Lily watched Roger walk out of sight through the window before grabbing his house phone. Why anyone would still have a house phone was beyond her, but she was glad that he did. She pulled the black card out from her pocket and punched in the number. Then she waited for a few rings before someone picked up.

"Roger? Why aren't you calling me from your cell?" a vaguely familiar, but recognizable, voice came through. Lily couldn't help but smile.

"It's not Roger. It's Lily," she corrected before there was a moment of silence on the phone.

"Lily? What's up?" Jeremy answered with a hint of hesitation in his voice. Lily thought it was odd that he would give out his number so freely and not expect her to call it even though he had marked her.

"Um, not much, I guess. I just had some questions that I thought you could answer. Are you far away? Could you meet me at Roger's apartment?" Lily asked, wondering if she was being too forward. Maybe Roger had said something to him about the marking policy at the organization. Another moment of silence fell on the line.

"I'm not sure that's a good idea. Roger wanted me to keep my distance," Jeremy informed honestly as Lily quietly rolled her eyes.

"Look, you owe me some answers, and Roger answered some of my questions but I don't think he's given me all the details. I would like to know what happened and what's going to happen to me," Lily elaborated, a little annoyed at his hesitance. There was a deep sigh on the other side of the line.

"Alright, I can come over for a few minutes, but that's it," he answered, sounding exhausted by the request. Lily bit her lip, wondering if he had time to answer all her questions. "I'll be there soon."

And with that, the line went dead. Lily put the phone down and walked over the couch and collapsed on it. Her head was still swimming with the thoughts of Jeremy, and she wish she could think of something else for more than three seconds. It seemed like everything reminded her of Jeremy, and it was starting to get annoying. She wondered if it was a side effect of the marking, which was one of the questions she intended to ask the vampire once he arrived.

About ten minutes passed before there was a knock at the door. Lily jumped up from the sofa and walked over to the door. She checked through the peep hole in the door before opening it up. Jeremy stood on the other side of the threshold of the apartment, looking nervous. He was totally different from earlier when he was acting so suave. 

"What's wrong?" Lily asked, unable to stop herself. Jeremy merely shrugged.

"I'm just afraid of what will happen if I'm here too long. I don't want to anger Roger or your boss. I have too good of a thing going with them to mess it up," Jeremy replied honestly as Lily nodded.

"Understandable. Well, this won't take very long if you would like to come in," Lily informed as Jeremy gingerly walked in the apartment and closed the door behind him. Lily walked back to the couch and motioned for Jeremy to sit across from her. Cautiously, he sat down and looked outside to make sure Roger wasn't on his way back from wherever he was. 

"Where's Roger?" Jeremy asked, thinking that he might have been in the apartment. He then looked down the hallway toward the empty rooms.

"He said that he had to run a personal errand. Anyway, I have questions I need answered. I think I'm experiencing side effects from the marking," Lily started out as Jeremy started to relax and cleared his throat.

"There are a few side effects, some include infatuation, jealousy, and unable to focus on much else," Jeremy started out before taking a deep breath. "More serious side effects, more physical side effects, would include hyperactivity, higher blood production, and possible self mutilation."

"And why did you put this on me, exactly? This doesn't seem the kind of thing you do to people you just met," Lily asked, growing more concerned. She already had the loss of focus side effect, and she wasn't prepared for the other side effects.

"Well, unfortunately, I do mark quite a few people I've barely met, as it makes it easier to start a relationship that I need them to fulfill. Such as, um, blood banks, to put it plainly, or to expand the clan. So, it was partly out of habit. You also caught me off guard when you stared at me. When I found out that you had the true sight, I wanted you to think higher of me and not reduce me to a monster, as most people do when they find out that I'm a vampire," Jeremy explained as Lily shook her head, shocked.

"That's the most ridiculous thing I have heard in a long time," she whispered, shaking her head still. She put her head in her hands and bit her lip. "And this is going to wear off in a few months? And how do I know if I'm producing too much blood? And how did you mark me? How does that work?"

"Well, um, yes, in a few months, and your kidneys will take care of the extra blood. And all vampires have certain pheromones that interact with humans differently. When I kissed your hand, I marked you with those pheromones. They enter the bloodstream through the skin," Jeremy answered as Lily nodded, pursing her lips. "Are those all the questions you have? I should get going before Roger figures out that I was here."

"Yeah, yeah, that's it for now, I guess. So I'm just unable to focus on anything but you for the next few months?" Lily asked, making Jeremy smile. She grimaced as she saw the glimmer and the truth at once. Neither one looked fake or scary, which made it seem worse. He was happy that she was thinking about him.

"You've been thinking of me this whole time?" he asked, almost like he was teasing her. She frowned and kicked him out of the apartment. Once she closed the door, she collapsed on the couch again, wondering if she would be able to get some sleep before the delivery men came with her own bed.