Purgatorial

"How angry was he?"

"On scale of one to a million?" I stripped out of my jeans. She laughed eating Cheetos. "I'm kidding. He wasn't a fan at first, but I reminded him that you're a strong capable woman. And he's making me carry this around." I withdrew an Azure Dagger from my bag. It glinted in the light of V's bedroom.

"Better to be safe than sorry." I nodded, stashing it back.

After school ended—I still couldn't believe we'd survived a whole day without danger and mayhem—I pretty much realized I had nothing to wear on a date. The things V and I bought on our last shopping spree were casual, your everyday, non-extravagant clothing. With the exception of a pair of red bra and matching panties. Two things Cam hadn't seen me wearing, yet. Bottom line, I'd decided to drag Vanessa to all sorts of stores in hopes of finding a breathtaking outfit for tonight. Cameron hadn't been keen on not being allowed to go. But I wanted to surprise him and that's why I was getting ready at V's. He was coming to pick me up in...

My eyes swung to Vanessa's strange, yet, adorable Panda alarm clock. Yep, Cam would swing by at eight. About fifteen minutes from now.

It took us about six stores and two cups of coffee to find me a dress. It was casual, but sexy. Backless, with a tight waist line and it ended above the knee. V helped me out with the color. Turquoise. She said it favored my sun-kissed complexion; plus with my tawny hair made me exotic. Oh, we'd also found shoes. They were ankle-strap heels in aquamarine.

"Does your mom always work this late?" I folded my jeans and slipped them into a bag.

"She does. Ever since what happened, with dad and me, she's turned into a workaholic." V put the half eaten bag on the floor. She kicked back against her cushioned headboard looking distant. "Saturday used to be our hang-out day. We'd go out for lunch and shop. I'd tell her about school, boys and gossip. She'd complain about work or about how we never traveled anywhere far away because my dad was afraid of flying." Her shoulders sagged. Vanessa's rosewood eyes became a little watery.

Crap. I should know better than to talk about parents. Luckily for me, I had a boyfriend who was completely happy with shying from the subject. Vanessa was different, she was more like Phillip. Even though it hurt, she'd talk about it.

About to walk over and try to pull her from the past, I realized I was standing in my bra and panties. It was one thing to strip in front of a friend, it was another to sit beside her and hug her while mostly naked. So, I reached for the pretty dress hanging on V's door, unzipping it.

"Sorry," V wiped an eye corner fast, but I'd turned around just in time to catch it. "It still gets to me. How things were... how things have changed."

"You don't have to apologize. I understand. It hurts when I... When I think about my family." I couldn't imagine the day it wouldn't.

V drew her arms around her knees as I slipped into the dress.

"Hey," I called, getting both arms threw the straps. "Are you ever going to tell her?"

"About being a Vampire? No. I won't. It would just break her heart to know I... That I became what killed my father." She rested her chin on her knees, black waves shielding the paleness of her cheeks. "It's going to be tough, though. I mean, I'm going to stay seventeen forever. I'll finish high school, finish college and start working. But I won't be able to stay in touch with my mom or stay in the same place for long. I'll have to move constantly. Maybe every five years so people won't notice. I think about it sometimes, what sort of life that is..."

Tugging the zipper closed, I smoothed my hands across the front and turned around, walking towards her bed. I sat beside her, placing a comforting hand on her arm.

"You won't be alone, you have us."

"Yeah, for now. But you'll grow old, Nina. All of you. I... won't."

I pressed my lips in a sullen line. Exhaling steadily, V offered up a frail perky smile.

"Enough doom and gloom. You have make-up to apply." I choked out a sad laugh. "Come on, we have to go through shades." Vanessa hopped off the bed with Vamp-speed, stopping near her vanity holding up eyeliner and eye shade pallets.

For the next five to ten minutes, we discussed colors and complexions. While choosing a light blue shadow, I honestly imagined Dawn and Vanessa before I came along, before V was turned. Both of them in Dawn's room getting ready to go out, laughing at some improper comment Dawn made.

The doorbell rung breaking our quiet thoughts. My head wiped toward her bedroom door, heart beating fast, faster than a gazelle's after running for its life. Don't be silly, I told myself, you've done more private, blush-worthy things with Cameron than going out on a date. In public. The little voice was correct. Plus, I'd gone on dates before. With his brother. On the inside I cringed. Somehow that didn't seem like a good thing to bring up—ever.

"Do you want me to walk you to the door?" V suggested innocently. Although, a twinkle in her eye told me she was joking.

Faking a laugh, I got up grabbing my bag off her bed. She threw a cheesy puff in the air, opening her mouth wide for when it came down. She caught it.

"Nice skills."

V offered up a shrug.

"You should see me do grapes." I cracked a grin. "Now, go. He's been waiting about a minute."

"I like making him sweat." Right after the sentence left me, I blushed maroon-red. "Anyway," I swung waves out of my eyes. "I'm going. Before he breaks down your door."

Odds were, Cam would splinter it in half if I didn't open up—the doorbell sung anew. Vanessa wiggled her fingers at me as I walked out, marching decisively towards the apartment door. I could be cool about this. I was cool. This was Cameron and me. Me and Cameron. We were...

I stopped parting the door open.

Cameron was leaning on the threshold, I would've barreled into him if I'd taken a step outside. He looked... God, he looked good. Cam could make a worn T-shirt and faded jeans look good, but wearing a black blazer with a dark-red shirt underneath, dark jeans and what looked like Italian shoes made him handsome, sophisticated—a guy existing only in dreams.

A breath I didn't know I'd been holding, made it pass my lips. My eyes drifted to the hand he was holding out. Cam was holding a bouquet of blood-red roses.

Eek.

My 'handle-this-with-coolness' motto shattered.

"Flowers," I said quietly enough. Then, meeting his eyes, my voice grew a pitch or two, "You bought me flowers."

Cameron, whose gaze seemed glazed over, blinked. He straightened out, still holding the bouquet my way. When I didn't take them his lips parted.

"You don't like flowers?"

"No, I do—"

"You don't like roses?" He looked down at them with what could only be described as scorn.

"No, I do like them."

He held up his free hand in a lost gesture, "Then what...?"

"It's just... You're the first person to give me flowers. That's all." I breathed deeply, feeling inadequate for dating. Slowly, I reached out, taking them from him.

Cameron let go, his fingers brushing on my skin sending a sizzling fire through me. A heavy-lit kilowatt smile took over his face.

"In that case, good. I like being first in line when it comes to you." I hid a big smile by looking down. It didn't keep his eyes from wandering across my body, I could feel them skipping everywhere pausing from time-to-time. "You look gorgeous if it isn't obvious."

A finger danced underneath my chin, tilting my face so we'd be focused on each other.

"Thank you," I licked my lips. I needed to break free and act like myself. This was... emotional, though. "You look beautiful, too." Heat infused my cheeks and veins. Cam pressed his lips tightly shut as I scrambled for words—any words that would make me less of an idiot. "I mean that in guy-way. You look handsome... Very handsome."

Leaning in, Cam dropped a kiss on my head. His fingers automatically found mine, threading them together. He pulled me outside and closed the door to V's place. Boy, was I glad her mother hadn't been home to witness my phenomenal debut as the world's best awkward date.

"Feeling nervous?" he asked as we rode the elevator.

I withdrew my nose from the roses. They smelled wonderful.

"Is it that obvious?"

Cameron moved stealthily behind me, saying nothing. I watched in the elevator's mirror as he caressed my naked back, a finger sliding along my spine. Cam bent his head, touching his nose on my neck. His breathing washed over me like a thousand degree vapor, melting me way before his hands hugged my hips. I tilted into him.

"It's okay to be nervous, I like loosening you up." The hand holding the bouquet had a quick spasm—I almost dropped it—when a kiss was pressed to my right shoulder. Before releasing me and backing up, Cam dug his fingers into the fabric and flesh.

Hum... this was an interesting first date.

We made it outside V's building without any more embarrassing comments from yours truly or without foreplay for a steamy session inside an elevator. Cameron took the flowers and placed them on the backseat of his Camaro. Once sitting on comfy leather seats, I felt excited. And anxious. A lot of that going around tonight.

"How come you're not nervous?" I asked after Cam eased his car out of the parking space. It made me a little envious. Boys seemed to have it so much easier than girls.

He glanced at me sideways, a smartass smirk tipping his mouth corners. I could feel his smirk exfoliating my nervousness.

"Maybe I am nervous, but I'm so much better at hiding my emotions than you are." A chuckle busted out of him as I rolled my eyes. "Okay, I'm not sure if you've noticed or not, but I'm not a big fan of rules."

I sputtered, "Is that meant to be a joke?"

"Yeah," he stirred the car left, keeping only one hand on the wheel, resting his other arm on the car door. "But our date has some rules we're both going to follow."

I snuck a curious look at his profile, "Oh?" he nodded. "And if one of us breaks a rule?"

A steamy glare gave me tingles in low places, like way low. Below the waist low.

"They're simple ones, little bird. We don't talk about missing family, dying people, people under love potions and psychopaths. Basically, let's try to stir clear from supernatural drama." A certain love-struck smile pulled at me.

"I think we can handle those."

Our drive wasn't too long. Vanessa's apartment wasn't far from the Lighthouse or Haven Hills Park, where the heart of town was stationed. We drove past our usual hangout, speeding past a couple of stores me and V visited today before Cam hung a right—and I was glad no police cars were around—leading us into a one way street. It was all bright and eliminated. On either side, there were restaurants and at the end of the street was a bowling alley. I sniped a glance at Cameron—I yelped when the car turned abruptly and began descending into a parking garage.

"Sometimes I think you're scared of my driving skills." I mimicked him in a whinny voice, causing him to laugh. "I have mad reflexes, Nina."

I scoffed, arms crossed.

"Need I remind you that we almost got ran into—twice—when we left Haven Hills to find the Hell Gate?"

He pretended not to know, scratching his head.

"Didn't we agree on no supernatural?" Eep. I clamped both hands over my mouth. He grinned, having finished parking. One arm was dangling at his side, the other braced on the stirring wheel. "If you start breaking rules I'm going to have to punish you later."

All the way out of the garage, I imagined what sort of punishments he had in mind. Some weren't appropriate. Okay, most weren't. I blamed Cameron's influence for my dirty thoughts.

Sooner than I realized, we found ourselves walking inside a swanky restaurant. A romantic decor spread around the hall, in various red tones. The furniture was light-brown, pricey looking, with a polished touch. Attempting to look normal instead of awestruck, I followed Cam's steps and moves. He stopped in front of a small counter where a man wearing white and black was, a book open in front of him.

"Goodnight, do you have reservations?" the man queried with a pleasant smile. A smile used on every client, on every night.

"Yes, a table for two under Leale." Cameron slipped an arm across my back, resting a hand on my hip comfortably.

After confirming in his big book, a lady led us to our table. It was round, with a linen white towel and a floral arrangement in the center. Cam pulled back my chair. I gave him a shy, amused smile, sitting down. When he sat across from me, I finally broke my daze.

"How long have you been planning this?"

"When my body was under siege there wasn't much for me to do. I made many, many plans." I could tell he wasn't kidding. He picked up the menu. "It's the first time I'm here, but people say it's the best in town."

I flipped open my own menu. Skimming it quickly, I stopped on the wines. Behind the menu, I bit a lip wondering if now that I had little healing in me, I could still get drunk. Asking would mean breaking a rule, though.

"Have you picked?" Cam called. I lowered the menu to see him. "I think I'm ordering a medium rare stake with mash-potatoes and marinated mushrooms."

"Huh..." I wasn't a big fan of mash-potatoes. I took another looksie at the food card. "I want... the eggplant lasagna roll ups."

Cameron flipped a page, "Sounds like a good choice. Wine?"

"I... I think you better choose that."

"Don't worry, Rapunzel, I wasn't asking you which wine. I was asking if you wanted wine or not." Oh. "But apparently you do. So let's see..."

While Cameron chose, I regarded him. Not his clothes or his holy handsomeness, just his facial expression. Cam's eyebrows were set in gentle line, his face muscles were relaxed like I'd only seen them while sleeping. And there was a certain joy in everything he said and did, like there was nowhere else he'd rather be than here, with me. I knew he loved me, not just because he said it, but because he'd shown me on multiple occasions. Still, the thought of him being happy by simply being on a date with me... It brought on warm fuzzies of a large magnitude, but it also made me understand—

"What's on your mind?" I jumped a little, like waking up from a daydream. "I can hear you thinking." He chuckled putting down the brown menu, leaning back on his chair. "What is it? You can tell me."

"It's just..." Absently, I grabbed a bread-stick and started breaking it into several tiny pieces, dropping them into the basket. I probably looked coo-coo to the other customers. "Last year—junior year—one of my teachers made me write an essay about the best and worst choice I'd ever made. I didn't do it. I think it was the only essay I never turned in."

Cameron tipped his head forward, telling me to go on, observantly knowing there was more.

"I still don't know what the worst choice is. I still have a lot of screwing up to do." A breathy laugh left me. "But I already know the best choice." Cam's eyes were soft silk, proving what I was about to confess to be true. "It was staying here after what happened to my family, with you. You're the best choice I ever made. No amount of time will change that."

Cameron's hand reached across the table, covering my left one. His eyes poured an array of emotions my way, showering me with more than I could handle without my eyes getting misty. Darn, I couldn't tear up. I was wearing make-up. The last thing I wanted was runny mascara leaving long tracks from my eyes to my chin, making me look like a sad circus clown.

Cam pulled my hand up, bracing his elbow on the table and forcing me to do the same. He twined our fingers together, never losing sight of the shimmery gold that were my eyes.

He whispered in a delicate tone I sometimes heard in my dreams, "Ti amo. Tu sei la mia vita."

I knew snitch of Italian but the words sounded passionate. The smoldering sketched all over his face made me understand that much. It reduced me to a smiling mess in two instants.

"What did you say?" I asked softly, enthusiasm perked.

Cam licked his lips, leaning over the table a little further.

" 'Ti amo' means 'I love you'," I swear he felt my heart tut faster due our linked hands, my wrist was pressing on his. " 'Tu sei la mia vita'..." he whispered the longer, more complicated sentence. That one made me feel funny. My soul was basically parading even though I didn't know its meaning. Maybe souls had a brain of their own and spoke all languages? "It means 'you are my life'."

The fingers twined with his spasmed. My spine felt stiff, like someone replaced it with a steel rod. Completely rigid. He said... I was... Cameron... Cameron still surprised me everyday, even when I thought there could be nothing more, he found a way. With words, actions, dates... It hit me. This moment—right here—was normal. A normal evening between two people who loved each. And I could see more moments like this, I craved them.

Finally regaining motor ability, I curled my fingers harder over his. Swallowing, I gave my head a shake.

"How do you say... 'I want to kiss you'?"

A dimpled half-smile was bestowed upon me and it made my heart stop. It had been so long—too long. These smiles were epic. Well, this one was only half epic, but still. I lived and breathed to see a glimpse of their inviting warmth and truthfulness.

"Voglio baciarti." A tiny chuckle left him as I tried repeating it. "Not 'vogilo'—'voglio'."

Smiling ear-to-ear I gave a cutesy shrug, leaning over.

"You understood, right?"

"When it comes to you, little bird, I always understand." That earned him bonus points. Although, after tonight Cameron's relationship points were leaning towards infinity.

When our waiter came, we were forced to break eye contact and Cam lowered our hands onto the table. Cameron told him our orders and asked for some foreign wine. It took awhile for the main courses to come, but we barely noticed, talking about mundane things like music and books. I learned Cameron wrote and composed songs when he had time. Also, that he'd learned to play guitar at the age of six. I didn't tell him how amazing it all was, because he already thought he was a genius, but I told him I wanted to hear his songs. He looked away looking a little red.

"Oh, come on," I cut an eggplant roll up. My order took a little longer than his, but looked tasty and I was famished. "I've only heard you play once and it wasn't one of yours." I pouted slightly, before opening my mouth to fireworks. The food was great!

"That's more than other people can say. You should feel flattered."

"I'm your girlfriend."

Stabbing a mushroom, he said, "You weren't back then."

A long exhale left my nose as I chewed, he chortled quietly, lowering eyes to his juicy looking steak.

"Well, fine. If I can't hear your songs you can't..." I paused. Cam's mirth filled eyes shot to mine. He was silently laughing, knowing I didn't have neat skills. Except swimming. I was great at it. But there was something Cameron clearly liked about me. With a sly spreading smile, I lowered my fork and knife and leaned in, voice low, "You can't see me naked again."

I swear he choked on his wine sip. Placing down the wine glass, Cam eyed me squarely.

"My songs are personal."

"Oh? And seeing me naked is something everyone's entitled to?"

Cameron opened his mouth. I slit my eyes. He closed it wisely, then, sighed in defeat.

"Okay. You win. I'll play one for you."

I avoided kicking my feet back and forth like a happy six-year old.

"When we get home?"

A muscle ticked in his jaw, "Don't push it."

We moved on from Cameron's skills, talking about movies and shows. We found out we liked a lot of the same things, which didn't come as a total shocker considering we were Twin Flames. Having so many things in common and being so much alike was what made us clash and by now, we were used to it. We enjoyed ourselves through desert, a slice of chocolate pie, and then Cameron drove us home.

There were no lurking shadows or accidents on our way to the barn.

We arrived and I climbed the stairs, gripping the rail a bit. My feet were killing me. Heels were pretty but wearing them was hard work. I sat on bed, discarding the aquamarine shoes. My toes flexed in pain. Cameron came up, shrugging off his blazer in the process. He dropped it on the desk chair's back.

"I put your flowers in a vase."

"Thanks," I smiled, stretching my arms above my head.

My eyes converged on Cameron once he started unbuttoning the maroon dress shirt. Suddenly he was done and I was staring at his lean carved chest muscles. Next, he worked on the belt, then popped the jeans' button and lowered his fly...

"Enjoying the show?"

I met his eyes with a tiny blush. While still looking into them, I heard the belt clack on the floor, along with jeans. Cameron easily stepped out of them. I frowned.

"When did you take off your shoes?"

"The second I came in. They're tight." I wiggled my toes again. "Yours too?" I nodded.

In what could only be described as a flash, Cameron was wearing wearing sweatpants. Still chest naked. I leaned back on my elbows, following his movements. Cameron climbed on, the bed dipped and in seconds I was under him. He hovered me, tilting his head.

"You broke a rule tonight." He reminded me. "I've already decided what your punishment should be."

I couldn't ask because his mouth lowered on mine. I tasted the expensive wine as well as the chocolate pie, I bet he did too. I kissed back, clasping my hands over his cheeks. Cam pecked my lips one final time before pulling back, winking. He rolled off to the side. I sat up confused.

"That's the punishment?"

He shook his head. Slipping off bed, he pulled me to my feet and his hands traveled to my waist, unzipping the dress. Cam pressed a hot kiss on my left shoulder before lowering that strap, he repeated the process with the right shoulder and strap. He tugged the dress down, efficiently leaving me in my underwear. Cameron let it fall, it pooled at my feet.

In another zoom, Cam got a shirt I'd been sleeping in—belonging to him—and slipped it on me. He smirked.

"I told you we could have a normal date, didn't I?" His hand slipped up my neck, cupping it. Looking like he was waiting on something from me. "Seriously, that's your punishment. You have to tell me I was right."

My jaw broke and hit the floor.

"You..." I hissed. "You..." I jutted a finger into his chest. His victory smirk shone brighter. God help me... "You were right."

He tugged me forward, "Usually am." Cam kissed me powerfully for an eternity.

Late that night, while tossing to get closer to him, a thought was iron-branded into my brain. We were good together, better than good. Cam was the Yin to my Yang. For tonight, our date, we hadn't talked about paranormal, things most people thought only existed in fiction. And I hungered for more human moments, just like I knew Cameron did, and I was going to fight like hell to fulfill those high hopes.