I Love You, I'll Kill You

We were all out and in the two very packed trucks within an hour. As soon as the idea of going to the beach had sparked amongst the werewolves, they were all ecstatic. I hadn't even finished my pancakes by the time they had packed the trucks. Apparently I was the slowpoke of the day, and they were shoving it in my face, telling me to hurry up and eat the two pancakes on my plate faster. Well, it was mostly Joshua and Eric.

But the thing that took the most time was trying to find me a bathing suit and some other clothes. I argued that I didn't need one, but they refused to take no as an answer. We ended up finding some of Troy's girlfriend's lying around, though I didn't ask where they had found them. They had found some swimwear that actually covered up my chest, but was disappointed when they gave me a pair of short shorts, which weren't even mine. I debated on that as well. I didn't want to take someone's stuff without their knowing—especially if they were in a coma. Shayne had told me that I didn't need to worry. And besides, it was just my size. I caved in, too tired to fight with any of the eccentric wolves.

"Don't worry; Troy won't find out about any of this," Eric kept assuring me as I bit on the tips of my fingernails. I had a really bad feeling that something wrong was going to happen. It was that gut feeling, and it was usually right. I sighed, climbing into the giant truck. Dean was driving one, stuffing most of the others in the large bed. I rode with Shayne in his big Chevy, Eric on my other side so that I was forced into the middle. I hadn't noticed how big they were until I was stuffed between the two of them. Shayne's whole truck bed was full of beach chairs, beach games, and wood. I was impressed the truck could handle so much.

"How long a drive is it to the beach?" I asked through a yawn. I could feel Shayne's eyes on me as mine got heavy. I really needed some sleep.

He replied with a mused, "About an hour, maybe more depending on how slow Dean drives." I laughed at that before I began to close my eyes, leaning back against the seat to rest my head against the uncomfortable seat cushion. Trucks like Shayne's really weren't meant for comfort. I felt us pull out of the driveway, dodging all of the other cars, before we were speeding on our way toward the ocean. I fell asleep before we hit the end of the driveway.

It felt like only moments before someone was patting on my shoulder, awaking me from my short but happy slumber.

"Grace, we're here," a voice that sounded familiar cooed. I opened my eyes, and my sight was blurry for a half a second or so before it finally cleared to reveal Shayne next to me. I groaned as I closed my eyes again, the sun shining in my eyes. The sound of waves made it even harder to return to sleep. Wait, waves? I opened my eyes, and this time to observe the great beach behind Shayne. I sat right up, almost colliding with him, but he dodged before I could smack my head into his. My mouth was gaped, and I had a feeling that was why Shayne was smirking at me.

"What's with the face?" he asked with a smile.

I blinked at the sight in front of me before I responded with a surprised, "It's amazing. I don't think I've seen a place more beautiful."

He cocked an eyebrow at me, glancing from me to the beach, and back to me again. "I think you need to get out more, even if you don't have any recollection of going to the beach. Staring at it is only the beginning of the fun," he said, reaching out his hand to help me out of the large truck. I hadn't realized until this moment that we were the only two in the truck, and that the truck had already been unloaded. I took his hand, and he helped me out of the giant truck, placing me on the warm sand. I was wearing flip flops that were entirely too big for me, but they were the closest thing to fitting me. I kicked them off, placing my bare feet on the warm sand.

"Sleeping Beauty has awakened!" Joshua cheered from the beach, lots of yells shortly following after him as Shayne and I made our way down to the beach. They had already set up the volley ball net and beach chairs. Dean was already working on setting up his giant fire, stacking wood in a large pile.

"And I must say, Grace, you look spectacular in that suit and shorts," Craig complimented when I reached the rest of the group with Shayne.

I sent him a look—one of amusement. "I can't believe you said I look 'spectacular'."

He sent me a smile, his amazing gray eyes shining more brightly now that we were out in the sun. They almost looked like they would turn white. "Would you prefer that I call you a smokin' hot babe?" he asked, nudging me with his shoulder.

I smiled and pushed him away playfully. "No, thank you. You can stick to your 'spectaculars' all you want, and I won't complain. Fair deal?" I hadn't actually meant for him to reply to that.

"No, it's not a fair deal. To level the deal, you have to play a game of volleyball. Doesn't that sound about right, guys?" he asked aloud, and all of the others—except Shayne and Derek—shouted an agreement. Even Dean had, who was still working on his firewood.

I frowned at this overrule. I was completely outnumbered, and I was still too tired to put up a fight. They were such cleaver werewolves. I raised my hand and pretended to wave an invisible flag. "All right, I surrender. I'll play your damn ball game, even though I'm tired." I ended with a sigh. What I really wanted to do was sit on a towel and enjoy the warm sun. I was pale compared to the werewolves, so some sun would do me some good. But no, I was being bribed into playing a game that I hadn't ever played, or I think I hadn't played before.

"Okay, we both split up into our original teams," Matt shouted, his auburn hair shinning in the bright sun. It seemed that they had teams already.

"Shayne, you have to play this time," Eric said with a smile, slowly pulling off his shirt. All the rest of them followed his lead, pulling their shirt over their heads so that their top halves were nude. I fought to keep my cheeks a normal color.

Shayne smiled at me while I gawked at them all. He was the slowest to get rid of his shirt. "You ever played before?" he asked as he threw his shirt on the sand.

I shrugged, slowly composing myself. "Don't know. But I guess we'll find out the hard way."

Eric came trotting across the sand to me. He had a look in his eyes, and before I knew what was happening, I was being picked up and thrown over his shoulder. I gave one of those girlie shrieks when he had, and he carried me like a backpack over his shoulders to the volleyball 'court', if that's what you would call a net placed in the sand. "We get Grace!" he declared. "You guys get Shayne," he said as if he were a plague, a person who didn't deserve to be on our team.

Shayne shrugged, not seeming to care, and replied with a nonchalant, "Whatever you say." We were split up evenly. Eric, Derek, Dean, and I made up one team while Shayne, Joshua, Craig, and Matt completed the other.

"Aww," Joshua moaned, sticking his lower lip out so that it looked like he was pouting. "I wanted to be on Grace's team."

"The teams are final, so quit your whining, pup," Shayne said, crossing his arms over his chest with an impatient look on his face. I stared at the muscles that played along his long arms, broad shoulders, and great chest. They almost didn't seem real, they were so perfect. I was staring so intently that I didn't realize when someone was speaking to me.

"Grace!" someone shouted loudly, and that finally knocked me out of my concentration.

I turned my head and gave Eric a lost, "What?"

He rolled his eyes—like he knew what was distracting me so much—and asked, "Would you like to serve?"

"Serve what?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

He laughed at me, as did Joshua and Dean, and said, "The ball, smart one."

I kept with the lost look for a moment or two longer before the large white ball was shoved in my face. I took the ball, and looked to Eric and my other teammates for answers. "What am I supposed to do with it?"

They all chuckled at my question. I was obviously not getting the joke. Before Eric could take the ball from me, Shayne explained, "She doesn't know how to play the game. Tell her the object of the game, and then we will play." Eric told me the basics of the game.

"Get the ball over the net, and that's it? No using of the feet. That doesn't seem so hard," I said in a confident tone.

Dean gestured toward the net. "Then, madam, you may serve the ball." I did just as he said, and I hit the ball over the net. All of a sudden the game was intense, all of the guys diving for the ball, preventing it from hitting the ground. I jumped out of the way of the ball, knowing that one of the guys would pummel me if I was in the way. I did more dodging than actually hitting the ball. Craig kept yelling, "Let Grace get the ball." But if it meant between hitting the ball or prevent from being hit, I would choose the latter. Hitting the ball was not worth a hit in the face. And the way these guys were playing, I was way out of their league when it came to volleyball.

By the time the score reached 10, I gave up. I walked away from them, toward the water, while saying, "Okay, that's enough dodging for me today." They whined, shouting for me to come back, but I shook my head, keeping to my intent location. I heard someone running after me, and when I thought they were going to grab me and drag me back, I turned around so quickly that I almost rammed into them. But Shayne—being supernatural and all—dodged me for the second time today. I frowned at him. "You don't have to quit playing the game because I don't want to play."

He shook his head with a smile. "Actually, I do." I gave him a skeptical look, and his smile broadened. "Uneven teams," he shortly replied.

"I'm sorry; I don't mean to take you away from your game. You guys were beating us, so I bet it's even more of a downer," I apologized.

He shook his head again, his eyes pointing to the ground while we both made our way to the sea. "If it means spending some time alone with you, I don't mind at all." Oh, God, he was flirting with me. I felt my breath get caught in my throat, butterflies in my stomach, and heat flowing to my cheeks. I was able to hide the first two, but the last one was a struggle. I took the first step into the cold water, and the iciness made goose bumps appear all over my body. Was the ocean always this cold?

I didn't know what to say to Shayne's comment, so I splashed my feet in the water instead. The moment wasn't really awkward, but not completely comfortable. I could feel the impulse of my hand wanting to reach and grab his, to hold his in my hand like we were in love. But then I realized that I also wanted to hold someone else's hand, whose hand was cold one minute, and warm the next. I wanted to hold Desmond's hand, but he wasn't here. He was probably still locked in his bathroom. Or maybe he was asleep, since it was his bedtime.

What will he do when I get back? I kept thinking to myself. Would he be angry? Probably. The fact that I left without telling him meant that there would probably be a consequence. But I had told Ivan and Dawn, not that that meant a whole lot, since they had said they weren't going to make up excuses for me.

"Are you alright?" Shayne asked, knocking me out of my thoughts.

I turned my head and faked a smile. "Yeah, I'm fine." I was getting better at lying.

I obviously wasn't good enough, because he narrowed his eyes and replied, "No, you're not. You're worried about something; it's written on your face." I didn't reply, but splashed some more water. "It's the vampire, isn't it?" he asked as if he didn't really want to know. I still didn't take my eyes away from the water, but I had a feeling the answer was written on my face, just like he had said. When I didn't reply, he continued, but he sounded more upset; sadder. "I thought that coming to the beach would get your mind off him. When you arrived at our doorstep this morning, you looked so devastated, like you had been stabbed in the heart. Even with your smile, I could read the sadness in your eyes." I could feel his eyes burning into me, but I couldn't find the courage to meet his. "What did he do to you, Grace?"

The question had caught me by surprise, but I didn't want to upset him even more by telling the truth. I figured silence was the best option. "Why do you stay with him? He creates nothing but trouble and pain, Grace. Within two days I have seen him hurt you twice. A person who truly loves you would never make you go through something like that, like this."

Something sparked in me, something that told me to protect Desmond. A gave an unfriendly look, and it caused him to stagger a step. "You don't even know him."

He returned the unfriendly look, but not as intense. "I know him more than you do, Grace. I know who Desmond really is, and he's not who he says he is. The fact that he has been lying to you proves that he is no good for you. He's been lying to you this whole time." I opened my mouth to defend Desmond, but he continued before I could. "He's the bad guy, Grace, and I wish you would see past his disguise."

That left me speechless. I didn't know how to defend Desmond when I really didn't know who he was. Was Desmond really that bad? Then why was my heart hurting just at the thought? We had stopped walking; now standing in the water while the waves brushed against our legs. I felt him take my hand in his, like I had wanted to earlier, but now I didn't have the same feeling. I looked up from the waves, and his eyes were sympathetic. "I'm sorry, Grace. I didn't mean to upset you like that. I just...I want you to be happy and safe," he said sincerely, squeezing my hand in his. He was trying to think of me, and I was denying him.

A tiny smile formed on my lips, and he copied me when I squeezed his hand back. "Thank you for caring, Shayne," I said. And I meant it. He had done so much for me the past day that I really owed him a lot for the hospitality. The least I could do was cheer up and stay on his good side. We started walking again, this time hand-in-hand, and it didn't feel awkward, but comforting. We walked along the beach for a long while in silence before we decided it was time to walk back.

The sun was already beginning to set, and the first chill was coming in from the coast. We had barely said a word during our whole walk, but neither of us seemed to mind the silence. In a way, it was nice; refreshing. No talking; no arguing; just walking hand-in-hand with no problems. I released his hand before we arrived to the already burning bonfire, which had been created by Dean. He had made the bonfire much larger than I had expected. I guess we had brought a lot of wood. I was the only one who was cold by the time the sun was fading beyond the horizon, so I got my jeans and sweatshirt from Shayne's truck.

We all sat around the bonfire, laughing and telling jokes. I didn't have any, but I learned quite a few. I sat next to Shayne and Eric, who was sharpening sticks for the marshmallows we had brought. By the time the sun had set, all the werewolves had put on their shirts. It was a relief to me.

"Grace, you got any good jokes?" Joshua asked. Of course he would be the one to ask. He was the prankster of the pack.

I shook my head. "Nope, but you apparently have quite a few. I'm quite impressed by how many you have."

He shrugged from his spot on the sand. "It entertains me, unlike the rest of these guys. I don't get a lot of entertainment these days."

Shayne laughed from beside me, and I had to look up to really see his face. I was practically leaning on him, since the log we were leaning against wasn't that comfortable. My heart skipped a beat when I saw the color of his eyes. His pretty copper hues were even brighter with the fire dancing in them, and it put me in a trance. He asked, "What about Clara?"

Even with the sun now gone and the only light the fire, I could detect the color on Joshua's cheeks. He gave a nervous laugh, while throwing a stick into the already roaring fire. Everyone except Shayne and I mocked him, making his face even redder. Apparently he and Clara had a 'thing' going on.

Eric practically shouted in my ear when he said, "Sticks are ready." He handed me one, and passed all the others out. We had brought more than 8 bags of marshmallows, so we weren't going to run out any time soon. Shayne and I had a bag to share, which I thought was unnecessary. I mean, how many marshmallows could these guys eat? I placed my marshmallow on the end of the stick and held it over the dancing flames of the fire. Within moments it melted off my stick, and I frowned.

"That is the cutest look I have seen," Craig stated from the other side of the fire.

Eric put an arm around my shoulders. "That's because Grace is the cutest girl."

I coughed. "You guys need to get out more. And why can't I be beautiful?"

Dean shook his head from beside Craig. "You're cute, but not quite beautiful. You're still young, but you'll get there." Matt nodded his head from beside him in agreement. I frowned even more.

Eric removed his arm from me, but Shayne replaced it with his own, bringing me closer to him. I could feel his heat radiating off of him through his clothes. He touched my face so that I looked at him. He said in a soft voice, "But you're beautiful in your own way. You have a beautiful personality." The air suddenly felt thick, and I found it hard to breathe. He was staring at me so intimately that I couldn't find my train of thought for more than a few minutes.

I finally broke eye contact and returned to stare at the fire. "Beautiful personality, huh? Sounds a little...weird," I said. I had trouble finding the right word, because I didn't want to offend him, not after how nice he had been. But now that he had said that comment, butterflies were moving in my stomach again. I placed another marshmallow on my stick and tried to pay more attention to it than the fact that Shayne had his arm around me. Sure, it was nice and warm, but it made things inside my stomach move nervously.

The others had grabbed the cooler from Dean's truck and were now cooking hot dogs. I really didn't feel like eating, so I watched the fire in silence, listening to the sound of my fast paced heart pound in my ears. I closed my eyes, enjoying the warmth around me, relaxing one bit at a time. I was still tired, and a few hours of sleep hadn't made a difference. I relaxed against Shayne, leaning against his shoulder while the fire put me at ease. Everyone was settling down a bit, but still laughing quietly and enjoying their food. Well, that's how it was for a little while.

They all suddenly became quiet, so that the only sound I could hear was the fire crackling. I opened my eyes when I couldn't even hear Shayne breathing, and when I did, they were all staring in one direction, all with serious expressions.

I followed their line of sight, but saw nothing but darkness. My eyes sight wasn't even close to being as good as theirs. My eyes squinted, trying to see what they were all staring at, but all I could see were spots from when I had been staring at the fire. I closed my eyes for a few seconds, to see if that would help, and it did. When I opened my eyes, there he was, staring down at us from the top of the sand dune.

My mouth dropped open, and I was suddenly tense. I quietly whispered, "Oh, crap." Nope, this wasn't going to be good.