Oh, hey there! I'm not dead, as most of you know… I've been trolling around here off and on a bit, but I have NOT stopped writing. I cried hiatus for a moment there. Hiatus my ass. I can put all of my other current fics on hold, but not this one! I'll have two going at once from now on, instead of four. You have all left wonderful reviews, and it makes me smile to read them, so I can't even begin to apologize for this uber long "break" (as I'm discreetly calling it). I don't know how long this is going to be, but I have yet to wrap it up yet, so you can count on at least a few more chapters. I've been thinking about this a lot, as well as writing down outlines and whatnot in my notebook (that I pray no one finds :o), so I didn't one hundred percent slack off since… God, I have no idea what month it was when I last updated this. D: I should just shut up. Stop listening to me. It's not worth your time. No, really. I disappoint even myself.

He was being "as dumb as an ass" as his brother would call it. Even Lucy had said it, though she didn't use that one term toward him. "One day it won't go well." That's what they said the last time; and Sam had kicked the guy's ass into the next week and out of town. That had really proved to them he could take care of himself, but they were still skeptical about him being a little too careless and open.

Sam knew there were always others in Santa Carla (he wasn't an idiot), but this one had a tang of something else. Sam could choose to play with him a little bit, or kill him.

Or both.

All Sam had to do was wait for the right moment. His newest challenge has a buddy, or whatever the hell vampires call them. That "buddy" could be just a coven-mate, friend, brother…But vampires get way too protective over people close to them, friend or mate. That brought him another thought: They could be mates. And if Sam did mess him up, or even attempt to, his name could be dropped so easily and this "mate" would fuck him up big time. Not really worth it when you think about it. That's when the alternative comes into play: covering up your tracks by throwing the death card onto the table. But if these two particular vampires were mates, what would they be doing so far apart from each other in a place like this?

What's Dwayne doing so far from you, Sam?

He shook his head.

He and Dwayne weren't the same—they weren't mates. Even the word made Sam feel a little awkward, since it was being used towards his own relationship.

The thought was strange and foreign to him, but brought a warm feeling, and he smiled idly.

Sam could screw Marko, play with him, or just kill him for fun. But he had Dwayne for one of those things, didn't he? His smile widened.

He would just fuck him up. No screwing involved.

Sam wasn't into cheating—that was something a loyal, um, dog would never do. But a vampire, on the other hand…would be tempted. Now Sam frowned.

As he had learned from both experience and stories, vampires tended to have high "needs," as his mom had discreetly put it. Sure, they were still loyal and could love someone so, so much, but those "needs" got in the way of a lot of things.

Would Dwayne be tempted? What did go on last night? Sam wondered. One-time thing? Heat-of-the-moment?

You were the one who started it, Sam.

Sam was the reason the night led to that. And even he was unsure of what he truly felt. Oh, but you care for Dwayne…

The hair on the back of his neck prickled with an electric current, almost, and he straightened his posture, gazing over the edge of the roof, keen on the two vampires walking down below. He grinned when he saw who it was.

"A kid scared you?" the blond teased, laughing heartedly at the idea.

"I'm not kidding, Paul," he hissed. "And he's not a kid." Paul slung an arm around Marko, only to have it pushed away.

"You need to relax—you're way too…What's the word?" After a few seconds of thinking he gave up on remembering the word he was looking for. "Anyways, I'm sure David wouldn't let that kid mind-rape you."

"I don't think he'll 'mind-rape' me."

"Whatever," Paul sang, rolling his eyes and attempting to put his arm around Marko again. This time he didn't push him away.

"So how was your ride with Dwayne," Marko inquired.

Sam didn't pay attention to the rest of their conversation. That name rang in his head: Dwayne. So these were his friends, Sam concluded. Maybe. Quite possibly. There could be more than one vampire Dwayne around here, but it was better to play on the safe side…

And he had been planning on possibly killing them. But you still can…

They were getting farther away now—his chances were slipping. Get them.

But Dwayne…

Sam gritted his teeth, and with a huff, flew away.

When Sam found Dwayne, he was underneath the Boardwalk, standing in the sand next to a pillar, alone. "Miss me?" Sam teased, slowly walking up to him, swaying his hips slightly as he did so. Dwayne's eyes were fixed on him, and a lazy smile spread across the brunette's face. When Sam was in arm's reach, he stopped short.

"Hey," Dwayne greeted softly. Sam smiled sweetly and took a few more steps forward; allowing the other man to place a hand on Sam's hip, pulling him in. There was a rather violent shudder that ran down Sam's spine from his closeness, but he pushed it away as quickly as it came.

Their kiss was sweet, with emotions mixed in that almost made Sam shake – Dwayne's hand kept him mostly still. Lust—that's mostly what he felt. Enough of it to make his head spin with desire and cause him to pull Dwayne even closer, deepening the kiss.

Sam was pushed back against the pillar, and he emitted a small gasp of surprise at the sudden force. "Do you have all night?" Sam asked in-between kisses.

"Yes."

Sam could feel how much Dwayne wanted him, and considered lowering his hand to touch him; he decided against it. However, he couldn't help the sinful and pleasant thoughts that flowed out of his mouth in a mumbled whisper, just as lips found the sensitive spot between his neck and shoulder.

Someone giggled, and Sam broke out of their state when it registered that it wasn't him that made the noise. A throat was cleared, and Dwayne broke away from him faster than a vampire cringed away from sunlight. He took a defensive and protective state immediately, his body getting between Sam and whoever had interrupted. The blonde's first reaction was a roll of his eyes, even though his own teeth had become sharper and elongated. He would have been completely ready to lash out at someone if Dwayne wasn't standing in the way.

Get out of my way, he thought—more like snarled.

Dwayne didn't move an inch.

Sam peered around him, wanting to at least get a look, and he recognized the intruders of their private moment without a second to pause. It was the two blondes he had seen not even an hour ago; the one he had played with a little, and his companion, a tall and lean young man. Sam, after a little remembrance was brought to him, recognized the second even further. He, you could say, dated him for a little bit. Go figure that they were meeting again this way.

"Whoa," Paul said, putting his hands up defensively at the look on Dwayne's face. "Sorry, dude."

"What," the Dwayne began, surprisingly calm, "are you doing here?"

"Looking for you, of course," answered Marko, shrugging. A small grin broke out on his face. "And we found ya."

"Busy," Paul added with a snigger. Paul inclined his head to the side, peering a few feet in front of him where Dwayne was, interested in the much shorter being that Dwayne could have been accused of hiding from them, he was covering him with his back so well. However, the broadest of them all didn't expect Sam to be strong enough to shove him out of his way. Well, not exactly… But he was able to wiggle his way out without a problem.

"Are theseyour friends?" Sam asked him curiously. When Dwayne looked down, he was astonished to see Sam genuinely interested and…pleased.

"Mhm," replied Paul lightly before Dwayne could even shape his mouth to form the word.

Shit was Dwayne's only train of thought. Well, it wasn't like he could hide Sam any more…

"Sam, this is-," the brunette started to introduce, but Sam stopped him.

"I've already met them," he said, nodding. This made Dwayne a little more eased, that no one was trying to rip the throat out of another, but now he was just curious. And jealous.

"What?" Dwayne asked Sam, confused.

Sam looked innocent.

"I'm telling you guys, don't tell David about him."

Paul was unfazed and highly distracted, not really in tune to what Dwayne was repeating. "Yeah, yeah, whatever," he said dismissively, waving it off. It was very deep into the night, the sky blacker than ever, with the lights shutting down on the boardwalk; hardly anyone was around, and the boys were drifting across the bridge and down the steps slowly, aimlessly.

"I mean it," said the brunette seriously.

"Dwayne," Marko said, speaking up and sounding grave in his own honesty. "You know David will find out sooner or later."

"I'd rather it be later," he mumbled. Marko kept to his own space, arms crossed and gaze low, quiet.

Paul whispered something under his breath, shaking his head, and Dwayne snapped his attention to him. "What was that?" He engaged in a heated argument with him, since he heard very well what it was, and Sam was the topic. Marko looked uninterested, but maybe he wasn't listening to them at all—his eyes told them that he was thinking about something else.

Dwayne caught that in the corner of his eye a split second too late, because Marko's head shot up and he spun around. Dwayne didn't have time to ask him what it was before the dark of the night opened up and Marko leaped out of the way, giving birth to a glowing-eyed creature that was on them ruthlessly in an instant.

Dwayne couldn't even tell that he had changed—his fingernails and teeth growing and eyes and facial features distorted—but he didn't have to think at all; his instincts did it all for him.

The thing (he couldn't even tell in the black night if it was human or animal) had leaped upon him with claws clinging to Dwayne's chest, shoving him down on the ground in the blink of a human eye. His arms braced himself, and now he could tell that it was human, since what he felt was a bare, smooth and warm chest (though it wasn't an erotic thing to him at the moment). The being was thrown off of him swiftly by Paul, sliding in the sand a few yards away. Dwayne was on his feet in no time, and so was the man, standing broad and as tall as Paul. His mind wasn't wondering who this was, what he wanted, a million why's; the only thing running through his mind was "Kill it."

The dark-haired, unknown man snarled, showing an impressive set of dangerous teeth that made even the vampires jealous. Dwayne reacted accordingly. Even Paul, who one would think wouldn't even beat a naughty dog, was crouched and ready. His eyes were scanning everything. The golden and red orbs fell on another glowing pair across from them the same time solid yellow ones did. The mystery man darted, faster than Dwayne or Paul had ever seen anyone move, and sooner than they could even flinch, a clawed hand was on Marko's throat; their friend's back pressed against his chest tightly.

Marko's mouth clamped shut and he stopped breathing, eyes wide and highly uncertain as he watched for a reaction from someone. This wasn't the first time this had happened, of course… Marko was much smaller than them, much weaker, so you would think if the group got a human pissed off the first person he went for was the curly-haired blonde. Usually, in those situations, Marko could handle them just fine, because he did have strength greater than most. In something like, however…the odds weren't good, just judging by the remarkable grip on his windpipe at the moment.

Paul looked to Dwayne, unsure of what to do, and his stance gave away that he wasn't going to attack anymore—just what was to be expected. Dwayne stiffened. "What do you want," he asked without expression. The mystery man bared his teeth in either a sarcastic smile or warning snarl; Dwayne couldn't tell.

"I want you to stop," he said, enunciating clearly.

Well, Dwayne thought sardonically, that explains it. "What."

"You know what!" he snapped, hand clenching around Marko's neck even more, causing the small male to wince. "He's not some worthless whore you can just toss around as you please, you know."

Oh…

Dwayne thought he knew very well who this was, now. "Oh yeah?" he asked, testing the waters a bit.

"Yeah. I bet you know nothing about him."

"Why do you think that?" asked the brunette curiously, taking a step to his left. He wished he hadn't.

"Don't move," the teenage boy advised him, "or he dies."

Marko rolled his eyes, thinking, Great… Now I'm a hostage.

Dwayne held up his hands in surrender, signaling he wouldn't try anything, which seemed to assure him. "You don't know anything about him—us," he began, "or you'd be gone already."

That was a head-scratcher, somewhat. Dwayne wanted to ask more questions, but thought better of it. "What do you want?" he asked again, this time with a different meaning.

"I want you to never step within a radius of him again," he said forcefully, his expression and tone unmoving. He couldn't be compromised with. Dwayne took one look at Marko, and then another at his captor, contemplating that. He didn't have to ask to know what the options and consequences were.

He swallowed. "Okay." It pained him, more than he would like, to say it. "I won't." Marko let out a surprised cry when he was shoved abruptly and harshly forward, Paul there to catch him. Dwayne was searching immediately, but…

Michael disappeared into the night.

It might be a bit crappy… I don't know. You'll have to tell me, since you guys are my only feedback. :D I mustn't make promises on updates, since I might have a hard time keeping it, but I can promise that this will continue eventually, whether it is within a week or a few months. I don't just drop stories for no reason. Now, I shall say adios, for now, my readers! Lots of love and stuff! Happy holidays!