A/N: thank you for the reviews/follows for this story, I hope you continue to enjoy it!
Chapter One – I Will Love You 'Till the End of Time
Adam pulled the sheets closer to his chest as he rose momentarily from sleep, shifting into a more comfortable position before drifting down again. When he eventually awoke and moved to the bedroom window the sky was black ink, interspersed with shimmering stars. Where was that diamond star again? He stood in silence and surveyed the night outside for a long time, half hoping that Eve would appear in a taxi at any minute, just as she had in Detroit.
The small minicab came to a stop outside the house. Adam could see her in the back seat from his spot near the second floor window, almost luminescent with her pale complexion and white leather jacket. Pushing the door open she gracefully stepped out onto the pavement and turned to face the house. He retreated from the window slightly, hoping to observe her reaction without influencing it, as he watched her survey the derelict townhouse with large eyes, a soft curve lifting her lips. After a moment he moved away from the window and descended the stars to the front door. He could see the white shape of her through the frosted glass as he reached to flick the porch light on before pulling the door open. She had seen him through the door and set her suitcases down on the pavement as he stepped out. Neither one of them said anything as they took each other in, Adam moved down the porch steps and quietly extended his hand to her, feeling the soft, well-worn leather of her gloves as she wrapped her fingers around his and pulled him towards her. Seconds passed while both of them stood facing each other, noses almost touching, and fingers intertwined. In those seconds he forgot the gun, the wooden bullet, the depression that had been slowly suffocating him in the past weeks. His whole world had shrunk to become her, embodied in white hair and pale leather, even her increased age and wisdom could not separate them. He raised his free hand to touch her cheek, moving closer so his nose touched hers. A rush went through him at the contact and he pressed forward further to meet her lips with his own, kissing her hungrily for the first time in years before burying his face in her neck and hair, sighing with relief. Her fingers tightened around his in a way that was both passionate and reassuring.
He eventually moved away from the glass, unsettling the images from his mind's eye and walking slowly back through the house to the main living room. He huffed and looked around, it was so empty here, and way too bright; he would have to sort the place out. Once again he found himself lamenting his lost house in Detroit, and the others he had inhabited over the years.
"Bloody Ava!" he spoke out loud to the empty room to dissipate his anger. He would have to get another contact here, one that would hopefully be safe from Ava's unrestrained animalism. Suddenly he was back in those first nights with Eve in Tangier, when, starving and weak, he had broken his own rules and followed the older vampire as she approached a young couple.
'Excusez Moi' Eve spoke softly, interrupting the dark haired couple perched on a low wall. Adam hung back, walking slightly behind her, his view partially obscured by her angular shoulders and blonde hair. The pair looked up at them slowly, eyes widening as sharp incisors were exposed and inhumanly strong hands drew them in. The girl didn't scream like they do in the movies, even as Adam's teeth pierced the soft skin of her neck, she was just eerily silent, shocked. He had felt guilt once his bloodlust was sated, as the almost lifeless girl was draped across his lap, her pretty clothes soaking up excess blood. He leaned against Eve, as much for comfort as support, and looked across as her tongue flashed out to lick at the bright red running across her lips. 'You look better darling' she spoke quietly, so as not to unsettle the silence around them. He pulled her close and kissed her, feeling her fingers rise to tangle in his shaggy black hair.
He shook the memories off, he wasn't like Ava any more, the situation had been desperate, do or die, and he didn't want to die, not while he had Eve. He got up and walked out on to the porch, the cold night air chilled his bare skin in a tingling feeling that reminded him of the cold nights all those centuries ago, when hot blood ran through his veins, when breathing wasn't just a habit and when he wished he could live forever. He hadn't realised he needed to be that careful of what he wished for. A cat sprang onto the top of the fence near him, claws scraping over the wood as it struggled to keep its balance among its evident panic. It caught sight of him quickly, his tall, wiry frame was brightly outlined by the light spilling through the patio doors. With pupils dilated and muscles tense it opened its mouth to hiss at him before scrambling and jumping back down the way it came. Adam could hear it crashing through the bushes as it ran. A sharp snort of laughter escaped him at the animal's panic, but as he breathed again in a particular note caught his attention, and stirred a slight panic in him. He sniffed at the air again, to ensure he was not mistaken, but the smell was still there, the unmistakeable scent of a vampire. He was no longer sure that it was the cat moving in the bushes on the other side of the low wooden fence.