Dedicated to  @springfalls  for the AMAZING fan art, thank you! x :)

工t was his cold fingertips prodding my cheek that woke me. First, I had batted his hand away to stop him tickling my nose, but his attempts were on going. Eventually, I had rolled over on to my other side, but his hand only followed and soon he was poking my cheek over and over again. Frustrated, I let out a deep sigh and spun around so I could move my body onto his, my legs straddling his waist. He looked surprised for a second before a large grin appeared on his face, his golden brown eyes sparkling.

"Well," he started, "I thought I would be the one trying to convince you into having morning sex," he said. "Apparently not." He sat up, leaning on his elbows and kissed me softly, a hand coming up to grasp the back of my head, his fingers twirling locks of my hair round and round. I kissed him back with just as much force, not entirely sure what had come over me. When he pulled away, he lay back down against the pillows, a hand supporting the back of his head.

In the morning light streaming in through the curtains, he looked beautiful. Almost artificial with his stillness and defined features. I laid my hands flat on his stomach, taking a peek at his many tattoos for the hundredth time. My eyes momentarily skimmed over the one of the cartoon woman on his arm, mentally stating not to draw attention to it unless I wanted him to go all quiet and mysterious once again.

Zayn had been anything but friendly when we had first met. Always mysterious and rather quiet, making rude comments from time to time. It was odd to think he was a completely different person now to what he was before.

I looked at his lips curiously and reached out a hand slowly towards his face. Like I had once done before, I lifted his lip and stared down at his teeth. Tentatively, I tapped one of his short canines with my fingertip and watched in fascination as it lengthened beneath my touch. Zayn's eyes closed slowly and so I took the opportunity to test the sharpness of the fangs. A flash back of them being embedded into my skin clouded my mind all of a sudden and I shuddered at the memory. Despite my hatred for him gradually being diminished, I couldn't lie to myself about the fact that he'd hurt me numerous times before hand.

All of a sudden, I was pushed off of him as he jumped from the bed with inhumane speed. He backed himself up against the door, his eyes wide. He was panting. I couldn't help but feel worried - what had happened? Had I done something wrong?

"Zayn-" I started but he cut me off.

"No, Laura. Just stay where you are. Don't come near me. Please," he said, shaking his head for a second, blinking madly. "Don't ever do that again."

"What did I do?" I asked quietly.

"Keep your hands away from them," he said, his fangs still lengthened to their full predatory size. "The fangs." he gasped. They began to shrink back to their normal size, and Zayn kept his eyes shut as they did. As soon as his teeth were back to their normal size, he stood away from the wall and made his way over to me, crushing me against his chest when he did. "I'm sorry."

"It's OK," I assured him as his hands rubbed my back. "I didn't know that you were touchy about me doing that." I said and I felt him shake his head.

"You did nothing wrong, Laura. I just ... had a bit of a shock." he admitted before pulling back and kissing me. "I just ... was surprised to find you doing that. Fangs usually creep you out."

I laughed quietly. "They still do, but I was only curious." 

Zayn let me go and looked into my eyes; his seemed distant and sad, as if what I had done was something he had experienced once before. I shook the thought away and let my hands rest on his shoulders, pulling him towards me until we were kissing once again. I was consciously aware of his body weighing me down to lie on my back, against the mattress like before. His hands, spread out, were on either side of my head to support his body above mine, the swell of his biceps more prominent then ever.

"I almost forgot," Zayn said, his mouth by my ear, "Merry Christmas."

"Oh, yeah," I said, remembering the festive day that had arrived way too soon, "I forgot." I admitted and he chuckled.

"I tend to make people forget everything but myself," he murmured as he trailed kisses down my throat. "It's just so easy to do."

"I believe you," I said, my hands twining themselves into his hair. When his mouth met mine once again, I could feel him smiling against my lips and I couldn't help but let a giggle or two escape when he unexpectedly picked me up and held me upright against his torso.

"You're so fucking beautiful, Laura Mitchell." Zayn said, his voice low and eyes dark. His eyes always seemed to darken when we kissed, almost as if desire had swallowed the golden brown whole.

"There's no need to swear." I told him, tapping his nose as I did. He only smiled at me.

"Sure there is - it's my way of showing the true extent of my words." he said, leaning his forehead against mine.

I shrugged, "You could always kiss me instead. Prove your point that way." I teased, turning my head away from his to look over at the bathroom door. He let out a sigh before kissing my throat softly, stubble rough against my skin.

"I could," he said, "but there are so many other things I could do ... to show you how beautiful I think you are."

"Oh, really?" I said, looking down into his eyes, "And what would those 'other things' be?"

He grinned up at me slyly before letting me down to stand on my feet in front of him. He cupped my face with both his hands before pecking the tip of my nose softly. "All in good time, Laura. All in good time." he said.

After a few extra minutes of useless arguing, I turned and made my way into the bathroom for a shower, Zayn watching my every move. Just before I shut the door, I noticed Zayn pulling the duvet flat across the mattress, returning the bed to its original tidy state.

As I began to tug my T-shirt over my head I couldn't help but think about Zayn and I. What were we, exactly? Were we still in a relationship after the whole accident with Liam and Zayn's decision to brush it aside? Surely, he wasn't going to be able to forget it quite so easily, and he was most likely still mad. But there was no chance that I was going to try and bring it up - things were going too well and I didn't want to cause a disturbance. Again.

I pushed the power button and waited a few seconds before stepping into the tub, the warm water pouring down on me. I relaxed instantly. There had always been something about showers that made me relax completely. 

I couldn't help but feel disappointed that Harry hadn't been able to stay over for Christmas. He had no one else to really spend the holidays with and the people he had went to meet last night were probably a small group of folks he had spoken to on one occasion. I felt bad for him, not wanting to intrude despite being invited over. It had been awfully polite of him to have left presents for us all.

My eyes snapped open when a cool draft seeped under the shower curtain and hit the back of my legs. I listened closely and froze when I heard the door shut and a voice begin to sing softly. Had I left the door unlocked by mistake? I pinched the curtain between my wet fingers and slowly peered around the material to see Zayn standing in front of the sink, looking at me through the mirror. He smiled at me widely before he opened the bag he had dragged in after him. He extracted his toothbrush and began to brush his teeth.

"Zayn," I said, scowling at him, "Get out. I don't know how many times you've done something like this, but it's driving me nuts. Please leave." I said, capturing his gaze in the mirror reflection. He continued to brush his teeth as if he hadn't heard me and I waited patiently for him to finish. When he eventually did, he turned to face me.

He raised a finger to his lips and moved towards me. He could have been floating from the way he steadily made his way forward, eyes fixed entirely on my face. I clutched the curtain closer to me in an attempt to make sure I was a little more respectful. Who the hell was I kidding? I was in the bloody shower.

The vampire came to a stop at the edge of the tub and dropped his hand from his face. He leaned forward and cupped my face before kissing me roughly, forcing his lips upon mine and pushing his tongue into my mouth. I was shocked at first by the dominant actions, but I soon found myself kissing back with just as much force.

"Are you willing to trust me?" he asked me quietly, both sides of my head caught between his hands. His hard gaze held me in place and I found myself wondering what he was up to, my cheeks turning red as the many possibilities of what could happen flashed through my mind.

"It depends on what you're planning." I told him, my voice shaking ever so slightly. He nodded once before removing my hands from the shower curtain. I sucked in a breath as he slowly pulled the curtain back, exposing my nude body to him. 

But he never broke eye contact with me; he didn't lower his gaze once to stare at my breasts, and he didn't reach out to touch me either. He was testing me I realised - to see if I did in fact trust him. He seemed shocked that I hadn't reacted so far, but the genuine smile that appeared on his face had me smiling back. Taking it as a positive move, he slowly - very slowly - lowered his gaze inch by inch, and I suddenly felt rather awkward and tried my best to cover myself with my hands.

All of a sudden, my wrists were seized and I frowned as I looked up at him.

"There's no need to hide, Laura," he said softly, his eyes back on my face, "You're beautiful and I don't want you to be shy about your beauty."

Awkwardly, I tucked my hair behind my ear and nodded slowly to him, lowering my gaze. Before I knew it, he had pulled his T-shirt over his head and dropped it to the ground before stepping over the edge of the tub in his boxers. I backed myself up against the wall to give him more room, trembling at the closeness between us. He closed the curtain behind himself.

My mind was racing. Zayn was standing in the shower with me, looking into my eyes with what I assumed was longing. The vampire reached out slowly towards me until his hands rested on my bare hips. Despite the warmness of the water, I still felt the coolness from his skin on my own. I raised my hands to lie them on Zayn's lower arms to hold myself steady. A sudden dizziness swept over me.

"Laura," I heard Zayn say over the water, "are you alright with this?" I looked at the closeness between our bodies and I felt myself flush. Yes, I was OK with it, but there was no denying the sudden rush of nerves surfacing by the second. If I hadn't been so accepting of the situation, he'd have been out the door long ago.

When I nodded, my lips were dominated by his. Zayn's hands never left my waist, his fingers tapping gently against my wet skin. The distance between our bodies slowly lessened until I realised that Zayn was gently pushing me up against the wall, the cold tiles making me shiver. Not wanting to look as nervous as I was, I slid my hands up his bare torso and wrapped my arms around his neck before leaning towards him to make our lips tough again.

One of Zayn's hands cupped the side of my face as we kissed, our lips sliding messily together due to the water pouring down around us. For a second I had forgotten the fact that we were standing in the shower - it had just been the two of us, and nothing else.

"Do you still trust me?" Zayn asked, looking into my eyes steadily, his expression hard. I bit my lip and nodded, not letting the fact that I was naked before him, change my mind. He returned the nod before moving his hand down from my face to my throat, his fingers tracing shapes on my skin. I remained still where I was, putting on a brave face as his hand continued to lower.

For a second, that one night where similar actions had occurred flashed to mind and I felt myself blush. Zayn must have noticed because he chuckled ever so slightly before kissing me once again.

"It's OK," he promised, leaning his forehead against mine as his hand palmed at my breast roughly, eliciting small gasps from my lips, "I won't hurt you. Tell me when you want me to stop."

When I didn't, he attached his lips to my throat and sucked hard. I couldn't contain the moans that escaped my mouth, and soon I found myself panting as he continued his slow torture; marking my skin with his mouth and claiming my body with his hands, both of which were cupping a breast and were massaging gently.

I couldn't believe what I was doing, and yet I had no intention to stop. I had been afraid that Friday night many weeks ago, but I hadn't forgotten the curiousness that came with the package - I had been wondering ever since what would have happened if Zayn and I had continued. And there I was, in the shower with him, letting him leave his mark on me.

He'd once told me that vampires could become awfully attached to their human companions. I guess I finally understood what he meant by that. But not only was it the vampire becoming attached, but the human too. There was no denying that I was falling for him more and more each passing day but whether he noticed was unknown to me.

Zayn's mouth reached my collarbone, his teeth scraping against my skin and adding to the excitement. I tightened my grip on him as he moved lower, kissing down between my breasts. I was shaking now. Whether it was with nerves or excitement, I didn't know, but I didn't want to stop. Not this time. My head fell back against the tiles as his lips caught my nipple, my nails biting into his flesh. It was a foreign yet pleasurable experience, one that I would gladly allow him to repeat in the future.

"You OK?"  I heard Zayn ask and I nodded slowly. "Laura, speak to me, please." he urged.

I looked down at him, my wet hair falling in strands around my face. "I'm good." I answered, slightly out of breath. "All good." I added before leaning back again. I heard him laugh quietly before he stood up right and kissed me again, his hands on my chest once again. I wrapped my hands around his neck and pushed myself away from the wall.

There was a knock at the door. I barely heard it with the shower, but I knew that Zayn had heard it clearly with his super hearing. I unwrapped my arms from his neck and pushed his hands away from my chest slowly, smiling at him awkwardly.

"Yeah?" I called to the person behind the door, my cheek burning.

"Laura? What are you doing in there? And ... where's Zayn?" my mother asked and I felt the colour drain from my face. She must have suspected that the pair of us were in the bathroom together. I momentarily felt ill, trying to come up with something smart. Zayn beat me to it.

"I'm in here, Kelly," Zayn said, chuckling when he saw my shocked expression. "I'm just brushing my teeth and Laura's in the shower." he said, looking straight at me. "And she's looking fabulous." he added quietly, just for me to hear. I slapped his arm and waited for my mother to start yelling.

"Ah," my mum said, sounding doubtful. No wonder. "Well, you've both got presents down stairs and er, breakfast is ready."

"OK, thanks mum. I'll be out soon." I said.

"Maybe." Zayn said and I rolled my eyes and listened out for my mum. As soon as I heard the bedroom door shut, I looked round at Zayn to see him laughing to himself quietly and I scowled at him before leaning over to switch off the water. Zayn grasped my wrist and pulled me against his chest, holding me against him.

"Where were we?" he said before kissing my nose softly. I smiled up at him before switching the water off and attempting to step out of the tub. I'd just have to shower later, when he wasn't there to ... distract me. Zayn stepped out of the tub first and held his hands out towards me. He lifted me easily from the bath and placed me down on my feet before him. In the blink of an eye, Zayn had wrapped a towel around my shoulders and I smiled gratefully up at him.

Zayn then went over to the bag he had dragged in with him and he pulled out some clean clothes and laid them out before grabbing an extra towel. Once he had dried himself off, he began to change, peeling his wet boxers from his legs and changing as I looked away, giving him some more privacy.

It had become awfully silent, so I cleared my throat and tried to start a conversation. "Well, that was... It was quite something." I said, probably making the situation even more awkward. All Zayn did was laugh. He towel dried his hair and turned to face me, smiling. He knelt down between my legs and looked up into my eyes.

"I'm just glad you trust me. Just know that I would have stopped if you'd said so."

"I didn't want you to stop, though," I admitted, tucking a wet strand of hair behind my ear. "I wanted to be braver than last time when I chickened out."

Zayn squeezed my knee gently. "Don't say that. You're a lot braver than you give yourself credit for, Laura. Hell, you managed to have a semi decent conversation with Louis, and you've managed to tolerate my condition for this long. How long has it been anyway?" he said, speaking mostly to himself.

"About three odd months," I answered for him and his eyes widened in disbelief, "I think."

"Only three months? I feel like we've known each other for a lot longer than that." he said, smiling widely up at me. He stood and pulled my to my feet. He kissed me on the cheek and turned to leave the room. "I'll give you some time to get decent."

As soon as he left and shut the door behind himself, I dried myself and put my hair up in a turban before following him. He was sitting on my bed, reading one of the books from my book case. I caught a glimpse of the cover and laughed.

"Really?" I asked.

"What?" he said, shrugging, "Am I not allowed to read about how some people see vampires? It's quite funny actually - that we've been turned into diamonds by one author."

"Hardly," I said, taking the book from him and placing it back on the shelf. "But I'm sure if you met Meyer, you'd have a lot to discuss."

"Oh, yes. Most definitely." Zayn said before I quickly changed into clean clothes. We walked out the room and down the stairs, hand in hand, laughing about nothing in particular. I was glad that I was able to have a laugh with him now. Before, it had been uncertainty and constant fear of not knowing fully what he was capable of.

Just before we entered the living room, Zayn pulled me back and pushed me up against the wall, a finger pressed against my lips. "I hope you like your presents," he said quietly before kissing me quickly. "I'll be pretty pissed off if you don't."

"Oh, shut up. Of course I'll love them." I said, pushing him backwards into the living room. As we entered, my family looked up at us at the same time. I couldn't help but blush as I looked at my mum, praying that she didn't think anything odd had gone on between Zayn and I in the bathroom.

"Morning you two," my dad said, standing up to hug me. He patted Zayn on the back awkwardly, clearly not happy about him having slept in my room for the night. "I hope your hungry because your mother didn't seem to think that the traditional dinner would fill you up enough." dad said, looking at me. I laughed before we made our way into the kitchen to eat.

"Seriously mum," Ian said moodily, "Who eats breakfast on Christmas morning?"

***

Λfter breakfast, we made our way into the living room to open the presents. My mum made sure that Zayn opened the gift from all the family first, and he had agreed gladly, taking the neatly wrapped present before tearing into it, his smile wide. A part of me wondered if he was like Harry - if he had ever had a proper chance to celebrate Christmas since he was turned.

"Thank you all so much," he said as he pulled out the two smart shirts and box of chocolates, "They're so smart, thank you." he said, shaking my dad and Ian's hand. My mother brushed his hand away and gave him a brief hug before handing a present to Ian.

"Go on," she said, widening her eyes at my little brother. He rolled his eyes before turning to Zayn and handing him the gift.

"This is from my wonderful self," he said as Zayn took the present. It turned out to be another box of chocolates and Zayn thanked Ian before setting them aside. I felt a little sorry for him. Being a vampire might not stop him from eating human food, but it made it much less enjoyable for him.

"This one is for..." my dad started, reading the gift tag on the present. I instantly recognizes it as the one I had chosen for Zayn, "Zayn. From Laura." I smiled at him as he began to open the present. He pulled out the shirt first of all and thanked me for it before looking curiously at the wooden box.

"What's this?" he asked me.

"Open it." I told him and so he did, smiling widely as he took in the different coloured paints and pencils. He looked back up at me and said, "I love it. Thank you." He then leaned forward and kissed me. To say I was embarrassed was a  understatement. Out of the corner of my eye I saw my dad look away and Ian look down at some of the discarded wrapping paper.

All of us opened the rest of our presents, 'thank you' being said multiple times. Harry had bought my parents expensive champagne, Zayn a warm looking jumper and some books and Ian an X-Box game. I had received some jewellery and clothes from him, which made me smile.

"Is that all of them?" my dad asked, looking under the tree for missed gifts.

"Nope," Zayn said, holding out two towards me. I eyed them carefully before taking them from him. I looked up at my parents who were smiling widely at me, their eyes demanding me to open them. I opened the larger one first and frowned ever so slightly. I pulled out the summery looking clothes, admiring the bright colours and trendy new styles.

"Thank you, but it's a little too soon for Summer, you know?" I said and all Zayn done was smile before he picked up the small present he had showed me the night before. I raised an eyebrow as I took it and began to unwrap it. My first thought was jewellery, but then I realised the box was too big to hold a single piece of jewellery.

"Now, before you open it properly," Zayn said, a hand resting on my hand, "I had a word with your parents about this, and at first, they were reluctant but we came to an agreement. I hope you like it."

"I'm scared now," I laughed, "Am I going to like this?"

"You'll love it, honey." Mum said, smiling at me.

I took a deep breath before I lifted the lid from the small rectangular box. Inside were two plane tickets. My eyes widened as I looked up at my parents and then at Zayn. "We're going to France in the April holidays?" I asked, astonished. I couldn't believe it. Usually, it was in the Summer time we all went on a family trip to France, so the gift was completely unexpected. I smiled as the memory of last Summer came to mind; the sights, the sea, the beaches.

Dad shook his head, chucking. "Not 'we', Laura. You and Zayn are."

I looked up at Zayn, my eyes wide. "Are you serious?" I asked, smiling widely. When Zayn nodded, I launched myself at him happily. The fact that he had remembered that I loved going to France had shocked me. I thought it was something he would brush aside, but no. He'd went ahead and bought us bloody holiday tickets.

"I wanted to do something amazing for you." he told me, twining his fingers with mine. "Are you happy?"

"Am I happy? I'm ecstatic! Thank you so much, Zayn. I couldn't be happier." I told him, kissing him on the cheek.

After double checking that all the gifts had been opened, my parents started to clean up. Zayn and I made our way over to the couch, our legs tangled together as we stared at each other not saying anything. It was peaceful, and surprisingly pleasant.

"I can't believe you remembered that I love going to France." I said, still smiling after opening the gift. "I'm so happy, thank you." I took his hand in mine and squeezed it gently.

"Well, who doesn't love France?" he said, grinning. "The food is great, some of the culture is incredible. The sights are outstanding." he said as I nodded in agreement.

"The music, art, buildings..." I trailed off, thinking of all the small cafes I loved visiting each year. "We should make a list of things to do!" I suggested.

Zayn grinned slyly at me. "Can I put you on my list?"

I shook my head. "No, you can't. But seriously - we need to schedule everything. How long are we going for, anyway?"

"A week." Zayn said. "A week of exploring all of France."

"Yeah," I said, squeezing his hand tighter, "It's going to be great. Thank you."

"Anything for you. I haven't seen you this happy for months." Zayn said, tucking my hair behind my ear. "I personally think visiting Paris will be amazing. I always did love the city."

"We're going to Paris?" I asked in disbelief. Usually when my family and I went to France, we visited the the coastal resorts, and very occasionally Paris itself. I couldn't help but jump with happiness in my seat.

"We sure are," Zayn said. "The city of love." he finished with a wink. I rolled my eyes before he stood from the couch and pulled me along with him into the kitchen where my mum and dad were preparing the meal. The scent of turkey filled my nostrils and my stomach grumbled. 

I couldn't help but smile to myself at the thought of going back to France - and earlier than usual. I was able to relax there, and not have to worry about my problems back home. In a way, I was desperate to leave right that moment and explore Paris with Zayn by my side.

Despite the excitement though, I couldn't help but ponder Zayn's words. The city of love, he had said. But why would he have said such a thing when we weren't in love at all? Yes, Paris had different names, but to mention that one in particular had me wondering if he was trying to tell me something. Of course, I could have been reading too far into it - I could have had the completely wrong idea. But his words had been genuine, sincere. 

I shook my head before I began to help my dad with setting the table.

 ____________________________________________________________

Like I said at the start, I have to revise and prepare for these exams. I'll be able to update more after they're through with! :)

P.S. I'M THINKING ABOUT WRITING A PREQUEL STORY TO THIS. THOUGHTS?

Cazza