AN: Since this never happened in Blood Ties.

I don't own Coreen or Henry, I just borrow them.


They were at Coreen's apartment and silence hovered around them. Coreen sat on the couch and looked at Henry, who rested in the divan. The man had closed his eyes and breathed calmly, trying to manage the pain of his injury until the morning would bring him rest. Rest yes, but not healing, since Henry hadn't nourished himself of Coreen, although she had offered herself. And it ate her, even though Henry's refusal to her blood wasn't new to her.

But then, he had been fine, not bleeding, such as now. And yet he doesn't want my blood. Why? I need to know, Coreen thought and asked out loud the thought that was bothering her.

"Is my blood cursed?"

Henry opened his eyes and turned his face to her.

"Cursed?" He repeated. "Why do you say that?" He wanted to know.

"Because Asteroff played with me and you are suffering from pain instead of taking my blood," Coreen answered and realized that she sounded like a little, disappointed child.

"Your blood isn't cursed," Henry replied wearily and turned his attention away from Coreen. "If it were, I wouldn't be anywhere near you," he added yet, his eyes closed again.

"Where then is the problem?!" Coreen argued and Henry let out a deep sigh.

"You are my friend and I don't like the idea that I take my friends blood, Coreen," he replied without looking at her.

"But you took Vicky's," Coreen said but as soon as she heard the words she regretted them. "I'm sorry!" she hurried to say. "That was -"

"True," Henry said and continued sadly, "And see where it led us. She hardly can stand me."

"That's because you forced her to choose," Coreen replied quietly but also accusingly.

"Sometimes you just have to play hardball," Henry stated and his voice told Coreen that the conversation was over.

And the end justifies the means, Coreen thought annoyed as she stood up. She was going to leave Henry alone, but then the idea hit her and her irritability disappeared.

The end justifies the means, echoed in Coreen's mind as she looked Henry and before anything would prevent her, she acted. She picked up the empty glass on the table, knelt and hit the glass on the floor. There was a crunch and Coreen felt how glass slashed her skin.

"Coreen! What an earth!?" She heard Henry to breathe but she didn't look at him. As if in a dream she lift her hand up and turned her palm on herself; there were two pieces of glass in her palm but no blood.

A piece of glass prevent the bleeding, Coreen understood and was about to remove a smaller piece of her palm as a hollow voice called her. And as she looked toward the sound, she saw black-eyed vampire standing behind the divan.

"Don't," the vampire told her, but Coreen didn't listen it. The piece came off easily from the palm and the blood was free to flow, coloring her hand red. She raised herself up and stretched out her hand toward the vampire, making him step backward.

"Sometimes you just have to play hard," Coreen repeated Henry's words and clenched her fists, when the bleeding intensified and drops of blood started dropping on the floor.

Suddenly the vampire was in front of her and stared at her in the eyes, holding her bleeding hand, closing the wound with his fingers.

"Coreen," the vampire said her name and Coreen felt her head to blur slightly but then it clear again.

"Sorry Henry. Your trick won't work for me," Coreen said and saw that the vampire looked surprise.

"Demonic Possession, remember?" Coreen clarified, hoping that the words wouldn't make the vampire to attack her.

And they didn't.

Slowly the vampire's look abated and Coreen noticed a weak hesitation in his eyes.

"You wouldn't do this if you knew where this leads," the vampire warned her.

"I'm not going to retreat," Coreen replied her voice steady.

"And no longer you have chance to do so," the vampire said raising Coreen's hand up, making her heart to throb.

Coreen felt vampire's breath in her wrist. She closed her eyes when cool lips touched her wrist, and finally, sharp teeth bitten through her skin.

The pain, which made her gasping for breath, took only a moment. After that, she only knew the tremendous cohesion with the vampire.