this city ain't safe at sundown.

Harry shoved his hands into his pockets as the snow began to fall, his shoulder occasionally brushing against his companion walking alongside him. Even though the air was cold, he didn't even notice. They had been walking around the city for awhile, not so much looking for trouble, but hoping to run into it. They had fed earlier, and he was satiated and content since his throat was no longer burning, his stomach aching, like it was earlier. It was nice to feed after going a few days without it, having to move quick while they traveled the distance all the way to New York City. It was easy for them to blend here, because there were so many people, and also it was easy to feed, for the same reason. His eyes darted around, closing in on the sharpest details, picking out pieces of conversation of the people around him when he decided he wanted to snoop. They just came up on the edge of a nice skating rink, couples and children and families alike swirling around on the ice, illuminated by the millions of Christmas lights hung up all around. It didn't take long for his eyes to fall on a girl, with fair hair, all bundled up and holding hands with another with dark hair, someone that was definitely Zayn's type, as they tried to balance and skate on the ice. He nudged his elbow into Zayn's, before pointing in their direction. "What about them? They look like a spot of fun," Harry murmured, not having to speak up. Zayn could hear him.

Mila brushed a glove hand to push her hair back, it falling in front of her eyes. She was feeling the edges of tiredness pubs into her senses, since they had just gotten off a flight that morning, but she was so excited to be here that she just kept on going. Lux was pent up with tireless energy, and so she complied after a nice Chinese dinner, to come and ice skate. She'd never done it before, but she definitely was willing to give it a try. After lacing up her skates, she took Lux's hands before she was guided out onto the ice by her. Mila kept one of her hands laced through Lux's as she found her balance and began gliding slowly beside her. "The things I do for you, Lux," She said, looking over to her with a grin.

Miraculously, Lux had managed to lace up her skates, stand, and help Mila up and into the rink, fingers entwined. She had only skated a few times before, when she was younger and lived with her mother, but that was years ago. Still, it seemed like it was like riding a bike: she would never forget, even if trying to make sure Mila wouldn't fall was a little difficult. When they managed to stand up straight on the ice, she turned to kiss her friend's cheek. "Thank you, Mila, I love you, Mila," she cooed, knowing well that her friend had to be tired while Lux was wide awake. Mila had to put up with so much of Lux's antics. "This'll be fun, promise." Slowly, they moved around on the ice, being careful, so they wouldn't fall. They did, though, stumbled a ton, but managing to pick themselves right back up. "See? Fun!" Lux laughed, eyelashes lightly covered with snow, cheeks rosy red. The cold didn't bother her so much at the moment, but later, she knew she would be freezing.

Zayn walked idly down the street alongside his longtime friend, Harry. His beanie covered his ears lightly and his hands were shoved deep in his jacket's pockets. He had to at least look like he was cold, even if he wasn't. Zayn had learned that a long time ago. They were nice and full from an earlier feeding, feeling nice and high. He loved feeding. He kept an eye on everyone they passed, wondering if they would be found out, but it never happened. Still, he had to be ready to run, had to be ready to make sure Harry was ready to run. They had to look out for one another. But arriving at the skating rink, all his worries disappeared; he missed skating, just how graceful it was. His eyes landed on the pair just as Harry had pointed them out. She was beautiful. Hell, she looked like one of them, and if he didn't know better, he would have really thought that she was. He could smell the humanity, though. "Perfect."

It didn't take long for Mila to pick up on how to skate, though she kept her gloved hand tightly entwined with Lux's. It came fluidly to her after a couple of minutes of stumbling around, and she kept up with Lux as they made laps. "I'm going to really want something hot after this," She commented, as she twirled slightly, bringing Lux with her. She had to admit that she was having fun, even though her tiredness was weighing down on her. Mila had always been an advocate for sleeping, and more often than not, that was what she probably doing. It was just a fact. But she had been waiting years for this trip, as her and Lux had planned it early on in high school. She was determined to take in as much as she could while she was here, no matter how she felt. When someone bumped into Lux, causing her to release her grip on Mila, she went soaring for the wall of the ice rink, and she didn't know how to stop. The force of Lux being knocked into sent her going really quick, and her legs wobbled, arms pinwheeling, as she tried to figure out how she was going to catch herself.

He tilted his head towards the ice rink, raising his eyebrows and moving them suggestively, before making his way over. Harry paid for two pairs of skates, handing one to Zayn before taking a seat on a bench to lace his on. He got up, more gracefully than he probably should've, and waited until Zayn was ready before sliding out onto the ice. He saw the two girls, holding hands and smiling, cheeks rosy, and started skating towards them. On his way past the blonde, he bumped his shoulder into her, causing her to break hands with the dark haired girl. Harry looked decidedly over at Zayn, in a split second, gesturing towards her discreetly before he caught the blonde, wrapping an arm around her to get her balanced so she wouldn't fall. "Oh, shit, m'sorry! I'm a bit bad at skating," He said with a laugh, grinning at her as she turned to look at him once she wasn't wobbly. "Are you alright, beautiful?" Harry asked, his face changing into one of genuine concern.

Soon, they were skating around, laughing and having fun. This was definitely the best night she's had; Chinese and now ice skating. This was so lovely. She was so glad that this actually happened, that this plan actually went through. It happened fast. They were standing up straight and all being fun, and then she was bumped into and lost her hand from Mila's and sent her skating away. Lux wobbled on her skates, quickly losing balance, but then an arm wrapped around her, balancing her easily. She spun around to face the person who had saved her, and she guessed the one who knocked her off balance. "Oh, I-I'm okay, yeah, but my friend... Mila?" she spun around on her skates, trying to find her friend, hoping she hadn't toppled over. She let out a sigh of relief when she found her friend had been saved by some dark haired guy. "Oh thank god," she breathed, looking back to the curly haired lad with a small smile.

Zayn kept by the edge of the rink, waiting for Harry to make a move, anything. It slightly caught him off guard for Harry to bump into the blonde and send her prettier friend skating away uncontrollably. Zayn took that at his turn to step in. He easily skated across the rink, grabbing onto the girl's arm and pulling her into him, just in time so she wouldn't run into the barrier. Of course, the force of her being pulled into him, took him by surprised and knocked himself down on the ice, her landing on top of me. "Bloody hell," he murmured, before looking to the girl, "You okay? Can't have you skating right into the barrier."

He moved his arm from holding her up to just a steady hand at the low of her back, and it lingered there for a moment before he dropped it, shoving them into his pockets. "M'sorry about your friend as well, as clumsy as I am it would probably be best to not be on skates," Harry said with a laugh, and he looked over at Zayn then, at the two of them on the ground, and he shook his head slightly. "My friend Zayn caught her- well, saved her, how about," He said with a grin, before looking back at her and nodding his head, once. "I'm Harry, nice to bump into you," He said, quite cheekily, quite proud of himself for that one.

Mila was quite relieved when she was rescued by someone, even though the force of her caused them to both topple over. She fell on someone, she knew that much, that had dark hair and smelled amazing, musky with a hint of something she couldn't put a finger on. Looking down at him, she also found that on top of smelling good, he was unbelievably attractive. Mila blinked a couple of times, surprised to find herself on top of an attractive male, and she smiled then, nodding her head at his question. "I'm quite fine actually, thank you so much! I'm sorry to have landed on you, but you did make the fall a bit easier. I hope I didn't hurt you," She said, her eyes widening a little bit at that prospect. Mila was tiny, but she did know that falling on ice did pack a bit of a punch, and it was probably even worse with someone on top of you. At that point, she decided to get up, even though it was proving to be quite difficult because she had skates on her feet, after trying and failing several times, she resolved to climb off on him and sit on her bum beside him, with a huff. "Can't seem to get up. This is my first time on skates," Mila explained with a nod, looking over to him.

Lux smiled gratefully over to Mila and the boy, glad that she was safe. It would have been terrible to have to take her to the hospital being injured from skating. She would never want to do that ever again! "Oh, no, you're fine - it takes a while to get used to skating, gotta be balanced," she beamed, hands on her hips, perfectly balanced on her skates. "I'm Lux, just Lux, it's not a nickname or something," her gloved hand moved to push some of her golden hair away from her eyes. He was quite cute. She was definitely lucky to have him bump into her, and Mila had herself full with laying on top of Harry's friend, Zayn, she thought he called him. Funny name. "You'll get the hang of skating in no time! It's really not that hard. I've managed to teach Mila some and she's... decent." Decent enough, at least. She could stand in them, as long as she was already up.

Zayn laughed, just laying there for a moment as she tried to stand up and not managing that. He wasn't hurt, and it took him a moment to realise that he should probably act a little hurt. "You're fine love," he told her, sitting up, legs outstretched ahead of him. "I'm Zayn, by the way, figures your hero should have a proper name. As should the damsel he saves," he said, in a way of asking for her name. He stood up them, easily enough, maybe a little too easily, but that hardly mattered. He held his hands out to here, "Here, lemme help you up and get you all settled, yeah?"

"I've never heard that name before, if I'm being honest. It suits you," He added, and he listened to her intently as she went on about skating. "Zayn's the one that's better at it than I am," Harry explained, running a hand through his hair, pausing for a moment before speaking again. "Maybe you could teach me a few things? Just for a little while?" He offered, knowing that he wanted to stay with her longer, keep her attention.

"That's a lovely name. Mine is Mila," She told him, and once he held out his hands to her, she took them and he helped her up easily. Mila slid into him nonetheless, becoming flush with his chest, and she peered up at him sheepishly. "Sorry, I feel like the damsel is going to be continue to be in distress while she has skates on her feet," Mila said with a giggle, moving her feet to try and back away from him so she wasn't so close. It seemed like they were like magnets or something, always being pulled back to each other now that they had found each other.

Lux smiled sweetly when he told her that her name fit her. She loved her name; how it sounded on the tongue, the spark, how unique it was. She was sure that it fit her, like he said. "Thanks." She listened to him ask about her giving him some pointers and helping him out for a little bit. Before she could answer, Lux looked over to glance to Mila to make sure she was in good hands and wasn't still laying on that boy on the ice. "Um, yeah! It looks like Mila is okay, so I'd love to." She felt the need to be in his attention, to have him listen to her and be around her and make her feel interesting because gods, he seemed so interesting. She wanted to know more about him anyway.

"Mila," he murmured, testing her name out on his tongue and loving how it sounded. "Would the damsel like to go get some hot chocolate? That way she can get out of these skates and back onto steady ground she can walk on safely?" he asked then with a smooth smile. He looked into her eyes as spoke, slow and smooth, effortlessly losing his compulsion so that there was no way that she could say no.

He hummed, happy, and offered her the crook of his arm so that they could be linked together. Once they were as so, Harry moved his skates so they started skating again, and he kept it slow even though he knew he could go much, much faster. He had to act like he wasn't, which usually posed a bit of a problem because he didn't exactly enjoy lying. However, he really did want to get to know this girl more, and this was the only way, at the moment. "So do you live here or are you just visiting?" Harry asked, as a way to start conversation.

"I- I don't know about leaving my friend.." She trailed off, looking into his eyes, and she couldn't help but change her mind, she really wanted to go with him. "Yeah, actually, that sounds really great," Mila said instead, thinking about how she really did want something warm in her system and how she was tired of not being able to be balanced on solid ground. She reached out a hand for his, because she wanted help to get off of the rink. Mila compromised that she would text Lux as soon as she got her skates off in order to let her know where she was going and where they could meet up.

Lux took his arm gently, skating off with the boy she had just met without thinking twice about it. Obviously, she didn't really think things through. They skated nice and slow, and he seemed to really get the hang of skating. He didn't prose much of a problem. "Visiting. Mila and I graduated in May and we've been planning this for ages now. First New York, then the rest of the world. Never stop travelling," she answered him sweetly before asking. "You?" Mila and her had a plan. They would stay in one place for a while, live in a small apartment or even just a motel room and work to save some money and pay for their living there before taking off and going to the next place on their list. This was what they wanted. When they got tired, they would settle down and maybe go off to school.

"Great, love, great, c'mon then," Zayn smiled, leading her off the rink slowly before sitting themselves down after locating their shoes. He took his skates off and laced up his boots, and waited for her to get her shoes on before taking her own skates and going off with her to return the skates, figuring she'd rather not be back on that. "Much better, yeah? Solid ground," he laughed, his hand on the small of her back then, as he walked toward the little shop by the rink that at least advertised hot chocolate.

"Yeah, Zayn and I are basically doing the same thing. We started off over here in America, and we've been everywhere we wanted to go, we're thinking about going back to Europe after the holidays. We never really stay in one place very long," Harry replied, even though the only reason Harry and Zayn kept moving was because they didn't want to get caught. Nonetheless, the both of them had enjoyed the traveling, despite their paranoia, it had been incredible to have seen all of the sights that they had while they were moving nonstop. "Are you staying here for New Years? I've heard it's mental, m'really excited for it," He said, as he and Zayn had planned to come to New York around the Christmas holidays for that reason, all of the parties.

Once they were off the rink and sitting down, Mila felt instantly better, and she got herself out of her skates quite happily. Once Zayn took both of the shoes to trade it out for their normal ones, Mila sat on the bench and explained to Mila where she was going, what she was doing, and that she'd be back in a little while. She had seen Lux briefly with another boy, a cute one at that, and expected that in this situation, they would both more actively would want to pursue the boys. When Zayn came back, she slipped her phone into her pocket and laced on her little ankle boots, standing up and feeling a shiver run down her spine at the feeling of Zayn's hand at her lower back. Mila was quite grateful that when they stepped into the little coffee shop, that it was abundantly warm. She made her way up to the counter, ordering herself a peppermint hot chocolate, pulling out her wallet to pay. "I'll get you something. Think of it as a thank you for saving me," She prompted him, expecting him to order so she could pay for it all.

"Yeah, that's the reason why we wanted to be in New York. We wanted to see the ball drop really, or at least I did. Grab a bottle of wine or champagne somehow and watch it drop in person," Lux mused, looking up at the sky for a moment. She missed the stars. She could hardly see them out here. Lux knew that he wasn't American even before he said about travelling overseas, he was foreign, that his accent couldn't have been faked. "Where did you grow up? Someplace English? Or Australian? I can't place it," she asked, honestly curious. Her skate slipped a little, and she lost balance for a moment and let out a little squeal, not wanting to fall, so she held onto Harry's arm with both hands tightly, taking a few moments to regain her balance. "Sorry, didn't want to fall. It's hell to get back up again once you've fallen."

"I couldn't let you pay for it!" Zayn said, shaking his head. There was no way he could let her pay. He pulled a few bills from his pocket and slid the money over to the cashier before telling him what he wanted, thanking the girl behind the counter for taking his money instead of her's before moving down the counter to where they could pick up their drinks. "How long are you here? Or do you live here?" he asked.

"I'm from England, and I grew up in a tiny little country town," He answered her, and when she slipped, his other hand went immediately to keep her upright by placing it on her other arm. Once she was steady, he let go, keeping his one arm still looped around hers. "S'alright, love, don't worry about it," Harry told her, and he helped her pick up their speed again, since her almost falling had slowed them down to almost a stop. "Are you guys staying at a hotel? They're so expensive this time of year, I know Zayn and I had a hard time finding one," He continued, wanting to keep the conversation going.

She pouted a little when he went ahead and paid for it, putting away her money and following him to the end of the counter to wait for their drinks. "I'm here until after New Years, my friend and I are staying in a hotel. This is our first stop on our adventures around the world, basically. But we wanted to spend New Years here, see the ball drop, go to the parties," Mila explained, and once their drinks came up, she took hers and led Zayn to a small table situated next to the floor to ceiling windows of the small place. Outside, people were bustling, and she watched for a few moments before returning her attention to Zayn, taking a sip of her drink. "How about you?" She asked.

He seemed to really be getting good at skating. Maybe she was fantastic teacher. "England? That's amazing. I want to go there someday. It's on our list of places to go," she said, just imaging going there. It would be magical. When he asked about a hotel, she nodded. "Yeah, a small on a good couple blocks away, so it's a hike here unless we take a cab, which is what we took to get here, or close enough really," she answered. "It'll be kind of hard to get a hotel this close to New Years now, aren't you staying anywhere?" It would be terrible if Harry just arrived in the city and had no place to stay.

"That's funny, it's pretty much what Harry and I are doing," Zayn answered with a swoon worthy smile. He picked up his drink and took a sip, not phased by the warmth of it. Except, Harry and he weren't exactly just travelling. They had to keep safe. They made a few mistakes and we're still probably making them and had so many people on their trail. They had to keep paranoid and on the run so that they stay safe. Always safe always careful. He lead her over silently to a peaceful table by the window, sitting down in a chair across from her.

"England's beautiful, m'really aching to get back, if I'm being honest. America is amazing, but nothing beats England," Harry said, and it really did bother him how long that him and Zayn had been away. It seemed like forever ago they had run into trouble with their own little government, getting charged with not turning enough humans into vampires. They were a dying breed, nowadays, and every vampire was required to turn at least one human into a vampire and take one as a mate or a friend, whatever suits their fancy. However, Zayn and Harry had found each other, and after living in horrible conditions because of their way of life, they opted to stick together and never condemn another to what they had to go through. They were being hunted, as they both had something that the ones that were higher up wanted, and something in their blood allowed them to be a bit more special than any of the others. The clan wanted them to breed with other humans, turn them, and they wanted to see if they could carry their abilities over. Zayn and Harry were appalled at this, and had been running ever since. America seemed the safest place to run because the clan was heavily centered in London, England. He shook his head slightly at his thoughts, becoming forlorn with the fact that he didn't know when they could return to Europe. "Unfortunately, we haven't got a hotel, they're pretty packed solid. We haven't really begun to worry about it yet," Harry said with a laugh.

Mila took a few more sips from her drink, finding herself entranced by Zayn's beauty. "It might be stupid, but m'kind of glad that you saved me, because I got to meet you. You're the first like, really attractive and cool guy I've met," She told him, and she had always been a bit too bold, a bit too honest, and she was always glad that Lux loved her for it, but it had gotten her into trouble on more than one occasion. "I kind of don't want to finish this hot chocolate because I wanna keep hanging out," Mila said, her cheeks flushing light pink, and she hid behind her drink by taking another small sip.

Lux listened to him talk about England with interest, wanting so badly to see it some day, and she would, eventually. "You haven't got a hotel? No place to stay?" she asked, surprised, looking to him. All the hotels and motels were probably all booked. "You and your friend could come stay with us, Mila and me," the words slipped out before she could even think about them. They were strange boys, they hardly knew them, but she couldn't take back the offer now, and she couldn't have let them go not having a place to stay. "I mean, I'll have to talk to Mila, but I'm sure she'd love to have you guys stay over while we're both around in the city and all," she continued, nodding her head. How could they just travel into the city and not worry in the least about having a place to stay around a busy holiday? It was weird. A place to stay should be someone's first thought before even planning the trip. It just didn't make sense to her. But whatever, it wasn't her place to question it.

"I'm glad I managed to get to you in time to save you. I don't know what I would have done if I hadn't," Zayn replied, honestly. He knew though, knew that he would get there on time. It would have been impossible that he hadn't. "You don't have to worry about that. I'm not leaving just because you've finished your drink or not. I quite enjoy your company and rather not leave that." He found her right fit. It was good luck that he and Harry had found proper people, maybe people that could get them out of trouble. That's what they really needed: to get out of trouble with the government. Just go ahead and turn some girls they fancied, used compulsion before they did and after when they were weak so that they could make them think however they wanted them to.

Harry shook his head at her offer. "Thank you, but I'd feel horrible to intrude on you guys. We'll probably find like some run down motel or something that has spots. We don't mind," He said, knowing that it was a really good offer, especially because they wouldn't have to go hunting for a place, but more so he was worried about staying with the two girls. Harry wasn't sure if the temptation would be too strong, and what him and Zayn would do being so close to them for such a long period of time. "Would you mind taking a break?" Harry asked, and he nodded his head over to the area off from the skating rink that was solid ground, with benches. He was growing tired of skating and wished to just sit down and talk to her, even though he wouldn't ever physically get tired, mentally he could get annoyed quite easily.

She nodded at his answer, smiling a bit because she was satisfied with his answer. "So tell me about yourself? Like, m'pretty sure you're from Europe, your accent sounds quite nice, but definitely British," Mila prompted him, because she was curious.