This needs cream cheese. Melissa thought as she munched on her bagel.

The morning sun was bright and the sidewalks were full of people. People that quickly lost their cash to a skilled pickpocket.

Bagel in one hand and a bag of groceries in the other, Melissa returned to Selina's shutting the door with her foot once inside.

Seventy, eighty, ninety, one hundred, two-hundred, huh, where'd he run off to? Melissa thought, just now noticing that Dick was nowhere to be seen.

"Hope he didn't go after one of Selina's neighbors," she muttered, pocketing her money and putting away the groceries.

There was a knocking on the door while she was putting the milk away. After shutting the fridge she returned to the living room.

"Melissa"

Knock knock knock.

"Melissa,"

Knock knock knock.

Opening the door, she found Dick bouncing from one foot to the other.

"Where have you been?" she asked, waving him inside.

"Taking care of things," he said slowly like he didn't want to tell her.

"Is that why you have bloody fangs?" she cringed.

He slapped a hand to his mouth, "Yeah"

"Please go wash it out," Melissa shuddered.

Dick rushed to do so.

He's acting strange Melissa thought with a shrug.

…...


By the time Dick returned to the living room, Melissa was on the couch, textbooks that had seen better days were spread around her.

"What are you doing?"

"Schoolwork"

he glanced at the textbooks.

Life science.

Math.

English.

US and World History.

"That's a lot of subjects,"

Melissa shrugged eyes unmoving from the book in her hand.

He tried to read the cover through her fingers.

Geography.

"Which is your favorite?"

Melissa shrugged again hunching over her book now.

"Hey-"

"Dick I know that in your time women did little else than make babies or teach but I need to learn this you see the stack of papers there?" she pointed and he nodded, "Those are worksheets that need to be filled out and I can't do that if you're talking! Understood?"

"Yes." he sat down next to her.

Sadly, he was only able to keep quiet for ten minutes.

"Um-"

Melissa slammed her textbook shut, "Selina's not going to be happy. What is it?"

"Can I watch TV?"

Melissa rolled her eyes and tossed him the remote, "Knock yourself out"

He looked at her in confusion.

"It's a figure of speech, gosh your out of touch!"

…...


With Dick occupied Melissa was able to return to her school work and was finally caught up five hours later. Putting her textbooks away, she realized Dick had not moved from his place on the couch, not even once. He just sat there, with perfect posture, staring straight ahead at the TV.

"Do you even understand what's going on?" she couldn't help asking.

"Not really"

"Then why don't you change the channel?"

"Change...?"

"Oh, give me that!" she snatched away the remote and opened the guide, "Hell's Kitchen or Criminal Minds?"

He shrugged.

"Criminal Minds it is"

dick nudged her after a few episodes.

"Yeah?"

"How can you watch this?"

"With my eyes," she jabbed him in the ribs.

"But, people are dying and, and, and-"

"Am I to believe you don't suck people dry?"

He was speechless.

"I win"

"Can we watch something else?"

she rolled her eyes, "Are you getting hungry because a second ago you were questioning me and now it's making you hungry?"

"Yes?"

"There's a raw steak in the freezer"

"I'm not a werewolf"

"It's covered in blood"

"Sold!"

He leaped from the couch racing to the kitchen while Melissa flipped the TV to Tom And Jerry cartoons.

…...


all they did for the rest of the day was watch TV and at some point, Melissa nodded off. Her head on her chest. Once he made sure she was really asleep Dick repositioned them both so that Melissa slept on top of him.

What have I gotten myself into? He wondered.

What was it about Melissa that made him care so much? Never in all his years as a vampire had he cared for a human the way he cared about Melissa. The sad thing was, he realized, they could never be together. He could never and would never bring himself to turn Melissa. To upend her future for his own selfish gains.

Plus, he was at least a hundred years older than her. that was enough to make anyone think.

Perhaps he could watch over her family?

Melissa may have been from the streets of one of the worst cites in the country but she was not a product of her environment. She stole solely to eat, hurt others only to defend herself otherwise she stuck to the shadows, minding her own business. There wasn't any way she was not going to be snatched by someone and married.

There was a pain in his chest at the thought. Sadness? Regret? It had to be!

Why? Why did I do this to myself?

He could never have Melissa.

Never.

…...


Melissa woke, groggily, rubbing her eyes. It took only a minute to realize Dick was under her.

She looked at him confusedly.

"I don't know"

she shrugged, untangling from him before standing, "Thank goodness for leftover pizza"

Dick followed her to the kitchen, asking a question that had been on his mind for a while, "What happens if Selina's unable to keep you?"

"I rotate"

"What does that mean?"

"I find somewhere to crash"

"So another slum apartment?"

"Or a warehouse"

"Don't you ever get tired of it?"

"Maybe, why are you asking?"

"Just curious"

"Curiosity killed the cat but satisfaction brought it back" Melissa hummed, "Wanna play cards when I'm done?"

"Okay"

Get ahold of yourself!

There's nothing you can do.

No matter how much you care you can never have her!

Never!

...


Wow, Haven't updated this one in a while. Truthfully, I don't know where to take it from here and could really use a suggestion or two.

On another sadder note, I don't think Melissa and Dick will live happily ever after this time round.

There's no plausible solution

Please, Review!