For two weeks following the day when Nikita had explained to Olivia what he really was, he continued to walk her to school, to go to every single one of her classes (excluding gym) and continued to explain in full detail everything about his life.

The morning after he'd held her until she cried herself to sleep, he demonstrated the sunlight factor, as promised.

Olivia stood in the center of her lawn in her back yard, the sunlight reflecting brightly off of her blond strands.

"Well? You going to show me or not?" she asked, beckoning him to come.

Nikita sighed and stepped out. The sunlight hit his skin and Liv squinted as his granite turned to crystal, making him sparkle. As if every skin cell had magically transformed into a tiny diamond. It was unlike anything she'd ever witnessed, or even dreamed. It was stuff like this that often made her think he wasn't real.

"Whoa…" she'd whispered, staring in disbelief at him. It was beautiful.

Nikita grinned, then stepped back into the shadows of her house. "That was long enough." He declared.

Olivia's face fell slightly, but she nodded. "Okay, off to hell we go." She said, grabbing her school bag. She glanced up at Nick, whose expression was filled with fear. "I meant school, Nick, relax." His face had softened and he'd laughed at himself, kind of embarrassed.

After the night before, where they'd both opened up and left each other equally vulnerable, they didn't keep many secrets. Sometimes they talked too much, other times they barely spoke at all. But it didn't matter. Their company was all they required for contentment. Although the life was twisted, it felt like it was right. Olivia no longer felt alone, or scared. She was still a bit surprised by how protective Nick really was of her.

In gym, on afternoon, she'd tripped on the track and fallen on her side. Nikita, within minutes, was by her side, helping her up. The teacher continuously asked her if she was alright, and she assured both of them she was fine. The teacher was finally convinced when Olivia stood on her own, without Nikita's arm snaked around her waist, hoisting her up. However, he wasn't convinced. He debated with the teacher, almost demanding she be taken to the nurse. Of course, he got his way. He always won when it came to arguments.

Then, as they were walking to the first aid room, a group of girls sneered, asking how her two left feet were. They all giggled, along with the guys tagging along with them. Nick almost flipped. He set Olivia safely down on the grass, but she just rolled her eyes and stood anyways, and unleashed his well practiced glare upon them. The girl cringed, while the guys laughed, cowering in mock fear. This only irritated Nikita further and he stormed up to the group of buys. They were burly, jock type, but he was needless to say still taller than all of them. Olivia had to strain to hear the venomous word he hissed at them, and she made out something along the lines of crushing their bones and so on. It still made her shudder to hear him talk so viciously, even to those who deserved it.

He never used any sort of menacing voice or tone or aura around her, since he wanted to protect her from everything, keeping her out of harms way. It was hard to get used to, having someone who loved you, who cared about your existence more than their own. Of course, he'd had to deal with his existence for three centuries; he claimed it was refreshing to have a different personality around.

Olivia's mother never returned, never called… nothing. So, Nikita took over for paying for the bills. Olivia said it wasn't necessary, but he argued by saying he had too much money anyways. Which was true, after a couple chundred years of working in whatever profession he wanted, it wasn't odd he'd made a few bucks. She couldn't argue with the money thing, but she didn't like him having to pay for the bills. She knew that even if she did have her way, and she paid for them, he'd only sneak money into her bank account. It was just something she could see him doing.

During the weeks that lead up to Christmas, Nikita explained everything else.

He told her about the Volturi, about werewolves and how he still strongly believed they were real, even if he'd never encountered one himself, he told her about everything. He didn't leave out a single detail, or at least, he tried not to. Every couple weeks, sometimes longer, Nikita would take off into the brush outside of New York to feed. He'd come back, the sharpness in his grey eyes gone, replaced with a soft and inviting tone. It was as if when he was thirsty, the grey got a bit lighter and more striking, as if it were frozen. Then, after he came back from his trips, they were soft and dark, as if drinking the blood of some creature melted the ice in his irises.

At Olivia's house, Nick had cleaned up her mother's room and made it his own. He got rid of the old bed and replaced it with a large brown sofa. He tore up the carpet, revealing a shiny wooden floor, much more to his taste. He'd painted the walls a dark, woodsy green and brought in his own stool and easel. Within days, he'd plastered his own drawings and paintings over the walls. He bought a fancy stereo to play his favorite music and, when Olivia stayed with him and watched him draw, to play Liv's favorite music.

At night, sometimes, if Olivia wasn't feeling so happy, Nikita would hitch her up onto his back and take her for a run. She adored feeling the wind on her face as they traveled faster than any human could be capable of. It always brought a smile to her face, because it made her feel so free and calm and as though nothing were wrong. Nick had that affect on her.

Of course, Nikita was still pretty irritating. His sarcastic humor and the way he often mocked her wasn't as charming as some might seem. If he really wanted to bug her, he'd call her Olive. She hated that.

One night, while Nikita said he was out hunting, Olivia decided to study for the chemistry test, coming up after the current winter break. Of course, she could just wait for Nick to return and he could be her study sheet for her, but he wasn't around so she just read a few of her notes over and over.

They'd gotten an A on their project, even though Olivia really hadn't done all that much. At one point, she completely forgot about it, and started freaking out. Nikita had just raised his eyebrows and explained he'd already finished it.

Anyways, as Olivia was studying, she heard the front door open. "Nick?" she called out, a bit afraid. She was always on edge whenever he wasn't there with her.

Then, sure enough, Nikita came around the corner with a paper bag hanging off his wrist, while he was carrying a tree. A Christmas tree.

"What the hell is that" she exclaimed, a mix of horror and surprise on her face.

Nick set the tree in a corner and looked at her confused. "It's a Christmas tree. It's December twenty third, Olivia."

Olivia's expression didn't changed. "But I haven't celebrated Christmas in two years!"

Nikita's eyes went wide. "Really?"

"Yes!" she said, her voice not lowering.

"Hm… well, you're celebrating it this year." He shrugged and reached for the bag. It was full of lights and ornaments.

"Uh, no, I'm not!" hysteria crept into her voice, raising the pitch noticeably.

Nikita ignored her, and quickly set up all the lights and started decorating the tree.

"Nick!" she almost yelled.

"What? What's so bad about celebrating Christmas?"

Olivia grit her teeth, refusing to answer.

Oh great, he'd hit another soft spot. He seemed to have a talent for that, despite his hatred for the knack. Although she was a bit oversensitive… but he liked that about her. Not many other girls her age were oversensitive, except about their boyfriends. Olivia cared about everything. He was only trying to fit in to her human lifestyle, and he thought Christmas was one of those special things... He dropped the bag full of ornaments, and his whole composure softened. His voice became smooth, instead of taunting.

"Liv? Come on, tell me."

"No, you'll think it's stupid." She mumbled, looking at her feet.

"Oh I doubt that." He grabbed her chin between his thumb and index finger, forcing her to look up. "Tell." He ordered quietly.

"Ugh, fine." Olivia squirmed away from him and sat down with her arms folded across her chest. "I don't want to celebrate Christmas…"

"Why not?" he encouraged, kneeling beside the chair.

She avoided looking at him.
"You should know why..." she muttered.

Nick cocked his head to one side, still clearly confused. It took a while, during the silence where neither of them said anything, for it to click. It was ridiculously silly of him to not have considered maybe Christmas was a touchy subject for her, because of her mother. He should have known, he should have asked her. Typical of him to make the situation worse.

Nikita shook his head. "I'm sorry Liv, I'll get rid of the tree right now." He stood and kissed her forehead.

"Thank you." She said, still not looking at him. She was so sensitive. It was stupid. He'd tried to do something special for her and she'd thrown a fit over it. She sighed, relaxing as the tree was pulled out of sight, along with the ornaments. She felt bad now, despite her relief. She knew now that Nick would be beating himself up for his ignorance or whatever. He'd find some way to blame it on himself.

He was back beside her a few moments later, stroking her hair, "Liv, do you need help studying?"

She nodded.

He smiled; glad he was forgiven, and started asking her questions without bothering to look at the study sheets. She answered back dully, not at all interested. Her answers were right pretty much all throughout the fifteen minutes he questioned her. Nikita wondered if he should leave her alone. He clearly hadn't helped her very much that day. He screwed up a lot of things around her, still getting used to human life all over again. He was often selfish in forgetting the necessity of her sleep and food, taking her for himself so they could talk about whatever. It wasn't until she yawned or he heard her stomach grumble that he realized she was in need of something more than just his company.

A week after the tree incident, and a day before the New Year, They started talking once again about the demonic world Nikita lived in and Olivia was being introduced to. They'd always talked about it, but while she and him were on the couch one evening, she got serious. It was no longer just casual conversation. She still had several curiosities and millions of questions. But there was still one thing he'd never explained, and she wanted the story.

"Nick, you know, you never did tell me how you were changed…" she said one day while they were both sitting on his couch, him drawing her out of boredom in a sketchbook which was balanced on his lap.

Nikita sighed and looked up, closing the sketchbook. "It's a long story." He warned. A few times, he'd tried to avoid the story, but he knew she wouldn't stop asking until she got the answer. He figured that now was probably a good time, with them alone in her house, no worries and no responsibilities. It was just right for him to tell her the story, even if it wasn't his favorite.

Olivia shrugged. "I've got time."

Nikita nodded, leaning forward to tell her.