"Well, well. If it isn't Stefan's little pet. This is my lucky day." Natasha said as she emerged from the darkness. Charlotte was too stunned to do anything but stand there with her mouth hanging open in surprise.

"Nice reaction, sweetheart. I'm not sure what he ever saw in you. He certainly didn't stick around for the witty conversation." Her voice dripping sarcasm as she walked towards Charlotte, looking her up and down as she got closer.

"I don't get it. What is it about you that he finds so fascinating?" She got as close to Charlotte as she could without actually touching her, the cold was radiating from her skin, making Charlotte shiver.

"There's nothing special about you. There's nothing about you that would make anyone look twice, really. You don't have the appealing personality or the stunning looks to light up a room, in fact I doubt anyone would even notice if you walked into a room, so just exactly how did you attract someone like Stefan? Why on earth would he chose to be with a mousy little human like you?

"H-human?" Charlotte stammered "What does…what?"

Natasha gave a snort of derision. "And now we know it's not the brilliant mind either. If you haven't figured things out by now, then I'm all out of ideas. I'll just have to ask him myself."

"Do you know where he is?" Charlotte asked, her mouth was working slightly faster than her brain and she winced as soon as the words left her lips. Natasha's red eyes practically sparkled with glee.

"Oh now that is interesting. So he's left you, has he?" She pulled back from Charlotte as she began to ponder this information.

"After you and I met, I'll wager. Which means he was afraid I would go to the Volturi. Huh, so he really does have feelings for you. He's trying to keep you safe, little mouse. You thought he left you to come back to me didn't you?" Charlotte said nothing and Natasha continued.

"You do know that he and I were together, don't you?" Natasha said as she stared at Charlotte and reveled in the shock and sorrow that showed on her face.

"Oh yes, we were together for many, many years. Stefan taught me all kinds of things, we were quite happy actually. Sadly, he was not as…adventurous as I am so it didn't work out. I do think about him from time to time. You never really forget your first love, do you? And then just like that, there he is…with you. Uninteresting, mousy little you. I have a lot to think about little mouse. This information is just too good to keep to myself, the question is who do I share it with?"

"You still love him" Charlotte said.

"Don't be ridiculous. I moved on a long time ago. As a matter of fact, I've had my sights set on someone for a while now, and you might have just given me the thing I need to get close to him"

"I don't understand. If Stefan really means nothing to you then why are you following me?" Charlotte said. Natasha threw her head back and laughed.

"You do think a lot of yourself, don't you? I wasn't following you at all. In fact, you interrupted my meal"

This made no sense and Charlotte's overtaxed brain refused to process it. She was tired and confused and hurting from being slammed into the wall. The wall…. the man…. suddenly she remembered what almost happened and she gasped as she looked over at the still figure lying on the ground. The light was bad but he wasn't moving and she wasn't sure he was breathing.

"Is he dead?" she said in a quiet voice. Natasha glanced back and then looked at Charlotte again, a smile on her face.

"Not yet" was all she said. The look in her eyes when she spoke chilled Charlotte to the bone. The swirling confusion in her mind was starting to slow down, things were beginning to click into place and she didn't like what she was starting to think. She didn't like it one bit. She knew she should run, she should just go and let her memories keep her warm, but she didn't.

"What is going on? Who are you? What are you?" Charlotte said.

"Oh now come on, surely you aren't that stupid" Natasha replied, her lips parting as she ran her tongue over her teeth. "The clues are all there, impossible as it may seem. Even someone as dense as yourself should be able to figure it out"

As she spoke she moved closer to Charlotte, she put her hands against the wall on either side of her and leaned in until their foreheads were touching. Charlotte shrank back as much as she could but with her back against the wall there was no where to go. Natasha leaned further until their lips were almost touching, then she half-whispered;

"I bet you and Stefan liked to experiment. You'd better run along home now, little mouse. Unless you'd like to experiment with me"

Charlotte wanted nothing of the sort. What she wanted was out…now. She ducked under Natasha's arm and ran, Natasha's laughter followed her and then she heard noises she did not want an explanation for. She found a cab a block or so away and jumped into it. When she got home she locked the door and started to shake. She kept thinking of the little clues that she never picked up on before, or maybe she did. She wanted everything to be perfect so badly that she dismissed some rather obvious signs.

After her heart stopped racing, she headed to the bathroom, shedding her clothes as she went and just letting them drop to the floor. She got into the shower and turned it on as hot as she could stand it. She stood there letting the water run over her and tried to make sense of the things that just happened. Her mind kept returning to one word that Natasha had said.

Human.

Charlotte was open minded enough to know that there were things in this world you just can't explain. She relaxed her tense muscles as the heat from the shower began to ease the soreness from them, unfortunately it couldn't do the same for her mind which was whirling with too much information. She went back and picked through every memory of Stefan, from the moment they met to the moment he left. She tried to look at it logically and she let the nagging little feeling that was growing in the pit of her stomach take over. Cold skin, red eyes, he never ate and he'd never stayed over unless it was overcast. Stefan had never shown his strength but the way Natasha had ripped the dirty man in the alley away from her wasn't something she should have been able to do. Unless she wasn't human, of course. Every book, every movie, every legend she'd ever heard all pointed to the same conclusion. If he wasn't human, then there was only one thing he could be. The word surfaced but she couldn't say it out loud.

Then a funny thing happened. When she understood, it should have made her feel fear or at least disbelief, but instead it made her feel…excited. Good excited, like how she imagined it would feel winning the lottery. When she had run from the alley, the sounds she heard were Natasha feeding on that man. She should be terrified or throwing up or leaving town. She most certainly shouldn't be fascinated, yet she was. It felt right, which just made things worse. She kept trying to tell herself that it was bad, it was dangerous. Vampires kill people. Even when she forced herself to think about Stefan doing these things, it didn't matter.

Had he put her under some kind of spell? She'd never done anything wrong in her life. Even as a child she never stole a candy bar from the store, she never sneaked out of the house after curfew, she never skipped school. She had always done the right thing. Even her divorce was because she was thinking about what was best for her husband. She was unable to have children, a fact that she had accepted long ago. He said he was okay with it when they met but she knew better. He was remarried now and his new wife was pregnant. Charlotte wished them well, knowing he would be a wonderful father.

When she had been in the shower so long her fingers started to prune, she got out. Wrapping herself in a towel she headed for the bedroom. She was so lost in thought she never noticed that the trail of clothing she had left wasn't there anymore. She had a towel over her head and was rubbing her wet hair vigorously when she thought she heard something. She yanked the towel off and jumped back, startled. Stefan was sitting on the bed, watching her with a smile.

"Just how I like you. Naked and wet" he said.

It was too much. Losing him hurt her so bad there were days when it seemed as if she couldn't breathe. Then the club, Natasha, the man in the alley….it all came crashing in and instead of running to him she burst into tears. He looked confused and a little scared as he crossed the room and took her in his arms. She couldn't even hold him back, she simply stood there and sobbed as he held her tighter and uttered words of comfort.

"Please don't cry" he whispered "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry I hurt you. Please forgive me"

They stayed that way until she cried herself out. When the tears slowed down he led her over the bed and sat her down, then gently wiped the wetness from her cheeks as he smiled at her.

"Are you alright now?" he asked.

"That depends" she replied.

"On what?"

"On whether or not you're going to leave again"

He looked down, like he was ashamed. She resisted the urge to reach out and run her fingers through his hair. It felt like it had been a thousand years since he had touched her and she longed to feel close to him again, but she had to protect herself. So instead she merely sat and waited for a response. When it came his voice cracked with emotion.

"Charlotte, leaving you was the hardest thing I've ever done. In all my years I've never known it was possible to feel this much for one person. You are all I think about; all I care about. I left because I thought it was the best thing for you."

"Then why did you come back?" she asked, this time she did reach out and stroke his hair. He sounded so sad. He reached up and took her hand in his, he brought it to his cheek and held it there, closing his eyes and relishing the touch.

"My love" he said. "I need you to know one thing. Leaving was the biggest mistake of my life and I don't intend on repeating it…if you will take me back"

"Stefan. I love you, I love you more than I ever thought it was possible to love someone. Nothing will ever change that. I need you to know that. Do you believe it? Do you believe me when I say that?"

"Yes. Yes of course I do" he said.

"Then I need the truth. No more sneaking away, no more mysterious non-answers. If you truly love me then tell me. Tell me everything"

"You don't understand the danger you would be in" he said. It would have been yet another cryptic answer if she hadn't already figured it out. She bit the bullet and just said it;

"Stefan, I now what you are. I know what Natasha is. I know why I've never seen you in the daylight and I know what you do when you leave here. I know and I love you still, but I need to hear you say it. It won't be right for me until you do. Please Stefan, say the word"

He looked at her for a long time. His eyes reflected the conflict he was struggling with. She felt bad but she knew they could never move forward until he admitted it. Finally, he stood and crossed the room. His back was to her as he looked out the window for a moment, then without turning around he said;

"Vampire"

He didn't move, he waited to hear what she would say, scared that she would just leave. When her arms encircled his waist from behind he let out a sigh of relief. He turned around and kissed her passionately. She returned the kiss with just as much fervor. She'd had enough of thinking for one night. He was back and the taste of his lips was more than enough to drive any thoughts away. Right now she just wanted to feel him inside of her. Then he picked her up and took her over to the bed, her towel falling away to reveal her naked body as he lay her down. He shed his clothes fast and then he was on top of her. Flesh against flesh as he kissed her over and over again. She wrapped her legs around him and pulled him closer. He was hard and more than ready as he reached down between her legs and made sure she was too. She had been ready since she saw him, of course. She always was, but the sheer emotion of the day somehow brought out the animal in her.

"I want you inside me now" she said in a rough voice. And as he slipped deliciously inside of her, her eyes rolled back and she matched him stroke for stroke, their hips moving in unison. It didn't take long before they both exploded at the same time. Her moans of pleasure echoing off the walls. Neither of them was inclined to move afterward and they stayed exactly as they were until finally he moved her up until her head was on the pillow. He crawled under the blankets with her and held her until she fell asleep. Questions would be asked and answered, there was no getting away from it now. She knew and no there was no need for secrets. Despite the danger the thought of being able to share everything with her made him very happy. The questions would wait, right now he was content to lay next to her and watch her sleep.