Thanks for all the reviews and favorites and alerts. They really keep me going.

Disclaimer- I had a dream where I owned One Tree Hill and Twilight, and an evil vampire killed Peyton and sucked her blood. But it was just a dream… All quotes and characters you may recognize from Twilight/OTH belong to their amazing creators who aren't me.

"So I really don't scare you?" I ask, lying on Brooke's bed. This is our safe place. Her parents are rarely ever home, or even in the same state, so we don't need to hide anything.

"No."

"What if I had fangs and a cape?" I persist, chuckling.

"No Lucas. Not unless I should be. Is it really that hard to resist killing me and sucking my blood?" She asks, not meeting my eyes. I can hear her heart beat speed up the tiniest bit, and I can see the pulse point on her neck tick a little faster under her beautiful porcelain skin.

"I try."

She doesn't respond for a moment. I can hear her breathing change—it hitches in

strange ways.

"Tell me more," she says suddenly.

"What more do you want to know?" I ask, trying to think of a way to keep from scaring her.

"Tell me why you hunt animals instead of people," she says

"I'm not trying to be a monster," I mutter.

"But aren't animals enough?"

I tried to search for another comparison, a way that I could make her understand.

"I'd compare it to living on tofu. The Cullens call themselves vegetarians. It doesn't completely satiate the thirst. But it keeps us strong enough to resist. Most of the time. Sometimes it's more difficult than others."

"Is it difficult now?"

Of course she would ask.

"Yes." I admitted quietly.

Her breathing didn't change. Her posture stayed relaxed as she flipped the next page of her magazine.

Things happened fast then.

"Oh! Crap." She mutters, bringing her fingertip to her mouth, trying to stop the bleeding from her newly formed paper cut.

I stop breathing. My head is spinning, venom flooding my mouth. I haven't been a vegetarian for that long, Carlisle and Edward had warned me, told me I should wait to be around her. Maybe I could just take care of it. It'd quick, I'd be gone before anyone found her body…NO! The pure disgust I feel now overwhelms me, and I've forgotten all about the girl, now staring at me with wide eyes.

"Are you going to kill me?" She whispers so softly I doubt I even hear her. To make her believe I would hurt her twice in barely an hour… I had to leave. She was in pain. How had I allowed this? She should not hurt. I couldn't let her be hurt.

"I love you."

Before she can reply or even grab a band-aid for her still bleeding finger, I'm out her window and bounding towards the woods.

-

"Shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up." I fill my head as I meet Edward on the front porch of another extravagant Cullen home, deep in the woods of Tree Hill, North Carolina. He chuckles and offers an apologetic glance in my direction.

"I told you it would be hard Lucas." He says as I blow past him, my usually light steps heavy with anger. "Carlisle's in his study."

"Get out of my head Edward." I growl. "How can you know what I'm thinking when I can't even get my head straight."

"It's a talent."

I glare at him and continue on my path to Carlisle, blowing through his study door.

"Lucas." He acknowledges me. "Take a seat."

"I don't want to." I growl, like a 4-year-old. "I just need to know how not to kill her."

"I believe that's something you should talk to Edward about."

"Why?" I question. "You work with hundreds of humans who come to you to bleed.

"I have more than 300 years of practice. Plus, I'm not in love with my patients.

Edward saunters in to the room, obviously listening to our conversation and pulls me to the side.

"So. What happened?"

"Paper cut." I answer, disgust evident in my voice.

In the full moons light I listen to the stream

And in between the silence hear you calling me

But I don't know where I am and I don't trust who I've been

And If I come home how will I ever leave

She sleeps like an angel. Something better then an angel. She tosses and turns though, her face distorted, her cheeks tear-stained. She'd been crying. Because of me.

She stirs and opens one eye, taking in my still form sitting on her bed.

"Hi." Her raspy voice makes me shiver.

"Hi." My voice is so different. Smooth, velvet.

"I was talking to Peyton this morning. After you disappeared." She says quietly, sitting up and pulling me towards her, "She said she doesn't like the way you look at me. Like I'm something to eat."

"I will never hurt you. I'd kill myself and my whole family before I'd hurt you."

"I'm not worth it." She mutters, drifting off to sleep as she snuggles closer to my cold marble body. "I'm not worth it…"

I stayed and watched her sleep, breathing carefully. I thought of her and us. He future. Our future. She couldn't love me the way I loved her—such an overpowering, all-consuming, crushing love would probably break her to pieces. But she felt strongly enough. Enough to subdue the instinctive fear. Enough to want to be with me. And being with her was the greatest happiness I had ever known.

Lyrics in this chapter and the title of the story are from Full Moon, By The Black Ghosts. It's a really good song/band from the Twilight soundtrack.