Hey, gang! Another "Moonlight" fic. I just can't help myself. This show is just too good to resist writing about again and again.

This time we just have Mick's musings after the hotel incident in the desert in "Fever". It's just his thoughts about what he was feeling when Beth came to knock on his door. Nothing major, but I thought it was a sweet angsty story to tell anyway.

Major M/B. Pretty tame for me actually. Rated PG-13. Enjoy!

P.S. Sadly, I do not own any of the characters or this show. That would be the giant eye in the sky.

Twilight began to bleed easily into the blackness of night. The auburn colors faded softly into the night – almost too slowly to notice. They blended together across the sky like puddles of spilled paint. Light mingled with the dark until the night conquered all, leaving a few points of light behind to bring hope of a new day.

Nighttime was Mick's time. He should have been prowling the streets of LA like his fellow vampires – or at least hosting a harem like his friend Josef. He should be sucking blood in the moonlight so that it looked like oil sprouting from the necks of his victims. Instead, he found himself brooding alone in his apartment like a forgotten gargoyle left to crumble in the dust of time.

He wouldn't have fed on his blood bank blood bags that night even if he wanted to. He was too full – full of life, the future, Beth.

It seemed like months since Beth saved him in the desert. In reality, it had only been a few hours. A few hours since he drank from the most intoxicating spring on earth. A few drops of Beth's blood could rescue a drowning man in the middle of hurricane.

Mick abruptly stood and ran a hand through his shaggy dark hair. He shouldn't be thinking about her. Thinking about her was dangerous. He was dangerous. Man, he had had to drink her blood to survive! It was insanity to think about Beth in any other way than as a friend. Yet, he knew she was so much more to him than a simple companion. He just couldn't get her out of his mind…or blood.

Slowly Mick sank back down onto the back of his couch. Eight hours later he could still feel her flowing through his body like a wave of pure heaven. He knew he could guzzle 16 bags of anonymous blood and he'd still feel her in his body. Her blood had gone straight to his heart and caused to almost beat for the first time in 50 years. Her essence caused him to feel feelings he hadn't even imagined in years. Her blood sang through him like a 100 piece orchestra. He could feel every chord of her being in his dead heart. To feel her so close to him gave him such a glow of deep happiness that he felt he almost forgot to breathe. It was the most beautiful…and deadly feeling he had ever experienced.

It was a simple equation: vampire + human death, misery, pain, despair, and any other end-of-the-world adjective he could think of. It simply wasn't safe to have something so precious and fragile near him. He could easily kill her with one squeeze of his fist or one feast of her blood. Any of his enemies could kill her to torture him. Any of them could kidnap her…and turn her to get to him. If Beth was turned – no, Mick couldn't think about that. A life without Beth was not possible. He wouldn't allow anyone to destroy anything so beautiful – even if that meant saving her from himself.

Suddenly Mick felt Beth's essence shift inside of him and he jerked his head towards the door. Every time he drank someone's blood, he could always feel that person's soul for a brief time inside of his own body. Usually the anonymous donors from the blood bank were easy to forget and they passed quickly. Yet, Beth he knew would linger inside of him for weeks. He would be able to feel her miles away – or if she were only on the other side of his door.

Slowly, Mick walked towards his apartment door. He could already see Beth on his security camera as she shakily raised her hand to knock. She nervously bit her lip as she let her fist rap against the metal plating. Mick didn't have to watch her to feel her nervous, anxious excitement. He knew she wanted to talk to him about – everything. He knew she wanted to be with him…just to be with him. It was a ridiculous idea, but there it was. He knew he could no more turn her away than if he went to the desert to sunbath. She could already see deep enough inside of him to find the good that remained of his soul. The thought that she could read him so clearly scared him more than anything. He hadn't been this close to anyone in 50 years.

"Mick, please," Beth called quietly from the hallway. "Let me in."

Mick remained quiet as he watched her. Soon she leaned her head against the door as if suddenly weary from the day's events. Mick braced his arm against the door and leaned his head against it as well.

He wanted her more than anything he had ever wanted in his life. It hadn't even taken a trip to the desert for him to realize it. She was more sacred and precious to him than life itself. He would sacrifice a thousand immortal lifetimes just to save her one mortal future. He craved her as a man and as a vampire. He wanted nothing more than to spend the rest of his lifetime with her, but he knew it was impossible. He was a monster, a demon, a parasite, a vampire. She was heaven on a Sunday. There was no possible way they could be together if she were to remain safe.

Yet, as he leaned against his apartment door, he could feel how much she craved him. He didn't know if it was her blood calling to him or Beth herself. He could still sense her deep desire radiating off of her like the rays of a glowing sun. He knew she wanted nothing more than for him to open that door and open his arms to her. If he did that, it would mean the end of her beauty, her brilliance, her presence, her life.

Even though he could feel Beth begging him with ever cell of her body, Mick kept his door closed. He slowly began to twist the locks and chains of his own heart. To protect her, he had to stay as far away from her as possible. She would forget him soon enough. At least he would have the memory of her blood to last him a few hundred centuries. That strain of heavenly music would sing for him alone. That would have to be enough. Whether he liked it or not.

It didn't take long before Mick felt the absence of Beth's presence. He found his world was sadly empty and broken when she wasn't near him. He moved back into his living room to perch again on the back of his couch. He closed his eyes briefly to taste her essence once more – as if savoring nectar from the gods. He listened to her soul and smiled at the memory of sweet laughter.

Mick opened his eyes. He failed to stop the sigh of misery escape him. No, it was safer for her to be as far away from his as possible. He was demonic villain, she was an innocent angel. There was no way they could cross that divide between them. None. Whatsoever. None.

The stars winked sadly in the sky as the black abyss of night finally took hold. No matter how dark or deadly the night could be, the stars always continued to shine. Even covered by storm clouds, hurricanes or blizzards, the stars were always a constant in the night. Constant beacons of hope to any wayward traveler.

All night Mick kept quiet and simply savored the essence of the woman he loved – and knew he could never have. Beyond his living room windows, the stars continued to sparkle with light against the backdrop of eternal night.