A/N: First of all, thank you for all the reviews :-)

And, btw, I changed the rating of the story from T to M, not because of something specific I plan to write but because of the language I've been using and whatnot. I thought it's more appropriate.

Sorry this update is a little late, but someone's (that I really, truly care about) father passed away, and I just wasn't in the mood to write. He's been a mess. I can't function when he's like that.

Anyway, here's the chapter. Enjoy!

ALISON ANDERSON

"You don't have to say it back so soon," he whispered, our foreheads leaning on each other, our breaths short, "But I love you."

He loved me.

He didn't abandon me, he didn't leave me. I wasn't his obligation or his much-loathed load, he loved me. He loved me. I couldn't think it enough. I couldn't comprehend what had just happened. My body, my mind - everything was a mess. A comfortable, beautiful mess. I didn't speak, I didn't say anything. Instead, with my legs still wrapped around him, my back against the wall and his strong hands supporting me, I kissed him. I sucked on his lower lip and ran my fingers through his silky, messy hair, moaning into his mouth. He squeezed me gently and it caught me by surprise, but I didn't stop. He smiled against my lips after a while, his beautiful dimples making my heart skip a beat. He put me down and I reluctantly unwrapped my arms from his neck, wrapping them around his waist instead. It felt perfect having him here, like this. During the past month, I thought about Colby a lot, and I thought about the moment we'd see each other again more than anything, but nothing in my head quite matched up to this.

He wrapped an arm around my shoulder and kissed the top of my head. We stayed like that for a moment, standing still, completely comfortable, until he spoke, "I should probably go now," he said, his voice low, "It's four in the morning - you need to sleep."

Colby the Amazing left only to be replaced by Colby the Buzz-Killer. "No, no, no, no," I said, "Come on.."

"I'll be back tomorrow. I-"

"Stay," I whined, burying my face into his chest, "Sleep with me, here."

If tongues were granted to people on basis of their ability to think before they use them, I would've probably never gotten one at all. I realized what I said as soon as I said it and I could feel my face and ears redden. Colby snorted, patting my shoulder. "You know, I would, but I dunno, I'm a virgin and I'm waiting for marriage, you know?"

I punched his chest a little, smiling. "You know what I mean!"

He laughed, twirling me, holding me against him by my waist. "No, enlighten me."

It was hard to breathe with him so close, so reachable. "I mean," I said, "Let's just go up to my bed -"

He ran his hand up and down my spine, leaning his head down so our foreheads rested on each other. "You're not helping," he breathed.

"Quit being such an ass," I said, smiling, "Let's just go sleep."

I woke up the next morning to find Colby's huge body crushing mine; one of his legs was sprawled against my waist and my head was basically buried between his arms. Now, I didn't mind the proximity but, even with my newfound strength, it was a pain trying to lift him off of me. As soon as I managed to escape though, I found myself thrown on the floor because I accidently startled him.

"What?!" he said groggily, yawning. "Who?"

I sighed, standing up, straightening the dress I slept in. "Good morning to you, too."

He yawned again. "What time is it?"

I turned around and walked to my closet - I had taken over my parents' room ever since I moved back in here. I got out a pair of shorts that I slipped on under my dress and hid behind the little door so I could slide my dress down and wear a T-shirt. "I dunno," I said, "Probably around eight or nine."

He groaned. "Why would anyone wake up that early when they'd slept at, like, four?"

I walked back to bed and went under the covers next to him. I shrugged. "Guess it's force of habit," I said, hugging my pillow, looking at him as he barely held one eye open. "I've been sleeping around three to four hours every night for a while."

He lost his battle of keeping his eyes open, but he grinned, turning towards me. "Aww, did you miss me?" he asked, "Did you stay up all night thinking about me?"

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, right," I said, "Because I really had nothing better to do than to wail over your ass all day and night." I did miss you, though. With every breath.

He opened his eyes, very sleepily though, "Are you okay? Didn't your growth spurts stop?"

I reached over and held one of his truly giant hands between mine. "Yeah, yeah, they stopped," I breathed, trailing my fingers over his, "But, remember the wolf and the vampire I saw together that day Frederick showed up at the mansion?"

He was fully alert now. He raised his head from the pillow and his expressions were serious - solid, full of authority. It was attractive, but a little scary, I suppose, if I didn't know I was the center of his concern at the moment, "Did they contact you again? Did something happen?"

I shook my head. "No, no, it's nothing like that. I just kept having dreams about them."

He fell back onto the pillow. "Yeah?"

"Yeah," I said, "I'm just wondering who they are - why they wanted me to stay away from Dad and whatnot," I explained, "Because, if it's not dangerous," I said, moving my hands to trace the veins in his arms - something I'd wanted to do for a long time, "I would really want to see him, Colby," I said, my voice low, "I want to tell him, to show him," I breathed, "I want to see him again."

He took me into his arms and patted my back. "You will," he said, "Don't worry, you couldn't be more protected," he kissed the top of my head. I smiled. "If you want, we could go see him tomorrow. The Cullens are heading back to Canada in the morning anyway, we'll go with them then head off to see your dad."

I felt a rush of excitement surge through my body. I broke our hug to look at him in his beautiful, emerald eyes. "Really?"

He nodded and kissed the top of my nose. "Now would you please let me sleep?"

I pecked his cheek and got up. "I'll be downstairs." He smiled and was back to sleep before I could even get off the bed. I walked downstairs, thankful I could get my breakfast while he was asleep.

For the past month, Alice had been supplying me with bags of donated blood that I kept in a fridge in my basement. I told her not to mention anything around Colby or anyone from the pack - especially Sarah. The reason she even got me the bags was because, a couple of days after I moved in here, I started getting this weird sensation in the back of my throat. At first, I thought it was just extreme thirst, but no matter how much water I took, it never went away. Then, a week later, I had ordered in some pizza and when the delivery boy came in his scent drove me insane. If it wasn't for Alice and Rosalie, who were there at the time, pulling me away from the door, I would have definitely attacked him. They said it was normal that I was having those cravings, and that my diet didn't have to be blood-neutral like Colby and Sarah. I was different. I was new. There were no rules.

So, ever since, I had been having a lot of donated, human blood, but they said it couldn't go on for long; they were going away and it was unfair to people who needed this blood for treatment anyway. She told me I'd have to learn to hunt animals, and control my reactions around humans. That was one of the reasons I barely went out of the house.

Even though I knew that, especially now, Colby would have to know, I didn't want him to find out just yet. I felt monstrous just for craving human blood, and knowing he didn't share the same craving even though we were genetically similar to a great extent enhanced that feeling. I snuck into the basement and relished the soft, delicious feel of blood flowing down my throat. I immediately felt energized and fresh. As soon as I had had enough to keep me going, I put the empty bags in a plastic bag designed for medical wastes, zipped it, and snuck it beneath the fridge so the scent wouldn't be obvious.

COLBY THOMAS BLACK

I opened my eyes to find Allie lying on her stomach at the end of the bed, dangling her legs, her anklet making a soft, melodic sound, her hair falling down, covering the side of her face as she read some book. I still couldn't wrap my head around everything that had happened - whether it was the fact that we kissed, or that I'd told her I loved her, or that I woke up next to her, in her bed - even though we'd only slept through the night - or that she was still right here, calm, okay. Everything was perfect. I couldn't ask for more.

I was sure the pack and Dad at the garage could do without me for a day, or two, or five. I cleared my throat and she turned to look at me, grinning. "You lazy head," she mumbled, "It's nearly two PM."

I yawned and sat up. "Sleep's great," I said, "You're missing out. What are you reading though?"

"A novel," she said, "So, what are you supposed to do today?"

"I'm all yours for the day," I said, she raised her eyebrows, "Let's go out, get you out of here."

She bookmarked the book and put it away. "I'm perfectly fine here though," she said, sitting in front of me, "Just the both of us."

As much as I loved the idea of just staying in and making out all day, I wanted to take her out - I wanted to go out. It had been a while since we both did anyway, and it was good for both of us to actually get some real food in our systems, since I knew Allie was not, err, the best chef ever and I could barely microwave a sandwich myself. "Come on," I said, "We can go anywhere." Hell, I could take her for to dinner in Venice if she wanted. One of the many perks of being filthy rich, really.

"I'm really fine just staying home."

"We'll go have some food somewhere then, say, I'll teach you how to drive."

She shook her head. "Colby.."

"The Ferrari."

She narrowed her eyes at me. "You're not just saying that?"

I laughed. "No, really, you're going to have to learn how to drive sooner or later," I said, "And what better way than to take the Ferrari out for a spin? You'll love it, I promise."

Her face lit up and she clapped her hands a little. "Okay!" She was such a little girl inside, despite all the changes. It was adorable.

She changed into skinny jeans and a shirt that she tucked inside and pulled her hair up in a ponytail. Since I was still wearing last night's outfit - I didn't even take off my jeans as I slept, which was the definition of uncomfortable - I told her we'd stop by my house for a minute before we went to eat. She didn't mind. In fact, she even suggested we ate at my place, but that wasn't going to work out. Nobody knew about us yet and I honestly didn't want to spend the first day I actually have with her around my mom, my sister and possibly her imprint. I didn't know why she would even consider this.

After I changed, and since she said she wasn't hungry yet, we headed off to one of my favorite restaurants in Seattle. All the way there, she kept talking about this book she was reading, for some reason. Of all the topics in the world that we could talk about during a two-hour drive, she chose a novel that poorly portrayed werewolves. Sure, I was a shape-shifter, technically, but I knew about werewolves and it was just plain wrong. I didn't correct her, though, for the most part, since she seemed pretty excited about the book and I didn't want to ruin it for her. God knows how much torture I had to put up with as I grew up with Sarah, who was a bookworm herself, when I tried to correct her or discuss a book she was reading.

It was a French restaurant. Despite how much I wasn't fond of their language, or my memories there with Sarah, in Paris, when she was kidnapped and nearly killed, I had to admit - they made killer food. Whether it was the pastries or the salads or the meat - God, it was perfect. So delicate, so delicious. The only downside to their cuisine was their love for tiny little portions that barely fed me. But it was my first date with Allie, somewhat. Was it a date? We didn't discuss anything after we made out, really, but just in case it was a date, which I really hoped it was, I made sure she was somewhere perfect.

"So, what are you having?" she said, flipping through the menu, "I have no idea what most of this is."

"The filet mignon here is awesome," I said, "The chicken, too - all types of them. And the salads."

She pulled her lips in a restrained smile. "Someone likes French food."

"You don't?" I said. Dammit, I should've asked. "We can go somewhere else, right now -"

"No, no," she said quickly, "I love it here," her smile was soft, but her neck was tense, "Let's order. I'll have whatever you're having."

I reached my hand across the table and held hers. "Allie."

She relaxed a little. "Seriously." I sighed and called for the waiter. He came over and took our order in no time. As soon as he left, she rested her elbows on the table, leaning forward, smiling. "Look at us, having a date like normal people."

"I know, right? It's weird," I said, "So quiet, so normal."

"How many of those have you had?"

"What? First dates?" She nodded. "I dunno, around twenty? Thirty? I lost count."

"Twenty girls?" she said, "Are you kidding me? You dated over twenty different women?"

"I wouldn't call it dating, since it was usually just one date each."

She narrowed her eyes. "Man-whore."

"You don't seem to mind though," I pointed out, laughing.

"Of course I don't," she said, shrugging, "Magic force shit may be uncomfortable to think about but you're my man-whore now."

"For the love of God, Allie," I said with an exaggerated sigh, "Stop making everything sound so dirty. I told you I'm too innocent."

Her cheeks reddened. "Yeah, I bet you are," she said, "Mr. Twenty Women."

"You wouldn't want to hire someone who lacked experience for anything, would you?"

She laughed. "Oh yeah?" she said, "Maybe I should get some experience for myself, then."

"I don't mind," I said, shrugging, "But I'm not responsible for any bodies that need to be cleaned up or buried, you know."

Her face paled and she sat straight, looking at me warily. "What do you mean?"

I frowned. What did she think I meant? I was kidding - nothing in this whole conversation was serious anyway. "Um," I said, "I mean I'd kill anyone who touched you, Allie," I said, "Is everything okay?"

Before she said anything, her head snapped towards the waiter, who was coming from behind her, with our food. Her eyes were fixated on him, following his every move, his every breath. What was going on?

She kept looking at him, her ocean blue eyes darkening, her face still pale. He leaned over to serve our plates and I could see it in her eyes - the dullness, the lifelessness, the pure, animalistic desire.

The thirst.

There you go! Sorry, again, that this is so late. I really couldn't bring myself to write at all.

Review please!