As requested by Archiepoke, this chapter will be Aiden's POV. And of course, I'm planning to do more of this in the future, so no worries. ;) I have also decided to write longer chapters like the previous one. Thanks a lot Archiepoke, I really appreciate your regular reviews. They motivate me a lot. :)

VampyWildCat, that's a brilliant idea, but I still can't decide whether to let Tessa witness it or not. Hahaha, I'm so conflicted. XD

To an anonymous person, I am grateful for your encouraging words. I'll try to proofread (if I have the time). I know that I have made errors here and there. And I would love it if you could leave a name. :)

I thank every single one of you who has read and reviewed this fanfiction. Yay! It has finally hit above 1000 views! Seeing a new review every single time really brightens my day and motivates me! I'll do my best!

Aiden's POV

It was such a tiring day helping out at my family's cafe. I was hoping to get a bit of fresh air so I offered to take out the trash. When I stood outside, it was so much quieter here as compared to the inside. I released a tired sigh and enjoyed the silence for a while.

Tessa wasn't hanging out here today. She was unhappy with me. We kinda got into a fight because I chided her when I heard from people that she actually spoke to Raine a few days. Only god knows whatever conversation they had, because she refused to tell me a single thing. Whatever that she had said to her probably wasn't a good thing because Raine actually avoided me like a cat avoiding water.

I was placing the bags of trash beside the rusty garbage bin when my sensitive hearing picked up the sound of someone running and huffing and puffing. There were other sounds too - cars honking, people's chatter - but this sound struck me as peculiar. Perhaps it was because I could sense the fear running off from that person despite the distance between us.

I focused and listened hard. I knew that whoever this person was, he or she was still quite a distance away and nowhere in sight, judging from how soft the sound was. But it got louder and louder as seconds passed by. That person was heading in this direction.

And then I heard it. A voice that I would never forget in my entire life.

Raine appeared on the sidewalk and she called my name loudly when she saw me. I could see her face vividly in the dark. Her face was pale and her voice was shaky. She was running as fast as she could as though her life was at stake.

She threw herself into my arms and I caught her instinctively. During the two seconds when she did that, my eyes caught something down the sidewalk, something that was following her. My nose smelled something sickly sweet that all werewolves hated.

A vampire. He was standing behind a lamp post like a silhouette, ruby red eyes staring at us and a smile playing on his lips. I wrapped my arms protectively around Raine instantly and glared at him. It was a warning.

Using his vampire speed, he disappeared in the next second. I prepared myself to fight back, but I could no longer sense any vampires around. Weird. He was gone, but I knew that he would be back soon. No vampires would leave his prey alive.

I bent down my head to take a good look at Raine. She was scared, her body was trembling in fear. She pressed her face into my chest, eyes squeezed shut. Her fingers were clutching at my shoulders. She didn't know that vampires existed and that one was actually following her. This was no good at all.

"Hey, it's alright. You're safe now," I spoke gently. I used my palm to rub her back slowly, hoping to quell her panic. It worked after a while because her breathing slowly returned to normal.

"Is that person gone?" She opened her eyes and then she turned her head to look around. When she saw that there was nobody, she let out a breath that she was holding. "Did you see him? I-I swear that there was something following me."

I hesitated, but nodded my head slightly. There was no point in lying to her. But I wasn't going to say anything about the vampire part to her. Hopefully, I would be able to get rid of him first before he could anything to her.

"O-oh my gosh", she stammered. She swiped her hair away from her sweaty forehead, her fingers quivering. She took a few deep breaths to steady and calm her nerves.

"I'm alright," she breathed. She looked up at me and gave me a small smile to assure me. I was skeptic, of course. She was just pretending to be strong and okay. She pulled away from me awkwardly, finally realizing that she was standing too close to me. But I pulled her towards me instead and held her tightly.

Did she think I was crazy enough to let her go when she was still terrified out of her wits?

It pained me to know that she was in danger right now. I wanted to protect her so badly by her side. The thought of her being so close to death just now nearly ripped my insides apart. This was it, I have to do something.

I took her hand and led her into the cafe. There wasn't many customers left, thankfully, and I knew that my dad wouldn't mind me leaving first. I guided her to an empty table and made her sit there.

"Stay here. I'll be right back," I said to Raine. She nodded her head quickly, her wide eyes never leaving mine. She let go of my hand slowly, albeit reluctantly. Knowing that she was still frightened, I promised her again that I would be back in a minute.

I hurried into the kitchen, taking off my apron and grabbing my car keys. "Hey, sis," I called out to her. My older sister, Cami, followed me into the kitchen, abandoning her place at the cashier counter. There were no customers queuing anyway. She looked back in the direction of Raine and turned her head to stare at me, shooting me a curious look.

"I'm going off first," I told her with a I-will-explain-it-to-you-later look. She nodded thoughtfully. "Drive safely, little brother." She punched my shoulder lightly when I walked past her and took a bottle of water from the shelf. I smiled back.

I went back to the table and found Raine clenching and unclenching her fingers nervously. Her eyes flitted from her hands to outside the glass windows, and back to her hands again.

"Hey."

She looked up at the sound of my voice. I handed her the bottle and she accepted it gratefully. She unscrewed the bottle cap and chugged the water down. When she was done, I jiggled my car fingers using my hand. The sound caught her attention and she looked up.

"Come on, I'll drive you home." Raine started to open her mouth to protest but I held up an index finger to stop her. I wasn't going to listen to her stubborn words. "No arguments. Let's go." I turned on my heels and walked straight to the door. I smiled slightly when I heard her footsteps following behind me closely.

I held the door open for her and we stepped outside. She went on guard immediately, her eyes looking around nervously. I placed an arm around her shoulder, hoping to ease her fear. There was nothing that could hurt her since I was around. She literally jumped when I did that and her big blue eyes stared at me in shock. I urged her forward gently and we made our way to the car.

We got into the car and I started the engine. I tossed some stuff that were sitting on the dashboard to the backseat before I started driving. Meanwhile, Raine was staring at me and watching every single thing that I was doing. I remained quiet because my mind was thinking about how awesomely close we were in this tiny space.

She broke the silence first. "Thanks a lot for today," she said gratefully. There was a mix of emotions displayed on her face - relief, fear and surprise. "And sorry for all the trouble," she added quietly. She was much calmer then she was a while ago.

"Not at all, don't worry about that. I know that this is a stupid question but I'm still gonna ask, are you feeling better?" I asked. I turned my head to look at her while keeping my hands on the wheel. She chewed on her lips and glanced out of the window. The trees outside zoomed past us in a blurry motion.

"Yeah, I'm fine. At least for now," she answered honestly. "I wonder who was following me..." She let her voice trailed off, clearly because she didn't want to think any further. I gritted my teeth.

That darn vampire... Just wait until I get my hands on him...

Raine shifted in her seat uncomfortably. Uh oh, time to change the topic. "Let's talk about something else." I used a more cheerful tone to lighten the mood. "How's school for you?" I questioned.

"Oh, it's actually quite okay. Brynn, Lisa and Melinda are such great friends. Everybody else is nice too." She flashed me a smile. It was a real smile ever since she was shaken up by the vampire.

"But urgh, I hate Physics. I don't understand a single thing." She pulled a face. I laughed and shook my head. "I can teach you, if you want," I told her, smirking slightly. She raised an innocent eyebrow at me, a smile threatening to break out anytime.

"Oh, I would totally love to do that, Einstein. Do enlighten me on the mysteries of Physics." Raine teased and poked my arm. I chuckled, a little stunned because she actually dared to touch me despite knowing about my hotter-than-normal skin.

I was glad that she seemed to be back to her usual self. But...

"What's wrong?" she asked, her eyes were filled with concern. "You are frowning. Did I do anything wrong?" Her eyebrows knitted in confusion.

I shook my head. "Nope, it's me. I know that Tessa spoke to you recently-" She swiveled her head around with a startled look. "-and I'm really sorry if she said anything mean to you." Guilt gnawed at me because I knew the reason why Tessa had approached Raine in the first place.

"It's okay." She shrugged her shoulders. "I'm not intending to let her words get to me." She smiled at me just to show that she meant what she said.

And then her face turned serious. "I'm really sorry for avoiding you. I mean, I didn't want anybody's relationship to break up because of me." Her words spilled out with honesty.

"But YOU. You kept on disturbing me, especially during Physics." She threw a glare in my direction. "Were you trying to torture me!? Gosh, I swear the teacher kept staring at me and giving me weird looks."

My laughter slipped out before I even realized. She turned and shot me a what-is-so-funny look. I laughed even harder at that. "If only...you could...see your expressions in class," I gasped out in between my laughter. She swatted my arm to hide her embarrassment. She crossed her arms and huffed, but I could tell she wasn't really angry with me. My laughter died after a while.

"You're really nice, Raine," I spoke truthfully. I wasn't talking about the part where she faked an act of being angry with me. I was referring to how thoughtful she was when she said she didn't want to be the third party between Tessa and me. She probably understood what I was saying because she remained quiet.

Her house came into view and I stopped the car at the driveway. It was already pretty dark. However, Raine has no intention of stepping out yet. She remained in her seat, looking as though she wanted to say something to me. I waited patiently, wanting to give her some time to think.

After a few minutes, she spoke out loud. "Are you always so nice to girls?" She blurted out this question. It was like she couldn't hide her curiosity anymore.

I pondered for a while. "Well, not really," I said thoughtfully. "But there are exceptions." I winked and she blushed.

"Oh. Err..." She stammered with her words awkwardly, her cheeks were still pink. "I-I gotta go, my aunt must be wondering where I'm." She fumbled with her seat belt. I leaned forward towards her to reach for the handle of the car door at her side.

Her body froze and we became quite aware of our distance. I paused and held my breath, my fingers still touching the car handle. From this position, my eyes were staring deep into those beautiful ocean blue eyes of hers. Her intoxicating scent was driving me crazy again. A couple strands of her velvety hair drooped around her cheeks. Her beauty took my breath away.

She was simply the most beautiful person I have ever seen.

My body took control of me and I leaned in closer towards her. She did the same thing too. There was this irresistible force pulling us together and closing the distance between us. She started to close her eyes when our lips were a mere inch away from each other.

But suddenly, her eyes widened in shock and her body stiffened. She leaned away from me instantly. I was flabbergasted when she did that.

"We...we can't," she choked out. She gripped her shopping bag tightly and realization finally hit me. I looked away from her and opened the car door.

"Thanks a lot, Aiden. I'll see you on Monday." She gave me an apologetic look before climbing out of the car. When she stood outside, she turned to look at me once more. I plastered a smile on my face, hoping that it would convince her to go into the house. She smiled back at me but her eyes were still filled with concern.

Once she went inside, I leaned my head on the wheel, a million thoughts running through my mind.

What have I done? How dumb could I be?

But there was a two things that I was completely certain of.

One, I couldn't stay with Tessa any longer.

And two...

I love Raine to the moon and back.