Amelia Gilbert

"It's so hard to see him locked up like this." Elena's shoulder slumped against the door as she peered through the small window into the Salvatore dungeon where Stefan was being held captive. I was very disappointed in missing out on the kidnapping; it's something I believe I would have thrived at. She sighed for the millionth time today.

"You're the one who locked him up."

What the hell was I thinking? I shouldn't have said ANYTHING.

It's like I had a death wish. I immediately shut my eyes and braced myself for what was coming.

"…Do you think I wanted to do this?" My eyes fleeted around the room to find the closest exit. "Do you not realise how hard this has been for me?!"

"Oh I'm sorry; I completely forgot that you were attacked by Stefan…. Oh wait."

Run, Mia, run!

"And bam, she threw my head into the wall repeatedly. I'm telling you, Matt, you should be glad that psycho dumped your ass."

Matt looked very confused. We were hanging out after my ordeal and I was telling Matt about my morning's wild and life threatening events. I may have altered the story slightly.

"So you're telling me...Stefan's an alcoholic?"

I nodded. "Correct."

Matt pondered this for a moment. "That would explain the whole 'gangster' moment."

I held up a stern hand. "That would have happened, drunk or sober." I dismissed and he rolled his eyes with an unconvinced smirk. "I saw that."

"So how's Elena dealing with all this?" He asked as we surfaced further into the store. Caroline had expected a gift from Matt after winning Miss Mystic's Falls and was ignoring him because he hadn't. And then there were girls like me... Single. Sigh.

So here we are, shopping for a suitable gift or gifts in Caroline's case. I was thankful to get out of the house. You would think her boyfriend attacking me would be grounds enough to be nice to me, but no. It was suddenly all my fault.

"What about these?" Matt picked up some blue and purple fluffy socks.

"Put them in the pile," I said, nodding to the basket.

"The pile?" Matt sounded, "I would just get her these?"

"This is Caroline," I pointed out.

He sighed and reluctantly threw the socks in. "….Good point." He mumbled.

We continued through the shop.

"Elena's fine, cranky, bitchy, but fine."

He chuckled, "Don't worry, Mia, family always get the brunt of frustration."

"I'm learning that. Jeremy has barely said a word to me all week; he just looks at me, all sneery-faced. I thought I'd got him passed that teenage stage, but apparently not."

"You're just everyone's best friend at the moment, aren't you?" Matt smirked.

"It's just not fair."

We raided the shop and then headed for the till. Matt was lucky I was here; I was an excellent shopping companion.

Matt shook his head as he held up some bath bombs. "Elena was never this high maintenance."

"Neither was I with Tyler." Matt started laughing. I stared at him with my brows raised. "Um, what the fuck is so funny?"

"You? Not high maintenance? That's funny."

My hands went to my hips. "Give me one example, Matthew. I dare you."

"Didn't you used to make Tyler do chocolate dashes in the middle of the night?"

"Once," I said firmly, holding up a finger. "One time." I crossed my arms and waited patiently in the queue. "Once or twice." I then mumbled, looking away from Matt.

"I am never shopping here again." The woman at the till who had been holding up the queue yelled at the poor customer service assistant. We had heard her from across the shop.

"I don't really think they give a fuck," I said to Matt, once again, having no filter. The woman's head spun round, her eyes finding me. "Matt!" I then said accusingly, pushing him to the side. The woman didn't say anything, but her eyes said it all. "That's what Elena looked like this morning."

"What? When she rammed your head into the wall?" Matt gave me a look.

"Does that not sound believable? C'mon, you dated her."

The screaming woman finally stormed off and me and Matt were next at the till. "The joys of working in retail, huh," I said to the girl who looked a similar age to us. Matt cleared his throat loudly and when I turned my head, the yelling woman was right next to me, her bag at my feet. Oh…. "Matt!" I said again, pushing him. "For God sake." Take two, the woman stormed off.

"Mia, she knew it was you." Matt shook his head with wide eyes.

I shrugged. "I don't work here, I can tell her to fuck off if needs be."

The customer service assistant smiled and started scanning our items. "Good boyfriend, huh?" She nodded to me while holding up Caroline's gifts. She thought we were together.

Me and Matt looked at each other.

"Ew."

We drove to the Mystic Grill with much to Matt's reluctance - Taylor Swift blaring through the car. I made sure to have the windows down and Matt sunk down in his seat. Matt would be meeting Caroline and with my help, he would be back in her good book in no time.

I glanced around when we arrived. "She's not here yet, it gives us the chance to set up the present booth."

"I can't believe I'm doing this," Matt muttered behind me.

"Oh lighten up, Matt; you'll probably get laid tonight because of this." I said, reaching into the bag and pulling out the presents.

"I don't know, Caroline hasn't gone near that since-" Matt abruptly stopped, his eyes shifting to me as if almost saying something he shouldn't.

"Since she shocked your ding dong?" I finished.

He groaned out and I grinned. "You know guys tell each other things too."

"Like what?"

"Like I know you have a freckle on your boob." I paused and gave him a weird look. "Tyler," he revealed.

"God dammit, Tyler. How does that even come up?"

"He was drunk and kept banging on about how much he misses it." I pulled a face and he smirked. "I know other things too."

I stopped building the tower and glared at him. "So do I, Matthew, you don't want to play this game with me."

I proceeded with my beautiful display.

"You have a birth mark on your butt."

I sighed heavily and twisted round to face him. Alright, if he wanted to play.

"Does ten seconds ring a bell, Matthew?"

"Does falling off the bed, during, ring a bell, Mia? While on top?"

"Does crying after sex?" I placed my hands on my hips.

"What?" He pulled a face. "I never did that."

"I know, I just couldn't think of anything else."

Matt looked above my head and quickly started shooing me away. "Caroline's here, get lost."

"Hey!" I whined as I was pushed away and right into Damon who smiled as I collided with his chest. I let out an 'oof' and straightened my beanie.

"So you have a freckly tit. That's interesting." My mouth fell open a little. "Good to know, although I do like to be surprised."

"Would you stop eavesdropping on my conversations?" I huffed and folded my arms. "And I don't have freckly breasts, just one medium sized freckle."

He tilted his head to the side, his eyes flashed over me. "Prove it."

I rolled my eyes and walked past him. He followed me to the bar.

"By the way, the story we're telling is that Stefan's an alcoholic." Damon gestured the bartender for a drink. "People have been asking whether I'm sure I've got the right brother."

"I don't know what you're talking about, Amelia." Damon toasted his glass and downed it in one sip. "Have you seen your Uncle lately?" My eyes squinted at him. He leaned forward and matched my look. "What are we doing?"

"I'm curious to why you're asking?" Damon continued to lean over me with a secretive smile. "I didn't think this needed to be said, Damon, but apparently it does. Don't kill my Uncle." He sighed like this was a real inconvenience. "I'm serious, Damon."

"Since you asked so nicely." He tapped his fingers on the bar. "Are you staying at ours again tonight?"

"Is that a problem?" I rested my chin in the palm of my hand.

"Yes. You're a complete nuisance."

"How? All I do is sit in the corner and read like the delight I am."

"Exactly, when we could be doing much better things." His finger brushed down my arm. I gave him a look. "What? You can be on top, just don't fall off." My mouth fell open and my cheeks burned, especially at the bewildered look on the bartender's face. "She loses her balance very easily," Damon informed him.

"Shut up!" I elbowed him in the stomach. "I've never slept with him." I made very clear to the bartender.

I saw Damon mouth 'she did' earning himself another elbow.

"I have a reputation as a lady around here, Damon." He snorted so loudly and I went to further lecture him on tarnishing my good name when his phone went off.

"Hello?" He answered, spinning on his stool so his back was rested against the bar. I was tapping my hands against the bar until Damon reached behind and placed his hand over mine, stopping me. He gave me an irritated look which only made me want to continue. "You have?" His brows pulled together. I tried to tug my hands back, but Damon held them firmly together. "Alright, we'll be there soon... we as in me and Amelia, Ric, have you forgotten your future niece already?" Impossible! "Yeah, I know you find her extremely irritating, who doesn't, but she follows me around so-"

"Alaric would never say that!" I protested.

I was excited to be invited on whatever adventure they were going on.

"How was Stefan doing when you left?" I asked, putting my feet up on the passenger's dash board.

Damon kept one hand on the wheel and glanced over at me. His hand reached over and squeezed my thigh until my feet came down. "Extra broody. He won't eat anything."

"Well then, be a good brother, go find him his favourite type of blood."

"You mean Amelia blood?"

"I was probably pretty tasty, but I meant like vegetarian blood? Perhaps pigeon blood or maybe-"

"Puppy blood?"

My face dropped.

"What the hell is wrong with you?"

"Little golden retriever puppies with cute, floppy ears. That's his favourite."

I looked at him in disgust. "You better be joking." I stared out the window, noticing we were leaving Mystic Falls. "Where are you taking me?"

"Ric has a lead on Isobel."

"Ok...and we're searching the bitch out, why?"

"You're not curious?" His eyes flickered over to me.

"No."

"Liar."

"I'm perfectly happy with the parents I've got...had."

I really wondered what my life would be like now if my parents were still around. Would I still be with Tyler? Would Elena and Matt? Would we ever have found our way to Damon and Stefan? What would they have thought of them?

"Penny for your thoughts." Damon glanced over.

"My dad would have hated you."

This made him smirk. "Probably."

We arrived at an apartment where Alaric was hovering outside, trying to act cool. Alaric screamed coolness so he didn't have a problem. I pushed open the car door and Alaric came towards us with his hands in his pockets. He held the door open as I stepped out.

"Just to put it out there, I never said you were irritating." Was the first thing Alaric said to me, while glaring at Damon.

"Oh I know, Ric, I know."

Alaric nodded his head towards a block of apartments. "This is the one here. The records show it was paid three months in advance."

I didn't know what to expect as we approached the front door. Damon, sensing my cautiousness, placed his hand on my lower back, almost having to guide me closer.

"Don't be scared."

I scoffed. "I'm not scared. Hey, hands off the goods." I tore his wandering hand off me.

"This is where it gets tricky." Damon observed, eying the door. "I may or may not be able to get in."

"Better you don't. Alaric and I have got this." I nodded respectfully at Ric. I raised the knocker and gave it a good hard bash three times. "I feel like carol singers."

"Can we agree not to kill anyone tonight, please?" Alaric said firmly, looking at Damon.

"You mean, you just brought me along for my company?" Damon drawled and we both stepped forward at the same time, getting squashed together in the door way.

"Ever heard of ladies first?"

Damon retorted by looping his finger into my jeans' belt buckle and pulling me back so he could go in first. "Idiot." Damon glanced over his shoulder at me as we walked into the empty apartment. I scanned the room, but not having a clue what we were looking for exactly.

"It doesn't look like anyone's home," Alaric pointed out the obvious.

I followed Damon into the kitchen where he begun to search the cupboards. I let out a deep sigh and he furrowed his brows at me. "I'm sorry, are we boring you?"

"Yes. I thought this would be a lot more exciting."

I spoke too soon. A man jumped out of nowhere and onto Alaric. Damon didn't even flinch as this was going on. "Dude!" I pushed Damon, throwing my arm in the direction of the scuffle. Alaric stabbed him with wooden knuckles while I raced over. Damon merely put a hand on the vampire's shoulder and he went flying off Alaric.

"Ok, ok, everybody settle down." I flapped my hands around.

Damon tilted his head to the side and squinted his eyes. "I know you." He pointed at the guy.

"Damon?" The guy said, his eyes then flickered to me; a smile grew onto his face. "Katherine..." He stepped forward towards me, but Damon intercepted his path by standing directly in front of me.

"Not Katherine," Damon said sternly.

I joined Damon's side, he growled out and tried to force me back behind him, but I stayed put. "I'm a leader, not a sheep." I explained and he gave me a death glare. Instead, he settled with a tight grip on my elbow. Bitch, please.

"Your name is Henry. You were in the tomb?"

"Yes, sir." 'Henry' replied to Damon. "What are you doing here?"

Damon kept me close to him while we had a little chat with Henry. Every time I even thought of breaking away from his side, his hand would go to my waist and drag me back to him. It was pretty annoying, especially as Henry seemed harmless.

"So, how do you know John Gilbert?" Henry asked.

"Well, I've known him for years." Damon gushed and before I could even react, by react, I mean snort, Damon's hand squeezed my waist for me to keep quiet. "He's a good friend. How do you know him?"

"I met him right after I got out of the tomb. He's been helping me out." Henry smiled and again his eyes flickered to me. Seems like someone wasn't accepting the 'I'm not Katherine' deal.

"Helping you out how?" I asked and Damon shot me a look that read 'shut up.' "That was an excellent question," I hissed at him.

"Adapting! It's a whole new world...Cars, computers, ..."

My brows furrowed deeply. " ?" I repeated outrageously. "Why? There are much better things he could have-" Damon squeezed my waist hard, jerking me upwards. "Ow!"

"Can she use your bathroom?" Damon asked Henry, nodding at me. "Womanly problems." He rolled his eyes.

"Oh, yeah, sure, it's just that way." Henry pointed to the right.

I was doing a really good job... I don't understand.

"Run along." Damon practically pushed me up. I was not happy about being pushed out of the plan, especially as I thought I was contributing amazingly. I made sure to curse Damon the entire time I waited for him to come get me.

"You can come out now." Damon leaned in the doorway of the bathroom.

"Womanly problems?" I said, unimpressed.

He inhaled, lifting his nose up. "Nah, unfortunately not today. We'll have to wait next month for our-" his eyes widened with his smile, "little experiment."

"You're not feeding off my..." I couldn't even say it to him. "You're so gross." He stayed put in the doorway, blocking my exit. I stared up at him. "Move."

"You may not be on, but you do smell-" Damon entered the room, shutting the door behind him. "Extra delicious today."

I backed away from him. "ALARIC! DAMON WANTS TO EAT ME!"

"You snitch."

The door open. "What are you doing?" Alaric said to Damon, shaking his head in annoyance. "We don't have time for thing."

I shot a victorious smirk Damon's way and passed him. "To be continued." He purred down at me.

I walked into the living room to find Henry...staked and dead.

"What the hell?!" I spun round to Alaric and Damon who exchanged a look. "Was that really necessary? What happened to ''Let's not kill anyone tonight?'"

"Your words. Just pointing that out." Damon patted Alaric's shoulder and stepped over Henry's body to come towards me. Alaric bent down over Henry and sighed, muttering something about cleaning up the mess. I didn't make it so I shouldn't have to clean it. "And you," Damon caught my attention. "About what you were saying in the bathroom," I met his gaze with a determined glare. He bent down to my level. "I would gladly fuck you."

My mouth couldn't have stretched any further. In front of Alaric as well! What the hell! "Oi," Alaric said sharply. Damon just smirked.

I shook my head at him. "You stupid asshole."

Damon continued to be annoying the entire time we were together which was of no surprise, but it was so embarrassing and super inappropriate and awkward in front of my History teacher slash future Uncle.

We drove back and Damon dropped me off at home with the agreement I'll drive myself over later to the Salvatore manner with some overnight stuff for me and Elena. Damon and Alaric continued onto the Mystic Grill since apparently they were good buddies now. I got the sense that Alaric felt disappointed at not seeing Isobel. I can understand him wanting to see his wife again, but he had Jenna now so it made me feel a little...weird. It didn't help as she was behind the front door when I got home.

"Was that Alaric?"

"Uh yeah." Her hands were on her hips as she waited for an explanation. "I was hitch hiking home and Alaric saw me and gave me a ride." Her reaction showed she didn't realize this was clearly a joke. "That was a joke before you ground me."

"He told me he was busy today." She stared down at her phone.

"He was, Jenna, chill out. Stop being needy." I passed her and went for the stairs.

"I don't mean to be, I just... I think he's going to break up with me."

I paused.

"He's not Jenna." I stepped back down the stairs. "He wouldn't dare." She looked unsure and I know she just needed some reassurance. "I'm pretty sure this week is some kind of anniversary with Isobel, so that might be why he may be a little distant."

"...He didn't saying anything."

"Well you know," I shrugged, "men."

"So shall I wait to call him or-" She then shut her eyes and shook her head. "I can't believe I'm asking my seventeen year old niece for advice."

"I'm very wise for my age. Just be patient, give him some space and when he's ready, he'll call," I told her and she nodded. "Elena and I are staying over at Stefan's again."

"Is there something I should know?" She held onto the banister, staring suspiciously up at me. "Are you and Damon-"

"No."

"Then are you..."

"No, Jenna, we're not doing that..." Awkward.

"But if you were, you would be safe, wouldn't you?"

"Jenna," I hid my face. "Seriously, it's not happening."

"Condoms aren't always 100 percent aff-"

I finally got up the top of the stairs. "Hey, Jer!" I greeted, even going for a high five, but he walked straight on pass me and into his room. "...Great seeing you too."

While I was packing mine and Elena's things, I had an unwelcomed visitor.

"John," I greeted monotone. "What do I owe this...inconvenience?"

"Amelia," he said, lowering himself onto the end of my bed. "I thought we could talk. We haven't had a chance to catch up."

"We don't talk," I pointed out. "I insult you, you insult me, you then call every six to eight months." He smiled tightly and I raised my shoulders at him. "What?"

"I know you know."

"About..."

He stood up, clasping his hands behind his back. "It's really silly to keep pretending. What do you think your mother would say if she knew you were dating a vampire?"

My mouth dropped and I scoffed a laugh. "I don't know, Uncle John, to which mother are you referring to?" His face dropped. Owned. "Yeah, that's what I thought."

"So you know."

"Yep. Thanks for the heads up on that." I picked up my stuff and headed down the stairs.

"Where are you going?" John followed me.

"Out." I threw over my shoulder.

"Are you really allowing this?" John shot at Jenna who was innocently sitting on the couch, holding a cup of coffee.

She narrowed her brows as she glared over her shoulder. "Relax, John. I trust Mia. As long as she knows to be safe..." She looked at me sternly.

"For God sake, Jenna, I'm not having sex!"

Jeremy appeared on the top of the stairs at that very moment, gave us all a weird look and went back up.

Oh great.

"I forbid you to go." Stupid John said.

"That is not your decision to make." My amazing Aunt got up from the couch and stepped up to John. "Miranda left me in charge of the kids and I say she can."

I left the two of them arguing and thanked Jenna by text once I got to the Salvatore residence. Elena was in the living room when I arrived. I threw her stuff by her feet.

"How's Stefan doing?"

"Not great." She sighed and stood up. "Where have you been all day?"

"Hanging with Matt, went on a secret mission with Alaric and Damon, you know, the usual." She raised her brows. "It was a failure, nothing new to report."

"Right." She nodded. "So, is there anything you would like to say to me?"

I slumped back in the arm chair. "Like what?"

"An apology?"

"For...?"

"You were incredibly insensitive this morning." She pointed out angrily. "A little support would have been nice."

"Oh just chill out, Elena."

"Chill out?!"

Here we go again.

After Elena finally stopped yelling and after I flipped her off, we went our separate ways.

As I was passing Damon's room, I stopped and begun to hover outside. It was weird being in his house unsupervised and his room was calling out to me. I guess I just wanted to know a little more about him and I thought his room could tell it to me so when the 'wind' pushed the door open, I looked both ways before stepping inside. It opened, with a very loud creak. Thank god he wasn't home.

I stepped into the room, still very cautious even though I knew he wasn't here to catch me. The room was bare, genetic, like Damon didn't spend much time here. Nothing sprung out that would show off any aspect of his arrogant personality. His bed was even made which I could not imagine Damon doing each morning. The only evidence of Damon being here was the mess on his desk.

There were stacks of Founder's stuff that I began to shuffle around to see if I could find anything good.

And I did.

And it was weird.

I found a picture of Katherine, which wasn't so unusual, but next to it... was a photo...of me.

My eyes widened and I held it up directly in front of my eyes, checking to see if it was real.

I recognized it from a photo pulled off a collage by my mirror in my bedroom. It was of me at one of the school dances, looking classy as fuck, attempting to get a good profile picture. I put it next to the one of Katherine and realized why it was this photo he had taken. We were doing the exact same pose. It must have reminded him of it. I don't know how long I stood at his desk, staring between each photo. Did he look at them often? Why did he need my photo?

Eventually I forced myself to try and arrange his desk much like I had found it. I left my photo behind feeling more confused than ever

This confusion stayed throughout the night. I got changed into some pajama pants and a tank top and threw my hair up into a messy bun. I sat on the end of the bed and removed all trance of my makeup.

I stood up and threw my wipe into the trash and when I turned around, Damon had occupied my doorway, scaring the life out of me.

"Damon," I growled out, my hand going to my chest. "Stop doing that. You're going to give me heart problems."

The corner of his mouth lifted up into a smirk at that. His eyes dawned over my PJ's which only seem to amuse him further. He came into the room. I gave him a weird look and waited for him to stop walking towards me, but he didn't. At the last step, he basically fell onto me. The stench of alcohol overwhelmed me as I struggled to keep us both off the floor.

"Hi," Damon slurred, straightening up and placing his two hands each side of my head onto the wall behind me.

"You drunk idiot, what are you doing?" I squashed myself backwards away from him.

"Buzzed, Amelia, I'm buzzed." He placed his finger under my chin and guided my head up to look at him. He cocked his head to the side, his eyes studying every aspect of my face. I felt uncomfortable being under his scrutiny, especially with my face bare. A sight not many people got to see. He smiled lightly. "When you don't have that junk on your face-" he breathed out over me. "-that's when you-" his finger lingered, pointing directly between my eyes. "-remind me of Katherine the most, you know that?" I tried to look away, but he forced me back to look at him. His eyes not yet done examining me. "She didn't need make up to look good either."

"Ok," I took charge, "you need to go to bed before you say something stupid." I put my hands on his chest and tried to create some distance between us, but he refused to budge.

"Like what, Amelia?" He bent his legs so his height was level with me. "Like how your conversation with the football player today pissed me off?" What? I was taken back and Damon noticed this, his mouth curved, but he never broke the contact. "Surprise, surprise I'm a jealous man so don't give me a reason to do something... " he leaned in closer, "stupid."

"You were jealous?" I found myself saying. "But you said..."

Damon's eyes flickered back and forth between mine like he didn't have any clue that time was passing. He then hung his head and it caved in the direction of my neck. He hissed as the vervain from my necklace clashed against his cheek, making him break the chain off, throwing it to the ground.

"Damon!" I went to reach down to get it, but his hands clasped around each of my wrists and forced them beside my head. "Damon!" His head went back into my neck and his breathing grew heavier as his nose brushed against my skin.

I tried to force myself to relax. I didn't want the sound of my fast paced heart to antagonize him any further.

"You don't ... you don't smell like Katherine." He drawled out, his nose now pushing against my skin. "I think I prefer how you smell, but shhh, don't tell Stefan." As his lips puckered for the shhh sound, Damon was essentially kissing my skin. He repeated this action over my shoulder making me go very still. He came out to look at me a few times, but I couldn't find the words to say anything. His lips reached into the crook of my neck and I closed my eyes, trying to control my pulse.

"Ow!" I squeaked out as Damon nipped me. He pulled back and I gawked at him. I can't believe he just bit me! I started to squirm against his grasp. He even released my hands and they immediately began pushing at his chest, trying to slide out from underneath him. He rested his forehead against mine, stalling my efforts.

"Do you trust me?"

I felt something wet slip down my neck and down between the valley of my breasts. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw red. Damon's eyes followed the drop, the veins stretching out from his eyes as they became fixated.

I think I surprised us both when I ...nodded.

His hand placed itself gently into the curve of my waist, his head slowly edging its way into my neck where the open cut was. I felt my body completely tense as his mouth opened up, clasping onto the wound. My knees buckled as I felt his lips start to suck. He started off slow and patient, but his actions became greedy and desperate. His grasp on me tightened and he let out a long starved groan as he sucked harder. His hands squeezed into my waist, forcing my body tightly flat out against his. I gasped, feeling something poking hard against my thigh. I didn't even know that happened to vampires! Damon didn't care that he was showing how openly aroused he was and only tried to push it further against me. His back hunched over, trying to get a better angle on my neck as if he couldn't get enough. I couldn't believe it when I helped along, rolling my head back. He moaned and jerked my body, forcing it to collide against his once more. My hands were tangled up in his shirt, both trying to keep myself up right and not wanting to let go. As wrong as this all should be, it felt... intimate.

"Damon, stop-" I whispered when I started to feel light headed.

Damon gave a long last drain and made a pucker sound as his lips unclasped from my neck. The veins were still evident and my blood still stained on his lips. My blood... my blood. He was panting heavily, his fingers curled up into a fist as he forced himself off of me. HWithout his support, my body slid against the wall and onto the floor.

I couldn't believe I had just let him do that. I never thought I would. My hand shakily came to my neck where the wound was still open...and wet.

Damon's knelt down in front of me and pulled my hand from my neck. He brought my fingers to his mouth and cleaned the blood off with his tongue. His eyes closed briefly as if savoring the taste.

He bit into his wrist and held it in front of my lips. I bent my head forward and placed my lips onto the blood flow. He watched as I took in a small amount of his blood.

When I pulled my mouth away, he offered me his hand and lifted me back to my feet. Our actions were both slow, cautious of each other and what we had just done. We had crossed a weird line tonight. He opened up my covers and guided me to slip inside. Without saying a word, I complied. I didn't know what to expect next, but he sat on the side of my bed and ran a hand over his face.

He turned his head to me after awhile of silence had passed. He leaned over me, his face coming close to mine and then looking into my eyes, he said, "Sleep."

And I did.