I sat up, gasping for air. My eyes snapped open with confusion. 

"Hey, easy, easy. You're ok. I've got you." Thomas spoke running to my side and wrapping his arms around me. Gradually, my breathing slowed and calmness crept in. "Michael brought you home yesterday. Do you remember what happened?"

"I..." I paused, trying to think. Burning, head pounding, couldn't breathe: all the things I could remember. "Was it a panic attack?"

"No, if only that was all it was. One of the humans at the diner broke their wrist and started to bleed. That reaction was you smelling human blood. Quite intense for your first time but it starts to ease up every time."

"That was human blood?" It barely came out as a whisper. I was in shock that that's what it was. That made me feel weak, like I couldn't handle anything in life anymore. I vaguely remember getting home. The king! He was there. Crap, he saw me freaking out too. "What about your dad? He saw me!"

"It's alright. He's more worried about you than anything else. He is well aware of the effects of human blood hence why no one goes to the human land. Plus he's pissed at Sutton for knowingly going to a human place. She was under orders to only go to get a dress, nothing more." His hand brushed my hair gently, calming the mangled mess back. "He is the one who ordered you be sedated so you wouldn't suffer."

"Oh," was all I could say. This was too much and I barely understood. I always thought everyone had a different reaction to smelling human blood. He made it sound like everyone responded like this. That made me think more about how he was when he first smelled it. Or maybe did he ever kill anyone when feeding?

He laid with me as my thoughts raced through my head. Michael, I felt bad for him. He just kept having to rescue me and I wasn't even a royal. What about Sutton? More things with her made me start to question everything. I couldn't stop wondering who she was texting so much and so fast. It was strange in the fact that she also was the one who took us to that particular restaurant instead of a not so popular one. Sutton had the act for twisting things in her favor. Now the question was, what did she have planned?

"Did you ever have that... reaction?" I asked, looking up to meet his eyes. 

"Not quite the same, but the royals are different remember. I've seen others go through the same thing so I have an idea of what you were feeling. I will say you handled it much better than most vampires but either way, I'm sorry you had to experience that without me."

"Michael was there. If it's possible, I'd like to maybe apologize."

"No, you don't need to. He understands." Thomas interrupted. "He's experienced that before. He had the same reaction himself when he was a kid, or so that's what he told me."

I sighed, leaning back onto Thomas' side. Of all the things that could have happened, that guy just had to break his wrist the minute I was there. It was still frustrating to me. Whether or not that was a normal reaction or not didn't matter to me. The fact is it happened and I never wanted to feel that vulnerable again. 

The rest of the night, both of us spent watching different movies and myself going in and out of sleep. The sedation had yet to fully wear off. 

By the time I woke up, Thomas was gone from the room, leaving me alone in his bed. It was strange knowing this was the first time I had been allowed to stay over. I guess the king was more or less trying to protect me. Maybe it Thomas fighting his dad or asking if I could stay because of what happened.

I rolled over in bed to my stomach to feel and hear the crunch of paper beneath me. I'm sure it looked much prettier before I crushed it. Written on it was Thomas's familiar cursive writing explaining.

'Had to get some work done with father before the ball. Have some breakfast downstairs in the kitchen. The cooks are expecting you. T' 

I couldn't help but smile. He'd had them notified and everything about me coming. First his bed was amazing, now I get to enjoy some royal food, this day was getting better and better. When I realized I was still in my dress shopping clothes, my stomach dropped. Everyone here would know what happened and that I stayed in Thomas' room if I walked out in old clothes. 

As I stood up, I could see a t-shirt and some pants on his window chair. Instantly I knew they were my own from home. Maybe my guardians brought them over. Either way, I was happy. 

I walked downstairs towards the kitchen. When I walked in, there were two chefs cooking at the stove and counter. Michael sat drinking coffee while looking at a newspaper. 

"Good morning, sunshine." He spoke without even looking up at me.

"Morning." I whispered. The chefs immediately turned around, nodded at me and went back to cooking. I sat down next to Michael who slid over a plate of bacon. "I wanted to talk to you and tell you sorry. I didn't know--"

"Don't." He spoke. 

"Michael, you helped me from going after those humans."

"No, I allowed you to be in that proximity which started the whole problem. It's my fault that you had to experience that so unexpectedly. Next time, I won't let Sutton change plans."

"Yeah about that..." I looked down at my thumbs. Do I even say anything? I wasn't sure that she was at fault for anything but everything still seemed off to me. The texts, the diner, it was all too coincidental. 

Michael finally turned and locked eyes. He was waiting for me to continue. Eyebrows raised, he was curious. Maybe he thought the same thing though. 

"Something feels off with that whole day."

"Why would you say that?" He set the newspaper down and rotated towards me. His hands rested half on the counter and the other on his knee.

A clink of plates on the counter made me jump and turn to the chefs. On the plate was a smiley face plate of pancakes and bacon. A hashbrowns plate was set to the side with some toast as well. For the tiny person I was, I knew I would never finish all this food.

Michael didn't miss my surprise. He saw it clear as day and now knew something was definitely up. 

"Charlie, what is it?" He was stern and still turned towards me fully. My head dropped down to looking at my hands. 

"Didn't you notice anything weird about that whole day? As soon as I found my dress, she comes out in the one she wants. Never has it taken her that short of time to pick a dress much less in an actual dress store. And then she knew exactly what restaurant to pick and on top of that it was packed with people. The whole time we were there, she sat on her phone and it wasn't just like browsing. She was actually texting someone and fast. She was even upset just coming back from the bathroom. It was like it was all planned out. I just don't feel right about it."

"I suppose I did notice those things. She has that sort of spontaneous personality though."

"Michael, she knew that restaurant and exactly how to get there. You don't just know that stuff from the human world." I looked up to him, showing how serious I was. I wanted to yell at him to go and do something. I didn't feel safe around her anymore. Whenever I was with her, bad things happened. 

"I'll look into ok?" He turned back to his newspaper and took a sip of his coffee before continuing. "I wouldn't mention this to Thomas though. He may get upset. It is his sister after all."