Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight.

Rated: T.

Author: xPaige Turnerx

Summary: It's your classic girl finds love in a coffee shop... if you replace girl with tired old immortal and coffee shop with comic shop and love with aggravated endearment that eventually leads to soul-bound devotion and affection. AU. Rosalie/Bella.

'Happiness hit her like a train on a track

Coming towards her stuck still no turning back.'

"Good gravy, you really are the Emo King of Brooding, aren't you?"

Eyes that were pinned to the sky, flickering back and forth in paranoia of a sun that threatened to crack through the clouds, only briefly glanced down to the road and the passenger seat of the Volvo. Edward shifted in his seat, self-conscious as he pulled at the bottom of his shorts. His black shorts that matched a grey tank top, and the equally dark shoes he was wearing.

To say this boy stuck out at an LGBTQ+ Pride event was... an understatement.

He ran a hand through his hair (that seemed more red than bronze these days and Bella wondered if this tiny little vampire dyed his hair), shooting her a look out the corner of his eye. "Not all of us can pull off big puffy rainbow shorts, Bella."

"Hey, oh, hey, woah!" Bella held up her hands in surrender, a grin stretching across her painted face. Tribal markings that could have passed for entirely accurate, save for the fact that they were rainbow coloured; red, orange, green, blue, and yellow lines swiped down over her left eye. Three violet, purple, and indigo lines dragged down her chin. "I was not attacking, I was merely remarking."

Edward scoffed, rolling his golden eyes back up to the sky through the windshield. "The day I take to heart anything you have to say about fashion, is the day I give up."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Bella asked with wide eyes, looking down at herself.

"I'm merely remarking that you're wearing rainbow shorts with what appears to be a heavy death metal shirt that you've barbarically slashed the sleeves off of, paired with your clunky neon orange skates, and a tie dye... what is that, an actual business tie that you've braided around your head?"

Bottom lip jutting out in a pout that even Edward had to admit was impressive, Bella flipped down the visor from the roof to look at her. "It keeps my hair out of my face." She flipped it back up, angling herself in the seat to face Edward full on. He anxiously looked back at her before returning his gaze to the streets of Seattle, navigating their way to the closest convenience store. "So what are you, Double Dee?"

"I..." he swallowed nervously, fingers clenching around the steering wheel until he heard it creak under the pressure, "I beg your pardon?"

"What are you?" she asked again, elbow propped up on her knee and chin in her hand, while the other motioned up and down his frame. "You're not straight, but that's all I got."

Edward's shoulders relaxed when he realized she wasn't questioning his species. "Oh." And then he got rigid all over again, suddenly thrust into a conversation he'd been skillfully dodging for the past ninety-odd years. "I don't know," he said quietly, honestly.

Bella had this effect, this weird... presence about her, that made you feel safe and heard and validated, without the fear of being judged or misinterpreted. She waited for an answer to her question, that she would take as it was given, and not morph it into her own perception of what she thought it should be, and instead remained as it was.

"My family is old-fashioned," Edward continued softly, though he still refused to meet her eye. Entirely too focussed on the road, but if that kept him comfortable, allowed him to speak his mind, then Bella wouldn't stop him. "I am old fashioned, or I was raised to be. I've never ventured outside of what I should be."

Pale lips tugged down into a small frown, Bella reaching out to touch Edward's shoulder. He flinched, and she thought better of it, lowering her hand back down to her lap. "You should be who you are, Edward. Without fear, without shame, with – with pride! People should be proud to be themselves, that's what this is about!"

"I've never been to one of these events before," he mused thoughtfully. Golden eyes ventured back over towards his new friend, thoughtful, insightful. "I say my family is old-fashioned, but I don't think that is perfectly accurate. Alice has always been... open with her affection, no regard to gender or barriers of any kind. Jasper is one of the most understanding individuals I've ever met. Rosalie has recently taken an interest in outside... hmm, forces, we'll say." Edward sighed, shook his head. "I think we never talk about it because we always fear the others' reactions, unaware that we're all in quite similar boats."

"Assumptions usually work out that way. People will surprise the hell out of you, Double Dee, if only you'd give them the chance."

His crooked smile returned, eyes sparkling with delight. "Speaking from personal experience?"

"Hah!" Bella let out a sharp bark of laughter. "I gave up trying to anticipate people a long time ago, my friend. Better to just sit back and enjoy the ride."

Nodding, Edward finally pulled into the parking lot of a local Pit Stop. By the time Bella opened her door, he was there, holding out his pale hand, and helping her up to her feet. Unsurprisingly, she'd refused to take off her skates even to run off to the store quickly. He squinted up at her happily, their arms hooking together so she wouldn't go rolling off into traffic. "I don't like people touching me," he said quietly as they entered the little store, the bell above the door ringing.

Bella went to pull her arm from his, but he only tightened his grip and gave her a reassuring smile. The store was quiet enough that she could hear his feet on the tiles and her wheels rolling along as she watched him. "That's okay," she told him.

"I would prefer to initiate touching, so people know when it's okay to touch me," he continued while they studied the bags of ice in the back freezer. Looking ridiculous, sticking out amongst the bland beige walls and shelves, with Edward's gravity defying red hair and Bella's wildly painted face, the only thing that matched were their smiles and inquisitive eyes.

"That's fair."

A chilly air seeped from the freezer when he opened it to grab an armful of bags, closing the door. He stared down at the bags in his arm, over to the other that was hooked with Bella's, and finally up into curious dark eyes. "I've never told anyone that before. It seems silly because it's reasonable when I say it aloud, but I've always held it back to accommodate the others. The others who love to touch and express themselves."

"They're expressing their love for you," Bella said gently, with a soft smile and equally soft eyes. "A love that would let them happily accommodate you, by asking before touching. Or not touching, at all. Your feelings are just as valid as theirs, Edward."

His lips finally curved up into a small, genuine smile. "I know," he agreed. "I always knew they were, I just... I'm starting to believe it."

"I'm proud of you."

The clerk behind the raised counter eyed the two of them curiously when they approached, Edward dropping five large bags of ice on the counter. Bella eagerly beamed at the young man while Edward watched him struggle not to melt, his trembling fingers grabbing the bags to slide over his scanner. Bella hopped in place and Edward held out his hands, ready to catch her should her skates go every-which-way (even he had to admit, she was getting quite skilled on them), and she turned to him quickly. "Double Dee! Thanks for taking me to get this ice, I really appreciate it."

"It's my pleasure, Bella, I assure you."

Dark eyes crinkled and she brushed her knuckles against her jaw, bashfully turning to scoop up the bags of ice into her arms while Edward paid. "Still," she hummed. She pushed off the counter, gliding through the door with a parting wave to the clerk, following Edward back out to his car. "I didn't think we'd go through so much ice so soon, and Angela can't leave the event as she planned most of it. I can't drive, it would have taken forever to roll down here on my own."

"Really, it's fine. I don't think anyone expected it to be such a beautiful day." Edward nervously glanced upward. "Looks like the sun might just break through sometime."

Tossing the bags into the back seat, Bella ducked into the car. She leaned over into Edward's space, hesitating a moment for him to eye her warily and nod, before pecking his cheek. "I got you covered, buddy. Wouldn't want my favourite Pale Face to burn up in the sun – we've got heavy curtains hung up in the window for just such a bizarre and sunny day, should it come to that."

"What did you call me?" Edward breathed with wide eyes.

Bella's head tilted to the side, her dark eyes sweeping out away from his and to the windshield. "I don't know if you've noticed, but you've got a very pale face, Double Dee. With a complexion like that, I imagine you burn pretty easy and usually try to avoid excess sun?"

"Oh." He watched her closely for a heartbeat and then nodded jerkily. "Right, yes, of course."

Having acquired what they set out to get, the two enjoyed their ride back to Bella's comic shop in companionable music. Songs blasting from Bella's headphones hanging around her neck, and Edward's speakers in his car, with all the windows rolled down. Reminding Edward much of a puppy, Bella seemed dead set on hanging her head out the window to enjoy the breeze and greet people walking the streets. And to his great surprise, a number of them greeted her back – by name!

By the time they pulled up into the parking space saved for them in front of the building, Bella was spilling out of the car and dashing into the group of people dancing on the sidewalk. There wasn't a whole lot of traffic that came through this particular street, which worked out well with such a large turnout, but every now and then the street was quickly vacated to let a car pass through. Otherwise, there was music, and dancing, and laughter, and booths set up on sidewalks.

Edward closed his door with his hip, arms full of ice, and turned to come face to face with a grinning Bella again. She held out her arms to take the ice and was gone, wheeling through the crowd of people. Edward scurried to keep up, latching onto his friend until he could find a family member.

Utterly endeared, Bella didn't mention his finger hooking through her belt loop as the boy tried to stay as close as possible. "Sarah!" Bella gasped and jerked to a stop, Edward's hands the only thing keeping her upright just inside the door. "Hey!"

Shifting the ice to just one of her arms, Bella held out her hand until Sarah took it and pulled her out of the way of the door, Edward trailing behind awkwardly. The girl gave Bella a shy smile, tucking her hair (and flower, Edward noticed. There were a few girls -and a couple guys- around the event with big orange flowers in their hair, behind their ear, pinned to their shirts) behind her ear. "Back from your ice run?"

"Yup!" Bella chirped happily, hoisting the bags up higher for emphasis. "How are you enjoying the fundraiser?"

Sarah nodded quickly, her face lighting up as she gazed around the large open room. "It's amazing, Bella, really. Last time I spoke to Angela, she said you guys had raised over three hundred dollars already. This is... you're great, really."

"Oh, well," Bella scoffed at that, scratching her cheek a little awkwardly. She pushed her glasses back up her nose and shrugged. "So you are! You donated pretty much the second you walked through the door, I didn't even have to sell it to you. You basically threw your money at me."

Sarah's brown eyes widened and she ducked her red face, forcing out a laugh. Edward watched on with wide eyes that shifted between the two girls, speculating and calculating. Not good. Sarah is a sweet girl, she is a very, very sweet girl. Rose is going to lose Bella if she keeps pushing her away. The text was shot off just a little too fast to be human, Edward's fingers blurring along the keys as he pushed his gift out to cover the building, searching for Alice's mind.

When he felt eyes on his face, Edward looked up to see both girls staring at him expectantly. "Oh, sorry. What was that?"

He replayed Bella's introduction in Sarah's mind moments before Bella shook her head, and motioned to him again. "I was just saying, Edward, this is Sarah. Sarah, this is Edward."

"Another Cullen," Sarah laughed gently, her smile warm and friendly. She took his outstretched hand. "Your family is becoming notorious around the school."

Edward nodded. "We have that effect on people. It's a pleasure to meet you, Sarah."

"And you," she agreed. Her eyes swept over the room. "I was a little... short with your sister, Alice, when we met. I didn't realize how close you guys are with Bella already, it took me off-guard. I hope I didn't offend her?"

He shook his head, a polite smile on his face. "Of course not, Alice is quite difficult to offend."

"Speaking of which... I find it suspicious my Tiny Wall hasn't tackled me yet," Bella murmured thoughtfully as her narrowed eyes searched the area. "I'm gonna go put these in the coolers. Screech if you see her sneaking up on me."

They watched Bella roll off slowly, ducking around people, very obviously anticipating a surprise attack. Edward turned back to Sarah who became even more awkward without the buffer, giving him a stiff smile. He offered a grimace back. "So, you are close to Bella, as well?"

"Could be closer," she laughed awkwardly, her cheeks pink. Edward stared. "Um, kind of, yes. She never really noticed me last year, but we have a bunch of classes together this year and got to talking. Bella knows a lot of people, it's... hard to get close to her. Unless you're Angela or Eric." Her eyes tightened and she appeared to be struggling to keep her smile up. "Or a Cullen, it seems."

Brows furrowed, Edward studied the human before him. He shoved his hands into his pockets, head tilting to the side. "You wish to court her."

"I-what? Why would you say that?" Sarah spluttered, her shoulders raising up as she wildly waved her hands around. "Of course I – why? Did she say something? Has she mentioned me and courting?"

He shook his head, face surprised at such a reaction. "No, you just very clearly appear to have affection for her."

"Is it that obvious?"

"I can see it and I usually miss quite a bit, yes."

Her shoulders drooped again. "Do you think Bella's noticed?"

"I'm not... sure," he admitted and looked back out at the room. "Bella is impossible to read."

"Right?! God, I thought it was just me!" Sarah shook her head, stepping into Edward's personal space, her hand on his shoulder. His eyebrows shot up in alarm, body becoming stiff. "Sometimes it seems like she's totally into me and we're just vibing, you know?" She sighed and Edward fought to keep from shrugging her off, looking around to try and spot a family member to come save him. "And other times, she seems so distracted. A thousand miles away and unreachable, like I just... can't get her to focus, to be here, in the moment." Sarah gazed at Edward thoughtfully. "She's very unaware, you know?"

He nodded meekly, hands scrunched into fists in his pockets so tight he felt them crack. "Yes."

A familiar, smug voice floated across the room. One he associated with pinching because, usually, when he listened in to this particular voice, she pinched him when she caught him. And she always caught him.

Rosalie replayed Bella's visit to the manor over and over, their confrontation in the bedroom, thoroughly pleased at how present she'd been. How very aware of Rosalie she was. There was never a moment Rosalie doubted Bella was not focussed on her, not invested in her interest, not since their very first meeting. Whatever it was about Rosalie (and she knew the list was long), something about her had captured Bella's interest enough that the girl simply could not let it go.

Not yet, at least.

Edward and Alice refused to leave her alone, to just drop the Bella issue. Daily they would come to her, warn her that she was going to drive the brunette away, or that Bella would get sick of being rejected and find acceptance somewhere else. These days, they warned of that somewhere else being a particular girl named Sarah.

After seeing first hand how they awkwardly blundered around each other, Rosalie could not decide if she was relieved or threatened.

This was all assuming that Bella was actually romantically interested because, as much as she poked and prodded, Bella never actually made any official moves. Whether or not that was because Rosalie was dating Emmett, Bella wasn't truly serious, or she was simply platonically interested in the blonde, Rosalie could not say.

So how could it truly count as a rejection if there was no offer officially put forth?

Even if she did, even if Bella went up and flat out asked Rosalie on a date, so what? Rosalie had every right to turn her down. She didn't have to date Bella Swan, she didn't have to have anything to do with this girl. Edward and Alice claimed Mate, but there was no hard, concrete proof, that wasn't how this worked.

Just knowing, was, frankly, bullshit to Rosalie. She needed facts, she needed proof, she needed something more substantial than a feeling. Rosalie Hale needed science. She was not throwing away sixty years with her best friend for a chance at, what, true love? Puzzle pieces? So-called perfection? All those ridiculous, vomit-inducing cliches from Esme's many, many, many romantic comedy movies?

Hard pass.

Powerful lungs huffed, hot air blowing against Rosalie's thigh until a massive, furry head lifted and fell into her lap. Rosalie sighed, lifting her hand from where her arm was draped over the back of the red, velvet couch, and played with Charlie's fluffy, floppy ear. The beast refused to leave her side once Bella ran out for ice, nervous in such a large crowd, and... well, Rosalie was sitting on the couch anyway, she wasn't about to let this mangy dog chase her off. So whatever.

They sat together.

"Did you see that?" Jasper's southern voice drawled from behind the couch as he stepped up onto the lifted platform with her and the vending machines. Pretty much the moment they got to the event, Rosalie had claimed the single couch, up on the platform, having chased Eric and a few others off.

Rolling her amber eyes, Rosalie scratched behind Charlie's ear when he bristled at Jasper's presence. "Why do you ask questions to which you already know the answer to?"

"How fitting you should quote that in a comic shop."

"How embarrassing you know what I'm quoting."

A chuckle rumbled in her brother's chest and Rosalie let a self-satisfied smirk roll across her lips. Scarred hands latched onto the back of the couch, Jasper leaning against it as he gazed out over the room. "Sarah is quite taken with Bella," he commented. Rosalie only hummed in feigned interest. "You do not fear losing Bella to her?"

"I have nothing to lose to that bumbling human," Rosalie bit out quietly, her eyes darkening shade by shade. She glared across the room at the oblivious girl who was still cornering Edward. "Bella is not mine."

Her breath hitched in her chest, an irrational snarl threatening to spill from her lips as her instincts roared inside her chest.

She could hear the grin in Jasper's voice when he leaned down towards her ear. "I will give you one thousand dollars to say that again. Just one more time."

"I have Emmett," Rosalie hissed instead, finally turning black eyes onto her brother.

He quickly slid down to the opposite side of the couch, still leaning against the back of it. His own dark eyes peered at her curiously, scrutinizing, and Rosalie fought to remain sitting and not storm away. Charlie did wonders in keeping her calm and he really was the only thing keeping her in the building. "It won't hurt forever," Jasper said quietly, genuinely. "The sooner you do it, the sooner everyone can heal."

"Some scars refuse to heal," Rosalie glanced to Jasper who looked too concerned, too sympathetic, too... much, "brother. Excuse me."

Rosalie rose to her feet, listening to Charlie whine and drop to his paws next to her. She scoffed, ignored the warmth in her chest, and strode down off the platform into the crowd of people. As Jasper carried on about nonsense that simply did not pertain to her, she'd spotted Bella circling back to save Edward.

The girl had swooped in to place a flower crown atop his red head, cutting in between the two and offering him a soft, understanding smile. Seizing the opportunity, Edward turned and made a break for it, dashing off to Esme and Carlisle outside on the sidewalk.

Which left Bella and Sarah alone again, off in the corner of the room, standing annoyingly close, whispering annoyingly to each other, with Sarah giggling obnoxiously again.

That was just unacceptable and, sure, okay, maybe a part of Rosalie whispered to herself that this wasn't fair. How could she go sabotage any chance at a relationship between these two when most of the time Rosalie refused to be in the same room as Bella? How could she claim anything over Bella, when at every turn, Rosalie refused the girl anything, all while clinging desperately to Emmett?

How could she?

With fucking poise, that's how.

Rosalie's gaze snapped between the two teenagers who were dancing around their awkward flirtation; Sarah twisting the big blue flower around in her fingers, eagerly awaiting a response from Bella. Bella, herself, had her eyes on the ground before her, a charming half-smile on her face as she blew out a breath of air, hand scratching the back of her neck. "Yeah, Sarah, that – that sounds awesome, I'd love to go see it with you."

A growl rumbled deep in Rosalie's chest but she bit it back, instead sauntering up to the two of them. Sarah's dull brown eyes widened, regarded Rosalie with an equal mix of terror and awe, her heart stuttering in her chest. Rosalie's lip curled back in both a smirk and mild snarl and just when she was sure this poor, little human was going to pass out, she sidled up next to her and wrapped her arm around the girl's shoulders. "And just what are we going to see?"

Another pair of dark eyes snapped up to Rosalie, this particular pair smouldering and swirling with a chaos that beckoned her in. Embarrassingly, Rosalie noted that if her heart still beat, it would be stuttering in her chest. The half-smile on Bella's face slowly stretched up into a full blown grin as she gazed at the blonde over the top of her glasses, until she finally looked up properly. Shoving the frames back up the bridge of her nose, Bella's head tilted to the side as she looked between the two of them.

Intentional or not (intentional, Rosalie could admit to herself), the vampire's position right next to the girl was both intimidating to the human, and presented a natural comparison. One that, frankly, Rosalie would always win.

Except, perhaps, against a certain Alaskan blonde that she wasn't on great terms with.

Sarah gulped nervously, feeling cool fingers increase their pressure on her shoulder, and hesitantly looked up at the blonde. "I was just asking Bella if she wanted to go see the new Spiderman movie with me."

"Fascinating," Rosalie hummed. Those golden eyes travelled back over to an amused looking Bella, and a blonde brow arched in intrigue. "And you agreed?" The scoff was nearly undetectable.

Nearly.

Watching Sarah flinch, Bella's dark eyes danced with a challenge. She puffed up her chest, hands on her hips, and nodded vigorously. "Of course, Aphrodite. You don't just turn down Sarah Thibodeaux, not with a smile like that." Her charming words had the desired effect of both bringing a smile to Sarah's face, and wiping the smirk from Rosalie's. "Well, you might. You might shoot her down, pin her to a wall, and then ignore her for the next week."

"Pin who to what?" Sarah asked quietly.

Rosalie's chin lifted ever so slightly. "If she goes traipsing around where she should not be, then maybe she deserves it."

"You could have just asked her to leave your room."

"This isn't about my room. And I did."

"Uh, you screamed at her to get out of your room, and if this isn't about that, then what is it about? Trespassing? Last time I checked, the rest of your family welcomed her in with open arms."

"My family had no right, this involves me and they should have checked with me first. She can't blame me for trying to restore things to how they were before she fucked my life up."

"Kiss your momma with that mouth?"

"Oh, I'm kissing someone, and it isn't Sarah."

"You would be lucky to kiss Sarah. Sarah is a fantastic kisser."

"Sarah looks like she's average at best and I'd have to carry her through it. Or worse, she'd make a dumb joke just after we're done."

"... Sarah-Sarah get's nervous and uses humour as a defense mechanism of which she was under the impression other people found charming."

Gold clashed against brown, Rosalie not softening but hesitating. She ran her tongue along the back of her teeth, blinked, and looked off out of the window. "It's not horrendously offensive, I guess."

Bella sighed in relief, relaxing again.

Sarah awkwardly coughed, looking between the two of them, and made her presence known. "Have... have you seen the new Spiderman, R-Rosalie?"

"Tch," the vampire clicked her tongue at the girl, eyes staring at her in muted annoyance until Sarah's gaze snapped to the floor. "Emmett has thus far spared me the horror of being dragged to a theatre."

"Someone sounds jealous," Bella sang under her breath. Rosalie's death glared flickered over to her and she jolted in place, eyes widening and eyebrows shooting up her forehead. "Oop!"

"You are a child," Rosalie told her seriously. She sighed deeply, arms crossing over her chest now that she was done intimidating the human. "You are so young, it wouldn't even make sense."

This time Bella barked out a surprised laugh that had Sarah jumping and Rosalie twitching. Twitching, brushing her fingers over the phantom heartbeat in her chest, and quickly trying to school her features back into indifference. Bella grinned down at her feet, a hidden joke behind her smile, a mischievous twinkle in the depths of her dark eyes. "My dear, I have been around long enough to realize that age is a meaningless number people tack onto their lives in a futile attempt to measure it. I have seen firsthand a teenager experience more life than their great-grandparent."

"Okay, Plato," the blonde scoffed. Amber eyes scrutinized Bella, waiting for the girl to look back up at her. "If life is measured by experience, not age, then I still have you beat."

"I think you'd be surprised."

Sarah hummed, hands in her pockets as she looked between the two. "You guys are pretty competitive. I don't think life's a competition."

"Yours certainly isn't."

Bella's hand shot up to her mouth, to cover a snort or her mortification, Rosalie couldn't tell. "Aphrodite!" Bella reprimanded with wide eyes, most of her face still frustratingly hidden behind her hand.

Popping her lips together, Sarah stared off into the corner for a moment while she gathered herself. She took a breath, nodded, and finally looked up at the others. "Okay, I'm going to go find Jess. I'll circle back around to find you when you lose your bitchy shadow, Bella. Rosalie."

Rosalie watched her go, a satisfied smirk on her face, and turned back to Bella. Bella, who was staring up at her with an unreadable look and, okay, seriously, why was she so hard to read? People were transparent. You didn't have to be a mind reader to know what swill sloshed around in their half-empty little minds. It was actually one of the few bonding experiences that Rosalie and Edward shared; their ability to read people. (The boy quite literally, and Rosalie with astonishingly accurate guesses)

Not the case with Bella, Rosalie was starting to find. How hard was it to laugh when amused and glare when offended? Why did she look like she was upset about finding it funny?

Rosalie lifted her shoulder. "What?"

"That was so rude!" Bella huffed.

"I've said worse."

Bella shook her head. "I shudder to think what you say about me behind my back."

"I'm a bitch, not a coward," Rosalie snapped. Bella looked up at her curiously and Rosalie held her eye for only a moment before glancing away. "I do not 'talk shit' behind people's back. I say what I think to their face, without hesitation, without thought to how they might take it."

"Brutal honesty, hm?"

"I've been told it's borderline barbaric." Rosalie dug her fingers into her elbows, working her jaw a moment, and angled towards Bella. Her eyes fixed on the floor, unable to meet the girl's eye, as she forced herself to voice her thoughts aloud. "You annoy me." She watched Bella's shoulders droop out of the corner of her eye. "You're vexing, but... I think you're lovely."

Dark eyes widened in surprise, lifted to meet golden ones, but Rosalie was already gone, shouldering her way through the crowd of people. Charlie's massive furry head swung around into Bella's hip, making her roll back into the window behind her, and idly her hand came up to scratch his head. Vibrant green vines, thin and small, hardly noticeable in such a bustling, crowded room, reached out towards Bella as if she were the sun. Pale little flowers, white and pink, bloomed around her as she leaned back into them, a scarlet tinge to her cheeks as her gaze lingered on the vampire's retreating back, a smile caught between her teeth as she bit her lip.

"I think I chose well, Charlie, don't you?"

Her mighty beast let out a deep woof, his tail thunking between her thigh and the window. She blindly reached back towards the pane of glass, felt one of the vines slither around her wrist, and lifted her hand back up in front of her to watch a larger, purple flower bloom at its end in her palm.

"Now, do you think she'll choose me back?"

.

.

.

hope you enjoy

paige