"What are we gonna do today?" Melanie asked as Damon led her in the kitchen and handed her an apron. 

"I'm teaching you how to cook," he replied searching the utensils from the cabinets and aligning them on the counter. 

"Oh nice," she clapped her hands in excitement, "well what are we gonna cook?" 

He shrugged, "anything? Vegetable salad?" 

She laughed, "oh come on that's not even cooking. It's just cutting the veggies and adding some spices." 

He looked at her in awe, "ah well how old are you exactly?" 

She rolled her eyes at him, "thirteen, obviously." 

He nodded, "explains the sudden cleverness." 

She raised an eyebrow, "Damon I hope you didn't mean it. Did you mean to say that I wasn't clever before?" 

He smirked, "and if I said that I did mean it...?" 

She returned the smirk, "honestly? You would be in for a lot of trouble." 

He laughed, "how can you possibly cause trouble to a more than 100 year old Vampire?" 

She pouted, "you shouldn't underestimate me." 

He playfully gave her a shove, "did I mention before how cute you look when you do that?" 

She rolled her eyes, "hardly. Now are you going to cook something or not?" He spoke, "get the vegetables from the refrigerator. We will be making a vegetable salad after all." 

She took out the vegetables and placed them on the counter, "tell you what, I'll chop them while you fix something else for dinner. Or better still order a pizza or burgers. Only a salad can't be that appetizing and in case you've noticed I need food more than you do." 

He was shaking his head with silent laughter as he took out his cell phone to order the meal, "okay I'll be back." 

He had just hung up the call when he heard a slight suppressed scream. It wasn't actually a scream in fact it was more of a wincing sound. 

He entered the kitchen, "hey Mel, I thought I heard..." His voice trailed off when he saw her clutching her hand tightly and noticed the blood dripping down her finger. 

"Uh...I... I'm sorry. I accidentally cut myself," she mumbled. 

He closed his eyes for a brief second and held his breath shutting out the blood scent. He went out and returned with the first aid box, "here you go." 

She tried to clean the wound but of course she couldn't. 

He sighed, "wait, I'll do that for you." He gently took her injured hand and wiped the blood off wrapping the bandage carefully around her finger, "better now?" 

She was looking at him in surprise, "that was..." But she hastily changed what she was going to say, "thanks Damon." 

Now that the blood was out of sight, Damon eased a little, "you were about to say unexpected, right? It was quite unexpected for me too. But as a safety precaution; just don't cut yourself again." 

She nodded, "I won't." 

He looked at the salad plate which was beautifully set with chopped vegetables, "better than I expected, Mel. You do tend to surprise me at such things."

Not much long afterwards, Damon and Melanie were curled up on the couch together watching movies amid eating their dinner. 

"Well I think, your choice in movies is rather boring," Melanie whispered to Damon who was almost lying down on the couch watching the movie with concentration. 

"Yeah what did you say? Sorry didn't hear you," he mumbled. 

"I said this movie is boring," she replied. He rolled his eyes, "hell no it isn't. Don't tell me that you think Mission Impossible is boring." 

She spoke, "I can't get the meaning of this all and I really am not enjoying." 

He clicked his tongue in disappointment, "then what do you want to watch?" 

She suggested, "Home Alone?" 

He shook his head, "nah, too childish."

"Terminator?"

"Obviously not."

"Shark Tale?"

"Honestly, Mel? What do you think I am; a three year old?"

"Well, Damon, you had no problem in watching my favorite movies before."

He sighed, "yeah I remember; that was a big mistake. I had to watch all those Mr Grinch, Popeye and Scooby Doo cartoons. And frankly speaking, now that you're thirteen, I'm not willing to subject myself to that torture again." 

She finally spoke in defeat, "okay then. I suppose Ghost Rider would do fine with you." 

He nodded, "yeah that's not too bad I guess." 

She clapped a little, "good we finally came to an agreement. Now if you would be so kind, just scoot over or else I'll end up on the floor soon." 

His eyes sparked with amusement, "now that would be hilarious."