CHAPTER 5

He pushed me back.

"Cassie your drunk."

"No I'm not, I only had one drink."

"You're drunk."

"So you don't want to kiss me?" I whimpered.

"No, not when you're like this. You probably don't even know if you want to kiss me."

I looked up at him from under my lashes as seductively as I could.

"Jill, it's time to go, get Triston. I'll deal with Elyse." He called over his shoulder.

"What? I don't want to go yet!" I whined.

"Too bad, we're leaving." He said as he pushed me lightly towards Triston and Jill.

"Will you two take her to the car please?" he said passing me to Triston while he walked towards Elyse. Triston's hand was on my back guiding me out of the club. When we passed the bouncer outside he looked at us suspiciously.

"Jeez kid, how much did you drink? You reek of alcohol. What did you drink?"

"I donknow Elyse gave it t'me" I slurred. I yawned widely. "I'm tired."

"Okay, hop in the back while we wait for the others." Triston said as he and Jill sat in the front. I was sitting in the middle but leaning to my left so my head was resting on the door.

"m'sorry" I said. "'s my fault we haddo leave."

"It's all right kid, just relax."

"m'kay." I said already half asleep. I must have drifted to sleep, because seconds later I was woken by the door I was leaning on opening. I didn't fall out though because a hand was cradling my head as somebody slipped into the seat next to me. It was Rory, I would know his smell anywhere. I snuggled my head up against his chest. It was much preferred over the door. I could feel myself smiling as I slumbered next to him.

I was dreaming.

The dream I was sitting in a small clearing next to a creek. There was sun filtering through the trees overhead.

Rory was standing next to Damien. The rest of his family was a few feet back. Rory sat down next to me.

"I love you." He told me. Without thinking I replied back.

"I love you too."

"Are you sure?" he asked me.

"Yes, are you?"

"Yes, which is why I'm nervous about doing this."

"I'm not nervous, this is what I want." I told him. My dream was unfolding in front of me. I couldn't stop myself from saying anything or doing anything. I was watching it happen and I couldn't change it, but I was watching it through my own eyes.

He leaned towards me and kissed me between my neck and jaw bone. It felt wonderful. Then when pain erupted where his lips were I woke up.

I was very tense. I was gripping the blankets that were covering me tightly. I slowly opened my eyes to find my surroundings. But I jammed them shut out of surprise when I saw Rory staring at me.

Where was I? The last thing I remembered was falling asleep in the car last night. Was I still in the car? No, I was in a bed. Oh. My. G-d. Did I sleep with him?!?

My eyes shot open. We were in his room. He was still staring at me. He lay on top of the covers. I sat up. I was still clothed, that was good.

"Morning sleeping beauty." He chuckled. "Sleep well?"

"Um, I guess." I cleared my throat. I was suffering from a migraine. "Oh no, what time is it? We're going to be late for school."

"No, they canceled school today due to …" I knew what it was due to and I was glad that he didn't say it. It made everything so much more real. I relaxed.

"Does my mom know I'm here?"

"Yes, Melanie called her last night and asked if it was okay that you had a sleep over with Jill. She also explained what happened yesterday."

"Oh."

I probably looked bad. I had gotten drunk then fallen asleep with about two pounds of makeup on. Not only that but I probably had morning breath.

"I'm guessing that you want to clean up. The bathroom is right there." He said pointing to a second door in his room. " Jill will lend you some clothes when you get out."

"Thanks." I said about to push the covers off.

" You might want to wait until I leave the room before you get up in case your skirt has ridden up." He said grabbing my hand to stop me from removing the blanket. He got up and left. I was thankful that he had left before I got up, because me skirt had ridden up.

I adjusted it then went to the bathroom and closed the door. The bathroom was nearly identical to the one I had been in yesterday. I pulled the knob and hot water instantly poured out. I got out of my clothes and into the shower. After standing there fro a few minutes I noticed that I would have to use his shampoo. I hoped he didn't mind. It smelled good but not as good as the real Rory did. After rinsing I turned the shower off and wrapped myself in a fluffy towel. I cracked the door open and was about to call for Jill, but I could hear people talking in another room.

I knew it was wrong to eavesdrop, but I couldn't help it.

"Well, in vino veritas( for those who don't know that means in wine there is truth)." I heard Elyse say.

"You are so sadistic Elyse, I already knew. All you did was embarrass her." I heard Rory say. I heard a door slam from somewhere and the talking stopped.

"Jill?" I called. She was walking through the door seconds later. She handed me undergarments and a white t shirt with lime green sweat pants from Victoria 's Secret. I went back in the bathroom to change. When I came out she was still standing there. I had left my hair down to dry and it was slightly dampening the back of the shirt.

"Guess what?" Jill asked.

"What?"

"It's raining."

"So?"

"You said it would."

"Oh, I forgot that." Jill's eyes were there normal green rather than glowing.

"Rory's around here somewhere, you should find him." She said while walking out the door.

She had left my clothes from yesterday on the desk. I went over to get them, but sat down instead. I wondered what my mother would think if she knew I had spent the night in Rory's bed. Not that anything happened, I was sure of that. I ran my fingers over the bindings of the books on his desk.

All the books were very old. I wondered where he had gotten them. Why hadn't he just bought new ones?

Rory had changed so much since before I left for camp. He looked different. He acted different. He even had a different family. He didn't act like a normal sixteen-year-old. A normal sixteen-year-old wouldn't have stopped me from kissing them last night. A normal sixteen year old probably would have taken advantage of me spending the night in his bed.

Rory wasn't normal. I didn't mean how I wasn't normal, I meant he wasn't normal like… well I couldn't relate it to anything but he was different on a deeper level than just being more mature.

That was something that my subconscious was trying to tell me. It also told me I should be afraid of them, but I wasn't. I didn't ever feel this safe with anyone else. I felt my mind nagging me to question them and I gave in. I wracked my brain for everything that had happened recently that I could consider strange.

1)why was he always so cold?

2)why did his eyes change color? They really did not just like when people say their eyes change but whatever they are wearing makes a certain color in there eyes stand out more.

3)how could he run so fast, and while carrying me? He was probably the fastest runner in the world. We had been about 100 yards away from the scene yesterday before I had even known he picked me up.

4)why were he and his family so beautiful and perfect? Well, that was probably just luck but I added it to my imaginary list anyways.

5) The strangest of all, why did he like me? He was so perfect. I was so dull.

I was brought back to the real world by a clap of thunder. I could hear the quiet hum of a guitar, and decided to follow it.

The sound led me down stairs and to the hall where the music room was. The door was just barely open. I peeked in. Rory was sitting on a stool strumming a guitar. His hand flowed over the stings effortlessly but the sound it produced was magical.

His hand. Another strange thing to add to my list. I thought that it had been shot yesterday, but he was obviously fine.

I pushed the door open, letting myself in.

"That's really pretty." I told him. He looked up at me and smiled warmly.

"It's raining." he told me.

"Yes, I realized." I paused "how's your hand?" I asked. He looked surprised. I walked over to Rory and stood in front of him.

"Um, fine."

"You know, I could have sworn it got shot yesterday" I said alerting him to my suspicions.

"Hmm, that's strange." He said returning to play the guitar.

"You're different." I told him. He stopped playing but the thrum of the last chord still echoed through the room.

"How so?"

"I'm not sure. You're different than you used to be, but you and your family are also different than anybody I've ever met."

"I know." He murmured so quietly I was almost sure it wasn't for my ears to hear.

"Why?"

"Because…" he was about to tell me something infinitely important I could tell. But he stopped himself.

"Because?" I prompted.

"Because I wasn't wanted anywhere else." I didn't understand his answer.

"Whatever you are not telling me you should. What are you afraid of?"

He went back to strumming his guitar. I walked behind him and did something that I thought might get him to tell me. I put my head to his. My lips were only about a millimeter away from his ear.

"Please?" I whispered softly. The sound of the guitar stopped as the strings snapped. I stiffened, but didn't move. Neither did he.

Elyse came to the doorway. We moved away from each other.

"Is everything okay? Rory, mom made Cassie and you some hot chocolate." Elyse informed us.

"Thanks Elyse, we'll go get it in a moment." She left us. Rory stood stiffly. He turned to me. His eyes looked like a newly cracked glow stick. I wondered why his were always like that and the others only occasionally. "You shouldn't have done that. It could have been you I broke instead of those strings." He warned me. It was an empty warning though, I felt too safe with him for it to hit home I my mind.

I followed him to the kitchen where two steaming mugs sat on the counter. I picked one up and sipped it absentmindedly. He didn't touch his.

"I'm sorry for how I acted last night." He smiled, probably at the memory. I had acted extremely foolishly.

"It's quite all right." He told me. I smiled at him and we both laughed.

"Want to go outside and enjoy the first rain of the season?"

"Sure, why not." I followed him to the back yard where we sat on the veranda. I put my mug down on the steps next to where I sat. We stared at the overcast sky and the water plummeting to the ground.

I shivered. He put his arm around me in a friendly gesture to keep me warm. I did feel warm, inside, even though his ice like touch penetrated my pale skin. It felt good.

The rain was calling my name. I released myself from his grip and dashed out to the middle of the backyard. Of course though, because I was me I slipped. And because Rory was Rory he was there faster than any human could possibly be to catch me. He wrapped two hands around my waist to steady me.

The rain was plastering my hair to my head, and the clothes Jill had lent me were already soaked through. I turned to face him. He looked gorgeous.

"I've made my decision." I stated. The confusion was obvious on his face. "I would love to be your girlfriend."

As the rain dripped down our faces, I watched Rory smile. For some reason his eyes looked like he was struggling with something. I could feel a drop of water sliding down the bridge of my nose. He wrapped one of his arms around my lower back. The droplet of water had traveled to the edge of my upper lip. He raised his hand, and with his index finger, brushed it away. I felt my heart flutter. He left his hand resting on my cheek. My breath was coming at random. He was leaning down. This was the first kiss we would have where we were both consenting.

But Rory didn't kiss me. He leaned over and pressed his cheek against mine. Though a kiss was what was to be expected at a moment like this, this was better. The cold skin of his cheek made mine burn like the sun.

He pulled away, as he did he inhaled and exhaled slowly. His breath lingered on my face. I didn't know that it was possible for someone's breath to smell so good. It was sweet, not minty, like toothpaste.

"Rory Haven! Get her onside right now, before she catches a cold!" Melanie ordered from the back veranda. Both of our heads turned. The whole family was on the porch; Triston's arm was snaked around Jill's waist, Elyse was leaning against the banister, Damien stood next to Melanie, whose hands were placed on her hips.

We both turned to walk to the house. About two feet away from the porch steps I slipped. But (ever ready) Rory caught me. The family laughed. I naturally blushed.

Once safely on the steps, Triston stood in front of me.

"Kid, you be good to my little brother."

"I'll be sure to do that." I told him.

Jill grabbed my arm and tugged me into the house.

"Hey" Rory objected. "She's been mine for less than five minutes and she already gets taken away from me."

"We have girl things to talk about." She told him.

Jill took me to her second floor room. She was about to sit on the bed, but assessed my soaked body the n led me to her bathroom. I sat on the edge of the tub.

"Tell me everything." She demanded as soon as the door was safely closed.

At first it was slightly awkward. I hadn't talked to anyone like this since Kirsten. But I liked talking to Jill, she was a good listener and knew exactly what to say. There was a knock on the door. We opened it. It was Damien, he handed me a phone.

"Hello?" I asked confused.

"Hi Hun how are you?" my mother asked sympathetically.

"I'm fine."

"I was hoping you would be home soon."

"Okay mom, I am home soon."

"All right, I love you"

"Love you mom bye."

Then I hung up

"My mom wants me home." I told Jill.

"All right, I'll go get Rory to drive you home."

"Hey Jill?" I said as she was about to leave the room. "Want to sleep over tonight?" I thought that if she grinned any wider her cheeks would rip.

"I'd love to, I just have to ask my parents."

"Okay" I said as she zoomed out of the room.

Rory strolled into the room while she was gone.

"I doubt you'll get a wink of sleep tonight." He told me. I bit down on my plump lower lip to stop myself from cheering for joy, he was finally mine. He walked me down stairs. I didn't know how his family had the patience to walk up and down these stairs everyday. Jill was waiting for me at the door.

"When you get home ask your mom about the sleepover, I'll probably be there around nine." Jill told me.

"Okay." I chirped. It felt like it had been ages since I had had a sleepover.

As Rory drove me home at an absurdly fast speed my heart was dropping. He would have to leave, I wouldn't see him until tomorrow. Tomorrow.

"Um.. What exactly are we supposed to do tomorrow, go on a date?"

"I guess that is what we're supposed to do now." Rory's cashmere voice made we're, as in both of us together, sound even better than if anyone else had said it.

"Is that what we're doing tomorrow?"

"Along those lines, it'll be a surprise." I loved surprises. I loved the antsy feeling. I used to always beg my mom for a surprise birthday party then she would have to explain that it wouldn't be a surprise if I was asking for one.

We had pulled up to my house. I was happy that the windows of the car were tinted, it meant my mother wouldn't freak that I was with an underage driver. Even though he would be 16 in a week.

I didn't really know what to do now, I had never had a real boyfriend. Sure I had dated but this was the start of more than just dating.

"What do we do now?"

"Well, you could take me inside and have your mother pester me about my intentions."

"I believe I will save that for when my father is here."

We both laughed. The shock factor of Rory and I being a couple would probably give my mother a heart attack. We used to be asked by everyone if we were a couple, from parents to the lady who sold movie tickets in the mall.

As for my dad, he was an archeologist. My parents had divorced when I was five. He

Traveled around the world a lot, mostly looking in caves for ancient bones. I spent my time with him whenever he was in town. Even though I rarely saw him I felt a stronger connection to him than I did to my mom. People told me I looked a lot like a girl version of him when he was younger. He was the only person in my family aside from me who was pale( though it was probably from not seeing the light, caused from his work) I had also gotten my blue eyes from him.

I turned to Rory and hugged him awkwardly because I was still buckled in to the car. I unbuckled and was about to get out.

"I'll be back when I drive Jill over later." He told me

"Cant Jill drives herself?" I asked then continued, I hadn't meant to sound rude. " Not that

I don't want to see you I was just wondering about her being able to drive."

He faked a pout. " So you don't want me to drive her?"

"No! I want you to drive her." I said too quickly.

He laughed. I got out of the car, "I'll see you soon." He said then drove off.

I walked up the steps and opened the door, where I was immediately enveloped in a hug by my mother. She was crying.

"I'm so glad you are all right."

"I'm just fine mom." I was more than fine, I was marvelous.

"I saw the video of what happened on TV! I can't believe my baby was held at gunpoint." She was hysterical.

"Mom, really I'm okay." I assured her.

"You're soaking wet." She noted.

"Yea I got caught in the rain"

"Why don't you go dry off." I was already walking down the hall, I turned to say something though.

"Can Jill spend the night here?"

"I thought you spent last night with her."

"I did." I lied. "But she's really helping me through this."

"All right, when is she going to be here? Will she have dinner with us?"

"I don't think so, she's coming at nine."

"okay." she said. Then I escaped to the bathroom. I stripped off my sopping clothes, and wrapped a towel around my self to dry off. I went to my room and picked out my comfiest lounge clothes.

My mother opened my door when I was done. She handed me a bowl of spaghetti-o's ( the only canned soup I would eat). She smiled at me sweetly. I didn't buy it for a second. I knew she was about to try and pry into my life.

"Mom, I really don't feel like talking."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes." I said curtly.

"Fine." She said like an annoyed child, and she walked out the door. I collected all of my dirty clothes, including the soaking one's that belonged to Jill, and did a load of wash.

I sat on the washing machine reading a book. I was having trouble concentrating. Every few words I would end up just staring blankly at the page. Aside from the fact that Rory was now my boyfriend I was hung up that he had admitted to me that he was different.

When Rory drove Jill to the house they both came to the door. When I heard a knock I ran to it like a child on Christmas morning, and threw the door open.

"You do realize how embarrassing it would be if it wasn't us?" Jill giggled. Rory was holding her sleeping back and bag. Jill's arms were ladled with movies and games.

The night passed quicker than I thought it would. Rory was right. I didn't get a wink of sleep. There were two things that I marked as strange over the night. The first was when we watched the notebook she cried but didn't have any tears. She said she was probably dehydrated, but when I asked if she wanted water she said no. The second was that at four in the morning when I got ice cream she insisted she dint wants any.

In the morning I had circles under my eyes to match the haven families, they always looked like they had stayed up all night. We were still awake at ten when Rory called my house. He told me to wear warm clothes and to be ready by 11:30.

That was easy. I wore a pair of light wash jeans with a blue and red striped long sleeve shirt, with a black sweatshirt over top. I thought about how I still had Rory's sweatshirt. I had managed to get the smoothie stains out of it, and I had it folded neatly in my sock drawer. I thought I should give it to him, but I really wanted to keep it. I knew that I would give it to him though.

When Rory showed at 11:30 I left a message with my mom's cell and told he if she needed to get hold of me I had my own. I took Rory's sweatshirt out of the drawer but when I handed it to him he told me I could keep it. Though I put on a show that he needed it I secretly rejoiced.

When we arrived at the house I followed Jill towards it, but Rory redirected me to walk around the back. He led me to the backyard over their hill all the way into a small forest. It sloped downward until I could see a creek.

"Is this the same creek that runs next to the park?"

"Yes." He said but kept walking. The ground was sand and gravel with a few tufts of grass. The farther we walked the more grass covered the ground. Eventually the ground was completely grass running up to where the creek started. He stopped so did I . I knew we were there because of the picnic blanket on the grass.

This place looked eerily familiar. I sat down and surveyed my surroundings. This was the same place as my last dream had taken place. The differences were that Rory's family wasn't there and the sky was overcast, so not lighter filtered through the trees.

"What are we going to do?" I asked as he sat on the blanket with me.

"What, I can't just enjoy spending time with my girlfriend?" I was relishing in how he had called me his girlfriend.

"Of course you can." I said as I lay down on my back. I closed my eyes and put my hands behind my head. After a few minutes of silence Rory spoke.

"Are you asleep?"

"If I am you shouldn't expect me to answer you." He laughed. It was beautiful and melodic. I opened my eyes to see he had lain down also. "Why, are you?"

"Nope."

"Good." I said as I scooted closer to him and put my head on his chest so my ear was pressed over his heart.

Aside from the birds chirping, the flowing of the river, and the wind ion the tree's a sound was missing. As recognition swam to the surface of my mind I shot bolt upright.

"You don't have a heartbeat." I said. It wasn't that it was just quiet, it was that his heart wasn't pumping.

He didn't say anything, but looked down abashed.

"Would you care to elaborate to me on how you are different?"

"I can't."

"Yes you can."

"No I can't, not unless you want to end up dead, and I certainly don't want that." He said taking a stern tone.

"Would you kill me?" my voice didn't reveal the panic I felt, but my heart was far past a healthy speed.

"No, I would protect you as best I could. I just wouldn't stand a chance."

"Why don't you think you can be my hero?" I said tauntingly trying to lighten the mood.

"Because it's not in my nature to save humans." The mood wasn't lighter in the least.

"Save humans? So you're not human?"

He didn't answer but I knew I was correct.

"So you don't save them, does that mean you're dangerous?"

"Yes."

"So what are you?" I asked searching my brain for all the creatures from any horror movie I had ever seen. "A were wolf, ghost, warlock, vampire?" I said again joking.

"Yes definitely one of those." He said sarcastically, but there was an edge to his voice.

"Please just tell me, it couldn't ever change the way I feel about you." That was the conclusion of our conversation. We sat there for a long while. When he got up I did to. He led me home, continuing in the direction we had started.

When I opened the door to my house it was silent. "There's a surprise for you in your room." Rory said from behind me. I turned to look at him.

"What is it?"

"I can't tell you, it'll ruin the surprise."

"Fine." I said walking to my room. When I opened my door I didn't notice anything at first. I looked at my whole room. Then I saw it. There was a banner draped across my window. In big letters it read 'will you go to homecoming with me?'. I turned to face the wonderfully beautiful god who graced me with his presence.

He was holding a perfect white rose. It was in full bloom and it looked like it was photo shopped to look so amazing.

"I wouldn't dream of going with anyone else." He handed me the rose. One of the thorns pricked my finger. I instantly thought of sleeping beauty and wondered if I was about to fall asleep. I raised my hand to look at it. I watched as the pea sized drop of thick burgundy liquid dropped from my finger on to one of the perfect petals, forever a blemish to its beauty.

I popped the finger in my mouth to stop it from bleeding. I looked to Rory who had been silent the whole time. He was gripping the door frame with so much intensity I thought it would crumble.

"Are you okay?" I asked

"Yes, I just need to sit outside for a moment." I looked at him quizzically. "Why don't you get a vase, I'll be okay." I watched as he left my room to go outside.

I walked into the kitchen I pulled a chair up to the cupboard so I could reach the vases that were up high. There were a lot of vases. I closed my eyes to concentrate on why he had acted so strange. Had I done something? I opened my eyes and reached for a vase but apparently closing my eyes had messed with my balance. I fell backwards but was caught by Rory.

"Let's not have anymore of your blood spill today." He said. It looked like he wasn't breathing and his eyes looked like freshly polished emeralds. He set me on my feet.

"I have to leave." He told me

"What if I don't want you to leave?"

"I'll be back sooner than you think."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

He cupped his hand around the side of my neck, smiled, and left. I walked to my room forgetting about the rose completely. I took down the banner so my mom wouldn't get suspicious.

I sat at my desk doing nothing for a while. Eventually I decided to look through some old photo albums. I picked one out. The cover said FRIENDS! I knew that this one spanned the time from sixth grade to the current. I absently flicked past the first couple of pages until I reached the time where Rory and Kirsten had been going out. Most of the book was littered with pictures of Kirsten and me, a few were scattered in of our other friends but mostly us. There were a few of Rory and me, from the time when we had been just friends.

I stared at one in particular. It had been the background that caught my attention. Kirsten stood glaring at me with the same hatred she used now. She had a bad case of red eye, but in this photo it suited her. The picture was a close up of Rory and me making funny faces.

The differences between Rory then and Rory now were painfully obvious. His bone structure had changed, now it was more angular, adult like, and handsomer. He was much paler now. Possibly the biggest difference though was his eyes. I knew that I had remembered them being different, they had been blue, not like mine steelier.

The rest of the day was boring and uneventful. That night I had a simple dream, Rory and I sat in the same clearing as we had today and I told him how different he was.

The next day I had to call the haven's to tell them I couldn't hang out because my mom brought me to one of her clients' parties.

The school week started again. The counselor approached just about everyone in the school and me about five times. But I wouldn't go talk to him, I doubt he even knew Jonathon's name before this. On Tuesday my mom told me that my dad would be in town the whole first week of November and I would be spending the week at his house. On Wednesday Jill reminded me that homecoming was also Rory's birthday. She also told me that he had already bought me a dress. I found that odd and told him I didn't want him buying me things but he didn't really care.

Thursday was Jonathon's funeral. Almost the whole school showed up. I wondered if any of them really understood what his life had been like.

Friday was really great. At school I wished Rory a happy birthday about 5million times. He had told me that if I bought him anything he wouldn't accept it, so I made him something. I used the picture of us from my scrapbook (placed so you couldn't see Kirsten) and a picture that Jill had taken of us in the rain on Saturday. I put them in a nice frame that we had in the house that I thought my mother wouldn't miss.

After school Jill and Elyse did my makeup. They handed me a large box when I was done and shoved me in the closet. I opened it and there was a beautiful red dress. The dance was semi formal. The dress was a halter . The fabric pulled tight under my bust then, flowed to just above my knee. Also in the box was a pair of red heels that had a black bow on the toe. I had to admit that for a guy Rory had a good eye for clothing.

When I met Rory on the ground floor he looked divine.

The dance was like any other. We went to a party afterwards. Rory and I traded the loud music inside the house that smelled like alcohol to sit in the girl's backyard. Rory was sitting on a wooden swing hanging from a tree with me on his lap. Though tonight had been mostly boring it had been perfect because of whom I was with. Without thinking I blurted out.

"I love you." I had a short pause. " It's okay if you don't love me, I just wanted you to know ho I felt about you."

He nuzzled his lips to the spot right behind my ear "I love you too." He said, my heart fluttered. He took a long pause. I waited patiently.

"I'm a vampire." He whispered.