Hey, so I'm thinking of submitting this for the Original Character Contest, but I really want to know if you think Liz is original or not. I personally believe she is, but then again I know everything about her in my head and you only know the story. I also don't know if I should continue this or not. I think it'd work with this being the only part, but I could also expand on it. Also, what do you think the rating should be? Besides the fact they're drinking there's not too much wrong with it, but I just don't know. Alright thanks!
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“I just don’t need love,” Liz said, merely shrugging. Her lanky body was leaning against the bar counter and she had one hand around her own waist and another gripping a margarita. Damon stared back at her and sighed; he simply could not figure this girl out, no matter how hard he tried. He grabbed his own drink of choice, a Jack Daniels, and stood to the side of her.
Liz raised an eyebrow at him. Damon had been acting weirder than ever lately, but she couldn’t figure out what his deal was. He seemed intent on showing her there was love in the world, more specifically love for her, but she just couldn’t see it. It’s not like she ever thought about love anyway. It was more of a Damon thing, and since he was her best friend, she went along with it.
To anyone on the outside of their relationship it would’ve seemed backwards since the guy was falling in and out love constantly and the girl was the one laughing at all his mistakes in choices. Although the relationship was odd, it worked for Liz and Damon, and they had remained friends since graduating college two years ago.
“We’re almost twenty six now,” Damon complained, “We should be settling down and having families and finding true love, not drowning our sorrows at a bar.” He took a long swig of his beer and set it down. In his buzzed state, he admired Liz and all her physical qualities.
She had shoulder length, natural caramel colored hair that was layered and wide blue-green eyes. She was tall, six feet actually, but she had enough curves to make her not stick thin. And although she had these great curves, her long arms and legs made her seem lanky.
Almost all his friends back in college made frequent comments about what they’d like to do with her, yet she had never accepted any of their romantic invitations. In fact, she had down-right ignored them. One of her piercing looks could shut a guy up in a second, yet sometimes she was so bubbly and hyper Damon didn’t know what to do with her. He knew one thing about her though; she was utterly contagious in every sense of the word. When she felt unstoppable, he was unstoppable too.
“You’re the one who should give the Jack a rest,” Liz replied before sipping her margarita. She noticed Damon looking at her oddly, as if he was out of focus and smacked him on the back of the head. His bright green eyes snapped back into focus and he chuckled slightly.
Liz noted the fact he was standing up straight to make her feel better, considering he was two inches shorter than her. He was very strong looking though and had handsome features along with dark hair. He was desirable, but Liz had just never felt an attraction to him. Somewhere along the twisting lines of life, Liz had lost all attraction to the world. It was as if the magnetic field that kept the world going was slowly slipping away from her and losing its pull.
“You’re telling me that you never feel sad about the fact you have no love?” Damon wondered aloud.
“Yes,” Liz replied calmly, “I’ve been telling you that for the past six years.” It was true though. Ever since they met in college Liz hadn’t dated anyone, and although they rarely talked about their dating days back in high school, it sounded like she just hadn’t dated anyone.
“I can’t be upset about not having love if I don’t believe it exists for me,” Liz added. Damon always found this statement baffling, just as he had for six years.
“How can you not believe in love?” Damon asked.
“Because I don’t know what love is,” Liz replied. Damon’s brow furrowed and he finished off his bottle and ordered another one.
“You know I’ve always offered to show you,” Damon said. He gave her a goofy grin and raised his eyebrows. He knew he was on the edge of being drunk, but he really didn’t care. It felt good to get the world off his shoulders for a couple hours. Plus, if Liz accepted his offer, it would only make things better. He knew she wouldn’t though.
“Damon,” Liz chided, “You don’t know what love is.” Damon scoffed at this and popped off the bottle cap.
“You always say that,” he grumbled. Liz finished off her margarita in silence. Damon had offered his heart to her many times, but she just couldn’t accept it. He had thought he was in love with different people so many times just to end up realizing it was either all physical or that there was some obscure problem in the relationship. Liz had watched him nearly commit suicide to hearing him talk about how he was hot stuff when he was secretly dating two girls at once.
“So you don’t think you’ll ever find love?” Damon asked doubtfully. Liz sighed.
“No, I never will. And I know you’re going to ask why so I’ll tell you. Because when I find someone I’m attracted to I’ll always be questioning myself and wondering if I’m truly in love or not. Sooner or later in the relationship I’ll question myself to the point where I give up with it and decide it’s not love. Then the relationship will be over, and I’ll feel terrible for ending it. Then my entire life will be off for awhile, and I’d rather just bypass that part,” Liz said. It was hard for Damon to follow that in his drunken state, but he concentrated and tried to figure out what she was saying.
“You need to stop thinking,” Damon said with a surly look on his face.
“That’s my problem,” Liz stated simply, “I just can’t.”
“You could just order a hard liquor, down it, we go back to my place, maybe have a beer, and see where it goes,” Damon offered.
“Damon,” Liz warned.
“I know, I know, I’m taking it to far, aren’t I Liz?” he replied bitterly. Despite the fact he was completely wasted now, his eyes were bright with emotion.
“You’re not going to remember this,” Liz reminded him, “And in the morning you’ll be desperately trying to remember why you’re feeling regret.”
“You think you’re right all the time? Don’t you?” Damon asked. He was on the edge of making a scene, but he held it back. One more drink though and he wouldn’t be able to hold it back.
“I’m right about most things, Damon,” Liz said. Damon laughed once, and the noise was startling to Liz because it was so deep and full of bitter feelings.
“You weren’t right that one time I told you turkeys could run twenty five miles an hour and you were like, ‘No they can’t’ and I was like, ‘Let’s bet on it’ and we did and I was right,” Damon slurred. Liz laughed and finished off her drink.
“That was sophomore year,” she said. Damon merely shrugged his shoulders.
“Doesn’t change the fact that you’re not always right,” he replied.
“You sound like a little child,” Liz said.
“You sound like a eighty year old woman,” he retorted. They both sat in sunken silence for a moment. At the same time they sighed and checked the clock on their phones. It was two in the morning.
“I’ve got work in the morning,” Liz said. She gathered her purse and slipped her fuzzy black coat on. She wrapped a lovely red scarf around her neck and slipped her purse over her shoulder. Damon’s eyes still lounged on the ground and as he slowly looked up he took in her long legs that were covered in tight jeans and black boots and her fit upper body that was hidden under her coat.
“Do I need call a taxi for you?” Liz asked.
“No, you know I only live five blocks from here; I can walk,” he replied. He slowly stood up and walked out with Liz. The ground was a little bit blurred, but he could make it home before he’d crash. They stood outside the dim bar for a second. Damon looked in Liz’s concerned eyes and then decided to take advantage of the moment. He quickly kissed her on the lips and pulled back within a moment. Liz stood there like a statue, but instead of being mad, she just sighed.
“I didn’t feel anything, Damon,” she said softly. Damon nodded once and turned to leave.
“I hope you will one day, Liz,” he whispered under his breath. And as Liz watched his slumped body leave, she silently hoped that one day she would too.
