I would go wherever you were too. It’s crazy though isn’t it? How fast all of this has…happened for us.”

"Something terrible has happened more times than I should need to count since I’ve moved there. It doesn’t make sense to keep putting our lives at risk if we don’t need to be.” Of course, his brother was still there and her sister, but Ben wanted this trip to help make the decision if they should move out of town. “It has gone by fast, I can admit to that. Yet everything...feels right. Time has made it seem quick, the progression feels natural though.”

To be in a completely different world since the centennial had been a life-changing experience, and to spend alone time with Ben in a realm of possibility where them being together wasn’t frowned upon in every shed of light brought on a whole new meaning to their relationship. With as much thought that had gone into everything, Viviana shouldn’t have been surprised by the attention, not even sure they needed to do anything to celebrate the holiday, but thankful for it. Hugging him back with a grin spreading across her own face to match his, she added, “Thank you, but I owe it all to you. After…everything. You’re the one who brought me here, and I couldn’t be happier.”

It was only them, no one around to tell them they couldn’t be together. They could each be themselves and enjoy their time with each other without anything holding them back. If she wanted, they didn’t need to go back. He would gladly move back here, travel the world with her. Things in town might have been complicated but they didn’t have to be forever. His hand went to her cheek, “This is the happiest I’ve ever been, and that’s all because of you. Plus, you agreed to come. I could’ve easily taken this trip alone if you would’ve said no.” He paused for a moment, shaking his head. “That’s a lie, I would’ve stayed wherever you are.”

@vivianamazzoni

She looked to him, more seriously than before, adding a short curt nod to his statement. There was nothing she wanted to get further away from then that life she was practically raised in, and with Ben, she only hoped that were possible. “I know we would. And we’d be far away from anything happening here. They wouldn’t even know where to begin looking for us, let alone try to track us down.” Viv took a long look towards him as a small smile finally placed upon her lips. “I’ll bet it’s beautiful over there—oh and we can travel to Italy in the summer time. I could…experience authentic cuisine. You could show me everything over there.” The idea was sounding more and more promising to the wolf, who was fascinated by the magic of it all.

The proposition first arose while they looked like other people, their relationship still a secret and the only way they could enjoy being out in public. Now with finally opening up about their relationship, he felt the need to run away with her stronger than before. “The only person who knows about the house is my brother, no one will know where to find us.” His arm wrapped around her waist, smiling down at her. “We’ll each get to see where the other’s family comes from. Italy is beautiful, Europe in general. I’ll take you anywhere you want to go, Viv. Just say the word and we’ll be out of this town.”

“Well, I guess we’ll just have to outrun them together. I’m not looking to hurt anybody.” Viv stated, knowing there was already too much war and violence in the world. She didn’t want to contribute to that. As she took a heavy drink from her glass, she realized just how strong the stuff was compared to other times, swiftly knocking the rest back before waving the bartender down to fill her up. “It is?” She turned back to face him, confusion settling across her face. “I…I don’t know Ben. My whole life has been here. How would I even fair in France of all places. Don’t they hate Americans?”

“That’s a part of my past that I don’t need to relive, or participate in anymore.” Running into Tommy only reminded Ben how things used to be. He promised to not be the monster anymore, something he planned to stick with. Whatever alcohol this was, he wanted more to continue feeling the effects unlike his typical drink of choice. “Of course it is. I know it’d be a massive change, but...we could be happy. Stress free from the problems were going through now.” He chuckled lightly, “I don’t know, I’m technically not American if we go back far enough. I’ll teach you a bit of French and you’ll easily fit back in.”

“Our forever…I like that.” It was different than any normal forever it seemed, as he would easily outlive her in terms of aging, and in fact, he had already outlived her several times over, even from the point they had met. But, that wasn’t something she could worry about, especially not tonight. “I love you too.” She said, resting her back on the bar before their drinks were delivered, easily cheering to the toast he had made. “To pissing off an entire pack of wolves who will undoubtedly come after us one day for this, but we’ll be long gone by then.”

Ben could have drank slowly, instead finishing the glass in one swoop at the thought of a pack of werewolves hunting him down. “You know, I’ve pissed off my fair share of werewolves but never this many at once.” He chuckled, tipping the glass slightly as he stared at it, something different about it. “The offer to leave to France still stands. We wouldn’t have to worry about anything there.”

“Forever, huh? My forever maybe, but not yours.” She said with a waver of her smile. “Sorry, I know it’s a night to be happy and stuff.” Viviana stated much too quickly as she found herself glancing around the place again. “You just got me worried earlier, and now…” Viv leaned against the counter then, adding, “Vodka sprite, please.”

“Those may be two vastly different things, but it’s still our forever.” He didn’t want to think about her one day no longer being around, it was something they could worry about when the time came. His arm wrapped around her waist, leaning down to whisper in her ear. “This is about us and no one else. I love you.” He placed a small peck on her cheek before ordering both of their drinks, waiting for the bartender to set them down. Ben took his, thinking of a toast or the two of them before chuckling. “To pissing off an entire family, one day at a time.”

“I don’t even want to know what we’ll get up to.” Viv stated, cheek grin all apparent as well. “I never thought I’d say this, but I will happily get drunk with you all night, if only that means I get to wake up with you tomorrow morning.”

His grin only widened at her statement, after everything the possibility being there for real. “I never thought it’d be possible either, yet...we get to wake up next to each other for the rest of forever.” He kissed her knuckles as he brought her hand up to his lips. “Now what would the lady like to drink so we can get this party started for us.”

“Oh, is that right?” Viviana looked back to him, showing a rather slim smirk before adding, “I meant a few drinks right now. I could kill for a couple of shots actually, just to get myself in the right mood. Plus, I know a few drinks doesn’t even actually do much for us.”

“We both deserve to have a good and proper drunken night together,” he grinned, starting to forget anyone else but themselves were there. “Shots are always the best way to start. We might need more than most, but that just gives us all night have them.”

“And I love you—though, I thought we were past all this sentimental lovey-dovey stuff.” Viviana generously teased back as they entered the main hall where the buzz of life roared around them. “A few drinks sounds exactly what I need right about now.” She spotted the bar from a mile away, smelling the liquors being poured as she swiftly pulled Ben along. “Right over there, we can this party really started without a hitch.”

The sentiments could have continued on forever, letting the buzz of the party distract him from mentioning more. Everyone already seemed to be having a good time, the drinks seemingly flowing enough to bring his anxiety level down. If people were distracted enough, no one would pay them any mind. “Only a few? I thought we could get properly drunk and this thing, and then I can take you home for some privacy.”

They were both right, and it seemed like nothing could stop them from walking in their, hand-in-hand to announce to the world of their partnership, besides themselves it seemed. “It’s not like the world is going to end or anything. And, even if it was, we’d still have each other.” She continued to reassure, though she wasn’t sure at that point if it was more for him or for herself. “Come on, no time like the present.” She dragged him towards the doors again, before heading inside the hall filled with all the wonder of formality.

His head nodded, the one true thing no matter what happened tonight. He chuckled as she dragged him into the main room. “You know I love you, right?” Ben caught up with her, slipping an arm around her waist as they walked into the crowd. “A drink first might be a lovely place to start. We might need a few to make it through this.” He placed a kiss on her temple, ripping off his own bandaid and pretending all of this was any regular night.

There wasn’t ever really a good time to let her parents —and the whole town for that matter— that she was seeing Ben, but she also wanted to get past all of that. It shouldn’t have mattered that she was seeing a vampire, and as she turned into Ben and looked at him, she uttered, “If not now, when? We can’t just keep hiding in the shadows, sneaking around the town like none of this matters. We shouldn’t let other’s expectations tell us who we see and what we do.” She grabbed his hand, bringing it up and holding onto it with a short sigh. “We can do this.”

Her words reassured him of their actions, despite the anxiousness still settling in. They couldn’t keep hiding, as much as he might like that, and getting it out there for the whole town to see at once was easier then doing it little by little. He brought her hand to his lips, kissing her knuckles. “It doesn’t matter. What’s important is that we love each other and this is what we want. No one else has the right to deny us that.”

“Eternity does have it’s perks, doesn’t it?” Tommy was never happy about becoming a vampire, but after the fact, and recoiling with the idea for so many decades had showed him some new perspective. He never learned much about Benjamin, except for his killing streaks, so maybe it was time to turn over a new leaf. “I’ll have time to forgive you in the next lifetime, or the one after that. I haven’t decided yet.”

“The cliche saying of time heals all wounds comes to mind.” Although rather fitting for the fact of the matter, for this and other things from his past that seemed to come to light in the past month. Hopefully, Tommy would feel the same and the two would be able to move past where they started. “Take all the time you need. Neither of us are going anywhere.”

“You were taught well.” Viv shamelessly stated back, an all too appeasing grin pulling at her lips as she brushed over his lips with a faint kiss. “A museum wouldn’t be such a bad idea. Or open one up here in your house. Though, in a town full of vampires who have lived centuries, I don’t think they’d be too interested in the same old stuff. History buff humans is where you should really show off your old-timey goods to.” She teased him still, unable to get away from the endless chuckles. “Not yet? I hope that it never comes down to that Ben. In fact, I never want to kill anybody ever again.”

"I’d like not having it at the house. No unwanted guests, and we’d maintain the privacy. Though you are right, there’s plenty of vampires here who have older things than I probably. Maybe we could all collectively make one and rid ourselves of some clutter.” There would still be a few things he could never part with, but having a designated spot for them couldn’t hurt either. His hand smoothed over the softness of her cheek. “And you won’t have too. I’ll make sure of that.”

@vivianamazzoni