I knew I shouldn't have, but I couldn't stop myself when my lips met his. I pressed my body against his as the kiss deepened, both still on our knees. We were sharing breath, our tongues mingling, my fingers nimbly undoing his belt.

"Oh God, Stef…" he moaned, closing his eyes and letting his head fall back for a moment before he brought it back up and wrapped his arms around me, pulling me ever closer to him, his lips tasting mine again hungrily, his hips moving of their own accord against mine, and I felt his hard desire against me.

He hadn't ever done this before, so he was doing everything on instinct.

Before I had time to register it, he was standing with my legs around his hips, blurring to the bed that he spilled me onto, his body sliding over mine. But this wasn't like how it had been with the others; he breathed reverence over me, and it was in every one of his caresses. With each article of clothing removed, he marveled at the wonders they revealed, exploring with his hands and his lips. This wasn't just sex for sex's sake. He wanted to make committal love to me.

I knew what it would mean if I went through with this...and that scared me. He didn't know what I could do to him, but I wanted this so bad, this one thing I'd been denying myself.

And I gave in.

I ridded him of his last piece of clothing, leaning up to run my lips and teeth from his neck and down to his chest, touching him, and he growled with anticipation.

And that just turned me on more.

As he stared down at me, I could see the nervousness in his eyes, the way his breath had become so uneven. If he'd had a heartbeat, it would have been pounding.

"It's ok, Greg. I want this. I want you." I said, tightening my legs around his hips, bringing him closer to his destination.

He took a shuddering breath and brought his hips down, gasping as he pushed inside of me, his hands clenching on the sheets below us.

My body guided his, showing him what to do. He, of course, was a little clumsy at first, but I had expected that. Even so, he was still pretty good, attentively listening to the sounds I was making, and the reactions from my body.

When I took a sharp intake of breath, my body tightening around his, he redoubled his efforts, snapping and circling his hips unrelentingly and staving off the inevitable for as long as he could. I saw a certain mania behind his eyes, and I knew what it was. I rolled my head to the side to expose my neck to him.

"St...Stef...I…"

"I know you haven't had a drink in too long, Greg. Too busy worrying about me to worry about yourself. You need this. Let me do this for you."

My body arched into his, the initial sting of his bite giving way quickly to immense pleasure that only added to the experience, fire consuming my entire being in undulating waves, my toes curling. He finally relinquished the hold he'd had on himself with a low rumbling growl, and I felt his warmth release inside of me.

We were both panting, gazing deeply into each other's eyes. He lowered himself to his elbows so more of his body rested on me, and brushed back an errant lock of hair from my face, then leaned into my neck, kissing the puncture wounds he had given me closed.

"I love you, Stefanie Salvatore. I have since I knew what love was. I loved you when we started this band and I love you now, three years later. It's...ok if you don't feel the same. I can be happy with just one night of being able to love you like this."

But his eyes betrayed him, because in them I saw the plea for him to love me too, that one night would never be enough.

I was quiet for a moment.

This is your chance! I thought. You'll always have this one night, but you can go back to staying away from him. Nobody has to get hurt.

But that would not have been true. Greg would have been hurt, and so would I if I denied myself him after that. I've had plenty of sex, but no one I'd ever made love with. None except Gregory Fell.

"Gregory Fell…" I whispered, taking his face gently in my hands. "I love you too."

It felt as though all the air had got sucked out of the room as he processed the fact that I was really saying that to him. He looked like he was on the verge of tears, but he fought them back and kissed me instead.

Needless to say, that night grew to be a long but fulfilling one before we both were too worn out to continue.

We had no preordained engagements the following day.

Maybe it'll be ok if you actually sleep now.

And sleep I did, with my back pressed against his stomach, his strong, safe arms around me. We didn't bother getting dressed.

When I woke up the next...whatever time it was...Greg was still there, in just the place he'd been the night before, naked with his arms around me, nuzzled into my hair, though I noticed my usual Loca Moca Monster Java was sitting on a coaster on the bedside table.

Greg made it a point to, every morning, without fail, go out personally and find my favorite coffee. It was the one addiction of mine that wasn't a threat to my existence, so of course he supported it.

He must have gotten up at some point to go retrieve my Don't Kill People Juice, then came back, stripped, and merrily assumed the same position he'd been in before.

I tried not to wake him up, but even that little bit of movement was enough to wake him, though he seemed completely unbothered by it. He gently rolled me onto my back so he could kiss me.

"Good morning, gorgeous. Sleep well?" he asked, his hand sliding to cup my breast.

"Yes, for the first time in months."

After our morning...ahem…"workout", i threw my robe on, looking through the room service menu, and Greg had just zipped up his pants, still shirtless, when there came a knock at the door. Greg strode over to it, a certain swagger to his step that he hadn't had before and opened it. Desmond, Tommy and Tony were on the other side with concerned faces.

"Hey, man." Desmond said. We thought we heard someone in here with Stefanie and we wanted to make sure everything was ok."

"Hey babe, you hiding anyone else in here?" Greg called over his shoulder to me.

"Mmmmmmm no, don't think so." I replied.

"Thanks for the concern guys, but we're the only two in here."

"Oh, ok that's...wait...babe? And you have no shirt on...Stef's in her robe...dude, no way, NO FUCKING WAY!" Desmond crowed, cuffing Greg on the shoulder. "Look guys, Mom and Dad finally realized they needed to be together!"

"Well, it's about DAMN TIME!" Tommy said with a grin.

"Oh, yeah, forgot you guys weren't already married." Tony said.

"Why don't you guys join us for breakfast?" Greg suggested. "Stef's ordering room service."

I had just dialed room service and was about to tell them what we wanted when the phone slipped out of my hands and I clutched my chest, my heart sputtering, and I couldn't breathe. I'd have smacked my head on the corner of the kitchen counter and tumbled to the floor if Greg hadn't caught me.

"DES CALL AN AMBULANCE!" he cried, holding me. "Please baby, no. Stef, it's Greg. Can you hear me? Stay with me, sweetheart." It was then he saw my eyes change to that evil purplish-black color before they rolled to the back of my head. "That's what you didn't want to tell me. Oh, God, Stefanie…"

I only remember snatches of chaos and bits of conversation, but above all, when I was conscious enough, I scanned to see if I could catch a glimpse of Greg, or hear his voice.

I did catch it a few times.

"Mr. Salvatore…"

"Hospital…"

"I don't know…"

"Please hurry…"