Chapter 97: Chapter 97

Claire's POV

By afternoon also I was undecided about what to wear to the party. So, I called Nico and asked her, showing her my latest wardrobe on the video chat window. She helped me pick up the perfect lavender dress with a mesh neckline and matching applique work. Mom had gifted me the dress on my eighteenth birthday.

Leaving my hair untied and curled on one side, I chose matching stone studded earrings and black stilettos to match.

Jason came to pick me up half an hour earlier and ever since had been sending aunt Emily upstairs to check my progress. He seemed to be in a hurry to whisk me away while I was dreading the meeting with dad. He got up and approached me as I came down the staircase, his eyes checking me out minutely.

"Perfect," he said in a low whisper only meant for my ears as he took in my appearance. He was looking extremely gorgeous wearing a light powder blue suit with a white dress shirt underneath. It suited him so well and made him look like those drool-worthy Greek models!

I smiled at him, conscious of his continuous hot stare focused on me.

"Enjoy, you two," said aunt Emily and I smiled at her.

"Take care, aunt Emily," I told her as she smiled and nodded. I had already packed an overnighter, so Jason picked it up and led me to his BMW.

He strapped me to the passenger seat and went around and started the car. We started towards Pacific Palisades and reached a grand exclusive guard-gated mansion beautifully decorated with string lighting all over the expansive grassy yard. The spacious wrap-around patio was decorated with lots of seating arrangements everywhere. Lots of guests were laughing and sipping their drinks, chatting, dancing, joking, and enjoying themselves.

Jason helped me out of the car and handed the keys to the parking valet. I looked around searching for mom and dad but couldn't find them anywhere. Jason led me to the entrance where many guests were seated.

They all turned towards us, "Jason, we were all waiting for you," said one of them who was dad and uncle Kevin's friend, but I couldn't recall his name.

"Sorry, I couldn't come earlier. This is Claire Henderson," he introduced me while another man said, "Isn't she Nate's little girl?"

"Yeah, but I'm all grown up now," I said tired of being called little by my dad's friends.

Aunt Sarah came out hearing the commotion. "Oh sweetie, you've grown up into such a beauty. No wonder my Jason is so whipped with you," she said smiling and wrapping me into a tight hug.

"Mom, you'll crush her," Jason said grumpily.

"Don't worry, I'll keep her safe and sound for you," she said grinning as I blushed at their chitchat. "Come, sweetie, let's go," she said leading me inside the house.

"Mom, she's with me, where are you taking her? Why don't you go to dad?" Jason asked grumpily, following us about.

"I'm taking her to meet her parents," said aunt Sarah as Jason too followed us inside, pulling me away from his mom and guiding me inside with his hand possessively behind my back. Aunt Sarah chuckled and led us to the lavishly decorated reception room where mom, dad, uncle Kevin, and my brothers were all gathered.

Tristan came forward with a sprint in his step when he saw us. "Clairebear, I'm so glad that you're alive," he said melodramatically as I rolled my eyes. Stefan, Julian, and Adrian hugged me and mom came forward and hugged me tightly to her.

"Oh, honey, I'm so glad that you're well," she said, her voice heavy and emotional. I kissed her cheek and clung to her having missed her so much. "You'll make me cry now, sweetie. So tell me how you are doing there at Emily's house," she asked with concern.

"I'm doing fine, mom. I've started going to college as well, " I said, watching my dad from the corner of my eyes. He came forward and hugged Jason. My eyes popped out and then I froze when he looked at me. Before I could hide somewhere, he smiled at me. What happened to him? Wasn't he always annoyed with me? In a few strides, he was standing right in front of me.

"Claire, good to see you here," he said making my jaws drop with shock.

"Yes, dad. I..," I started not knowing where to start. I know I should apologize to him but I just couldn't find the right words.

"I'm sorry my dear. I have wronged you for no fault of yours. You have made me proud by pursuing your studies to achieve your ambitions," he said instead, surprising me extremely. "Come here and give me a hug." I went forward and hugged him, feeling guilty for what I had done.

"I'm sorry dad," I said and he nodded.

"I understand. Now go and enjoy the party," said dad, placing my hand in Jason's while I stared at him with my jaw dropped to the floor. Why did he place my hand in Jason's? Did he want me to be with Jason? That's not a difficult task to do as I too wanted to be with Jason.

Jason grinned at me while Tristan wiggled his eyebrows. Uncle Kevin patted us on our backs and left with dad to the patio to join the others.

Jason took us to the home theatre room, where we all decided to watch a good movie. Adrian and Julian got us some appetizers and coke and we settled in. Jason made me sit with him, his arm around my waist making me sit so close to him that I was almost half on his lap. With his hot breath fanning my neck, I was having a tough time concentrating on the movie. My brothers were too engrossed in the movie to bother us.

After some time, we were summoned to celebrate the event. Uncle Kevin and aunt Sarah cut the huge three-tier cake and then we all sat down to dinner. By 11 o'clock at night, the party was over and the guests left. I was confused when Jason took his leave and after saying our goodbyes we climbed into our car and left. Why were we going home when we were to spend the night here?

"Aunt Emily will be sleeping," I said but he smiled and drove on. I looked around at the surroundings. It wasn't the way home. "Where are we going, Jason?" I asked trying to figure out where we were going. He just smiled and kept on driving. I was certain that we weren't going home. Jason drove well past Santa Monica further to God knows where.

I trembled when he kept his hand on my thigh, blushing furiously but he just smiled mischievously, his eyes twinkling with something more.

"Lavender suits you best, it's now my favorite color," he said with a grin.

"Powder blue suits you best and now it's my favorite color," I said as he quirked one eyebrow at me and chuckled.

"Oh is it? But I like the color of your skin the most, it's my absolute favorite," he said glancing at me with dark eyes dancing with mischief.

I was dumbfounded, what answer could I give to that? So, I just rolled my eyes and looked away.

We reached Manhattan Beach after 30 minutes and Jason drove down a wide avenue to the corner plot and through huge black gates, stopping right in front of a familiar-looking mansion. Then I realized that Jason showed me a picture of his home and this was exactly what he showed me. So he brought me to his house!