Well, I started a whole new account just for this story and it turns out that you have to wait two days to post a story. So here I am, recovered from yesterday and writing again.

Now where was I?

Oh yes. Alec and I were just coming home. That was a lighter subject than neighbor and my past. He drove straight to my apartment without needing any direction from me. Not like this was a huge surprise. He stalked me to work, why wouldn't he know where I live? He just needed to know which parking space was mine. He parked and we walked around the building. We both looked across the street. There were two construction workers slicing up the fallen streetlight from last night and tossing it in the back of a wood chipper. The truck it had fallen on had long since been towed.

I hesitated and then suddenly realized something. Last night when I'd gone to my car to get my phone. What exactly had knocked over that streetlight? While I was lost in my thoughts, Alec placed his hand on the small of my back. That was enough to rattle me back down to reality. He led me away and up to my apartment. Funny how he was leading me around my own home.

He groaned as he reached the top stair before my door. I questioned him with a glance.

"The dog," he said. Oh right.

Jasper...

The dog Jasper, not the vampire for those of you concerned. Alec made a 'hmph' sound as I fumbled with my keys.

"I seem to recall a 'no pets' sign in the apartment's office," Alec said. Naturally, I went on the defensive. Jasper was a very close friend, animal or not. He was a part of my family.

"My landlord saved Jasper when he was just a puppy. He belonged to a homeless woman who was beating him. She bought him off of her, but her son was allergic. So she gave him to me. I'm the exception to that rule," I said finally getting the key in the hole. A booming bark came to the door. I could hear dog nails clicking on the linoleum.

"You're the exception to a lot of rules," Alec commented under his breath. Maybe I wasn't supposed to hear it, it was very faint. Then he smiled at me. "Jasper?"

"He came with the name," I explained. That was true. Unfortunately it was also the reason I fell madly in love with him. Jasper was my favorite character. My neighbor had once told me I had an odd attraction to emotionally tormented men. I guess he's right.

I pushed the door open that always stuck to the doorway with my shoulder. Jasper stood in the doorway snapping his jaws. I was momentarily startled. Jasper's not exactly a small dog. He's an Alaskan malamute to be exact, but he always greeted me warmly. Then I realized the large dog wasn't barking at me. He was barking at Alec.

"Jazzy, stop it!" I ordered. Lot of good that did. Jasper crouched on his front paws and bared his teeth with a low growl.

"Do you mind if I try?" he asked. I shrugged. Alec smirked. He crouched down to the dog's height on his own haunches and released a deafening roar. I jumped about a mile high. Jasper stopped immediately and whined. I have never, ever seen a dog go from barking mad to whining pathetically that quickly. Then like nothing had happened, Alec stood up with perfect postured and calmly let himself inside the house.

He spun around and took a whiff of the air. He probably just smelled a lot of dog. That's all I smell in my house.

"Nice home," he said. Alec was probably just being polite. It was barely a one bedroom apartment. There were four rooms in total like a square divided into perfect quarters. Bathroom, bedroom, living room, and kitchen.

"Thank you," I said. I walked over to Jasper. His eyes were wide and glassy like a puppy's. My reaction to Alec hadn't been much different. I crouched onto the floor and patted him reassuringly. It took a moment, but soon Jasper's tail was wagging again.

From that point on, it was kind of like a nature show. You know, where the male exerts his dominance and takes charge of the pack. It was strange to watch. Especially with Jasper still on his belly on the floor.

"Very good then. I have a few house rules," Alec said. I curiously observed as his stature changed from sympathetic to leadership. He seemed to forget entirely that this was my home. "You will tell me if you are bleeding at all. A papercut, bloody nose, or womanly matters, I need to be warned." My eyebrows went up at the blatant mentioning of womanly matters. He either didn't notice the look on my face or he didn't care.

"Also, you are not to go anywhere unaccompanied," he added looking straight at me. He waited for a response. Even Jasper looked to me. His brown eyes gazed into mine reflecting my thoughts. Is he serious?

"Um," I said clearing my throat. I stood up from my place beside Jasper and brushed my hands on the legs of my pants to wipe off the loose dog hair I'd gotten on me. "Do you think you're moving in?"

"I am," he said matter of factly.

"What?" I said the confusion and appall slipping into my tone. He gazed at me with those golden, almost orange eyes. I quickly looked away not wanting to be a victim of his superior dazzling abilities. "That's a bit forward, don't you think? I can't have a vampire living in my apartment and... oh my god..." Realization poured into my mind. I'd been so distracted before I didn't even notice it before.

"What?"

"You made me get the week off work? I don't have the money to get the week off! Are you insane? I live paycheck to paycheck!" I found my voice rising. He snorted.

"That is what you're worried about? I can't watch you as closely at work. It would be simpler if we settled into a routine first," he explained with a tone that might as well have added "Duh!" at the end. I couldn't help but stare at him incredulously.

"I cannot live here without paying rent or buying food," I said clearly enunciating each syllable of my sentence as though it would help him understand. It didn't.

"I will pay for it," he said mocking me. Then he casually draped himself across my couch, taking up nearly the whole thing. The black leather didn't even shift under his weight he'd fallen with such grace. I guessed vampires had a way of accumulating money over the years, but it didn't make me anymore comfortable with the idea. Funny how an incredibly handsome man throwing money at you and insisting on moving in was not nearly as appealing as it sounded in Twilight.

I have a new respect for Bella, because I didn't have the strength to protest. Maybe it was a result of Alec's suggesting, but it somehow didn't matter at this point. I was exhausted. I went to the kitchen with Jasper close behind me. I pulled the refrigerator door open purely out of habit. There was nothing I wanted to eat or drink. I was deathly afraid I was going to throw up anything I tried to put in my mouth. I just needed a moment to myself to take in everything I learned that day.

Jasper whined softly. I patted his head. I heard the television click on and the anchorman chatter on in the other room. Meanwhile I stared at the contents of my refrigerator and thought. Thank god he didn't have Edward's gift of reading thoughts.

What was I supposed to do? What could I have done? Another wave of nausea hit me. I really was fragile.

Stupid vampires... Never thought I'd think that with any seriousness. This was ridiculous. I shouldn't feel this awkward in my own home. When I reentered the living room, Alec's eyes turned to me instantly. It almost startled me.

"Just sit down, Jay," he told me. Reluctantly I did, being sure to stay at the opposite side of the couch. Jasper casually tried to jump up as well. One growl from Alec sent him straight to the doggie bed on the carpet. Suddenly we were a strange group of beings, not quite a family, but certainly a pack.

One dog, one vampire, and one human.

Funny how I was thinking like this and there weren't even any werewolves involved.