It was finally official. Derek was my boyfriend. My amazing, sweet, perfect, vampire boyfriend.
Things sure have changed…
* * *
Going to school was no longer something I dreaded, in fact, I really looked forward to going, even if it meant walking in the cold weather. Unfortunately the snow didn't last and we still had school all week, but it was worth it. Derek was with me every moment he possibly could be, and that made me happy. My mom was glad to hear that I finally had found someone new, and was looking forward to meeting him this weekend. The thing was I was dreading this weekend. Anything could go wrong… everything could go wrong!
Or…
"It'll be perfect," Derek told me again. "Trust me, I'm great with parents." He grinned.
"I know I know… I just can't help worrying."
"Well if you actually trusted me then you wouldn't have to worry…" Derek was leaned up against the locker next to mine, as usual. I sighed, closing my locker and zipping up my backpack.
"The only thing I can trust are my instincts… and I've just got the feeling something's going to go wrong!"
"Well it's not!" he placed his arm around my shoulders. "Stop worrying."
"I can't…" I moaned.
There was a moment of silence in our conversation. "I can make you…" he didn't look at me when I glanced at him.
"Well…" I said. He laughed, squeezing me.
"Stop. Worrying." He pulled me into a quick kiss and opened the door for me.
"Okay…" I breathed, returning to the cold December air. We walked over to my car and I pulled out my keys, unlocking the doors.
"Hey! Emily!" I turned to see Zane running towards me. "I need to talk to you." His voice was urgent.
"Oh… what about?"
"… I can't talk about it here." He whispered. My eyes grew wide.
"Well… I can't talk now… or later… I've got plans." I fiddled with my keys.
"Well… what about tomorrow?"
"Can't."
"Saturday?"
"Nope…"
"Sunday?"
I shook my head. "Sorry…"
"Well when can you talk?"
"I don't know… how urgent is it?" He stared at me with his dark eyes.
"Very…"
"Well… when I find time, I'll find you, okay?"
"Fine…" he sighed, "Just shoot for sometime soon… 'Kay?"
"I will." I smiled.
"Bye…" he walked to his truck across the parking lot.
"Bye." I mumbled, climbing into my car. Derek was already inside.
"I feel like it's my fault…" Derek frowned.
"How could it be your fault? You didn't do anything…"
"The only reason you can't talk to him is because of me… we're spending all our time together."
"So what…" I shrugged, starting the car. "It's probably not even that important."
"Well… what would be so important that he would have to talk to you about it as soon as possible?"
"I don't even know… Maybe he's alpha or something…" I shrugged. "Not that I don't care it's just… it's not something that really involves me…"
"Well, just be sure you don't spend all your time with me, okay?"
"Aww…" I sighed and began pulling out of the parking space. "Wait a minute… I thought Zane didn't know about us dating…" I stared at Derek, stopping the car.
"He doesn't…"
"Then why didn't he say anything when he saw you?"
"Because he didn't." Derek grinned. "I climbed into the car before he saw me."
"Oh… wow, you're fast…" I smiled.
"Don't remind me…" he rolled his eyes and laughed. "But when are you going to tell him?"
"I don't know… I'm not sure how he'll take it…" I pulled up to the light and turned right onto the main road.
"Well it has to happen… he'll find out sooner or later."
"I know…" I mumbled. It took a few minutes to get home. I pulled into the driveway and sighed, turning off the engine. We got out and headed to the front door. Derek snatched my keys from the back pocket of my backpack and handed them to me. I smiled and unlocked the door, hurrying inside.
"Nice place." He said.
"Thanks." I took off my shoes and dropped my things on the floor. "I'm guessing you don't want anything…"
"Huh?"
"Food, water… you know,"
"Oh, no, I'm fine." He laughed.
"That's what I thought." I said as I heated up a slice of pizza from last night. We were silent as the microwave hummed. Suddenly there was a ding and I opened the door, removing my pizza. I blew on it and took a small bite. "Ouch!" I dropped the pizza onto my plate and grabbed a glass of water. Derek was grinning. I glared at him as I chugged the water to cool my tongue. "Shut up," I gasped.
"I didn't say anything." He raised his hands as if to surrender. I rolled my eyes and blew more on my pizza. Derek just watched me.
"You know… you reminded me of something I wanted to talk about…"
"Oh, uh, what do you want to talk about?" I asked.
"Well, you obviously know I'm a vampire…" I nodded. "Okay, but… before we go any further into this relationship, I want you to realize something else." I nodded again and took another bite of pizza. He sighed, closing his eyes. "You need to realize that I can kill you." He said in a quiet voice. I stopped chewing. He stared me right in the eye. "I can easily outrun you, or break any one of your bones, or even rip off your head." His brown eyes seemed to grow black as he continued. "Are you sure you want to be involved with this?"
I thought for a moment. Suddenly I remembered what Jennae said. I swallowed my bite. "Yes." His serious expression didn't change.
"Okay," he sighed, getting to his feet. I placed the pizza on my plate and reached for my cup. Suddenly Derek's hand was gripping my wrist. I stared at him in utter confusion. He pushed me back against the sink and stared me straight in the eye. There was a long silence, then, "You're sure?" My heart was racing and my eyes were shut. I peeked one eye open. He released me and took a step back. My tense muscles relaxed. We didn't speak for a while.
"Derek," I looked at the floor. "I do realize that you could kill me anytime, anywhere, how ever you please… but," our eyes met, "I trust you enough to go through with this." He nodded. "Just please… don't do that ever again…" I breathed. He stepped towards me and pulled me into a tight hug.
"I didn't mean to scare you… I just wanted to make my point." He kissed my forehead.
"I know…" I gripped his back. We didn't move for a long while, but I knew I had to ask him. "Derek,"
"Yes?"
"I need to tell you something." I mumbled against his chest.
"Mm…" he sighed. I pulled away, but he kept our hands combined.
"You know Zane won't like us dating…" he nodded. I gave a small smile. "Jennae… told me that… well; you need to prove yourself to her, Zane and Jayce before they're going to trust you. They need to be absolutely sure that you won't… kill me."
He rolled his eyes and leaned against the counter. "I don't understand them… Just because I'm a vampire don't mean I'll kill any human I see." He grumbled.
"Derek… how can you prove yourself to them? I want them to accept you as an ally, a friend." I placed my hand on his arm. He sighed and smothered his face in his hands.
"You would think they would know that if I wanted to kill you I would have done it by now…" I watched him.
"Wait... That's it!"
"What is?"
"It's so simple… and it's true." He quickly caught on.
"You're right…" his lips mirrored my smile. "Now we just have to tell Zane." My smile faded and I fell back against the sink once again.
"But how do we do that?"
"You get some guts and go over there and tell him!"
"But…"
"I'll go with you."
"But…"
"We can do it."
"But…" my voice grew smaller as he closed in for a kiss.
"I love you."
"I love you too." I wrapped my arms around his neck.