A sweet flowery scent tickled Jason's nose, waking him from his slumber. He groaned and turned, then noticed something hugging his waist. His eye flew open and he froze seeing the beautiful brunette he'd fallen for, latched onto him. He had dreamt of waking up beside her before but never thought it would happen – even with his current position as her lover.

"Good morning, my love," Samantha kissed him on the cheek.

"Wha... How? Miss G?"

She shuddered. "Please don't call me that outside of school grounds," she groaned and nuzzled her face against his chest. "I don't want to remember I'm your teacher when we're alone."

"How'd you get in here?"

"Why does it sound like you don't want me here?"

"Uh, it's not that... It's just..." he swallowed, struggling as she made circles with her finger on his abdomen. He grabbed her hand to stop her before he got too excited. "You weren't here when I went to sleep, and you don't have a key to this place, so you can understand me being surprised, right?"

She glanced up at him through her bangs. "Your sister let me in early."

"Maggy did?"

"Yes, and we had quite the conversation. Have you always slept in on Sunday like this?"

"Pretty much... It's Sunday; why should I get up early? And wait... what did you talk to my sister about?"

"All sorts of things," she smiled and kissed his cheek. "I can say with almost one hundred percent certainty that she has a crush on Will though."

"What? No! That's not allowed," Jason sat up, but she pushed him back down.

"Why not? We work, don't we?"

"Uh..."

She pulled away, frowning. "You think we don't work?"

"Not until I'm out of school... We have to hide it until then." Jason couldn't help but wonder if Will had added more to his hypnotism or if just being her lover changed her that much.

"Ugh, I know it sucks right now, but it's only a few months until we're free to be together without scrutiny... Assuming we can fix things..."

Shaking, Jason slipped his arms around her. "Say, are you hungry?"

"Are you offering what I think you're offering?" she rested her hand on his chest and leaned in close. "'Cause I'm starving and could use some of your delicious blood," she kissed his neck.

Jason twitched, struggling to hold back a moan from her light touch. "Y-yes, I'm offering my blood."

"Are you sure? You haven't even had breakfast yet."

"I'm sure," Jason swallowed, wondering how he'd ever get used to it.

"If you insist..." Samantha took a deep breath of his scent and kissed his neck again. "Thank you," she bit into his neck.

"Ugh..." He tensed up as her fangs sunk into his neck. After a few seconds, his body relaxed and he moaned as a sense of euphoria took over. "Holy..."

"Mmm," she licked the blood away. "Thanks for breakfast," she bit her finger and held it up to his mouth.

"What?" he stared at her bleeding finger.

She frowned at him. "To heal you? You should know this by now, Jay." She trailed her finger along his bottom lip, smearing her blood. "Better hurry before it heals." His mouth opened slightly and she pushed the tip of her finger into his mouth. "I know it's not appetizing to humans, but you need a little to heal my bite." He sucked on her finger a little and she pulled it out. "Good boy."

Jason swallowed, staring at her as he fought his sexual urges. "Um... I have to use the bathroom."

"Okay," she turned and laid on his bed as he ran off.

Jason grabbed his phone off the nightstand and stumbled into the bathroom, dialling Will's number. "I don't think I can do this."

"Good morning to you, too," Will yawned.

"She... She..."

"She what? You sound terrified; what did my sister do to you to cause you to be so flustered? Did she have breakfast? Is that it? You realize that's part of the plan, right? Your main—"

"No, she... I mean, yes, she did drink my blood, but that's not the issue!"

"Then what is? You're rambling too much too early in the morning," Will grumbled as he grabbed a cup of coffee.

"When I woke up she was in my bed holding onto me... and then she started touching me..."

"I fail to see the problem. You're attracted to her, right."

"Yes, a lot..."

"And you want a romantic relationship with her."

"Well, yeah..."

"Then what the hell is the problem?!"

"Well, I... I'm going to have to take a lot of cold showers..."

Will burst out laughing. "I don't actually want to think about this, her being my sister and all, but why don't you just go for it. She wants you—"

"Because she's hypnotized."

"This again, really? Are you a broken record? Because you sure sound like one. Let her have her way with you and enjoy it while it lasts; I'm sure you'll screw it up eventually."

"But I've never..."

"Have you had a girlfriend before her?"

"I've been on dates... but never been exclusive or anything."

"So you're telling me you have next to no experience with women, but you wanted someone like my sister who attracts men like flies to honey?"

"Yes..."

"Then go get some experience with her before I snap and disembowel you for constantly wasting my precious time."

"You're a vampire; don't you have all the time in the world?"

"I'm a vampire with a timeline, and time is always precious. Now, go have fun with my sister; I'll be busy hunting," Will hung up.

Jason stared at his phone in a daze.

Knock, knock. "Honey," Samantha called out to him. "You've been in there a while, are you okay?"

"Uh, yeah, I'm fine." Jason splashed water on his face and took a deep breath.

He's acting weird. Samantha waited for him in the hallway. Wait, how does he normally act? She cringed as a pain spiked in her head.

Jason came out of the bathroom. "Um... I'll get changed, and we can head out after I have breakfast."

"We're going out?" I can't let anyone from the school see me.

"Yeah; I want to go on a date. We're kinda close, but I want to get to know you better."

Kinda? "Okay, but we'll have to go out of town."

"Of course."

"I'll be out in a jiffy," Jason rushed into his room to change.

Samantha waited in the hall, pondering. Is it really a good idea to be with him? He's in danger because he's with me.

Jason popped back into the hallway, his hair still in a mess.

Samantha giggled and reached out to fix his hair. "Major bedhead. There... you look perfect." She smiled at him.

His eyes practically sparkled as he watched her. "Thanks," he held his hand out. "Let's have breakfast."

She smiled, giddy as a schoolgirl, and took his hand. It's been so long since I've felt like this.

They sat down at the kitchen table together across from Maggy, a plate of pancakes in front of each of them. "Yum, I love Sunday's," Jason poured maple syrup on top and dug in. Samantha's foot found his under the table and she lightly rubbed the top of his.

Maggy stared at them and sighed. She put her plate in the sink and headed out of the kitchen.

"Wait, Mags... I'm headed out today."

"Yeah, okay. Have fun," she mumbled and continued on her way.

"Is she okay?" Samantha asked.

"I think so..." He knew Maggy wouldn't feel better until things were back to normal; she would have to put up with it for a little while.

They finished up their breakfast. Jason washed the dishes and Samantha helped dry them and put them away.

"Do you always help with the dishes?" she asked, bumping his shoulder playfully.

"Yeah, since Maggy does all the cooking, I think it's the least I can do."

"That's sweet of you," she kissed him on the cheek.

"Heh, I guess..." he bit his lip. "So, where to?"

"I feel like I've been cooped up too much lately, and since Will basically kicked me out saying I couldn't help with the whole... clan issue, I think we need somewhere outside we can go to be together. Maybe don't wear the jock jacket though; we don't want anyone thinking you're a high school student."

"The jacket... I guess it's a giveaway, even though I'll probably keep wearing it after high school." He switched to a leather jacket.

Samantha eyed him and smirked. "Maybe you should always wear that..." He's never looked better.

"Why?" He glanced down at the coat then up at her and it clicked. "Do I look good in this?"

"Better than good." She slinked up to him and whispered into his ear, "You look sexy."

Jason laughed and scratched the tip of his nose. "Thanks."

"I know somewhere to go today," she grabbed his hand. "So I guess I'll drive."

They headed out and got into her car. With a quick glance at one another, she drove off.

An hour later, they arrived in a different town and she pulled into the parking lot of a carnival.

"Someplace busy... interesting," Jason nodded, half hoping to have fun the other half terrified.

"I'd prefer to be alone with you, but I haven't been to one of these in forever and I happened to see a posting on the board at school. We can blend into the crowd here, so hopefully, it'll be okay."

"Yeah, no one will notice us," Jason nodded, smiling. "Let's have some fun."

They got out of her car and walked towards the carnival. Samantha laced her fingers through his. "Let's make sure we don't get separated."

They spent the morning trying out food at all the different stalls – often with Samantha feeding Jason. By the time lunch came around, they had eaten so much food they had no space left. They collapsed on a bench together.

Jason patted his belly. "I don't know the last time I ate so much, and it was so good."

"Me either..." Samantha leaned in close. "Although, you're still the most delicious," she licked her lips.

A hint of red spread on his cheeks. "Is that so? Do people really taste that different? I mean, it's all human blood, right."

"Oh, trust me, people taste different and vampires and can tell every little difference as much as humans with regular food."

"Wow, that's unexpected; I thought we all tasted like iron."

"You taste... irresistible..." she kissed his cheek and smirked as he squirmed. He's so cute.

They sat in silence watching the crowd as they rested. Jason squinted as he gazed at a familiar figure in the crowd.

"Something wrong?" she asked, noticing him struggle as he focused in the distance.

"Does that look like Roy?" he pointed off to the side by the hot dog stand.

"Roy? Here?" she followed his finger, stretching her neck to search the crowd. "I don't see him."

"Ah, well... they're gone. Maybe I'm just being paranoid. Roy never comes this far out of the city."

Samantha placed her hand over his on his lap. "I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"For everything; for putting you in danger; for being a teacher and in my twenties so it's hard to be together; for putting a rift between you and your sister—"

"If there's a rift between me and my sister, then it was there before you were in the picture. I'm always either too absent or too attached to her. I need to learn how to balance our relationship."

"I know exactly what you mean; I've struggled with that in the past. Will and I even had a big fight over it... Since we've been vampires though, he seems to be the one always looking out for me." Samantha sighed, dark thoughts consuming her. "He'd be better off without me..."

"What? Why do you say that?"

"For the same reason you'd be too..." She pulled away from him and stared off into the distance. "If it wasn't for me, he could've lived peacefully wherever he wanted, without having to hide and constantly look over his shoulder. With how he is, I bet he could've taken over the clan by now."

"So it's not just based on bloodline? Like the leader's kid takes over kind of thing."

"It has happened like that – tends to really – but if the clan isn't satisfied with the leader, they can vote in a new one, or if one's killed the one who killed them takes over. The leader is normally the strongest in the clan."

"And you think Will could've been the leader."

Samantha nodded, a small, sad smile forming. "He has a way of charming everyone, so yes, I think he could've become the leader."

Jason thought of his sister. "He is too charming, isn't he?" Jason grumbled.

She raised her eyebrows and he shook his head, not wanting to talk about it.

"I guess with how much we've moved around he's always had to adjust to new people and new surroundings. He used to be so shy, but necessity has a way of changing you... He's so good at establishing a ring of informants and people he trusts to get him what he wants."

"If he's so good at that, then why doesn't he go back to the clan and convince them? Or why doesn't he get enough help to get rid of Evan?"

"It's harder than you'd think to get rid of the clan leader when he has his cronies around... and he's super strong."

"Wait, aren't you all strong? Is he a super vampire or something?"

"Not only is he one of the oldest vampires in our clan, but he wasn't a normal human when he first died... he was a witch."

"Witches are actually real? Wait, vampires are real, so of course, they are too. So is he a vampire with magical powers on top of all the vampire powers?"

"Something like that."

"It's a wonder you've been able to stay away from him all this time."

"Not quite; I was caught and subject to him... but we got away eventually and kept running. He's been busy fighting with the wolf pack nearby, so he hasn't had time to hunt us personally for a while..." Samantha sighed. "All my students are in danger now because of me... I don't know what to do anymore, Jay..."

Before he knew what he was doing, he pulled her into a hug and kissed the top of her head. "It'll be okay; keep your strength up and trust Will. He'll think of something... he has to."

"He's been looking for a way to stop Evan for so long; what makes you think he'll find something now?"

"Necessity? Fate? I believe something will save you."

She nuzzled closer to him. I wish I could stay in his arms like this. It feels so... safe. Her arms wrapped around him, relishing in the warm comfort. And it's my job to keep him safe too. "Okay," she took a deep breath and backed away. "I think my food's settled enough for us to go on a ride. How about you?"

"Yeah, sure. Which one do you want to go to first?"

"Bumper cars."