Thank you to everyone who read and/or reviewed the last chapter!

Elle: Big temper! Not a great sign. Thanks for reviewing. :)

The restaurant had definitely had busier nights. There was one couple, a group of girls, two families, and a work meeting scattered around the restaurant, talking quietly amongst themselves. It allowed the manager's favourite fifties songs to blast out. With the dim, rustic theme of the restaurant, the fifties didn't really fit in. But the manager, Roddy, grew up in the age of greasers and Doo-wop. It was the only music he vowed to listen to. The only time the restaurant ever stepped back into the eighties was when Roddy was off work and the assistant manager, Karen, brought in her selection of modern day music.

Bridget didn't mind the fifties music. She respected the father of rock and roll and a lot of the songs were quite catchy. Like the song that was playing at that very moment, Rockin' Robin. That had become one of her favourites, preferring the original cover over The Jackson 5 version the more she heard it. She tapped her foot against the floor in rhythm to the song as she totalled up a bill for one of the customers. It was supposed to be her last task before she got ready to head home. But that last task was taking longer than it should. It was lucky that the restaurant was quiet because she had spent the last few minutes calculating the overall price of table seven's order. It usually took her seconds to complete.

The music was not the distraction. There was something else that had been on her mind all evening. She couldn't stop thinking about Alan kissing her. Every time she did that spot on her forehead tingled and a smile crept up on her face again. Her mother had been kind enough to drop Alan back home before taking her daughters to work. Bridget had been expecting another kiss, maybe not on the head this time, but all she had got from Alan was a hug. And a quick one as well. She figured from the embarrassed glances at her sister and mother in the front that he didn't dare kiss her again when there were others around. Maybe it was also a good thing he didn't because Bernice had teased her about finding them holding hands earlier all night. If she knew Alan had kissed her on the forehead there would be no end to Bernice's comments.

Curiosity had been sparked now. They both admitted they liked the kiss but what did that mean? Was it normal for friends to kiss each other? Were they still platonic? Did she want it to stay platonic? Did Alan?

"It's not like you to struggle with pricing up," Roddy said. "You're my fastest totaller."

Bridget sighed. "Sorry. My head isn't with it today."

"You look very tired. No good exhausting yourself."

She smiled at him and looked down at the prices. Okay. She could do this. She bit her lower lip and forced concentration. Nine plus nine was eighteen… carry the one…

"This table had a twenty per cent off voucher."

"Okay… easy…"

She jotted down the price and tore the paper of the notepad. "That's table seven done. And so am I."

"Good, good. See you Friday."

Bernice had been waiting for her sister outside, talking to Leon who had come to see her towards the end of her shift. Bridget watched them carefully, noticing the frown on Leon's face as he spoke to her sister. Bernice herself kept looking down at the ground and there were small tears running down her cheek.

Oh no, Bridget thought.

Bernice wasn't surprised she was having this conversation. She was surprised Leon had actually been patient all this time. But they were about to have their first anniversary which she knew Leon had planned for. However, tomorrow she would be hunting and trying to find this Head Vampire which meant having to cancel their date night in the process. The disappointment had finally built up inside her boyfriend.

"I just want to know what's happening. You've been kinda blowing me off for a while now," he said.

She couldn't form any explanation. She didn't really like lying to him but what could she say?

"I have a lot of work to do at the moment. I'm getting ready for college –."

"I'm getting the feeling that's not the reason," he said, almost whispering. She lowered her head. The tears were wetting her cheeks and chin.

"You can tell me if you want to break things off, you know."

"I don't want to break up with you," she said, lifting her head but he didn't look convinced. There was a desperate part of her that wanted to suddenly blurt everything out because she was now imagining a life where Leon wasn't involved. It was scarily empty. He was the best guy she had ever dated and the only guy she had decided to really get serious with. After a string of boyfriends throughout high school, Leon had been the first one she had ever felt those butterflies in her stomach with. He had been the first guy who had not been afraid to make romantic gestures, taking her to the park on their first date and surprising her with a picnic of her favourite snacks. She had spent her birthday in January with him, agreeing that after ten months of going out together it was the right time to take their relationship to the next level.

She had it all worked out. They would go to college together, both study theatre in Washington, and move to New York after finishing their degrees. She hoped to be married to him by the time she was twenty five in an outdoor, June wedding. Bonnie would be the Maid of Honour and Bridget would be her bridesmaid. Everything was planned.

She couldn't lose him.

"Do you want to break up with me?" she asked.

"No!" Leon took her hands. "I don't really know what to do. I don't get to see you anymore and I keep wondering if that's it for us. I mean, are things going to change?"

"I don't know," she said. "I can't really promise anything at the moment. I want to be able to spend as much with you like I used to but things ha ve been happening. And they still are."

"I wish you'd tell me what's really going on," he said.

Bernice took a deep breath. I really want to. While she wanted to sort things out with Leon now, and alone, she was partly glad when Bridget joined them. Her sister shrugged on her leather jacket as she wandered outside.

"Is everything okay?" she asked.

Bernice nodding at her sister. "We're just talking."

Leon gave a half-hearted shrug and he began to turn away.

"Talk to you tomorrow?"

"No, we need to sort this out."

There was a sudden yell of vulgar language from Bridget. "Holy shit! Alan, what the fuck?"

There was blood on Alan's face as he sauntered up to the girls and Leon. He saw Bernice had dragged Bridget closer to her, both of them with wary expressions. Well, Bernice definitely looked cautious and he noticed her hand had moved to the pocket of her coat. Bridget looked… well, he could hear the drumming of her heart speed up. He even spotted the glistening of tears in her eyes. Both of them were already panicking and jumping to conclusions so he raised his hands.

"It was just a fight," he said. He glanced at Bridget. "Nothing else happened. I'm fine."

She nodded and he saw her posture relax. She wriggled her hand out of her sister's grasp and she was by his side in seconds. Her arms were around him, wrapped around his neck.

"Why are you out by yourself? What the hell happened?" she whispered.

"I need to talk to you." He broke free of her grip and took her hand.

"Brid, I'm coming with you," Bernice said, following them. Alan was already leading her sister around the corner of the restaurant and into the staff parking.

"Bernie," Leon called. "You wanted to talk."

She sighed, turning to face him and she shrugged helplessly. "Lee, I'm sorry. I just need to make sure she's alright."

"She's only talking to Alan."

"No, you don't understand –."

"Bernie, let me talk to him," Bridget said. At the same time, Leon raised his hands.

"Look, I'll go. I'll see you tomorrow."

"No!" Bernice wanted to move towards him. She wanted to reach out, take his hands, and sort out everything out. But her sister was walking off with a half vampire who had clearly lost it again. She sighed and started walking towards where Alan and Bridget had gone, listening to her sister coax Alan into calming down.

"Okay, chill," Bridget said. "Alan, seriously, calm down. Look, I'm going to have to slap you if you don't stop freaking out."

"What is going on?" Bernice asked, marching towards them. Alan paced about, talking quick about why his face was covered in blood but with the high pitched, fast tone of his voice it was hard to make sense of what he was saying.

"Alan… slowly…" Bridget said.

"I went for a guy. He threw a can at me and I went for him. I was about to feed from him. In public!"

"Why are you out anyway?" she asked. Her hands were on her hips and mouth twisted into that stern Teahan scowl.

"I needed to get out. I felt like I was in a cage," he said and ran his hands through his hair. "I can't stand being cooped up inside when it's night time."

"I thought Bonnie was watching you," Bernice said.

He shrugged. "Bonnie can't watch me all night. She fell asleep."

"Have you been with those vampires?" Bridget asked.

Alan stopped pacing and groaned.

There was a loud sigh of exasperation from Bridget as she waved her hands once and let them drop by her side. "Fuck's sake, Alan! What are you doing?"

"I don't know. I mean, I left the house and Charlotte was there. I thought she might let something slip. The Head Vampire or where they've taken shelter. But all of them were there at the Boardwalk and I stayed. I dunno why. I just did but then Logan started causing trouble. He purposely got me into a fight and I ended up flipping out. I mean, he had to pull me away."

"Shit," Bridget mumbled, turning away and ran a hand through her hair.

"I'm sorry," Alan said.

"Alan, you need to stay away from them," Bernice said. "You've heard from Bonnie and Michael about half vampirism. It detaches you and you don't need an extra influence tempting you." She glanced at the entrance to the shop where her mother's car was pulling up.

"That's Mom," she said. "Alan, do you want a lift home?"

"I'll be fine."

"Can I trust you to go home?" she asked.

"Yes." He glanced at Bridget when Bernice turned her back and she frowned at him. When he moved over for a hug, she hesitantly responded by placing her arms around his waist.

He kept his voice as low as possible, whispering into her ear so Bernice wouldn't hear. "If I make my way to yours, can I stay with you tonight?"

"I dunno…"

"Please. I need you right now. I don't know where else to go."

She sighed, nodding, and pressed her finger to her lips, gesturing to Bernice. She pulled away as she walked over to her sister and they linked arms. Bernice glanced back, flashing her own stern glare.

"You'll go home?"

"Yeah."

"I'll call him," Bridget said to her sister. "See if he's there."

Alan nodded at her, a small smile on his lips and he let the girls walk off. He listened to their footsteps, all the way to the car where they greeted their mother. The car drove off slowly, rumbling away and, when there was silence, Alan took to the sky.

Ruby and Logan watched him fly away, standing still in the shadows near the doorway of the back entrance. Ruby had to laugh, shaking her head.

"Charlotte would be pissed," she said. "Off with his little friend again."

"I think we could use those sisters."

"Oh?" She raised an eyebrow at Logan. "What now?"

"That brunette girl, Bridget, attaches herself too much. She's too close to her sister and she's too close to Alan. If her sister was also turning she'd stick by them despite the dangers. She'd fight for them."

"They all would. They're all fighting for the tadpole right now."

"Hmm." Logan tapped at his lip with his finger, eyebrows knitted together in concentration. That was true. All of them, even Alan's brother, were prepared to find the Head Vampire. But if it came down to Alan completely turning, not all of them would be willing to finish him off. Their personal feelings were enough to break them all up.

"I think Bridget's the most involved," Logan said. "We might have to watch that dame for a bit."

"You trying to cause fights in our own pack? Charlotte wants her dead. They're rivals. And if you're trying to turn a couple more of them, Marko's going to be on the rampage. They killed his pack. He doesn't want to ally up with them as vampires."

"Marko's going to have to realise that it's not always about flashing your fangs and ripping out throats. It's too easy to kill someone. Personally, I'm having a lot of fun watching a vampire hunter become the one thing he hates. And I'll have a lot of fun too watching the others argue and split up when Alan takes that final step. They'll all be conflicted over their duty and personal feelings."

"But Charlotte -."

"I never said anything about turning Bridget so stop worrying. She may struggle to kill Alan and her sister if they turned but they wouldn't give her the same kindness if they were full vampires. Or maybe Charlotte can have some fun once Alan is definitely on our side. He won't care then."

He glanced at Ruby who tapped her foot against the ground. He grinned at her, swinging an arm around her shoulder in a playful hug. "What's the matter?"

"I don't trust strange vampires," she said, turning to walk off. "You're not as smart and cunning as you think you are, you know. You're too busy causing this Brat Pack gang to turn against each other when it could easily happen with us."

"We're fine," Logan assured her but she shook her head.

"I think I preferred it when it was just you and me," she said. "But whatever. Go waste your night stalking the teeny boppers. I need to feed."