AN: Hey guys! It's been...A LONG TIME. And if any of my original readers are here, I'm so so SO sorry!

A loud crash ripped through the large home, destroying any last trace of the deafening silence that was there only seconds before. Loud enough to tear her from her dreams, Angie sat up startled. Still trying to gather her thoughts and comprehend her surroundings, Angie felt around her bed, attempting to look for her phone. Failing miserably, she gave up and lay back down, still trying to compose herself.

Hold on a sec...her bed? How did she wind up in her bed? Last she remembered she had fallen asleep on the couch downstairs. There was no way she had carried herself up the stairs and into her bed. One thought crossed her mind.

"Adam. That son of a –"

She was quickly cut off the by faint buzzing of her phone. At least she had a general idea of where the sound was coming from. She shot up, desperately looking for source of that incessant buzzing.

Finally finding it, Angie hurriedly answered it, fearing her friend would hang up. If she was impatient, you should see her friends. But, Angie liked it that way.

"H-Hello?" She asked, with her voice sounding raspy and ridden with sleep.

"Where the hell are you?" Shrieking and clearly angry, her closest (and oldest) friend Katie had a touch of worry to her tone. "You didn't show up, and class starts in 20 minutes. Are you..is everything okay?"

"Nice one, Katie. But I'm not falling for it this time."

Katie had a bit of a reputation of playing pranks on anyone who would fall for them. Typically, Angie made for the perfect target. She'd constantly call Angie on weekends to let her know she was late for school, or jump out from behind corners and scare the living hell out of Angie. The best one was when Katie had taken all of Angie's textbooks and "highlighted" the text with a black marker. Always one step behind, Angie wasn't falling for it this time.

"Angie, I swear. This isn't a joke. Look at your stupid clock, calendar, phone, or whatever. You're going to be late. Hurry the heck up! That huge assignment's due today!"

Panic quickly sank it. Pulling her phone back, Angie worriedly looked at the date.

Her stomach sank.

It was a Wednesday, she had class and Katie wasn't kidding.

"I'm..I'll..I mean I'm coming," she stuttered, while fumbling to hang up the phone.

The large crash tore through the house again. Angie quickly got up and pulled her curtain back, just in time to see a large streak of lightning shredding through the dark sky. It was followed quickly by the rumbling of the thunder. Luckily, it hadn't started raining yet.

Not having time to admire the storm occurring outside, Angie ran around her room, tripping over things trying to find the cleanest clothes she could. Nothing mattered to her right now other than getting to school and handing in that assignment she spent weeks on. Not even the thought of Adam picking her up and carrying to her room. No, it didn't matter now, but there sure as hell was going to be a fight tonight.

Brushing her hair, and taking one quick look in the mirror to make sure everything was okay, Angie grabbed her bag, stuffed in her assignment and raced for the door, being a little mindful of her wrist as she did so. The pain wasn't as intense today, but it was still there, mentally reminding her every single time she twisted it or tried to strain it. Mentally reminding her of him every time she looked at. She'd rip off the bandage when she had the chance

"Keys, keys, WHERE ARE MY KEYS?" She didn't mean to scream—she hardly ever did, but today was turning out to be one of those bad days.

Those days that you know right from waking up is going to be a living nightmare, and nothing's going to go right. That's the type of day where you just want to crawl up and sleep until it's over. Unfortunately, she knew where this day was going and was mentally preparing herself for the hardship.

"Forget it," she whimpered in defeat.

Knowing Adam was home, she wasn't too worried about someone sneaking in and stealing anything. Adam would be better than any alarm system or guard dog anyone could have, and with the little time she had for searching, Angie decided leaving the door unlocked just this once would be fine. He had a brain—if he didn't see the door was unlocked, her theory of vampires being the inferior race would be proven correct.

"No time to dwell on his stupidity..I only have 10 minutes to get there and I didn't even get breakfast," she sighed.

There was no way she'd make it there in 10 minutes.

Pulling the door open with her good hand, Angie looked out, and to her dismay, it was pouring rain.

"Rain? Thunder? Lightning? Of course. On the one day no one's home and I don't know where the umbrella's are."

It didn't matter, it was just rain. Taking a step out, Angie was stopped by a voice—his voice.

"Angie? Is everything okay?" It was evident he had been asleep too..or really quiet. She didn't remember vampire sleep habits very well.

"I'm fine," she muttered through clenched teeth, without looking back at him. Still looking at the pouring rain, she could feel his eyes boring into her back.

"Are you sure? It's pouring outside, and it doesn't look like you have an umbrella. Do you need a ride? I can probably get you there faster—and it'll be warmer." She sensed a hint of worry in his tone.

"I said I'm fine. I don't need your stupid ride," she shot back.

Not looking back once, she slammed the door shut and stormed out.

He was right. The car would've been faster. He wasn't kidding about the warm part either. How did it go from being hot and humid, to freezing cold in one day? Looking at her watch, she realized she had a few minutes left before the bus arrived. And boy was she hungry.

Crossing the street, she stood under the uncovered bus stop. It wasn't really a proper bus stop, it was just a pole. She had seen nicer ones with benches and covered areas. For living in such a nice area, this pole was kind of a stupid idea. Then again, no one in this area really took the bus anywhere. The bus drivers even knew her name..that's how deserted these stops were.

The rain only took a matter of seconds to soak her from head to foot. Time for basic math! What do you get when you have one girl minus one umbrella and a jacket? Angie. She stood there sopping wet, frustrated with herself because her ego was too big to accept a ride from the one person who was trying to help her.

Angie gazed back at her house. It was a merely a few steps away from the house. Without her parents and house staff, it just looked empty. It was just a house, not a home.

Tears filled her eyes as she stared at her home, her parents consuming every thought she had right now. They were only a phone call away, but she didn't want to call them while crying. They'd panic and hurry home, and she wanted to show she was strong enough without them.

Truthfully, she wasn't. Her heart ached for them. That's when she started to cry. Thank god it was raining, or she would look like a complete fool right now. Whenever she had a bad day, her mom would be right there, holding her and comforting her. Her father was usually saying something to get a laugh out of her, and it normally worked. She wiped her eyes. The bus was late today.

Perfect, she thought.

That's when she lost full control of her emotions.

What Angie didn't know was Adam watching her from the large window in the living room, pained at watching her cry.

No matter what he did, it was always the wrong thing. When he thought he was on the right track, or starting to get along with her, she'd shut down again, or push him out. That thought angered him. Turning away from the window, he slammed his fist into the wall, cracking it in the process.

"DAMNIT!" He yelled angrily.

With anger bubbling through him, he paced through the living room. He knew if he went out and offered her a ride, she would probably be stubborn and decline again. But watching her cry in the pouring rain was ripping him apart inside. He needed an idea. After a moment, he reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone.

Angie stared up the street again, hopeful the bus would finally be turning that corner. After she was convinced it wasn't coming, she grabbed her soaking wet backpack, wiped her eyes (although it did not help with the rain) and started running for the next bus stop. It was a few blocks away, but that bus came a lot more frequently, and the chances of it not showing were slim to none.

The only thing running through Angie's mind was getting to class and handing in that assignment. Her professor absolutely adored her, so she knew he probably wouldn't mind if she was late to get to class—but she had to get there before it ended.

The pouring rain and her loud footsteps hitting the wet pavement were the only things Angie could hear. It was eerily dark and quiet for a Wednesday morning. It didn't matter though, as her pace never faltered while she ran. It was kind of peaceful.

It was.

As she was running, Angie heard a car slowly driving behind her. Afraid to look back in fear of there being an axe-wielding psycho driving in the car behind her, Angie ran faster. But with her bag being heavy and her physically drained body, Angie couldn't run for much longer.

To her relief, the car drove past her...but to her horror, pulled over a good 20 feet in front of her. Not recognizing the vehicle, Angie stopped dead in her tracks. Deciding whether she should run back to the home or cross the street and keep going, Angie had to think fast. The door to the car was opening, and she was sure at any second, a creepy, old, bald man would pop out, ready to kidnap her. Taking a step back, Angie watched the large figure hop out from the car.

"Angie?" The figure yelled, a sigh of relief escaping him as he ran up to her.

Chris.

It was then that she realized every muscle in her body was tensed and ready to run. She released her breath, as she just realized she wasn't breathing. Relaxing herself, she ran over to him, tears threatening to spill over the edges of her eyes again.

He came over and grabbed her, smothering her in a hug.

Screw the rules, she thought. Right now, she probably would've kissed him from the happiness she was feeling.

"Angie, I..wow, you look terrible," he joked, pushing her back to examine her a bit more.

Taking his jacket off, he quickly wrapped her shivering frame up and lead her back to his car.

"Is it okay if I drive you to school?" he asked, concern lacing his face.

"It's okay," she whispered through chattering teeth.

He grabbed her bag, and even though it was soaking wet, tossed it in the back seat. Opening the passenger door, he patiently waited for her to climb in. When she was settled, he shut her door and was back in the driver's side before she had a chance to blink.

He gingerly handed her a coffee cup labelled "hot chocolate" and a small brown bag. Looking up at hi, she peeked into the bag and saw a large muffin.

And that's when she began crying again.

Taken aback at her sudden outburst, he patted her head, afraid to ask what was wrong. He had been filled in by Adam about her "loose-cannon" emotions. Throwing caution to the wind, he asked, preparing himself for a crazy outburst like he had warned her about. Instead, she wiped her eyes with the back of his sleeve and looked up at him.

"I'm late, and I have this massive assignment due," she whispered, pointing to the backseat where her backpack was lying.

Either Adam was a compulsive liar, or this girl was bipolar.

He laughed.

She was shocked at his reaction.

"What?" she said, a little more confident with herself.

"Is that all?" he said, grinning from ear to ear.

She nodded.

A devilish grin crossed quickly replaced his grin.

"Well, if that's all, then hold on." He pushed his car into gear and shot down the street at an alarming speed.

Angie knew this car was built for speed, after all, she did know vehicles pretty well, but she had never actually been in a car going this fast. Her dad had always called it reckless, dangerous and stupid; she had always agreed. But right now, she didn't care. She needed to get to school, and at the rate Chris was going, she'd be there in 10 minutes flat.

She quietly took a sip of her warm drink, relishing the feeling of warmth filling her cold, aching body.

They pulled up to a red light, but Chris was showing his impatience, revving the engine every few seconds.

"That's not going to make the light turn any faster," she snapped while looking out her window, frustrated with the uncomfortable vibrations shaking the car when he did that.

"Hey Ang, may I ask you a question?"

She slowly turned away from the window to look at him. A deathly glare was strewn against her face. Nicknames—she hated them with a passion, and even though he was being nice to her, he sure as hell wasn't getting a free pass with nicknaming her.

"Woah, okay sorry. Jeez, sorry. No nicknames. I got it."

Pleased with his ability to catch on quick, her face turned to reflect her curiosity.

"Depends. What's your question?"

He sighed, raking his hand through his drenched hair. He felt sorry for her. He had been in the rain for a few seconds. She was out there for...well he didn't quite know. She was dripping from head to toe though. All he knew was one moment he was catching some sports highlights and the next he was getting a panicked call from Adam, trying to frantically explain the situation to him. Normally Adam was pretty composed. Chris hadn't heard that worry his tone in centuries, so he genuinely felt worried himself and agreed to help. He was surprised Angie didn't ask where he came from or why he was just casually strolling down her street. But, he knew she was smarter than that.

Probably already connected the dots herself on that one, he thought.

"Hello?" she whispered, waving her hand in front of his face, effectively snapping him out of his thoughts.

He looked at her and back at the light. Finally turning green, he stepped on the gas and sped through the intersection.

She was still watching him.

Glancing over at her again and focusing on the road ahead, he sighed again and decided to ask his question.

"What did Adam do to you to make you hate him so much?"

Lightning ripped through the sky again and that's when he realized he had made a dire mistake.