A/N: Nothing to do with Twilight.

Vampire Rules are different.

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"So, what are your weaknesses?" I asked Tristan as he set me down on the ground again. We had held each other for what seemed like hours after I admitted I loved him. It was hard to say it to him after what I had just been through with my friends' deaths but it was the truth.

We walked over to the two chairs and I could see him thinking my question over; searching for the right words. I sat down on the chair I had been sitting on and he pulled another one over to it and sat down across from me.

"Well, for one thing, vampires are weaker in the daylight. Though the sun does not harm us it still does not welcome the living dead so it drains us of some powers the dark gives us," he explained. He frowned at me and brushed a lock of hair out of my face. After he did this he let his cool hand rest on my neck. My heart involuntarily fluttered.

"How weak is weak?" I said with a playful smile.

He gave me a wicked grin. "In the night I could take on one hundred crazed and bloodthirsty tigers." That wiped the smile off of my face and made his get wider. "In the daylight I could only kill about forty."

I just stared at him. That was a scary bit of knowledge I filed away in my mind to think over later. I couldn't help but shiver a little bit and he noticed.

"Are you still okay with me being a vampire?" his expression was dark and his question was a test. His eyes studied every inch of my face quickly, and then they locked onto my eyes. I nodded, I loved him already and my love wasn't revocable. As soon as you had it I loved you forever… even when you died.

He didn't exactly look happier when I did that. His face was unreadable. I tried to bring him back around to our previous discussion and hoped he wouldn't get angry.

"What else is there?" I didn't want to come right out and ask specifics.

His eyes once again scrutinized my face and I stared him down. "We have heightened senses: smell, touch and hearing. You will never be able to sneak up on me. If you did, it would be because I let you." he brushed the cool pad of his thumb along my cheekbone and I smiled at him.

"Would you let me?" I asked.

A twinkle came into his ruby red eyes as he shrugged. More questions were popping up in my head. He seemed content to just sit here silently all day and I liked the thought of that too, but I wanted answers. If I was in love with one, I might as well know all about vampires. "Do you sleep upside-down?" It seemed like a really stupid question so I quickly asked another one. "Or do you prefer a coffin?" Stupider…

He laughed at me. "I don't actually sleep. I recharge for two hours when I need rest. It is a very deep sleep and until my body is ready, I won't wake."

"When do you sleep?" I asked him, grabbing his hand and following the lines on the palm with my fingers. I could feel his eyes on me.

"Normally around 10 in the morning and about once every two weeks," he said quietly.

"What time is it now?" the sun was starting to go down in the window behind him. He pulled his hand away to check his large metal watch put subtly put the other hand back in mine.

"Its 7:00, you slept in late," he said with a smile.

"When will you have to sleep next?" I asked him.

"I should have today," he said. "I am tired." He gave me a small smile.

He stood up and pulled me up with him. I let him lead me to the stairs and we walked up them quietly. We reached my bedroom door and he paused before it. I was trying to slow my breathing. He looked at me with a question in his eyes.

"I'm just going to sleep, and I would rather know where you were while I rest," he said quietly and my stomach calmed. It had been slightly uneasy out of nerves.

He opened the door and led me inside. He let go of my hand and closed the door behind me. He gave me a wolfish grin and started taking off his shirt. My heart started pounding again and I forced my eyes to look away. I walked over to my suitcases and pulled out the yellow sports bra and--ah, what the heck, my short gray cotton shorts. I might as well show off my long legs, he was sure enjoying the fascination I had with his stomach. I walked into the bathroom to change and I heard a low chuckle behind me. I definitely wasn't going to change in front of him yet. An hour ago I was willing to have sex with him but changing now, nope. I was very inconsistent.

I changed quickly, eager to get back to him. I left my hair down and it tickled my bare back. I loved my long hair; I wanted it longer if anything. I wonder if Tristan's hair grows. So many questions I still had to ask him.

I walked back into the bedroom and he wasn't in there, I felt disappointed and wondered briefly where he went. He would come back, I knew that. I walked over to the bed and as I slipped under the covers my eye-lids were heavy. I closed them slowly.

I felt the bed sink under something's weight and my eyes shot open. He was sitting on my edge of the bed and looking down at me with tender eyes. I felt my heart leap at the sight of him. I wanted to touch him but he got to me first. He pulled the blankets away from me and he slipped his body over mine. He held himself up on his elbows. He leaned in and started kissing my neck softly. I froze, I wasn't an expert but I didn't think it was a good idea to have his teeth so close to my jugular. He placed one large cold hand on my rib cage and I relaxed beneath it. But I couldn't hide my fear from him.

"You're not in danger," he whispered in my ear before running his tongue over it. I moaned.

"I thought you were tired," I whispered as he pushed my legs apart with a knee and he settled his hips in between my legs.

"I can fight ten tigers when I am absolutely exhausted, Aurora," he said. And then he sighed and slid off of me and rested by my side. He slipped an arm around my stomach and drew me into him. "But you are tired. I'll let you sleep."

I pushed one of my long legs up and onto his stomach then I slid my body over his so I was in a straddling position. I propped myself up on my forearms I had placed on his chest. I was looking in his eyes. I leaned in and kissed him lightly. His hand came up behind my head and grabbed my hair. He pressed my face down on his. The kiss was long and sweet and I was the one who pulled out of it, I had to breathe.

I pulled up and off of him just a little. I was still gasping for air when he groaned and slammed his head back on the pillow.

"Do you really want to know what my weakness is?" he asked me, looking at the ceiling. He sounded very serious and I looked at him curiously, trying to gage his expression. I didn't see anything.

"What?" I asked him quietly.

"You," he whispered. "I'm afraid all the time, and I have never been afraid, Aurora." His eyes finally met mine, they looked sad. "I'm afraid you're going to leave me. I'm afraid I'm going to hurt you. I'm always fighting the need to bite you and you're so soft and your bones are so frail. I'm afraid someone will find out how I feel about you and try to take you away from me."

"I'm not going anywhere," I said as I brushed his dark blonde hair out of his red eyes. His hair was really beautiful. It was long and it curled out slightly around his ears and had light blonde highlights spread evenly throughout it. He looked so young, only nineteen.

His arms came up and wrapped around my waist. He was holding me down on him with excessive force. "No, you're not," he whispered in my ear before his lips went to the hollow space under it.

He kissed me until he had my breathing erratic again and then he let me breathe. I swear he did it on purpose. I tried to push off of him but he didn't let me.

"I want to sleep," I whispered to him. He closed his eyes and a small smile crept up on his lips.

"You can sleep there," he whispered back. I heard sleep entering his voice.

"Okay," I said smiling. I was okay with my position. His fingers danced up and down my bare back. It was so soothing that I laid my head on his chest and quickly fell asleep.

When I woke up it felt like it was only seconds later. "Ugh…" I said at the taste in my mouth. I was sleeping on something that was going up and down slowly. I opened my eyes and I saw Tristan. His eyes were closed. He was sleeping. I reached back and lifted his limp arms off of me one at a time. He moved slightly beneath me and I froze. I didn't want to wake him up. He settled back down again and I resumed getting off. I was slipping off of him slowly and he chose that exact moment to turn over.

"Ahh…" I was trying to keep really quiet as I balanced on one leg that was on the floor and the other one was pinned under Tristan. I fell. Thud. "Oaf!" I breathed as my butt hit the wood floor. I popped my head up quickly to look at him. Still very asleep.

I pushed myself up and walked gingerly to my suitcase. I wasn't really tired anymore and I was really hungry. I slipped on my favorite black sweat pants over my shorts and headed out the bedroom door, closing it quietly behind me. I went down the stairs, still trying to make as little noise as possible. I looked at the clock when I reached the kitchen, 8:50. I had slept for about an hour and fifty minutes. It was really dark outside now.

I went to the bag of food and grabbed the small bag of strawberries. I wandered through the house, eating strawberries, and came across an empty beautiful room with a highly polished dark wood floor. I put a strawberry in my mouth and bit the fruit off so I had the small leaves in my hand. I placed the leaves back in the bag and set it down.

This floor reminded me of the dance floor of the ballroom dancing classes I used to take when my parents were alive. I had resumed lessons 3 years ago and I had a few new favorite dances. Vic had taken lessons with me. We had plans of finding a ballroom dancing place here in Paris and trying out our skills with new partners. Our teacher always praised us for being, what she politely called, vigorous. We knew she was restraining from using a different word: provocative.

I put my arms up in the firm frame of the Waltz. I stepped lightly around the floor following the steps I knew by heart so I moved in large circles, spinning and pausing for the dip.

"Aurora!" his voice rang through the house and startled me so much I fell over and my heart was doing double-time.

"What!" I yelled from the ground. I swore under my breath as I tried to regain my breath. You don't scream someone's name into the silence when they are Waltzing in their own little world.

He was at the door in seconds and he glared down at me on the floor. "Jesus Aurora! You can't leave me like that when I'm sleeping. I woke up expecting to find you next to me and I can only pick up your scent! You could have left an hour ago for all I knew!" he was yelling at the end of it, working himself up into a full blown oral onslaught. I really didn't want that.

"You thought I would leave?" I asked, heading him off.

He looked at my face and was silent for a few seconds. "You don't know the dangers that surround you; the dangers that surround Paris." He was looking at me with the strange expression again. "There are more of us. Many more. You weren't even here a full day before you attracted the attention of 6 vampires," he walked over to me and put out his hand. I took it and he pulled me up to my feet.

He looked around the empty room we were in and at the floor I was on. I was in the center of the room. "Why are you in here?" he asked. His voice wasn't hard anymore.

"I was Waltzing." I walked away from him and over to the bag of strawberries on the floor. I turned around and his expression was surprised.

"You can Waltz?" he sounded incredulous.

"Yes, but I prefer other dances over it," I smiled at his face. "Do you know how to tango?" He smiled at me. It was a priceless grin and it itself answered the question for me. I held my hands up with my palms to him as he started walking towards me. "Do you have a CD player?" I had a reason for asking this.

"Yes," he said, raising an eyebrow.

"Can you go get it? I have to grab something," he and I left the room and headed in different directions.

I went up the stairs to my suitcases. I grabbed out my collection of CDs I had brought along for the plane trip. I slipped one out of it. It was a mixed CD that Vic and I had made for Tango class. It helped us be more…vigorous.

I came back to the room and saw him standing in the center. Of course he was faster than me. I tore my eyes from his beauty and searched around the room for the CD player. I saw it against the right wall on the floor. I walked over to it and placed in the disc. I pressed down the play button and the first song came on. The whine of the violins hit me immediately; I stayed there and listened to it for a few seconds.

When the chords got faster and faster I turned around to look at him. I was giving him a wicked look. He may be a vampire but I didn't think he was ready for this. He looked at my smile curiously.

"Are you ready?" I asked, still trying to contain my smile.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" he asked, ignoring my question. I just shrugged, flashing my teeth in the smile I couldn't hold back any longer. He glanced at my smile before his eyes returned to mine; they held a glint of amusement. "I don't think you should be smiling like that, you're going to have to work very hard to keep up with a vampire." He was now grinning at me.

I wanted to roll my eyes but I restrained. I wanted to surprise him; he said it was impossible to sneak up on him so this was going to be my way of doing just that.

I had the CD memorized and I knew that this song was going to hit its climax soon. I stepped towards him quickly and his eyes locked on mine and he met me half way. I threw my hands up on his neck as I reached him and his went on my hips.

He started to lead at first, making me step backwards. I laughed and he looked at me curiously again. I grinned at him in a seductive way, looking at him from under my lashes. I snapped my leg out and pushed myself into him, I heard him catch his breath and I dropped the smile. It was working time now; this was the time to show him who was going to have to work hard to keep up with whom. I pulled away slightly and twisted my lower body around and picked up my leg and crossed it across our bodies and snapped it down on the floor between us. I stepped forward and he was forced to follow. I arched my back and pushed away and he pulled me back to him in response.

Our bodies were pressed together and my breathing was getting too fast. He threw me into a deep dip and my back must have made a U because my head almost touched the floor. He was lucky I had taken ballet all my life and was very flexible or he might have broken my back. He pulled me back up and I curled my leg around his waist and we were starting to lose the rhythm of the dance and were more aware of each other's bodies than the song or steps.

My breathing was becoming faster and shorter. I was sure he wasn't tired but I didn't want to be the one to stop. Thankfully I wasn't. After he dipped me again I decided to kick my leg out in the vigorous move it took me two weeks of landing on my butt to achieve. He caught it like he was supposed to but he didn't let go. He leaned in and kissed me, still holding my leg. He was incredibly lucky I was flexible because I was pretty much doing the splits as he was kissing me.

After a minute of kissing I really couldn't breathe. I pulled away, gasping. He still held me close to him, waiting for me to catch my breath. "Can you put my leg down?" I asked between breaths. He slowly lowered it back to the ground.

"Where did you learn to dance like that?" he asked me, he was also a little breathless but I knew he wasn't tired.

"Maryland," I said simply, I was still trying to catch my breath. My heart was racing. He gave me a wolfish smile.

"It looks like dancing with me is quite a workout for you," he said, his eyes gleaming. He was still supporting most of my weight but he didn't seem to mind.

I couldn't argue with that. My heart was starting to calm down but it still hadn't returned to its slow, steady beat. I was sweating slightly too, though not as much as I would have been with a normal partner. Tristan was stronger and faster so he reduced on some work I had to do with the hopeless boys back at lessons in Maryland. I swear half the boys in the class only showed because they heard Victoria and I went.

"Are you still hungry?" Tristan let me stand on my own now and looked over at the strawberries on the floor. He looked back at me frowning. "Are you sure you eat enough?"

"Probably not… I am not too hungry right now though." I whispered.

I let the grief of my friends' death come up a little. I didn't want to think about what Madame Charmon had thought happened to us, or if the police were searching the streets and dumpsters. If Victoria's parents had been contacted along with everyone else's. Amelia's mom would probably die of grief. I knew the woman; she was kind but a little too over-protective for Amelia's bold personality.

"Well that is too bad. We are going out to eat," he said and grabbed my hand. He pulled me to his chest and picked me up swiftly. He ran me up the stairs and set me down on the bed in my room. "Get dressed, I will wait here."

"Why can't I just go like this?" I asked, keeping a serious face as I motioned to my sports bra.

His eyes narrowed. "I will change you if you won't do so on your own," he threatened.

I hopped up and went to the bathroom quickly, without a word. I looked in the mirror and the situation wasn't too hopeless. I grabbed the dark camouflage pants from the floor and pulled on the black tee-shirt.

My hair was a mess so I twisted it up into a loose French knot of white-blonde hair and headed out the door. He was sitting on the bed and looked up at me when I came into the room. He smiled appreciatively and I returned the favor. We were both wearing black. It looked so good on him I think it became my new favorite color. With me in Victoria's clothes and him with his longer than average hair, it looked like we were going to a rock concert.

"Ready?" he asked, raising an eyebrow as I gazed at him.

"Yeah…" a thought occurred to me. "Can I drive?"

"No," he didn't even give it a thought.

"Why?" I asked, my eyebrows pulling together.

"Because you don't know your way around Paris and I do, and I like my car a lot. It is in one piece now and I would like it to continue to be that way," he said, giving me a wry smile.

"I'm not going anywhere if I can't drive," I said, placing my hands on my hips. This was a no win situation and I knew it. I had to give it a shot though.

He smiled at me, "Oh yes, my love, you are going."

My heart leaped at his words but I kept a strait face. He stood up slowly and started walking towards me, exaggerating each step into an endless eternity. His eyes were locked on mine and it seemed he could hear my heart rate increasing a little more every step. He finally reached me. He was holding back, I could see it in the way he held his body. He held his body a few inches away from mine, letting me breathe in the heady scent coming off of him but not touching me at all.

I gave up and wrapped my arms around his muscled waist and held him close. He stood there without moving and when I looked up at him he was smiling down at me; his red eyes gleaming. He leaned down to me and his breath hit my neck as he spoke.

"It looks like I'm not the only one who cannot resist the one they love," he whispered in my ear.

Please review! It means a lot to me. Like I said before, the vampire rules are different from Stephenie Meyer's version. The plot to the story is coming up soon don't worry, this story has a plot, mine always do. I am planning on writing a new chapter of "like us" next so this story may not be updated for like three days. But I will update as soon as I can.

Sydney