I'm really sorry for taking years to update. If I got more response to this story I'd find the inspiration to write it faster and better.

They had started to infiltrate my life, those Averays. Kat and William slowly but surely made themselves visible to my school's populace. Sadly, for Kat only, they possessed that 'unapproachable' aura most vampires proudly held. People just weren't at ease whenever they were around. Thank god for my half-human-ness!

"Hi girls!" Kat sat down beside me that day. Abbie and Candy visibly shrunk away towards the vampire they were much more familiar with- Derick. "What's up?"

"Hey Kat." I said, fiddling with my food using a fork. Today was one of those manic Mondays I could never get used to. "Why aren't you accompanying your sulky brother?" William never hid anything; that included the aversion to other (living and non-living) creatures.

She groaned. "You can only take so much in a decade." I only barely heard her because at that moment Drew Court had taken interest with something in our table. He reacted the funniest way when his eyes registered Kat- he looked like something had died within him.

"Kat Averay…" For once, Drew looked as lost as I felt. I saw Kat mouth 'oh shit.' What's going on here?

"You two know each other?" I asked casually. I gave Kat a significant look. Why didn't she tell me?

Kat took a quick glance at Drew. "No." She said innocently, but her pause had spoken for itself.

Drew only shook his head in disgust and with his tight fists pushed in his pockets, he walked away.

When he was out of sight I turned to Kat. "What was that?"

She waved her hand dismissively, but the other one pinched the bridge of her nose in agony. "Just another fling I didn't know lived here."

"Wow." I was amazed. Drew Court was a fling! No wonder he was so pissed off. "If he was just a fling… why are you so bothered?"

"I'm not bothered." Kat said laughing sarcastically. "This is all William's fault. He knew."

"Isn't it always William's fault?" I asked enjoying all of a sudden.

"Too bad he has to make it up to you today." Kat said, looking up at me and grinning.

"What do you-"

"Catch you later, Ness…" She took her leave and I was left to converse with my violent emotions.

Later that day, I was feeling really down. My head was aching, my hands were shaking, and my ego was just itching to do something that I was passionate about. What is there to do in life? How do my parents go on living without getting totally bored? Wait, don't answer that last question.

It was raining heavily and I was thinking of maybe driving off to my favorite place in the world. A little bump in the road stopped me in my tracks.

"Hi."

"AAAAAAAH!" I braked sharply and the car swerved to a stop, almost hitting a few of the sturdiest trees around. William's face had appeared, upside down, peering from across the windshield. He had been on top of my car for a while now I guess.

"Could I please be informed of where we're going?"

"Could I just pretend you didn't exist right now?" I tried backing away but I hadn't realized that I had ran into a ditch.

"You're going to have to get out here and push it, you know." He had contented himself to standing beside the car now like a normal human being. Note the careful use of the word 'like.' "Come on. I don't bite… humans."

Thank god he wasn't one of those types to laugh at his own jokes. That would've been unbearable. "I'll let you in if you push it out yourself."

He grinned silly. "Deal." He didn't even move- the car was slowly moving out on its own as he willed it. Fear washed through me involuntarily.

Still, I had to show some backbone. "I said push it yourself, not use your creepy mind powers to do it for you." I said when he tried to open the door I locked precisely so he couldn't ride shotgun.

But he just smiled like what I said was nonsense. I heard the door unlock itself and he opened the door to gingerly sat next to me. The air was heavy and freezing as we sat there in silence. "So… who put you up to this?"

He sighed and I looked up to see him frown. "My folks. They said I deserved to meet someone like you." I giggled nervously.

I definitely regretted previously sneaking a glance. He looked gorgeously adorable with the tendrils of wet hair sticking to his porcelain skin, even more so now that his golden eyes focused solely on my brown ones. "Can you read my mind?"

"Not if I don't will myself to. Why?" He was being too civil. Georgie must have been quite intimidating.

"Because you wouldn't like it if you did." I said purposely, hoping it would result in him never seeing my stupid, impulsive thoughts. I was not immune to beauty just because I grew up around it. It just meant I was attracted to the kind I wasn't used to. "It must be so boring to be able to make anyone do anything."

"Not really. I train myself not to care about people- they'll always have a thought or two that'll repulse me thoroughly." I nodded thoughtfully. He cleared his throat. "and if there's anything that repulses me, it's the feeling that someone I'll probably see a lot thinks very lowly of me."

I raised a brow. "You're lying."

"I don't lie." He said coldly. I just stared, challenging him with my gaze.

"You can't prove that."

"I don't have to. You'll believe it sooner or later." Fair enough.

"So… what now?" I said sighing and rubbing my temples. What a long day. And here I was hoping for an escape.

"I'm going to do whatever it takes to make it up to you until tomorrow." I gaped at his declaration.

"Why didn't you tell me this morning? I would've had a lot of time!"

He shrugged. "It was sunny." He wasn't lying.

"Can't we postpone this? I need to go to my secret hideout today." Didn't I sound childish? Secret hideout… hah!

He lightened up at that. "Secret hideout? Is that what that tree house is?" Busted. "Did you build that?"

I nodded shyly. He whistled. "Not bad." I blushed. It was kind of embarrassing really.

"I was eight."

He went back to businesslike. "No returns or exchanges. It's now or never. Take it or leave it."