Stay with me while we get the introductions out of the way, okay?

As always, let me know what you think :)

xxx

Oh yeah, and since I didn't do this last time- I own none of this except the convoluted scenarios that can sometimes pour out of my fucked up brain.


CHAPTER 1

~Damon~

"I have to admit- that fanging thing was pretty badass, but I think I gotcha beat with the veins and all." I lean on the bar carelessly with my arms crossed next to the ridiculously tall vampire sitting at the blood bar. He's abandoned his meal for the evening and she looks slightly affronted.

"Oh, I get it," she nods her head in understanding while eyeing the two of us suggestively and swinging her index finger back and forth between us. She saunters off laughing, holding two fingers over the punctures in her neck - off to find a straight vampire apparently.

"Your dinner is on the run," I point out, all Captain Obvious and shit. The blonde vampire just shrugs, clearly not bothered by this information. "She tasted like processed potted meat and chemical cheese. And she didn't smell much better." I'll definitely be re-thinking my food choices while here.

"That blonde one you were just talking to- don't get all fangy on me again-" I say coolly after seeing his expression. "She with you?"

"Yes."

"So she's yours then?" I ask suspiciously.

"No." He seemed entirely affronted with the notion.

"I didn't think so," I said, pleased with this information.

"But she is here with another vampire from my area," the blonde tells me warningly.

From your area? What the hell is that? I pretend I know what the fuck he's talking about. "Bill. I heard as much." I'm not concerned about Bill.

"What's your interest in Miss Stackhouse?" he asks me suddenly. I look at him like he's mentally challenged. He gives a small smile and a nod of his head. "Good luck, vampire. You'll need it with that one," he replies before walking off in the direction that "Miss Stackhouse"disappeared in. What a great name, Stackhouse.

I abandon the bar in search of anything interesting when I feel the boat pulling away from the pier. We're finally on our way and straight up ahead, I see a marvelous moonlit dance floor surrounded with scantily clad belly dancers (I assume they're fairies) swaying to jungle music. How can I pass that up? I grab a scotch from a floating tray of alcoholic deliciousness and join in the throng of dancers. It doesn't take long before my good looks and charm win them all over. I could have taken any one…or two…of them back to my cabin, but, surprisingly, there was no appeal in the thought.

I would have settled for dancing the night away in an inebriated haze, but I saw that lovely brunette again sitting on the sidelines with an uncomfortable, constipated expression. It was obvious she didn't want to be here and her fancy pants boyfriend, rather than taking her somewhere to have some fun, just sat there on the outside of the crowd trying to coax her into dancing. She looked obstinate and stubborn- exactly my type.

I breezed over with my shirt hanging open, pants hanging down on my hips in that way that women seem to find deliriously sexy and a brand new scotch in my hand.

"May I cut in?" I ask her charmingly.

She looks up letting her eyes travel up the expanse of my bare torso and chest, flushing slightly, until she meets my eyes. Then, she says something I'm not expecting. "Aren't you only supposed to say that to couples who are dancing?"

I'm a bit dumbfounded so I sit down on her other side while her boyfriend stares holes in my head, contemplating her question before I realize that there isn't really any way one can cut in when one is just sitting like this. "I guess you're right Miss…" I let my sentence trail off into a question waiting for her name.

"Just Bella. No Miss anything- just Bella."

"Just Bella," I repeat giving her my flirty eyes. Not the ones reserved for Elena- more like the Caroline flirty eyes; the ones that don't mean anything, but still manage to tangle women of every walk of life into my web of sex and self-seeking agenda's.

"Care to dance?" I ask, extending my scotch-free hand.

"I don't dance," she responds hastily and then scoots closer to her boyfriend who's been eyeing me the whole time. He's probably thinking about how much he'd like to throw me overboard. I smile.

"Yes, I am actually." This is the first time he's spoken and I realize - whoever he is - has just answered my thoughts. Un-fucking-believable. I'm a little envious now because that shit is cool as hell.

"Excuse me?" I retort automatically.

"I'm Edward Cullen and I would very much like to throw you overboard," he snaps. And he did it all…formal. He smiles in that backhanded way that people do when they're trying to make polite death threats.

Edward Cullen…why does that name sound familiar? Teenage girls across America (and their mothers) swoon in the background and I realize where I've heard this name before. "Oh! You're the sparkly, virgin vampire!" I laugh. I gesture to Edward and Bella together and make the sound of a whip cracking in his direction. I find it extremely hilarious but Edward "Sparkly Pants" Cullen doesn't seem amused at all. And neither does his girlfriend as she gives me a death stare and sweeps him up to the dance floor.

It only takes me a few seconds to figure out why that Bella chick says she doesn't dance. Edward is constantly keeping her from falling, bumping into other people or otherwise injuring herself and the unfortunate by-standers. Finally, when I feel like I can't stand it any longer (which amounts to about five whole seconds), Edward scoops her up onto his feet and they dance gracefully that way across the floor.

Several minutes pass and then I see Bella leaving the dance floor all flushed and smiling with a very cute, pixie-looking thing. Edward reclaims his seat, presumably to wait for Bella to return. I try to be careful with my thoughts, but I'm not used to being in the company of someone who can hear every damned thing that runs through my head, so when I can't stop thinking an enlightening conversation ensues.

Edward cuts his eyes at me in what is supposed to be a threatening gesture. "I'm not gay," he says through clenched teeth.

"I'm just saying' man- you're a virgin with an exceptionally willing girlfriend that you barely touch, you have this whole formal and gentlemanly bullshit down to a science, you have no fangs and dude, if you haven't noticed- you fucking sparkle."

He smiled then and it looked like it must have been genuine even though I was sure I was about to hear a very well-spoken rebuttal.

"A- the parameters of mine and Bella's sexual relationship is none of your concern, but I assure you, it's benefits both of us to wait. In more ways than one."

That wasn't chock full of innuendoes at all, I thought sarcastically in Edwards direction. He made a wry face and continued as if I hadn't spoken…or uh…thought.

"Something I'm sure you know nothing about. B- women seem to find my status as a gentleman particularly charming."

Meaning 'I'm hotter than you', correct?

"C- I don't need fangs to kick your ass. D- Women love shiny things."

I realized my jaw was clenched and took a sip of my scotch so as to look unaffected. Not such a brilliant move when you're sitting next to a mind-reader. "Okay, Sparkleworks, you made your made your point." I get up to go back to the dance floor thinking I've got the last word, the upperhand so to speak, when Edward, once again, one ups me like the asshole he is.

"Just because I get the 'My Little Pony' reference doesn't make me a fag. The fact that you just pictured it in perfect detail and clarity, however…." I cut my eyes at him and reluctantly - as well as silently - give him props for not being a complete pussy and go on my carelessly happy, drunken way.

~Edward~

"Who was that?" Bella inquired when she returned from the ladies room.

I took in her new war paint, curtesy of Alice, and frowned. It wasn't that she didn't look beautiful - because, honestly, she was always that - it was just that she was more beautiful without all that stuff covering up the smooth skin beneath, preventing me from seeing the full effect when she blushed and more importantly disguising my Bella. My Bella very rarely wore makeup of her own volition.

"That was Damon Salvatore," I answered.

I wrestled with the urge to lick my thumb and begin wiping the smut off her face, but I didn't want her to take offense so I prattled on about unimportant things to distract myself. "He thinks I'm gay." Upon seeing her confused expression, I regaled her with the finer points of our brief conversation.

"Is he…?" Bella asked tentatively.

"No, love. He's actually quite in love with another young woman on this cruise. She's human, incidentally. I'm sorry I lied before. I was under the impression that you'd be the only human aboard considering all the trouble I had to go through to get you a ticket, but clearly, I was mistaken."

"Trouble?" she asked, mystified.

I couldn't take it anymore so I gently took Bella's hand and began leading her back to our room so that I could uncover the natural beauty that is hers and hers alone. We talked as I led the way. "There are very strict rules about these things. There's a 'no humans' policy and to get around that, I paid a not-so-small fortune for your ticket and their feigned ignorance. I also had to tell them…"

I really didn't want to tell her this part. It would get her all fired up and I really didn't want to have this conversation again tonight. By this time, we'd reached the door to our temporary haven.

"Tell them what?" I knew she'd ask. There was no way around that. This is Bella we're talking about. I took my time unlocking the door and getting us inside. Silently, I walked to the bathroom, found a white washcloth and ran some warm water over it. I gestured for Bella to sit on the bed and began wiping her face with it. I was hoping she would ask what I was doing, thereby avoiding the other question she asked me, but she was still and silent; just watching me smooth the warm fabric over her lovely porcelain face. I knew she wouldn't drop it and that she wouldn't forget. I might as well get it over with. "I had to tell them of our plans to turn you," I admit, ashamed.

I wanted Bella to be like me for all the most selfish reasons. It would be easier. I could have her forever. She would be much less breakable. But at the same time, it wasn't what was best for her. I wanted her to have a life. A life that I couldn't give her. A life with children and other normal things. I didn't want her to have to suffer through watching everyone she loved die or having to hurt them by having to pretend she was dead herself. I didn't want to take a single thing away from her life. That's why I was ashamed and Bella knew all this, but still insisted that what she wanted more than anything else was me. Ridiculous because she already had me for as long as she lived. Therein lay her problem. She would eventually get old and die and what happens when everyone sees the ninety year old wrinkled lady french-kissing the seventeen year old boy? Awkward.

I should have known Bella would be taking on a whole different line of thought worlds apart from mine. "Will you change me? Here?" she asked eagerly. Eagerly!

I was finally finished cleaning her face and I threw the washcloth across the room. It hit the vanity with a moist slapping sound that vibrated the mirror and left a few droplets on the silvery surface.

"I guess that's a no then," Bella grumbled.

I took her in my arms and lifted her off the bed just long enough to position myself underneath her so she'd be sitting in my lap. With my arms wound as carefully and as securely around her as I could manage without crushing every bone in her tiny body, I whispered, "isn't it enough that I've already promised to make you a monster? Let's not rush it, love." I kissed the top of her head and she let out a small sigh that told me the matter was closed at least for the evening. I was sure she could hear the torture in my voice with the previous statement and that was what was responsible for her letting it go so easily.

I wasn't dumb enough to think it wouldn't come back up tomorrow. With Bella, if it's not "fuck me" it's "kill me".

~Bill~

Sookie came back still in a temper with Eric. His booking us separate rooms was exactly like him and she was well aware of that, so why it was frustrating her so badly, I could only guess. I was fairly certain my guesses were dead on, no pun intended. She had feelings for Eric. Whether blood induced or not, she didn't like it. And she did like it at the same time. She was confused and it made her angry with herself. She wanted to have feelings for me and me alone, but with the blood bond to Eric, it was difficult for her to tell which feelings were really hers and which ones were brought on by the bond. In effect, she resisted all feelings for Eric and was snippier with him than usual.

The unfortunate part was that she was not any more pleasant with me either. After all the things that I've put her through, both intentional or otherwise, I can't blame her. I wanted to take her for a weekend away to a place where she and I could be completely alone and get to know each other again, but then Eric had to fuck everything up with his "vacation." I've told myself countless times that it does not matter. That Sookie and I will have a good time regardless. But, there's no telling what kind of calamitous events will occur when you mix Eric with large quantities of other supernatural creatures. I've seen at least ten fairies on this ship since we boarded and I haven't even seen the whole thing. Fairies smell incredibly intoxicating to a vampire. One would not want to witness the kind of feeding frenzy that occurs when one of us comes into contact with a full-blooded fairy.

Thinking of feeding frenzies reminded me of the sign I saw on the way to the room. A formal dinner is served every evening and I thought it might be a good way to distract Sookie from her momentary anger issues.

"We must go down to dinner in ten minutes, Sookay!" I call to her from outside the bathroom door.

"Don't get your panties in a wad. I'm comin''!" she snaps.

I realize she's on edge so there's nothing to do but shake my head and smile at the door to the woman I love on the other side.

She opens the door a few moments later and she looks stunning in a sleeveless, white cocktail dress with a black satin ribbon tied around her at the waist. It's simple and it's perfect. I smile and hold out my arm, complimenting her as she takes it. Once we're outside in the warm night air, she begins to relax a bit and enjoy the view of the stars reflecting off the never-ending sea. It's a quiet, leisurely walk to the dining area, but once we get there, it's nearly full. The leprechaun in the tail coat checks our names and guides us to two empty seats, making sure - at my complete and utter displeasure - to place Sookie in the seat right next to Eric.

Across from us, it looks as if there's some other unfortunate vampire with a similar quandary as I take in the expressions of the three people seated directly in front of us. One is a lovely female and on either side of her, there is a man. One looks completely at ease with black hair and blue eyes while the other, dark hair and green eyes, looks as if he may need medical attention of the white coat variety.

Beside me sits another brunette who seems to be accompanied by a whole throng of vampires. She chats animatedly with a few of them, but it's clear that they're all together judging by the golden eyes they all have in common.

On the other side at one end, it looks as if there are some children seated at our table, but upon closer inspection, I notice that they each have wands. Wizards.

I'll be damned, (pun intended) I thought in shock. It's Harry Potter.

This is bound to be an interesting evening.


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