Chapter Twelve: Lights

Charity's POV

In a way, it was like having a giant weight off of my chest. But in another way, it was like being stabbed. The truth really hit me. I had kissed the guy my best friend was so obviously in love with. And maybe I still had feelings for him.

Very complicated...

Especially considering how I had been acting around Sam.

Char?

Go away.

It sounded childish, but I felt too miserable to get anything better.

C'mon, talk to me. Faith was out of line back there-

Sighing, I flew down to a bench, transformed back, and patted the seat next to me. Sam transformed as well, and awkwardly sat down as well. I sighed again and laid my head on his shoulder.

"She wasn't out of line at all," I stated blankly. "I kissed Magnus. She's in love with him."

"They're broken u-"

"Sam, she is!"

He took in a deep breath. "I'm not good with this girly stuff," He muttered. I smirked. "Get used to it. Our lives are full of soap opera drama and tension."

Sam shrugged slightly. "I can't believe..." He whispered. "I can't believe I'm really a vampire."

I shook my head, red hair flying, looking up. "Well," I began. "It's kind of hard at first, but once you're used to it, then it gets a little better. By the way, what was your life like before?"

"Uh..." Sam looked awkward. "I had a girlfriend."

"Did you now? Lemme guess: Courtney, Britney, or Jenny."

He winced. "Courtney."(AN: Not to offend any Courtneys, Britneys, or Jennys out there. Those just seem to be stereotypical cheerleader names)

I laid my chin on my shoulder. "And I suppose you find me much more attractive," I said sarcastically.

"Actually..."

"You do?"

"Yeah..." Sam seemed very embarrassed to admit this. Give one to Charity!

"Anyway," He continued quickly. "I was quarterback, and-"

"What exactly do we have going on?" I murmured. Sam's eyes met my own.

"I don't really know," He admitted. "I mean, you're my mentor. But... I like you."

"I'm attracted to you," I said grudgingly.

"You are?" Sam sounded extremely surprised. This, in turn, surprised me.

"Duh. I kissed you at the arcade."

This, of course, was extremely reasonable, but guys are total idiots, as not only Sam, but Magnus have both proved. Romance-wise, that is. I think Magnus went to Harvard about thirty years ago...

"I thought you were messing with my mind!" Sam exploded. "You said, 'Yeah. You like me.' or something like that."

True.

"That's the way Goth/Vampiresses communicate!" I screeched.

There was a long, awkward pause.

"So." Sam stated. "We have feelings for each other."

"As far as I know. But hey, I'm just an adult trapped inside a teenager's body."

"There's another thing," Sam pointed out. "You're technically twenty-three. How's that going to work out?"

"I'd be twenty-three if I was human," I pointed out. "As it is, I'm seventeen forever, you're eighteen forever... it works."

"And we're the same species."

"That's more than Magnus and Faith can say."

"Yep."

"So."

"So."

"In the movies," I began slowly. "This would be the part where you kiss m-"

Except he was.

Now, I can't say he kisses better than Magnus. He doesn't. But you know what?

I was finally being kissed by the guy I wanted to kiss me.

Dang, that sounded corny.

xxx

Faith's POV

"Let's do something crazy," I decided, taking Rob's hand. He gave me a weird look. I rolled my eyes.

"Not like that, dummy. Like... jumping off the ferris wheel at the little fair thingy they're setting up for Valentine's Day."

"First of all," Rob pointed out. "We would die. Second of all, it's not even set up yet all the way. Third, your parents would kill me. And I've seen your dad. I don't want him to kill me. Heck, I don't want your pregnant mother to kill me. And anyway, it would... did I mention it would kill us?"

"Oh."
Magnus and I had talked about that a few times, even before we were dating. I mean, I've always wanted to do that, but we could never find a big enough pillow to catch me. We had decided that Magnus and I would go up, Magnus would jump down with me, holding my hand, he would execute one of the weird vampire-y things that he does, and make sure I didn't die.

We were bored.

Rob shot me a glance. "You're a strange girl, you know that, Faith?"

"Yeah..." I sighed, then brightened. "Hey, how about we go there anyway? Just to see the lights. They test them all the time, and it's evening."

"You do realize you've spent the whole day with me, and not even called your parents, right?"

"Definitly."

With Magnus, my parents would worry. They suspected he wasn't exactly your average guy. I don't think they thought he would hurt me intentionally, but let's face it:

Magnus could kill me.

Maybe that's what made him so attractive to me. Maybe it was the fact that he was a vampire, and no other mortal girl had one of those. I mean, after learning that he and Charity had kissed, it kind of made me decided that it wasn't worth it. Maybe Rob was 'the one'. Maybe-

Oh my gosh, Magnus is standing five yards away!

Awkward...

I had every intention of striding up there and giving him a piece of my mind. But then I saw how many salesgirls were flirting with him, and he was trying to get out of the way, so I decided to hide behind Rob.

Literally.

"Anyone asks," I muttered. "I'm your fifth cousin four times removed Shandra."

"Huh?" Rob craned his neck. "Hey, is that your stalkerish ex-boyfriend?"

I was about to say, 'He isn't stalkerish' when I realized that, being a vampire, Magnus did hunt...

"Define, 'stalkerish'."

Magnus finally escaped the salesgirls and began to walk very quickly away. I could see it in his eyes. Something was wrong.

"Look," I sighed to Rob. "I'm gonna go see what's up with him."

And talk to him about the Charity thing...

Rob ran a hand through his hair. "You promise you won't kiss him?"

"Of course."

And without another word, I began to run after Magnus, waving a hand.

"Mag!" I yelled. "Hey Magnus!"

He shot a look at me. I met his eyes for a moment. Oh no.

I knew what was wrong.

His eyes didn't relect the shimmer of the lights, but they did have a weird glow to them. His hair was very messy, and he looked tired, and at the same time, energized, kind of like a drug addict, but in a sexy way.

Oh yes, I knew what was wrong.

Now, the problem was...

Could I help him without losing my life?

xxx

Magnus's problem is...? And what are you thinking of the Sam/Char pairing?