A change of heart

She stood in front of the opera house. It was basically midnight at this point as she felt like she was shaking a little. However she wasn't cold, at least not her body, more a feeling of being empty. She had taken the wrong turn, gotten involved with someone she shouldn't ever have been involved with. It felt like time stood still, looking at her screen in the dark, sitting on one of the stairs leading up to the entrance. People passed her, most of them heading out for the night to drink and dance their worries away. Some guys even tried inviting her with them, but she refused the offer, stating she was waiting for a friend. Although she wasn't sure if Darren would actually show up. She was worried he wouldn't, but then she guessed she would have to head home.

Ayalla breathed out in a slight shudder. It was still summer, so the night wasn't too cold, but she still couldn't shake the freezing feeling she had in her heart. She was just sitting on the stairs, staring down in to the ground and was rather surprised as she heard her name. Her eyes turned to look at Darren, but part of her was even more hurt that he was actually there. It should've been Gareth, He should've ran after her, grabbing her and pulling her in to his arms, telling her that he did care for her. But here was the human friend she had made because of the daemon. Scoffing slightly at Darren's words, she got up, shrugging as she placed her hands in her jeans. "Yeah, I was kinda hoping you'd sleep on the ground for a good ticket," she said, but was clearly joking, although it was rather dead pan. She moved over to him, sending him a sad smile, but she didn't feel like she could say anything. "I could just ... Really use a friend right now," she confessed. Fuck, he probably knew what had been going on, but she didn't know if she could speak about it right now. "There's, uhm, a small bar around the corner? Are you in the mood for some drinks?" she asked. She had been to the bar before, but only alone. "I'm sorry, I don't really have a good reason for you to be here right now," she admitted, looking down as she frowned. She felt like she had apologized so much today, it was starting to sound stale.

Never mind," she mumbled at his words about the tickets. There was no tickets to get, and she think he might've read too much in to her words. He gestured for her to lead the way, and so she did, hiding her hands away in her pockets.
It wasn't a far walk, and was literally just around the corner, but there was live music there, and Ayalla really liked that. She knew she would never be able to go to a concert, mostly because it would freak her out, but this was like a tiny concert, right? "The beers decent, but the drinks are better," she remarked, opening the door to walk in. The music was calming, the tones almost rustic and the male singer was just sitting on a small stool on the stage, singing in a deep voice. "I think there's room over there," she said, pointing over to a booth a bit more private in the back of the bar. It was further away from the bartender, but it would perhaps be a good place if they were actually going to have a conversation. Gesturing for him to just go over and claim the booth, she walked up to the bar, leaning over the desk to place her order as to not be loud over the music. She ordered a draft beer for Darren, one that he might like, and a margarita for herself. Balancing the drinks she came over, sitting down across from him before placing the drinks.
Now came the hard part. She needed to talk about this, but she also felt like this was stupid. "So ... I guess you figured it out, huh," she said, licking her fingers that had gotten a bit of salt on them. "Fuck, he really fucked me up," she whispered, closing her eyes, feeling herself close to crying again. Why was she so stupid and emotional?

"Not physically, I would never let a man degrade me like that," she said, taking a deep breath before gathering the courage to open her eyes. She grabbed her drink, taking a sip and pulling a slight face as the salt hit her tastebuds. "It's my own fault ... I thought I would be safe ... But in the end I guess I just can't be loved," she chuckled sadly, looking down in to her drink. She sounded like a broken record at this point. How many times could she blame herself in this? Perhaps until she realized that everything had not really meant anything. Ayalla looked at Darren, a half smile on her lips. "I guess I had illusions of grandeur; As if I, a girl with nothing to my name, could ever make him love me," she scoffed. She felt stupid, and rightfully so, she had involved herself in this mess and now she just had to deal with the consequences.
"But I don't think it's going to solve anything just moping around," she finally said, looking at Darren with her eyes vulnerable. It was painfully clear how much she was hurting, but then again who could love a monster that not even her parents had wanted? "But worst of all ... I've betrayed Vanessa," she said.

Forget him? Easier said than done, but she understood where he was coming from. In fact, him just showing up here was more than she could've ever asked for. "I know I can't tell her ... I'm heartbroken, not stupid," she reminded him, breathing out as she took a rather big gulp of her drink, very unusual of her.
Shaking her head a little she looked out in to the bar. There weren't that many people here, but she guessed most people went to Western if they wanted a real party. "Maybe I just need some stupid one night stand ... Just clearing him out of my system," she mumbled, but she doubted it would help. First of all she wasn't all that good at flirting and second of all she didn't even know if she could do that with a stranger. Ayalla relied a lot on knowledge and trust, and she had trusted Gareth blindly, which had turned in to a mistake. "Give me an honest answer; What do you think I should do?" she asked. She was sure that Darren would've went through something like this with Ethan or perhaps even himself. "Like ... I know I'm not going back to him, but I don't feel like going home," she said.

Although he might not have all the answers, she still felt like she needed someone to help her figure out what to do next. She had never been good at heartbreak, and before Gareth there had only been one. After that had ended, the Prideux had taken her in to custody after her wrecking a whole street of lampposts, but she was determined this time not to freak out. She frowned a little at his statement, that he wasn't an expert - but why did he and Ethan always seem to talk about links or whatever they called it? However his advice sounded sane, making her nod as she looked back at him. Darren had always been the good guy of the group, at least in her eyes, but she wasn't really sure why she hadn't ever noticed that completely. Perhaps because for the last month she had been caught up in something that was destined to die before it even began.
He suggested going back to his place, making her smile more genuine this time. "I think that's exactly what I need," she agreed, leaning over to place a hand over his, mouthing the words thank you before retreating back to her seating. Taking another sip of her drink, she felt a little lightheaded, but not really from the alcohol, more from her racing mind. She looked out at the bar once more. "I like this song," she mumbled, closing her eyes as she just listened to the casualty of the song. While she liked the song, she was awfully aware of the lyrics about a guy leaving a girl after realizing how chilly her personality truly was. She opened her eyes, looking at Darren before she got up from her seat, grabbing his hand. "C'mon," she said, pulling him with her even if he objected. Standing in front of the stage, she wrapped her arms around his neck, resting her head against his chest as she just started to sway to the music. Ayalla had never really learned how to dance, but she knew that it didn't matter, at least not when they were in a bar.

She felt him hesitate at first, and she guessed it was weird to some extend, but her and Vanessa always seemed to bond over music. Wether it was dancing, humming or making their own two person mosh pit, it was just something that seemed to bring them closer together. And frankly, Ayalla wanted Darren to be a closer friend. She liked him, despite his weird mind, but she guessed it was because they could relate to each other. Looking up at him she chuckled slightly at his question. "Strangely enough, yeah," she chuckled. Did he have a hard time hearing the music. Frowning she looked at him. "Focus on me," she said, mostly because he seemed to find the voices around them more distracting. If he did, she would be humming along to the music, hopefully making him hear the actual beat. She couldn't really remember the lyrics all that well, but the melody she knew almost by heart. She just swayed with him, humming the song and hoping that he didn't find her too weird.
As the song ended she sighed, giving Darren a small hug before letting go. "Do you want to get blasted drunk with me?" she chuckled, looking down as she moved a lock of her hair behind her ear. "I mean ... We can also just go to your place?" she said, not knowing what he wanted before she seemed to have an idea. "No, I have a better idea - We buy a few cheap beers at the small convenience store, and I call us a cab out to the beach in Western," she suggested.

Ayalla smiled, chuckling along with him as she lead the way out of the bar. To be fair she was actually quite relieved that he had agreed to the beach idea, mostly because it was the middle of the night. However maybe they were alike in that way, that they needed time away from others, but it seemed to be like the could be alone together.
The convenience store was not the biggest and by far cheap, but a couple of cheap beers and a few smaller bags of snacks later they stood out by the road, calling a taxi. Ayalla was holding the bag, as well as the phone to her ear. "Hi, yeah, uhm I'd like a cab from Northern to Western please," she said, and the dispatcher seemed to reply. "Woah, five minutes? Awesome, thank you," she smiled, hanging up on the phone before turning to look at the human. "Guess my luck hasn't run out just yet," she noted, smiling as she popped her phone back in her pocket.
Soon enough the taxi arrived and Ayalla climbed in on the backseat, kinda hoping that Darren would join her in the back, as the ride from North to West could take around twenty minutes. "Have you heard from Vanessa or Ethan?" she asked, trying to keep the conversation casual so she didn't have to think about how her heart was hurting.

The night had been what she had needed; Just a friend whom she could talk to, someone who could relate to her and understand how complicated things could be at times. That night she had stayed at Darren's place, staying there on and off for a while, just to get herself some distance to Gareth. It had turned out it had been something she came to like a lot.

When she got the message, she sighed a bit to herself, looking at Vanessa, hoping she'd say something about not wanting to go. However it was clear that she wanted. Her and Ethan had been getting along more lately, and Ayalla was happy for her friend - but also worried. Worried that her best friend would end up getting hurt by the dickhead human. Groaning softly as she said she wanted to go, she opted to follow suit, just trying to keep things casual.
They got to his place rather fast - it wasn't a long walk. Walking in she saw the heavy smoke and they followed it to the living room, Ethan getting up to greet them with a big smile on his face. He was as blind to the things between Ayalla and Gareth as anyone would be if they couldn't read minds. However when the hybrid saw the girl with Gareth, she found herself biting the inside of her lips, moving over to sit down in a bean bag, crossing her legs as she looked at the people in the room. What surprised her a lot was the fact that Ethan didn't have a girl here, but she guessed some people got tired of him eventually. "You're not gonna offer us a drink?" Ayalla asked in a neutral tone, but her heart was burning.

Part of her felt rather relieved that her friend made a comment about the girl, but Ayalla just kept her eyes focused on her nails, picking at her black nail polish. "It stinks in here," she mumbled, getting up and walking over to the window, opening it up and sitting herself down in the window sill. This was just how it was going to be, and she had known that going in to it. She found her phone, just looking at it, scrolling through some social apps.

Ethan was happy to see Vanessa there, smiling and cracking a few jokes with her before the focus seemed to go to the new girl in the room. He couldn't help but chuckle as Vanessa called her a bimbo, taking the seat in the bean bag next to Vanessa once Ayalla got up. "Oi, iss meant to smell," he said, frowning a little, shrugging as he only saw Ayalla as being the snob queen once more. "Anyways, I was thinking of us goin' clubbing' n shite - I mean last time didn't go as planned," he suggested with a bright smile on his lips.

Ayalla scoffed at the daemon's remark, shrugging as she just sat in the windowsill being quiet. Ethan suggested going out, but she didn't know if it was a good idea. She was upset, but she was hiding it very well, her face blank as she just looked at the garden outside. Then Darren said he was heading home, and she turned to look at the human get up. She could understand if he found it awkward, but Ayalla wasn't trying to make it so, and now she felt guilty again. "Just a few drinks, Dare," she said, letting him know that it was her intention to go. She couldn't risk losing face, but she also felt a bit broken down from the fact that Gareth was practically smothering this Miranda girl. Was she jealous? Probably. She would've never been able to do something like that with him, not even if she had wanted to, but it was only a bitter taste in her mouth at this point. She got up, ignoring Gareth as she walked over to Vanessa. "Besides, it's been ages since we've danced together," she said, pulling a faint smile as she took her friend's hand.

Ethan smiled and jumped to his feet, making Vanessa plop down a little on the beanbag. He slapped his hands together, rubbing them as he chuckled. "Clubbin' it is, mate!" he said excitedly as he went out to put his shoes on.

Ayalla felt bad now, she didn't want to pressure Darren in to going if he really didn't want to, but she also couldn't lose face to Gareth. Swallowing she looked down as he left, and then Gareth spoke about him getting tired of waiting. Waiting for what? She looked at the daemon, frowning as she felt disgusted and decided to go after Darren. She wasn't sure if it was the right move, but she found him down in the garden. Approaching him she felt almost sheepish. "Dare, are you alright?" she asked, reaching out to touch his back carefully. She didn't have to be afraid of the feedback, but losing the close friendship they had built was more heartbreaking than what Gareth was doing now.
"If it's about G, just ignore him ... I can handle it," she promised, although she wasn't so sure. She felt like her stomach was in knots and she wanted to throw up. She looked at the sculpture, the one she had broken the last time and wondered why it hadn't been fixed yet. "Dare, speak to me," she said, almost pleading.

Ayalla swallowed, looking at him as he called Gareth insensitive, and she couldn't do anything but agreed. However she hadn't expected it to be easy, she knew how cruel the daemon could be. But it still hurt. She shook his head as he spoke about punching him, looking at him before his eyes moved to the garden once more. "He's an asshole ... But when you're here I know I'm not alone," she said, looking down to his hands. She reached forward, taking one of them in her own. "I know this is just the beginning of his cruelty, but having you there with me, knowing and supporting me ... Could I really ask for more?" she asked, smiling however her eyes were still sad. Her heart felt like it was in pieces, and she was afraid it was going to stay in that broken state for the rest of her life. But having Darren there gave her hope that maybe time would heal all wounds.
She just held his hand, there was really nothing more to it, but it calmed her. Part of her knew that Gareth would be sure to make a snarky remark if he saw them right now. "I want to show him that I'm strong without him, that he doesn't own me anymore," she whispered, frowning as a thought popped in to her head, but she didn't want to ask that of Darren. She cared for the human, she really did, but her heart felt too broken to handle the thought of loving again. "I can trust you and you can trust me, right Dare?" she asked carefully. Maybe he would call her crazy, but she just needed to know.