Special.

I let out a sigh of relief as I feel the warm water hit my skin, who knew something as simple as a shower would help me forget about my problems- if only for a while.

After what felt like an eternity I finally managed to turn the running water off and get out of the shower. I dry myself and change into some of Cassadee’s clothes, at least I was pretty sure they belonged to her. I come out of the bathroom and stand awkwardly outside the door. Lisa and Cassadee were both sitting on the bed furthest away from the bathroom.

“I really appreciate you guys letting me use your shower, thanks.” I say with a small smile.

“You’re very welcome.” They both reply at the same time.

“We texted Vanessa and told her you were here.”

“Thank you.”

I look around the room not knowing what else to do or say.

As my eye wondered I noticed that their room was exactly like mine, the only difference were the items they used to decorate it.

“Would you like to see Rian?” Cassadee is the one that asks.

I look at her questioningly.

“He’s been asking for you.”

“Oh.”

“You don’t have to if you don’t want to.”

It’s not that I didn’t want to see Rian, it was just that I knew that his friends were all going to be there looking at me and wondering what else I was capable of and that freaked me out. I didn’t want to worry about what they thought about me.

“Maybe later,” I say in a low voice.

Cassadee nods and begins to use her cell phone, probably sending a text.

“How did you know that was going to work?” Lisa asks sounding curious.

“I’ve done it before, different situation but worked just the same.” I reply in a low voice.

A minute later there’s a knock on the door.

Lisa gets up from the bed and opens the door, I smile as I hear Vanessa’s voice.

“Hey, I’m sorry I thought you had your key.”

“No worries,” I reply with a smile and walk towards the door.

“Thanks again,” I say with a wave and walk back into the hallway.

I walk in silence next to Vanessa as we head back to our bedroom, I was curious if she had heard everything that had happened since she last saw me.

“What the hell happened?” she shrieks as soon as we enter our bedroom and closes the door.

“You need to be more specific.”

“I come back early this morning and you're gone, no note no nothing, so I figure you probably decided to explore the town in daylight, which makes sense because you don’t like being around vampires, but then I start to hear people talking about some kind of freak show and that’s when I got worried so I went out to look for you, but there was just no sign of you.”

“You really went out to look for me?” I ask as I start to become overwhelmed with emotion.

“Of course, I know you’re not what everybody says about you. You’re not a monster, you’re kind and I would hate it if anything happened to you.”

I couldn’t contain the tears any longer, listening to Vanessa be worried about me made me feel like I was actually somebody. That I meant something to somebody else besides my parents.

“Please don’t cry.”

But it was too late. I’m a crying mess.

“It really means a lot to me that you were worried about me,” I tell her as I wrap my arms around her.

“We’re friends, don’t you forget that.” She tells me and wraps her arms around me as well.

“So what really happened to you?” she asks in a serious tone.

I shrug as I sit on the edge of my bed. “Somebody was knocking and I thought it was you, I opened the door and somebody put something over my head and then I woke up outside in some field covered in animal blood.”

“I swear, I’m going to kill her.” Vanessa says through gritted teeth.

She looks at me and sits on her own bed, “then what happened?”

I told everything that happened with Rian as well as the conversation I had with Dean Williams.

“He was basically threatening you.”

“I’m just glad I didn’t get in any type of punishment.”

“Why would you? You saved somebody’s life. He’s making it seem like you shouldn’t have.”

I shrug, “I just want to get through the rest of the year without any more complications.”

And just then there’s a knock on the door. I stare at the door feeling my stomach go in knots.

“Who is it?” Vanessa asks loudly.

“It’s Rian.”

I sit up and open the door slowly.

“Hey,” he says with a small smile on his face.

“Hey, I’m glad that you’re okay.” I say in a low voice.

“All thanks to you.”

“Thanks for standing up for me.”

“Do you want to go for a walk?”

“Just the two of us?”

“If that’s what you want.”

I nod and then I look at Vanessa, “I’ll be here when you get back.”

I smile at her and then turn to look back at Rian, “I want to show you something.” I tell him with a big smile and lead the way towards the stairs.

“Where are we going?”

“You’ll see.”

We walk down the three flights of stairs and then I lead him towards the door that leads outside.”

“The sun is still out,” Rian says in a nervous voice.

“Do you trust me?”

He nods. I take his hand and open the door. I know Dean Williams had warned me not to bring attention to myself but I just couldn’t help myself and deny the pleasure from Rian.

My smile grows as I see Rian staring in pure amazement at his surroundings.

“How is this possible?” he asks in awe as he looks at his hands and then up at the sky, “I’m not in flames.”

“That’s because you have my blood running through you.”

He looks at me and it’s as if he’s going to burst into tears.

“I never thought I would be able to see sun again, to be able to see all of this.” He looks around at all the different trees and plants.

“How long will this last?”

“A couple of days, most likely your next feeding.”

“Thank you, for everything, saving my life and this.”

“You’re welcome.”

“Now will you like to do me a favor and lie with me in the grass?”

“I would love to.”

I never though that laying in the grass with the sun hitting my face would ever mean so much as it did right now.