After he arrived home from school one day, Ethan got a phone call. He saw who the caller was and couldn't believe his eyes. "Jeffrey!" He cried. "Jeffrey! Are you better? Are we back together now?"

"I'm thinking about it," Jeffrey admitted. "But I'm not completely ready. You have to understand that."

"So what does that mean?" Ethan asked.

"Come to Enid's after school tomorrow," Jeffrey instructed. "And come alone. I'll be by myself too, and we can talk. Don't even bring that lady friend of yours. Come alone."

"All right, I will," Ethan replied, suddenly feeling very light. "Goodbye, Jeffrey. Have a good day!"

He then ended the call and went and changed into a pair of khakis and Jeffrey's favorite red sweater, which he put on again the next morning. He was grinning widely when he told his mother, "I might be coming home late after school today. I have to go to Enid's. Jeffrey wants to see me."

"All right," Selina nodded and gave him a hug. "Just let me know if you're gonna be gone over dinner, okay?"

"Sure," Ethan replied. "I will."

When he reached the bar after school, Ethan strode in as quietly as possible, and sat down at the bar. "Have you seen Jeffrey come in here?" He asked Roxie. "He's supposed to meet me."

"You mean Jeffrey your boyfriend Jeffrey?" Roxie asked. "How about you turn around and see for yourself?"

With a gasp, Ethan turned around and saw his former boyfriend standing before him, all in black, including a black leather vest. "Hi, Ethan," Jeffrey said. "You came. I honestly didn't think you would. Or that I would deserve it if you did, after the way I behaved."

"Oh, it's all right," Ethan replied, pushing his hair out of his brown eyes. "I'm sure you had your reasons. And I'm wearing your sweater."

"I see," Jeffrey smiled. "Mind if I sit?"

"Fine," Ethan nodded. "Go ahead."

Jeffrey said and they both were silent until Jeffrey cleared his throat. "So…how have you been?"

"A little lonely," Ethan admitted. "But okay, all things considered. I mean, Lisa is okay company, but she's not you."

"Maybe I should introduce you to some of my friends," Jeffrey offered. "Then you wouldn't just have to have girls for company, or feel so lonely without me."

"Do you think I'm too clingy?" Ethan asked. "Cause I don't mean to be, if you think I am."

"No, no, that's not what I mean," Jeffrey shook his head. "Don't you want to be friends with other people who're gay?"

"Well, yes," Ethan nodded. "That would be nice. I haven't really had a lot of friends since you left. Mom's sort of worried about me." He thought about the tough-looking boys he'd seen with Jeffrey before, and said, "If you're talking about the people you were in here with before, I don't know if you should bother introducing me to them. They probably won't even like me. They'll probably think I'm a big wuss or something."

"I'm talking about a different group of guys," Jeffrey told him. "I would never take you to meet my biker friends if you weren't comfortable with it."

"When you say 'biker friends', does that mean you actually have a bike?" Ethan asked, his voice full of interest.

"Yeah, I've got one," Jeffrey nodded. "It's parked outside. Wanna see it?"

"Sure!" Ethan replied. They went outside for a look, then Ethan said, "You think I could ride it?"

"You ever been on one?" Jeffrey asked, rubbing some dirt off of the bike which was parked next to Roxie's pink one.

"Well, no," Ethan shook his head. "But can't be much different than a regular bike…can it?"

"Would you mind if I drove this time?" Jeffrey asked. "I mean, I'll teach you how to drive it eventually, but this time I would feel more comfortable if I were at the wheel."

"All right," Ethan replied. "Just let me ask Roxie if she can drive my car home and then I'll be back out."

He went inside and asked Roxie the favor, and she burst out laughing.

"What's so funny?" Ethan asked. "You think I can't handle being on a bike?"

"It's not that at all," Roxie replied. "I always laugh when I think of your father's face in situations like this. Knowing that you're gonna be on a bike will drive him nuts!" She paused. "Which is why I'm gonna tell him the second I get your car home."

"I don't know if you should do that then," Ethan said quickly. "I don't want to upset my father."

"Oh, relax," Roxie said. "The only reason a lot of people worry about bikes is that they can kill you, but so can cars, so whatever. That, and you can't die. Not really. So just let yourself have fun. All right?"

"All right," Ethan replied and gave her a smile before handing over his keys. "Thank you, Roxie."

"You're welcome, kid," Roxie smiled and giggled to herself again as she thought about how her uncle would react to Ethan riding on the back of Jeffrey's bike.

"He did what?" Selina asked as Roxie handed her Ethan's keys after parking Ethan's car in the driveway. "Did you just say Ethan rode off on Jeffrey's bike and that's why you brought his car home?"

"Yeah," Roxie nodded. "It was the sweetest thing. They kind of reminded me of Vince and me." She paused. "Don't tell me you're mad about it. I know Uncle Elijah would be, but not you."

"Why would I be mad about it?" Selina asked. "Ethan is back with his boyfriend, and it's not like being on a bike will kill him. In that case, it would be Jeffrey that would be in more danger, and I bet he knows what he's doing pretty well. It was just the fact that Ethan himself actually wanted to get on a bike that surprised me. Not the fact that he was riding one. He just never seemed the type."

"Yeah, well, love makes you do crazy things," Roxie replied. "I think while I'm out, I might as well drive my bike back home. The thought of riding behind Vince with my arms wrapped around his very toned middle is very appealing to me."

"Well, good luck with that," Selina told her. "And I don't think I'll be telling your uncle about how Ethan's getting home. At least not before he shows up, anyway. If I do, it'll just not end well."

"Oh, all right," Roxie replied. "But the look on his face would have been funny."

"The look would, but not his behavior after," Selina replied. "And remember, I have to live with it."

Roxie then left and Selina changed into one of her sexy secretary outfits for when Elijah came home, so he'd be distracted when Ethan and Jeffrey arrived and wouldn't give his son any trouble about riding on a bike, or kissing a boy in public where the neighbors could see.

"You know," Elizabeth said the next day as she and Charlie made out in her office. "This is a really great way to spend my lunch hour. It sure beats eating."

"Don't I know it," Charlie replied, reaching under her shirt to stroke the small star tattoo at the small of her back, an action which sent shivers through her body.

"You like touching me there, don't you?" She asked.

"Yeah," Charlie replied and nipped at her neck before they both removed his shirt and she ran her hands over the much bigger star tattoo he had on his chest.

"You understand why mine had to be much smaller, right?" She asked. "Smaller tattoos are easier to hide."

"I know," Charlie replied. "But I like it. It's like it's our own little secret."

"Yeah," Elizabeth whispered and resumed kissing him again. "I like sharing secrets with you."

Eventually, a knock on the door reminded Elizabeth that she had a meeting to attend, so Charlie had to go on his way, whistling as he drove down the street in his shiny red convertible. He spent a few hours at work, then when the day ended at five, drove to Elizabeth's house and let himself in with the key she'd given him, sending her a message to come to her house after work, not his. He then got a bottle of wine and ordered in some pizza from the Italian restaurant a few streets over and waited, smiling to himself as he heard the door open. "I'm here!" Elizabeth called. "I got your message!"

"Good," Charlie called. "Come in the kitchen!"

Elizabeth came in and her jaw dropped. "You got dinner?" She asked. "You didn't have to do that!"

"I wanted to," Charlie replied. "Cause I think it's finally time you tried pizza. You've been holding off the experience for years, and now that you're a vampire, you have no excuses. And I only got plain cheese. Nothing weird or exotic."

Elizabeth still looked at the pizza with distaste. "I don't know," she said. "I have some veggie lasagna in the freezer that I might heat up instead."

"Oh, come on!" Charlie replied, picking her up and carrying her away from the refrigerator. "You just need to have one slice. How is it that you can get a tattoo, but not eat pizza?"

"Well, you know how important my looks are for my job!" Elizabeth cried. "All that cheese and the bread, and…it's a nightmare!"

"It would be if you were human, but you're not anymore," Charlie reminded her. "It will do nothing to you except make you feel all nice and warm and happy inside. Come on," he waved a piece under her nose. "You know you want to."

Elizabeth's tongue went over her lip, and she reached, but just as Charlie thought he'd won, she pulled away. "No, I can't!" She cried. "I just…I can't!"

In desperation, Charlie then called Katherine. "Have you ever eaten pizza before?" He asked her.

"Well, yes," Katherine nodded. "Not too often of course, but sometimes."

"Please tell your daughter that," Charlie begged. "I just want her to have one piece and she won't do it cause she thinks it will make her fat."

"All right," Katherine sighed. "Give me the phone."

"Here," Charlie said to Elizabeth. "It's your mother."

"I can't believe you called my mother!" Elizabeth whispered angrily as she took the phone. "Hi, Mom," she said to Katherine. "What's up?"

"It's okay for you to eat pizza, you know," Katherine told her. "Not every day, of course. But every once in a while won't kill you."

"Oh, all right," Elizabeth replied. "If even you would eat some, I suppose I can't object anymore. Thanks, Mom."

"Yeah," Charlie replied, taking the phone. "Thanks, Mom." He ended the call before he heard Katherine's response to the nickname and held the pizza plate out to Elizabeth again. Finally, she grabbed it and consumed the piece in three bites, her eyes wide.

"Holy shit, that was good!" She cried and grabbed another, and another.

"Make sure you save some for me," Charlie smiled and Elizabeth put the piece she was eating down, her sense of euphoria broken. "Oh, sorry," she said.

"I was just teasing," Charlie replied. "Have all you want. Why do you think I got a large? I thought you were gonna have a lot."

"Can I have some wine too?" Elizabeth asked. "You know, I don't know if you're supposed to have pizza and wine together. Maybe we should ask Grandpa."

"Does it matter if you're not supposed to?" Charlie asked. "I think it's nice."

"You're right," Elizabeth replied. "It is. Now, did you get dessert too, since I'm throwing all good sense to the wind here?"

"Yes," Charlie nodded and opened another box. This one had pizza slathered in chocolate with M&Ms on top. "Dessert pizza." He smiled.

"Wow," Elizabeth laughed. "There's no end to the wonder that is pizza, is there?"

"Nope," Charlie shook his head. "You could have a different kind every day if you wanted." He paused. "You need blood? I'm gonna go and get some for myself."

"Sure," Elizabeth replied. "I mean, I bring some to work with me, but it's better to have too much than too little."

Charlie brought a bag up and put some in each of their glasses of champagne before putting the rest of it in a cooler for when they needed it. "Cheers," he told Elizabeth and clinked her glass with his.

"Definitely," Elizabeth nodded and clinked them again. "Cheers to you too." Then she reached for another piece of pizza, and Charlie put his arms around her. "Have I created a monster?" He asked.

"Yes," Elizabeth nodded. "I think you have."