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I began to laugh, then stifled it as I saw Buddy's intense expression. He looked like he was about ready to do bodily harm to poor Anders.

"How can he like me? He's only seen me for what, two minutes?" I said, struggling to keep a straight face. I was completely bewildered by Buddy's reaction.

"Clearly that was enough," he replied sourly.

"Did you sense his thoughts?" I asked.

"Ha! Thoughts," he scoffed. "And then some. He was all over you as soon as he saw you."

Buddy's knuckles whitened on the steering wheel, and I finally realised that I was witnessing his first experience of jealousy. Part of me wanted to lecture him for his possessive machismo, tell him to get over himself and stop acting so childish. Another part of me knew I needed to take a more gentle approach - maybe he really didn't know how to process these new human emotions. And yet another part of me was feeling rather pleased at the attention from both men.

"Hey," I said softly, trying to soothe him. "Everyone gets attracted to people. That's part of being human. You can be attracted to someone you see on the street for half a second. Attraction doesn't mean anything." I studied his face, and when I saw some of the tension ease, I went on. "But you can't get upset every time someone else is attracted to me. He didn't do or say anything inappropriate. If you didn't have your alien radar thing going on, you might not even have known."

"Hmph," Buddy mumbled.

"Acting childish about it doesn't help anything either," I said. "People get attracted to people. It's life. And," I said, gaining momentum, "I want you to know this: I am not, and never will be your possession. Just because we're together doesn't mean I belong to you. I don't know what your previous experiences have been in the animal kingdom, but you don't own me."

Silence stretched out in the wake of my heated oration. I began to wonder if I'd overstepped the mark.

"When people are together, they don't own each other," I continued, more softly, "they're committed to each other. I'm with you, not with Anders. Whatever he feels is on him. But we need to be able to trust each other."

The silence resumed, but this time I let it play out. I'd said all I needed to say - perhaps a little more than was strictly necessary. But if Buddy wanted to be human, he needed to be able to cope with human emotions. I had never liked jealous men - I'd seen it turn toxic too many times. I considered that for a moment, and began to wonder why Buddy acting like this when he knew I didn't like it. Up until now, he had always automatically presented himself in ways that he knew were attractive to me. He was genetically wired to be what I wanted, do what I wanted. Sure, there'd been a few moments that had been less than perfect, but this was different. Something had changed. I decided to risk asking him, not entirely sure if he has calmed down, or taken my lecture well. His face was still a blank mask.

"About your thing..." I started awkwardly. "The thing where you're programmed to be my ideal type. How does that work?"

Buddy glanced across at me, then focused on the road again.

"I don't really know, how does your digestive system work?"

I looked at him, thinking he was angry, but the lopsided grin on his face told me he was joking. I sighed with relief.

"Well, we get taught about that in primary school. Didn't your kind ever teach you?"

"No, not really. I've never really thought about it." He paused, considering. "When I first saw you, I learnt about your basic instincts. That told me that at the most animal level, your ideal partner would be a strong and healthy man. Over the next few times I saw you, I learnt more and more. I learnt you liked younger men," he said with a grin before adding, "but not too much younger. I learned that you liked certain facial features, certain ways of talking, certain characteristics. So I just slowly morphed over time."

"Is it optional?" I asked. "I mean, could you not change if you didn't want to? Could you intentionally be something you would know I would find unattractive?"

Buddy tilted his head and chewed on his lip.

"I don't know," he said after some thought. "As far as I know my entire biology is programmed to be appealing to you, so I don't think I could change that." He suddenly looked at me and narrowed his eyes. "Why are you asking that?"

I blushed, but had to be honest with him.

"It's just... your jealous outburst earlier. I didn't really like it, and it made me curious. I wondered why you'd act that way if you knew I didn't like it."

Eyes on the road again again, Buddy turned onto a street that brought us toward the outskirts of town before answering.

"I know you don't like it. But I don't know why I felt that way. I just felt so frustrated." He frowned. "I guess that means I can override the programming," he mused.

"Maybe human emotions are stronger than your genetic code," I suggested.

"Maybe," Buddy echoed.

There was silence for a few moments as we neared the main street.

"I'm sorry for acting like an idiot," Buddy blurted out.

I smiled and reached over, slipping my hand into his.

"It's all good. I still like you. Even if you are a bit jealous sometimes." I grinned. "But I meant what I said about you not owning me. Don't ever treat me like a possession, Buddy."

"I'll try not to," Buddy said, squeezing my hand.

We both fell into quiet contemplation, wondering what the implications of our new discovery might be. What did it mean that Buddy could ignore and overcome his own genetic coding? What was he capable of? Was he evolving? Or just becoming more human? And if he was simply becoming more human, what would that process look like? I wondered if it was possible for him to become completely human - for whatever alien DNA he possessed to morph entirely into human DNA. But if it did, would that mean that he would no longer be wired to please me? That instinct was from his alien genetics, and if he lost them, he would have to also lose the instinctual urge to please me, as well as his other abilities, like absorbing other's minds and changing form.

I looked at Buddy as he found a parking spot, expertly slotting my car into its space. We were still holding hands, so he knew all of my thoughts, but he wasn't offering any of his own. I decided to ask him outright.

"Do you think you could change so much that you become completely human?" I asked. "To the point that you completely lose the alien part of you?"

"I don't know. It's possible, I suppose," he turned off the ignition and sat back in his seat. "I don't really know any more than you. I've always returned to my true form before. I don't know-" he broke off abruptly. "Anyway, let's get something to drink. You feel like ice tea, right?"

"Yeah, sounds good," I replied, wondering why he'd changed the subject so suddenly. We got out of the car and started walking down the street. My mind was still churning over what we'd been discussing. He'd said he'd had probably hundreds of other lives as insects, birds, and other animals. But he'd always changed back to his true form and always gone on to some other form. A sense of dread grew over me as I realised what I'd been missing this whole time.

"Buddy," I stopped on the sidewalk, staring down at the pitted concrete.

He stopped and turned back to me. "Yeah?"

"You're going to change back, aren't you? And then you'll go on to something else. Someone else. You're not going to stay human, are you?"

I found the strength to look up at him and search his eyes to find the truth. He stared back at me, his face a book in a foreign language I couldn't read. He stepped toward me, placing his hands on my arms.

"I told you, I'm not going anywhere," he said. "I'm here for you, and I intend to stay as long as you'll let me." He pulled me gently into his arms, wrapping them around me tightly and stroking my hair. "I'm not going to change. I promise."

I felt myself sinking into his embrace, pulled by the comfort of his words, but I couldn't shake the growing feeling that he wasn't being entirely honest with me. I'd always known I could trust my gut as a journalist. I'd always followed my gut feelings, trusted my instincts. But right now, they were telling me that the man holding me in his arms was lying to me.