"Prove it," Alex said simply. "Prove you're sorry." Alex uncrossed his arms, seeing the look on Gary's face was almost ripping his heart in two. Alex wanted to hug him, to hold him and to be able to go back to what they were before. But he couldn't. Gary would never love him like before. Even if he said he did. Alex didn't want to forgive him to find out it was all a lie. But it didn't seem like a lie.

Callie Rose walked into the magnificently decorated hall for the spring ball. Admittedly she was a little late but as she was not used to dressing up formally it had taken her quite a while. She looked around the room in search of Anthony as they had decided together to go. They were dressing as a pair; the prince and princess. Callie smiled, Anthony was most certinly her knight in shining amour. As Callie Rose looked around she saw Edward Cullen standing with his Ravenclaw girlfriend Faith. Callie sent an appologetic smile in his direction as their previous meetings had been less them plesent.

Anthony entered shortly after Callie. He'd had a bit of trouble getting his armour on properly and still felt a bit of a fool with it. He hadn't really worked out how to walk properly and clanked about a bit, feeling more like the Tin Woodman than Sir Lancelot. He hadn't seen Callie's dress yet, but when he saw her he had to do a double take. He barely recognised her in it. It was so unlike her to wear something so elegant, but she looked so beautiful and so different that he couldn't take his eyes off her. Not that she wasn't that beautiful anyway, it was just a bit of a shock. He walked up behind her and hugged her, resting his chin on her head. "I can't get the hang of walking in this," he said, frowning as he looked around the hall, spotting the boy he'd bitten in the corner. He looked away quickly, and felt like hiding. What would they think if they saw him, chatting with his girlfriend as if nothing was wrong? Well something was wrong, it wasn't right at all for him to be here. Why should he be allowed to celebrate while they were going through hell?

Callie Rose smiled as she felt Anthonys arms around her. She smiled up at him. He looked so hansome and he really was a knight in shineing armour now. "Hello my prince" she said softly. Callie giggled lightly at his comment and stroked the side of his face "You'll be fine. It'll all be fine." she said partially refering to his amour issues and partially commenting on his anguish over the biting incident. It wasn't his fault, and she felt responsible; Callie could have stopped him but Anthony was not in control when he was transformed so it was her fault, she had promised never to let him harm anyone but she had failed, and she felt so bad about it.
Callie needed to distract him or he would never be able to forgive him self and get over it (in the nicest way possible ). "So what do you think" she asked and took one of his hands and twirled under it.

"You look wonderful," he murmured, glad to have Callie's beauty to take his mind off things. He knew she blamed herself partially, and that wasn't fair. If she couldn't have woken him inside the wolf with her voice, no one could have done anything. He was too far gone that time, it always happened like that if he'd been taking potion and then stopped suddenly. The change was always stronger and deeper if he hadn't done it for a while. That was the worst thing about wolfsbane potion - it couldn't be used all the time. There had to be an actual change once in a while, and it was usually a much more violent and painful transformation than normal, because it had all been suppressed by the potion. He sighed, trying to push it all out of his mind, and held Callie's hand in his and put his other on her waist as if they were about to dance. "You'd make an excellent princess. You'll always be my princess though."

[Apologies for the sheer size of the picture.]

Nicholas was late, and he cursed himself for having spent too much time admiring his costume in the mirror. It was unusually brightly coloured for him, but it was an antique and he couldn't let it go to waste. Comedia Dell'Arte was one of his passions, and his Harlequin costume was almost top on his list of treasured possessions. He loved it, the mask especially, which looked as though it had been carved from black marble, yet was so light that it couldn't be more than papier mâché. The Ball seemed to be well under way, from what he could tell, and all he needed to do was stand by the door, regarding the scene with some disdain whilst allowing his veela magic to slowly seep into the atmosphere and corrupt everyone's minds, causing mass infatuation for him. It was a difficult target, but he was certain his good looks and charm combined with his powerful magic would make it relatively easy to achieve.

Alex didn't know what to say, he was stunned. Gently he raised his finger tips to his warm lips and tried to feel for any trace of the kiss. "I do forgive you," he said slowly and quietly. "But this," he paused, trying to think of the right words to say, "this won't work will it. Us. It's like a human dating a dog. But worse. Our natural instinct is to kill each other. That can't be healthy for a relationship." He bit his lip gently tugging at the skin, "I love you. You don't have to believe it or accept it, but I do. But I can't do this. It hurts too much. Knowing that half of you will always want to see me dead. Knowing I'll always be different to you. Knowing that you can't love me for who I am. I can't do it." Alex took a deep breath and extended his hand to Gary, "It's been a pleasure knowing you, I hope you find someone less accident prone than me."

Gary shook his head, "No, i won't let you leave. I don't care about Sammael or what he wants. I want...you.. And even if it does hurt, for a little while, shouldn't we try?" He shook his head again, "I don't want to lose you, Alex, I can't." He looked down at Alex's hand then back up again. Maybe it would be best if they just stopped now... But he didn't want that, not at all. If Edward was right, if they could work it out, surely they would be able to go back to normal eventually? Even if that normal meant going against their instincts. If Anthony and Callie Rose had done it, couldn't they?

Alex didn't know what to say, he bowed his head to the floor. Maybe Gary was right, maybe they should try. But was it worth the risk? Of course it is, Alex thought, I love him. Taking a deep breath Alex pulled Gary into a tight hug, "I don't want to loose you either, I just though it would be easier for you," he whispered into the boy's ear. Keeping his arms wrapped around Gary, Alex nuzzled his nose into the boy's neck, "Ya' know, you don't smell so great yourself," he joked placing a light kiss on the boy's neck. Pulling away he smiled gently, "How much are you willing to do to get this to work?" he asked, hoping that eventually it would work, and Sammael would just have to accept that.

Gary sighed, that hug had probably been the best hug he had ever had. "Either way, it wouldn't be easy. I love you and leaving you would break my heart - if i have a heart that is." He smiled, slightly shakingly, "As much as we possibly can." He cupped Alex's face between his hand and sighed, "I really am sorry, Alex."

Alex smiled and held Gary's hands in his own, "It's okay, you're forgiven," he said smiling. Slowly he leant forward and placed a slow kiss on Gary's lip. He had miss this, being free to do what they liked. Alex smiled as he deepened the kiss slightly. If they could get this to work, neither of them would have to go out alone. It felt strange to have such a cold hand in his warm one. At least now he would never be cold again.

Gary leant into the kiss, wrapping his arms around Alex's strangely warm body. Perhaps they would be able to get used to this, even if it did take a long time. Fire and ice, hot and cold, two things which shouldn't be mixed. And yet here they were, trying to mix them. 'Thank you, Edward,' he thought, showing the other vampire his relief.

Alex pulled away from the kiss and extended his hand to the masked vampire. Remembering that they were in public and this was a ball, "Dance with me?" he asked shyly with a gentle smile playing on his lips. Pulling on Gary's hand he lead the boy onto the dance floor, just as a song the knew began to play. It was the first one that night, seeing as he came from a school that banned music.

Gary smiled and held onto Alex's hand, afraid that if he let go, he would lose him forever. "Who's the man in our relationship?" he asked, smirking. He placed his hand on Alex's waist and started to sway to the music, still smiling. Alex wouldn't hurt him like those other werewolves had. Alex would keep him safe, protect him, when he needed to be protected.