Vanilla Lace

Bill jumped down the steps of the train, looking left and right to find no one else in sight, except a lone backpacker already making his way out of the station.

The young man readjusted the black and red baseball cap he had on and pulled his bag over his shoulder. Soon, Analiese, who was wearing her hood up over her head to prevent the cold wind from hitting her face, rejoined him.

"Is there a hotel we're supposed to go to?" Bill asked, noticing Analiese from the corner of his eyes. He took steps closer to her and she started walking.

"Any place that's cheap," she said. "I'll try to tell Oliver we're here."

Bill nodded, rubbing his arms as he embraced the coldness of the night of a mid-September. "What are we going to do in the meantime?"

Analiese chewed on her lower lip softly, so as to not split her it with her sharp teeth. "We can do whatever we want. You just can't go back home, because there would be the others waiting to catch you."

"Both?" Bill asked. "The Austrians and the...you know." He looked around cautiously.

"Yeah," she said. "I don't even feel it's safe here. Let's go, Bill. We'll talk when we find a place for the rest of the morning."

"Okay," Bill said, following very closely by Analiese's side.

The teenage boy didn't want to leave her for she provided him with the security, in a strange way. She was small, but Bill saw her as someone big and protective. He has yet to see all of what Analiese could do.

* * *

"I like the view from here," Bill piped up, looking out of the window to see a dimly lit riverside walk. The river itself was dark, and all he saw was an old man fishing from atop a bridge that crossed it.

Analiese came over in an instant, breaking into a smile. "It's a part of the River Rhine, right?" She said. "It's just a small part that leads to the real thing a couple of blocks down."

"We should see it," Bill suggested, turning to look at Analiese. "I've seen it before, and during the annual fireworks display, and I have to say it was incredible!"

"Really?" Analiese grinned softly, rubbing her hands. "I want to see that."

Bill smiled. "I'd take you there," he said, simply looking at Analiese, just staring.

The half-vampire could feel Bill's eyes on her, and she forced herself to look back at him. She could see this little glint of lust in his eyes, and her throat dried up.

"Ana," Bill started. He reached for her hands.

The girl kept quiet. She stared at Bill and responded with a subtle curious look. "Yes?" She said.

Bill gave a sigh of word loss, breaking into a smile at the same time. His chocolate brown eyes melted Analiese right through, even though he was looking down. It was just as she remembered when they first met. The same eyes from that little boy in the church.

Looking up at her, he continued. "I don't know what to say," he gave the most awkward laugh. Analiese could hear his heart beating at a thousand miles an hour, but she kept out of Bill's mind out of respect. It was something she had done most of the time since back at the hospital.

"What's it about?" She asked, giving a shy smile. Should she tell him why she loved him? She should she even tell him she does?

Bill shrugged and sighed. His smile faded slowly, and he looked at the girl in front of him and he leaned in to kiss her, long and deep. Their lips didn't part from each other until Bill opened his mouth slightly, and Analiese snapped out of it and pulled back.

"I'm sorry," Bill said almost immediately.

Analiese could feel her cheeks heating up, an entirely human sensation surging through her. "It's okay," she said. A part of her screamed for her to tell Bill about her long-time feelings for him, but another part wanted her to stay quiet.

She couldn't be with Bill because they were two different people. Now, they were almost the same, but she didn't want Bill to remain as one.

"Tell me again," Bill said as he held her hands in his lovingly. "Why did you save me?"

Analiese swallowed before answering, looking deep into his sensual brown eyes. "Because it was my fault you were ran over, and so I had to try and get your life back. It would only be fair that way, and this is the only way."

Bill chuckled and shook his head. "No," he said. "That's not the answer."

"What...what do you mean?" Analiese gave a subtly puzzled look.

"There's a better answer for that, Ana," he said. "I know there's another reason you did this."

Analiese shook her head, denying Bill the truth. "It's like I'm cheating, Bill. By turning you into a vampire, you get second life. I misused the ways of the vampires, and I don’t care. All I need now is to know the way to turn you back, and it's like nothing ever happened. All I want to do is to save your life."

"No," Bill tightened his lips. "Yes, that made sense, but no. That's not the real reason. Something you're risking your life for." He went closer to her. "Tell me."

"Bill," Analiese bit her lip. She couldn't tell him. If they fell in love for real, it would be hard for them to live. She wouldn't want Bill to remain a vampire and if he did turn back to human, it would be impossible for them to be together. She thought of the consequences and a drop of tear rolled down her eyes. Quickly, she pulled away.

"Ana," Bill frowned sadly. "What's wrong?" He turned to look at her properly. "Ana?"

The girl shook her head. "I can't do this if you keep asking me this question, Bill."

"What?”

“I can’t.”

“What are you saying? Why?"

"All I want is for you to be happy and normal again,” Analiese breathed. “I'm just here to save your life, and that's all I should be. I'll be watching you, protecting you and saving your life again if anything happens. That’s what I chose, and this is what I’ll do. I have no one let in this world, and I’m spending every waking moment looking after you…all because I met you back then. I don't care about me, so you don't have to know the truth, either."

Bill looked at her thoughtfully and he cupped her fair face dearly in his hands, plucking much courage at that. With a subtle smile, he said, “You love me.”

Analiese felt a part of her being revealed, like her heart had opened up. She felt emptiness, strangely, and she quickly withdrew. She had to be strong about this, but she lost her words. “Bill…”

“Is that so difficult to say? You love me, don’t you?”

She looked at him, “Now, I wish I never did.”

In disbelief, Bill frowned. “Ana—”

"I'm going to bathe," she said, turning on her heels to the bathroom and locking the door immediately, leaving Bill dumbfounded and saddened.

The young man sighed, frowning to himself. Was it so hard to get her to tell him how much she loved him? He liked her, a lot, and seeing her wanting to be so distant from him even though they were so near, it killed him inside.

For a girl who risked her all to keep him safe from danger, Bill knew Analiese was the one. He knew she loved him, but she was afraid of telling. No girl would have given so much just for him. Not really, because fans were another thing. He was sure she had loved him since way back then, out of pure innocence.

Not to mention, his lust for her was kicking in more with each passing second. Now he knew more or less how she felt, he only wanted to know more. He wanted to hear the truth. He sat on the edge of his bed and pulled off his shoes, lying on his back instantly.

"What if I told you, I've fallen in love with you, too?" He said to no one in particular in a whispering tone. He closed his eyes and sighed softly. All he wanted was to fall in love with an old dream that was now a reality.

* * *

Analiese bit her lip, hiding behind the door. She had completely shut her mind out from Bill, not wanting to know what he thought. She could feel the longing he had for her, but she was afraid to give in.

She turned on the hot shower, letting the water in the tub rise. Slowly, her hands grazed the water surface. It was hot, but she could hardly feel it. It was merely warm to her. She stripped slowly and stepped into the tub.

After minutes of not thinking about Bill, her mind led her back to five minutes ago. Bill Kaulitz was in the room next to her, lying on the bed, possibly. She didn’t know what he was doing. She didn’t want to know. She needed a break.

Analiese dropped her head back slowly, leaning against the back of the tub, letting her emotions run wild. It was how she released her stress, just letting her mind run when she was in a quiet room. And if there was water that she could submerge herself in.

She sank under, submerging herself entirely and succumbing to zero noise. She couldn’t even hear her own heart when she blocked everything out.

Once again, Bill found his way in. He had crept back into her mind, never really leaving it in the first place. His smile, his voice, his hands, his eyes; they made up the perfect being to risk her all for.

And she thought about why he was demanding an answer from her, why he wanted to know the truth; did he feel the same way, too? She had loved him longer than anything, but she was afraid to take risks with everything after this major one she was taking for him right now.

Analiese didn’t want to watch Bill die if he became human. She didn’t want to know that he would eventually turn to ash when she had given so much to protect him.

Analiese didn’t want Bill to stay as a vampire, because he would slowly become a full one and lose his control, and he would never have the same life, ever. His disappearance would produce open-ended questions because of his international fame, and it will eventually all lead to the vampire people. She would be putting them at risk if she remained with him.

She didn’t want to live with him, neither did she want to live without him. Her head ached from these painful thoughts about the near future. She knew the vampires were hot on their trail, and that the Austrian army was stopping at nothing to eliminate the vampires that were disrupting the peace the humans had. Both kinds wanted to protect their own. Was all too much to risk just to save the one she loved?

The consequential images played in her mind like a movie, and Analiese immediately opened her eyes, seeing nothing but a blurry ceiling through the water.

She gave in and sat back up, breathing once again, wiping her slick, dark red hair back over her head. Rubbing her face, she took a deep breath and opened her eyes to take in the familiar bathroom wall in front of her. Once again, she regretted ever meeting Bill.

* * *

Bill tapped his feet, waiting for Analiese to finish her shower so that they could go out and have dinner. Being bored, he turned off the television. The shower wasn't running as he could hear clearly, and he unintentionally pictured his runaway companion soaping herself. It wasn't the most appropriate thing to picture right there and then, but he couldn't help himself.

Her milky white skin would feel so supple with the lather, her small slender hands going up and down her body. She was just so fair; it was unfair to call her pale. He wondered how it was like to be like her, being an immortal. He wasn't sure if he was one already, because it was all too confusing for him, but he liked that he could hear most people's thoughts.

Bill picked up his legs, hugging his knees close to himself, the belt buckle biting numbingly into his abdomen skin. It made him uncomfortable, and he took off his belt, enveloping his arms around his folded legs again. The shower, as he noticed, was turned back on after a long silence. And he inadvertently pictured Analiese once again, rinsing the suds away with trickling hot water... He felt a tightening sensation in his groin, and his cheeks grew pink.

Bill grimaced. "What am I doing?" The teenager asked himself suddenly, aloud. He couldn't believe he was thinking of such things, deeming it utterly rude, especially since it was turning him on slowly. And then he thought about it. Maybe it was the whole vampire thing, he thought. Don't vampires have strong sexual appeal? Lust and love were almost identical to these beings, but they could tell it apart if they wanted to.

With a forceful hand, he pressed down on his bulging crotch, letting out a soft grunt of annoyance. He hated getting so excited so fast, but the more he tried not to think about it, the more he did. It was like it was inevitable picturing a naked vampire bathing in the bathroom they shared, in a little hotel in the middle of Berlin.

He tried his best to divert his attention to something else, and he took out the one thing that he held close to him. He went to his bag and opened it up halfway just so he could see the black candle. And he thought about it. He didn't need it anymore. Bill smiled to himself lopsidedly, staring into thin air right past the little television set. He didn't need it, because the little vampire girl he saw years back was right behind this door. That candle was secondary, because her existence was already proven. That candle now served merely as memory.

Meeting Analiese again satisfied all of his curiosity, and proved he wasn't just a telltale little boy like he was believe to have been. The old man at the church had lied to him, and he wondered why.

The old man knew things. This intrigued him even more that he was involved in a cat and mouse game with real bloodsuckers. One thing, though, it risked his life and hers together. He had just found her and he didn't want to let her go again, and he liked her because she was special. She was literally unlike any other girl.

Bill shifted on the bed, ears kept entirely off Analiese and her bathing, treating it like white noise. He fingered his eyebrow piercing absentmindedly as he laid on his back on the bed. He had only seen her a few times and every encounter was limited, conversations were restricted, but their time spent together was satisfying though they did little. He only wished she would really talk. There would be so much more color.

Persisting to think of something before he fell asleep, he realized he wasn't that tired. It could be that the night took less energy from him than the day, as Analiese had pointed out. And then his mind drifted off to something that involved the risks taken at that very moment.

Was Simone going to find out? Would Tom be suspicious? Will the vampires ever catch them? Or would the Austrian militia find Analiese, leaving Bill alone to fend for himself and be hunted down by her kind? Would they die?

"Why?" Bill whispered suddenly to no one in particular but to himself. Why? He thought. Why would she want to save me at all? He thought about it for a long while. She stalked him throughout the years, she came to visit when he was hospitalized, and she bit him and offered him new life and now, they were on the run and two groups of people were possibly hot on her heels. Why? The question resounded in Bill's mind like a broken record player.

His train of thoughts snapped when the bathroom door was unlocked. Out from behind the door peeked a head of dark, maroon hair, slick against Analiese's white face. She could see Bill from where she was, and she awkwardly croaked. "Can you pass me my bag?" She asked, eyes intently on Bill's. Her gaze quickly avoided his when his eyes stared back at her.

Bill gave a slightly embarrassed look, and he hoped his face wasn't showing the blush. "Sure," he mumbled softly in reply, getting up and reaching for her bulky backpack, getting on his feet to go to the bathroom. When he approached her, it was like approaching heaven's door. The fogginess escaped from behind her as her gaze on him softened. He noticed she retreated a bit, hiding her face more.

The steam, when Bill went to the door, set upon his skin and created a thin sheet of moisture on his face. He pondered briefly, musing upon how the rest of her body was like behind the door. Creamy breasts and milky thighs, all the color of the shining moon. He could just feel the lissomness, his hands gliding over her cheeks. What has gotten into me?, he frowned mentally.

From behind the door, Analiese reached out and grabbed the bag from Bill, who was seemingly taking forever to pass it to her. It was all she wanted. But somehow, she longed for more and it was slowly becoming a need. The way Bill stared at her, she wanted nothing less. She tried, but she couldn't escape the words he screamed in his head. He wanted her as well, but she deemed it was all lust, triggered by some of the hormones he had newly received days earlier.

"Thank you," Analiese sucked hard on her lower lip before closing the door, not taking another look into those lust-filled eyes of this one Bill Kaulitz. He was staring at her like he had seen the truth, like he had no more questions in mind. Like as if he had answers and he was willing to share. It was complex, and Analiese couldn't comprehend her own state of mind. The girl stayed in the same position, a hand softly against the wooden door, picturing Bill right on the other side, turning away.

Bill, with an ardor so wild needing to be complemented, he waited patiently for her to come out. It was scaring him that he was unusually lascivious, but he could tell that she wanted something to happen. He knew. She loved him. She had loved him for a long time. It was all so obvious, and he wanted to show her it was as conspicuous. He wanted to return the affection.

It would be physical, for now, if he did that, but he didn't deny the fact that he was falling for her already. The girl who would risk her life for his would be the girl he would risk everything else for. It just so happened that Analiese had already done so, and every passing second was a danger for her. He wanted to love her, thank her, and show her she meant just as much.

Raising a hand slowly, he put it against the door, incidentally, right where Analiese's hand was on the other side. He closed his eyes, leaning his forehead on the wood and he felt this connection instantaneously. He knew she was there, because she was calling him. No, it wasn't a mental conversation, but he could feel she wanted to come out. Everything happened for a reason, and he wanted to find out what his being here with her was for. He was waiting patiently.

Analiese slowly penetrated Bill's mind, hearing his honeyed words singing the sweetest tune she had ever heard. Still, she couldn't believe he was thinking of her in such ways. Her eyes were closed, and it opened when she felt Bill's presence still lingering outside the little bathroom she was in.

Despite the warmth, she shivered. The one boy she ever loved was standing behind this door, and she was reluctant to give in to temptation. But she did.

The door opened with a soft click, and Bill's hand slid down the front of the door to his side. Analiese was still dripping wet, and he could see that her eyes had clouded up, turning almost an opaque dark green. His eyes read her lips, and those pair told him the same thing. They wanted to be felt and kissed, and he knew his own pair was the one destined to fulfill its wishes.

"Am I crazy?" Bill asked, his thick eyebrows furrowed together in question. Time stretched in between them as he waited for an answer, but he saw that she was insistent on keeping mum. "Am I crazy for wanting you this badly?"

"This is lust," she spoke, breathing hitching up. Her pulse rate quickened, and she was thankful she had a heart that beat. She was far too human physically, but her emotions were as deep as the most hopeless vampires to ever grace the face of the Earth. She hated that she wanted to give in to Bill's tempting libido.

Bill shook his head, a small smile creeping across his face, breaking the discombobulated look he had on. "No," he said. "It's not just lust."

The way he said it was like as if he had waited centuries to tell that certain someone that. His gaze on her tightened, and he studied her elven facial features, making her look like an enchanting creature who was obliviously pulling so hard on his strings.

Analiese swallowed uneasily, feeling her stomach churning. Bill was becoming tough to pull away from, and she wondered if he meant it. "Bill," she answered, her breathing halting when he stared once again at her lips. "We can't..."

"I know you love me," Bill whispered, his voice as gentle as a rustling of leaves in the cold September wind. His fists clenching tight, as tight as below his waist gets. He knew he wasn't out of his mind. He was merely in it more, realizing this girl was the girl he had been waiting for. The only reason he had been alone for so many years.

"I know. It's the only reason why you cared about me at all."

"It's not," Analiese protested, failing at making Bill believe so. "I just...I just wanted to protect you whatever happens. Whatever you did, I tried to make sure you were safe. I could never forget you because you treated me differently. In the end, you ran away. But to know that you're here in front of me today because you believe me, it's surreal enough."

"See?" Bill exclaimed, half-laughing. "You do love me. You risked your whole being for me. You keep giving me the same excuses, Ana, but I'm never tired of them. I'm just waiting for the day you tell me the real answer."

His hands released, and he noticed that Analiese was quivering. The cold was getting to her, and he wanted to just warm her up. He took a step forward, his face just inches away from hers. Was it lust, really? He didn't care, knowing that in the end, he would still want her as much. She was, indeed, someone special. His mind couldn't possibly be playing tricks on him. He couldn't name one bad thing about her.

Analiese could feel a tear roll down her cheek, and Bill noticed it among the little droplets around her face. Now, she was confused if it was love or lust, because Bill made everything sound so perfect. He raised a hand to wipe it away but she shook her head, taking a step back. "But we're running away," she insisted. "There's supposed to be nothing more than that, to get you back in one piece."

"Was it really?" Bill looked at her sideways, his fingers tracing the cotton edges of the damp towel she had on. "I believed you, and so I ran away with you. Don't you believe me when I'm telling you, I want this so much?" Analiese closed her eyes when Bill leaned into her ears, his long hair tickling her shoulder as he whispered. "I know you want more," he smiled softly to himself, his nose nuzzling at her cheek lovingly, eyes closed, taking in her scent, making him feel light-headed.

"You're so...strong," Analiese muttered almost incoherently, hands on his wrists, holding him back from moving along the seams of the only article separating her nakedness from his eyes. "You're right. I do want you. I want you to love me back, but I won't ask for too much. All I want in this lifetime is to make sure you're happy and safe."

Bill relished her words, and he resisted the urge to just take her there and then for fear he would feel like too much of a savage werewolf. He was, after all, more of a vampire now.

"I'm safe now," he said, pulling his hands away from her gently and tucking her wet hair behind her ears. His lovely brown eyes darted to her dark ones, and his lips stretched into a smile. "So make me happy."

Analiese exited the bathroom entirely, squeezing in between a Bill who had his feet planted firmly on the ground and the door that was shut. He was pressed against her, and she could feel his excitement. Never had she seen such a side of him, so full of ruggedness. Usually, he would be chirpy and child-like, but now, he was a man. Even his voice seemed to deepen when he eased her with his words. Her throat dried up when she felt a hand rest in between their crotches.

Bill took that as a sign to take her, her petite frame sandwiched in between two immobile columns. Before his manhood got stalled further, he took his chance. He smiled, kissing her cheek once before pressing his nose on hers gently.

"I love you," he said. And he kissed her deeply as he carried her up on his hips, his tongue darting into her oral crevice. He gave a soft moan when her own returned the gesture.