Alastor carefully set her down on the coffee table and went into the bathroom to grab the first aid kit. He opened it up when he came back into the living room and pulled out a bottle of alcohol, some cotton balls, and a cloth.

"What are you doing?" Charlie asked.

"I'm fixing you up." He answered. "You don't want that toe of yours to get infected do you? They may have to cut it off."

"Seriously?!" She cried in a panic.

"It's a joke." He told her. "Something like this most likely won't require amputation but it needs to be cleaned and properly treated."

He opened the bottle and soaked a cotton ball into the liquid inside.

"Is that water?" Charlie asked nervously.

"No it's alcohol. One of the best things you can put on an injury."

"Is there water in it?"

"No. It's just straight up alcohol. No water, no freaky chemicals, just alcohol. Now would you kindly lift up your foot please?"

Charlie was anxious. Alastor said that there was no water in that bottle and water was the only thing that could cause her tail to grow back but she could feel her heart pounding with anticipation as she slowly lifted her foot from the floor.

"Now this might sting." Alastor warned her.

"That's okay. I'm very pain tolerant."

He carefully cupped her foot with his left hand and with his right hand, he moved the cotton ball to her toe. Charlie closed her eyes when the alcohol dipped object made contact with her skin and although she did feel a stinging sensation, her legs remained. They remained the whole time Alastor cleaned the wound on her toe.

"Her legs and her feet are so white." Alastor thought. "It's almost like they've never seen the sun."

His thoughts started out harmless and innocent enough. He merely noted how pale her skin was and how she definitely needed a tan. But then he thought no, a tan wouldn't suit her well. He had seen countless people with tans and while the shade did suit some females, it didn't suit others at all. But nowadays people had been programmed to believe that a tan was always the most attractive shade while pale was very sickly-looking, so they would get tans weather it suited them or not.

A tan wouldn't suit Charlie. He could tell. Her skin may be pale but it wasn't sickly. Actually he couldn't really call it pale now that he was getting a good look at her skin. It was fair. It was fair and it looked so lovely on her. It also complimented her rosy cheeks perfectly. Such rosy cheeks, such lovely skin, such a tempting figure.

That's when Alastor stood up abruptly. What was he doing? Thinking about her like that. He wasn't some sexual deviant who would allow himself to ogle or fantasize about a pretty woman. He was better than that.

"Is something wrong?" Charlie asked.

He couldn't hear her. He looked down at her towel covered form. He could hear his heart beating fast, he broke a small sweat on his forehead, the color red was tinting his face.

"Alastor?" She tried again. "Alastor what is it?"

She lowered her face to meet his. Once again he found himself entranced by those eyes of hers. Something about those eyes seemed to pull at his heart. They were not just filled with great beauty, the deep blue expressed innocence, gentleness, and empathy but then they would change to that bright silver which radiated of spirit, determination, and curiosity. Alastor had not known Charlie long but just looking into her eyes almost told him everything about her personality. And this particular personality intrigued him so.

Charlie herself was ironically, entranced by him in turn. His face and his physique, it wasn't anything like her family had told her to expect from human males. Her family said that such creatures were ugly, taking the forms of either disgustingly fat, sickeningly scrawny, or barbarically bulky but Alastor fit none of those descriptions. He had not one ounce of fat on him and although quite thin he was far from scrawny, and he lacked bulk but his chest and arms were firm and well-built. She was almost tempted to place her hand over his chest.

But like with her, what held her admiration the most were the eyes. Human eyes were nothing special as far as her kind was concerned because their eyes were not only one color but mostly of colors that were considered plain. Though they did admit that blue and green eyes were attractive due to it matching the sea where they resided, brown eyes, grey eyes, hazel eyes, and black eyes were frowned upon for being too dull. But to Charlie, this man's brown eyes were thought to be more lovely than any of the magnificent and extraordinary pair that she had seen on the faces of her kind. This reason being because in his eyes she could see attributes that so many merfolk were without.

Patience, creativity, laughter, integrity, and modesty. Not a single hint of arrogance or a feeling of superiority which was present in nearly all of her kind. However what drew her further to him was the hidden guilt, insecurity, and pain. He was hurting deep down and he was hiding it. He hid it well but he couldn't hide it from someone like her who came from a species in which emotions were one of their greatest strengths.

She suddenly wanted to know what it was that caused him pain. To somehow ease that pain and give him comfort but he was so guarded. He on the other hand was seized by a desire to know more about the woman. To know why she, of all the women he had seen, why she was the one who peeked his interest.

"I..." He struggled to answer finally. "I am fine. I suppose I am just very tired. It has been a very long night for me."

"I must be very tired too." She replied. "I'm feeling a little dizzy."

"Kind of light headed?"

"Yes."

"It might be from the sight of blood."

"Maybe."

His hands unconsciously moved to hold hers. She did not pull away. Something odd came from this, because at that moment their minds took them to a different setting. They felt that they were now floating under water, just holding hands and looking at each other, never wanting to leave the other person.

"What the heck are you two doing?"

They were brought back to the living room when they heard the voice of Beth break through, She was standing there and staring at them completely confused. But when she noticed their hand holding and the fact that Charlie was only wearing a towel while her brother wore no shirt, her cheeks went red as she jumped to the wrong conclusion.

"Oh gross!" She gagged. "No freakin way! Were you guys actually going to do it?! After only knowing each other for like three days?! And with me under the same roof?! Alastor how could you?! Oh God I always knew this would happen one day! Angel has finally corrupted you!"

Now it was Charlie and Alastor's turn to blush hard upon realizing what this looked like.

"Oh no!" Alastor cried releasing Charlie's hands and shaking his head rapidly. "No, no, no, it is not what you think!"

"Absolutely not!" Charlie confirmed. "You see I was taking a bath and there was an accident and he was just fixing me up."

"You guys couldn't do that fully dressed?" Beth asked.

"What are you even doing up?" Alastor asked.

"I woke up to use the toilet and I heard voices." Beth answered. "Lucky thing it was me who walked on you two and not someone else. Otherwise, can you imagine the scandal?"

"Beth go back to bed." Alastor said slightly annoyed.

"Why? If you two aren't getting all hanky panky then what's the harm of me staying up just a little bit longer?" She teased.

"How about the fact that you have school tomorrow?"

"Oh please, like I'm going to buy that excuse." She smirked.

"Now Elisabeth."

Uh-oh, he had used her full name which was his typical warning that he was getting cross. If he dropped his smile then she would really be in trouble.

"Okay. I'm going." She said heading back to her own room rather quickly.

Charlie giggled.

"What's so funny?" Alastor asked.

"Oh nothing, it's just that the family resemblance between you two was very visible just now." She said. "You both have the same smirk you know."

"Do we really?" He asked.

"Yes and it's obvious that you both love to tease others. You never noticed any of that?"

"Can't say that I have. I'm sure that we're complete opposites in both appearance and personality."

"Well you're not exactly alike but you do share some traits. It's the same thing with myself and my parents. In matters of personality and behavior, most of the time we couldn't be anymore different. But I have heard countless people say that I'm just as stubborn as my father and just as passionate as my mother. And all three of us love music."

"Speaking of music, I've been making it all night with my voice and now I'm in desperate need of rest." He yawned. "Your toe should be fine once you put a band aid on it."

He quickly place the sticky, healing, pad like item on to her injured toe.

"I'm off to bed now." He declared.

"And I'll be off to couch now." She smiled in a flustered way, gripping the towel around her. "After I change back into my nightgown of course."

"Naturally." He, equally flustered, turned his head.

"I left my nightgown in the bathroom. I was going to change in there." She said.

"Oh! Right! Obviously!" He chuckled nervously. "I'll just go to my room now."

He almost tripped over his feet as he hurried down the hall.

"Goodnight." She called to him.

"Goodnight." He called back.

Then the two retired to their separate sleeping areas and eventually reached slumber, but this would only mark the beginning of the many complications that was to come.