Dedicated to  @zarrysupreme  for the awesome little comments on the last chapter. I still can't believe you're reading this... Thank you! x

Λs soon as we walked through the door of the vampire's house, I knew he was still mad at me. It wasn't because of the way he slammed the door shut behind us, or the way that his hands curled into fists but because of the anger and spite in his cold glare. In two large strides, he was standing in front of me, chest heaving and lips set in a firm line. The space between our bodies was gone within seconds when he roughly grabbed me by the shoulders and pinned me back against the wall. I gasped at his dominant actions, my head throbbing slightly from the contact. He held me on the spot with his hard gaze, his narrowed eyes alerting me that nothing good was going to come from the up coming conversation.

"You kissed him." he stated, nodding slowly. "Why?"

I narrowed my eyes at him as I answered. "It was actually Liam that kissed me, you ignorant shit. And it's really none of your business, Zayn." I reached up and used all of my might to push his arms away from me. It worked, and his arms fell back to his sides. However, he stayed standing right where he was.

"I'm not so sure you're telling me the truth, Laura." Zayn said, his fingers twitching at his sides. I couldn't believe him. He had no idea what I was thinking, no idea of what was going on in my head so how could he assume that I was lying to him? Liam was hurt, and so was I, and then he'd kissed me. I thought that kissing him back would maybe have helped him in some way. I wasn't planning on kissing him back, it had just happened. And I certainly hadn't expected to find Zayn anywhere near us.

But I had agreed to go out with him, hadn't I? That was the reason why he was so mad at me.

"Do I look like I care? Believe what you want, but it's the truth." I said, and feeling slightly braver, took a step towards him and added, "And your Persuasion will get you the exact same answer."

Zayn gave me a sly grin. "You were the one with your arms wrapped around him." he said, crossing his arms over his chest. He was right about that - I had done just that while I was kissing Liam back. I had been pretty shocked at my actions, as I'd constantly told myself that I didn't like Liam in that sort of way. I still didn't and yet he had kissed me so passionately. He had shown me the true extent of his feelings, and it had surprised me deeply.

"He was the one with his hands on my waist." I shot back, trying to prove my point. I had been caught completely off guard by the kiss, and Zayn wasn't listening. He still didn't believe that Liam had been the one to start the kiss.

"Right..." said Zayn, his eyes lowering to the ground slowly. "I'm going to kill him." He decided and before I could fully process his words, he was walking towards the door again.

"No!" I screamed and threw myself at him, latching myself onto his back. He stopped abruptly and peered at me over his shoulder. I scowled at him, holding the look to show how determined I was to keep him here and away from Liam. He gave me a wicked grin before he pried my arms from around his shoulders and before I knew it, we were in  the living room, Zayn hovering over me with dark eyes.

"Don't touch him. I mean it..." I said quietly, all authority suddenly gone from my voice.

"It's not him I want to touch." Zayn whispered in my ear, his lips brushing against the side of my head. I squeezed my eyes shut as he kissed me softly, his cold lips meeting mine. My hands grasped the coat of his tux and I pulled him as close as I could. I had to do anything I could to keep him distracted. If he hurt Liam in any way, I'd never forgive myself. His body pushed down between my legs and a broken gasp escaped my lips.

"You're mine, Laura. Mine and only mine." he said, cupping  my cheek with a hand. "No one else's."

All I could do was nod, staring up into the vampire's dangerous eyes. He rested his forehead against mine and his nose rubbed against mine. I couldn't believe how demanding he was being towards me, almost possessive you could say.

He kissed me once again, his tongue making its way into my mouth and meeting my own. It was quite funny to think back to when you were a kid - when you would always say how much you hated the opposite sex and that the thought of kissing them was revolting. It was funny how quickly those thoughts reversed when you became older.

His mouth began planting hot, open-mouthed kisses down my throat and to my collar bones. I let out a sigh, keeping my breathing under control as a wave of nervousness shot through my body. Zayn was still mad, and just because he was kissing me, didn't mean he was calm.

"Say it." he growled against my skin. "Tell me, Laura." His body began to rock roughly against mine and an involuntary moan escaped from my throat. What did he want me to say? What had he said? My mind was confused, different thoughts and emotions surfacing all at once. But then I remembered, and I said the first thing I could to reassure him that he was right - that I was his.

"Yours." I breathed, closing my eyes as he nipped at my neck, his fangs lengthening and grazing against my skin. I was shocked to find myself wanting to feel the sharp canines pierce my flesh. Why was I longing for it like my life depended on it?

I shrieked when Zayn suddenly flipped us over, me straddling him. My hands rested on his chest to keep my balance and he chuckled at my exasperation. I immediately went to pull the dress down as it had rode up to the top of my thighs.

"No." Zayn said, catching my hands in his. "Leave it."

I felt my cheeks redden as Zayn's hands rested on my thighs, his fingers tugging at the skin coloured tights covering my legs. In the blink of an eye, his nails cut through them, and he pulled the strips of material from my legs. I let out a shocked gasp, pulling the dress down immediately to cover my bare upper thighs.

"Zayn, what the hell?!" I shrieked, preparing to move from on top of him, but he held me firmly in place, his hands circling my wrists.

"Tell me, Laura..." Zayn said casually, looking up at me through his lashes. "Why did you kiss the human back?"

I hesitated, debating whether or not to tell him. Truthfully, I had only kissed Liam back because I felt sorry for him, guilty in some ways. At the time, I had thought of it as a way of saying sorry to him for what had happened between Zayn and I.

"That human has a name." I shot back, glaring down at him. "I done it because I felt sorry for him." I admitted, knowing that he would only Persuade me to tell the truth if he thought I was lying. "He's my friend."

"You felt sorry for him?" Zayn said, pondering the thought. "Why on earth would you feel sorry for him? He has good grades, friends and family. What doesn't he have?"

Me, I thought. He doesn't have me, and he just poured his heart out, letting me know that it's not just a crush, but something much more.

"He..." I started, lowering my gaze to Zayn's stomach, looking at the crease in his shirt. I tried to distract myself because I didn't want to tell Zayn what he already knew.

"Like what you see, Laura? I bet you just loved Liam's as well?" Zayn said, his grip tightening on my wrists.

"Shut up." I snapped, wriggling to try and get away from him, but all he did was grin up at me and hum in appreciation, his dark eyes glued on my face.

"So tell me, what was it that made you feel sorry for him?" Zayn urged, tilting his head to one side.

"He ... loves me." I said shyly, the words sounding strange coming from my mouth. "He's hurt because of us, and I wanted to show him how sorry I was." I mumbled.

"So you kissed him?"

"For fuck sake, yes! Alright?!" I yelled. "I kissed him back because I was sorry for him. I've known him for years, Zayn and I care about him so damn much. I don't want him to be so upset..."

"Do you care about me?" he asked, narrowing his eyes. I returned the gesture and looked away, shrugging. "At all?"

"Not at this moment, no." I said.

"I thought not. After all, we just started dating, and for you to go and kiss another guy back is rather ... nasty of you, Laura. Wouldn't you agree?" Zayn said, his voice lowering to an almost growl. With great effort, I pulled my wrists from his grasp, losing my balance and falling from his body and on to the floor. Zayn rolled over the edge of the couch and hovered over me. "I think it's called cheating."

"Like you care." I said. "You don't care about me, or anyone else, only yourself."

"It's a shame, you know?" he said, acting as if I had never spoken. "We were getting along so well, better than we  ever had before, and then I come up to find you kissing that little shit."

"He's not a little shit, he's one of my best friends." I said in Liam's defence. How dare he say such nasty things about Liam. After all Zayn had done to me, to my friend and family. To those families. He had some confidence to say that Liam was the bad guy.

"Seemed like a lot more than friendship from what I could see."

"He kissed me, and told me how much I meant to him. I didn't ask him to do what he did. Just please ... don't hurt him." I said, my eyes starting to water. I knew Zayn could hurt Liam easily, and he would if I couldn't persuade him to leave him alone.

Zayn glared at me for a second, his eyes lowering to my neck. I froze as his fangs lengthened over his bottom lip and I knew what was soon going to happen - he was going to feed from me again, I could tell, but I couldn't blame him. He'd want to make a point - want to make sure I never done anything like it again.

"I am willing to let this little slip go by and be forgotten..." he whispered, lowering his head as he did. "I just need a little something in return." I squeezed my eyes shut as his stubble tickled my neck, and not a second later, his fangs scraped against my skin.

"Zayn-" I started but he covered my mouth with his hand gently, silencing me.

"Shh, baby girl." He whispered. "It'll all be over soon." he finished. His words sent shivers down my spine and the thought of him ending my life suddenly came to mind. Could that be what he possibly meant, or was he only talking about after he'd bit me?

I screamed out when he sank his elongated canines into my flesh, and his hands instantly went to restrain me from hitting out at him. I squeezed my eyes shut as he pushed the fangs as far into my skin as they would go before he roughly pulled them out and began sucking on the wound. Just like before, the pain soon started to ease and all that could be felt was Zayn's lips surrounding the punctures.

At least it wasn't as painful as if had been last time - two vampires had been feeding from me then, and it had been excruciating to start with. After all, they were both tearing into my skin at the same time and draining the life source from my body.

I slowly opened my eyes, looking over at the fire place where the charcoal logs sat and I let my mind take me to another place - I thought of the last time my family and I had gone to France in the Summer, the taste of the food, the colours of the buildings and the laughs the four of us had shared on the whole trip. I thought back to the good times, before I had been caught up in a mess with vampires.

I groaned softy when Zayn pulled away, the pressure being released from my throat, but I kept my gaze away from him as I didn't want to see him with my blood all over his mouth. It would make me feel sick.

"I don't want you to kiss another man again." Zayn said into my ear. "When you're in a relationship, you are showing commitment to each other, which so far, hasn't been shown very well by you." He pushed himself up from on top of me and then brought me with him, hanging limply in his arms, almost as if I were a doll. "Do you understand, Laura?"

"Mm-hm." I mumbled, too tired to talk. Zayn lifted me into his arms and set me down on the couch, turning my head so he could examine my neck. I felt him poke around it a few times, making me flinch away as the wounds stung each time. As his footsteps retreated from in front of me and out the room, I took the opportunity to try and escape.

I'd had enough. I'd been willing to give him a chance, in fact I'd given him more than one, but I couldn't take much more, at least not tonight. I didn't want anything to do with him and the vampire business going on in Bradford.

I staggered towards the door, leaning against the door frame as my legs wobbled beneath me. I was incredibly dizzy from the blood loss, and trying to keep myself awake was proving to be difficult. I took a deep breath and pushed my legs to carry me to the exit. When my hand rested on the door handle, I found it no longer easy to stand on my own two feet, and I fell to the ground, slouching against the door.

Before my eyes closed, I could make out Zayn's tall silhouette making its way towards me.

***

"ℒaura?"

A muffled voice could be heard from my left, and I frowned as I opened my eyes, a bright light blinding me momentarily. I groaned and rolled over onto my side, avoiding the brightness and making myself more comfortable.

"Laura? Hello?" said the voice and when I opened my eyes again, there was a pale face right in front of me, making me jump back ever so slightly.

"Harry, don't scare me like that." I scolded as I sat up in the bed, pulling the duvet up to my shoulders. I tried my best to ignore the fact that I was in an over sized T-shirt and not the dress I had been wearing the night before.

As the memory hit me, I reached up and felt around on my neck, flinching when I found the two small puncture wounds still tender on my skin.

"Don't touch it - you could infect it." Harry said, reaching over and grasping my hand in his. His hands, I noticed, were big and long fingered, almost like a pianist's hands would be in order to stretch all across the piano keys.

"What time is it?" I asked, yawning. Harry pulled his phone from his pocket and checked the time for me, a smile on his face. I found myself wondering if he was always so cheerful.

"Eleven thirty." he informed me and my eyes widened. I hadn't told my parents that I would be staying over at Zayn's - I hadn't planned to until he'd fed from me - and they'd probably be worried sick. I carefully pulled my hand from Harry's and pushed the covers off of me, sliding my legs out, over the side of the bed. As soon as I stood up, I wobbled, still dizzy from the night before. Harry caught me easily.

"Whoops." he chuckled as he hauled me to my feet as if I weighed nothing. "Nearly." I thanked him quietly before I looked around for my dress. It was nowhere in sight.

"Have you seen my dress?" I asked Harry, pulling the T-shirt down so it rested mid thigh on me. I would be lying if I said I was comfortable in such revealing clothes. Harry shook his head and that's when I noticed he was still in his tux from the night before, minus the jacket and the tie was hanging loosely around his neck. "Did you enjoy the dance?"

"Hm? Oh! The dance, yeah, it was a lot of fun. I can't actually remember the last time I was at a party quite like it - surrounded by such young people, all having fun." he said, staring out the window as he did so.

"When was the last party you were at?" I asked out of curiosity. Harry frowned, as if having trouble remembering himself. He thought for a few minutes while I waited patiently, both of us sitting down on the bed at the same time.

"Some time in the 1900's, I think. At least the only big party I was at. But that night wasn't so great. There was a fight later on into the night and one man was bleeding badly. Louis pulled me away before I could get too out of control." he said, running a hand through his messy curls.

"So you've not been to quite a modern party apart from last night?" I asked, looking into his leaf green eyes. In the sun light they seemed to shine like diamonds and I couldn't help but look away after a few seconds. All vampires' gazes seemed to put me off track.

"Yeah, though last night was more of a dance." he said, shrugging slightly. "Fun though."

"Would it be inappropriate if I asked how you first met Louis?" I asked, changing the topic and looking at my toes as I did. It was hard for Zayn to talk about, but it didn't seem like talking about Louis effected Harry at all.

"Not at all, not at all." he said, making himself comfortable on the bed. "I first met him at a river, actually. When I was younger, there was this little stream I went to every day to collect water from, and one day he was just sitting there, throwing stones into the river. He looked a few years older, but I had no friends, so when I met Louis, it was surprising how quickly we bonded. He was the first friend I ever had."

"How old were you then?" I asked.

"Six or seven, maybe? Louis must have been three years older. I have a horrid memory, forgive me, Laura." Harry said. I assured him it was alright before my mind conjured up an image of a small curly haired boy playing by a river with a another boy with tousled locks.

"No, no, it's fine." I said, nodding for him to go on.

"We continued to be friends up until that night when he was killed. He'd picked a fight with a drunk guy, and he beat him to death. Pretty horrible from the way Lou described it all. I didn't know about vampires then of course. My family had went their separate ways, and I was left in the old farmhouse we lived in, but I had nothing, just Louis."

"Sounds lonely." I said, nodding as he spoke.

"It was, but Louis stayed over a few nights a week, just to be there for me when I needed someone. However, when the news got out that he had been killed, I was a mess. He was my best friend, the only person I had left in the whole world and I thought I'd lost him forever. Until he appeared at the house the next night, all ghostly pale and rigid. You know the rest - he bit, we exchanged blood, killed me, blah, blah, blah. I woke up undead. Beautiful story though, ain't it?" Harry said sarcastically and I only managed a half laugh.

"And you never hated him once for changing you?" I asked, still disbelieving.

"Nope." the vampire said. "I only hated him, like I've said before, when I thought he'd left me alone."

"You two sound very close."

"We are. Brothers pretty much, and we can get attached to our Makers strongly so that's also part of the reason why we still get on so well."

"I see." I muttered, looking down. "So why did Louis-"

"Story time is over." said a cold voice from the door. I spun around to see Zayn standing against the door frame, his hair wet, droplets of water rolling down his bare torso until they met the towel wrapped around his waist. The prominent V line of his hips was visible above the material, and I saw for the first time some more tattoos I had never seen before.

"Right." said Harry as he stood up and smoothed out the creases on the duvet. He gave me one last smile before making his way out the room, calling to Zayn over his shoulder. "Put on a shirt mate, before you poke someone's eye out!"

I looked down as Zayn shut the door behind himself and made his way over to the bed, his arms hanging by his sides. As he sat down beside me, I could still feel the chill radiating from his cold skin, despite him having come out of a hot shower.

"C'mere." he said as he sat down, beckoning for me to shuffle closer to him. I slowly looked up into his eyes, wondering if the anger would still be there from last night, but I was surprised to see his expressionless features. "Laura."

I let out a sigh before I sat right beside him, wondering what he wanted. "What?" I asked, clasping my hands together in my lap. Zayn looked down at his wrist before he lifted it to his mouth and bit into his skin. I shuddered as I watched, the crimson liquid beading on top of the small wounds. He held his arm out to me and I cringed before I slowly took hold of his limb and began to drink from him. The more of his blood I took, the stronger I felt and I knew the bite on my neck was healing at the same time. I pulled away when the drowsiness had vanished. "Thanks." I muttered awkwardly.

"It's fine." he said, his tone bored. Slowly, he stood and strolled over to the drawers, pulling out fresh socks and a pair of boxers. I gasped when he quickly whipped the towel from his lower half and let it fall to the floor by his feet, and I quickly looked away, the image of his backside permanently printed in my mind.

"It's a bum, Laura." Zayn said, clearly annoyed with my childishness. "Nothing you haven't seen before, I'm sure."

"Well, sorry Your Majesty." I snapped as I turned on the bed and faced the other way completely. Zayn was quiet for a few minutes, the only sound being him shuffling around the room to put on his clothes. I didn't bother trying to talk to him - I was still mad at him for going over board.

Yes, I had kissed Liam back, simply because I felt horrible about being the reason that he was feeling bad. He was hurt that Zayn and I were an item, and so when he'd kissed me, pushing him away would have only broke his heart even more, and I couldn't do that to him, I just couldn't.

"How did you sleep?" Zayn asked.

"Good." I replied, making sure to keep my answers short. When Zayn sighed, I knew he was getting frustrated and I jumped when he suddenly appeared in front of me, kneeling between my legs with trousers hanging low on his hips.

"Listen to me, Laura." he started, his hands grasping mine. "I told you last night, and I still mean it - I'm not going to bother about you kissing that boy. I'm willing to put it all behind us. I fed from you last night, and I know I was pretty brutal about it, and I'm sorry. I was angry, that's all and I took it out on you, which wasn't the right thing to do, I know. I just don't want anyone else to get in the way of ... this." he said, gesturing between us.

"Fine." I said, with a small shrug.

"You don't sound so sure," Zayn said, tilting his head to one side.

"I'm not." I admitted, keeping my gaze low. For all I knew, he could easily have changed his mind and was preparing to Persuade me to do something again, and I didn't want that to happen.  "I know I shouldn't have kissed him back, but I felt like it was the only want to show him how sorry I was-"

"Sorry about what?"

"Being with you." I said before I could stop myself and I instantly regretted it. "He's upset about us being together."

"I know." Zayn said, almost cockily. "I see the way he looks at you - like you're the only positive thing in his life."

"Was that the reason you pulled the whole 'I wanna be closer to you' thing?" I asked, getting irritated. If that had been why, then I wasn't going to be talking to him for a long while.

"No, actually. I only realised after, that it would also break his little heart."

 "You can be a right nasty shit at times." I said through my teeth.

Zayn smiled. "As can you. Looks like we're both fucked up." he said before he pecked my lips softy. I rolled my eyes at him before a small smile crept onto my face. "So, Laura, can we forget about last night's events?"

"Yeah." I said, meaning what I said. I didn't want to remember kissing Liam back, and then having to feel guilty about the situation between us. After all, Zayn had Persuaded him to think all we had done was talk. Liam wouldn't remember the kiss at all. It was best for him to be with a girl who liked him back in the same way. I just wasn't that girl, and I was with Zayn. "I'm sorry." I muttered. In response, Zayn pulled me to my feet so that I was standing in front of him. In one swift movement, I was in his arms and we hugged for a good few minutes, not saying anything, just embracing each other.

"Don't be. I went a little over board last night. I should be the one therefore apologising." he said and I let out a laugh, surprised to actually hear him say it out loud. "I'm sorry, Laura. Forgive me?"

I debated on whether or not I should have. He had been pretty horrible last night, and had been rough while drinking from me. If I forgave him, would all of that happen again? Would I be in any less danger while being near him?

"Laura?" he urged, pulling away to look into my eyes. I slowly nodded to him, earning a large grin to appear on his lips. At the same time we both leaned in, our lips meeting for a passionate kiss. I had forgotten that I was only wearing one of Zayn's T-shirts, and was only reminded when his hands rested on my hips.

"I should probably go." I mumbled against his mouth. "I need to go and help mum with some things." I said, pushing at his chest gently.

"What things?" he questioned.

"It's nearly Christmas, and she always has chores for Ian and I to do for her at this time of the month." I said smiling up at him.

"Oh, yeah. Christmas is in a few weeks." Zayn said, his shocked expression making me laugh. "What would you like?"

"Me? I don't want anything to be honest." I said, not hinting at a thing. I had the horrible feeling that if I told him something I liked the look of, he would get it for me, and I always felt bad when people got me things, even if it was for Christmas or a birthday.

"Stop lying, Laura." he said, lifting the hem of the T-shirt up ever so slightly. "I know you want something." His fingertips began to trace small circles against my skin, just above my underwear and I blushed madly. I pushed his hands away carefully.

"Chocolates are nice." I said with a small shrug.

"Some new clothes it is." Zayn said, smiling as I gaped at  him.

"No. Don't you dare get me anything, or I'll never speak to you again." I warned but all he done was laugh.

"I could always make you speak to me..." he said, his hands clasping together at my lower back. He leaned down and whispered in my ear, "I could make you do absolutely anything I wanted." And with that, his hands moved over my backside and to my thighs, hoisting me up into his arms.

"You can't use Persuasion to get everything you want in life." I said as he walked us backwards towards the wall. As my back brushed up against the side of the building, I let out a gasp when Zayn pressed himself up against the inside of my legs, feeling his lower region harden all of a sudden. He let out a groan before looking up into my eyes.

"That's where you're wrong, Laura." he whispered, grinding slowly against me. "I could Persuade anyone to do anything. For example ... I could make the Prime Minister strip naked on TV. I could Persuade the Queen to go swimming in the Channel. I could even make Obama wear a mankini and nothing else for the rest of his life. I could do absolutely anything." I laughed at his ideas, the images forming in my mind amusing.

"Considering you g-got past the guards." I gasped as he pushed harder against me. Once again, I found myself confused about how far to let things go. The simple movements of his hips against mine sent a euphoric sensation through me, leaving me moaning his name quietly.

"Mm." Zayn managed. "I could do that easily. So, so ... easily."

In seconds, the wall was no longer behind us, but the bed. Zayn was smiling down at me, his eyes hooded, unreadable. His lips descended upon mine, and soon we were both a moaning mess as his body worked against mine. I tried my best to forget how wrong I thought it was to be part of such activity, and go with what my body wanted - which was Zayn.

"You have no idea how crazy you drive me," Zayn said, nuzzling against my neck. "What the fuck have you done to me, Laura Mitchell?" he said breathlessly, his fingers entwining with my own.

"What do you mean?" I asked quietly, my fingers lacing themselves in his dark hair. A small gasp left my lips as he nipped at my skin, and for a second, I feared he was going to bite me once again.

"You drive me mad," he said quietly. "I can never get enough of you." He squeezed my hands gently in his own before slowly rolling us over to have me perched upon him. As I looked down at him, my eyes fell to his multiple tattoos. Like the week before, my hands drifted over his skin, tracing the individual lines on his torso. He rolled his head back against the pillows and closed his eyes, breathing slowly.

"You said they have meanings," I said quietly, tracing the small butterfly on his chest. "What do they mean, Zayn?" 

His eyes opened slowly. "The butterfly you know already - my little signal if you will. The microphone was when I went through a little rock phase which now, looking back, was the stupidest thing ever."

I laughed as a rock star image of him flashed through my mind. His leather jacket tied loosely around his hips, a head band around his head and eyeliner smudged under her eyes, guitar in hand.

"What about this one?" I asked, pointing to a cartoon girl on his right upper arm. He tensed for a second and his eyes drifted down to where my finger rested gently on his skin. "Is it a character from some TV show?" I asked curiously.

"No." he said, his tone flat. Confused, I looked into his eyes, and I couldn't help but think I saw grief in them. "She was someone I knew a while ago."

"Oh..." I trailed off, suddenly feeling awkward. "I'm sorry, I didn't know." I carefully rolled off of him and lay beside him on the bed, looking the opposite way. Silence hung in the air between us and I let my eyes shut.

Nice one, Laura. You've upset him, said a voice in the back of my head and I bit my lip. I should have kept my mouth closed and said nothing at all. Curiosity killed the cat, they said. But then again, maybe he needed to be the one who was hurting for once?

"I should really go now." I eventually said, standing up and walking to the door. Zayn was up, and making his way towards me, a frown on his face. "Where did you put my dress?" I asked and Zayn nodded towards the wardrobe. I thanked him quietly and made my way over, retrieving my dress and shoes from the bottom.

When I turned around, Zayn had left the room. I let out a sigh, anger boiling within me for opening my stupid mouth. I slipped the large shirt over my head and hung it up before sliding on my dress from the night before, noticing a tiny drop of blood on the sleeve. Hopefully it would wash off. I carried my shoes in one hand as I made my way down the stairs, hearing the two vampires talking in the living room.

"You need to stop blanking her like that," Harry said. "She's only curious, like every other human who finds out about us."

"I know, but ... I can't tell Laura about her. It would scare her even more, and things are going so well at the moment, Harry. I don't want to ruin that."

"Well, sometimes, telling the truth is the best thing to do," Harry replied.

Slowly, I made my way into the living room, pretending to be completely oblivious to what I had just heard. "Zayn, where did you put my coat?" I asked. "Hi again, Harry." I added as he stood up to acknowledge me. I felt my cheeks redden as I realised he would have been able to hear Zayn and I upstairs.

"It's in the lobby," Zayn said, smiling at me, as if nothing awkward had happened between us only moments ago. Of course, I was naturally curious as to who the woman was inked on his right arm, and what the story behind it was. I wondered why he was suddenly choosing to ignore the subject. Wasn't it easier to talk to someone about your problems?

Zayn walked me to the door, holding my coat out for me to slide my arms in. Once I pulled the coat over my shoulders, I buttoned it up as far as it would go and turned to say goodbye to Zayn, but Harry caught my attention as he loomed in the doorway of the living room. Ignoring Zayn's questioning gaze, I made my way over to his curly haired friend.

"Harry, can I talk to you about Marielle, please?" I asked quietly. Harry looked shocked at my words, but nodding anyway. "Do you like her?" I continued.

"Yeah, she's a great girl. Funny as well." he added, smiling to himself.

"That's great," I commented. "Can you just promise me something? I mean, I know you two seemed to have a lot of fun last night and you were both getting on great with each other, but please, Harry ... don't let her know what you are. Please don't hurt her either? I know you're a good guy and that you wouldn't do anything like that, but I have to make sure. She's one of my best friends, and if anything happened to her, I don't know what I'd do..." I said, looking down. I felt horrible asking Harry such a thing, but it had to be done. I had to make sure there was no chance that any of my friends were going to get hurt. Most of them had already endured enough because of me.

"Laura, I'd never hurt May. I like her a lot, and I've already told you I'm not like that, so I promise you that I won't hurt any of your friends."

"Thank you." I said, smiling at him before I said a quiet goodbye and turned back to Zayn who was picking at his nails in disinterest. He opened the door for me and walked me across the road to my house. Mum was in the front garden, unloading the car as we made our way over to her.

"Laura!" she said happily, dropping the bags and wrapped her arms around me. "How was last night? I'm sure the both of you had a great time." she said, looking from Zayn back to me again. If kissing Liam and then watching him get thrown across the room was what she called a 'great time' then yes, it was fantastic. I couldn't help but notice that she wasn't asking where I had been all night and my eyes met Zayn's who smiled down at me. Persuasion, I thought.

"Yeah, it was fun." I said, not entirely meaning what I said. The first few dances were alright, and so was the food, but the whole thing with Liam ... It hadn't turned out very well.

"Yes, I agree. Brilliant party." Zayn said, wrapping an arm around my waist and pulling me close to his side. My mum's eyes stared at us lovingly and I couldn't help but feel slightly awkward with her ogling at the pair of us. She was probably picturing the bloody wedding in her mind.

"Christmas dances were always fun in my days," my mum said as she started emptying the car of shopping bags again. "Lots of dances, hot boys and some idiot who thought it was fun to replace the juice with vodka each year. Still, the school never managed to find out who it was." She laughed to herself as she gestured for me to help her. I reached into the car and took out two more bags, one in each hand. Out of the corner of my eye, Zayn picked up the rest, which looked to be about five bags. What a way of trying to be subtle about his inhuman strength.

The three of us hustled into the kitchen, placing the bags on the counter top and began emptying them.

"You sure you got a big enough turkey, mum?" I asked as I hauled out the main course for Christmas Day and placed it in the freezer, in the biggest drawer.

"Well, there's no harm in being prepared." she said as she took the empty bags and stored them away in the cupboard under the sink. Zayn seated himself at the dining table, his head in his hands as he watched my mum close the fridge and turn to look at us both. I remained standing.

"What are your Christmas plans, dear?" My mum asked Zayn and he smiled innocently up at her. I knew the look, and it meant 'I'm after something'.

"I don't have plans yet, Kelly." he said slowly, averting his gaze to the table top. "My family can't make it up from London because my aunt has just been admitted to the hospital. She had a nasty fall down the stairs and had to be rushed in immediately." he said.

"Oh, that's horrible. Will she be alright?" asked my mum while I silently begged her to stop talking. I knew what he was doing, and my mum was falling right into his trap. "Why don't you go and visit your family for Christmas?"

"She'll be fine said my mum, and I don't think going to visit them would be the best of ideas..." he trailed off, biting his lip as if concentrating hard on something.

"Why not? Surely they'll want you down for Christmas?"

"I thought they would too, and my mum and sisters are all for it but I'm not having the best of times with my dad at the moment. A bit of a disagreement is going on between us and so I told them I'd be staying in Bradford for Christmas this year." he finished with a small shrug. "It's nothing too drastic of course, I could always go see them next year..."

You sly bastard, I thought, shaking my head at his words. He could so easily manipulate people into thinking and doing things. Like he said, he could make people do whatever he wanted, and by the looks of it, with and without Persuasion.

"Well, why don't you stay over night on Christmas Eve and you can spend Christmas Day with us? I'm sure no one would mind." my mum said and I shut my eyes. And there it was, the grand invitation. I waited a few seconds for him to agree. I knew he would.

"Are you sure? I wouldn't want there to be any trouble with me staying?" he asked, frowning as he did. It was ridiculous how well he could act, scary actually. I found myself praying that mum would change her mind, because as much as I cared for Zayn, Christmas was strictly family time, a time for me to escape from everything during the holidays.

"No, not at all. You're welcome to stay for Christmas if you wish." my mum said as she started to wash left over dishes from the night before. "Are you sure there's no family  you could go see? It seems awfully sad that there's none..."

"There's my friend Harry who's staying with me. His family sadly passed away when he was younger. Car crash when he was nine." Zayn said, his eyes glued on my mum's as she looked from me to him.

"Why not ask Harry if he'd like to come along too?"

"Mum, won't it be a bit much, having so many people over?" I interjected, leaning across the table to look into her eyes.

"No, I'm sure it will be fine, but only if you boys are willing to stay?" mum asked, looking directly at Zayn, her eyes demanding an answer from him.

"I'm sure we'd both be able to make it." he said, smiling widely. "Thank you very much, Kelly."

"No problem, love. Anything for Laura's boyfriend." she said, winking at me and I felt my eyes widen. She turned away and walked out of the kitchen, muttering something about Ian sitting in his room all day. As soon as her footsteps could no longer be heard, I turned to Zayn and raised an eyebrow.

"What was that?" I asked.

"What was what?" he asked innocently, a smile on his face. I leaned closer to him, narrowing my eyes ever so slightly.

"That little act, you trying to get an invite over for Christmas. You sneaky bastard." I said, shaking my head at him.

"Are you not pleased that I - and possibly Harry - will be staying over for the festive days?" he asked, pouting ever so slightly. "I thought you'd be thrilled to have such handsome men around you for so long." in a flash, he was standing behind me, arms wrapped around my waist, chin resting on my shoulder. I spun around to face him.

"Sometimes a little space is nice, especially in the holidays with my family." I said, shrugging. "I haven't had that much space or time to feel like I'm still living in a non-supernatural world."

"I'll try to be as human as I can for you." he said, pecking my cheek softly. "I promise. And I'll make sure Harry will be on his best behaviour too. He might not even want to come over."

"He probably will. He doesn't have anyone either. Unless he was going to go and stay with ... him." I finished carefully, not allowing myself to say the maker's name. I didn't want to set Zayn off on a mad road again. That would just end badly, like it usually did, and I wasn't risking anything while he was standing in my home where my family were, completely oblivious to the power Zayn had.

"Maybe he will," Zayn said, his eyes searching my face. "I personally wouldn't mind ... I could be a little more naughty with you if he weren't in the next room listening."

"Zayn..." I managed before he kissed me, his hands holding mine tightly.

"I know, I know: I'm disgusting." he said, "But you love it. I know you do." he smiled down at me and I couldn't help but let a little grin appear on my lips. He had the strange ability to make me smile no matter what came out of his mouth. So different from what it had been like for us in the beginning.

"Maybe Harry should come over then." I stated and Zayn let out a deep sigh - an agitated sigh and I chuckled.

"You're no fun." he said, his eyes locked on mine. "I could make you a more fun person, if you'd let me."

"You're definition of fun will be completely different from mine, Zayn." I said before I pecked his cheek and  ducked out of his embrace and over to the fridge. I took a sip of the orange juice before I offered some to Zayn. He shook his head and sat down at the table.

"I prefer something a little redder than that." he said, cupping his hands together in front of him, squinting at them as he did. Seconds later, two butterflies appeared, each one sitting on both his palms. I walked around the table and sat opposite him, watching as one of the bugs flew towards me. It landed on my out stretched hand and I examined it closely.

"I remember the first time you showed me this trick." I said thoughtfully, my mind travelling back to the first day we had met.

Before I could do anything, he grabbed my wrist and took my small hand in his. I gasped at his rough actions and the coolness of his skin. His hand was freezing. He opened my hand and held it in front of us, my palm facing up towards the ceiling.

"W-What are you doing?" I stammered as he placed his palm over mine.

"You'll see," he murmured as he looked down at our hands. His brow furrowed as if he were concentrating hard, and he bit his lip. When he moved his hand away, he closed my hand into a fist and released my wrist. Without another word, he turned and left for the door, swinging his leather jacket over his shoulder. I could hear his footsteps retreating down the hall towards the staircase.

I was left shocked by his actions, so rough but gentle at the same time. He hadn't hurt me, only left me slightly dazed. I wondered what had triggered inside him all of a sudden to start acting like an idiot? I'd have to fill Kate in on everything. She would not doubt want to know what happened through the first two lessons of the day with him.

I looked down at my hand. My body shook as I slowly opened my fist and I gasped when I saw what was sitting in my palm. A small, black butterfly sat, beating its wings in the centre of my hand. Without warning, it spread its wings and flew off of my hand and into the air, towards the door. I watched in amazement as the small creature fluttered out through the exit where Zayn had left only moments ago.

The memory seemed to be from years ago, yet it had only been about two or three months ago. I hadn't realised I'd been day dreaming until Zayn sent his butterfly to land on my nose. I jumped and gently brushed it away from me.

"You like to get lost in your own little world, don't you?" he asked.

"Definitely. Reading books gives you so many places to wish were real." I answered.

"Yep, also you get a great time travelling with books. I've been to Hogwarts God knows how many times." he grinned at seeing my shocked expression. It was a surprise to find that Zayn had read J.K. Rowling's works.

"Same here. Best holiday I've been on for a while. France will always be the best though. We travel there a lot in the Summer holidays." I said.

"You mean book France or real France?"

"Real." I clarified. "Mum, Dad, Ian and I go a lot, and it's great."

"I think I remember you mentioning that a while ago..." he trailed off, frowning as he thought.

"Well, now you know for sure." I said before I looked up at the clock. It was half twelve. "Do you have any plans for the weekend?" I asked.

"Nah. I might try and unpack the last boxes I have in the house. That'll be it over and done with that way." he said and I nodded.

"Alright." I said, half relieved to have the weekend to myself, but half sad that he would be leaving. It seemed that as soon as he left, bad things happened around me and to those I loved dearly. "Good luck unpacking then."

"Thanks, Laura." he said before the two butterflies flew towards the stair case, disappearing from sight. "I should probably be going. Harry will be getting bored. He gets bored so easily nowadays. He also seems really edgy at the moment."

"Maybe he's worried in case the maker shows up again?" I suggested. Zayn nodded to himself as he stood up and made his way round to stand in front of me once again. He kissed me softly, hugging me close as he did.

"I think we should all be worried in case he shows up again." he said.

 ____________________________________________________________

Sorry for the wait. My exams are so damn close and I really should be revising for those...

Let me know what you thought, what you think might happen and who's side you're all on in the comments. Please comment? I'll love you if you do :)

Cazza