FicWad

Okay, okay. If anyone out there still wants to read this, I think I deserve a good whack for not updatinging for ages. I've just had major drama-rama in my life. Whatever, on to the important stuff. I had writer's block, still kind of do. I have specific ideas spinning in my head, but my fingers don't want to listen. This, I guess, is a bit of fluff before what I think is the last chapter. Enjoy.

It was two days after he left Gwen.

He’d yet to say a word to any of the boys, even Patrick, who passive aggressively glared at him from his corner. Pete didn’t really care. (Or maybe he just wanted a fight. He was feeling more suicidal these days, after all.)

He just needed to know. His status must have made the rounds among them by then, anyway. So he did what any hunter with half a brain knew never to do: he wandered deep into Ragamuffin territory, then into Warrior territory. Of course, they followed like lost puppies, and once one group saw the other, it was on.

Too bad it was Pete's lucky night. Just as disaster was about to strike, it was averted. Averted by a pretty, young thing who had the naivete to be wearing a costume pearl necklace in the wrong neighborhood.

But instead of the monsters noticing her first, Pete's own hiss caught their attention. His eyes flashed with desire, and not the kind Pete was used to feeling in a crowded room of drunken fools dancing their worries away. His blood called out for hers and there was no way of hiding it.

They didn't even drop a leer. The monsters banded together and grabbed the defenseless girl, who didn't have enough sense to scream. They herded her to him, like an offering of peace. Pete's hesitation only pushed them to pull him back.

He couldn't help himself, he kept trying to convince himself. He only wanted a taste, what was so wrong with that? Her terrified cries brought him back, pushing his skin into theirs in an attempt to stay away from her.

Pete might have gotten away, but they started chanting in unison: "Kiss her. Kiss her. Kiss her."

The girl started sobbing, but all he could do was think of how lovely it would be to finally feed on this pretty young thing. One more push, one more shove.

But it wasn't the girl and it wasn't the vampires who decided for him, it was Gwen that made his decision.

Pete snarled, sending the monsters on the heels and freeing the girl, who looked back once and left before any more damage was done. As he beat the ever living crap out of the monsters, he thought of every precious moment with her that would be lost if he gave in. There would be no way back to her, no way, no way....

"I swear."

"You are such a liar!" Gwen yelled, tears streaming down her face.

"I'm serious," Pete answered, the sincerity on his face for once true. "My first sex dream was with Cheetara."

Gwen assumed a fetal position, face redder than red and breathes coming in painfully slow, whenever they came. Laughing yourself silly for about five minutes does that to you.

"You. Are. Totally. Messed. Up," Gwen offered between heavings.

"And you're the one who freely chose to date me," Pete shot back with a smirk.

"Yes, and if you're not careful, I'll change my mind soon,” she smiled at him, rolling off the bed to readjust herself.

She didn’t catch the brief look of sadness on Pete’s face. “Okay, now that I’ve humiliated myself for the, I don’t know, nillionth time, it’s your turn.”His toothy grin didn’t fool her, so he added, “That is, unless you’re chicken.”

“Hey, that’s not fair.” She tossed a pillow at his head. “If anyone’s a chicken, it’s you. When’s the last time you kissed a girl?”

Pete tried to harden his face into a smirk, the edges ever so slowly disappearing into a frown. Since when did she have the right to dig deep where he didn’t allow anyone but Patrick? How was any of this her business?

“Last time I checked, it was your turn, no backing out now.”He bounced on the bed, throwing in an evil laugh or two to distract.

“Okkkaay. Shoot,” she answered, not sure whether to believe his mood swing.

“What was the first CD you ever bought?”He stopped bouncing at the sight of Gwen’s horrified face. “Oh my God, this is going to be so good, I can tell.”

“Michael Jackson.” Her voice came out all squeaky and high, like she just inhaled tons of balloons. Her face was a shade of brilliant red and she looked close to exploding.

“Oohh, now look who’s lying!” he pounced her, pulling her close and resting his head on her chest. “Whose CD was it? It couldn’t be that bad.”

Here she mumbled something into the pillow that covered her face.

“Come on!”

Gwen pulled her head and the blankets and Pete slipped underneath with her.

“Elvis Costello. Marvin Gaye! The Rolling Stones! No, the Beatles!” she wildly answered.

Pete didn’t skip a beat. “A year.”

She stopped randomly choosing names. “What was that?”

“It’s been a year,” Pete snuggled in closer, his eyes on hers. “It’s been a year since I’ve kissed a girl before you.”

“Why?”

Pete traced his fingers on her arm, trying to avoid her eyes. “Because it’s hard. I can’t ever let anyone in. There are so many things that could go wrong, least of all a vampire attack.” To soften the heaviness, he continued, “I mean, look at me. I’m a disaster. Who could love a disaster?”

“New Kids on the Block.”

“What?” he asked in confusion.

“My first CD was New Kids on the Block.”

They erupted into fits of giggles, softly kissing in between…

“Pete, Peter Rabbit," a soft voice sang out.

With his eyes closed, he smiled brightly.

Even though the voice didn't speak again, he knew she was smiling, a giggle almost on her lips. Pete opened his eyes to see Gwen, donned in her small tank top and a pair of his black soccer shorts, standing at his window staring at the clear blue skies with the curtains billowing in the wind.

The sight was so calming that he didn't speak for a few moments.
"What are you doing?" he whispered, lying on his side with his arm supporting his head up.

"Pretending," she answered, never letting her eyes leave the endless blue.

"Pretending?" he asked playfully.

She turned and laughed at the skeptical look on Pete's face.
"I'm pretending," she walked to the bed and climbed in next to him, "that my boyfriend never heard of vampires, that we have no worries except what girl to set Trick up with, how to tame Joe's hair, or what kind of vegan ice cream to get Andy."

Pete inhaled deeply, the smile almost slipping off his face as he snaked his arm around her waist and squeezed her hand.
"Well, then we would have never met, and I would never wake up with you in my arms." He pressed his lips to her hand.

Gwen took her hand away and looked at him in exasperation. "I'm serious. Why does it have to be you? Why can't someone else do it?"

He sighed. They were going to have this fight again, and so early in the morning. "Not to sound like I'm full of myself, but I'm the best there is. I can't let innocent people get hurt when I can do something about it."

Gwen didn't answer him or look at him. She wrenched herself away from him and got dressed. Pete sighed. It was going to be one of those days.
"I can't do this anymore."

"What?"
He looked up and saw her reflection in the mirror sadly looking at him.

"I can't worry every night wondering if my boyfriend is still alive."

He was lost for words.
It didn't matter, because she didn't wait for his answer. She grabbed her black scarf and violet pea coat and left the room in a hurry.

He rolled over on his back and stared at the ceiling, cursing himself. Gwen could never understand, but he knew it was partly his fault. Try as he might, he couldn't bring himself to tell her everything about Lilith. Just thinking her name made Pete seethe with anger and shame. If Gwen even knew about who he was and what he did with Lilith, their relationship would be over in a second. The things that happened, he hoped no other living soul would know.

Pete sat up and curiously looked to the open doorway. He expected to hear the door slam shut, but there was nothing but silence. He got up and slowly walked down the doorway in just his boxers when he heard the door open and shut.

"What's wrong?"
He paused at the sound of Patrick's voice.

"Everything," Gwen answered softly.

"Look, he has to do this. Try to understand-"

"Well then, help me understand! Tell me why he has to do this. I know you know, Patrick."

Patrick sighed. "I can't. Just tr-"

"Oh, trust you! If you're going to do this, I think you should switch up your routine instead of the same tired line. What’s his big, dark, spooky secret?"

Something clinked loudly in the sink and everything fell silent.

"I promise you that I will never let anything happen to Pete."

"You promise?"

"Cross my heart, hope to die, poke a needle in my eye."

Pete's racing heart slowed when he heard her giggle. "You're such a dork."

"That's Mr. Dork to you."

Pete saw his chance.
"Gwen? Are you still here?"
He rounded the corner just as Gwen and Patrick broke off their hug. She tried to hide the fact that she was crying by ducking behind Patrick for a second.

"Hey, Patrick."
Patrick awkwardly nodded his head and left the room.

"I'm sorry. I know this is hard for you, and you don't need me being a drama queen." She gripped the top of a chair and slowly looked up at him. "When you're ready, you'll tell me."

He wrapped his arms around her. "I will," he said, kissing her softly.

She smiled. "I'm leaving for work. So go put on some clothes!"

"Hey when you look this good..."

Pete winked at her and she rolled her eyes. "I don't want Trick to get any ideas..."

"Hey!" Patrick yelled from down the hallway.

"You wish buddy!" Pete shot back.

"You have to promise me something," Gwen whispered, her face serious.

"Anything."

"Promise me that you'll come back to me no matter what."

"Always."

Pete rolled over and quickly fell off the bed to the floor with a loud thump.
"I broke my promise," he said to no one in particular.

"Well that was graceful."

Dread filled Pete as he sat up to the sight of Lilith still in bed, covered in cream sheets.

He willed himself not to pass out when he realized there wasn't a stitch of clothing on his body.
"I’d forgotten how much I loved your charm,” he muttered.

Of course, Lilith ignored his backhanded retort.
"Not to sound like I'm full of myself, but you hardly need to cover yourself with that sheet. I think need more coverage then you. Besides, why deny the world of every inch of your body?"

Pete paused and gave an involuntary shudder.
"Can you read minds?" he asked, finding his pants in a corner.

Lilith giggled. "What a silly idea. Of course not. It's just not my style."

Of course not. It wouldn't appeal to her, because it didn't involve selling her body to get information.

He pulled his pants on and wondered why the cruel coincidence of word choice popped up. Maybe he deserved it, for all the stupid mistakes he made, beginning with the wretched woman in the bed. This was the ending of the rest of his life, and he better get used to it.
"I'm going out for a while. I'll be back later," he told her.

She laughed, leaving the sheets on the bed and walking to the wardrobe. "Silly, it's almost dawn. And anyway, we have to have the ceremony this morning, right now."

"It's about two hours from dawn, I'll live. And what the hell are you babbling about?"

"The ceremony," she said, stepping toward him wearing a tight fitting emerald dress. "You can't just enter the coven, Peter. You have to go through the initiation ceremony."

Pete sighed. "Will you stop speaking in riddles and tell me what I'm supposedly agreeing to?"

Lilith smirked at him. "Just be ready, sweets. It's nothing you'll be shocked about. We just perform it right before daybreak so that the newcomer sleeps with us and then goes on the first Hunt with us after they Awaken completely."

Pete narrowed his eyes at her. "I seriously doubt it will be anything I'd like to do. You're too excited for your own good."

"Yes, I'm very excited. I've been trying to get you into a coven with me for years, if you haven't counted, Peter. I've been waiting for you."

"What about Beckett?"

"What about him? You and I will this coven's leaders, leave him to me." She smiled wickedly, her ice blue eyes dancing with anticipation.

"Fine."

Without another word, Lilith pulled him by the arm and led him out the door, into the darkness.