David couldn't get that girl out of his head. Those piercing green eyes stared at him whenever he closed his and her scent stayed in his nose even when the smoke from his cigarette overpowered all other smells. He could still fell the tumble of black hair that fell down her back and more than a few times he had to look down to reassure himself there was nothing there. So they went back to the boardwalk the next night as if nothing had happened. David hoped the multitude of people and the different smells could chase away thoughts of this girl. Though he didn't want to admit it, he also hoped he would see her there.

Paul and Marko went off together for their meal while Tris wandered around the stores. David and Dwayne felt no particular desire to do either and so lounged together at the railing in companionable silence. The rough wood edge dug into David's back he barely took notice of it. His hands mouth went through the motions of lighting a cigarette and occasionally smoking on it but his mind was miles away, thinking of ocean waves and a certain mysterious girl.

To a person the boardwalk was like one massive smell. To a vampire the boardwalk held a vast array of smells, each distinguishable from the next. It could only be described as the individual threads of a tapestry; each scent overlapping another until it became difficult to tell which came from where. It was almost shocking when a single scent distinguished itself from the others like a single red thread in a mass of white. Involuntarily, David's head snapped around to find the source of the scent, the cigarette nearly dropping from his mouth in his haste.

"What is it?" Dwayne asked, rousing from his own private thoughts.

It was her. That girl from last night with her soft black hair pulled back in a messy bun while her eyes were kept covered by a pair of large sunglasses. She was making her way through the crowd with her arms full with two bulky paper bags.

"Nothing." David replied, turning his back to her and taking a deep drag from his cigarette.

Dwayne looked in the direction that the blonde was previously looking and gave a small sound of understanding.

"What?" David asked as he felt the brunette's eyes on him.

"Nothing." Dwayne replied with a shrug and turned to face the water.

"I don't want her." David growled as if reading Dwayne's mind.

"I didn't say you did."

"I could get her though."

"Sure." Dwayne replied airily without facing the other.

"I could get any girl I wanted."

"Yes, I know."

"Watch." David pushed away from the railing without waiting for a response and made his way to the girl. People pressed together to make room for him as he passed by. Heads turned and girls called his name. David ignored them and pressed on, focused on this single being.

"Hello." He said smoothly around the cigarette as he walked beside the girl. "Feeling better?"

The girl gave him a glance and nothing more. "Much." She said sarcastically and shrugged. "People come and people go. I'll feel better soon."

David snorted and flicked the butt of his cigarette into the street. "Spoken like a true realist."

She shrugged and continued walking, ignoring the blonde vampire that made every other girl turn their head.

"Let me help you carry those." David offered.

"If you want to." She responded and nearly tossed one of the bags into his arms.

"Are you a painter?" He looked in the bag to see it full of different color paints.

"No."

After a moment she stopped and turned to face him. "What do you want?"

David halted abruptly. Then held the bag in one arm, he reached out and removed her glasses, wishing he hadn't worn his gloves so he could feel her skin on his again. She shrank back slightly but let him take away the glasses. Her eyes were red and swollen from crying and her green eyes were dull.

"Happy now?" She asked.

"What's your name?" David asked quietly. He suddenly didn't care if the world witnessed him in a tender moment and suddenly wanted nothing more than to press his lips to hers.

She seemed taken aback by the question and asked, "What?"

"You know my name. Now, I want to know yours."

"Vanessa."

"Vanessa." David said savored the feel of it on his tongue.

"Yes, that's my name. So are you going to follow me all the way home or something?" She said impatiently, a scowl beginning to form on her lips.

"I am carrying your bag so I'm pretty sure that's a yes." The vampire replied.

Vanessa refused to speak anymore along the way, her mouth pressed in a thin line. Fortunately, she lived in close proximity to the boardwalk so David did not have to wait. It nearly killed him. He never knew what it was like to wait for another person's attention and felt a slight pang of irritation because of it.

"Be careful the boxes." She said as she took out a set of keys to her house.

It was a nearly dilapidated old house that left the vampire in amazement that anyone actually lived in it. There were shudders hanging loose and few broken windowpanes. Paint was peeling in strips from the side and an old tire rested against the front porch. Inside was a little better. There were wood floors that were only half done and walls half painted. Boxes were in almost every available space, pushed up against the walls to make small pathways.

"I guess now I know what all the paint is for." He commented dryly.

"What? This? No, what you've got in your hands is for special occasions."

"And you use this paint for what?"

"Hell, you carried the bag all the way here you might as well see what I use it for. Follow me." Vanessa led the way down the hall to a large room with walls covered with large sheets of paper.

David eyed a giant roll of paper. "I hope you're going to explain."

"Give a girl a minute." Vanessa pulled a packet of cigarettes from her back pocket and pulled one out. "Want one?"

David took a cigarette and held the lighter for her before lighting his own. He watched with interest the way the flickering light illuminated her face.

"You asked me if I was an artist." She said as she exhaled a cloud of smoke.

"You said no. Unless you were lying."

"I wasn't. I couldn't draw to save my life. I don't even like art all that much but my father was an artist. He covered my walls with paper when I was a kid in the hopes I would let loose some artistic talent." She rolled her eyes. "Eventually, I found I had some talent in splatter art." She opened a can of paint and poured some into a smaller container. "Take your jackets and gloves off."

Without question David did as she said and left his clothes in a pile outside the door. "Now what?" He shocked himself by asking. The last thing he ever expected himself to do was ask someone else what he should do.

She put out her cigarette. "Now we open all the other cans and begin."

Painting with a mortal was one thing David never pictured himself doing. But it felt right somehow. It was calming sticking his hands into a container of paint and splattering it all over the wall. Glancing over, he watched Vanessa work, wisps of hair coming loose from her bun. Without thought, she reached up and tucked a strand behind her ear only to get a bit of green paint on her cheek. Absentmindedly, David reached over to wipe it away only to smear her cheek with red.

"Hey!" Vanessa rubbed her cheek with should and gave a look of mock horror even as she flicked her wrist and got paint splattered all over David.

"I was trying to help you out." David smirked as he dipped his hand into a container of blue paint.

Supposedly things come in threes. Being covered in paint and mock wrestling with a mortal was the third thing that night David definitely did not expect to do. But there he was covering her nose with yellow and she making an orange stain on his arm. It was only destined to last a few moments. David had her pinned to the ground, her hands in his.

"You're the biggest sore loser I've ever met." She gazed up at him with laughter in her eyes and David felt elated to know that he put it there.

"I think me pinning you down qualifies as a win." David retorted.

"Well, I am at an obvious disadvantage."

"How so?"

"Well, we can exclude you being male. How about because of your enhance strength?" The laughter faded from her eyes but there was a smirk on her face.

His own smirk threatened to slip but kept it in place by sheer will. "What do you mean?"

"Don't play, David. I admit I started to doubt myself but now that you've got me pinned down I don't see where else this can go."

"Where do you think this would go?" David asked nonchalantly, forcing himself to keep calm.

"Let me be blunt since you won't. You're going to kill me. I saw you in the water. Your eyes changed and I saw your fangs. I've also never seen you or your crew out during the day." The smirk was gone, replaced by a look of resignation.

David released her hands and sat beside her, pulling a cigarette from his pocket and lighting it to keep calm. "What do you think I am?" He asked, staring at her through the smoke.

"A vampire."

"It was pretty stupid of you to invite me in your home then." David took a drag and examined the paint that smeared his hands.

"I know how you work. I know you always get what you want so why delay the inevitable?"

David looked at her, really looked. He studied every inch of her ending with her eyes. He could die from such a look. There was no fear in her eye, only a fierce determination and mild acceptance.

"What makes you so sure I want to kill you?"

"I'm not an idiot. What else would you do with me?" Even as she spoke a flush rose in her cheeks and she muttered, "Asshole. Figures. The one guy in Santa Carla that I find attractive turns out to be a perv."

"Relax, Ness" He took another pull from his cig.

"I prefer not to be given nicknames by someone about to kill me." She said with a haughty toss of her head.

"Alright, Ness." David smirked.

"Didn't I—"

"I know what you said which is why I think I've earned the right to give you a nickname."

Vanessa opened her mouth, ready with a response, only to shut it again. "Don't toy with me, David." She said at last.

That was it. He couldn't take anymore. He wanted her but in a different manner than he wanted any other female. He wanted the simple comfort in just knowing that she would be by his side for time indefinite. "I'm not. Vanessa, I'm offering you immortality." He waited with baited breath as he watched her contemplate his sincerity. He hardly realized he was leaning forward like an anxious puppy until ash from his cigarette dropped to the floor and brought him back to reality.

"In exchange for what?" She asked. "My undying loyalty? My soul?"

"Your love." He answered in all seriousness. "I love you like no other but if you don't accept then, don't worry, I won't bother you." He shrugged, trying to maintain a cool exterior even though his nerves were frayed and inside he felt like a jittery mess.

Vanessa dipped her finger in black paint and flicked it at him. "That's sounds like a good deal."

He held the cig between his fingers and leaned forward, meeting her halfway to press his lips to hers. He was wrong before. There was nothing better than this.

AN- I tried to stretch it out, I really did, but David and a mortal is so hard to write. But now that she's going to become a vampire you can bet there's going to be a sequel…after my Dwayne sequel though. I hope you enjoyed and as you should know reviews are a nice way to show love and appreciation…