Lincoln spent some time alone. He stayed alone. He met his mom but she wouldn't come close or talk to him and left. It wasn't a great visit.

The months passed quietly for him. Nichole tried to encourage Linc. He was so alone. She introduced him to a couple of vampires that he actually captured and turned in. One man was the last one they captured. He was doing well.

"Linc, this is Tyrrell Gates. I believe you guys have already met." Nichole smiled.

"Linc, it's a pleasure to meet you under better circumstances. I believe I was in handcuffs the last time! How are you holding up?" Tyrrell smiled.

Linc sighed and looked at Nichole. Was this a setup? "I'm okay. Thanks." He watched Nichole walk off. He glared at her. "I appreciate that you gave up willingly when we arrested you."

"I appreciate that you were decent to me. You guys treated me with respect and I wasn't expecting that. You even made sure I was fed before you took me. It was nice." Tyrrell smiled.

Linc nodded. "Sure. Well, it's a rule that we have to be respectful, unless you try to kill us then we can be disrespectful."

"I was too scared of you to be disrespectful." Tyrrell watched Linc. He was sexy.

"Uh, thanks?" Linc smiled. He looked at Tyrrell and wondered what was wrong with him. Tyrrell was gorgeous. He was tall and pretty. His skin was a mocha color and his golden eyes were beautiful but Linc didn't want him.

Tyrrell nodded. "So, do you want to...have dinner some time?" He inhaled. He was asking Linc out.

Linc closed his eyes and inhaled then opened them. He wasn't getting Grayson back. "Sure."

"Are you busy right now?" Tyrrell smiled.

Linc chuckled. "Uh, no. Right now?"

"Sure. Look, we can just talk. Okay?" Tyrrell saw him hesitate.

Linc nodded and followed him to the cafeteria. They got their meal and sat. "So, how long are you here for?"

"Well, that depends but I have another four months of classes and I am doing my community service. I pick up trash at the mall. It was a light sentence because you guys vouched for me." Tyrrell bit into his bag.

"Well, we just reported what happened, Tyrrell. You walked up and surrendered and we didn't see you as a threat and neither did the man that reported you. We interviewed him and he was nice. Were you dating?" Linc watched him.

Tyrrell nodded. "Yes. I...things got hot and I almost bit him. He got scared. I told him to call it in. I wasn't feeling safe right then."

"I remember. You were really nice. Thanks for dinner." He bit his bag.

"I never saw us here together. How are you doing?" Tyrrell watched the hot vampire.

Linc set the bag down and laughed. "Well, I'm a vampire so not well!" He wiped a tear and cleared his throat. "Sorry."

Tyrrell nodded. "You haven't been here very long and you are already out here, so I think you are doing great. Took me a year to get out here. Nichole thinks highly of you, I can tell."

"I'm a saint!" Linc sighed. "Nichole has been supportive. I know she is trying to help me by introducing you to me." He saw a confused look from Tyrrell. "Uh, I just broke up with my boyfriend. It was not easy. I love him."

"Oh, man! I am so sorry. We should have gone to a strip club and gotten drunk then!" Tyrrell smiled.

Linc laughed. "Sure. Too bad those are outlawed! I could use a drink though!" Strip clubs were illegal since vampires would gather there to bait humans. It had gotten bad so they were shut down.

"So, you said you just broke up, when?" Tyrrell was curious.

"A month."

"Well, shit. I can't hit on you then! It's way too soon. I would love it if we could be friends though, Linc. I just don't have very many here. It's nice to have someone to talk to. I broke up with Yuri when I came here. I know that pain. I still love him but he is human and we...it's not a good idea." Tyrrell smiled a sad smile. "Fucking vampires!"

Linc laughed with Tyrrell. "So, how did you get turned?"

Tyrrell smiled. "Bad date. He was working with vampires. He pretended to date me but led me to a vampire. He turned me and left me. I think it was an accident but here I am."

"You think he was trying to just kill you?" Linc sighed. He had heard of this. People pretending to date just to get the other person alone to feed to a vampire they work for. Humans that will do anything for a chance to be turned. It never works well for them. The vampires use them to get a live human and kill them in the end. They just find another gullible human.

"Yes. I think so. They dumped me in a dumpster behind a restaurant. A waiter found me. Turned me in. He saved me. But I lost everything else. My mother won't look at me and I just lost my lover. It sucks." Tyrrell sighed. "I didn't want this but I am trying to make myself better."

Linc nodded. "That's all we can do now. I'm sorry about what happened to you. Glad you didn't die though. I could use a friend too, Tyrrell."

He began meeting Tyrrell for lunch daily and Nichole had hoped that they were building a relationship but they both told Nichole they weren't ready for that. Linc wasn't.

He dialed Grayson's number until those numbers were fading on the phone pad. He never hit send, he just hung up. He met a couple of nice vampires and learned from them.

Joshua Reeds and Diana Fay, they were dating. But he stayed separate most of the time. Diana was easy to talk to and gave him advice about Grayson, even if he didn't ask.

Nichole offered to set him up but he wasn't ready to date. He was in love with Grayson. He couldn't stop it. He gave in after she kept persisting and accepted a date with Tyrrell. He was easy to talk to and Linc hoped they could build something. Dinner was nice and they walked to the park. Tyrrell chuckled.

"What's funny?" Linc watched him.

"I was just thinking about muggers in the park. Parks where I came from are unsafe at night and then I realized I was a vampire and nothing was really unsafe for me now. I am the unsafe thing in the park." Tyrrell smiled.

Linc nodded and smiled. "True."

Tyrrell leaned in and kissed Linc. He backed up and watched Linc. "Anything?"

"No. You?" Linc sighed.

"No! Nothing." He leaned in and tried again. He put everything into it. Linc was a great kisser. He released him. "Nothing."

Linc shook his head. "Me either. Maybe we aren't gay!" He smiled.

"I am. You are a fantastic kisser but..." Tyrrell felt nothing sexual.

"I know. That kiss was nice, Tyrrell but I don't know what's wrong with me. You are hot! I should be trying to drag you behind that tree!" Linc smiled.

"Me too. I just don't want you like that. Can we be friends?" Tyrrell smiled.

"Yes. I would like that. So, Nichole will interrogate us tomorrow."

"And set us up with someone else!" Tyrrell sighed. "I am still in love with Yuri."

Linc sighed. "I'm in love with Gray."

"Wait. Grayson? Your partner?" Tyrrell smiled.

Linc laughed and nodded. "Yes."

"Damn, he was hot! I see why you are mourning for him. I am too and I haven't dated him!" Tyrrell smiled.

Linc laughed and put his arm around Tyrrell. "Let's get out of here."

It was a year before he realized it. Linc graduated. He was deemed safe to be around humans. He had been working with humans for the past six months and Nichole thought he could do it. Linc stayed focused on short term goals. No biting people was rule number one.

They set him up with an apartment and a job. He moved out of the Rehab and into his new place. It was a studio apartment. It always felt so empty when he walked in. His job was at the rehab center taking calls. He actually liked it. It was something to do.

He thought about Grayson a lot. His days were the same and got boring. He tried to request a different job but they didn't want to test him. Nothing too strenuous. He wanted more. He wanted Grayson.

Linc was getting sick of just thinking in circles. He knew the risk. He went for a walk in the middle of the night. He couldn't sleep and he had the day off. He thought a walk seemed like the thing to do. He found himself in front of the house. His old house. His hunters were in there.