Conditional Love

I made Cam go get the rest of my stuff. That was a must. He said I couldn't go with him because I'm still too weak, but he did bring me back something from my mom.

My mom bakes these lemon sugar cookies that drive everyone nuts! When Cam called and told her he'd like to come get my stuff, apparently she immediately started on a batch. These cookies are perfect, they melt in your mouth and are just so zesty, you can't resist.

Cam came home and called me down.

As I came down the stairs, he held out a little tubberware tray, and I knew instantly what they were. Letting out a little squeal, I grab the tray and open it instantly. Popping one in my mouth, I hold the tray out to him. "Want one?" I ask around a mouth full of lemony goodness.

Cam eyes the tray, brimming with curiousity. "What are they?"

I give him a wide smile. "Lemon heaven, almost better than sex."

He laughs at me, of course. "You and I haven't been together yet, love. You'll have to rethink that statement." He finishes with a wink. Cheeky bastard. Regardless, he reaches out and grabs a cookie. Taking a small bite, he slowly chews, testing it out. Then, "Love, I have to admit, these are up there. What does your mom put in them?"

I giggle at his reaction. Its funny, I never used to giggle, until I met him. And what's up with this whole 'Love' thing? I'm liking it. Looking at him, then turning away to set the tray on the kitchen counter, I call over my shoulder. "Family secret. You'll never know."

"Oh come on! That's no fair, now. We'll be spending quite some time together, why not let me in on a few secrets?"

"Nope."

Cam grumbles. Then an unfamiliar voice calls out "Hey Dumbass! Did you forget something?" Cam lets out a sigh and runs his fingers through his hair.

"I'm coming, you lout!" Cam walks out the open front door. I walk over and peak my head outside. I haven't noticed before, but this house looks pretty secluded.

"I am not lugging all this crap for you just so that you can get laid!" The unfamiliar voice yells. I can feel my face turning bright red. I look for the source and find a man standing by my car. MY car!? Did Cam drive it up? The man in question has shaggy black hair, and is dressed like a grunge rock punk. I can tell by his complexion though that he's a vampire. With the way they're talking, is this Cam's partner?

Whoever he was, he looked in my direction. Being the anti-social butterfly that I am, I ducked back behind the door. "Hey sweetheart! Nice to see you conscious!! Why don't you come get your crap yourself?"

Oh that prick! He deserves it when Cam hits him on the arm. They start arguing between themselves. Looking back at the driveway, I see that Cam brought pretty much everything except my big furniture stuff. I wonder.. "Hey Cam!" He looks in my direction. "Did you guys grab my books by chance?"

He's kind of far, but I can tell he's smiling. "Of course! I told you I'd get everything."

Well then, if they grabbed those, I may as well help bring it in. Walking outside, I squint at tyre sudden bright light of the sun. Jeez, was it always this hard to be out here? I sway on my feet and fall flat on my ass. Before I have time to process what happened, Cam is right next to me, asking if I'm ok. My head is splitting open. Damn, being a fledgling sucks.

The random guy saunters over, taking his sweet time. Once he gets to where I sit, he jerks my head up by the chin and holds open one of my eyes.

"Headache, Sweetheart?"

I try to say 'I'm not your sweetheart,' but it comes out jumbles. Cursing under his breath, whoever the hell he is tells Cam to get me inside and to give me blood. Scooping me up like a little kid, he carries me inside and lays me on the couch.

Black spots are floating in front of my eyes and I can barely sit up. I guess Cam can tell that I'm struggling because he holds his wrist to my mouth and helps guide me. Gently grabbing his wrist, I bite down.

About an hour later I can finally think straight. I look up at Cam who had laid my head in his lap. He's got that worried look on his face again. Damnit, I keep doing this to him. Right when I'm about to nuzzle up in his lap, Mr. Random Person pops up out of nowhere.

"Hey there, Sweetheart, how ya feeling?"

"Ugh you creep! I'm not your sweetheart! Stop calling me that!" By this point, I've sat up and am practically growling at him.

Cam has this protective look on his face. Like he's about to hit Random Dude again. "Lawrence, stop teasing her. You're the one who said she needed rest."

Lawrence huh? Totally a name that does not fit his demeanour. With a deadpan look on his face, he says "How am I supposed to check on her condition without a stress test?"

Oh hell no. As I'm about to lunge up to hit this creep, Cam puts a protective arm over my chest. I think he might just be trying to keep me from hurting myself more than anything.

"Cmon, bud, stop teasing her. From what I've heard from her mom, she will try to kick your ass."

Ha, thank you mom! Lawrence looks unimpressed though. "She's a fragile little fledgling. There isn't a lot she can do yet. She probably won't be able to for a while."

Ok, that's it. "SHE is sitting right here, thank you!" I say. "And who the hell are you and what gives you the right to talk about me like I'm not here?"

Apparently he thinks this is funny because he lets out a short laugh. "Sweetheart, who do you think treated you each time you collapsed because this dolt forgot to feed you?"

I feel a rumble in Cam's chest. "Okay, everyone calm down. I think its time for proper introductions so that we can all calm down." Shifting to face Lawrence, Cam turns around. "Lawrence, technically you've met her, but this is Terra. Be nice. We haven't made anything official as of yet, so no snarky comments. Terra, this is Lawrence. He's my partner at social services and my oldest friend. He's a few years older than me, but we are blooded by the same Master, so we're like brothers. Now that that's out of the way, do you think we can all be nice?"

Lawrence and I exchange glares. The ass has the gal to make a comment. "Oh, you two better make it official. Otherwise, I won't be happy. I'm not going to let anyone take advantage of my friend."

Ohh this prick!! He's making my blood boil! I think Cam can sense how upset I'm getting, because he wraps me in his warm embrace, his chest to my back. "Its ok, Terra. He's just ill tempered. He didn't mean anything by it"

Didn't mean anything by it? I understand brotherly love and all, but that was crossing a line. I pull away from Cam's arms. "I think I need some time to calm down."

I walk to my room and lock the door behind me. How could one man be so insufferable? Right when things were about to get good. Yeah, I asked Cam for a few things before we made it official, but he's already done most of it! He brought my stuff over from my parent's house, he gave me some extra space for my books, and he promised no more secrets. All that was left was for us to go on a proper date. I didn't think any of this was unreasonable before starting a life-long partnership. It only makes sense for me to want to be comfortable if I'm going to be living here. And a date is a must for any kind of relationship.

Then this butt just waltzes on in and ruins the mood. Lawrence. So far, I don't like him. Sitting on my bed, I take a deep breath and look around. This is MY room now. My bed. My closet, my bathroom, everything in here is mine... A flop back and stare at the ceiling. This is going to take some time to process.