The sickening smell of blood— not actually sickening: enchanting, marvelous— made him nervous. He wanted so bad to go drink it up like fine wine, but he couldn't. That was his girlfriend, the love of his pathetic life. 

— AMY! Can you hear me? Are you conscious? 

No answer. She didn't even shift, move, he could barely hear her breathing. He started sliding down the abrupt rocks to get to her, slowly. He could smell her even more as he approached and his beast, vampiric ways were starting to take advantage of him. His breath was uneven and he wanted to scream in frustration. 

He ran the end of the distance between him and his girl. 

— God... What the hell happened to you, baby... 

She was laying unconscious on the edge of a rock, blood oozing from her leg and her ankle twisted in an unnatural angle. Her head had probably hit the rock at the landing. Damon quickly grabbed leaves and in a split second made a weird pommade that he applied on the wound, his canines entirely out of his gum and itching to pierce her soft skin. 

Her skin was now protected by the substance that would surely help the healing. He then snapped her ankle back into place, hoping she couldn't feel the pain. Her eyes opened seconds after. And she screamed. Extremely loud. 

Damon got his answer. 

— Amelia... I'm so so sorry...

She was crying now, sobbing. The blood was soaring through the cream he applied now, and Damon bit on his fist. He couldn't do this. This hike had been a huge mistake. He had almost lost her. If he'd arrived a minute later she'd be dead— either by loss of blood or by murder: other monsters lived in this Natural Preserve. 

— Can you speak? Does it hurt?

The young girl didn't answer. She was still crying. Damon wanted to hug her and confort her but he was getting dizzy with the sugary smell of her blood. He picked her up and began walking to the car. 

                                                                                                   -

The next day. 

Amelia woke up in the white room of the hospital. She was wearing a blue gown, the type that she ever only saw on TV. She groaned out loud. She'd been plugged at an IV for the last day and night, high on drugs to keep her not dizzy. 

She'd lost a lot of blood and needed a transfusion but her ankle was fine now. Her concussion didn't have any repercussions. Her sight had come back. She could see again, badly, but she could see. 

The chair next to her bed wasn't empty. A man with dark hair was sitting in it: 

Damon. Next to the door were Mateo and Lucas, his friends that happened to be her friends too. 

— Hi idiots! 

She groaned out, her voice shaky still. 

— I think you're the idiot, Ames. You went hiking in a super safe trail and you managed to fall down and almost die! 

It didn't happen like that, she thought. But these two didn't know about his true nature, therefore couldn't know that monsters existed. 

— I'm no idiot. There was a rock and we were... racing to the top. 

Damon's face was grim. He still hadn't swallowed the pill of her fall, nor the fact they'd encountered monsters. She knew it. 

— I think that I deserve chocolate. Guys, can you go get it for me? 

Mateo and Lucas giggled and ran out of the room, racing to the hospital canteen. Once she couldn't hear their laughter anymore, she turned her face towards her boyfriend. 

— You fought your instincts. See? You can still do it in a few years. 

Damon snickered. 

— I barely managed it, Amelia.  There's no telling how I'll be in a few years, once I'm at maximum capacity of my monstrosity. 

Amelia clenched her teeth. She didn't want to start a row. She wanted to be happy again, with him. She knew he hated what he was. It never was a secret, he'd always been upfront about it. Most people didn't like being vampires anyway— it wasn't exactly a good thing when you weren't power hungry, which was the case of the rest of his family. 

— But that doesn't mean I don't love you. I'll try until I can't anymore. Because despite the fact that I'm the worst thing out there for you, I still want to be with you. It's a moral dilemma you can't even begin to fathom. I love you so much, Amelia, it hurts me. It hurts me to know that I'm too selfish to give you up. 

Damon came to sit on the edge of her bed. The heart monitor let everyone — even humans— know that her heart rate picked up. 

— I love you. Don't you forget that.