AN- I'm appalled it's taken this long to write but I've had Sherlock Holmes on the mind. I literally had to watch LB five times before I could write a chapter worthy to post. Anyway, I hope it meets with your approval.

David had Vanessa against the wall in the cramped hallway in her house, his hips pressed against hers and her arms wrapped around his neck. He kissed her with such a passion, a need that it was almost hurtful but neither of them cared. She tried to pull him farther into the house, into the comfort of her bedroom. David wanted to lie on her bed and feel the softness and warmth of her body, smell the sweetness of her skin but he could smell her blood running through her veins. David settled for kissing her neck gently before flashing a smile and leaving her with a slight frown turning down the corners of her lips.

David walked down the boardwalk with his hands in the pockets of his returned coat and his boot heels echoing of the planks in the silence of the late hour.

"David." A voice called softly from behind him.

The vampire turned his head to see who it was in his peripheral vision. "Star." He took a cigarette from his pocket and placed it between his lips to light. "What are you doing, Star?"

"I was waiting for you."

David was slightly thrown by the blatant confession but he didn't show it. The roguish grin appeared on his face and his eyes gleamed mischief in the glow of the streetlamps. "What for?"

"I want to talk to you." She laughed. "I saw you with that other girl. She's pretty. What's her name?" She flicked her hair over her shoulder and David was mesmerized.

"It doesn't matter. Are you doing anything right now?" He asked, carefully blowing his smoke away from her.

"No. Why?"

"Take a walk with me." He jerked his head in the direction of the beach.

Star went to stand beside him; her doe-like eyes gazed at him with rapt interest. "Where are we going?"

"What does it matter? Are you afraid I'll abduct you?"

"No." Star smirked slightly. There was an instinctual fear in her eyes but David could see her push it back and the false sense of admiration replace it.

He walked her to the Cave knowing the others would be out for a last feed before morning. He wanted Star. Like Vanessa, he wanted to feel the smoothness of her skin and breathe her scent. He also wanted his fangs to pierce her neck and feel the flow of blood run over his tongue.

"Sit down." David order as he pointed to the decrepit couch.

"Is this where you live?" Star asked, wrinkling her nose in slight disgust as she surveyed the layer of dust that settled over everything.

David turned his back to the girl to shed his jacket and throw it on the only bed in the Cave. He didn't want blood on it tonight. "Yes. Does that bother you?"

"No." The was a pause and the sound of liquid swishing in a container. "What's this?"

David turned to find Star with the Blood Bottle in her hands, staring at it with fascination as the blood glimmered in the firelight.

"It's nothing. Put it down."

"It's only wine, right." She smirked again and a mischievous gleam formed in her eye. "Are you afraid I can't hold my alcohol?" She asked playfully as she took the top off.

"Listen to me, Star, and put that down. You don't even know what it is. Trust me, you wouldn't be able to handle it." David reached for another cigarette, the last one having been flicked onto the beach after serving its purpose. He lit it and took a long drag, trying not to look concerned as the opening of the Bottle hovered near Star's lips.

"I'm not a child, David. I can handle it." Star quickly tipped the bottle back and let the blood flow down her throat.

With vampyric speed, David ran over and snatched the bottle from her hand before she could get anymore. He watched in loathing as some blood trickled down from the corner of her mouth to her chin.

"That was awful." Star exclaimed, wiping the blood from face. "What was that?"

David stared at the Blood Bottle and gripped it tight enough that he could feel the fragile glass on the verge of breaking. "Get out of here, Star."

"Come on, David, I was only having a little fun. Come sit down and have some with me." She stretched out languidly on the couch and motioned him to join her.

A sudden feeling of revulsion welled up inside the vampire and he knelt alongside the couch and leaned in until there was barely an inch between their faces. He body was tense with anger. "You drank blood, Star."

She looked at him incredulously and gave a nervous little laugh. "Don't play around like that. That's awful."

David let his facial feature change and watched in satisfaction as a look of absolute horror was etched onto her face. "You see what I am? You're just like me now."

The fabric of her dress rustled loudly in the silence as she jumped from the couch and away from David. "I'm not like you, I'm not. It was just wine." She cried, tears flowing down her face. "Look, I'm sorry I drank it. Just let me go and you'll never have to see me again."

"You should have listened." He followed her and grabbed her by her arms. "You'll mess up and people will find out about us. They'll have to kill you and after you they'll come for me and then the rest of the Lost Boys. Do you know how we die, Star?"

"Please, just let me go." She sobbed, her eyes overflowing with tears until her irises were a blurry circle. "It was only a little wine."

He ignored her pleas. "They have to stab our hearts. It's never pretty and it's excruciating. Sometimes the blood gushes from our bodies like a bomb exploded in our chest and other times we writhe as we watch the stake that pierces our hearts and feel the pain of it until it's over. I won't let that happen, not to my brothers or my sister." He shook her roughly to emphasize his point.

"No one will find out, I swear." She squirmed in his gasp, twisting to try to escape.

"And will you live? You need to feed. No, I'd rather kill you myself and not have to worry about it."

"David, stop." Star screamed as he opened his mouth and prepared to drive his fangs into the tender vein in her neck.

He was stopped when she brought her knee up with as much force as she could muster and sent a lightning bolt of pain shooting throughout David's lower half. He may have been a vampire but he was also man and the pain made him loosen his grip enough so she was able to struggle out of his grasp. Star ran through the clutter of the Cave until she came across an antique sword that Paul had stored in the corner beside the music box that hid his stash of weed.

"I don't know what kind of sick game goes on around here but I just want to go home. You don't even have to see me again." She cried as she brandished the tarnished weapon in her hands.

David didn't say anything. From the corner of his eye he could see Dwayne coming down the entrance, observing the scene and coming behind Star quietly. The brunette vampire wrapped an arm around her and quickly took the sword from her with his free hand.

"Whoa, did we interrupt something?" Paul came down with Marco and Tris as Star struggled wildly in Dwayne's grasp.

David sank on to the couch and changed his features back to normal as he let loose a sigh. "She drank it."

Marco went over to David's wheelchair where the he had tossed the Bottle earlier. "You let her drink it?"

"No." David snapped. "She drank it before I could stop her."

"Vanessa's going to kill you. Stake right to the heart." Paul shook his head in mock sadness as he rolled a joint. "So what are you going to do with her?" He asked, jerking his head in Star's direction.

"We should keep her." Marco replied.

"Can we please?" Paul looked at David with wide eyes. "I'll feed her and make sure she plays nice with the mortals." He and Marco howled with laughter at this statement much to the annoyance of David.

"She's not a stray." Tris snorted mirthlessly and stared at the girl in her mate's arms. "What are you going to do, David?"

The blonde looked up at her, loving her more in that moment than ever simply because she trusted his judgment, trusted him to make the right decision for them all.

"She one of us now." Marco said softly, the usual boyish smile gone from his eyes as he gazed at Star. "We can't just kill her."

"Please, just let me go." Star sobbed. "Please. It was only a little wine."

David looked at the cigarette on the floor in front of him. He couldn't remember dropping it but it didn't matter. He simply lit another and took a long pull from it, let it fill his lungs completely before letting go a toxic cloud.

"Keep her here until I get back." The blonde said as he rose to his feet.

"Where are you going?" Paul asked. His eyebrows rose in surprise as he watched David walk out the cave.

The air was cold over his skin as he flew high over Santa Carla, higher than he ever had before until he was near freezing. It was some sort of self-punishment. David flew until Vanessa's house was in sight and landed with a dull thud on her front porch. His hand made a fist but he hesitated a moment before knocking. It took a moment and a few more knocks before he saw a light turn on inside and Vanessa appeared at the door, her hair mussed and eyes red from lack of sleep.

"David, what are you doing here?" She yawned. "I know you sleep all day but some of us have to get up. Is something wrong?" She asked when she saw that hurt expression on his face, the way his mouth was pressed in a tight line and his eyebrows furrowed together in uncertainty.

David sighed heavily and ran a hand over the spikes of his mullet. There were no words rehearsed to tell her, to show her his sincerity. He didn't really know how to be sincere.

"I'm sorry." It's a start at least.