~Theo POV~

I sat in my truck, trying to talk myself into driving to Rachel's house.

It had been almost a week since she introduced the offer she'd made to me, and I'd had yet to take her up on it. I didn't want to appear as though I needed her offer, because truly I didn't, I'd grown used to sleeping in the backseat, but mostly, what I wanted was to just be near her.

When she had stopped the argument between Liam and me three nights previously, I knew she'd been trying to make peace, but for once, I felt like I had a real ally. An ally who wouldn't shove my past idiocies down my throat every chance they got. An ally who didn't remind me constantly that my life sucked because I'd made it that way. These were things that I was well aware of and paid for every damned day.

I needed to see her, so I started the truck and drove down to her house.

As I pulled up into her driveway, I could see her silhouette in the living room window through the curtains. She was holding something, most likely a book or her laptop. She seemed completely at ease.

I swallowed hard, then got out of the truck and walked up the steps. I knocked twice and I heard her shuffle things about before coming to the door. I smiled as she opened the door, doing nothing to hide my observation of her.

She wore a baggy black tee shirt that swallowed her, long flowy sleeping pants and a messy bun. She was actually hot like this.

"Hope I didn't interrupt anything." I said, giving her a grin. Her heart pounded, but I couldn't decipher if it was out of embarrassment or because I had startled her. "No, just…come on in." She said, stepping to the side.

I walked in, and she closed and locked the door behind me. "Want something to drink?" She asked, folding her arms over her chest.

"Nah, just was so lonely," I teased her, "figured I'd come bug you."

She gave me a small smile and went to sit on one end of the couch, inviting me without words to take the other end. "Sorry I wasn't…dressed for company." She said, her face turning light pink.

"I came to your house late at night, of course you weren't dressed for company. It's nine thirty."

Could I even be brave enough to say anything to her in regards to my feelings?

"Did you want to crash here tonight?" She asked, and broke up my thoughts. "I suppose." I said, "Which side of the bed is mine?"

I heard her heart jump and thump hard in her chest, sending blood racing through her veins, and I watched as some of it made its way to the color in her cheeks once more. Was I mistaken, or should that have earned me a dirty look, possibly a fist or foot to the crotch?

She attempted to start three different sentences before I spoke again, trying not to laugh, "I'm joking, Rach."

Still a little flustered, she finally had to laugh herself and curled her legs up to her chest. "Told you," she said, "I don't have people skills. Your flirting is not something I'm used to."

"You call that flirting? That's out and out seduction and you know it."

"Yeah right, like Theo Raeken would have to seduce someone to get what he wanted. You would just pester them until they gave in to subdue you." She teased back.

"Y'know, you're a bitch," I told her, still smiling. "And you're a bastard, but you knew that."

Indeed, I'd found my soulmate.

~Cassia POV~

It had taken every ounce of willpower to hide my heavily beating heart from Theo when he had first knocked on the door. My first thought was to hide, but that would have been stupid.

Now, he sat just two feet away to my right, sitting comfortably on my couch and staring at me from time to time.

Our jestering slightly before still had my skin tingling. The thought of Theo in my bed was enough to set my heart racing again. I knew he'd been teasing, but what scared me was the realization that I might not have minded so much if he wasn't kidding.

And what scared me even more than that was the article that I'd just read on the internet.

So that I could allow myself to have some deeper thought, I excused myself to the bathroom and sat on the edge of the tub, placing my head in my hands.

I had known better than to get comfortable here, yet I had dumbly done it anyway, and now I was rooted here. I had a job that I loved, friends who cared, security in my own home, and worst of all, a man that I'd begun to fall for regardless of my insistence to ignore my feelings. He didn't even know who I was, and he wouldn't.

I finally had to accept that Theo liked me. Why else would he say such surprising, intimate things, though they came across as jokes? Why would he respond to my touch like he did, and appear to honor my suggestions, wishes and offers?

But I couldn't let myself get too tangled up, not anymore. That article had been the ice water I'd needed to wake up, because only something like I'd found came in dream form.

The article had stated that a crazed man had escaped his prison cell. He'd killed four police officers, an FBI agent and two cellmates in his quest to get out. He was so slippery, and one of the FBI's most wanted. It stated his age, his looks, and his height. He had last been seen in Kentucky, and was known to move quickly from state to state. His name was Damian Whittaker, and he needed to be avoided at all costs.

But they had nothing to worry about. As long as they stayed out of his way, he'd harm no one, because there was only one thing he wanted, and that was to find and kill me.

I stood and splashed my face with cold water before walking back out to chat a little more with Theo. I had to enjoy the quickly fleeting moments I had left here in Beacon Hills, with the people who would soon curse my name in scorn for abandoning their friendship.

"Are you sad?" Theo asked before I even got sat down.

Damn it.

I forgot all about the sensory detection. "Not at all. I'm just really tired." I lied, feeling like my heart was being stomped on.

"Go to bed then." "Not until my company is ready for bed," I lightly scolded, "I am a good hostess!"

"Okay then," he said, standing up. "What are you doing?" I asked as he approached me. "Being good company," he said and smirked, then leaned down and picked me up, throwing me over his shoulder.

"Theo, put me down!" I laughed, and he began walking toward my room. In just a few long strides, he was through my door and he tossed me onto my bed. "Since you wouldn't go to bed, I put you to bed."

"I'm not five! I'll go to sleep when I'm ready!" I said.

"Goodnight, Rachel," he cooed.

Fed up, I grabbed a pillow and threw it at him when he turned his back, landing it straight to the back of his head. "Direct hit," I clicked my tongue.

He stood still, then whipped around and tackled me to the bed, pinning my arms down. His face hovered directly above mine, his eyes shiny with playfulness. I liked this look on him. I snickered, "What? Can't take a pillow?"

I watched his adam's apple bob as he swallowed, and suddenly, the look in his eyes turned lusty. Before I could fully process it all, he stood back up and retrieved my pillow from the floor, handing it to me gently.

"Let me help you make up the couch," I suggested, standing and getting sheets and blankets and an extra pillow from the top shelf in my closet.

I walked ahead of him and with his help, we made up the couch. He plopped down comfortably, then smiled at me as I began to ask if he was comfortable.

"All good?" I asked. "Yep, definitely better than my backseat. Thanks." He replied. "Any time. Good night, Theo." I said, turning and walking back to my room and closing the door.

How terribly unfair life was.

**Things are getting intense, and not just between Theo and Cassia! Hope you all are enjoying and thanks for reading! Have a good day!**