"It's a little colder than I thought it would be..." Elizabeth told Dwayne, "...but I think my legs are getting a little numb because it's not uncomfortable...not a bad thi..."

She glanced over her shoulder, her words trailing into nothing as she saw him stacking some fire wood. He'd shed his jacket and was, as a result, working without a shirt or any kind of cover at all. She couldn't help but look at his stomach, his chest, seeing how his muscles rippled with his movements.

She couldn't believe somebody so perfect could be hers.

Turning her body fully in the water, she tilted her head and watched as he effortlessly hauled up a hefty chunk of driftwood, dropping it onto the pile with an incredible, easy grace. His arms were so defined...she swallowed a little, biting her lip as she watched him move to stack and organize the wood he had collected during her tentative paddle.

"Are you going to help or just watch?"

He hadn't turned to face her but she knew that he was smiling through his words and she knew that he was well aware of how intently she had been checking him out.

"Just watch" she said, still feeling confident, emboldened and playful.

A little wave, small but a tiny bit more forceful than the others, splashed some foamy water up and over her jean shorts and she jumped a little, taking a step forward. She didn't want to be soaked, she knew that she would dry off quickly in front of the fire he was working to build but the thought of sitting in sodden jean shorts didn't appeal to her.

He shot her a grin, finally turning his head to meet her eyes and she couldn't help the huge smile that spread across her face.

"I think you're good for me, Dwayne" she told him, watching as he scraped some of his hair away from his face. He paused, crouched over the soon to be fire-pit. She observed the toned muscles of his back, loving his eye contact but unable to stop herself from looking over his body again.

"Why do you say that?"

She shrugged, feeling another wave lazily brush past her knee, "because I've never felt this content in my life"

"You do seem quite perky" he commented but she saw the spark of fire in his eyes.

She knew he was pleased by her words.

"I feel it" she assured him, "I'm just...I'm in such a good mood!"

She had to resist the urge to splash in the water and he laughed. He opened his mouth to say something and she was waiting for the smile, the joke that she was sure was about to spill out but he frowned instead, looking much like he had upon hearing Sammy's impending approach.

As before, she noticed the change right away.

"Is it Sammy?" she asked, though she knew they were too far away from the house to be seen or heard, even when the fire got going.

He shook his head and dropped his hands, letting his wrists hang limp against his thighs, "the guys.."

"The guys, guys?" she asked, remembering his comments about there being no stupid questions.

"Yeah"

"Are they coming here?"

"Is it OK?"

It was more than OK. She had no complaints about seeing them, she was excited to hang out with them again and just be happy. She'd had so much fun with them all before, she wanted it to happen again.

"I'd love to see them" she assured him, "do you think...could they maybe bring some food?" she asked hopefully.

"What do you want?" he asked immediately, smiling a little once more.

"Anything" she said hastily, "nothing fancy, I'm just a little peckish.."

He stood and stretched, moving to stand before the quietly breaking surf. He kept his booted feet away from the water and Elizabeth asked, "...when will they get here?"

"It depends on what food they're gonna bring" he said, watching her, "not long though, Marko was already taking care of it. You can trust him - he'll bring you something nice"

"...so is that going to be long enough for us to have some fun?" she inquired, eyes bright, wondering if they could finish what Sammy had interrupted.

"Definitely" his reply was almost instantaneous.

Laughing, she took a step back in the water, moving her hands to the button of her shorts, "come on-"

"-what?"

She paused and looked at him, eyebrow raised, "...what?"

"...I thought we were going to 'have some fun'?"

"Yeah" she released her button and instead scooped her hand in the cool water, flicking some in his direction, "come on in"

He looked at her as if she was crazy, "you come out"

"No!" she laughed, "come in the water. It's romantic!"

"You don't really think it's romantic?" he queried, now looking at her with an amused smile.

"Well sure it is" she insisted again, eyeing his broad chest, "it's swimming under the moonlight, what's not romantic about that?"

He didn't reply and she grinned, "...ohhhhh...you can't swim?"

"I'm not dignifying that with a response" he replied and she giggled, inspired to keep teasing him, "you could ask Marko to bring you some inflatable arm bands?"

He watched her and, laughingly, she continued, "maybe a paddle board? One of those donuts to put around your waist? It'd look super cute on you-"

His face broke out into a smirk, "-come out of the water"

The nervous, exciting and enticing tingle that she'd felt when he had all but hunted her returned with a vengeance and Elizabeth flushed at the deep command of his voice. His words were a deep rumble and she noted he was telling her, not asking her.

It was incredibly sexy.

Swallowing, she took a step back, wading a little deeper into the calm sea, the water lapping against the top of her knees.

Knowingly, his smirk widened and the intensity in his eyes increased tenfold.

She knew that if she stepped out of the water, if she went to him, she wouldn't be able to stop herself from throwing herself at him. She bit her lip, momentarily lost in her thoughts, thoughts of him and them, of what she wanted him to do to her...he was so firm, so strong. She thought of the way he had hunted her, the sheer dominance in his actions and another shiver coursed through her body.

"Come on, Liz..." he said and she blinked up at him, drawn away from her thoughts. Shaking her head, she whispered a throaty, "no way..."

"No?"

"No!" she insisted, swallowing again. His stare was so intense.

"Why?" he asked her with such an innocent air, she couldn't help but bite her lip.

"You're going to...to..." she licked her lip as her words trailed off, the butterflies making themselves known deep in her stomach.

"...punish you?" he replied.

Her lips parted a little at the rumble of his words.

That's what she had been thinking but hearing him use the words...God, he was so...hot.

"...punish you for the joke?"

She took a step forward.

"...for insinuating I can't swim?"

"...oh my God..." she groaned, taking a step forward again.

His eye contact was unrelenting.

She took another step, the water brushing under her knees.

God, she wanted him.

"Dwayne-" she breathed.

He held up his hand, tilting his head as he raised his index finger. Eyes dancing, a little smirk snaking its way onto his face, he stated,"-oops. Marko's coming"

His face...so sultry and serious, so sexy and chiseled and so damn charming suddenly broke out into a mask of bright, beaming amusement and she stuttered, "wh-what?"

"Marko's coming. He'll be here in a second" he repeated and Elizabeth looked at him in disbelief, her mouth forming silent words.

"...you..." she groaned and dipped her hands in the water before rubbing them over her face a little.

After that he was just...stopping?! The deep eyes, his rumbling words, his promise of a punishment and then...nothing.

He laughed and she looked at him, "you..oh my God, why did you start-"

"I said I had to punish you" he replied, eyes bright and she groaned again.

"I hate you"

"No you don't" he corrected her, laughing and smiling as he did.

He moved towards the unlit pile of wood.

"No, I don't" she agreed, tugging at her shorts a little, "that was terrible of you though..damn, Dwayne..."

He crouched over the wood, beginning to rearrange some things low on the pile before tugging out a lighter from his pocket.

"The punishment did not fit the crime" she told him, rubbing at her face again.

She observed him from the water; she'd never felt so frustrated. She wondered if what she was feeling was the female equivalent of blue balls and he threw her yet another knowing glance, "I'll make it up to you later..."

Her stomach fluttered at his words, his sexy rumble once more meeting her ears.

Before she could respond, he coughed and greeted a loud, "Hey, man-" before winking at Elizabeth and turning back to the fire he was beginning to start.

"Hey yourself" Marko replied jovially, jerking his head in greeting.

Once again wetting her face with a little water, scrubbing her skin with a firm vigor that kind of helped keep herself in check, Elizabeth took a step backwards, away from the shore.

She let the calm surf cover her knees once more, trying to not think about Dwayne and the fire he had started within her.

It wasn't an easy task and knowing that he would be extinguishing that fire later just seemed to rile her up even more.

Taking a breath, she looked over at Marko and saw that he was wearing his bright and colorful jacket but had paired it was a ripped tee and black jeans. He looked fresh and, as he approached Dwayne he raised the pizza box he was carrying high up into the air, displaying what he had brought. There was a six pack of beers resting upon it and she grinned at the sight, thankful that he had delivered such a carby, cheesy snack as well as something to drink.

She wanted to hang out with them anyway but she thought company and food would help distract her from her feelings.

"'Evening, Liz" Marko greeted, balancing the pizza and raising his free hand in an easy but quick wave, "you having fun out there?"

The night was so quiet, she had no problem hearing his words.

She grinned at him and nodded, "it would be more fun with company though…" she shot a meaningful glance at Dwayne and he laughed.

"I'm interrupting, aren't I?" Marko asked, looking between the two.

Dwayne just laughed and Elizabeth flushed, shaking her head as she lied, "not at all..."

As Dwayne took the grease stained pizza box off Marko's hand, the blonde sat down beside the now slowly sparking fire, one knee raised. He draped his arm over his elevated knee and Elizabeth asked him instead, "so how about you? Are you going to take a dip?"

She didn't want to swim with Marko in the way she had wanted to with Dwayne but she wanted to get the conversation back on track. She wanted to get her thoughts back on track.

She kicked up and outwards, raising her foot and sending little sprinkles of water pattering back down into the ocean.

"Fuck no!" he said, laughing through his answer.

Both of them had refused to enter and Dwayne had a very good reason to swim with her.

She didn't understand why.

"So what is it with you guys and the water then?" she asked, eyes flickering between Dwayne and Marko, "...is it a Dracula thing?"

"A Dracula thing?" Marko repeated, "you mean, like...a vampiric limitation?"

She nodded.

As Dwayne placed the pizza high on chunk of wood, safely away from the sand and a decent distance from the comfortably popping fire, he gestured to Marko and when the curly-haired blonde spoke, it was with the air of someone who couldn't believe why anyone would want to get into the water, "tell me the appeal, first..."

Elizabeth paused, another wave gently caressing her knees.

"Uh…" she was stood alone in the water, not swimming, not splashing around, not surfing or playing or looking for shells. She wasn't doing anything but it was nice to be in the there, all the same. She wasn't sure how to articulate it, so she just said, "…it's fun?"

"You know what they say about simple pleasures?" Marko replied and all three of them laughed at her expense.

"If you were closer, I'd splash you" she said, shaking her head with a pleased smile on her face, "so come on. I told you the appeal, you tell me what's up. Is it a Dracula thing?"

"Kind of..." Marko replied.

She began to slowly wade in a circle, waiting for their explanation.

"Are you gonna come out anytime soon?" Dwayne asked, moving to sit near his friend.

"Nope"

"Happy playing mermaid?" Marko asked.

"Yes"

"But I brought you pizza…" he wheedled.

She kicked her feet a little, watching the ripples she caused, "thank you" she looked up at them both, still refusing to be drawn from the water. It was cool and pleasant and she was enjoying it. Plus, she wanted to know why they weren't coming in. She paused, observing Marko, "wait, where are the others?"

"Paul's getting some supplies-" at Marko's words, she smiled. She was high on life and having fun, happy, thrilled, content and at peace with everything. The thought of spending the night with everyone, hanging out and laughing, smoking…it was perfect.

Seeing her pleased smile, Marko continued, "..and David went with him"

"Why?"

"Because he needs a babysitter" Dwayne said, smirking as he spoke.

"No joke. You almost had LSD instead of flowers, Liz" Marko added.

Laughing, she shook her head, "he's crazy"

"Yeah" they both agreed.

Walking in the calm surf once more, she asked them, "…so does David like the water?"

"No" they both replied and Elizabeth paused, "OK...so why? You still haven't told me.."

"Ruins his hair" Marko said in a fast, deadpan delivery.

At his brother's words, Dwayne emitted, a deep, hearty and booming laugh that immediately made Elizabeth smile in response.

She loved to hear his laugh.

"Are you being deliberately vague?" she asked, still smiling,"so it's not a really a Dracula rule, it's just personal preference?"

"Not a personal preference, as such. Some of our kind find bodies of water uncomfortable" Marko told her with a shrug, "I do. I don't like running water either-"

"-what?" she asked, surprised.

"Yeah. I find it has an unpleasant tingle"

"Really? Running water like..like a shower?" he nodded and she added, "like rain?"

Marko nodded again and Elizabeth looked to Dwayne, who easily shook his head. She remembered that he had joined her in the shower once and she was glad for it; she very much wanted him to join her again. Instead, he said, "David feels the same way about running water. I'm fine, though.."

"Huh…so it is a Dracula thing?"

"I mean, yes and no..." Marko shrugged.

"So there could be a…" she waved her hand a little, still unable to use the word vampire, "…out there who finds running water painful? If you find it unpleasantly tingly and David, too…"

"Possibly" Dwayne said.

"But it's not a hard and fast thing, like sunlight…"

Elizabeth nodded, "but you can swim?"

"Yes" they both replied, Dwayne a little firmer.

She grinned at him.

Marko cracked open a beer and casually handed one to Dwayne, too. There was condensation trailing its way down the can, the water droplets glittering a little in the glow of the fire.

"So..." she frowned, "...basically...it's: some water good, some water bad?"

"Yes, Ms. Cave-woman" Marko laughed, "some water good, some water bad"

She grinned at his sarcasm, "does the water, large bodies of water, I mean...does it feel physically uncomfortable or just, you know…mentally?" she asked.

Marko took a healthy swig of his beer, "running water, like a shower or a heavy rain storm has a kind of…sting to it...for me at least. I can deal with it but still, why put myself through it? Lakes and the sea and stuff just…" he frowned, "I don't know. Entering that kind of water makes me feel like I'm gonna be crushed? Kind of an intense pressure"

Dwayne nodded in agreement.

"Really?"

"It's not physically painful for me but yes. There's a pretty intense feeling of-" Dwayne squeezed his free hand into a fist and Elizabeth nodded. He looked a little uncomfortable to be talking about it and she nodded again, more at her own observation than his words.

So that's why he wouldn't come in with her.

"Wow…" she looked at them both and then down into the water, "…but it's different for everyone?"

"Mhmm"

"It's so weird"

They both smiled patiently and Marko said, "not really...it's the same with mortals, right?"

"No?"

They both grinned at her blunt reply.

"OK. So, once upon a time I saw a kid on the boardwalk have this absolutely insane reaction to a bag of peanuts. He was eating from this paper bag filled with roasted peanuts and after a few bites he just...his body just shut down" Marko told her, sitting up a little straighter.

"His face swelled like nothing I've ever seen" Dwayne supplied.

"His Mom's freaking out, his Dad's in panic mode, simultaneously trying to keep his mouth open and give him chest compressions while thumping his back-"

"-he was still breathing though-"

"-and you know what his younger brother was doing?"

Elizabeth shook her head, no.

"Chomping on that same bag of peanuts like a horse with hay. He picked them up from his brothers twitching hand and just started up where the fitting kid had stopped. I'm not exaggerating here, he was chowing down, scoffing these fistfuls of nuts that had sent his brother into the worst reaction I've ever seen. He was just standing there, eating and watching..."

He painted a very vivid picture and Elizabeth thought that if she closed her eyes, she would be able to see if perfectly, "was the boy OK?"

"Yeah" Dwayne assured her, "parents were freaking out but a passerby kept their cool, called an ambulance-"

"-positioned the kids head to clear his airways-"

"-but why was the brother just eating?" she interrupted.

"Panic" Dwayne told her, "everyone reacts differently"

"Yeah" Marko took another sip of beer, "and that's my point – people react differently"

"I'm lost?" Elizabeth admitted, pausing in her pacing. What did panicking and an allergic reaction to peanuts have to do with water?

"Brother A almost dies from the peanuts but Brother B could throw 'em back like it was nothing..." Marko said, sounding like that explained everything.

"Yeah..." she nodded, not quite understanding.

"It's sort of the same with our kind" Dwayne said, looking over at the pizza instead of meeting her eyes. He reached out and flicked open the box.

As Marko continued, Elizabeth felt incredibly dense, "I'm really good with the lure, remember?" she nodded, remembering his words.

As Marko gestured to Dwayne, he said with a dismissive shrug, "I'm pretty strong"

"He's being humble" Marko grinned, "strongest out of all of us. By far"

As Elizabeth smiled, processing their words and thinking about Dwayne's strength, Marko continued, "running water kind of stings me but it doesn't bother Dwayne-"

"-but bodies of water feels unpleasant for all three of us except-"

"-me!"

Elizabeth screamed, as she was splashed – almost doused – with a wave of water. Paul had launched himself at her from out of nowhere and, before she could pause for breath, to stem her shock, to consider how much water had covered her, he had his arms around her back and under her knees.

"Oh my God!" she yelped, still flustered from his sudden scare. She clutched at his neck as he elevated her up and above the water.

If he dropped her, she would be totally submerged and while she had wanted to wheedle Dwayne into swimming, that was different. Swimming with the man she loved, swimming naked with the man she loved was excellent...being dumped in the water fully clothed and unprepared was another matter.

She could hear Marko and Dwayne laughing from the shore and she regretted her stubbornness. She should have left the water when Marko mentioned the pizza. Hell, she should have launched herself out of the water when Dwayne had ordered her to.

"Paul!" she spluttered.

"Miss me, chica?"

"Don't drop me!" she yelped, tightening her hold around his neck.

He laughed, "I thought you were waiting for somebody to join you?" he whooped before jumping a little, staying suspended in the air for an oddly long time, "I'm your guy! I fucking love the water! Rain water, shower water, salt water, lake water, bottled water!"

She screamed as her feet dipped back into the ocean, as the shorts covering her butt were soaked. He'd dipped his own knees upon landing from his jump and she knew it had been deliberate.

The sodden bottom of her jean shorts made her feel like she'd peed herself and he made moves to do it again.

"Don't you dare!" she laughed through a screech, the water feeling cold through her shorts. It had been comfortable up to her knees because her legs had grown kind of numb; the rest of her body was feeling the chill.

"Don't you want to swim?" he waded out a little further and she gawped at him. His eyes were twinkling with joy and laughter and she choked a laugh herself seeing how wide he was smiling. She kept her hold even more, fingers biting into the collar of his tux. He was fully clothed and he seemed completely care free, "I got you, boo! I'm gonna swim with you!"

"Not anymore!" she protested, abs cramping a little from her silent laughs, "I swear-don't-" she yelped as he dipped his knees again and the bottom of her shorts were soaked once more, "-don't you dare!"

She could still hear laughter from the beach and she knew that she wasn't going to come out of the situation dry. She looked back to shore only to see Dwayne and Marko building up the fire a little more. As she made eye contact with Dwayne, saw the loving but playful way he winked at her…she knew.

She was going under.

"Paul-" she begged, laughing as she did.

It was impossible not to laugh.

"-Yes, M'lady" he replied, turning his head to face her full on.

His blonde hair was wild, his earrings were jangling a little in response to her squirming and jerky movements and she pulled herself as close to his body as she could, "-don't-"

"-but I have to-"

"-Paul…"

He dipped his knees again and she laughed a yelp, trying to worm her way higher in his arms.

"On three?"

"Don't drop me!" she yelped.

"Three-"

"-Paul!-"

"-two-"

"-ah!-"

"On-"

"-do not drop me!"

He paused and, for a split second, Elizabeth thought she had won. Then, she realized, she knew better.

Already she knew better.

"OK" he said reasonably enough and, as her panicked eyes met his, he jumped high - higher than any human could - before plunging them both under the gently rolling waves.

A/N: It's so nice to write about the pack having fun. MissRuthless you are for sure the real MVP. Thank you so much for the reviews, they're always so welcome and wanted. I'm glad to hear that things got better for you. I also think that Dwayne is holding back a little, too...you touched upon something that's coming up in the next chapter! I hope, for now, this one was enjoyable. In the book, Michael gets burned when he takes a shower and we know about Drac's limitations with water...but the boys fly over the sea in the movie. I was reading/watching different media while writing this chapter and it's what inspired me to consider vampire lore. Not particularly canon but fun to write all the same!