"Did you see my flowers?" Elizabeth asked, breaking comfortable and content silence the encased them, moving her head up against his chest and craning her neck a little to meet his eyes.

"I did…" he replied, eyes flickering down to hers.

She saw the little tilt of his lips and beamed upon seeing his smile, small though it was. She knew he was smiling because of her reaction to them rather than the flowers themselves but still she asked, "do you like them?"

"I don't like what they represent but I'm very glad they make you happy"

"That was a very diplomatic answer"

She shifted slightly as she moved her head to once again stare out into the dark bedroom beyond the closet. She was sat very comfortably between his legs, her bare skin resting against the material of his jeans. Her dress was still sort of pushed up high against her thighs, rumpled from their slow collapse to the floor of the closet and while there were definitely more comfortable places for them sit and hold each other she was content, happy to just be in his arms.

She could happily stay with him forever, right there on the floor.

"Was it?"

She grinned at his deliberately dense answer, "you know it was"

He slung his thigh over hers, entwining their legs together and she found herself raising her left leg a little to accommodate his foot. Looking down at her lap, she sighed tracing the lines of his fingers with her own.

"I love them. They smell so nice-"

"-they're gonna attract bugs"

She laughed at the blunt fact in his voice and gently flicked the side of his hand, "say something nice about them!"

"..I'm glad they make you happy?"

"Dwayne.." she laughed again, shaking her head.

She knew he was smiling but he made no move to respond to her command. She also knew that she wouldn't win this round, the simple fact was: he didn't care for the flowers.

With yet another content sigh and a smile of her own, she shifted a little in his arms, lacing their fingers once again, "did you speak with David yesterday?"

"I did" he confirmed, "thank you, you were right to tell me to go"

"I didn't want you to leave but I'm glad it's OK" she murmured, pleased to hear that things were right in his world. She thought back to their first meeting, thought about how inseparable they all were and it genuinely made her happy to know that things were as they should be once more.

She couldn't imagine how painful it must have been for Dwayne and she unthinkingly muttered, "you were really hurt, huh?"

"Yeah"

"Sorry" she shook her head, "I was thinking out loud. Stupid question?"

"There's no such thing as a stupid question" he assured her and she smiled.

"You sound like a teacher...except they'd always assure us and then someone would ask a really stupid question and they'd get mad"

"Pretty shitty teachers"

Elizabeth nodded, "some good, some bad. Not like you.."

"Me?"

"Best teacher ever"

"Yeah?"

"Definitely" she blushed a little.

"What have I taught you?" he asked, moving to nuzzle her neck. She giggled, writhing a little as his lips moved against the very delicate skin. Though she had been the one to lace their hands, he retained total control. He tightened his arms a little, squeezing her closer to him, compressing his legs as he did, "come on, what have I taught you, Liz?"

"Hey, stop that-" she protested weakly, biting her lip as he placed another kiss on her neck, her eyes fluttering shut in pleasure. She moaned before frowning a little, noticing a change in him "-Dwayne?"

She frowned harder as he froze, lips still against her neck. He was well on his way to starting up another round but he had stilled suddenly; his mood, his actions...they had changed so fast.

"What happened?" she moved to twist herself, to try and make eye contact with him but then, with horrible and sudden clarity she heard what he must have.

The door at the bottom of the stairs had just opened.

"Your brother" he said, just as she yelped, "shit, shit-"

He released her and she immediately scrabbled to her feet, using his body as support. Somehow, he had already risen and it boggled her mind how elegant and swift his movements were. She hadn't even felt him right himself. How had he done it? Holding onto his arm, she stared into his eyes in amazement before a sharp knock ran out through the room and brought her back to the emergency at hand.

"He's gone for the handle-" Dwayne warned her and while she couldn't hear it herself, she straight away shouted, "No, Sammy! Don't!"

"Wa-why?" her younger brother sounded panicked through the door.

Looking between the door beyond the closet and Dwayne, she stuttered, "I-I'm naked!"

Dwayne grinned down at her, his eyes not entirely serious, just as Sammy yelped a muffled, "why?!"

"It-it's hot?" she replied in a bit of a shout, working the buttons of her dress with a speed she'd not called upon in the past.

There was nothing more from Sammy and, heart thudding, she looked up as Dwayne dangled a long robe before her.

"How-?" she whispered, totally amazed at how fast he moved.

His eyes were dancing as he offered it to her again and she noticed that it was the robe she'd had as a Christmas present two years ago. She had never worn it because of how angry it made Lucy and for a second, she was surprised it had even ended up in her suitcase. Surprised by Sammy, Surprised by Dwayne's speed, surprised by what he had found for her. She hadn't remembered packing it and she didn't remember seeing Sammy unpack it for her, either, but there it was.

Stumbling a little as she finally slipped off her dress, she took the robe from him with a grateful smile. How it ended up mixed in with her clothes wasn't important...getting rid of Sammy was...and she could ask Dwayne about his speed later.

As she kicked her feet out of the dress, she pulled the robe over her now bare skin. It was an odd blend of cheap satin and she felt a little bit of static as it covered her. Grimacing at the sensation, she started to dash towards the door, planning to greet and hopefully quickly dismiss her little brother but, as she started her journey Dwayne gave her covered bottom a quick little slap.

It was so playful but hot at the same time and it took all her power not to yelp and giggle. As she jumped, spinning towards him with a playfully indignant grin, she saw the brightness of his face and knew that there was no danger.

Sammy had been sufficiently put off by her cries of nudity.

She shook her head at him and with her eyes dancing in a wonderful imitation of his, she adjusted the top of her robe, making sure that she was covered. She moved to open the door, pausing again to check over her shoulder and make sure Dwayne was hidden but, to her surprise yet again...he wasn't there.

With a disbelieving, happy frown, heart still pounding from the fear of discovery, the thrill of scrabbling to right herself, she saw that he had disappeared.

"How do you do this!?" she asked in an awed whisper to the room at large.

Of course she was met with silence.

With a wry smile and another shake of her head, she took a breath before opening the door.

"Hey...s'up Sammy?"

"Are you OK?" Sam looked at her like she had maybe grown three extra heads. He was stood with wide eyes on the top step, clad in his usually stylish sleep wear, some water droplets still lingering on his hair. He must have just got done showering, "hey, space cadet? You OK?"

He clicked his fingers.

"Yeah, I'm fine" she shrugged, looking down at Sammy in what she hoped was polite but noticeable confusion, "you just kind of took me by surprise there…"

"I was heading to bed" he told her, "I wanted to check you weren't coming back down. I turned off the lights and I didn't want you to get scared if you did..."

"Oh" she waved her hand, "no, I fell asleep when I was reading but thank you…that was sweet of you"

The very second it left her mouth she knew she shouldn't have used the word sweet. It was way too contrived for the situation, a word used more by Lucy than her and he tilted his head.

"You sure you're OK? You're kind of breathless…" he peered suspiciously at her and she found herself laughing.

She had been hunted by her secret boyfriend. Her mate. A vampire. She'd had intense, close and desperate sex right up against the wall of her closet, her clothes mussing under their combined weight. She'd sat, spent and satiated in Dwayne's arms and just as she was ready to do it all over again, Sammy had interrupted.

She was breathless for good reason.

"Well, yeah? You scared me. I thought you were going to bust down the door or something. It's not like I want you to see me naked. I had to scramble to find this-" she picked up the hem of her robe and Sammy flinched when she exposed a little bit of thigh as a result.

"-yeah, I don't want to see that either" he assured her, "keep your...parts to yourself. Why are you naked anyway, weirdo?"

She laughed at his insult because she knew he was trying hard to normalize the situation, to joke around and call her names to reset the tone and she grinned at him, "because it's hot and I'm in the privacy of my room? We don't all wear a pajama set, Sammy"

He bristled a little and smoothed his fashionably matching night clothes.

"It's not that hot" he insisted, looking at her like she was a little crazy, eyes flickering to her open window, "I'm kinda cold in my room"

She loved her brother and she loved to hang out with him but there was absolutely no way she wanted to entertain him at that moment. Dwayne was somewhere and she very much wanted to get back to him, her chat with Sammy had already gone on a bit too long.

She knew that she had to go nuclear and it was surprisingly incredibly easy to do so, "well yeah but I'm on my period…"

He visibly flinched and that gave her all the encouragement she needed. Sammy wasn't like Grandpa.

She knew what had to be done.

Show no mercy, take no prisoners.

"I mean, you know how it is, the period starts and then the body temperature rises and it's just so uncomfortable" she shrugged and shook her head, "Grandpa stocked the bathroom with pads, which is really nice of him but they made me so sweaty" the younger boy stepped back, moving down one stair, "he bought the extra thick, extra long night ones" she gestured with her index finger and thumb, "literally this thick, Sammy. No lie. Useful, I mean, nothing leaks but it's summer…you know? So then I went to grab some tampons and yeah" she shrugged again, "by the time I got back to bed I was just over it. Up and down and already sweaty. You know when the material of your shirt sticks to your skin and neck?"

"Uh-yeah..." he blinked, obviously trying not to think about the female reproductive system.

He looked a little shell shocked.

"...well, that's what I was dealing with but my clothes were sticking up in-"

"-OK-"

Elizabeth grinned before asking in an innocent tone, "-sorry. Does this make you uncomfortable?"

"No, no..no, no" he coughed, taking another step down, "no I'm OK...I'm fine with this..it's natural, it's..I'm OK"

She nodded and smiled, "cool"

"So, look, Liz, I was heading to bed..."

She nodded.

"And I, uh.."

"You wanted to check I was too?" she reminded him with a smile.

"Yeah"

"..but then we got sidetracked with periods"

"Yeah" he took another step back, "OK..well..uh..." his eyes flickered to her crotch for a second and Elizabeth had to bite down a smile. He looked kind of sick and worried at the same time and she could imagine him picturing a massive and dripping blood stain blooming across the material of her robe.

Part of her wanted to torture him a little more, the look of discomfort on his face was a rare treat. She opened her mouth but then thought better of it.

She didn't want to traumatize him.

Well. She didn't want to traumatize him too much.

"Goodnight?" he mumbled, taking another step back.

"Good night!" she said with another wide smile, "thanks for checking up on me…"

He nodded, looking like he regretted it very much but said nothing, almost slipping on the steps as he worked his way down backwards.

She smothered her laugh and gave him a fond wave goodnight as he opened and swiftly exited the door at the bottom of the stairs, shutting it firmly.

She could almost hear him scurrying to his room and a wave of affection washed over her. Laughing gently she closed her door.

Dropping her forehead against it, she chuckled lightly to herself.

Poor Sammy.

"You're going to give him a complex about the female body, you know that?"

Closing her eyes, she giggled again at Dwayne's words. Turning on her heel, she lent her body against the door. She opened her eyes and took a breath, observing him standing tall in front of her window.

"He'll get over it. It's good for him" she grinned, "plus…that was kind of fun..." meeting his eyes she grinned a little wider, "I think this could be what brings me and Paul together, Dwayne.."

"Oh God…"

She nodded, feeling playful, "yeah. What do you think? Dream team potential?"

"The very thought of you teaming up with Paul petrifies me" he said, his voice dry but his eyes animated.

She laughed quietly and nodded, "I believe you"

"You really enjoyed that, huh?"

"Yeah" she admitted, "Mike and Sam are usually the ones to goof off with each other…it's fun to join in every now and then"

"You and Paul are gonna get along like a house on fire" Dwayne predicted.

"I hope so" she replied, meaning it.

Eyes raking over her form, he asked, "so…what do you want to do?"

"Do?"

"You successfully sent your brother into a traumatized sleep. The night's ours – what do you want to do?"

"Well…." she bit her lip, her voice apologetic, "the mood's kind of gone, now" she felt alive and happy, playful and energetic and she wanted to get out and have fun, "…let's go down to the beach?"

"The beach?" he jerked his thumb behind him and she nodded, not needing to follow his gesture and look out of the open window. She knew it was another lovely night, "yeah. It's perfect weather-"

He chuckled, "- what? You're gonna swim?"

She smiled, "maybe? Why not?"

"Who would have thought an interruption from your brother could put you in such a good mood?"

She scrunched up her nose at his teasing words before moving to her closet, "it's not just that. It's you, it's everything. I've never been this happy, Dwayne…everything feels right...like, I feel so good. So alive with you.." she easily and thoughtlessly grabbed a pair of jean shorts and a sweater, scooping up a plain, black underwear set as she did, "I'm happy. I want to go and have some fun..."

"We will" he promised her and she beamed, excited for what the night would bring them.

"Liz?"

"Yeah?" she came out into the bedroom once more, the robe left forgotten in the closet.

He held out a helping hand and she gave him a murmur of thanks, letting him take the bulk of her clothes from her.

She smiled as he allowed his eyes to travel her body, biting her lip as she did. He had absolutely no shame and she found herself humoring him, slowly slipping her legs into her simple black panties before stepping into the shorts.

"Do you mind if I ask you about the robe?"

Elizabeth paused, fingers frozen on the button of the denim as she looked at Dwayne. She didn't quite understand, "huh?"

"You had a look about you when I handed it to you" he explained, "I'm curious"

"Oh. No, it's nothing" she shrugged and did the button up, "I thought I left it, I was surprised to see it"

"Why? It's just a robe" he leaned against the window frame and she smiled at how effortlessly sexy he looked. Swallowing a little, she considered the other items of clothing in his hand, focusing on them before she changed her mind and threw herself at him.

"My Grandma gave it to me one Christmas-"

"-that's nice-"

"-but she gave the guys that really expensive entertainment system, the NES?" she slipped on a pair of simple white socks, grinning at Dwayne's preemptive compliment. He blinked at her with his eyebrow raised and she laughed quietly, nodding, "yeah. One each"

"And she gave you that robe?"

"Yeah"

"Bitch"

Elizabeth laughed again at the blunt words, "I didn't care that much, you know? I'm not into games. It looks pretty cool and Sammy let me have a go but I couldn't get the swing of it. It just kind of stung because we opened presents as a family, so I saw what they got" she shrugged a little, "but I was fine. I really didn't care that much...it was Mom. She lost it-" she glanced down at the floor, trying to spot the black bra she had brought out of the closet.

"-oh, give it back!" she laughed.

His smirk was devilishly enticing as she tugged her bra away from the belt of his jeans, "how did you do that?"

"Secret" he replied.

"Uh-huh..." she slipped the bra on, shaking her head with a smile at the fake sigh of disappointment he gave as her breasts were covered.

"So why did your mother lose it?" he asked, bringing their conversation back on track, handing her the last piece of her outfit as he did.

Elizabeth tugged on the thin sweater, a simple and kind of oversize, light grey one, "she looked to my Dad for you know, like comforting words? Support on my behalf? Some assurance, I guess…but he just shrugged and then it all kind of kicked off..."

"They fought?"

"Mom fought" Elizabeth confirmed, "he just kind of sat there, at least we assumed he was sitting. We could hear them from the living room and everything was coming from her…"

"Your father wasn't nice to you?" Dwayne's words were cautious and a little hard and she couldn't deny that it felt good to be protected by him.

"My dad? No, no he was. He was fine. Not like my Mom but he wasn't overly affectionate with my brother's either...just imagine your All American, Corporate Drone Dad" she smiled at him, "but he did defend his mother. Said it's her age, to her family is blood relation etcetera" she shrugged, "we heard it all. It wasn't particularly nice but whatever. He was kind of right, in a way….she was an old bat"

He shook his head, "you really are too nice"

"Nah. I just tortured Sammy, remember?"

"It must have ruined Christmas?"

"Not really. I think it hurt Mom more than anything, to be honest…kind of made her look at her husband a little harder, you know? But we brushed it off at the time. They came out of the kitchen with these huge smiles plastered on their face, I put the robe in my room and that was that. We ate a lot, played charades. The usual" she smiled, "Sammy still has the system but Mike exchanged his for cash pretty much straight away and took me shopping in the sales" she smiled even wider at the memory, "so I was pretty stoked in the end.."

"That's a horrible story though, Elizabeth" Dwayne said, his voice a mixture of anger and sympathy, "I'm glad you're not affected by it but that's pretty damn foul"

"It is" she agreed, "but what can you do?"

She smiled up at him and moved to give him a kiss, "so. Happier things…are we going to the beach?"

"That's it?" he asked her, brushing some hair away from her face.

"What?"

"You're really not upset about it?"

It sounded like he couldn't believe it but it was true. It stung to be so outwardly dismissed as an other but in the end, she had just wanted to forget the whole thing and eat some of Lucy's epic roasted goose. Plus, Lucy and Michael made a pretty big effort to protect her feelings. With their support, it had been surprisingly easy to dismiss.

She grinned at him, playfully asking, "do you want me to be?"

"Of course not" he shook his head, "I've just…you're nice, Elizabeth" he sighed a little as he looked down at her, as he considered her.

"We've been over this" she reminded him, her happiness and excitement emboldening her, "is that a bad thing?"

"Elizabeth...I'm not as nice as you are"

"And I'm not as cool and exciting as you are" she replied, easily enough, "so it balances out"

"It does?"

"Definitely" she gave him a kiss, "I love you..." eyes dancing, she glanced out of the window, "...now let's go"

"Yes, ma'am"

A/N: thank you so, so much for the reviews! MissRuthless, you're a superstar - thank you for always taking time to read, I appreciate it a lot. I have many plans for Max - I'm excited to share them all with you, there's a lot of...stuff...coming. princessnerra, sorry for the cliffhanger in the previous chapter!