"Ara!" I jumped out of my skin at the sudden thud on the door. "Save some water for future generations, please."

Geeze. "Yes, Dad-just rinsing my hair."

"It doesn't take your mother that long."

By mother, he meant Vicki. "She has short hair, Dad."

He groaned aloud.

"Hmph. You'd do a lot more than just groan if you knew I had my boyfriend in my room right now," I said under my breath. Thing was, Dad would freak if there was a boy in my room, but I bet he'd take it really well if I told him David was a vampire. I think he'd see it as a rare opportunity to hear tales of History firsthand.

I sighed heavily, feeling the full weight of everything I learned about David and his history yesterday. I pictured him there still, by the grave, but when he folded over and buried his face in his hands to hide his tears, it was my name carved in stone behind him. And one day, that scary thought would be a reality.

Slowly, my hand rose up through the swirling steam cloud and rested against the foggy glass. Droplets of water melted around the base of my palm, and as I exhaled a breath of sorrow, the delicate touch of David's long fingers appeared on the other side of the cold barrier. "Don't cry, Ara," he said in a deep, soothing whisper. "Please, please just don't cry."

"How can I not cry?" We rested our heads against the glass. "I don't want you to hurt that way, David."

"I know." He shut his eyes tight.

I could feel a kind of magic between us that I was sure I'd never find anywhere else in the world; it was like, even though our flesh wasn't touching, I could feel him against me-feel him from somewhere deep within. And when he wasn't around, I felt a kind of emptiness that seemed unnatural. "I don't know if I'm strong enough to miss you for the rest of my life," I whispered, watching the hot, steamy water run wasted down the drain below my feet.

"Then don't." He exhaled, and as quickly as he'd appeared, he was gone again, leaving my hand against the glass, alone.

The phone rang while I struggled, in the privacy of my wardrobe, trying to pull my light blue cotton dress over my head; it rolled up, catching on my not-quite-dry skin, and stuck halfway down my waist. I tugged harder, a rise of frustration nearly turning to tears. I didn't want to miss that call if it was Mike ringing before he got on the plane. What if it crashed and I never got to hear his voice again? What if it- "Hello." David's melodious voice filled the room.

I froze, listening.

"Yes, she's getting dressed."

Oh, God, don't tell him that! He'll freak out, thinking you're watching me, or something. I pulled my dress down and tripped all over myself to get out of the wardrobe. "I'm here. Gimme the phone."

David grinned, holding his index finger up. "No, no, nothing like that."

"David," I huffed impatiently, offering a flat palm.

"Yes. It's all she's talked about for the last couple of weeks," he said, then laughed.

"Okay, okay. That's enough." I snatched the phone from him and, assuming I knew who he was talking to, said, "Hi, Mike."

"Hey, baby girl. How's things?"

"Great. You at the airport?"

"Yeah, just thought I'd make sure you hadn't forgotten me."

"Yeah right. It's all I've talked about, isn't it?" I poked my tongue out at David.

Mike laughed. "Well, I've been looking forward to it, too. And I expect the biggest hug you've got tucked into those skinny little arms tomorrow, Ara."

"Oh, trust me, I've been practicing my squeezing," I said.

"With David?" he teased.

"Uh-huh, but you get a different kind of squeezing."

"Oh, fine then, I know where I stand." I could hear the amusement behind his feigned insult.

"Still in exactly the same place as always," I added.

"Okay, well, have fun today, and...I'll see ya tomorrow."

"Yep, bye." I had to dig my heels into the carpet to stop from bouncing around like a little girl. And as the phone disconnected, severing the lines of communication to my best friend, an empty feeling swallowed my soul for a second until I looked at David. But he looked troubled-leaning back in my chair, drumming his fingers on the desk, his thoughts a million miles away. "David?"

He looked up at me-snapping out of his stare.

"What is it?" I asked.

"You're right." A very cheeky grin lit his eyes. "He did not approve of my being here while you were getting dressed."

"So?"

"So, he's overprotective. I know the sort, Ara, he will ask questions about me."

"Can you read his thoughts over the phone?" I said as I walked over and leaned my butt on the desk.

David shook his head. "No. I can only read certain electrical wavelengths-which don't communicate over the phone. But I've been around humans and been subject to their thought-patterns long enough to make conclusions from very little detail."

"Like one of those cool detectives on those crime shows?"

David laughed, resting his chin on his hand. "Yeah, something like that."

"And you think you've summed Mike up, huh?"

He scratched the corner of his brow, taking a deep breath. "All I know is it's a good thing I won't be here during the day. I can't be around you if he is."

"Why?"

"I might be tempted to kill him," he muttered with a certain amount of animosity; my mouth fell open a little. "He thinks he has some claim to you."

"Really?" My cheek tightened on one side with a half-smile. "You know, you're cute when you're jealous."

"Ara, be serious." David leaned forward, elbows over his knees, looking at the floor between his feet. "I don't know, maybe I should leave now. It's just too risky. If he gets wind there's a guy in your room every night, you know what he'll do."

"Look." I sat on the desk, letting my bare feet dangle. "You might think he's got some weird Spidey sense that can track the scent of another male like a mother to cigarettes on her son's breath, but I'm not sure I really care if he finds out I have a guy in my room at night-not right now I don't."

He looked up at me. "Ara, if he finds me in your room and we're forced to meet in person, it will only be a matter of time before he starts asking all the wrong questions."

"And I'll give all the wrong answers. I won't tell him the truth about what you are."

"It's not the questions he asks you that I worry about-it's the ones he asks himself."

"Well, will it be that bad if he figures out what you are?"

"You mean aside from the fact that he'd steal you away from me, take you across the country, lock you in a closet, then fly back here and start a pitchfork rally against me?"

I laughed, rubbing my hand over my neck where droplets of cold water dripped down from my hair. "You know, the chances are he'll figure something's not right, anyway. I mean, especially when I refuse to laze around and watch movies with him at night."

"I know. But-" He reached up and wiped an escaped droplet from my chest. "Well, I suppose it's only for two weeks, right? Maybe we'll be lucky to fly under the radar."

"Maybe."

"And my being away during the day will be good practice for you."

"Practice? You mean for being without you for forever?"

"Yes."

"Don't try to justify it, David." I hopped down off the desk and leaned on my dresser-away from him. "You working for two weeks before you leave has no bright side."

"Everything has a bright side."

I raised a brow at him, then looked away, scoffing internally.

"You will be happy again, one day." David's voice softened as he whispered in my ear, suddenly beside me. I spun into his arms and let my head fall against his chest.

"I wish you could stay for just a few more years."

His arms tightened ever so slightly around my shoulders. "I do too, my love, but even if I could stay with you, why would I? So I can watch you fall in love with someone else, or see you miss your chance?" I looked up to see his jaw stiffen and his eyes narrow. "I don't know which is worse."

"I still won't promise you goodbye, David."

"You will-" he nodded, "-because you can't promise me eternity. And one day, I know there'll be some boy who'll come along and sweep you off your feet, just as I have."

"No." I shook my head. "I won't let that happen."

"And I will not let you lose your chance at love, at life, Ara." His voice rose an octave. "When you feel it-that pull toward love, I want you to take it. I want you to go with it."

"But I'll never truly love another-not the way I love you."

"But it will be enough," he said. "And you can have your life; you can watch your babies grow, become an old lady and-" he smiled, "-get arthritis."

"Somehow that all seems kinda silly now." I rolled my eyes at myself.

"But it's not silly, my love. It's not silly at all." His eyes softened, his thumb gently waking the hairs on my face, calling them to stand on pleasant ends. "Our love is a gift, Ara. It's more intense and inexplicable than any love I've ever known, and it will always be a part of us."

"Just not a physical part," I said solemnly.

"Love is stronger than the physical being. I don't need to feel your lips, your touch, or to hear your words to know you will always love me. And you know that, too, deep inside."

"But I'll feel another's. And so will you. If I can't bear that thought-the thought of you touching anyone-" I placed his hand over my heart, "-how can you possibly bear to think of me being with someone else?"

He laughed out a breath. "It makes me feel hollowed out in the pit of my stomach. But what choice do I have? I am a mourner without tears, a wild stallion locked in a stable-powerless to change my position."

"I'm sorry, David." I looked down.

"I know you are, Ara." He hooked his finger under my chin and rolled my face upward. "But you should not have to apologise for the desires of your heart."

"My heart should learn to shut up."

"I disagree. I love you the way you are. Never change that." He touched my chest.

"Do you..." I looked up into his green, loving eyes. "Do you think we'll ever stop missing each other, or that maybe, one day, you'll be able to forget me?"

"Forget you?" His tone dropped all comprehension. "Do you not understand? My love, I won't just miss you. I will exist as if I were a rose without the grace of rain. There will be no peace for me-ever."

"Then why?" I pushed away from him and took a step back. "Why did Fate bring us together? Why did we find each other only to be forced apart?"

"We found each other, my love, but maybe Fate had nothing to do with it. What if we just weren't meant to be?"

"So we were a mistake-a cosmic glitch?"

"Perhaps, but, if so, you are the one mistake I will never regret."

"I don't want to be somebody's mistake."

"Cosmic glitch then," he said kindly, and I smiled. But, sadly, I knew exactly what he meant, because I felt the same way. Neither of us would recover from this, but it'd been worth all the pain. I knew a love more perfect and more devastating than any other feeling I'd ever had in my life, and I owed that to this man, who had very unfortunate timing.

Our eyes met in a standstill of anguish and indecision. Neither of us could find the words to make everything okay-it would never be okay.

The school bell ringing in the distance broke the silence in my room. It seemed so stupid to me then; school, life, everything in the wake of the thought that I'd lose David forever. Going to school, living life like normal was an empty, silly idea.

"You better call the school and tell them you're sick today," David said, standing across the room, his shoulder against the window frame. "Roll call will start soon. They'll alert your dad if you're not there."

I didn't even see him move. I wanted to walk over and touch my fingertips to his spine where the morning light shadowed and highlighted the contours, but I wasn't sure why he walked away-or if he wanted me to touch him. I stayed motionless, watching David's thoughts fall away from the hold of his gaze and onto the world below my room, while my thoughts consumed the empty space around us. I didn't care that he could hear them, and I didn't care that if Vicki came home early from shopping she'd find David and I ditching school. Nothing mattered to me in the same way it used to. It all just seemed inconsequential with the idea that these were the last touches of light I would ever see on his skin. I would never know the summer sun glistening behind his emerald eyes again, never see it kiss his hair with tones of gold, and never again feel it warm his fingers while he played my guitar, sitting in front of me in a world of childhood dreams, as innocent as a sweet smile.

All we had was one last day, where we would watch the sun set before our eyes, and bring with it the darkness of eternal nights. There would be no way to prevent it; it would come, and even the nights would disappear in a countdown around us until he was gone.

But I would forever be David's girl. I knew I'd look for him in the face of every man I passed for the rest of my life, and though my physical existence on Earth would end one day, I knew in my heart that I would love him, too-for eternity.

"Come on." He turned suddenly and smiled, offering his hand. "Let's not waste this day on solemn thoughts."

"What do you want to do then?" I took his hand.

"I wanna teach you a song."

"What song?" I asked, grabbing the guitar when he pointed to it.

"One I wrote."