Beth woke to a strange beeping noise. Groaning as she rolled over to whack her alarm clock, she frowned as her hand failed to find anything. Pulling herself into sitting position, Beth surveyed the room in confusion.
Sunlight filtered in from the window, facing east, bathing Beth in it's light from her position on the four-poster bed. Mick had sent her up here last night, after they were through kissing. He returned to his freezer, much to her dismay. Beth fell back on the bed, savouring the memory of last night and finally knowing for sure that Mick cared for her. The persisting noise coming from downstairs pulled her back to reality. Beth reminded herself who would be downstairs to greet her, then quickly clamoured out of bed.
Minutes later, Beth walked down the extravagant staircase into the entrance hall. Last night, she had snuck down a servant's staircase. This morning, she made all the noise she wanted to as her hand trailed along the banister during her descent. Hearing the strange noise coming from her left, she followed it until she reached the kitchen, where her coat had been picked up off the floor and draped over a chair. Beth lent against the doorframe, an eyebrow raised as she watched Mick in the kitchen. He had the oven going, a timer the origin of the sound. He looked so cute, she noticed, trying to cook something unidentifiable.
"Need a hand there, master Chef?" Beth teased from the doorway. Mick turned to look at her, flour on his face.
"Good morning. Nice of you to finally get up," his eyes sparkled as he watched her walk closer to him, reaching up to wipe flour from his face and kissing his lips gently. Beth gave him a curious stare as she showed him the amount of flour she wiped off his forehead.
"It's been a while since I've cooked. No real need to, you see," Mick said apologetically. Beth just grinned and took the wooden spoon from his hand.
"Watch the master at work."
Within ten minutes, Beth and Mick sat down at the table, on chairs Mick assured would hold, while Beth feasted on pancakes.
As she ate, Beth became aware that Mick was watching her. "What?" she said with a laugh, "Do I have something on my –" she broke off as he kissed her.
A full minute later, Beth pulled back, a stunned look on her face. "I'm going to guess that you don't regret last night, then." He shook his head in response.
"Eat your breakfast," he said to her, standing up.
"Wait, where are you going?" Beth asked.
Mick looked at her, so beautiful with her messed up morning hair and confused expression. "I have to finish a case."
"Mick." Beth stood up, pancakes abandoned. "You never actually promised me…" Beth trailed off, fear beginning to strike her again.
Mick just smiled at her. "Why would I take the risk of dying when I have so much to live for?" He lent down and kissed her lips, and was gone before Beth could begin to return it.
"Stupid, romantic vampire," she muttered, returning to her breakfast.
Mick returned shortly after midday, to find the house empty. A note waited for him on the bench.
Gone back to LA. Work called. I'll see you tonight.
Love Beth.
A smile hit his face. It was just like Beth, to assume that he would be returning. She was right, of course, there was no way he could leave her now. He'd given in to her, surrendered, after fighting so hard. Which meant he had to be around her, to keep her safe. Mick went to the fridge, pulling out a bag of blood. Downing it quickly, he then packed up his things and had one last look around the house. The old, dilapidated thing had served him well.
Driving along the road towards Beth made the trip seem so much more worthwhile. But it also gave him time to think. And thinking led him to the conclusion that he had forgotten about, while Beth had been there clouding his judgement.
There was absolutely no way they could be together.
Because in fifty, sixty years time, she would die. She would grow old, get ill, and die. And he would still be thirty, living without her.
"God, Mick, what were you thinking?" he said under his breath. The problem was that this logic was easy to assess when away from her, but much harder to keep in mind when her eyes were locked on his, when he could smell her and touch her.
Sighing, Mick picked up his mobile and dialled Josef's number.
"Mick! Nice to hear from you." Mick rolled his eyes.
"Josef, next time I tell you where I am hiding out, would you mind not telling the person I'm hiding from?"
"Yeah, well, you missed her, she missed you, you were being stupid… What was I supposed to do?"
"I don't know, maybe talked to me yourself?"
"Because that would have ended well," Josef's voice was heavily sarcastic.
"Fair enough." Mick caved. " But now we have a problem."
"What did you do?"
"Fell in love with a human." Josef was silent for a minute.
"You don't plan on leaving again, do you?"
"I don't see what else I can do. I'm a danger to her," Mick said determinedly.
"Not if you're around to protect her. Let yourself have a little fun, Mick. Enjoy life with your human friend."
"I don't want to hurt her," Mick said quietly, eyes fixed straight ahead on the road.
"So don't leave." Josef hung up the phone, with Mick still thinking over his last words. The thing was, his oldest friend was right. He had seen the hurt in Beth's eyes when she mentioned him leaving, and he couldn't put her through more pain.
Plus, he loved her. And when it came down to it, he just couldn't resist her.
Beth sat at her desk at Buzz Wire, finishing some research on an article. It was 7.30, and her mind just wasn't on the job. Mick's face was the only thing she could think about, and it was distracting her to insane proportions.
Beth was no idiot. She knew the conclusion Mick would come to, and she knew that if he chose to leave again, she wouldn't stand a chance. He wouldn't tell anyone, not even Josef, and Beth would never see him again. She groaned, dropping her head down on the desk. She had to trust that he would see her today, to give her a chance to tell him the truth.
To tell him what she wanted to do.