After selling my latest painting I said my goodbyes to Tim and made my way toward Cephi's apartment. On the forefront of my list of things to do was actually finding some way to have dinner with him, since obviously last time didn't go so well. Next was clarifying a couple hundred things with the enigmatic man. I had figured out that Tiearyu had to be another name for Cephi. But I wanted to hear the confirmation from his mouth. And I thought I deserved to know why most of the people who called him Tiearyu seemed to want to kill him. Since they also attempted to kill me I'm pretty sure it is in my rights to be curious. I wanted to know why he gave me the name Cephi rather than Tiearyu when introducing himself to me. Everyone seemed to call him Tiearyu. And last but not least I wanted to know if Cephi was his full name, because I'd bet my left ear that it wasn't. I think his name's Cephirial.

I think he thinks he's an angel. And I want to believe he's telling the truth. But, I mean it's crazy, right. I didn't believe in vampires until I was sucked dry and left for dead in an alley and he had offered me nothing but his words to attest for the existence of angels.

How much were his words worth?

I stood outside his front door. There were so many questions and doubts running through my mind. I felt like I was about to drown on them, or totally psych myself out and go home. I shook my head, trying to clear my mind and steel my nerves. I had to do this.

I timidly knocked on the door and waited. I heard the fumbling of a chain lock and the door opened about four inches. Cephi peered out at me, a scowl marring his handsome features. Guess he was home... "What do you want," he asked non-too-friendly.

"I," I was a little put off by his apparent attitude. He must have woken up on the wrong side of the universe this morning, 'cause let's face it the bed just isn't big enough to cause an attitude problem like that. "I wanted to talk to you," I stated lamely.

His eyes adopted a slightly kinder look and he gave me a calculating glance. "I have nothing to say to you unless you're willing to admit that angels might be real. You believe in vampires, why not believe in something else that shouldn't exist?"

I hesitated with my answer. I knew he was paying close attention to me and didn't want to open my mouth only to insert my foot. His stare was intense and i caved under the pressure of the gaze, averting my gaze. My hands suddenly were the most interesting thing in the world and I realized that there was still some paint on them from earlier. So apparently I know how to paint, but not wash myself? Stalling... I know, but I really didn't know how to answer him. I didn't believe him but I didn't not believe him.

Apparently my silence was all the answer he needed. His gaze hardened, "That's what I thought," and he started to close the door.

"Wait," I gasped frantically, right before the door closed all the way. All I saw of him now was one steely eye glaring daggers at me. I tried scrunching my face into an honest expression and admitted, "I want to believe you." I looked into his eye, imploring him to believe my words. And I realized that's all he wanted from me.

There was a sigh and then the door was opened. He beckoned me into his not so humble abode. It was still as I remembered it. Nicer than my place, bigger than my place, classier than my place, and a whole bunch more things than my place that I can't think of right now. The layout, for all it's fanciness was pretty standard. A kitchen and dining area living room thing was where we currently were. I remembered the couch fondly from last visit. that thing was pretty comfy. There was a hallway halfway back the wall on the right hand side that I'm assuming lead to a bathroom bedroom and maybe an office or spare bedroom.

Cephi closed the door behind me and went to lean on his counter top. Arms crossed over his chest and looking very imposing he asked, "So, what questions do you have?"

"I..." I was interrupted by the loud protest of my stomach and my face flushed a beet red. I glared at my stomach silently telling it to stifle itself.

There was a humorous snort and the intimidating facade Cephi put up vanished. "Those questions must be pretty important if you couldn't even remember to feed yourself before coming here," his jibes were good-natured and made my heart soared at the expression that was fixed on me. Amusement and fondness. Those were good emotions.

I realized that a reply might have been expected and fumbled awkwardly for words, any words, "Uh...yeah." Ahh, my ever eloquent reply.

The man just shook his head in disbelief. "Hey, do you like spaghetti?"

"Huh?"

"I'm asking if you like spaghetti," his eyes danced with amusement, "to be completely honest, I haven't eaten yet either." There was a cheesy grin plastered on his face. I really liked the expression on his face. Instead of blindingly handsome he actually looked a tad bit goofy. The grin made him seem like a real person. Said grin became a smirk as i realized I had been caught staring at him once again.

I huffed, crossing my arms over my chest, and looked away giving a slight nod to my head.

There was a small chuckle and then Cephi was rummaging through his pantry and cabinets. Probably looking for the ingredients needed for the food.

Soon the water was boiling and food was being cooked. Okay Allen, time to man up and ask a question.

"Cephi?"

The man turned away from the sauce he was stirring (it was homemade!) and quirked an eyebrow up in question.

"Who is Tiearyu?" I asked cautiously, testing the waters. for all I knew this could be a touchy subject.

His facial features darkened and his response grim, "Where'd you hear that name?"

I answered just as quietly, just as serious, "The night I was attacked. They kept asking who Tiearyu was."

There was a sigh and he set his spoon down across the top of the sauce pan. He turned to face me, hands resting behind him on the counter. "Remember the angel I told you about?" I nodded, resisting the temptation to roll my eyes. How could I forget? He was the reason that Cephi skipped out on dinner with me. "When he fell to earth he felt it unwise to keep his God-given name for fear that it was too different a name. He wanted his name to go unnoticed in a crowd."

I shot him a disbelieving look, "So he picked Tiearyu? Oh, I mean of course he picked Tiearyu because that's such a common name. Ranked right up there with James and Ryan. I must have had at least two of them in my class at school."

The man rolled his eyes. I noticed with some satisfaction that he was trying and failing to hide a smile. He muttered a quick, "Shut up," and turned back to his cooking.

We continued the playful banter until the meal was ready and then sat dow to enjoy it together. And when I say enjoy, boy did I ever mean it. this was without a doubt the best spaghetti I had ever tasted. And it was all because of that homemade sauce of his. I asked what was in it but all he did was wink and say it was a secret.

"Oh my God, this tastes so good," I moaned closing my eyes in rapture. Pure bliss, that's what it was. heavenly food. I was distinctly aware of the clattering of silverware from the man I was dining with and opened my eyes to see Cephi staring at me, eyes as big as saucers. He had dropped his fork, and it was currently sinking into the massive amounts of noodles and sauce on his plate.

"What?" I asked, doing my best to give him a disapproving look. I mean, who just drops their silverware into their food and lets it to drown like that?

He cleared his throat looking a bit flushed, "Come on. There's no way you didn't do that on purpose," he rasped accusingly. I wonder if he needs water.

"Do what?"

"Never mind," he muttered and went back to eating his food. To very intently eating his food.

Deciding now was the perfect time to ask another question I struck, "So, are you Cephirial then?"

He inhaled sharply and started coughing on the food that was in his mouth looking at me with something akin to shock on his face. "Why would you ask that?"

I took a bite of my food, taking my time with the answer. "Well, you're name's Cephi. Not too much of a stretch from Cephi to Cephirial." Then I muttered, "I may act it sometimes, but I'm not an idiot."

The guy scooted his chair closer to mine and looked me straight in the eyes, the most earnest of expressions gracing his features. "Yes. I am Cephirial," the admission was little more than a whisper, but held such weight. Such sincerity. If I didn't believe what he said now I'd seem like a total jerk.

"Oh, okay then, " I smiled flippantly taking another bite of my spaghetti slurping one of the noodles up obnoxiously. He was so close to me I could feel his body heat. His leg was lightly brushing mine, an innocent gesture that had my nerves on fire. I was becoming hyper aware of just how close we were.

I became even more aware when a gentle hand cupped my face.

"Allen," he breathed. I felt the tickle of his warm breath tickle my face like the kisses of butterflies. He was uncomfortable close. I liked it. My heart was hammering harder in my chest the longer we sat there. "You have some sauce on your face."

And, I will be the first to say, that should not have sounded so... sexy. A shiver went down my spine and my face was uncomfortably hot. Not wanting to show how much he was affecting me, I played it cool, "Really, I do?" I fumbled for my napkin. But before I could even bring it up to my face Cephi took matters into his own hands.

He leaned in close and stuck out his tongue, lapping gently at the corner of my mouth with the soft muscle. As much as I wanted to think that meant something, I wasn't convinced it was more than an overly friendly person trying to save some money on napkins.

My brow wrinkled in confusion and I pushed him gently away lamenting the loss of closeness. "Why did you do that?"

"Well obviously I was trying to come on to you," he griped. Then muttered under his breath, "apparently not very successfully though."

"Huh?" I squeaked.

"You can hardly expect me to sit and be a good little angel when you're eating like that. It was hard enough waiting this long to do something," Cephi explained.

"What?" I asked letting the double entendre slide.

"I like you Allen," he yelled exasperatedly throwing his hands into the air as if he were giving up. He began to pace the length of his kitchen. And I sat there watching as he went back and forth. Back and forth.

Back

and

"Oh..." I answered, a silly little smile threatening to overtake my confusion.

He liked me.

Cephi stopped his pacing, "Oh? Oh? Is that all you have to say?" Well, this could have gone better. He sounded really frustrated. I scrambled to fix the damage I caused with my weak response.

"Well no," I laughed awkwardly rubbing my neck. "I thought it was kind of obvious how I felt about you. I mean, I've only painted like twenty-five pictures of you." There were actually probably more pictures than that. I didn't actually keep track.

I waited for him to say something and was surprised when I was enveloped in warmth.

His arms were around me bringing me in close to the warmth that was his body. I was so warm, so comfortable in that embrace. And then his soft lips met mine.

It was a short kiss. nothing more than a few nips. But each peck made my lips tingle and sent my body into a frenzy. I couldn't think past the dull realization that it took two to tango and maybe I should respond to his gentle touch. I wrapped my arms around his neck. Laced my fingers through his hair. And, of course, returned the kiss with gusto.

We broke apart smiling like a couple of idiots.

He leaned down, resting his forehead against mine looking in my eyes with an unreadable expression. I returned his gaze, unwilling to look anywhere else. And as I was looking at him, as luck would have it, I remembered our earlier conversation.

I gave him a look that clearly screamed 'you're kidding me' and mirrored it with a disbelieving tone, "Tiearyu?"

Cephi just looked at me in question.

So I elaborated, " You think Tiearyu is a common name?"

There was a husky whisper of, "shut up."

And I was only too happy to oblige as he pulled me into a searing kiss.