"Ah. Maybe protect me from vampires, then, since I cannot protect myself there."

"I would know if there were any vampires other than me around here."

"See, there you go, good job. Keep up the good work."

He laughs. "Anyway. I think you got interrupted by the yelling at me."

"A bit. Though I, uh, didn't exactly wait until I got home to cry, did I. I don't want to go out in public while I'm this much of a mess, even in the dark."

"I do have a functioning bathroom, if you wish to touch up. And a bedroom, despite not needing to sleep, if you'd rather stay the night."

She snorts, and leans on him some more.

"Bathroom sounds good, I have spare makeup in my purse for touch ups. Staying the night would perhaps give the wrong impression, James, I wasn't planning on telling anyone I came back to your house at all. People would, ah. Presume things."

"Ah, yes. I apologize." He leads the way to a spacious bathroom with a very large mirror and an even larger bath. Four people could fit in that bath.

"Planning diving expeditions in here, are you?" she wonders dryly, sliding to the sink to wash off the natural results of crying.

"I enjoy having some material comforts."

Snort.

"Ah, I see," she says, a little amused? She declines to comment further.

Then: onto making herself prettier with the magic of makeup.

He will valiantly refrain from commenting on how gorgeous she looks.

He will surely go down in the history books for his restraint and self control.

"Okay, I'm going to head home before Dad starts to worry," she says, once her task is completed and she deems herself presentable.

He nods and accompanies her to the door. "I will see you later, then."

She checks her purse to make sure that, yep, she still has it. "Yeah. Uh, next Sunday?"

"Whenever you want."

"Okay. Sunday, then. Uh, noon, if it's sunny and you can't go outside, I come by here. If it isn't, swing by, we can pretend it's a lunch date even though you don't eat. I expect I'll have my thoughts together and have questions for you of... Some kind."

He nods. "I will see you Sunday, then. And I will—not try to go out of my way not to run into you if I just casually happen to?"

"Sure. Uh, but no engineering that, please, I would not like to now have a vampire stalker."

"I will definitely not stalk you."

"Good. Thank you. Good night, James."

"Good night, Yvette."

She heads home. There is rather a lot to think about.

And he spends the week trying to act as normally as possible and does not seek her out even once.

He's not hungry by Sunday. But he doesn't want to risk it. He has a lot of control but she's his mate so he—

—finds an animal. A carnivore, those taste best.

His eyes are amber.

On Sunday, here is his mate! She's dressed up again, rather like this is an actual date.

"Off we go, then?"