"I care enough about my... needs to want to drive you home, yes," Damon smirked, hoping she didn't mistake his sudden kindness as, well, exactly that. Of course, he knew that she was teasing him but he had to make sure, just in case. Hence, he only briefly acknowledged her explanation of the problems getting a taxi would ensue and picked up calmly on how they'd more than likely piss off her dad. "But I thought you liked winding up the old man the wrong way?" Damon smirked. "Or are you trying to protect your good girl image, hm?"

As Ava finished getting dressed, the twenty one year old finally pulled on his black shirt and his own shoes, grabbing the leather jacket that had ended up crumpled in a corner on the balcony, his brow crinkling slightly at her next compliment. "If you're nice to me again, I promise you that I'll withdraw my offer," he smirked, running a hand through his own hair before following her in the general direction of his car. "Don't kid yourself Avalynn. I don't do nice," he retorted with a small shake of the head, but his eyes were gleaming with amusement. Damon Watkins nice? Having the words in the same sentence almost made him chuckle.

When the two eventually reached his car, he unlocked it with a click of the keypad and slipped into the driver's seat without saying a word. The radio tuned in automatically as he gunned the engine to life and lit up a cigarette, only offering one to Ava when he'd taken one for himself.

"Want one?"

Sorry it's taken so long! D:

"You said it," Damon murmured, only giving so much as a grunt as she explained her father's dramatic tendencies. He had to give it to the girl, she certainly knew how to play the game. She'd give a lot of those around them a run for their money, but unfortunately he wasn't modest enough to think that she could match up to him. He'd been there too many times before with girls who thought they could give as good as they got and it never worked out in the end. Maybe it was because of his inability to go without being a total tool for at least five minutes, or simply that they were too needy. He preferred using the latter excuse, of course. Either way, getting too involved with a girl never ended well and he couldn't help but suddenly feel defensive at the whole situation, even though he'd created it in the first place.

What really ruffled his fathers though was her poking at his apparent 'niceness', causing him to became somewhat more vigorous with his inhalation of smoke as he revved the engine of his car and pulled away from the curb with a speed that wasn't strictly legal. He resented it when people tried to make him out to be more than he was. He wasn't nice, there wasn't a kind bone in his body, he simply didn't do positivity full stop. After spending so many years under the thumb of his father and his attempts of trying to change him, apparently for the better, slight reminders of that really fueled a spark of anger within Damon, unawares to Ava.

"If you keep trying to convince yourself that I differ on the inside from the out then you'll end up sorely disappointed," Damon countered, trying to mask the slight snarl of his voice. Defensive, indeed. As he picked up on the worry in her expression though he managed straighten his own rugged features out into less of a frown, seemingly concentrating on the road as he ran a red. He couldn't acknowledge the sudden urge to crack a joke to make her smile, or accept that he felt a need to see the amused glimmer return to her eyes because that'd make him human and he was constantly convincing himself otherwise. He didn't do emotion, he wasn't like those other poor fools who got pulled in by a pretty face. That had happened once before and once before was one time too often.

"Maybe he'll only put bars on your bedroom window, if you're lucky. That still leaves the bathroom, right?"

It wasn't long before the houses along the streets they were speeding past began to change, shadows morphing into larger, looming forms as money became a prime feeling in the air. There was no mistaking that they'd entered a more... upper class side of town and the prim front gardens and delicate brickwork was already making Damon's skin crawl. Of course, he came from a similar kind of background but that was exactly why the sight of perfection drew such a negative reaction from him. The rows of homes reflected only a false image of what their owners wanted others to see. The sturdy structures hid the unhappiness, the capitalism that had created them and the ruined lives of the sons and daughters that lived behind them.

Keeping an eye out for the number that Ava had stated Damon eventually slowed down his vehicle and pulled it abruptly onto the curb when he spotted the correct house. The lights were on inside, and he was unsure of whether this was a good sign or not. He felt slightly nauseous in thinking about what Ava may have to contend with once inside because he'd been so used to dealing with a similar kind of thing himself.

"Are you going to be okay?" He asked plainly after a moment, noticing how she'd suddenly become quiet with what he guessed was nervousness. He understood the situation too well, even for his own liking.

Oh, Damon could see through the charade alright. The fake smile, the fearful glint in her eyes, the determination to cover it all up. Been there, done that. But once again what he didn't expect was his concern. It was rolling off him in waves, portrayed in that bottomless gaze and personified through his tightened grip upon the steering wheel. He didn't stop her from leaving though, nor did he even begin to mutter a goodbye, but instead revved his engine and prepared to get out of there quicker than a rabbit caught in headlights. He hadn't been prepared for these feelings, or even to have ended up outside of her house tonight. Clearly, he was turning into a soft touch. A pushover. And he had to stop it. Stop it now.

Right on cue, the lights of the house seemed to illuminate the large front garden, flitting across flowerbeds and rose bushes. Damon's eyes immediately flickered to the sight of Ava's father, and the volume of his voice is what caused the twenty one year old to kill his engine and sit silently in the shadows. With the first slap however, he was out of the car. The brunette wasn't quite sure why or how, or even where he was, all he knew was that instinctively he needed to get Ava out of there before she was hurt any further. Either that or he'd teach that god damn dick a lesson for laying a finger on... on what? What exactly was she to him? For laying a finger on his fuck buddy? What a lovely sentiment.

No sooner had he left the warmth of his leather seats though than she was fleeing back to his car after having done exactly what Damon had set out to do. He could simply do no more than shake his head in disbelief as he paused and then backtracked, before allowing her to climb back into the passenger seat, him doing the same to the drivers seat. He'd gunned the engine in no less than two seconds and then they were speeding dangerously away from the violence of the scene that'd just happened before them.

For the most part, Damon stayed silent during their drive, other than flicking the switch of his lighter to ignite another nicotine stick. It calmed his nerves slightly to get back to the steady inhale exhale rhythm, but he went this time without offering one to Ava, in fear of giving her more of the wrong impression than he already had. Stupid, stupid, stupid. Although, it didn't stop him from stopping off at the corner shop to pick up a bag of ice that he gently pressed to her crimson cheek once he was back inside the car. After examining it, his fingers gently brushing over her warm skin, he grunted an order for her to keep the ice there and then drove them, again in silence, to his apartment.

It wasn't long before Damon was pulling up outside of his apartment, after at least ten minutes of driving in complete silence. His expression was completely void of any kind of emotion, but the tight grip that he held upon the steering wheel suggested that his insides were cooking up a storm. He was pent up with so much anger over what he had just seen, plus the confusion of why he was so angry and some kind of concern for the girl who sat beside him. There was no explanation that would suffice for anything that had just happened, so instead he put all of his concentration on getting them from A to B in the simple hopes that he wouldn't lose any of the self-control he was currently inflicting upon himself.

After killing the engine and allowing them to fall into silence, Damon gently gripped the bridge of his nose with thumb and forefinger before glancing over at Ava, without quite looking straight at her. Instinctively, he had to return to some kind of normalcy, and as he was exiting the car, he grunted instructions as if speaking to a child. "Watch that ice, it's melting over the seat."

Upon exiting the vehicle, Damon welcomed the cool night air against his flushed cheeks, and with a click of the keypad locked it once she was out and then led her up the steps to his front door. The building was just as extravagant as one might expect from someone with a background such as his, but he himself hardly noticed anymore as he passed gold art pieces and luxurious deep red carpets. It was just money to him, or a reflection of what people like him could do with the power that they had and he was sick of seeing it. That's why, in contrast, inside of his apartment it was devastatingly simple, with white walls and black furniture. There was no kind of personality within the walls he owned, and no sign of anyone having ever lived there in the first place. It was unloved by the unloved, and felt somewhat cold and unwelcoming. As was the invitation Ava received to enter.

Flicking on the lights and illuminating the blank space, the brunette flung his jacket onto the nearest sofa and headed straight for the spirit cabinet, pouring them both a shallow amount of amber liquid into small tumblers.

"You can stay here tonight. But just tonight, to give you both time to calm down. You'll have to leave tomorrow."