Once more into the rabbit hole-let's get the start of a steamy love story. Hope you enjoy, and let me know what you think!

Chapter 15

Brooke's POV

I was warm. I was cozy. I was in a cocoon, and it was all mine. I had found myself completely surrounded in covers: some soft, some cushy, some scratchy, and some smooth. It was bliss, and I dared not to move in fear that my little bubble of warmth would pop. I opened my eyes: darkness. I took a deep breath: musky. I listened: murmurs in the background. A crackle of a fire was present. And in my comforting fortress, I was not alone. But I did not cower, nor fear, nor hide, for I was safe. Even when footsteps approached and I felt the bed dip, I was comfy and content.

"Wakey wakey." A voice whispered, and I peeked my head out from under the covers. Seeing Paul sitting next to me was quite the view, but a blast of cold air sneaked into my fortress and I covered my head in the blankets once more. He chuckled.

"Hey." I whispered from my fortress.

"Hey." He whispered back. "Well, you fell asleep last night…and this is the first place I thought of bringing you."

"What time is it?" I questioned, peeking my head out once more.

"It's just about 8:30, doll face." He smirked, and I nodded.

"It's still pretty early; let me sleeeeeeeep." I groaned and turned on my side.

"It's night time, and I think you've slept for long enough." I sprung up. Night time?

"And man, you were out of it!" A voice chirped in. Marko came walking up to us with a sly grin on his boyish face.

"So much for that lunch, huh?" I asked Paul and he smiled.

"Maybe another time."

Marko gave Paul an odd look but shrugged it off and looked to me. "Well aren't you two cute."

"Get a room." Was added from across the way, and I spotted the others. Dwayne sat there grinning, and David was preoccupied with a cigarette…but something was off.

"What's up fellas?" I asked, and they merely shrugged.

"Oh, just waiting on the snoring queen." Paul winked at me, and I pushed him off the bed. "Somebody's cranky." He added, and the others grinned.

We journeyed to the boardwalk after a little coaxing to get out of bed and I walked with my hands in my pockets. The guys were goofing off, but as for me I was completely overwhelmed by the lights and sounds that I looked down.

"Everything alright?" Paul wondered, coming close and throwing an arm around my waist.

"I'm not feeling so hot." I stated simply. Everything was a little off, and I didn't know how else to tell them. He frowned, pulling me closer and turned towards the others who were still goofing off.

"Come with me. You guys go on ahead." They looked at me oddly, but nodded.

"Okay Paul." David nodded calmly. "We'll meet up with you guys later." And with that we walked off in different directions. My feet were on auto pilot, and Paul led us through the crowd, down to the beach, and out to a dock. He sat down with his feet dangling off the side, and pulled me into his lap.

"What's the matter?" He asked, caressing my hair. He was being tender…and believe it or not I liked this demeanor a whole bunch more than how he acted around the others.

"…Maybe I have a fever…or am getting sick." I answered after a moment. It was rational after all; we were out pretty late the night before. I heard his stomach growl and stifled a laugh. He looked down questioningly.

"Hungry?" He asked, and I thought about it…no…I was rather content and shook my head. Giving me an odd look, he ran a hand through his hair.

"Everything alright?" I asked, rubbing his arm. He looked down to where my arm was and smiled.

"So far, so good." He confirmed, and planted a kiss on my forehead. "Have you ever just wanted to stay in a moment, Brookie?" he chirped after. I blushed.

"Well mister," I mocked, "last night was pretty rockin'." I beamed, and he chuckled.

"Is that so?" He mocked back with an excited grin. I locked eyes with his, now straddling his waist. We were chest to chest and his arms held me tight to him, as mine rested on my thighs. He leaned in closer until our noses were almost touching. "Then be mine. Be my girl." He breathed out, and captured my lips, devouring them in the moment. I had to pull back for air and his arms snaked under my shirt, chilling my skin. Mine looped under his shirt as well, and were dancing along his torso. I was drawn to him, and he wouldn't let me go. His stubble rubbed against my cheeks, chin, jaw, and neck. He was kissing and suckling and nipping, and I didn't want him to stop…So, in turn I pulled his face back up to mine and it was my turn to explore. I caressed his collar and neck with my tongue, and kissed the tender flesh. He tensed up as I let my hands fall to his waist and made me pull back, breathless.

"For both our sakes…We're not going any further on a dock." He groaned against my lips, and I frowned. He sent me a seductive grin, and before I knew it we were rushing back towards his bike. Once we got there; however, a plethora of cop cars zoomed past, four of them in fact. "Up for an adventure?" Paul smirked, and before I knew it we were trailing behind the cops to see where they were going. We drove down one familiar road, then another. We were driving down…my street.

"Paul, slow down." He did…and I jumped off when the cop cars surrounded my house. What the hell? And with that I ran towards them.

"Brooke, slow down!" Paul called out, but I kept going.

"Officer," I started, trying to catch my breath. "What's the matter?" I asked one man, balding with age.

"It's none of your concern."

"But this is my house." I added, and he looked quizzically at me.

"Are you sure?" He wondered, and I nodded, thinking 'Duh, I think I'd know.' "Well, we're here to do a search, young lady."

"Why?" I rushed out. What would be the problem?

"We found remains-"

"Of what?" I cut him off.

"Body parts were found burning early yesterday morning by one of our men at a bonfire. We found a DNA sample of a lady that has been found to live here, so we've come to look for any clues. Maybe you can help us out; do you know a miss Taylor-"

"She's my sister." I cut him off again. "I…I'm sorry." I stuttered. "You must be mistaken. Taylor is smart and independent and would never put herself in that kind of situation and you must be wrong because nothing like that could ever happen to her are you sure you have the right person-" Everything was coming out so fast that I couldn't think. I didn't know what to think. This is one sick joke. Sure, we haven't gotten along too great lately, but she'd never do something like that. She'd never be found like that. She'd never be so wreckless-

"Brooke." Paul spoke boldly, pulling me out of my thoughts.

"She'd never do something like that." I repeated over and over. "Nothing would ever happen to her."

"I'm sorry miss…we can put up missing person flyers, but from this signs don't look so good."

"No. No. No." I started murmuring again. "No, I know where she is, I know." I was getting hysterical. "No. No. No."

"Miss?" the officer asked, but I was far gone.

"NO!" I paced around, almost thinking she'd jump out of a bush to surprise me or something…but nothing happened. "No."

"Brooke, come with me." Paul stated firmly, beckoning me back over to him. I was losing it, and I was losing it quickly. Everything was going great until he wanted to follow the cop cars. Hell, maybe I could've even gotten laid, but NO. Instead I have to worry about Taylor. This is a sick joke. A joke-

"Brooke." He called again firmly, but my resolve was crashing down. "Snap out of it. I need to talk to you."

"Not now."

"Yes, now." He hurried out. "Look at me." And he grabbed my face, walking us back to the bike. "Hold on."

A couple minutes later we stopped again. I think I was going crazy. I felt numb. I felt angry. I felt like a marshmallow. I felt bitter, lustful, frustrated, upset…And I felt hungry. It burned in my belly. Before I could think about it Paul pulled me off the bike and crashed his lips against mine impatiently. I didn't know what to do. I wanted to pull his clothes off and I wanted to scream and push him away. I wanted to cry and run away. I pushed away from him and he looked stunned.

"You said you needed to talk." I whispered. What the hell was wrong with me? I was angry a moment ago, and now I'm just…quiet. My mind went back to Taylor and I slumped down.

"I do." He stated simply. "I'm sorry." He continued, but before I could say anything else he was in my face. In a blink of an eye he had been five feet in front of me to right in my face. "I need you to know something important."

"Mhmm?" I murmured, still lost in my own thoughts.

"You need to look at me." So looking up, his demeanor changed. He was rigid, and held a power I hadn't seen before. "I'm gonna keep this simple because I'm under time constraints."

"Yeah?" I asked again.

"I'm never going to worry about growing old. And neither are you. And we can be together. And you can be mine, and we'll be stuck in this moment-" He rambled.

"What are you going on about?" I worried, trying to pull back, but he followed.

"I'm never going to die. I'm stuck in this moment in time, and it can be ours, Brooke. We'll never grow old. I'm a Vamp-" I cut him off so fucking fast my head was spinning.

"Has everyone gone crazy here; what's the matter with you?" I yelled out.

"Brooke, listen, I know it's not the best time, but I have no choice-"

"The hell you don't! Now's not the time to be playing around with me-"

"I'm not, just listen-"

"No!" I cried out, backing away. This is far too fucking crazy. My head was spinning. I needed to get away. I needed to find Taylor. I needed to get away from Paul; he wasn't making any sense. I was getting hysteric again, and Paul shook me.

"Brooke-"

"I just want to go." I was cold.

"But Brooke." He retorted, but I was frigid.

"I just want to go. I want to go. I want to go." I repeated. I didn't know what to do anymore, and by the looks of it, neither did he. "I want to go." He didn't say anything else… "I want to go." He nodded. That was the last either of us spoke that night.

Time for some cock-blocking action. Let me know what you think! Much love, Crimsonsky132