Hey everyone!

You guys are all amazing and I cannot express how much I love you! Thank you so much for all your reviews and follows, every single one of them mean so much to me!

This chapter is a bit longer than the last one, although, I don't think you will like what happens - #sorrynotsorry.

Rated T: Swearing, alcohol, references to stalker like behaviour.

As always, constructive criticism is welcome!

Enjoy!

Chapter Eleven

Pam was giving Godric a deeply unimpressed look.

"She kissed me. That's not my fault," she drawled, looking bored and projecting an air of unconcerned apathy. However, she still moved away from me very hastily and made a swift exit, disappearing into the crowded club.

I pouted childishly at Godric, whining at him. "You scared off my new friend."

He just stood there, looking infuriated beyond words and like he was trying to get a hold of himself. I shrugged, and in an incredibly stupid move, grabbed a glass of vodka from a passing customer and downed it in a few short seconds. There was no way I was dealing with these vampires without another a drink – maybe if I drank enough I would pass out and could avoid this confrontation all together.

An expression I couldn't identify flashed over Godric's face and before I could even put the glass back down, I was abruptly transported back to the office. The world was spinning so badly before Godric moved me at super speed that I didn't even notice.

Godric gently placed me on the couch and dragged a chair over, sitting in front of me in an eerily similar manner to the way Eric had done a few days ago.

"Why did you kiss her?"

I grinned widely. "Because she is pretty," I declared, sounding immensely proud of myself. I paused. "I can kiss you too, if you want." I leaned into him, bringing my face close to his. It wasn't as romantic as I wanted it to be. I was having a hard time focusing and the world was blurring around me in a confusing swirl of bright lights. I couldn't hold myself still and I swayed unsteadily in front of Godric, even when sitting down. "Actually, no. I take it back. I don't want to kiss you." I collapsed back on the sofa, leaning my head gratefully on a cushion.

Godric looked both outraged and offended and it made me giggle loudly. "Why," he asked, voice tight and strained, "do you not want to kiss me?"

My giggles suddenly died in my throat as I became serious, almost melancholy. "Because you're the one I want to kiss the most."

I tried to watch for his reaction but I was a mess and could barely hold my head up, let alone see what Godric was doing.

His voice floated through the air but I couldn't identify the emotions in it. "You cannot kiss me even though I am the one you desire the most, why?"

I groaned, burying my face in a cushion. "Don' wanna talk bout it," I slurred.

"Tell me, Milia," I could hear a tone of urgency in his voice.

"Cause I like you too much. Don' wanna like you though. You vamp – vampires," it was a struggle to get my words out coherently, "cause so much drama and I never know what y'all are thinkin' or what y'all want with me. I'm in way over my head. Everythin's a game of chess to you and I don' like feeling like a pawn. You an' Eric an' all the other vampires play mind games with me and mess with my head an' I don' like it." I trailed off uncertainly, distracted by the ruffles on the cushion. I sat up, bringing it with me and stroked it in a delighted manner. "This is pretty. Can I keep it?"

"What? Oh, yes, do what you please with it." Godric paused and I distantly thought he sounded much calmer now; his voice was far gentler. "This does not explain why you were kissing that," his voice turned momentarily venomous, "male in the parking lot, nor why you tried to kiss Pam."

"I don' have to explain myself to you!" I yelled, trying to stand up. "You got no say in what I do or who I do it with, Godric, so back the fuck up and don' go stickin' your nose where it ain't wanted!"

I stumbled to my feet and Godric moved quickly, gently guiding me back to my seat.

"I know, Milia, you do not have to tell me that but I would like to understand, if you will allow it?" His voice was soft and he was rubbing soothing circles on my back.

I moved straight past the angry phase of being drunk and went straight into the hysterical crying stage. It was not pretty. I immediately burst into tears and wrapped my arms around Godric, clinging to him like an octopus. "Sorry for making you sad," I cried.

I felt him stiffen but then he relaxed and seemed to melt into the hug, gathering me in his arms so he could rest his chin on top of my head. "Hush now, Milia, do not cry, it hurts me to see such an emotion on you."

But it was too late and I was huffing out big, unattractive, crocodile tears. "I don' even get why you like me – you're so amazin' and strong and great and I accidentally smash'd three plates today," I wailed.

I felt Godric's chest rumble as he chuckled and it made me cry more. He started murmuring things to me but it was in another language so I couldn't understand it. The soothing tone of his voice calmed me down anyway, and I snuggled deeper in his arms, sighing contently. After a while, my tears dried and his voice started to lull me to sleep.

Just as I was on the verge of a deep sleep, the office door banged open, startling me awake. Eric strode in, looking as beautiful as ever in a leather jacket identical to the one I had destroyed.

"I have taken care of the human male," he told Godric, looking proud and smug.

I jumped out of Godric's arms in alarm. "What do'y mean taken care of?" I demanded, looking up at Eric with wide eyes as I lowered my voice to a fearful whisper, "did you kill him?"

He gave me a cruel smirk but shook his head. "No, I glamoured him."

"What?" I questioned, as Godric reached for me, trying to pull me back into the cocoon of his arms. "Glamoured? You like… gave him a makeover?"

Pam, who had just glided into the room, snorted, giving a mocking laugh. "Oh sweetie, you're dumber than a bag of rocks."

"Yeah well you – you're…" I floundered, struggling to come up with an insult, "you're stupid."

"That was pathetic," was her only reply.

I pouted and tried to cross my arms but the small movement sent me careening around the room again as I struggled to regain my balance.

"Wow, I'm so drunk!"

"Yes," Eric bit out distastefully, "and it feels very unpleasant for all of us."

Huh? "What'd ya mean it feels unpleasant for you? You can't get drunk – you're a vampire."

Eric looked, strangely, momentarily caught off guard before he seemed to quickly recover. "I just meant that it feels very unpleasant to have to be near the drunken stench coming off you."

My jaw dropped open indignation, "There's no stench comin' off me!" I discreetly tried to sniff myself, just in case. "Yeah! I don' smell!"

Glaring mutinously, I tottered over to the desk where I could see an expensive looking bottle of cologne sitting there innocently. I grabbed it and started liberally spraying everything I could see and then coughing as I inhaled a cloud of it.

"There," I gasped out, finding it hard to breathe, "now no one smells."

Eric snarled at me, snatching the cologne from my grasp. "That was Armani."

"Ooohhh, nooo," I drawled mockingly, dancing out of his reach, "what's the big bad vampire gonna do?"

Pam started laughing loudly and Eric and took a menacing step forward when Godric's voice held him in place.

"Do not touch her, Eric." His voiced was laced with amusement.

"You are acting very childishly," Eric informed me, sounding murderous.

"You are acting very childishly," I mimicked in a high-pitched voice, placing my hands on my hips.

Eric growled. Pam was cackling delightedly while Godric tried to hide his amusement behind his hand. Eric shoved Pam out of the room, slamming the door shut with a bang.

I grinned at him and skipped, well, tried to skip, over to a shelf, picking up books and rifling through them. It took me a while to realise they weren't written in English.

"Hey, what language are these?" I asked, waving a book at the two vampires who had been watching me carefully, Godric with an enchanted look in his eye and Eric with territorial irritation.

"Swedish," he told me through gritted teeth, eyes narrowed dangerously.

"Oh, cool," I chirped, delicately placing the book back on the shelf. "Hey! You spoke Swedish to me that one time, Godric, you called me a fucker—"

"No I did not."

" – or something. Are you both Swedish?"

Eric stared with an expression that was lost on me. "I am, in a way."

"I am not," Godric informed me.

I sighed deeply, "ugh, see what I mean – you vampires are always so vague. So annoying."

"No, what is annoying is having to deal with the messes you create by trying to hook up with greasy blood bags," Eric spat out, his irritation seeming to rise the longer he was with me.

"That wasn' my fault," I slurred, tilting dangerously and using the desk to steady myself as I inspected the office, "that was all your fault! I would never have had to sleep with him if it wasn' for you two and those stupid dreams and everythin' is stupid!" I stomped my foot childishly. "I was tryin' to forget about your dumb faces!"

The two vampires sat there and stared at me in silence, both with unreadable looks on their faces. I huffed and rolled my eyes, going back to my examination of the room. I tried to open the desk drawers but they were locked so I started rifling through the papers on it instead.

"What dreams?" Godric asked; sly smile fixed on his face.

"Huh? What'd ya mean what dreams?" the alcohol in my system was making me sluggish and forgetful and very easily distracted – I had already forgotten about our conversation from a few minutes ago.

"Have you been having naughty dreams about us, Milia?" Eric asked mischievously, looking viciously vindictive.

I immediately went an unattractive shade of red. "What? Naughty dreams? Me? Pfft, no! I have never had naughty dreams ever in my life ever and for you to even think that is jus' - just ridiculous! This is an outrage! I can't believe – this is so – who do you think – you know what? I don't have to listen to this." I stumbled over to the door and managed to open it a crack before there was a rush of wind and it was slammed shut.

Godric stood there, holding it closed. "You are too inebriated to go wandering off on your own, or have you forgotten so quickly what occurred the last time you did that?"

"No?"

Eric strode forward, rolling his eyes. "Sit down."

"Don't tell me what to do," I bit back, trying to wrench my arm from his grasp.

Eric seemed to snap. "Listen, human, I am not going to tolerate your attitude or your irritating habit of forcing your way into other people's business any longer. The sensations of your inebriated state are making me feel very wrong, almost sick, and I will put up with it no more. Sit down and sober up."

He started to force me onto the sofa but, at Godric's warning look, delicately placed me instead. I stared up at him blankly for a moment.

"Listen," I began in that irritatingly high-pitched voice again, "human, I'm not going to tolerate your attitude any longer blah blah blah. I'm Eric and I'm a killjoy and I hate fun and puppies and everything good about life and –"

Eric slapped a hand over my mouth, cutting me off, and forced me to lie back down on the sofa. "Just shut up and go to sleep."

With that, he turned around and, in a blur, disappeared from the office. I struggled to sit back up after he was gone but Godric gently pushed me back down, sitting beside me.

"No, you need to sleep – according to the online articles that I read many believe this to be the best cure for too much alcohol. I believe the phrase is: to sleep it off."

I pouted at him. "I can't sleep here. There is no pillow or comforter."

He smiled softly at me. "Do not worry, Milia, I have prepared for this."

He sped away and was back again within seconds, this time holding a large pile of blankets, sheets and pillows.

"I bought these for you at the store named 'Bed, Bath and Beyond'. It was quite the experience – I have never been to a modern human shop before. The lady working there assured me that these were the best they had to offer."

I stared at him incredulously and felt oddly touched. He glanced down at all the bedding he held, suddenly appearing self conscious and unsure. I burst into small giggles.

"Thank you, Godric, that was very considerate of you," I managed to get out between my laughter, gratefully accepting all the blankets and deciding not to tell him that there were way too many and I was likely to overheat.

I made a small mountain of pillows and settled back into them while wrapping myself up in a blanket burrito, smiling happily at Godric. He smiled back at me and I ignored the way it made me feel like electricity was crackling through my body.

"Have you really never been shopping before?" I asked curiously, drowsily blearing up at him from my soft nest.

"I have, but it was over a century ago. The world has changed much since then. My second in command, Isabel, does all my shopping for me. Although, I bought my current attire myself after buying these sleeping supplies for you. I wanted to look more modern but I am unsure that I am doing it correctly."

It was mystifying, the way Godric could ooze confidence and control one moment, and then appear a little lost and uncertain the next.

I snorted, "Godric, you do not have to worry about your clothes. You could wear a trash bag and still look like a supermodel and the way you are wearing those clothes right now? You look damn good."

The smirk he sent my way was downright sinful and I felt a shiver run up my spine.

His eyes darkened. "Ah, ah, not now, little one, we have plenty of time for that later."

I was too tried to care how he knew what I was feeling, the alcohol making me excessively sleepy.

I drifted off; feeling Godric's cool and soothing hands stroke my hair in a relaxing rhythm. Just as I was about to succumb to blissful unconsciousness, I managed to drag myself away for a few precious seconds more. "What do you even want from me?"

Godric took a while to respond. "I want you to be mine."

But I was already asleep.

I woke up with a raging hangover. My mouth felt like it was full of cotton and my throat burned with thirst. It was like someone was pounding a drum in my head, threatening to crack open my skull and my poor stomach rolled with nausea.

I groaned loudly, staggering to my feet and raising a hand to my temple. "What the hell?"

I looked around me in confusion, noting the small office I was in. It felt familiar although I had never been here before – I must have spent a lot of time in here last night. Last night… I was missing a large chunk in my memory from the night before. The last thing I could recall was leaving the club with that man, then I think we made out? After that it was a black vacuum.

I groaned and let my head drop into my hands, filled with regret. Not again, why does this always happen to me? I was never drinking tequila ever again.

I neatly folded the blankets up, grateful that someone had thoughtfully given me some, although I had no idea who or why. Digging around in my pockets, I found my credit card and my phone and I almost wept in relief – I had a way back home!

I shuffled out of the office and was shocked to find that I was in some sort of club, a very kinky one, if the interior design was anything to go on. So I had left the club to sleep with someone and… had ended up in another club? I felt my blood run cold in horror – what if this was a brothel or some sort of sex club?

I glanced around the room in a panic, trying to find some sort of clue that would ease my mind and show me that I hadn't wandered off into a nightmare. There wasn't anything all that strange about the club, except for its gothic aesthetic and the regal looking throne that was sat on a raised dais. Wait. If there wasn't anything that weird about this place it had to just be a normal club? Right?

Right. I didn't do anything illegal. I made my way to what looked like the entrance and unlocked the door, slipping outside. The bright, midday sun met me there, blinding me. I winced and raised a hand to cover my eyes, trying to ignore the sharp stabs of pain it sent to my head.

Grabbing my phone, I dialled the number for the local taxi service, almost crying in relief when they picked up on the first ring.

"Hi, I would like book a cab?" I spoke into the phone, trying to use my free hand to comb my hair into looking acceptable.

"When?" The woman on the other end of the phone asked, sounding bored and put upon.

"As soon as possible," I told her.

"From where?"

Oh, shit. I had no idea where I was. I searched frantically for a street sign, or a restaurant or any kind of landmark but the only building in sight was the club. I read its name.

"Uh, Fangta – Fangtasia Club?" The hell kind of name was that? Had someone gotten the Disney film 'Fantasia' confused? I didn't think I had pronounced it correctly but the woman on the phone gave a long-suffering sigh like she recognised it.

"Someone will be with you in fifteen minutes."

"Thanks," I tried but she had already hung up.

I spent the next fifteens minutes lying in the sun on the sidewalk, trying to recall some of my lost memory but all I could seem to picture was a blonde woman I didn't recognize. I gave a short scream of frustration; thankful I was the only person around.

By the time the taxi pulled up I was more than ready to get out of there and desperate for some kind of air conditioning. I smiled brightly and slipped into the front seat, sighing in relief at the blast of cold air from the vents.

"Damn, it's hot out there today." I gave the driver another smile but he just gave me a dirty look.

Taken aback, I shifted away from him in my seat, feeling unsure. "Um, sorry, sir, but have I offended you in some way?"

The man looked to be in his fifties, with greying hair and a beer belly. "Yeah, you have. Don't know any good Christian that hangs about that place," he spat.

I froze in horror. Oh God, so it was some kind of sex club. I wanted to cry. How did I end up there?

"Oh God, you have to believe me – I had no idea it was some kind of sex club! The last thing I can remember is leaving Enchanted – I have no idea how I got there. You have to believe that I'm not some kind sex-crazed pervert," I wailed, tears welling up in my eyes and a desperate tone to my voice. Maybe I was still a little drunk.

The driver shot me a suspicious look. "You mean, you don't know what that place is?"

"No, I swear! I just woke up in there – I didn't even know it was a club until twenty minutes ago!"

The driver let out muffled curse, suddenly sounding enraged. "Those damn vampires! Always taking advantage of good Christian girls like you. I'm so sorry, ma'am, that you had to experience that." He sounded genuinely sorry for me, as well as furious on my behalf and I was mystified.

"Um, sorry, I don't really know what you're talking about – I can't really remember anything from last night."

His face contorted into an ugly snarl. "And they wiped your memory too, dammit!"

"Sorry, what?"

"The vampires, at Fangtasia."

At my blank look, he sighed. "Fangtasia, it's a vampire bar. Opened up two years ago. Run by this real nasty piece of work vampire - they say he's a thousand years old and, if you're ever unfortunate enough to meet him, he'll either fuck you or kill you, pardon my French, miss. For two years now, he's been tempting good Christian people and turning them to the side of devil. A real tragedy, if you ask me. Look's like he got to you too, although you seem to have faired better than most folks – you ain't got no bite marks and you don't look like some Satan worshipping whore."

I flinched slightly at his words, relieved that I chose a more conservative outfit last night instead of my normally very revealing clubbing clothes. Eventually we pulled up at my house and I paid him with my credit card, giving him a goodbye that was significantly far less friendly than my greeting.

Honestly, I mostly felt relief that Fangtasia was a vampire bar – I hadn't been anywhere illegal and I felt that my dignity was mostly still intact. I would never willingly go to either a sex club or a vampire bar so I was feeling pretty damn annoyed at that guy from last night for taking me to one and then leaving me there. What a dick. If I ever see him again he is going to be in for one hell of a smack down.

Just as I made it to the front porch, the door swung open with a crash and Jesse rushed outside, looking on the verge of tears.

"Millie," he cried, gathering me up in a bear hug, "I am so, so sorry I let you go off like that! God, I was so scared when I woke up this morning and you weren't here – I thought you might have been kidnapped again. I'm such a shitty excuse for a friend!"

"Whoa, Jess, calm down, I'm ok – you're not a bad friend - I wanted to go." I gently pried his arms off me and let him guide me inside, where I immediately took some aspirin and had a glass of water.

"No, Mill, I can't forgive myself for this – I just let you walk away knowing full well you were too drunk to make decisions. I let you go off with some stranger, for God's sake! Don't take it easy on me for this; I don't deserve it." Jesse was really worked up, running his hands through his hair and tugging on it, pacing back and forth across the kitchen.

"Jess! Hey, chill. I'm ok – don't forget that you were drunk and not making good decisions either. Besides, nothing happened so there is no need to go beating yourself up. Let's not forget that I should have been far more responsible as well – I was being really dumb too." I placed my hands on his shoulders, forcing him to stay still and look at me. "I'm fine, unharmed, living la vida loca so take a deep breath and calm down." He did. "Good, now we've gotten over that, you won't believe where I woke up today."

I then proceeded to tell him my sorry tale, making big puppy eyes at him to gain extra sympathy.

"Milia, that's so fucking dangerous! I can't believe you ended up there!" Jesse completely flipped. "That dick – what kind of person abandons someone at a vampire club? If I ever see his sleazy, little gremlin face again, he is going to pay." Jesse started muttering darkly and I had to spend the next half hour calming him down again, rolling my eyes at his over protective antics.

After soothing Jesse's mother hen instincts, I took an eagerly anticipated and desperately needed shower, the hot water easing my headache. I dressed in my softest pyjamas and made my way to the kitchen, starving for something unhealthy and greasy.

"Hey, Jesse, you want a fry up?" I called out, pulling ingredients from the cupboards.

Faster than I could blink, Jesse appeared before me, stumbling over the doorway and hitting a cupboard before bouncing back. "Yes!"

I laughed and tossed him a pan, not needing words to tell him what to do – we had lived together for so long that we were in perfect synchronisation, moving around the kitchen in harmony.

"So, you never did tell me what happened to you last night," I hinted at Jesse, digging for juicy details as I fried the eggs.

Like a light had been switched on inside, Jesse perked up, his face morphing into what I had dubbed his 'smitten- gushing' face.

"I met this girl, Milia," he took a moment, sighing dreamily, "God, she's perfect. After you left, I carried on dancing but I drank so much tequila that my balance was, well, to put it lightly, kind of off. I tripped and crashed into this display and was drenched in alcohol. Some people started laughing at me and through the blurry haze of humiliation, I heard this one laugh. It was like; it was like… I don't know what it was like, ok, I'm not a damn poet, but it was the most beautiful laugh I had ever heard. I looked up and there she was, standing over me, laughing at me so hard that she started to cry." He actually stopped frying the bacon, staring into space with a blissed out look on his face. "I fell in love then and there."

I snorted and rolled my eyes, nudging him in the stomach. "You say that every time, Jess. What makes this time so different?"

He nudged me back, looking affronted. "I'm being serious this time, Mill! This isn't like the other ones – this time it feels different."

I gave a long-suffering sigh, shaking my head at him. I was pretty sure this was just like every other time. Jesse fell in and out of love like the tide comes and goes. He sees a girl, becomes blinded by infatuation and spends every minute of every day for a few weeks doing nothing but obsessing over her and following her around like a lost puppy before he eventually gets bored and moves on. It happens every few months like clockwork – this time was no different. Jesse was in love with idea of being in love and, in my opinion, had yet to experience the reality of it – not that I was much different.

Sometimes, Jesse left the girl with a broken heart and shattered dreams; I hated those times. They were messy and dramatic and sad. Most of the time, however, they parted ways amiably and Jesse came out of the experience having learned nothing. One day, he really was going to fall for someone and karma was going to rear its ugly head.

"I'm going to see her tonight," he gushed, "at her place. We have a whole date night planned."

I rolled my eyes at him again but it was hard to stay cynical in the face of his enthusiasm. "Well, have a good time." I smirked, "don't do anything I wouldn't do."

He gave me a flat look, "so, pretty much everything?"

I placed a hand over my heart, "ouch!"

He snickered and then pulled out two plates. We served up our meal before sitting at the table, joking and teasing each other.

We tried to spend the afternoon productively by unpacking all our stuff but quickly got distracted. I had the genius idea of making a blanket fort and it all went down hill from there. Instead, we wasted the rest of the day away inside a blanket fort, watching cartoons and eating ice cream like children. It was paradise.

Jesse left just before nightfall, buzzing excitedly and with big, gooey lovesick eyes. I waved him off, still in my pyjamas and then grabbed a bag of M&Ms, settling myself back in the blanket fort to watch another episode of Scooby Doo.

A few minutes after the sun had set, my doorbell rang. Thinking it was Jesse and that he had forgotten something, I strolled over to the door, absently opening it as I passed by on my way to the kitchen.

"What did you forget?" I called, placing a dirty mug in the sink. There was no answer. Confused, I made my way back over to the front door, peering out into the dark night.

"Hello?" I asked, stepping onto the front porch. "Oh, fuck me!" I jumped in fright.

"Sorry, honey, not until the third date." Leanna turned to face me, sultry smirk on her blood red lips and lounging gracefully on our porch swing. Dammit, how come every time I saw her I looked like a character from a zombie show and she looked as though she had stepped straight off a fashion shoot?

"Leanna!" I exclaimed in delight, once my heart rate went back to normal. "How are you? Come in."

I stepped back into the house, weary of being outside in the dark after the whole kidnapping thing, even if I had a vampire with me who would probably try to save me. Probably.

Leanna strolled into the house, peering around curiously. "Well, this dwelling is far better than your old one, I have to say."

"Thanks?" I led her to the living and slipped inside the blanket fort, burrowing into the pillows inside. Leanna did not follow me in.

"What is this?" I heard her ask, seeing her silhouette through a blanket, disdain clear in her voice.

"Blanket fort," I chirped, "if you want to talk you have to come in."

"I am not a child nor am I am not so undignified as to sit on the floor inside a pile of blankets."

I gasped in mock outrage. "Pile of blankets? It is so much more than that! Come on, what have you got to lose?"

"No."

"Live a little! You might like it if it you try."

"I am dead, remember?"

I groaned. "You know what I meant. It will be fun – trust me."

She sighed deeply, and I thought she would just up and leave, but instead she gracefully ducked under a blanket, delicately placing herself on a beanbag.

I studied her, eagerly waiting for her response. "So, what do you think?"

"I suppose it's cosy," she sniffed.

I cheered, raising my hands in victory. "You like it!"

Leanna rolled her eyes, "do not get too far ahead of yourself."

I laughed, and offered her an M&M before realising that she didn't, well… eat.

"So what brings you to my humble abode?" I asked her, munching on my chocolate cheerfully.

"Business."

I deflated in disappointment, sighing mournfully. She eyed me in amusement.

"But after we are done talking business, I guess I could, what do you humans say? Ah, yes, hang out."

I grinned widely.

Leanna opened her mouth to speak but paused abruptly, her head whipping to the door. "Someone is here."

"What?" I yelped but she was already gone, off to confront who ever it was. I hurriedly stood up to go after her but forgot I was in a blanket fort and ended up instead getting tangled in a pile of blankets as the whole thing came crashing down around me.

I heard low, angry voices and the sound of vampires snarling at each other and desperately fought to free myself of my soft prison. It took a while but eventually I managed to escape and I sprinted to the door, red faced and puffing after my fight with my bedding.

"Leanna!" I yelled in a panic, "are you all right?"

I skidded to a stop in the doorway, mouth dropping open in surprise.

Godric stood on my front porch, looking furious and threatening, fangs bared aggressively, with Eric lurking tensely behind him.

"I – what? Godric? What are you doing here?" I sputtered, glancing between him and Leanna.

"What am I doing here? Do you really have to ask that?" He questioned heatedly. "Tonight was the second time I woke up to find you gone. The first time, I forgave you but I cannot abide by this twice, especially after we agreed we would talk once you became sober."

I stared at him in a horrified silence, realisation hitting me like a physical force. I had seen Godric last night. When I was incredibly drunk. Who knows what I told him? Oh god, what did I say to him? I desperately hoped I hadn't mentioned the dreams, oh god, please let me not have mentioned the dreams! This, ladies and gentlemen, is why you should drink responsibly.

"Oh my god," I finally burst out, "I saw you last night? What did I say? I didn't do anything too embarrassing right? Please, please, for the love of god, tell me I didn't do a striptease?" Drunken stripteases were apparently my thing.

Eric's eyebrows shot up. "Well, if we had known that was an option, we would have encouraged you and the night would have gone very differently," he purred, licking his lips. What the hell? I was bewildered.

"Last night we caught you in the embrace of some disgusting stranger, you made advances on Eric's progeny and today we find you blushing and out of breath, welcoming another a vampire into your home?" Godric's voice was dangerously quiet now, the calm before the storm.

I flushed at his words. "What the hell, man? Why are you making it sound dirty – Leanna and I are friends! She is the vampire that I saved. I mean, ok, yeah," I started to ramble, "I may have tried to seduce her when we first met but I was vulnerable and she was lying on the bed with me! Who wouldn't? I can't be blamed for that."

As soon as the word "seduce" left my lips, both Eric and Godric started growling. It was terrifying. I took a fearful step back, suddenly afraid, and, almost like they could sense my fear, the growls died in their throats. To my satisfaction, Godric looked briefly ashamed of himself, before he reverted back to his mask of anger.

"Your relationship with this vampire is irrelevant – you still tried to seduce two other people last night." Godric dismissed, staring me down with righteous anger and betrayal.

All I could do was stand in my doorway, looking at Godric in bewilderment – what was he so mad about? And then a light bulb went off in my head and my own brand of fury shot through my veins like adrenaline.

"You're jealous!" I gasped, pointing accusingly at him.

He gritted his teeth and said nothing but Eric's eyes darkened. I felt my rage build.

"What the hell, dude? If I hook up with other people, or want to hook up with other people, that's none of your business. Feel how you want to feel, but don't come to my house to tell me how I should act or what I should do. I have made no commitment to you and you have no right to be mad at me for what I do with my time or who I do it with. It's not like you have some kind claim on me!" I was yelling, my hair a messy, fiery halo of vengeance around my head and my eyes burning with my indignation.

"But I do!" Godric snapped, fangs glistening in the moonlight and eyes burning with emotions a lot stronger than mine.

I flinched back, genuinely shocked by what he was saying.

"Like hell you do! What the fuck do you even mean by that?"

"Never mind," he bit out, not meeting my eye for the first time all night.

Leanna, who had been silent up until now, burst forward with a fury to match mine. "No – tell her! She has a right to know – I kept my mouth shut out of respect for you but I can clearly see now that my respect was misplaced."

It was like storm was unleashed; Godric became a bolt of lightning, burning and electric in the intensity of his rage. "Silence."

"No." Leanna's voice was low and seething. It was honestly the most frightening position I had ever been in – stuck between two warring vampires. She turned to me, pulling me away from the doorway to sit me on the stairs. "Vampires are not like humans – our traditions and cultures are not the same, nor are our social norms and ways of interacting. When a vampire is attracted to a human, whether it is a physical attraction, romantic one, or both, they make a claim on them. They do this by sharing their blood with that human."

I could feel dread starting to crawl its way into my heart, starting at my fingertips and slowly seeping through my body like venom.

"This has multiple effects – all of them desirable for the vampire and some not so desired by the human. First of all, it warns other vampires away, we can smell the blood in your veins. It is against the law to harm or drink from a human that has already been claimed. More importantly, with their blood in your veins, the vampire can sense your every emotion; feel every burst of anger, sadness, happiness that runs through your body. It allows them to know wherever you are; they can always sense your location in relation to their own. The human will also start to be sexually attracted to the vampire, if they aren't already, and will have erotic dreams of the vampire whose blood they shared. Vampire blood is very powerful and hosts a myriad of benefits to humans – the most potent is its ability to heal pretty much any wound a human may suffer, any disease, any blemish or imperfection, from zits to cancer – all cured. This is partly why V is such a highly valued commodity by human drug dealers. The vampire's ability to sense your location and feel your emotions, as well as the erotic dreams, all fade and disappear with time so long as no more blood is shared but it will take several years. I can smell both Godric's and Eric's blood in you right now."

I felt like I was going to be sick. I was angry, so angry, but deeper than that, more hurtful than that, I felt betrayed. I felt violated and used; stupid and gullible and that stung more than anything else could. I felt tears gather and well up in my eyes but I forced them back, determined not to let them see me cry. I wouldn't give them that much.

God, I was so stupid. I wasn't too broken up over Eric, somehow, I had expected something like this from him – it didn't make me any less angry nor did it make it any more right but I didn't feel like such a fool. But Godric, oh, Godric, I had trusted him. I had believed in him, and hoped for him, longed for him, even, and now I felt like such a idiot.

I looked up and was shocked to see the two vampires stagger under the weight of my stare. And then I remembered that they could feel everything I did. They were staggering from the intensity of my emotions and that pissed me off all over again.

"I don't want to see either of you ever again." I whispered, standing tall and strong. My mother would be proud.

"Milia," Godric's voice broke, like he was in physical pain. "I—"

"Don't," I cut him off, "don't you dare, you hypocritical dick. You complain and preach about how much you hate vampires, how much you hate their treatment of us and their lack of regard for us, and there you were, at the first hurdle, at the first opportunity to make some change, to do something different, and what do you do? You go right back to your conniving, disrespectful vampire ways. At least Eric gave me a choice, at least he gave me the chance to say no; but I wasn't even awake when you took that choice from me."

Godric looked lost, devastated and resigned. He actually flinched at my words, like I had dealt him a physical blow but I did not feel any sympathy for him, my fury was too strong.

"Milia, please, I did not act from feelings of possession or a need to claim you, although I must confess that I do feel those emotions strongly. I only wanted to heal you. You were covered in so much blood, appeared to be in so much pain and I could not stand to see you like that."

And just like that, my aura of calm, broken-hearted betrayal shattered and was instead replaced by my incandescent rage. I flew off the handle.

"Save it, Godric, " I yelled, striding forward and grabbing a boot from by the door, chucking it at his head. He caught it easily with one hand and I snarled. "You really expect me to believe that? You really think you can fool me twice? Shame on you for taking advantage of my trust and my compassion. Do you really think I could ever believe that you cared about me? God, get a grip! I'm not that dumb. If you had really cared only about healing me then, at the very least, you would have told me what you had done – you would have explained the full effects straight away. Instead you lied and manipulated me." I laughed mockingly if a little hysterically. "And you, Eric? Why the hell did you do it? You don't even like me!" I threw the other boot at him. All he had to do was lean his head a fraction of an inch to the left and it missed. We all watched as it sailed through the night, disappearing into the dark depths of my lawn.

"Milia," I heard Leanna call. She was standing in the hallway by a small desk that had come with the house. It was old and mouldy looking so Jesse and I hadn't touched it yet, too scared of getting a disease. I ignored her.

"I can't believe you both thought it was acceptable to act this way, to take advantage of another person like that! Why did you do it?"

"Milia!" Leanna yelled. Something in her voice made me stop, made me go to her.

She was holding a brown envelope, dangling it away from her like it was a loaded gun, or a bomb.

"Who gave you this? When did you get it?" Her voice was urgent, alarmed.

"No one gave it to me. I don't know when we got it. We haven't received any mail yet – we haven't changed our address on any of our official documents. Why? What is it?"

"I don't know." She whispered. "It's unopened. I can smell someone on it, someone I knew."

I felt fear start to creep up the base of my spine. Leanna gently handed it to me and I took it with shaking fingers, only now recognising that lilt in her voice. It was fear. I ripped the envelope open.

"Oh god," I breathed.

It was pictures. The envelope had been filled with pictures, of me and of Leanna. They looked like surveillance photos, or photos taken by a stalker, all of them shot when we were unaware and vulnerable, living our daily lives. There was a note included, three words printed neatly on white card:

See you soon.

Finally, the first major story arc begins!

Mwhahaha, I feel so evil making Godric and Milia fight like this.

I know I have presented Godric, and Eric, as very asshole-like in this chapter but I felt it was realistic - they are vampires, after all, and vampires are presented in the show as being very possessive and territorial, with little regard for what the people around them want. I think, at this point in the show, Eric embraces this part of himself but Godric is definitely trying to change himself and his behaviour. Unfortunately, change like that doesn't happen overnight and I think it's realistic that he would find it hard to change himself like that. I tried to balance that aspect of his personality with showing his more vulnerable sides with Milia in this chapter - showing how lost he truly is in this modern world but you are all free to disagree with my presentation of him if you feel he is too OOC. Also, if I made him a perfect person who always acted in the exact way Milia wanted, it wouldn't be very fun, nor realistic. I want these characters to change and grow with each other, Eric included!

Its important to note that this story is now an AU, I do not intend to follow the show's storyline anymore and will instead be writing my own.

Thank you so much for reading!

Next chapter: Milia meets Leanna's infamous old nest and something strange, and spooky starts happening with the house...