Disclaimer: I do not own Josef, Mick or anyone else that you may recognize. Riley and all of the others that come out of my head are of course mine. No copy write infringement is intended.

Chapter 16

-Josef's POV-

I pulled myself out of my freezer close to twilight. I couldn't make out Riley's heartbeat anywhere in the house. That was probably better at this point. Our 'date' last night was amazing. The past week really had been closes to hell. I hadn't realized how hard it was going to be to keep away from her after I had held her in my arms. Being able to hold her all night last night was amazing.

This whole thing was getting way out of hand. I had to figure out a way to get over this. I could not let myself fall for another human. This could simply not be allowed. I could not have a repeat of Sarah, it wasn't possible. If it came down to being happy with Riley or cutting her out of my life, well, I didn't want to have to make that decision. Shower, I need a shower.

I walked into the bathroom and turned on the water. I pulled off my robe and stepped into the water, attempting to clear my mind for at least a few minutes. When I stepped back out of the shower and pulled my towel around my waist, my mind was still far too busy. I walked back into my room and pulled on a pair of boxers. I then made my way down the stairs to get some breakfast.

I walked past the kitchen and let myself into the set of rooms that I had set aside for my freshies. I walked in and sat down in one of the chairs in the front room. I looked up and smiled as Carrie walked over to me. She was one of the best AB negatives that I had living here with me. She held her wrist out to me and I pulled her into my lap. I pulled her wrist towards my mouth. I kissed her wrist lightly before my fangs slipped softly into her sweet skin. I lost myself in the rich taste of her blood. My mind was finally able to get away from Riley and I found myself actually able to relax.

By the time I made it to work, I was in a slightly better mood. I had been able to push Riley out of the front of my mind and was now focusing completely on work. Oh, hell who was I kidding? I am constantly thinking about her. It is all that I can do to not run home and wake her up right now. I have got to do something about this. I was about as happy as I could be when I saw the door open and Mick walk in. Finally someone that I might be able to get some feed back from.

"Mick, what a surprise to see you here tonight." He gave me a weird look. Ok, so I wasn't necessarily being subtle about this.

"What exactly is it that you need, Josef?" I could tell from the look on his face that he already knew where I was going with this. He was going to milk this for all that it was worth. The smirk on his face said it all.

"You're an ass, I hope you know that. It's about Riley. I can't fall for another human, Mick. I just can't do it. If I fall in love with her, either I am going to have to leave her, or she is going to ask me to change her. And I know that right now, it shouldn't even matter because I don't love her. Yes I am attracted to her, but I just don't know what to do if things go any farther than this. I would have to leave her, because I cannot take the risk of changing another girl. Especially if it's Riley."

"Josef, this is as serious as I have seen you about anyone in a long time. I never saw you when you were with Sarah, but I saw the way you looked at her when we were in New York. You had just the same amount of love and concern in your eyes when we finally found Riley. I know you probably wanted me to talk you out of this, but I can't do that. You just need to wait and see where this goes. Don't push her away right not. You don't know how she feels yet, do just wait and see what she does." Damn him. He is right, I wanted him to talk me out of this, but at the same time I was hoping he would tell me exactly what he did.

It had been a really long day. Mick left soon after we finished talking. I finished up my work and left early. I got home at about 9:00. I looked around to see if I could find Riley. She wasn't anywhere to be seen on the first floor. I grabbed some breakfast for Riley and grabbed myself a glass of blood before I made my way up to the library. I walked in and found her already curled up with a cup of coffee.

"Hey, Riley. I got back from work a little early so I figured I would bring you up some breakfast." I couldn't help but smile when she looked up at me.

"What exactly did you bring me?"

"Oh you know the usual, more coffee, eggs, bagel. You think you might be interested in any of it?" she laughed and I couldn't help but smile. I handed her the trey full of food and sat down next to her.

-Riley's POV-

I couldn't believe that he was actually here, spending time with me instead of getting more things done at work. I took the trey of food and picked at it a little bit. I worked on the food for about another hour. The whole time he just sat there with me. He grabbed a book and looked so at ease, so comfortable. We just had so much in common. I didn't know what I should do about all of these feelings.

I got up and walked over to the couch that was in front of the fire place. I curled up in one of the corners and pulled a blanket over me. I had gotten exactly what I wanted when I heard Josef walk up behind me.

"Trying to get away from me now?" I looked up at him and smiled. He leaned down and scooped me up in his arms, receiving a squeal from me. He set me down on the ground and then proceeded to sit down in the spot that my butt had previously been occupying. I glared up at him receiving one of the best things in the world, a smile and a deep laugh. He reached down and pulled me up onto his lap. I curled myself up in his lap and lay my head back on his shoulder. This is where I wanted to stay for as long as I could. And maybe, just maybe, this meant that he wanted me to stay here too. I had to make sure though.

"Josef, I know this is probably not the best time to bring this up because I am sure that you need to get to bed soon, but I was thinking that maybe sometime this week we could go out and start looking for an apartment so that I can get out of your way." He didn't answer right away. We sat in silence for a few minutes and I turned around to look at him. I couldn't be sure, but I thought that I saw a hint of pain in his eyes.

"We can go out any time you want and start looking, but if you are just looking for an apartment now just because you think you are in the way here, you need to know something." He picked me up and turned me around to face him. "You are not in the way here. You are welcome to be here for as long as you want to stay." He looked at me and I could see the tenderness flash in his eyes. "Tell me right now, if you really want to leave and we can make it work. I will find something for you today if you really want to leave."

-Josef's POV-

Riley looked up at me and smiled. She was beautiful when she smiled like that. It was so pure, so perfect.

"Josef, I don't want to go anywhere. I am happy right here with you. I love being here with you. As long as you are going to let me stay, then I will." Oh shit. I had a feeling that she cared about me as much as I cared about her, but I have to say I wasn't totally ready for her to admit them to me right now. I wanted this to work, but I didn't know what to say to her. Wow, that is probably a first. "I'm sorry that I brought all of this up, I just didn't know…"

"Riley, Riley, listen. Don't worry about any of it." I reached out and brushed hair away from her face. I smiled at her and leaned down and finally kissed her. I had wanted this for so long. Her lips were soft under mine and I almost lost complete control as I heard her moan softly under me. It was her turn to receive a moan from me as she pulled away from me.

"You need to get some sleep and I'm not going anywhere. I will be here when you wake up and we might be able to pick up where we left off." She winked at me and then stood up and walked over to her bed room. I wanted to follow her, but I knew that I needed to just do as she said and get some sleep. I think I am going to have to take a cold shower first though.

A/N: Okay, I know that this is short. I wanted to get this chapter up though so it is a little bit shorter than the rest of them. I hope that I will get another chapter up soon!! Leave a wonderful review for me to get next time I get on!!