A/N - Sorry! Sorry! Sorry! Times a million and 6. I know I haven't updated in a while. A lot more chapters will be coming soon. Also, there's a poll on my profile as well as an update schedule for An U-W Love. Please check it out. Happy reading (and reviewing)

Chapter 7:

Thais set Jae down on the sidewalk in front of a hotel downtown. She followed him through the lobby and into the elevator. Once the doors slid shut, Jae opened her mouth to ask a question, but Thais quickly shushed her. The elevator beeped and the doors opened to reveal a long corridor filled with numbered doors.

Thais walked confidently to the left and Jae followed slowly behind. He turned a corner without realizing that Jae had fallen so far back. He strode forward along the hallway, completely absorbed in his own thoughts.

Jae heard footsteps behind her, and she turned around. There stood Roland, in all his blue eyed glory. She gasped, and quickly he had pressed his hand to her mouth. She couldn't speak. She tried to shout for Thais, but her mouth refused to open. Her eyelids began to droop and a warm feeling worked its way through her body.

"I love you," Roland whispered into Jae's ear. She tried to squirm away from him, but a burst of numb relaxation shot through her arms and legs.

Unable to support her own weight, Roland held her up, whispering nonsense words into her ear. She let her eyes close.

"Jae," Thais called.

"I love you. I'll take you back later," Roland said. He placed her back on the ground and disappeared silently.

Jae staggered in the direction she remembered Thais had gone. Tears welled up in her eyes. She stumbled blindly until she hit something hard and cold that picked her up by the shoulders.

"What's wrong? Jae! Jae, what happened?!" Thais had a panicked look in his eyes. He had no idea what could've happened to upset her so much in the minute and a half he hadn't been paying attention.

Jae tried to tell him what happened, but when she opened her mouth, no noise would come out. She started to cry more, opening and closing her mouth, periodically.

"Jae, you have to tell me what's wrong. I can't help you if I don't know what's wrong." He bent down so that he made eye contact with her. She suddenly felt even more of an urge to tell him what had happened, but she couldn't.

"I can't."

"Yes, you can. You can tell me anything. You should know that by now."

"No, I can't. I physically can't. I'm trying, but I can't. I want to tell you. I want to tell you so bad, and I don't know why." Jae started to cry again.

"It's okay. It's okay. Let's get you home. We can do this some other time." Thais picked her up and carried her out of the hotel. She cried quietly, burying her face in his shirt.

Jae felt something soft being put under her. She opened her eyes and saw that she was in her room, on her bed. That was fast, she thought. Thais sat down next to her. He looked at her with worry, so she sat up and moved closer to him.

"I'm sorry," she said. "I'm so sorry." She wrapped her arms around him tentatively. Thais pulled Jae closer to him and took several deep breaths. His cold skin gave her goose bumps on the upper part of her arms where their skin touched.

He pushed her away from him and trapped her with his gaze. "You have nothing to be sorry for," Thais said with a burning sincerity. He kept her locked in his gaze until her eyelids began to droop and her arms became limp around his neck.

"Stop it. I need to apologize. I need to be awake!" Jae shook her upper body, in an attempt to break the steady stream of drowsiness.

"You have nothing to apologize for." Thais's voice relaxed Jae even further. Her eyes closed and Thais began to pick her up so that he could put her under the covers.
"Okay, okay. I just want to talk to you for a minute," Jae complained.

Thais gave consent by returning some of Jae's consciousness. "Okay. But just for a little while. You need to get some sleep."

"Okay. First of all, why can't I tell you what happened at the hotel? One minute I was walking down the hallway, and then I-" Jae was cut off. She could not speak any more. "What's going on?"

"Did you see Roland at the hotel?"

Jae tried to nod, but her head wouldn't move. Her breathing increased with determination as she tried her best to communicate with Thais.

"I'll take that as a 'yes'. I think that he may have used the 'vampire charm'." Thais indicated what he meant by making Jae feel sleepy. He quickly brought her back to awareness, though. "The effects won't be permanent, but it will last long enough. I will have a friend of mine look at that tomorrow."

"Is that the friend I'm serving lunch to?" Jae asked.

Always thinking about work, Thais thought. "Yes. That's who it is, but you don't have to serve lunch tomorrow, you've been through a lot."

"No, I can do it. I'm fine." Jae shrugged to prove that it was no big deal.

"Alright. Time for bed, now." Thais reached out his hand to touch Jae's shoulder.

"Wait!" Jae cried in a panic, "There's one more important thing I want to talk to you about."

Thais sat back down on her bed. "Alright."

"Why do you bother? Wouldn't it just be easier to let Roland have me and find yourself a new girl to drink? There has to be hundreds of girls that would be willing to get bitten by a vampire. Don't think I don't appreciate everything you're doing. I do! I just don't understand why you go through such a hassle."

"You're special," Thais replied. "You're calm and interesting. I don' think there is anyone else that could deal with the world of vampires and still be willing to serve a sandwich the next day." Thais chuckled.

"Well, thank you. And, I'm sorry for all the trouble I've caused you." Jae looked down sheepishly.

"I've told you not to apologize. Now, take it back. Because it's no trouble at all. I don't mind taking care of you."

"I'm not going to take it back. You're going to such great lengths just to protect me. I'm not worth it."

"Yes, you are. Now, as your boss, I command you to take back your apology." Thais gave the same devilish smile he had given on Jae's first day at his house. It was the smile of someone who knew they'd won. And Thais knew that he'd always win.

"I take back the apology. It's no big deal," Jae groaned, somewhat mockingly.

"That's my girl. Now, time for bed."

"I think I'm tired enough to fall asleep on my own. Thank you, though," she added politely.

"Alright. I'll just wait here, incase you need any help."

"No, I'll be alright. You can just go to you're room. You need sleep."

"You're the one that was attacked. I think you need sleep more than I."

He needs sleep. Jeez, why won't he just admit that he's not superman. Well, he kind of IS, but he still needs sleep, she thought.

"Well, when you put it that way, I'd like to accept your offer from before," Jae said.

Thais got up from the chair he had been sitting on and walked over to the bed. Jae flipped over so that she was looking him in the eyes. As she did this, her muscles began to loosen up. Her limbs began to feel heavy and her eyelids began to close. She jerked her head up, in an attempt to stay awake.

"Just relax," Thais said in his most soothing voice.

Jae's breathing became deeper and her eyes closed. He knew she was in a deep sleep, so he silently left the room, so he could go to sleep in his own bed.

A soft moan woke Thais from his slumber. He crawled out of bed and walked down the hallway with a new energy. He felt well rested for the first time in a while, since Jae had come. Another moan led Thais to Jae's bedroom door.

He knocked twice; a short groan followed each of the taps. "Jae, can I come in?" he asked.

No response.

Thais twisted the knob and walked into the dimly lit room. He could see perfectly fine, so he walked over to her bed, and he lay down next to her. Jae flipped over and curled into a ball. She tucked her knees under chin and wiggled closer to Thais. He smiled as a bit of her hair moved onto his hand and tickled his palm.

He began to run his fingers through her hair, taking bigger and bigger parts each time. Jae's eyes opened. "Good morning," she mumbled through the fog of sleep.

"Good morning," Thais responded. He liked her when she was sleepier. He decided to keep her sleepy, just as an experiment.

Jae's eyes took on a glazed over look. She smiled sleepily at him. "You're in my bed," she giggled.

"Yes, I am," Thais said. His voice relaxed Jae further. She smiled and grabbed his arm with both of her hands. She pulled herself closer to him and pushed herself up so that they were looking each other in the eye. Thais leaned forward and their foreheads touched.

Jae giggled again. "You're very nice, you know," Jae said. The glassy look was beginning to fade from her eyes.

"You're very nice too." Again, the dreamy look came to her face.

"You're pretty." She brought her hand up to touch his face. Her fingers moved across his forehead and down his cheek. "You're cold, too!" She giggled again.

"Thais, I like you. A lot. But, I'm tired right now. I'm going to go back to sleep." Jae closed her eyes and curled up on top of Thais. She used his shoulder as a pillow and buried her face in the nape of his neck.

Time to wake up, Thais thought. "When you're ready, get dressed and come down to the kitchen for breakfast." He picked Jae up so that he could get out from under her. He placed back on top of the sheets and left the room silently.

After about fifteen minutes, Jae was able to pry her eyes open and crawl out of bed. She threw on a pair of jeans and a tee-shirt. She pulled her fingers through her hair as she walked down the stairs and into the kitchen.

"Sorry. It usually doesn't take me that long to wake up. I don't know." Jae put a bowl and the carton of milk on the table. The door to the pantry swung open as Thais went in to grab a box of cereal.

"Here you go," Thais said, handing Jae the box.

"Thank you." She sat down and poured the cereal into her bowl. "So, I was thinking of making a pesto sauce to go with the pasta today. Do you have any basil?"

"Uh, yeah. I think so. But, you don't have to make anything you aren't up to it," Thais offered.

"No, it's fine. It's my job. I'm totally fine." Jae shrugged it off.

"Are you sure you don't want to take the day off? I could order in from somewhere…," Thais trailed off. He relaxed Jae with his voice.

"Stop it! Stop it! Stop it!" Jae shrieked playfully. She ran out of the room holding her hands over her ears and squeezing her eyes shut. She ran right into Thais and fell back onto her bottom.

"Hey," Thais complained. He chuckled to himself.

"Sorry," Jae said. Thais grabbed Jae's forearms and pulled her up to her feet. She still had her hands clamped on her ears, and her eyes squeezed shut.

"You don't have to apologize. Just look at me. Come on." Thais had pried Jae's hands away from her ears.

Jae shook her head and tried to bring her hands back up but Thais had her arms pinned down firmly to her side.

"Why not?" Thais tried to use his most persuasive voice, without Jae noticing the effect he was having on her mind.

"If you promise not to…," Jae trailed off, not sure what to call it.

"Use the 'vampire charm'?" Thais suggested in an attempt to finish Jae's sentence.

"Yes. Thank you."

"I promise."

Jae opened her eyes and looked at the beautiful man standing before her, but she would never tell him that that's what she thought of him.

"Could you not? Like, ever," she asked.

"No. It's too much fun." Thais laughed.

God, how I love his laugh, she thought. Jae rolled her eyes and walked back to the kitchen.

"I'll try to tone it down a bit." Thais was suddenly next to her. She jerked back, surprised. He chuckled at her reaction.

"Listen. I have to make lunch. So will you please let me get to work."

"Alright," he said, slightly amused. Thais chuckled as he walked to the living room. Jae walked into the kitchen and began pulling out pots and pans. Thais's eyes were constantly on her, although she was completely oblivious. She swayed her hips to the music in her head. Thais watched her flit about the kitchen, wondering what she was thinking.

She rolled her neck and Thais could hear the joints cracking. She let out a sigh as she released the breath she had been holding. "Okay," she mumbled to herself, "here we go."

After much clatter of pots and pans, Jae had the pasta strained and was beginning to make the sauce. She pulled out tomatoes and some vegetables. She got a knife and began chopping. Thais looked over nervously when he heard Jae take a quick intake of breath. Then, the smell of blood assaulted his nostrils. He rushed over to Jae to see that she had slit her hand, from the part in between her thumb and pointer finger to her wrist. The cut wasn't very deep, but at the moment, there was a lot of blood coming from it.

"Jae," Thais said quietly, so not to scare her. "Why didn't you scream for me?" Jae was standing at the sink washing out her cut. She winced slightly every time the water touched the wound.

"I didn't think it was important." Jae shrugged and tried to make her winces less noticeable.

"How could you not think this is important? Or at least scream? Didn't it hurt?" Thais grabbed Jae's wrist and dragged her out of the kitchen.

"It didn't hurt much. And I've never been one for screaming." She followed him without question up the stairs and into a bathroom. Thais picked her up and placed her on the counter in between the two sinks. He pulled out a tube of anti-biotic and some bandages.

He began dabbing the ointment on her cut. "You don't have to be brave. Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. It's whatever." Thais finished bandaging her cut and Jae went back to making lunch.