Long Lost Friend

Date night

"Okay why not" I laughed as Paul cheered for us.

"My boy is finally growing up, going on his first date. Where's my camera?" he joked, wiping away a fake tear. 

"Ma lady may I escort you to your ride?" Marko sprung from the sofa, holding his hand out. Smiling, I placed my hand in his as he pulled me to my feet.

"Yes you may fine sir"

"Away we go. Don't wait up for us" he said winking at Paul as we left the belly of the cave to go topside. Making my way over to his bike I felt my arm gently pulled.

"I thought tonight we could fly?"

"I would like that but unfortunately I'm not the best at staying up" I let out a chuckle as I looked down slightly embarrassed.

"It looks like I'll have to carry you then" before I could protest he had already scooped me up into his arms and was up in the sky.

"A little warning next time" I smirked at him.

"And where's the fun in that?" he returned my smirk with his signature smirk.

Now most would think we'd do the average date night, a movie and food but that wasn't Marko's style and it wasn't mine either. The one thing I loved about this boy was that he matched my energy in a way that no other person could. So when he told me he had hired the ice rink I couldn't believe it. It was something me and him used to do in the winter back in Italy. When the weather started to get cold the pond would freeze over and we used to sneak to it and skate even though we were told not to with it being dangerous. I think that's what attracted us the most: the adrenaline of not knowing if the ice would crack or if our parents would find out and tell us off. Putting on our skates we both made our way onto the ice, slowly everything started to come back and we were both gliding away on the ice laughing and joking while trying to push one another over. After some time we both pulled up at the side of the rink, sitting down on the cold step.

"How did you manage to get this place to yourself?" I laughed as I took in the empty ice.

"It was pretty easy, most people in this town are scared of us so a little cash and they'll let you do pretty much anything"

"I see. Do you remember the last time we did this together?"

"I do, it was the winter before I left, that winter we nearly fell through the ice and your blade ended up cutting my leg as I pulled you off the ice" he let out a chuckle remembering that winter.

"You had to get stitches. It cut you that bad and there was no denying we had been on the ice. I got into so much trouble that night" that night our mothers had been so angry they shouted and grounded us for a month.

"But that didn't stop us from seeing each other. I'd sneak into your room late at night and disappear back to mine before anyone woke up the next morning"

"Marko do you ever miss being human?"

"Yes and no. I miss not being able to see my family or being able to tell them why I had to leave; the last thing I wanted was to ever hurt them and I thought I was doing the right thing. But then there's the fact I get to live forever with a new family, I'm going to see the world grow and change when others won't"

"Doesn't the killing or never being able to have a family bother you?"

"At first I always wanted to have a family at some point but with the guys I gained a new kind of family. As for the killing not really everyone kills to survive and that's just how I look at it." We sat there for a few minutes in silence. I was taking in what he had said.

"Rose do you want to be a vampire?"

"Not really" I confessed there were many reasons why.

"I just guess I thought I would travel the world, meet someone, do all the mundane things like start a family, grow old together and eventually die. When I became half it was like that was taken away from me that I was cursed to watch the people I care about slowly disappear like you did and there was nothing I could do about that. I wanted the choice and I didn't get one, I think that's why I feel for Star so much because she wanted a family and had all these dreams"

"But Star was a runaway living on the streets when David found her?"

"That may have been the case but that doesn't mean it was going to be that way forever, she could have found herself and created that life she wanted or she could have still been on the streets. I guess she now will never know because that was taken away.  I wish things were just simple. I don't want to kill people and I know there's bad people out there but making them suffer and taking a life are two different things and I hate to think that I have the control to just take a life"

"So what happens if we do find who turned you and we take them down? Then what are you going to do? stay human, grow old and then die?" he said angrily

"Well yeah I don't want this life, I want to have all those human things" I let out a sigh.

"No you can't leave me" he mumbled.

"Leave you? Marko you're the one who left me all those years ago, it's just by coincidence that we found each other again and I'm sorry but I've wanted this for a long time!"

"I'm not going to watch you grow old and die, you're all I have left Rose!" he shouted back.

"That's not your choice to make!" I stood up ripping the skates from my feet and stomping off to my shoes. I didn't even stop to put them on. I just walked off leaving a pissed off Marko still sitting at the edge.