‘Get away from me!’ Sehun yelled, pushing Yuri away with all his strength. She fell to the floor. And he sat up. In bed. Alone.

He stared around the room, but there was no one there. The window was closed. ‘It was a dream,’ he muttered, in relief. He’d obviously fallen asleep waiting for the bathroom. Breathing hard – whether from fear or excitement he wasn’t sure – Sehun got up and yanked open the door. The hallway was empty.

He stalked down to the bathroom and splashed his face with cold water. Of course it was a dream, he thought, beginning to decelerate. Yuri would never come here, never come on to me like that. I’ve clearly absorbed too many of those Dawson’s Creek reruns Luna’s always watching. But it seemed so real. The feel of her in his arms.

And the look of bloodlust in her eyes.

Sehun shoved the thought away and focused on getting ready for bed. But once back in his room in the dark, he couldn’t shake the thoughts of Yuri. What the hell was with that dream? He knew Yuri would never feed on him. He knew she’d never give in to the bloodlust. She’d told him that it was forbidden, and he believed her.

It’s because of today, he thought. There was some kind of strange energy at dinner and it must’ve got into my head and into my dreams.

He pounded his pillow into a ball and tried to get to sleep. But thoughts of Yuri kept playing in his mind, keeping him awake until well after two in the morning.

At last, finally, he drifted off.

This time, he didn’t dream at all.

On Friday morning, Sehun was the last one downstairs. Boa was reading the paper at the dining-room table. Luna sat yawning at the breakfast bar, and Baekhyun was shoving cereal into his mouth.

‘Where’s mom?’ Sehun asked, surprised to find his father manning the coffee machine.

‘Gone already,’ Mr Oh replied. ‘She took the leftovers over to the town hall. They’re doing a donated food run to a homeless shelter.’

‘Cool,’ Sehun said. He grabbed a bowl and sat next to Baekhyun for some cereal.

‘I’m going to head into L.A. this morning for a little retail therapy,’ Aunt Boa said from the dining room. ‘Want to come Luna?’

Luna’s eyes lit up at the prospect of shopping. ‘Definitely!’ Then she glanced at Sehun. ‘What are you guys doing today?’

‘Chanyeol and I promised to show Baekhyun the beach,’ he said.

‘Maybe I’ll stop by after,’ Luna decided. She finished her juice. ‘Surfrider Beach?’

Sehun nodded. ‘Yep. Best waves around.’

‘Can’t come to Malibu without checking out the waves,’ Baekhyun added. But he didn’t sound that enthused.

Boa stood up and stretched. ‘Ready?’ she asked Luna.

‘You don’t even have to ask,’ Luna answered, grinning as they headed out.

Sehun finished his cereal. ‘Ready?’ he asked Baekhyun as he stuck his bowl in the sink.

‘You don’t even have to ask,’ Baekhyun replied, but it was a weak imitation of Luna. His voice way too calm and flat, and Sehun noticed that the circles under his friend’s eyes were even deeper and darker than they had been yesterday.

Sehun walked out to the front hall and grabbed his surfboard. ‘We can take turns. Or we can rent you a board.’

‘Whatever,’ Baekhyun said as he followed Sehun to the car.

He git I, settled back in the seat and didn’t say a word until they arrived at the beach. Sehun wondered what was going on with his friend. He’d never seen Baekhyun so moody before, not even right after his parents, break-up.

‘I’m going to hit the bathroom,’ Baekhyun said as soon as Sehun parked.

Sehun got out of the car and stared down at the beach. It was a clam day, and the water was practically still. It looked more like the Henderson Marina back in Michigan than the Pacific Ocean. He figured that the mood Baekhyun was in, he probably wouldn’t care, but the flat water tortured Sehun. He wanted his board time.

But then he noticed something else to torture him: Yuri. Well, Yuri and Luhan, with Hyoyeon, her boyfriend Eunhyuk, Kris, and a few other kids from the Heights. A few other vampires. Sehun’s mind instantly flew to the dream he’d had last night – the dream that had kept him tossing and turning for hours. Yuri so close. That kiss about to happen.

How was he going to just walk over there and say hello to her as if he hadn’t been thinking about her for the past ten hours?

‘Let’s go bro!’ Baekhyun boomed, jogging over from the bathroom. He smacked Sehun on the back. ‘Show me those California sands!’

Sehun stared at him. The bags under his eyes were still there, but otherwise Baekhyun was like a whole different guy. He grabbed his board – just in case the waves got going later – and raced after him.

‘Sehun!’ Luhan called, waving. ‘Over here!’

‘Friend of yours?’ Baekhyun teased as they headed over.

‘Nah. I’m just kind of a celebrity around Malibu,’ Sehun said. ‘The guy on the white towel is Kris. The one giving the party.’

‘The most popular guy on the face of the planet!’ Baekhyun exclaimed, doing a much better Luna impersonation than he had in the kitchen

‘And very, very rich,’ Sehun added.

‘Lucky bastard,’ Baekhyun joked.

‘Hey, Sehun.’ Hyoyeon ambled over to meet them, her strong, dancer legs moving easily over the sand. ‘Who’s your friend?’

Sehun shot a look at Eunhyuk, who was glaring at them from his seat on a dark blue beach blanket. He existed in a constant state of insane jealousy, and Hyoyeon seemed to like to get him all tweaked. She was already giving Baekhyun one of her best flirty smiles.

‘Byun Baekhyun, Kim Hyoyeon,’ Sehun said quickly. ‘And her boyfriend,’ he added with a nod toward Eunhyuk.

‘Hey,’ Baekhyun said. Sehun could tell he got the hint when he raised his voice and called to Eunhyuk. ‘Hey, man.’

Hyoyeon backed off, pouting a little, and Eunhyuk slowly relaxed enough to nod hello.

‘Come sit with us,’ Luhan called, waving them over to a red and white striped blanket set up under a huge white umbrella. An open cooler sat in its shade bottles of water, beer, and soda spilling over the top along with the ice. Yuri lounged in the sun just next to it. As Sehun approached, she sat up and pulled her sunglasses down to look at him.

‘Hi, she said in the same husky voice she’d had in his dream. Sehun’s throat went dry. He had a bad feeling he was about to make a complete of himself.

He was right: the PowerPuff Girl theme song rang out of his pocket: ‘Luna, I’m going to massacre you,’ he muttered. But he was glad he had a reason to turn away from Yuri as he pulled out his cell phone. ‘Hello?’

‘Sehun, it’s Chanyeol. Help me out here,’ said his friend’s voice.

‘What’s up?’ Sehun asked.

‘I’m in the parking lot. I see your Bug. But where are you?’

‘Chanyeol, have you even come down to the beach yet?’ Sehun asked.

‘No,’ Chanyeol replied. ‘Why?’

‘Because if you bothered to look, you’d see me about twenty yards from the stairs,’ Sehun told him.

‘Yeah, but that requires effort,’ Chanyeol pointed out. ‘This way I don’t even have to look.’

‘Just for that I’m not going to tell you if we’re to the left or right,’ Sehun said. He hung up as Chanyeol appeared at the top of the steps. He gave a wave and bounced down the stairs, kicking off his shoes at the bottom. Then made a show of hopping barefoot across the hot beach.

‘Oh, take it like a man,’ Sehun called.

Chanyeol grimaced. ‘That is some hot sand,’ he protested, flinging himself onto the blanket next to Yuri, grabbing some ice from the cooler, and rubbing it on his feet.

‘That’s disgusting,’ Yuri said, but she shook her head in amusement.

Sehun had to hand it to the guy – Chanyeol had managed to make it right at home on Yuri’s blanket. Maybe that was because he didn’t have any confusing hot-and-freaky dreams to contend with.

‘Sehun’s being rude,’ Yuri said, glancing up at Baekhyun. ‘I heard him introduce you to Hyoyeon. I’m Yuri.’

‘Yuri, huh?’ Baekhyun replied. ‘I’ve heard about you.’

Her eyes immediately went to Sehun, and he wanted to smack his old friend in the head.

‘What did he tell you?’ Yuri asked, immediately turning back to Baekhyun.

‘Lots of mysterious things.’ Baekhyun sat right down on the blanket next to her and leaned in as if he was about to tell her a secret.

Kris gave Sehun his usual cool nod as Sehun sank down on the blanket between him and Baekhyun. Sehun had known Kris long enough to know that he wasn’t the most friendly guy ever born. He was always polite, but never enthusiastic. Of all the vampires Sehun had met, Kris was the one who most liked to keep to himself.

Sehun leaned across Baekhyun toward Yuri. ‘My friend has only recently been released from a… let’s call it a mental-health facility,’ he told in a loud whisper. ‘Compulsive lying is a side effect of his treatment.’

Yuri gave him a light push and turned her attention back to Baekhyun. ‘So, think any of what you heard about me is true?’

‘You’ll have to tell me,’ Baekhyun murmured, ignoring Sehun.

‘Okay. So what are these mysterious things you’ve heard?’ Yuri asked, and even Chanyeol leaned in to listen.

‘Well…’ Baekhyun said, drawing it out as long as he could. ‘Apparently, you like the way Sehun’s aunt dresses.’

Yuri’s eyebrows shot up. ‘Wow, that is mysterious,’ she laughed. ‘What else?’

‘That’s pretty much it, actually,’ Baekhyun said, lying back on the blanket.

Chanyeol and Yuri laughed.

She looked up at Sehun. ‘You such at gossip,’ she informed him.

‘Well, what can I say? I don’t like to talk behind people’s backs,’ Sehun replied virtuously, struggling to keep a straight face.

‘Not true. I’ve heard you describe our history teacher as a hottie on more than one occasion,’ Chanyeol put in. ‘He likes the way Ms Buchanan’s looks when she reaches up to write at the top of the white-board,’ he added to Yuri and Baekhyun.

‘Oh, really?’ Yuri asked laughingly.

‘Hey, Buchanan’s got back. Can I help it if I notice?’

Sehun grabbed a beer, trying to cover his embarrassment. He knew they were just teasing him, but somehow it was always worse when Yuri was involved.

‘So you can give us all the dirt on Sehun, huh?’ Luhan asked Baekhyun, admirably un-phased by the fact that Baekhyun was practically sitting on Yuri’s lap.

‘Whatever you want to know,’ Baekhyun replied.

‘Who was his first love?’ Yuri asked immediately.

‘Wait!’ Chanyeol cried. He rummaged in his backpack and pulled out his mini-camcorder. ‘This I have to get on camera.’

‘Baekhyun, don’t you want to hit the water?’ Sehun asked.

‘Are you kidding?’ Yuri said. ‘I’m not letting go of him until I hear all your secrets.’

Baekhyun shot Sehun a mischievous look, then leaned in and whispered in Yuri’s ear.

‘Hey, share it with the rest of us!’ Chanyeol complained.

‘Sorry,’ Baekhyun said to Chanyeol, drawing back from Yuri, but only a little. ‘Sehun’s first love, I’m sorry to say, broke his heart.’

‘Compulsive liar, see,’ Sehun reminded Yuri, under the feeble cover of a loud cough.

Chanyeol spun to focus the camera on Sehun’s face. Sehun reached out and plucked it from his hand, turning it off.

‘Broke his heart how?’ Yuri asked.

‘She left him for another guy,’ Baekhyun explained sorrowfully. ‘Unfortunately for Sehun, he just couldn’t compete with me.’

‘You?’ Yuri cried.

‘You hit on your friend’s girlfriend?’ Kris asked.

Sehun was surprised to hear him join the conversation. His tone was casual, but Sehun found it interesting that Kris cared enough to ask. He couldn’t help wondering if Kris had somehow picked up on his feelings for Yuri.

‘Nah, she hit on me,’ Baekhyun said. ‘That happens a lot, you know?’

‘Right, because you’re irresistible,’ Yuri said, trying to look serious.

‘I’m glad you noticed,’ Baekhyun replied.

Sehun shook his head. Yeah, he thought, laughing. Baekhyun can charm anyone.

‘So she hit on you and you went out with her?’ Yuri was saying, her gaze focused on Baekhyun even though Luhan’s arm was around her. ‘You bad boy!’

‘I was only eight years old,’ Baekhyun replied with a wink. ‘All I did was sit with her at lunch one day.’

Yuri and Luhan laughed, and Yuri turned to Sehun. ‘Did you forgive him?’

‘I made him give me his top three baseball cards and lend me his top three baseball cards and lend me his GameBoy first. Then I forgave him,’ Sehun said.

‘Fascinating though this is,’ Chanyeol put in, ‘I’d rather hear about the more recent adventures of our boy hero. Don’t you have any good Sehun-in-high-school stories?’

‘Sure,’ Baekhyun said. ‘Which do you want to hear first, the time Sehun stole a keg from a 7-11, or the time he had three different dates to the same dance?’

Yuri was still holding Sehun’s gaze. ‘The one with the dates,’ she said. ‘Absolutely.’

‘I don’t need to hear this. I was there. I lived it,’ Sehun said. He stood up and grabbed his board. ‘Besides, I need to get some practice in before my next lesson with the Surf Rabbi.’

‘Those waves look about your speed,’ Chanyeol joked, gazing out at the ocean which remained smooth as glass.

‘It’s all about feeling the water with your soul,’ Sehun answered. Then he ran toward the surf. The baby waves wouldn’t be much of a challenge, but he had a feeling that watching Yuri as she listened to a rundown of his love life might be.

Except that the very fact that she wanted to hear about said love life showed that she had some interest in him.

An interesting kind of interest, Sehun thought, grinning to himself as he splashed into the water.

When he returned to the flotilla of blankets, Luna had joined the group,

Sehun dropped down on the blanket next to her. ‘Not going in the water?’ he asked.

‘Maybe later,’ she replied, yawning. ‘I think I’m going to nap first. I got no sleep last night.’

‘Why?’ Sehun asked. He was damn sure Luna hadn’t been awake for the same reason he had!

‘Baekhyun was on the phone all night,’ Luna said, keeping her voice low. ‘The wall between our rooms is so thin. Every time I went to sleep, his stupid cell would ring and wake me up again. He probably kept losing the signal like we do. He was talking really loud whenever he was on.’

‘Who was he talking to?’ Sehun asked.

‘How should I know?’ Luna said. ‘But he got at least four calls, and it sounded kind of serious. I heard him say he needed more time.’ He kept saying that two days wasn’t enough.’

‘Enough for what?’

‘I don’t know.’ Luna bit her lip. ‘He’s been acting weird ever since he got here.’

‘So you noticed too,’ Sehun said.

‘Of course I noticed. It’s totally not like him,’ Luna said. ‘Baekhyun’s usually so funny and laid-back – which he still has been some of the time – but the rest…’ She shook her head. ‘I don’t know. He’s been kind of hyper.’

Sehun didn’t answer. He knew Baekhyun had been acting differently since before they left Michigan, but Luna didn’t know that. And he didn’t want to tell her. Her crush was long gone, but she still had a major soft spot for his old friend. Why ruin that?

‘He sounded pretty upset last night,’ Luna said thoughtfully. ‘I think he may be in some kind of trouble. I’m a little worried about him.’ She stretched out on the blanket and closed her eyes.

Sehun also lay back. He wanted to catch up on his sleep. But, though he was tired, his mind refused to switch off and let him relax. Baekhyun had him more than a little worried, too…

*Note- Chapter before was a short but saucy chap right? Haha. Too bad it was only Sehun dreaming… or was it? Haha.

Anyways, nice long chapter here~ what’s up with Baekhyun?