"No, stop, don't." Lily said in her sleep as she tossed and turned.

Deacon, who was still sitting in the chair, watching her sleep for reasons beyond his comprehension, stood and walked over to the bed. He knelt down and whispered softly. "Lily, wake up."

She jumped and opened her eyes. "Deacon." She said, breathing heavily. "It was Gunner. He found me and he came here to take me and you tried to stop him but-"

"Calm down. It was just a bad dream. You're okay. You're safe with me." He said reassuringly. He sat on the bed beside her and she laid her head on his thigh. He gently stroked her shoulder as she drifted back to sleep. **************************************************************************** ***********************************************
After she finally woke up, Deacon went out into the living room and she took shower. She put on a pair of jeans and a white button up blouse and looked at herself in the mirror. She loved the clothes but when she saw her face for the first time since her fight with Gunner, she cringed and looked away briefly. She looked worse than she thought. The cut on her face went all the way across her cheek bone, she had a large bruise on her jaw, and she had about a dozen more cuts and bruises on her face. The worse was the finger prints on her neck where Gunner had held her up against the wall. When she was done examining her injuries, she shook her head and went out into the living room.

Deacon looked up at her when she walked in, scanning her body. "You look.uh." He was speechless. He couldn't think of the words to describe how beautiful he thought she was.

"You hate it."

"No, no." He said as he stood up and walked over to her. "You're beautiful." He gently ran his hand down her cheek and leaned into her, gently pressing his lips against hers.

The kiss slowly got more intense, their tongues intertwining, until her tongue brushed up against one of his fangs. She quickly pulled away from him, backing up slowly, shaking her head in disbelief. She bumped into Quinn, who was on his way into the room, and she turned around. She ran into the bedroom, slamming the door behind her. She sat in the corner by the bed and burst into tears. **************************************************************************** ***********************************************
Deacon walked into the room and closed the door behind him. It had been three hours and he hoped she had calmed down enough for him to explain. "Lily."

She looked up at him from her position on the floor. Her eyes were still red but she had stopped crying. "You're going to kill me, aren't you?" She said, hugging her knees into her chest.

"No." He walked over to her slowly. "I never planned on killing you." He sat down in front of her.

She pulled her knees up into her chest tighter as he reached out to touch her. "What were you going to do with me then?"

He hesitated and then sighed heavily. "I was going to.turn you."

"Why didn't you tell me about your vampirism?"

"I didn't want to scare you. I didn't know that Gunner was a vampire and I didn't want you to leave."

"Why didn't you tell me after I told about Gunner?"

"I wanted to give you time to get over him and get used to us."

"Deacon, you should have told me. I wasn't going to leave you. I like it here. I like being around you. I would have let you turn me if you would have just told me from the beginning."

"You're right. I should have told you. I'm sorry."

She relaxed and leaned forward. She gently put her hand on his cheek. "I want to be here, with you. No matter what."

"Now that you know, would you still be willing to let me turn you?"

"Not now. I'm not ready to be one of you. When I'm ready, you'll know."

He gently kissed her. "I'm sorry."

She smiled and kissed him. When her tongue brushed against his fang again, she just ignored it and continued to kiss him.