Dream a Little Dream (part 1)
The good daughters of rich daddies didn't hang out in neighborhoods best described as 'transitional', at least not when Rose was coming of age. She had done it a few times, just to be risque', making time with this hot rod or that one, flirting with them on the hoods of their fast cars, within sight of her giggling girlfriends. But only on rare occasions for special boys, and of those there were few.

Seventy years later, Rosalyn had her eye on a special one.

The street they picked was near the territory of Gavin's pack. Not in it, of course; the wolves would have caught the scent of vampire and hunted her down, and poor Vine would've been in quite the pickle. Rose took public transportation to hide her trail and was deposited on the appropriate curb in time for the rendezvous. For the first time since she was a living woman, she was goofy over going to see a man, like there were bubbles emerging from her fingers and toes to float on the air. Waiting for it to be 9 o'clock was a miniature torture.

Not since the 1980s had Rose missed gabbing with her girlhood friends, but this was one of those times. Back then, she'd had a silly crush on a guy. It was nothing serious, but it broke up the monotony, so she inflated it into semi-importance and tracked down her old chum Annette, who was in a retirement facility in Indiana. Halfway into Rose's impetuous declaration of puppy love, Annette was white as a sheet and clutching her chest at the sight of her dead best friend. Luckily, Rose became hip to the impending heart attack and backed away, whispering, 'I'm just a hallucination!' That crush was nothing compared to how gone she was for the werewolf. It was a good thing all the old gals had already bought the farm, or she might have rung them up.

"My poor heart is sentimental, not made of wood." Rose tapped her shoe to the Duke Ellington song and clutched a silky purse against her thighs. "I got it bad and that ain't good." The wind was cold on her face. When she got him on the brain, it was impossible to concentrate on anything and she grew antsy to touch him. Rose twisted the purse and heard a little crack from a plastic tube. So much for her lipstick.

With the moon so close to being full, Gavin had made sure the rest of the pack were locked up. Tomorrow morning he would unlock them, like usual, as always. The reason he had wanted to meet Rosalyn so close was strictly selfish, he couldn't wait another car journey, and he wanted to see her now. There were risks being out when he was a werewolf, while he knew how to control the forces that transformed him, the moon's cycle still had a huge hold on his moods.

The next breath in brought that familiar, almost sweet scent, that he had come to love. With a crooked grin, Gavin walked towards the woman standing with her back to him. He knew the risks he was taking, and it had taken the werewolf a while to decide that whatever happened, it was worth it to see it out because chances like those were few and far between.

What he was doing wasn't madness, not really, the way Gavin saw it, it was that he was simply doing the most natural thing in the world. Vampire or not, Rosalyn had got him, hook line and sinker. Maybe he wasn't about to say it, but that peculiar flutter still happened in the pit of his stomach when he thought about her. And Gavin was smart enough to know that he should always trust his instincts.

"What's a pretty lady like you doing alone in a neighborhood like this?"

That smile still curving his lips, the werewolf stepped behind Rosalyn and let his arms engulf her small frame in a tight, warm hug. Resting his chin on her shoulder, Gavin let his lips brush against the pale ear as he whispered, "I've missed you."

If he paid close attention, Gavin would feel a shiver run through her. The timbre of the werewolf's voice did the most fantastic thing to Rose's insides, like she was warming up and melting into a puddle. Had the vampire been sitting, she would've squirmed and crossed her legs.

"I'm waiting for my beau." She bobbed up and down on her tiptoes, the slight shimmy reacquainting her with his shape. Oh, how she adored the shape and feel of him. How she felt so small and soft inside his shelter. Rosalyn turned her head and his mouth slipped across her cheek. Then she could see him. She put a fingertip on the scratchy bristle of his jaw. Without a pulse to pound at her ribcage, she wasn't sure of the source of that exploding feeling, but it was there.

When she kissed his face, it left a red imprint of lipstick.

With his strong arms still snaked around Rosalyn, the werewolf could feel every little movement she made, from the shiver to the slight wriggle against his body. "Where do you feel like going tonight?" For the first time, Gavin felt safe to go where he pleased with the vampire, his pack safely under lock and key left them with the freedom to go anywhere. Funny, how simple things like that could be taken for granted in everyday life.

One thing was for sure though. Gavin wasn't taking Rosalyn for granted, quite the opposite, in his own mind he considered her to be like a precious gem. Which the werewolf had stumbled upon, but was smart enough to know not to throw it away. His mouth tugged into a warm smile as Rosalyn's lips left their sticky print against his skin. Usually he'd try to wipe it off, but hell, a few weeks ago he'd been the one wearing the lipstick. In hindsight, he realised, it wasn't such a bad thing.

Taking his time, Gavin let his warm dry palms glide up Rosalyn's neck, his fingers dipping behind her small ears to tangle into her dark tresses. Leaning down, his nose bumped against the vampire's, lips parting the werewolf breathed warmly, relishing the subtle scent of her skin.

She twisted around to face her werewolf. "Well, let me think about it." The little purse dropped to the pavement, its contents clacking together. Rose had the wild urge to jump up and wrap her arms and legs around Gavin. Up close and personal like that, she could plaster his face with kisses. If she'd had a running start, she might've done it. "I wish it was summer," she lamented. "We could've watched an old movie like An Affair to Remember on a blanket in the park. You and me, necking in front of a thousand people, under a full moon and everything? I'd be such a show-off."

She wondered if the moon made him react to things differently. Gavin had control of his changes during the lunar cycle, but maybe it still pulled at him a little bit, like a surging tide. Watching that would be exhilarating.

Rosalyn caressed a palm over the top of his head. She liked how the short, straight shafts of hair tickled her skin. Down at the base of his scalp, she scratched her fingernails. "I feel like the luckiest girl. You're so handsome." She scowled playfully. "Listen to me, I sound like a lovesick teenager. Don't you dare laugh."

The way Rosalyn looked at him, made Gavin feel like a million bucks. "We could always go to the movies, or anywhere you wanted, tonight it's my treat." What he really wanted to say was that he'd follow her wherever she wanted to go, without the hint of a complaint, because just being around the vampire was more than he could have wished for. Tilting his head up he glanced at the moon, silver and bright against the dark expanse of sky. Every so often wisps of clouds brushed over it. "I've never went on a date when the moon was so full." Until of course, now.

With a cheeky grin the werewolf let his arms weave down Rosalyn's back, pushing her soft curves against his frame as she told him off. Taking a deep breath, he waited until she was finished before releasing it as a heavy sigh. Gavin cocked his head to the side, those hazel eyes dancing over Rosalyn's pale and striking features.

"Why would I laugh?" Gavin continued, his husky voice lowering to a whisper, "When the most beautiful woman in Chicago is standing here, telling me her ideal summer night is with me?" A brief flash of white teeth was given as Gavin grinned, his hand lifting so that the pad of his thumb could trace along Rosalyn's lower lip smoothly.

"Not just the summer ones." Rose was hard-pressed to think up a night that wouldn't be improved by a Gavin cameo. He was one tall, cool drink of water. It would be impossible to take up many more of his nights without his pack catching their drift; that imposed limit was the only thing that kept the vampire from wanting to gobble up all his time like a piece of red licorice.

"Take me to a movie," she said, leaning her weight onto his frame. "We can sit in the back row and whisper. I'll let you put your hand on my knee when the lights go down." Shoot, with Gavin whispering in her ear, it'd be a miracle if she didn't straddle his lap and ride him like a show pony before the credits rolled. That thought made her eyes flash with mischief, but she zipped her lips.

The irony wasn't lost on Rose; she was the owner and operator of a small-time chat line, but she would've given her eye-teeth to listen to this man's growling pipes and killer accent talking her through a sensual fantasy.

It was the most natural thing in the world, feeling Rosalyn lean into him, the days when she wasn't around left him feeling like something was missing. If Gavin had it his way, there wouldn't be a day that passed without the vampire being in it, but life never went according to plan. So he took what he could get and clung onto the memories like they were little pockets of air that he could use when she wasn't around. Everything had that slow, sluggish feeling when the werewolf wasn't around her, like he was suddenly wading through water.

"Oh you will, will you?" Gavin tried to keep the smile off of his face and failed completely. Rosalyn had a way of making him feel younger than he was, giddy almost, with the butterflies she sent racing around in his stomach. "Then I'll let you lean against me and rest your head on my shoulder." The werewolf liked that thought, cuddling up to Rosalyn, and although the darkened quiet room would be filled with people... Gavin had the sneaking suspicion that he would only remember that she was there, and no one else.

Letting his bristled cheek graze against Rosalyn's, Gavin placed a soft warm kiss just below the vampire's ear. "Let's find a movie theatre so I can get you all to myself." The smile he gave was cheeky, and he held his arm out for her.

Just as he was about to walk with her, the faintest sound of something scurrying behind him caused his head to turn. Frowning slightly as his eyes scanned the place and came up with nothing. Maybe it was rats... Then again, that would have had to be one big rat to sound like that. Tightening his arm around Rosalyn's, Gavin whispered, "Come on, we should get out of here."

Rose went on her tiptoes and peered over the werewolf's shoulder, but she didn't see anything. "Hang on, I just need my purse." She knelt and picked up her bag, opening it to figure out how mangled her things were. Rose started to walk, head tucked down as she investigated a hairline fracture in her lipstick tube. Unfortunately, the tiny ampule of perfume wasn't intact. The liquid had spilled out and stained the lining. "Shoot, there goes that." The heady fragrance of flowers wafted up to her nose, and she inhaled just to catch it a final time.

The scent wasn't strong enough to mask everything, but it did delay her noticing another, far more retched odor. It was acrid and burned the inside of her nose, like ammonia. Confusion etched on her face, Rose looked up and was about to voice a question and perhaps her relief that she didn't need to breathe, but her head began to feel swimmy. The vampire stopped walking and touched her forehead. "Gavin, wait... I feel kind of--" As her mouth tried to finish the sentence, it seemed as if her tongue had turned to lead.

The tiny hairs on the back of Gavin's neck were standing up, and for reasons unknown to him, the werewolf felt increasingly uneasy. Something didn't feel right, and he couldn't place it. Shaking his head he peered into Rosalyn's purse, where the sweet smell of summer was floating from, "Don't worry, I'll buy you a new one." Which he felt was fair, had the vampire not met him tonight she wouldn't have dropped her purse in the first place.

Stopping suddenly as Rosalyn lifted her hand, the werewolf lifted his chin and sniffed at the air, scrunching his face up as the strong odour made his eyes water. The only thing he could think of was the smell of stables needing cleaned, which made no sense given the fact that they were standing in a street. "What's happen...- " The rest of Gavin's sentence trailed off as the most unusual cloud like sensation swept over him. Leaving his heady foggy and his limbs heavy, almost like he was weighed down, yet floating. As his eyes shut, the werewolf was sure he could hear something moving behind him, briefly his eyes landed on Rose, then he dropped like a sack of potatoes.

Rosalyn watched him fall but couldn't make her arm steady enough to capture his weight. Looking much like a lost child in a woman's clothing, she wobbled and looked around, but her vision wasn't clear. In the darkened recess of a building's entryway, something shifted. She wasn't conscious long enough to see.