Chapter 1536 Maria's Story 2: There's no such a thing as Love
A/N: Maria had a male friend besides Luna and Sakuya in college.
As I've said, these chapters will help you to better understand the characters.
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''I just don't need love," Maria said, merely shrugging. Her lanky body was leaning against the bar counter and she had one hand around her 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 drink of choice, a Jack Daniels, and stood to the side of her.
Maria 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 friend, she went along with it.
To anyone on the outside of their relationship it would've seemed backward since the guy was falling in and out of love constantly and the girl was the one laughing at all his mistakes in choices. Although the relationship was odd, it worked for Maria and Damon, and they had remained friends since elementary.
"We're almost mature now," Damon complained, "We should be starting thinking about the future, about 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 Maria and all her physical qualities.
She had shoulder-length, natural long black hair that was layered and wide blue 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 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 downright 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 Jack a rest," Maria 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.
Maria 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 she had just never felt an attraction to him. Somewhere along the twisting lines of life, she 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," Maria replied calmly, "I've been telling you that for the past years." It was true though. Ever since they met in elementary school she hadn't dated anyone, and although they rarely talked about their dating days back in days, 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," She added. Damon always found this statement baffling, just as he had for so many years.
"How can you not believe in love?" Damon asked.
"Because I don't know what love is," Maria 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 didn't care. It felt good to get the world off his shoulders for a couple of hours. Plus, if Maria accepted his offer, it would only make things better. He knew she wouldn't though.
"Damon," Maria chided, "You don't know what love is."
Damon scoffed at this and popped off the bottle cap.
"You always say that," He grumbled. She 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. Maria had watched him nearly commit suicide to hear 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. She 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 on 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 a while, and I'd rather just bypass that part," Maria 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," Maria 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," She warned.
"I know, I know, I'm taking it too far, aren't I Maria?" He replied bitterly. Despite the fact he was completely wasted now, his eyes were bright with emotion.
"You're not going to remember this," Maria sighed and 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," Maria said. Damon laughed once, and the noise was startling to Maria 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. She laughed and finished off her drink.
"That was some year ago," 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," Maria said.
"You sound like an 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 to go back before they find out that I've sneaked out yet again, I've a work tomorrow morning, I've to help my father," Maria 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 to call a taxi for you?" She asked.
"No, you know I only live five blocks from here; I can walk," He replied. He slowly stood up and walked out with Maria. 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 into Maria'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. Maria 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, Maria," He whispered under his breath. And as Maria watched his slumped body leave, she silently hoped that one day she would too.
And indeed she would later find love somewhere unexpected.
Damon had to move out shortly because of his unrequited love, he vowed to come back stronger, as a better man to conquer Maria no matter what it would take.
Because he left so silently, Maria had forgotten about him, no longer thinking of him.
The source of this c𝐨ntent is fre𝒆w(e)bn(o)vel