THERE'S A FIRE STARTING IN MY HEART

Noah was, as usual, the first to notice.

He was sitting at the dining table, pretending to read from the book Charlie had leant him while she prepared her dinner. Something with chicken and butter. Yet again he wished such food still appealed to him so that his normal diet wouldn't repulse her.

As far as he could tell, she seemed calm today- fewer nervous glances and flinches when he drew near her. Noah was even pleased to hear soft humming under her breath as she chopped up something- mushrooms?- that she tossed in with the chicken. Humming was definitely a good sign that she was slowly accepting the fact that he was a vampire.

As if sensing his thoughts, Charlie glanced back at him. Of course his eyes were already back on the book, resuming his fake reading of it. He made sure to look up just once, as if he hadn't noticed her watching him, and offered her a shy smile. The smile she returned was just as shy, but definitely real, and it warmed his unbeating heart to see it. Maybe things really could go back to the way they were between them.

They maintained their comfortable silence, each watching the other while trying not to be too obvious about it. It was in the silence, though, that Noah heard that soft footfall.

When Charlie glanced again, she was surprised to see him staring out the window, tense and unnaturally still. His eyes were an icy yellow, not at all like his usual golden caramel, reminding her of a small lion holding absolutely still before his prey. The thought made her shiver before she could remind herself not to. She knew her subconscious fear of Noah's true identity made him sad which only made her feel fearful and guilty.

Charlie made her hands turn off the stove, noting absently that they were shaking. With her back still to him, she quietly asked, "Noah, is something wrong?"

A beat of silence- Noah debating whether or not to tell her the truth- and to her irritation, Charlie found her heartbeat beating a little faster. She needed to get a grip. Noah either sensed her rising alarm or heard her rising heartbeat, because he suddenly looked back at her and frowned, concerned.

Shut up, she told her heart. "What is it?" she asked again more firmly.

Noah sighed, and against his better judgement, told her the truth. "The other vampire- Alexander Crowne- is outside."

Charlie stopped breathing altogether. Alarmed, Noah rose to his feet- as always, mindful of moving slowly around her- and went to her side. She didn't react at all to his proximity, which frightened him even more, and with only a slight hesitation, he rested a gentle hand on her arm. "Charlie, please don't be frightened," he whispered. "I'm not very big, but I am strong, and-" he rose his voice for the benefit of the audience outside- "I won't let him hurt you."

Rosemary had a comfortable thing going on with the Doc. She kept her teeth off his shoes. He kept a bag of week-old jerky in the bottom drawer of his desk. She made sure that the back room was guarded. He made sure to keep the fangs in the front room. Sometimes she would just lay at the far end of the room where she wouldn't chew on anything and sometimes he'd lean back and toss her a french fry from his burger meal. On the days his burger meal made it to him anyhow.

That was her new thing. Her new game. Trying to catch the hamburger bag from the hamburger boy. It was fast becoming her favorite thing of the day. Seriously, every day. The Doc loved his burgers. Before, the Doc had just gone to get his burgers but she guessed he either got lazy or had too much to do at the office to take the time and instead had to have his meal delivered. It was great for her because this delivery boy was proving to be quite the fun toy.

Even if every time he saw her, she saw the familiar glint of metal.

Yeah, she knew he was a hunter. She knew that he knew that she was not a normal four-legged beastie. Hunters and werewolves were not supposed to play well together. Or play together at all. Natural enemies, they were. Not supposed to be all cozy. But goodness, how could she resist teasing the tall boy? He looked so ... so cute when he was all angry.

There was the beginning of her problem. She thought the delivery boy was more than just a fun toy to yank around. The little blondie had something that was starting to look like a tiny bit of a crush on the guy. Maybe it was because he smelled so delicious like hamburgers and adrenaline. Or was it the way his eyes narrowed just so whenever he saw her, whether she was jumping up in front of the door right when he got to it or if she was hopping off the roof of the clinic. It was a rush, getting those eyes focused on her. Too much to be normal, that she could at least recognize.

She was able to confess to Royce after a few days (maybe it was more than a few) about what was going on and that she kinda was messing around with a hunter but guiltily kept whatever soft feelings she had for hamburger boy to herself. Royce had always been super-protective over her and while it was very much appreciated, she needed room to breathe. Room for errors and her own pair of googly eyes. Royce owed her anyway. So while he went off to be all big brother and check out hamburger boy for any possible threat, Rosemary decided to get some girl advice from the only girl she really knew.

Which was why she was currently standing in front of Charlie's front door, shouting her new friend's name. "Charlie? Chaarlie! Charlie? CHAAAAARRRRLIIIEEE?!?!" Forget knocking. She was too lazy to lift her hands. Leaning her head forward, she rested against the door and listened for possible Charlie-like noises from within.

Charlie woke up the next morning groggy and grumpy. Her comforter lay on the floor next to her pillows where she had kicked them off last night, and as her feet swung around, they had to dig through the layer the materials had made in order to find the floor. It felt stuffy in her room, despite the chill she knew would be waiting for her outside, and glanced back at the bed, half-tempted to bury herself back in them.

Nah, Royce doesn't work today, so I guess I have to come in.

The prepping before a work day was, as usual, blissfully short. Working among animals and all the sounds and smells and other unpleasant things they made meant that her normal uniform consisted of $.99 shirts and the one pair of grubby jeans she owned. And now that she was beginning to make a habit of cooking for more than herself (and she learned her lesson this time), breakfast was as easy as taking a slice of meatloaf from the fridge and popping it in the microwave with two slices of bread going in the toaster. With some ketchup and cheese, she had a sandwich, and less than five minutes later, she was locking her door and walking toward town.

Biting into the meatloaf reminded her of dinner the night before- uneventful, for the most part. Royce still had his mind on Crowne, even as he was shoveling food into his mouth as fast as he could. Almost as soon as he and Rosemary finished eating, they both said thank you (well, Royce did for both of them), and were off to patrol again. Not that she felt it was really necessary anymore- she wasn't scared anymore. Her conversation with Rosemary had neatly distracted her from any thoughts of stalkers.

That was it Charlie thought triumphantly. That was why I couldn't sleep last night. I was talking about Madeline, and I kept thinking about it throughout dinner and up to when I went to bed. Perhaps it was a good thing after all that Royce had been so preoccupied. The last thing she needed was more questions.

A pause at the traffic light, crossing of the street and down three doors had Charlie at the clinic with minutes to spare before the place officially opened. Taped to the door was a note in Doc's scribbly writing: "Making a house call at the Fitzgibbons Farm on Winchester Ave. Should be back by noon. Stay out of trouble." No signature, but none was necessary. Charlie rolled her eyes at the last comment, but pulled the note off the glass and unlocked the door.

Neither Doc or Royce around, with the office to herself?

Sounded like the start of a rather peaceful day.