I have no idea of what overcame me. I tried and tried to process what happened while I called the cops and waited for them but I just could not digest any of it. So much happened in such a short amount of time and then Alec of all people showed up to stop me. It took me a few hours to even ask myself what he was doing there so late at night.

The man was taken to the hospital and I got questioned at the police station. I had to be examined as well but I declined spending the night at the hospital. I really just wanted to leave, especially after I lied to the police to prevent Alec from getting too involved. I told them he didn't see anything, that he got there after it was over because I called him and every second I stayed there at the station after that made me paranoid that anyone would call me out on it. I was sure they wouldn't even believe I nearly killed that man just to defend myself but I had underestimated how much I was hurt. I could barely feel any of my injuries but when I caught my own reflection in one of the glass doors of the police station I could see I got pretty beaten too.

They didn't hold me for very long. Before I exited the building I washed myself as best as I could and when I got outside Alec was still waiting for me. That was when I finally thought how strange it was that he was out at such a late hour, alone, and happened to be right where I was.

"Hey, you should have gone home" I told him when I saw him, "it's super late, you should be sleeping." The suggestion entertained him for some reason.

"How could I leave you to go home by yourself when you had just been assaulted while doing just that?"

It was a valid point.

"Thank you. You are really nice. I just don't want to bother you." I also don't want to think too much about what you were doing when you found me, I completed mentally. He smiled and gestured for me to walk by his side.

"You worry too much about me" he said just like he did in the church.

How could I not, though? He was so young and he was always by himself, I had no idea if anyone was taking care of him. I always fought the urge to press him for any information about himself because I knew it could be dangerous to know too much and he would leave anytime, and I probably would never even see him again, but I finally couldn't do it anymore.

"It's just..." I paused awkwardly, reconsidering saying anything at all but I had already started and he was looking at me curiously "Don't your parents worry about you? You are always alone. I don't even know where you are staying here in town."

He stopped walking and gave me a weird look.

"Sorry, it's none of my business. You just saw me almost killing someone, I thought maybe that drew us closer. My bad." I joked but neither of us laughed. I was holding myself together with some effort not to cry in front of him but I knew the moment I got home I would crumble down. He sighed and hid his hands in his pockets. I noticed he was wearing jeans for the very first time since we met.

"I am lodged in a house not very far from yours." He then seemed to think if he should say anything else but finally conceded "my parents died a long time ago. I don't really remember them."

Wow, fuck me. He never seemed to have anything cheerful to say when he talked about himself and I wished I never asked anything. I promised myself I would never ask anything again.

"I have a coworker checking on me from time to time" he added and started to walk again "I'm not completely alone. I have you too, don't I?"

"Yes, of course. Absolutely."

He then smiled at me, brighter and wider than he ever did before, and I felt my stomach churn with something dangerously familiar.

Oh, fuck. No way. Seriously?

"Would you like to talk about what was happening when I found you?"

"It depends. Would you like to talk about what you were doing there at that time?"

He smirked.

"Fair enough." He paused and I thought he wouldn't answer me but then he went on "I was following you."

I blinked stupidly.

"You were following me?" I repeated incredulously, not because I was surprised that he did it but because I never expected him to admit to it.

"Yes. I do it a lot. It's part of my assignment."

Jesus Christ, what the fuck do these people want with me?

"Holy shit, Alec. That is extremely unsettling."

"I know, hence I never mentioned it to you up until now."

He wanted me to give him something in exchange for his honesty. He told me that because he wanted me to talk about what I did to the drunk man. I took a deep breath and considered the best way to phrase it.

"I used to work at another bar last year" I decided to tell him and didn't look at him to check his reaction. "Management was much better. They would never let a customer harass me for hours like this one did."

We kept walking and I just couldn't look at him while I spoke. I looked at our feet touching the floor as he quietly walked by my side.

"It's curious, actually. There was a fire in this other bar right on the day I first saw you. I should be working there that night but I was late. Had I been on time I would be dead now and we would have never met."

I don't know why I said that. He stopped walking again and I checked his expression, which turned out to be a very strange one.

"What caused the fire?" He asked.

"The building was very old, the electrical part had never been updated. It malfunctioned and caused a short-circuit."

"How lucky of you " he said in what I felt was a mocking tone "to be late that night."

"Could only have been luckier if you didn't see me then. I wouldn't have a stalker now."

I regretted saying it as soon as it left my mouth but he was incredibly amused by it. He threw his head back and laughed loudly. I stared at him, mesmerised. How could anyone be so damn gorgeous?

"Anyway," I continued trying to ignore a treacherous missing heartbeat, "that happened and a few acquaintances of mine died that day. Then I had to get another job and it's not as good as the one I had. Then this guy disrespected me for hours and no one did anything about it and I couldn't just tell him to fuck off. I guess I just let something build up in me and when he tried what he did I just snapped."

I attempted to say it all in a casual tone but I knew I failed. Even if I managed to sound nonchalant about the whole thing, Alec always seemed to see right through me.

I felt it in that moment, the cascade of tears I had been holding in through the night. I felt the lump in my throat and the tightening of my chest. I took a deep breath but it was too late, I could feel my eyes watering.

"You don't have to be ashamed of crying in front of me." He told me softly "It's okay. We're friends."

I let it go. He took me in his arms and let me cry on his shoulder, soaking his shirt. He held me tight and caressed my hair whispering that I would be fine, he was there. It reminded me of the night Luke did it to me when I saw the bar burning down on the news and I suddenly felt horribly guilty. I told myself I was not doing anything wrong, but it felt wrong. It felt so wrong. If it was not wrong then why did I feel so awful?

Because you are making it weird. He is just a child and he is just your friend but you are being a weirdo about it.

I had been feeling weird about it, truthfully. Alec was kind, good-looking, intelligent and he was always around. Before I caught myself I had conflicting emotions about him emerging and when realisation finally came over me I was appalled.

I suddenly shoved him away, feeling disgusted with myself but he didn't let me go and somehow I couldn't get away. He was much stronger than he looked and definitely much stronger than me.

"I'm sorry."

"Just leave him."

"I... What?"

"Your boyfriend." He clarified "Leave him."

I had no idea of what to say to that. We were about the same height so when I lifted my head from his shoulder and he held me pressed against him our noses nearly touched. He was very serious, there was no trace of mirth in his eyes, in fact they held a weight I had rarely seen on him. He was not joking.

"I absolutely don't want to do that."

I felt dizzy for some reason. Something about him made me lightheaded every time we got too close and I finally noticed that it was his smell. I couldn't think straight and because he was so close to me and his breath hit me when he spoke I accidentally said it out loud.

"You smell so fucking good."

He gave me the most devilish smile I had ever seen on anyone.

"I taste even better."

I fucking lost it. I threw myself at him and kissed him desperately, burying my hands in his dark hair.

So soft, how can it be so damn soft?

His skin was ice cold as usual and in that moment I noticed his body was strangely hard. Handsome, hard and cold it was like he was carved out of marble. Those observations were not enough to make me wake up and stop myself, they got shoved to the back of my mind almost as soon as they came to me. He was kissing me back and grabbing my hips, sinking his nails in my flesh and I couldn't bring myself to care, I just wanted to consume him, I wanted to feel all of him. His hands got under my shirt, he pressed them against the skin of my back and I didn't stop him. He could have completely undressed me right there and I don't think I would have stopped him. I heard him moaning and I thought I would die.

I kissed him for as long as I could, I didn't even want to breathe. I was well about to faint when he pulled me away.

"Breathe."

I finally did. I gasped for air. I started to feel better so I closed my eyes and concentrated on my breathing for a while. Alec eventually released me from his arms and when I felt in control of my body again I forced myself to open my eyes and face him. His hands were resting on my hips but he was not so close to me anymore and he was not locking me in place.

"I didn't mean to do that. I shouldn't have done that." I took his hands to remove them from me and he let me. "What is wrong with me today?"

He got upset when he heard me saying that. I could tell he was starting to get angry and I cursed mentally.

" Leave your fucking boyfriend" he spat out. I shivered at his tone. "If you care about him you will leave him."

He took an elastic band from one of his pockets and tied a thin strand of my hair with it. I frowned in confusion as I watched him braid it and tie its end with another one.

"If I see him touching you again he is dead." He threatened in a gentler tone and took a small pair of scissors from the same pocket. I could feel cold sweat accumulating on my forehead and at the nape of my neck as I wondered what he intended to do with them.

He cut the braid off.

What the actual fuck ?

I stared at him with pure disbelief.

"Did you just cut my hair ?"

He ignored me and grabbed my face with his free hand, preventing me from speaking or looking away.

"Listen very carefully" he ordered, staring directly into my eyes and I noticed his were not dark brown anymore but pitch black "I will kill your boyfriend if I see him touching you again. I can easily do it and I will do it slowly and painfully. I can be very creative. Do you understand?"

To say I was baffled and terrified would be an understatement. I couldn't understand how our conversation got to that point, I couldn't comprehend that Alec was acting in such a way but I believed him. I was completely covered in cold sweat and shivering uncontrollably by that point and he seemed to take pleasure in seeing me react that way to his words. I shook my head affirmatively.

"Good."

He put away both the scissors and the braid and let me go. I was having a very hard time breathing again, I prayed he would just leave and I could run back home but he merely licked his lips and gestured for me to resume our walk.

I tried to be chill, I really did. The walk to my house seemed to take forever and I was almost certain I would pee myself at any second. When I felt brave enough to glance at him he looked completely unaffected and I finally convinced myself once and for all that he was a monster, no shadow of a doubt. If he was not a vampire then at least he was a deranged sociopath.

When we finally reached my house he made a point of going all the way to the front door with me. I could see my hand was shaking violently when I reached for the doorknob and I thought my spirit would leave my body when he put his hand on top of mine.

"You will see him one more time to tell him it is over. If I see him near you after that he is gone. Do you understand?"

I shook my head again but he was not satisfied.

" Say it . Tell me you understand."

"I understand" I whispered and even my voice was shaking. He removed his hand from mine and finally left.

I got inside and after I closed the door behind me I freaked out. It was very late so I tried to be quiet not to wake anyone or be heard by any of the girls that could be awake but I could hardly control myself. I sprinted to my room in panic and got under my bed-covers without even removing my shoes.

I didn't sleep. I cried myself numb as I watched the sun come up and creep into my room through my window. When my tears ran dry I tried to calm myself down. I took that time to think about what I would do when morning arrived but when it was time to begin my day I still had no clue of what to do.

The only thing I knew was that I had an awful conversation with Luke ahead of me.