A/N: Hello ladies and gents and everyone else! Welcome to another chapter of this little story of mine. I hope you are all enjoying a nice weekend and that you realize how each and every one of you is important to me. I thank you for the silent support and for all of the reviews that you have posted. It has really meant a lot to me. And your reward is a new update. Enjoy!

OOOOOOOOO

Iona laughed as she got off the Ferris wheel, holding Laddie's sticky hand. The little boy had firmly placed himself between the gypsy girl and Dwayne on all the rides and constantly had Iona's hand in his grip. She could see that it was bothering Dwayne, though his calm mask never left his face.

The gypsy reached into her pocket and pulled out a few dollars. Crouching, she held the money out to the boy.

"I'm giving you this, so that you can get us all a small treat," she told Laddie, who was already reaching for the money. "We want three orders of funnel cake. Okay?"

"Okay," Laddie said, moving his fingers in a grabby manner.

Iona pulled the money back out his reach. "And that means that you can't steal any of the funnel cakes that are for me and Dwayne. Understand? You can't have everything for yourself, Laddie." She smirked at the little boy. "And I will know if you took anything that isn't yours and I'll cut you off for the night."

Laddie's eyes widened and his hand lowered slightly. Iona smiled at him and handed him the money.

"Scat," she ordered, straightening. "But don't take too long."

"Okay," the little boy said, backing away from the other two.

Iona watched Laddie head off in the direction of the funnel cake booth before he disappeared into the crowd. When he was fully gone, she looked at Dwayne and crossed her arms.

"You've been quiet," she commented. "Much more quiet than you usually are. Is something going on in that head of yours that's distracting you?"

Dwayne shook his head. "I just didn't think that I'd be stuck with Laddie tonight. Or that he'd be such a brat."

"Are you jealous of the attention that I'm giving him?" Iona asked, smiling slightly. "You are, aren't you?" A laugh bubbled from her lips and she stepped closer to Dwayne. "Dwayne, he's a cute kid. I like him."

She saw the frown deepen on the vampire's face and moved even closer to him. Her hand pressed against the cool expanse of skin that his jacket never covered. The vampire's breath hitched at the soft touch.

"But I like you too," Iona told him. "Not in the same way, but I still like you." A smile pulled her lips wider and she looked at his lips. "And I think you're cuter than him…"

Standing so close to the vampire, Iona could smell the raw power hidden behind the mask of a normal teenage boy. Her eyes kept getting pulled in the direction of his and her hand pressed against his chest, the touch making her want to press more of herself against him. She knew that she would fit nicely against his body, as if they had been made for each other.

Easy girl, she thought, meeting his gaze once more. Just back up and give him some space.

Iona felt Dwayne's arm snake around her waist, pulling her close to him. A soft gasp passed through Iona's lips when her body was pressed flush against his much cooler one. Her eyes glanced at his lips and wondered what it would feel like to touch them. Dwayne seemed to think the same thing about her because he lowered his face closer to hers and pressed his lips against hers.

The teenager pulled away abruptly when a loud pair of blonds ran by, laughing madly as they ran away from a security guard. The two had bumped into Iona and Dwayne, earning a dirty look from the vampire.

"I'll be right back," Dwayne said, breaking away from Iona. "Can you keep an eye on Laddie for me?"

Iona sighed, but nodded. "Sure. Go do what you have to do. I'll be around here with my little buddy when you come back."

There was an apologetic look in Dwayne's eyes, but it wasn't enough for him to stick around. Iona watched him walk off and disappear into the crowd. She touched her fingertips to her lips, still feeling a slight tingle there.

"Great," she muttered to herself. "My first real kiss was interrupted by two blond idiots. It figures."

She shoved her hands into the pockets of her loose jacket and scuffed the toe of her shoe against the aged boards of the boardwalk. Her thoughts wandered back to her cousin and the guardian that had taken him away earlier that day. Something seemed off about how he had gotten the money that he needed to get out of town. She hadn't really thought about it when she had seen him off, but going through the usual routine of life had allowed her to wonder about the sudden departure. Her grandmother had told her not to worry about it; that Gage had managed to get more money the night before because this was the peak influx of tourist activity time.

I'll find out what's going on tonight, Iona thought, glancing up when she saw Laddie break through the crowd with three funnel cakes in hand. Grandmother can't tell me any lies. She wouldn't do it.

"Here," Laddie said, shoving one of the funnel cakes into her hand. His dark eyes looked around. "Where's Dwayne?"

"Dwayne had to go take care of something," Iona told the boy. "He'll be back soon, I think."

Laddie lifted the two funnel cakes that were in his hand. "Can I have his funnel cake too? Since he's not here…"

Iona nodded and smiled slightly. "Sure. It's not like he's going to want a cold funnel cake anyway." Taking a bite of her own cake, Iona gestured at the ride part of the boardwalk. "You wanna go on another ride with me? Just the two of us, kiddo?" She held her hand out to him. "I'll see if I have enough money left over to buy us one large carton popcorn to share afterward we have a few more rides out of the way. Okay?"

Laddie's sticky fingers wrapped around Iona's and squeezed. "Okay."

OOOOOOOOO

Dwayne managed to catch up to the two wild blonds of his family and pulled Paul's arm, causing the vampire to stop in his tracks. "What the hell is going on?" he demanded.

"Had to get you away from her, so we could have a private chat about what's going on in here," Paul explained, tapping a finger against his head. "Max is very active in my head and that's a big pain in the ass when I'm trying to flirt with the girl at the music store."

"He's thinking about you, bro," Marko said, chewing on his thumbnail. "Well, not really. He's thinking about the dancing chick. He wants her."

"He wants her really bad, man," Paul agreed. "He sees Mommy material in her and having Laddie hang around her isn't gonna help the problem. It's only a matter of time before he makes a move on her."

Dwayne narrowed his eyes and let his brother's arm go. "He's not going to get her. And she wouldn't go with him anyway." A cold feeling settled in his stomach. "You took me away from her with only Laddie to keep an eye on her. Max could –"

"Relax man," Paul said, draping his arm around Dwayne's shoulders. "David and Faith already thought about that. Davy's got Faith keeping an eye on the dancer while we're away."

"Yeah, we wouldn't let your girl be unguarded like some fool. What do you think we are?" Marko asked, still hiding his mouth behind his thumb. "Stupid?"

"Only when we haven't had our weed," Paul answered.

"Faith's not supposed to be alone either," Dwayne reminded his brothers. "Has David forgotten that?"

"Nope, but Faith's able to take care of herself where she's at right now. David's close enough to get to her and the dancer if he has to move quickly."

"And it's not like old Max would try anything in a crowd," Marko added, smiling slightly. "He may be crazy, but he knows better than to reveal anything in front of dozens of innocent tourists."

"Innocent, my ass."

Dwayne shook his head, trying to clear it. "I have to get back to Iona and Laddie." He held up his hand. "You can't come with me. Just keep an eye out, but leave me alone. Okay?"

The blond brothers looked at each other and then nodded. Paul laughed and pulled a joint out of his jacket.

"I hope you get some tail tonight, bro," he said, puffing on the joint. "You really need it."

Dwayne turned away from his brothers and moved through the crowd, hearing the laughter of his blond, idiotic brothers echoing behind him until it merged into the sounds of the boardwalk. A smile would have crossed his face at the familiar sounds if he hadn't been thinking about how David had had to suffer to find and protect the one person that could ever hold his heart. It hadn't been a walk in the park for the brothers to help David keep Faith safe from Max and his creepy lusting heart for the woman that Faith had once been. But David now had Faith at his side forever and nothing was going to change that.

But now it's my turn, Dwayne thought, frowning as he slipped through the crowd of tourists. Iona may not have past connections to Max in a life long ago, but she's definitely caught his eye. She should have gone away from here with her cousin before this happened. He sighed. But I'm glad that she didn't leave yet. She's – she's something else.

The darker vampire's gaze swept the area as he walked. As he passed Video Max, he noticed that David and Max were in a heated discussion away from the old man's customers. Max's evil eyes flitted in his direction before David recalled his attention. Dwayne never stopped walking though, hardly letting his mind wander into the fight that was going on between their sire and his brother. His eyes scanned the crowd again as he neared the rides section of the boardwalk, searching for threats and for friendlies.

Faith was casually standing against the fence surrounding a spinning ride, looking at the screaming kids that were going crazy on it. She scratched her cheek and glanced at him, smiling slightly. The dark gleam in her eye told him that she was aware that another vampire from another family was lurking nearby, eyeing her like fresh meat. Pushing herself away from the fence, she brushed her flaming hair back out of her face and headed in his direction.

Dwayne's sister didn't pause long to look or talk to him as she walked past. She did bump her elbow against his and leaned her head slightly to the side.

"On the ride right now," she whispered before walking away from the ride and into the crowd once more.

Dwayne's eyes narrowed into slits as he watched the strange vampire glance in Faith's and his direction, challenging the boy to do something. The other vampire held his hands up in surrender and backed away into the crowd. Dwayne didn't move for several moments, wondering who was going to keep an eye on his little sister now, but Paul and Marko quickly told him that they'd take care of it.

"Dwayne!" Iona called from the ride as it slowed to a stop. "Where the hell have you been? We've been on seven rides and ate a carton of popcorn already."

The vampire watched as Laddie pulled Iona from the ride, bumping other people aside in the process. Laddie's face was coated in grease and sticky residue from God-knows-what as he approached Dwayne, but his equally sticky hand was clenched around Iona's. The gypsy girl looked up at Dwayne, brushing back her hair when the breeze blew it in her face. Her eyes searched his until Dwayne lowered his to look at Laddie.

"Hey Laddie," he said. "Go bug Old Max, okay?"

"But I don't want to," Laddie protested, stomping his foot. "He's boring and mean. And I want to stay around Iona. She's nice to me."

"Laddie," Dwayne growled.

The little boy looked up at Iona. "Tell him that I can stay, Iona. Please. I don't want to go away. Please tell him."

Wow, he actually said please…

Iona's face softened as she looked at Laddie and she placed her hand on top of the little boy's head. "Laddie, you should listen to your big brother. We can hang out again some other night, but right now you need to do what Dwayne says. Okay?"

Dwayne watched the boy's face scrunch up for a moment and thought that Laddie was going to throw a fit in the middle of the boardwalk. But Laddie merely nodded.

"Okay," the boy said.

Iona smiled at him and pressed a kiss to the top of his head. "Go on then, Laddie. I'll see you later."

Laddie glanced at Dwayne and bumped his fist against the taller boy's. Dwayne didn't watch as the boy vanished into the crowd, knowing that Laddie would be okay on his own as long as they all shared the mental connection. His attention turned onto Iona as the gypsy girl rubbed her hand against her shorts, trying to get the stickiness off.

Shyly, she peered up at him as he drew close to her. "I'm sorry for making you jealous, even if you don't act like you are. And I'm sorry that you're so worried about me because you know that I can handle things on my own."

"How do you know I'm worried?" Dwayne asked.

Iona tapped her finger against her temple. "I'm a gypsy, we know these things." Her finger lowered onto her breast. "And I can feel that something is worrying you in here." She moved closer to him and pressed a hand to his chest. "Dwayne, whatever you're worried about in this relationship, please don't worry about it anymore. I can handle whatever life throws at me. Especially since I have someone like you looking out for me."

Dwayne closed his hand over the girl's and lifted her hand to his lips. He brushed his lips against her knuckles and watched the lights sparkle in her dark eyes. A hint of color flushed her cheeks and her smile brightened.

"Do you want to go into town and get a shake?" she asked. "We could share one with the money that I have left over from taking care of Laddie tonight."

Dwayne smiled. "That'd be great. I'll drive."

"Okay."

The vampire pulled Iona close and wrapped his arm around her waist as he guided her away from the rides. On the way to the boardwalk's entrance, he glanced over at Video Max and saw that David was no longer in the store, but Max was. His sire's eyes glanced away from a customer and met his in an icy glare. Dwayne simply smirked and slyly flipped the man the finger without alerting Iona. Pressing a kiss to the girl's temple, Dwayne turned his attention away from the man who had made him a monster and onto the girl that was pressed so trustingly close to him.

OOOOOOOOO

A/N: Okay, so not many things have happened so far in this story, but I'm working on it. I'm trying to figure out how I could possibly give Dwayne and Iona a moment together without having the others around and without it standing out like a sore thumb in the story. I hope to have figured this problem out as soon as I can and let you know how I did so in one of the future updates. Please leave a review! Thanks! -Scarlet