'So I guess I'm giving you a ride home.' Sehun laughed. He hooked the folded top into place and climbed in beside her. 'Why don't you just get a new car?  Your parents have the money?'

Yuri turned in her seat to look at him. 'Really now, Michigan,' she purred. 'If I had a new car, I wouldn't need rides home, would I?'

'My point, exactly,' he told her.

She shook her head, smiling. 'Well, where would the fun be in that?'

Sehun grinned and found himself gazing directly into her beautiful dark eyes. Then he realized he'd been staring at her for just a bit too long.

Yuri leaned toward him. Close. So close Sehun thought she was about to kiss him...

In fact, she gave his Michigan State key chain a casual flick with her finger. 'I think you have to use the little metal thingy on the end of this in order to make the car go,' she teased.

Sehun turned the key in the ignition, trying to shake off the feeling that something had just very nearly happened between him and Yuri. 'Ha! Like you'd know,' he retorted jokingly. 'Your car never goes.'

As he pulled out of the parking lot onto the Pacific Coast Highway, he caught a glimpse of Luhan and Kris still sitting on the bench outside school. 'Why didn't you just wait for Luhan to take you home?' he asked Yuri.

She didn't answer, and for a moment he wondered if she'd heard him. He shot a glance at her, and she was frowning.

'He had to... do something with Kris,' she finally replied.

Sehun nodded. It was just like he'd suspected. Luhan and Kris were busy with some vampire-related business. Yuri didn't want to be specific about it, and that was okay with him. When he'd first found out about the vampires living in his gated community of DeVere Heights, he'd got pretty involved, pretty fast. One of them had turned rogue and killed a girl from school. Sehun had ended up tracking him down and fighting him, all alone, in an alley. It had been that or let another girl get murdered.

If Kris Wu hadn't turned up at the last moment, Sehun knew he would probably ended up dead. The whole experience had taught him everything he needed to know about vampires: they were outrageously strong, they could change their physical appearance, and they knew some serious freaky fighting moves.

He wasn't anxious to get that up close and personal with vampire business again. Being friends with some of them was enough - Yuri and her best friend, Hyoyeon, Luhan and his oldest friend, Kai. Even Kris was okay... Sehun felt that they were good people and he knew their parents did a lot of charity work in the community. Beyond that, he didn't want to know much about the day-to-day vampire activities. His own private don't-ask-don't-tell policy.

A light turned red in front of him, and Sehun eased to a stop. To the left, the Pacific Ocean spread out to the horizon, it's gray-blue water calling to him. Maybe he'd slip on his new wetsuit and try some surfing this evening. Now that it was getting toward Winter, the sun went down early. But he'd discovered that surfers stayed on the water until the very last drop of light was gone. He would definitely have time to catch a few good waves. He'd only taken three lessons so far, but he already knew enough to go out on his own.

The last afternoon sun glinted off the water, and a warm breeze ruffled his hair. It was hard to believe it was almost Thanksgiving. Warm sun, clear blue sky crashing ocean surf - life just did not get any better.

'You are seriously zoning,' Yuri commented.

The light was green. 'Sorry,' Sehun replied as he hit the gas. 'Sometimes the whole Malibu thing still distracts me.'

'What "whole Malibu thing"?' she asked.

'You know, the unrelenting incredibleness of the place.' That was the best way he could describe it.

'Yeah. I've been to a lot of places, and Malibu is still the most beautiful,' Yuri agreed.

Sehun glanced at her in surprise. Yuri's family - in fact, all the vampire families - had more money then he could even imagine. When she said she'd been to a lot of places, he believed her. The Kwon's vacationed in Europe, Asia, even Australia. He's seen the photos scattered around their house. It was nice to know that California still held up, even with that kind of competition.

'Any big plans for Turkey Day?' Yuri asked as they turned off the highway and headed up the hill toward DeVere Heights.

'The usual: lots of food, football on TV,' Sehun told her. 'My Aunt Boa is coming in from New York. Luna has about thirty outfits lined up to run by her. She approves of Boa's fashion sense.'

'Well, who wouldn't?' Yuri said. 'The woman knows how to dress.'

Sehun's eyebrows shot up. 'You know my aunt?'

'Sure.' Yuri gave a languid shrug. 'I mean, it's not like we're best friends or anything, but I've met her. Her husband was on the hospital board with my mom.'

'Oh.' Sehun knew that Aunt Boa had helped his father land his new job at the Los Angeles advertising firm - the new job with the huge raise that had led to them moving out here to Malibu. And he knew that Boa had suggested they buy a house in DeVere Heights. But somehow he hadn't realized that Boa knew Yuri and her parents. 'I guess Boa's husband was really involved in all the Malibu charities and stuff, huh?' he asked.

'Yeah.' Yuri glanced over at him. 'Didn't you know that?'

'I never really thought about it,' Sehun said. 'Aunt Boa was only married to him for four years before he died. And it's not like they spent much time in Michigan - they were always off in New York or L.A. or Paris or someplace else exotic. I met him at their wedding and maybe once or twice after that.'

'So he wasn't exactly Uncle Yoochun,' Yuri guessed.

'I guess he was, technically,' Sehun said. 'I just never thought of him that way. We've seen a lot more of Boa since he died than we ever did before. I think my mom is happy to have her sister back.'

'Makes sense,' Yuri said. 'But you should be glad Boa was married to Yoochun. If it wasn't for that you wouldn't be living in DeVere Heights.'

'What do you mean?'

'Boa used his contacts. You know, pulled some strings for you guys,' Yuri explained. Then she grinned. 'We don't let just anyone live up here, you know,' she teased.

'So if it weren't for Uncle Yoochun, I never would have met you,' Sehun said. 'I guess I do owe him one, then.'

Was that too much? he wondered the second the words left his mouth. Yuri always seemed to be flirting with him, but he didn't usually flirt back. He mostly figured that she was just kidding around.

Yuri didn't answer, but she gave him a long sideways look that sent the blood racing through his veins. Sehun turned into the driveway of her ultra-modern house and stopped the car.

'Thanks for the ride,' she said casually, climbing out and closing the door behind her.

'No worries.' Just having her out of arm's reach made Sehun relax a little. Sometimes it was hard to remember that they were only friends when she was so close by. He reached for the gearshift, but suddenly Yuri turned back to the car.

'Did I drop a pen in there?' she asked, leaning in over the door. Her hair, loosened by the wind on the drive, slipped out of its knot and fell forward around her face.

Sehun's pulse sped up. Friends! he thought. Who am I kidding? She was searching the seat, but she soon found her pen and looked up. Sehun stared at her lips, slightly parted, then raised his eyes to meet hers. She held his gaze and didn't move away. Without meaning to, Sehun found himself leaning toward her...

Her lips were barely an inch from hers when the phone rang.

Sehun jumped in surprise as Gangnam Style played out from his cell. 'Luna's idea of humour,' he explained to Yuri. 'She's always changing the ring.' He dug in the front pocket of his jeans and eventually managed to extract his phone, but he didn't recognize the number on the screen. He hit 'Talk.'
'Hello?' he barked into the mouthpiece. This was the worst-timed call he'd ever had.

It was too late. At the other end the caller had already hung up. Sehun shrugged and turned back to Yuri.

But she was gone.

*Note - Argh... who called Sehun! er... haha. Anyways, there will be some cool Aunt Boa in this story. She was only mentioned a few times in Bloodlust.