"Lizzie?"

She heard the front door slam shut.

Elizabeth smiled through her cereal, swallowing before she answered her Grandpa's inquiry with a, "yeah, it's me. Good morning!"

She wasn't having any difficulty eating her breakfast and while it was a small and humble bowl of plain wheat flakes, she was keeping it down and feeling good for it. She was feeling good in general. Settled, comfortable. There were flutterings of nerves and worry but truthfully, it felt like a new day. A really new day. A fresh start kind of day.

She'd had a happy little cry in bed before taking a long shower, scrubbing at her hair and shaving her legs carefully. For her clothes, she had chosen something nice. After a sleeping in - and then wearing for a whole day - a pair of old leggings and a sweater, she wanted to look good. She wanted Dwayne to see her looking good but she wanted it for herself, too. It had been a rough few days to say the least and so she had chosen a wholesome white sundress with some broderie anglaise detailing and just enough cleavage on show to put it on the right side of subtly sexy.

"Oh, nice choice of breakfast, Lizzie" Grandpa said with a bright smile as he entered the kitchen, "that'll keep you regular"

She laughed a little, shaking her head softly "that's good to know. Did you just come back?"

"Yuhuh, not a minute ago"

For a second the old man paused in the doorway and studied her, his eyes dancing across her face and body. She couldn't tell what he was looking for but she knew he was giving her the once over and for a split second, faster than she could really register, there was a flicker of worry in his eyes. When he spoke, he sounded a tiny bit cautious, a little suspicious though she couldn't think as to why, "you doing OK?"

She met his eyes, confused into silence before she remembered, "oh, yeah. Yeah, no I'm good. Just you know, cramps and, and stuff" she smiled at him, "I'm really sorry about last night, I dunno. I didn't mean to worry you...I just got overwhelmed. Never been that bad before, I'm sorry..I'm kind of embarrassed actually"

She was a little rusty in her lie, she hadn't had to stretch the truth in a very long while but she thought she could play the period card well enough. It wasn't like it was a difficult thing to lie about, she'd only had one for six days every month since she was thirteen. She had enough material to draw from.

"Hey, no need for sorry, kid" he assured her, once more his usual self, "raised a daughter, remember? There's no need for embarrassment, either"

Elizabeth grinned and nodded, "thank you..."

"Don't thank me yet! I got you something on the way home from The Widow's-" he stepped towards her and tugged something from his coat pocket, "-just to tide you over.."

He beamed down at her as he placed a stack of chocolate bars - family size and designed for sharing - down on the table. They were tied together with a blue ribbon and he'd made an attempt at securing it with a bow.

"Oh Grandpa thank you!" she laughed, disregarding her spoon. With a big smile splashed across her face she reached out and inspected the stash of chocolate, "Grandpa that's so nice of you-"

"-raised a daughter" the old man repeated with a little wave of his hand, dismissing her honest praise, "hey you can keep these up in your room - I think they're safe enough up there, or you can put them on the Old Fart Shelf?"

"Shelf?" Elizabeth asked with a hopeful smile and he nodded, picking them back up on his way to the fridge, "but this isn't an invitation to anything else, OK?"

She nodded, "I wouldn't dream of it, Grandpa"

"...you uh, you wouldn't mind if I take one though?" he asked, holding the fridge open, "keep me working through the squirrel?"

With a grimace, she nodded, "of course"

She didn't want to know the ins and outs of the squirrel.

"You've always been a good one" Grandpa told her, retrieving one of the chocolate bars he had bought before placing them on an unopened box of Twinkies. His bottles of root beer rattled loudly as they were disturbed by the back of his hand before the sound was silenced by the airtight seal of the door.

"Do you have any nice plans today?" Elizabeth asked him, watching as he moved back to the open doors of the kitchen.

He nodded, "oh yeah got that squirrel. Gonna be a blast"

His eyes twinkled and she couldn't tell if he was pulling her leg.

"You're not seeing The Widow again?"

"Uhhh yeah, yeah I am" he replied, snapping chunks of chocolate through the paper and foil wrapping.

"With Nanook?"

"Well I just about guess so. She loves that little dog" he looked at her with another sparkle in his eyes, "why? You planning a party?"

Elizabeth laughed and shook her head, "no...no, nothing like that. I just like to know, you know? Have all my eggs in one basket. Who's where and stuff"

He nodded before agreeing, "that's reasonable. I just thought because you looked so pretty today, you might have something going on"

Shaking her head, she giggled a little, "you're real suave, you know that Grandpa?"

He smiled.

"Thank you for the compliment but I just wanted to feel nice after feeling so cruddy-"

"-yeah, your Grandma was the same. Lucy, too" he clicked the fingers of his free hand, "say, you gonna be around for dinner tomorrow?"

"Of course" she said easily. She knew it was the right answer, despite it being far away from what she wanted to say. What she wanted more than anything was to see Dwayne from sunrise to sunset. She wanted that every day but she knew the lie had to be said, "not like I have anything else going on"

"Yeah.." Grandpa agreed with her, smiling a little, "you'll make friends though, when school starts"

With a smile, Elizabeth moved to take another bite of her cereal.

"Don't you want to know about tomorrow?" Grandpa asked, "get all your eggs in one basket?"

"Yeah, of course. Sorry. Kinda hungry. What's up?"

"Your Mom's back from her business trip"

Back? Elizabeth felt a small bubble of disappointment at his words and then felt immediately guilty for it. She loved Lucy. There was no reason she couldn't spend time with her family and with Dwayne..

"That's awesome. I hope she had a good time? I'm sure she did.." Elizabeth smiled "..it'll be nice to have her back though, huh?"

"She's a ray of sunshine" Grandpa said with a nod, "so we're gonna do dinner together. Family style, get you kids eating healthy again..." he winked at her and cracked another line of chocolate, the paper tearing a little at the pressure.

"Uh-huh" she agreed with good-natured skepticism, "Michael and Sammy, too?"

"Michael was surprisingly eager, actually" Grandpa told her with a tilt of his head.

"That's good"

"Teenage boy suddenly eager for a family dinner?" the old man chuckled and shook his head, "suspicious is the term, Lizzie" Grandpa smiled at her, clapping his free hand on his hip, "well, squirrels to stuff. I'm gonna make moves...Liz?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm here if you need me, you know that, right?"

"Of course" she smiled at him, "thank you, Grandpa. And for the chocolate, too. It'll help a lot...I'll feel better soon. Just a couple more days, huh?"

She met his gaze and smiled at him before facing her cereal once more. She felt him linger for a second and then, as he began whistling a tune, she heard his footsteps shuffle away from her and towards his workroom.

Elizabeth sighed and closed the TV guide, having read it from cover to cover. It felt like the day was becoming longer and she feared that the nights would never be long enough. She was tempted to go to the library or to walk down to the boardwalk, even to perhaps try and find the multiplex that Sam had mentioned - anything to help the time pass but she had agreed to have lunch with her younger brother.

Of course with time ticking by as slowly as it was, it had taken him eons to even get out of bed. Sure, she had woken up early but Sam hadn't even made his way downstairs by the time she had finished her breakfast. It had taken him an age to wake up, to choose and lay out his clothes for the day, make himself a breakfast of sugar loops and then, when he finally mustered up the energy to greet his sister, he'd told her that he was going to do a rejuvenating face mask before his shower.

Elizabeth had laughed in sheer exasperation when he'd informed her of his plans - he was clutching a mug of coffee at the time, something she knew he drank less of than even she did, and his robe had been tied tightly around his waist but opened neatly just above his navel.

"You look like a forty something, jaded New Yorker, Sammy" she'd told him with a laugh, "all you need is a cigarette and a newspaper-"

"-gross"

"You love it" she'd insisted with a good-natured roll of her eyes and she was right - there had been a smile there, a smile he had tried hard to hide. In his mind, New York was a fashion capital filled with the stylish and well dressed and while his personal style was definitely more West Coast fab, she knew he'd taken her comment as a compliment.

"Cigarettes are disgusting"

Elizabeth had thought of Dwayne and the boys and even the joints she herself had smoked and said nothing but she didn't need to. With those words, Sammy had scooped up his coffee and left the kitchen with a regal swish that looked totally out of place due to the cucumber sticking out of the pocket of his robe. Elizabeth had no idea how he planned to dice it but she knew for sure he was going to go the extra mile and place some slices on his eyes.

When Sammy committed to something, he really went all out.

She knew he would come back downstairs around noon, maybe a little bit after. That left her with enough time to feel bored and to focus on nothing but the minutes ticking by until sunset but not quite enough time to make it anywhere and back.

The TV guide had done a valiant job at keeping her busy but, as she sighed and looked at one of the many clocks in the living room, she shook her head. A valiant job but not a particularly good one.

She almost regretted being up so early but with the weight of the world off her shoulders, knowing that she had Dwayne's love no matter what, knowing that she had Marko's friendship, she'd slept very well.

She felt rested, safe.

Rested, safe and now she felt antsy.

She just wanted to see Dwayne again...

A brief but hard knock on the front door drew her attention away from her thoughts and she frowned, craning her neck to stare at the door. They never, ever had visitors. It was before ten..who would be calling? Maybe she'd misheard?

Another rasp rang out and she automatically unfurled her legs and pushed herself off the somewhat hard sofa. Grandpa's workroom doors remained shut but it was unmistakable - there was someone at the door.

As she approached the door, she wondered how she would politely say 'no, thank you' if it was a salesman.

"Sorry, not interested?" she whispered, cringing a little as she did. That sounded a bit harsh, "oh, I can't make purchases?" that sounded so incredibly juvenile. She rolled her eyes at herself before opening the door.

"Good morning. I have a delivery for a Mrs. Elizabeth Emerson?"

Elizabeth Emerson?

Her?

Mrs?

She gaped like a goldfish for a moment, looking at the delivery man. He was wearing a khaki uniform with knee length shorts, a baseball cap and, as he glanced down at his watch, all she could think to say was, "I'm not married?"

"Well I have a delivery for a misses Elizabeth Emerson. That you?"

"Um, yes?"

He nodded and handed her a clipboard, "sign at the X please" before walking over to his van. As the door slid open, she saw it was stuffed with boxes and packages and bags of letters that were practically bursting at the seams. She scanned the paper but there was nothing written as to what she was supposed to be receiving or who had sent it but she signed her name anyway, looking up as his footsteps signaled his return.

"For me?!" she all but exclaimed.

"For you" the man confirmed a little dryly, "they're heavy, be careful"

He held out her delivery and she couldn't control her smile as it splashed over her face.

It was the single most extravagant, beautiful bouquet of roses she had ever seen.

"Oh my God!" she breathed, feeling the weight of them as he released the vase.

"Yeah, it's always nice" he glanced at his watch again.

Elizabeth didn't reply to his words, he sounded a little jaded and rushed and she was far, far to thrilled with her flowers to be anything but brimming with joy. She continued to smile down at them as she placed them carefully on the bureau near the door. There wasn't much space and the varying letters, papers and old newspapers were pushed dangerously close to the edge as the vase scraped its way onto tabletop.

"Right-" Elizabeth said happily, looking for her purse but the delivery man shifted on the spot before clearing his throat.

"I got a big tip from the sender" he told her with a shake of his head before stowing his small clipboard and stash of papers, "can't accept one from you, too"

"Oh, well are you sure?"

"Yes" he checked his watch again and took a step back, "enjoy them, ma'am"

Ma'am?

That was new.

She smiled at the formality and then, as she saw the man hop into his van and start his engine without so much as another glance back at her or the house, she shut the door quietly, turning her smile to the flowers instead.

She'd never had flowers before, she'd never accepted a personal delivery and the fact that she didn't even have to worry about a tip, that it had already been taken care of?

It was such a thoughtful and sweet gesture.

She stepped towards the impossibly full bouquet, eyes dancing over the tall and proud collection of roses.

White and yellow and each one perfect.

She held one stem in her hand, noting that each of the many stems had been de-thorned, before pulling a white rose up to her nose. She inhaled deeply, softly tracing her hands around the almost silken petals.

"Dwayne..." she murmured, releasing the rose as she gazed down into the array before her. They must have cost a lot, even the vase, she thought as she looked at the solid and heavy glass they came in.

She turned to look at Grandpa's workroom but the doors were still shut. Michael had been and gone and Sammy was in the shower...she was safe.

No questions to answer to.

She smiled back at the bouquet, heart fluttering.

Moving to pick up the heavy vase she paused, looking at the colors again. She loved the flowers, they were gorgeous and elegant - the white and yellow merging together in a soft and delicate mixing of colors. The opalescent ribbon tied around the tapered neck of the vase made for a truly spectacular sight but she always associated red roses with love.

Inhaling their powerfully subtle scent once more, she wondered why Dwayne had chosen these for her.

She knew there had to be a reason, a story behind them. Love was red, right? But then why the Mrs? Dwayne had a good sense of humor but not quite in that vein. She smiled widely as she released the vase, taking another sneaking glance up towards the stairs before moving to the conservatory through the kitchen.

She knew that Grandpa or Lucy - perhaps even her late Grandmother? - had a book on flowers tucked away in the old and full shelves of the conservatory and so she moved quickly through the kitchen to the room. The wicker chair was still tucked in the corner from last night and she moved to tug it back to its rightful spot, looking at a stack of hardback books stacked on a low shelf as she did so.

'The Horticulturalists Hobby Book', 'Nimble Fingers Make Haste' - what was that book about? 'Dungeons and Dragons, A Guide', 'Cacti and You' and - with a smile, she saw what she had wanted.

'The Secret of Flowers: Meanings, Myths and History'.

She knew she had seen something about flowers!

With a little squeak of excited victory, she tugged the book out from it's place, steadying the pile that threatened to collapse as it was removed. She secured it under her arm, leaving the room and moving back towards her bouquet.

As she lifted the vase one more, holding it carefully and gently, as if it was a prized treasure, she made her way up the stairs. Walking slowly, the book still clamped snugly under her armpit, she heard Sammy singing loudly and out of tune in the shower.

The delivery had been absolutely perfect timing.

While her arms strained a little under the weight and there was a near miss with one of her steps, she had managed to carry the bouquet up and into her room.

Putting her gift down on her table, she took a step back and smiled at them again. They took up a lot of space but their beauty was what was so eye catching, not their sheer size.

"Dwayne..." she whispered again.

Using her foot to tug her little chair out from the desk, Elizabeth sat down upon it, eyes moving between the flowers and the jacket laid neatly on her tidy bed.

"Thank you..."

She hitched one leg up on the chair and wrapped her arm around it before opening the book.

She didn't know half of the flowers in the index but she found roses easily enough and it took her no time to find information on the varying colors. Truthfully, she was amazed at how many colors there were and how each of them had different meanings but, as she thought of Dwayne, she eagerly began to read about the roses she had been given.

"White roses..." she tilted her head a little as she read the passage before her, "symbolize innocence and purity as well as..." she glanced at the bouquet on her table, "reverence along with humility...they symbolize both unity, loyalty, new and untarnished beginnings and a love that transcends even death itself..."

She let her eyes drift to and then away from the flowers and scanned the page again, "yellow, yellow, yellow...oh God..."

She breathed the words softly as realization dawned on her.

Dwayne didn't send them.

"...yellow roses demonstrate a powerful range of emotions moving from symbols of extreme betrayal through to friendship and undying love and yellow roses themselves can culminate into the ultimate symbol of apology"

These weren't from him, they weren't a declaration of his love...Paul and David had sent them to her.

These were..."holy crap..." she whispered to herself.

These were apology flowers.

She bit her lip, looking away from the still stunning arrangement and back to the book, "in the mixing of roses, deep and meaningful messages can be presented and displayed, messages powerful and true-"

She closed the book slowly, not needing to read anymore.

She understood the message behind the roses, the book had served its purpose.

It was their way of apologizing to her. Their version of an olive branch, their own declaration of love.

David and Paul had sent her flowers.

Did they pay for them? Were they the ones to tip the delivery man, to choose the colors...she thought of David's calculated nature and knew that the choices were deliberate. She didn't think anything with him could be accidental.

Betrayal...they had betrayed her trust. Was this their way of acknowledging that? Of course it was, what else could it be? She bit her lip...before she had met Dwayne she truly was pure in the most base sense of the word and she was still innocent to the world of vampires. Everything else...the message was clear. Unity and loyalty and new beginnings, all culminating with love.

'You're one of us'... she thought of Marko's words.

Standing carefully, she tentatively and gently inspected the bouquet once more, leaving the book on the seat she had vacated.

Knowing who they were from and what they were designed to show, she knew that she must have missed -

"-ah..." she mumbled, finding a small card nestled among the perfectly green and fresh stems. The arrangement was so full, it had been easy to miss.

She plucked it out and frowned at the wax seal that had secured the envelope.

"Old school" she whispered with a little nod of awe. She turned the envelope, studying the seal under the sunlight streaming in through her window but there was no design and the wax matte and dull.

She felt a flutter of nerves and glanced down at her bouquet.

It was beautiful. The colors had a crystal clear meaning.

No maggots, no bugs crawling inside, no thorns, nothing unpleasant...

Today felt like a fresh start and now this? It was as if the two men were trying to get in on it, too. A new start for them all...

She wanted to hate David and Paul, she wanted to hate them and loathe them for what they had done to her but...but at the same time, she didn't.

Elizabeth cracked open the envelope, feeling a satisfied little flash as the wax seal split. Inside was snugly folded letter and as she tugged it out, she placed the envelope on the closed book on top of the chair.

The script was like nothing she had ever seen before. It was a wonderfully elegant, sprawling font with curls and twists and it was written in what looked like a fountain pen. She couldn't imagine anything else giving such a pointed and precise result but she also couldn't imagine either man writing with one.

Glancing down at the broken wax seal of the envelope before looking back at the letter and the writing, she wondered just how old they were...they had motorbikes, all the newest technology, they had drugs and alcohol and style..but maybe old habits were hard to break?

She frowned softly.

Elizabeth,

She liked the way her name had been written and she smiled briefly as she studied the first 'E' of her name, it's design striking and curled. She paused and forced herself to frown a little once more. The flowers were incredible but she didn't want to be drawn in by them. Paul and David had...she took a breath. She could no longer say whole hardheartedly that they had destroyed her trust in them. Damaged, yes...but she was having to put effort and energy into hating them...

"Shoot" she whispered to herself.

She shook her head and continued to read.

I hope you can trust that our regret is sincere. We want to make things right. We understand the pain we caused you. We would like to invite you to meet us at the beach near your house tonight and allow us the chance to make our apologies.

That was it.

Elizabeth turned the paper around but there was nothing more written on the back.

Who had written it? The note was a little cold..it wasn't particularly warm or loving, anyway and so she thought they were David's words...but still, would the ice blonde ever say something about wanting to make things right? About understanding the pain they had caused? She wasn't sure..that felt a little more like Paul.

Had they written it together?

Had they even written it?

She sat down on the chair without thinking, jumping up when she met the book rather than the wooden seat. She moved to her bed instead, still holding the formal little letter as she dropped onto her mattress.

She let the fingers of her free hand dance over Dwayne's jacket before slowly lying down, nestling her head on the wonderfully familiar material.

She felt like she had the chance for a fresh start. Nibbling her lip a little, she wondered if she could bring herself to include David and Paul in her new beginning.