A/N: Disclaimer in Chapter 1.

Sorry I'm still not 100% back to normal yet. I always seem to catch bugs at half term, I've been sleeping it off at odd times today.

This is the only thing keeping me sane at the moment.

Chapter 7: Daymare

There wasn't much time at all. The sunlight was encroaching on them. Erin knew in her bones the slayers were still after them. If the decoy hadn't been 'staked' they would know something was wrong when the decoy didn't burn in the light.

Erin's ankle felt like it was burning, the pain shooting up her leg. She gritted her teeth as she fought through the pain to keep running. Vlad glanced back at her.

Erin grasped the nearby oak tree, resting her hands on the rough bark she found there. She leaned against it supporting her weight. Adrenalin wasn't helping her through the pain, probably because she'd been standing still when the pain first hit her.

Vlad doubled back to her, grasping her chin lightly and looking her in the eyes. "You okay?" Erin nodded.

"There's no where to go." She told him, they had no idea what to do. She wished it was summer and the trees were all out in leaf. Vlad wouldn't survive at all the moment dawn broke and that was what scared her.

An idea came to her mind, there was one way he might survive.

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Erin dug through her bag, pulling out one of the empty soy blood bottles. She held it out to him, it'd be big enough. Vlad looked at it not moving a fraction of an inch.

She gestured with her head towards the bottle, "In you go."

"I can't." He told her.

This was no time to be picky.

"It's the only safe place for you at the moment." She told him. "I can put you in my bag…"

"I can't 'smoke'." He told her, looking away slightly, he hadn't been taught how to separate his atoms like other vampires could and he wasn't sure he wanted to attempt it around vampires he couldn't trust.

She looked at him in confusion. "Your dad can." She was pretty sure Ingrid and Bertrand could to.

"I can't."

"You can do things no other vampire can but you can't turn to smoke?"

Vlad gave a small shrug, "I didn't think I'd need it." Besides Bertrand had ignored him when he said he wanted to learn it.

Erin folded her arms over her chest, "You do now." She was going to get him to keep up with his training at some point on this little 'trip' one way or another, she promised herself in that moment.

She rooted through her bag, pulling out a tube this time. She threw it at him, Vlad caught it looking at it, sun cream – SPF 75. He squeezed some onto his fingers and quickly coated his hands. Erin rubbed it onto his cheeks, making sure his face was covered. It wouldn't buy him much time but it would give him valuable minutes.

As a slayer she was taught to fear the night, now she feared the day because of what it could do to him.

They had five minutes at most.

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Vlad glanced around looking through the trees. There was nowhere that really stood out that would provide shelter for them.

He concentrated trying to decide what to do. His keen eyes caught sight of something half a mile from them.

As soon as he realised what it was he began to feel the sensation of his skin burning.

He had no choice, he would have to do it.

With a sharp tug he pulled her to him. "Vlad what…" She began but she didn't get chance to finish.

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Vlad flew as fast as he could towards the hide. Carrying a 'passenger' slowed his speed slightly but he still went as fast as he could.

The moment they were over the threshold of the hide Vlad slammed the door shut. He let go of Erin who grabbed the wall. She screwed up her eyes as she felt sick at the sudden change in motion.

"I thought you weren't using your powers?"

"I didn't have a choice." He answered.

Erin looked at him and she couldn't see any side of his evil in his eyes. When he'd used his powers his barriers were lowered and 'he' came forward. Maybe he hadn't fought himself in that moment, he wasn't afraid of himself.

Erin lowered herself down the wooden wall, wincing as splinters dug into the palms of her hands.

Erin stretched her leg out slowly. Vlad knelt down and lifted her right leg up placing it on his knee.

"Is that a good idea?" She asked him as he gently began to undo her laces on her grey walking boots. She let out a cry of pain as he removed the boot from her foot. He jostled it slightly as he slid it from her foot.

He removed her sock slowly; he let out a sympathetic wince as soon as he saw the swelling. Erin let out a small gasp at the sensation of his cool fingers on her ankle. Vlad gently moved her foot hating the fact it was hurting her.

"Its not a bad sprain." He told her, "You need to rest it." He nodded emphasising his words. Erin shook her head.

"The slayers are after us..." She went to stand but Vlad pushed her back down.

"We can't do anything until sunset." He told her firmly, keeping a tight grasp on her ankle stopping her from moving far.

She glared at him but he wouldn't back down.

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Erin watched with a smile as Vlad slept peacefully beside her. They were taking turns to take watch to make sure the slayers couldn't creep up on them.

She'd never seen him sleeping, he was always awake before her and at the school it just wasn't possible. She was amazed the way his chest remained motionless, if it weren't for his REM (Rapid Eye Movement) she would think he was dead.

It was strange being with Vlad should have repulsed her, it went against everything she'd been brought up to believe but from the moment she met him she knew he was different. She didn't care for a moment that he was a vampire, he was a person and that's all that mattered to her.

Suddenly Vlad began to toss and turn. Erin didn't know what to do; she didn't dare touch him just in case he reached violently to her touch.

He looked like he was in pain, his fists clenching and unclenching. His back arching so violently she thought he would break it in half.

"Vlad?" She asked quietly, hoping it woke him up. He didn't hear her, she tried louder. "VLAD!" His eyes snapped open, his mouth opening revealing glistening fangs and she was right not to have touched him.

Vlad sat upright, searching the room frantically. His eyes held relief as soon as he saw her. He knelt next to her, Vlad grasped her throat turning it. He inspected it carefully, before letting go and dropping his head down in relief.

"What's wrong?" She asked him, she couldn't tell which side of Vlad it was that she was looking at and she was sure he couldn't either. Usually she could tell but what ever he had dreamed had scared all of him.

"I thought…" He shook his head, "It doesn't matter, it wasn't real." He tried to give her a smile but it shook with fear.

"Vlad…" She drew out and he conceded.

Vlad cupped her face, pushing her blonde hair back into its correct place above her eyes. "It was a bad dream, that's all Erin."

"You were terrified. Both sides of you." Vlad's eyes widened he didn't think that Erin had noticed the two of them emerge. "And which side is going to tell me what it was about."

Vlad straightened and she knew which one was going to give her an answer. His darkest side. She bit back a smile as he straightened out his shirt instinctively, his evil prided himself on his appearance.

"You're stubborn." He smiled, he liked her being stubborn.

She tipped her head at him and grinned, "I know."

Vlad took her hand and placed it on his chest, trying to ignore the warmth from her hand as it seeped through his shirt.

"You were trying to slay me." He smirked at her, Erin paled dramatically. Her heart pounded faster. "I retaliated but I didn't drain you." The fact that he didn't drain her in his dream was a start.

Erin was unsettled that he'd pictured her attempting to slay him.

"You put up a fight." He told her admiringly, Erin would always fight if she thought she was in danger. He liked that she was strong, not many people were strong like her when they came across a creature of the night like him.

Erin's mouth was dry. "What did I try to slay you with?" Her heart pounded.

He chuckled slightly, "A stake." Her eyes flashed over to her rucksack where her own stake was hiding. She looked at his eyes and could see the fear behind them, as if he was afraid his dream would come true.

Erin decided that he had acted in self-defence, she wanted to reassure him she would never attack him. "So you were just defending yourself. I understand Vlad…"

"Don't tell me about something you don't know anything about." Vlad growled at her.

Erin hated being treated like she knew nothing; the slayers had done it to her all her life and Ryan. He hadn't done it intentionally though. "I know more than you think Vlad."

"What does that mean?"

Erin realised she'd said too much. "Nothing." She answered, looking away.

The thought that Erin was hiding something from him hurt. He wanted to ask her but he had a feeling she was terrified of how he'd react. He didn't know what else she could be hiding from him. Part of him wanted to know what it was but the other part didn't, he was scared it would change what they had between them and he didn't want to lose her over something silly.

The longer it was there the more their relationship would be destroyed. At the moment there hadn't been any problems but how much longer could that last for?

Erin moved her legs until they were underneath her, she grasped his face firmly. She towered over him as she tried not to touch her ankle with even the slightest pressure. This was the first time she'd initiated contact with this side of him. "I will *never* slay you." Her words were firm and promise filled. She could never hurt him.

She glanced down at his lips before looking back to his eyes. Vlad mimicked her actions, trailing a hand up her back. Erin began to pull away, letting her hands slide down to his shoulders, grasping them and using it as leverage to push herself away. Last time they'd kissed they'd gotten a little carried away

Vlad didn't want her to pull away. He pulled her back down to his height. Erin's eyes widened in surprise at his actions making him smirk.

"Fangs." She whispered, he hadn't retracted them yet from when he woke. She watched in complete fascination as they retracted. They were extremely sharp and he didn't want to risk hurting her.

The moment her eyes snapped back to his, he leaned forward and firmly captured her lips with his.

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Vlad slowly replaced Erin's sock and boot, the swelling had gone down – not completely but it had gone down. He glanced up with a small smile at her slightly swollen, red lips. Erin blushed and looked away to compose herself before looking back at him.

"We've got to get to Stokely…" She began pausing slightly. They would never get there walking.

"Yeah, so?" He answered; he saw the glint in her eye. "No Erin."

TBC

A/N: Thanks for reading.