The bright sun shone down with an unrelenting, scorching intensity from the cloudless blue sky as I held onto Nolan's arm delightedly with both of my hands. Even the sweat that was starting to form on my forehead and arms couldn't dampen my spirits.

I never really thought about it, and ultimately I couldn't miss something I never had, but having a boyfriend whom I could meet during the day and could freely introduce to whomever I wanted to was unbelievably freeing. By senior year of high school, I'd convinced myself it was fine, that I didn't mind that Nolan could only ever hang out with me in the late evening, and that, while Derek and Melissa could spend all day with each other, I had to wait till nightfall for Nolan to even feel awake.

I hadn't even realized how much it had been weighing on me until the heaviness had been completely lifted off me.

I beamed at him as he kissed my forehead.

Nolan had officially ditched his trademark hoodie except for when it was raining or if it was cold. The sun beat down on his exposed face and arms, but he had never looked happier.

Now that he wasn't physically compelled to fall asleep in the daytime, he no longer spent every second of it outside of classes in his bed. He would go to the library sometimes to study, or he would find some place to sit down to work. The joy in his eyes, even though he never said anything, these days was so obvious that it made me happy too.

He'd just picked me up from my class, and now we were strolling across the sunny courtyard.

"What do you want to eat?" he asked me.

"Anything," I said. "You should pick! Let's go with your mood."

"How about Thai food?"

"Yeah, let's go."

"Let me check where to go," he said, pulling out his phone.

As he scrolled on it, I said, "It's the weekend tomorrow. Any plans?"

"Probably just the gym, then nothing. Why? Do you want to do something?"

I pulled back a little to peer at him in surprise.

"Wait, you're going to the gym?"

"Yeah ... why?" he returned my stare with an inquiring one of his own.

I had never thought about him working out before. By his own prior admission, he'd never been to a gym before. The only physical exercise he'd ever done was in the forest when he was hunting for food after nightfall.

But if he did want to maintain his current physique or, at least, keep a reasonable level of stamina and strength, it stood to reason that he would have to start some kind of physical training.

"Nothing," I said lamely, when I realized that I'd been staring at him for too long without giving a reply. "I guess I just hadn't thought that you'd be hitting the gym now that you don't have that super strength anymore."

With a smile, Nolan turned back to his phone. "While I'm definitely not going to be able to lift a full fridge anymore, I thought you'd appreciate it if I could still give you piggyback rides."

Oh, I totally still wanted piggyback rides.

I cheered and threw my arms around him. "You're the sweetest sweetheart ever!"

In the end, we settled on a casual Thai restaurant that Nolan said looked interesting.

into a booth by the window. While we were lazily perusing the menu to decide on our order, a girl with a tall ponytail among a small group of people which was walking past our table waved and smiled at Nolan.

He smiled politely and waved back before turning back to me.

"Who's that?" I asked.

Usually, when we spent time together or went out on dates, it was already late in the evening and we hardly ever bumped into people we knew.

"We take the same major. She's in most of my classes. I don't know her name, though."

"At least you remember what she looks like," I teased. "Big improvement, you!"

"I should start trying to remember people's names," he admitted. "I didn't use to bother because I figured there was no point. But now ..."

"Yeah," I said, reaching over the table to squeeze his hand.

Now he wouldn't have to worry about his friends or acquaintances wondering why his appearance never seemed to change as he aged. There was nothing holding him back from befriending people now, barring his own desire for making them.

"Guess I have no excuse to live like a social hermit anymore."

"Nope. But that's a good thing."

He squeezed my hand back. "I'm going to make my own friends and introduce you to them."

"I can't wait."

The food was good—and really, really spicy. Then again, it was probably our own fault for mixing all the crushed red pepper into our own respective pad thai dishes without first taste testing it on a small portion. Nolan was currently making his way through his second beverage, an iced Thai milk tea. His first one had been an iced Thai green milk tea. His second glass was three-quarters empty.

My tongue was on fire too, but I wasn't downing all of my iced tea like it was a life-saving antidote. I knew too much fluids would fill me up, and then I wouldn't be able to finish the rest of my food or have space in my stomach for dessert. Instead, I kept my tongue peeking out between my lips, taking deep, sharp breaths and trying desperately not to pant. It wasn't really working.

I stared in fascination at his pink-tinged cheeks. For as long as I had known him, Nolan's face had always been evenly pale. While part of it was likely due to his avoidance of the sun, I always wondered if the other part of it was because of the whole vampire thing. Either way, this was the very first time I'd seen him flush.

The sudden desire to know what a blush would look like on him spiked through me. This wasn't the same thing, but it was close enough. I didn't know what would make Nolan blush. But now there was no rush. I had the rest of my life to learn all these little new things about him. A smile pulled at my lips at the thought.

"Why are you smirking?" He sounded suspicious.

"Your face is red." I leaned my elbows forward on the table and rested my chin on my hands. "It's really cute."

"You're cuter." He sucked down the last bit of his drink and caught our server's eye.

Oh, that was not fair. My own face started to heat up.

"Leave me alone," I hissed at him, unable to stop my forming pout.

He ordered a mango shake before turning back to me.

"So mean," he said, shaking his head, but his smiling eyes betrayed his amusement. "How can you tell me to leave you alone? We're on a date."

"You know what I mean! You—you flirt!"

"I only flirt with my girlfriend," he said. "I don't think you can call me a flirt for that. ... Can you?"

"Come on," I whined. "You were supposed to be embarrassed. Why am I the one who gets embarrassed instead? You're the mean one!"

Incredulous, he raised an eyebrow at me. "Do you hear yourself?"

"No ..." I pouted and looked away.

"Good thing I find everything you do cute."

I started when my cheek was abruptly held in a warm pinch. I glanced back to see Nolan's affectionate smile. Easy, fuzzy warmth flooded my chest, marching through my limbs and spreading right down to my fingers and toes.

Times like these were what reminded me of how much I loved Nolan. I wanted to be with him forever.

"Too bad, you're stuck with me," he said. "That's what you get for sticking by my side."

Reaching up to cup his hand to my face, I rubbed my cheek against it. Since the day that he woke up in the sunlight, Nolan had stopped sticking heat patches to his clothes. I was pleased to discover that he had quite a lot of natural body warmth, making him perfect to snuggle up to when the weather was cold.

I made a face at him. "You've got this wrong."

He looked nonplussed.

"I'm not stuck with you," I said, giving him a smug smile. "You're stuck with me. I'm going to bug you forever."

"And Melissa keeps calling me the cheesy one in our relationship," he said.

"Hey, I'm being sincere here!"

"It's okay, Chelsea. I still love your cheesiness."

"Nolan!"

"And I love you."

"... I love you, too."

"I'm going to kiss you if you keep making that face."

"Then kiss me. I dare you."

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AN: SORRY! uploaded the wrong part, realized it only later and wasn't home so I could only upload it now. thanks for reading! >_< sorry again!