1x1 with x_fire

((Yea I can see her doing that...especially after the slaughter of the shifter pack. How many years do you think? Five or six maybe? Put's Maddie at about fourteen? And say the twins and Zach all catch up to her? Or a little later?))

"Pyro is a harsh term Sami." Carlos chided. "I merely have a strong apprication for the element. I used to be a blacksmith, remember?" He said, winking at her gently.

"Me! Me!"
"I do!"
The kids all called out, one after the other as Keith dished out slices of cake for everyone. Maddie grabbed a peice and split it with Kristen.
"Zach wanna try it?" Maddie asked curiously, willing to give her brother a bite if he wanted some.

"Who knew indeed." Carlos said with a smirk, kissing Sami's forehead gently.
"Well he has had more time then anyone else to perfect his skills." Maria reasoned.
"You guys should come over when Keith makes pasta." Alayna said. "Best I've ever had honestly." she said, nudging the angel gently with a smirk.

OOC: Maybe put Maddie at sixteen and Zach at the twins at fifteen? That way their all in those 'teenage' years and what not.
Also, I'm going to have Adam as kind of what Carlos was before he and Sami mated, showing up occasionally as a doting family member before taking off to explore on his own. He was also given some venom, so he won't spontanously die or anything.

BIC:

Serena was sprawled out on Nick's bed.
"I can't believe you dumped her like that" The fifteen year old blonde vampire muttered, rolling her brown eyes at her twin.
"I mean, texting Nick, Texting!" She said, shaking her head in disgust at her brother. Serena had grown into a gorgeous young woman, and was a lot less shy and far more outgoing. She still loved horses and horseback riding, but she was also the typical fifteen year old girl. She was dating, much to her father's annoyance, though she wasn't dating just one guy yet. She was a cheerleader, co-captain for their school, and was extremely popular. She had cut her blonde hair recently, and it fell to her chin, a bit longer in the front then back. She was tall and willowy, with a petite build, and long legs.
She was currently giving her twin brother, and best friend, Nick the third degree about breaking up (again) with his on again, off again girlfriend from school.
The family had permantently moved into the summer house, giving the appartment downtown to the twins Uncle Carlos and his shifter mate Sami. The couple had no children, and apparently no plans of having any soon.

"Any news from Keith?" Demitri asked Alayna, the angel had left a year ago, some mission or something, and no on had seen him since. It had been rather horrible losing Keith, and everyone still missed him terribly. Alayna still lived with Demitri, Kristen and their two children Maddie and Zach, Maddie had just turned sixteen a few months ago, Zach having reached fifteen the month previous.

Zach, fifteen year old vampire-shifter had finally taken on the qualities of a shifter, similar to his mother. He had only one form, that of a wolf, which suited him just fine. He still preferred to drink blood, much to his parents annoyance, since his Uncle Sven, the family's resident doctor, said he needed to eat as well.
Zach looked very much like his father, but with his mother's emerald green eyes. He was tall, taller then his sister -finally- and extremely athletic. He took after Kristen in that sense, he played both soccer and hockey (remebering his dad was a player for the Russian vampire team years previous) as well as basketball. He wasn't great in school, prefering physical activities to mental, but he managed to scrape by.

The tall, dark haired teen was currently sitting on the porch, watching his sister pace anxiously for some reason.
"Maddie, whats wrong?" He grumbled, setting his phone down, despite the fact that it was still viberating.

----

Sami sighed, pulling her car up to the appartment building and into the parking garage.
Stepping out of the car, she grabbed her bag, along with the grocieries she had picked up, and headed inside, straight towards the private elevator that would take her to the pent house. Chris and Sven were coming over for dinner later, which meant she had to feed her brother, goody. Chris had settled into the family just fine, but Adam had felt out of place amonst the couples and vampires, and he hadn't gotten along very well with Kristen. So, the cougar shifter had struck out on his own, heading off to travel the world, and stop by and visit occasionally to let them know he was alive. While Sami missed her brother, she understood his percarious situation, and she was happy that he was finally getting to travle without being stuck under their father's thumb.
Putting the bag on the counter, she checked the time. Carlos would be home soon, at least she figured he would. She had no idea how late he'd be working, not that she minded really, she was glad he had something to do.
"Now, what to cook?" The pretty brunette shifter muttered, grabbing a recipe book and flipping through it.

((Agreed. This should be fun ^-^))

Nick was doing his best to ignore his sister as she scowleded him yet again, strumming at his hand made gutiar absent mindedly. He had hoped after all these years that Serena would understand how his mind worked; she could bloody well read his thoughts on ocassion, so this break up shouldn't have been that surprising to her.

"Serena do I really need to explain this to you?" he asked, not really wanting to talk about the situation at all. Katie, the hybrid that was extremely interested in Nick and had been his off-and-on girlfriend all year was someone that Nick got along with on certain ocassions. She could be extremely protective of him, to the point of insanity, and then be mad at him the next for something he wouldn't understand. Nick was just getting fed up with trying to make the relationship work.

"I'm just done trying." Nick said, shaking his head gently. His hair was much darker than Serena's, and over the years as they had grown they started to look less and less like twins. Instead, Nick took on characteristics of his mother, dark brown hair and slim build with the attitutde and bright blue eyes of his father.
"Dad always said we'll know the right person when we see them. She's just not the one for me." He said, strumming on his guitar again.

Unlike his sister, Nick had taken a more liberal route when it came to school. He loved music, and was part of their school's band, and in a way reminded Maria of Carlos in the fact that he would go off on these thoughtful tangents.
--------

Alayna was tapping a pencil against her sketch book when Demitri wandered over to her. The young girl had grown into a successful woman over the years; her memory was much better and her career as a designer was in full swing. The last year had been hard on Alayna, and Keith's absense was the main reason she was so envolved in her work.
Looking up, Alayna took off her glasses and rubbed her face.
"No...none." She admitted with a heavy sigh. "He said he would be gone for a while...I didn't think it would be this long though." she admitted.
Kristen wandered in, hearing the depressed tones of her best friend. Kristen, like the other vampires, hadn't changed a bit. It seemed her immorality was here to stay, and she was every bit like her son; half shifter, half vampire.
"He'll be back before you know it. Wanna help me with dinner tonight?" She asked curiously, since Kristen's cooking skills hadn't improved all that much.

Maddie had grown significantly over the years. She was no longer a little eight-year old girl. She was sixteen going on twenty as Kristen teased her, and was the spitting image of her mother. Her hair was a mix between light brown and blonde, and was always curly around her face. She'd let it grown out over the summer, so it hung at her mid-back.

She'd been excelling in school, which was of no surprise to anyone, and would be graduating with the senior class this coming school year. The reason she was pacing was the weird feeling in her gut she had woken up with this morning. She had felt this funny in a while...

When her brother walked over, Maddie sighed in defeat. The two had grown closer over the years as Zach had caught up to her.
"Just a weird feeling..." Maddie murmured, still pacing. "I can't figure if it's..." her attention was cut off, hearing Zach's phone going off.
"Your phone is ringing." she said, pointing to his phone. Now adays, Maddie's sense were always on. Her eyes seemed to always be a bright blue, and she could always hear things that only dogs could hear.

Serena scowled at Nick.
"I don't give a damn that you dumped her Nick" She grumbled, "You know I couldn't stand her. I just think its bad form to dump a girl over text message" She said, "I mean, at least do it in person, she might be some god awful hag, but she at least deserves the in person touch" She said, rolling her eyes and tossing a pillow at her twin.

It was true, Serena couldn't stand Katie, the overprotective girl had driven a huge wedge between her and Nick, and it had sucked. She sighed, "I'm happy you're done with her Nick" She murmured sincerly, "And I know she wasn't that special person for you" She said, sighing.
"The person for you will love music, and be gorgeous and lots of fun. Not some nagging brat who couldn't stand half your family" She added, scowling again. She glanced at the time, letting out a groan as she did so.

"I have to meet some friends at the mall, you wanna come?" She asked her twin curiously.
"It'll be fun, get your mind of things and they just opened this cool new music shop" She waggled her eyebrows in a manner similar to Alexi. Serena took after their father in appearance, except her eyes were purely Maria. She also had a mixture of Alexi and it seemed Sami's personality.
"Come on Nick, please?" She asked, giving her brother a pleading expression.

----

Demitri sighed, rubbing his fingers through his hair as Kristen came in.
"He'll be back" He murmured, he missed the angel as well.
"Is there anything going on tonight?" He asked his wife, "Kids wise, do I need to drive anywhere?" He added, both his kids had rather busy schedules and Kristen knew them far better then he did.

"Yea I know" Zach said, pointedly ignoring the phone.
"Don't worry so much Maddie, everything's been so nice lately" He vividly remembered the drama from when he was a child, and had no desire to return to those times.
"Come on, its Saturday, lets do something" He said, grinning at his sister, his green eyes sparkling.

"Oh yea that would have been great." Nick said, rolling his eyes and effortlessly dodging the pillow his sister tossed at him with a growl. "She would have made it this big scene and you know it. I was trying to avoid that." Nick said, strumming a few cords before putting his guitar aside.

"Yea sure." Nick sighed, allowing his sister to try and cheer him up a bit. The mall was always fun, and the kids had a weekly allowance from their parents to spend as they liked, so long as they didn't do anything outrageous.
"Who are we meeting up with?" Nick asked, wondering if he should text Zach so he wasn't the only guy stuck with a band of girls. Not that Serena's friends weren't cool, it was just annoying after a while and he'd rather his cousin around.

---------------

Kristen thought for a moment to answer Demitri's question.
"No..Zach had soccer practice yesterday so he'll have practice again tomorrow." Kristen said, shaking her head gently. "Nothing immediantly that I can think of." she said. "Oh and your daughter made another petition to get her liscence early." Kristen added as she wandered towards the kitchen, a small smirk on her face.

"I know and it's been great." Maddie said, though it was half true. Although the peace time had been great, the seperate from Vlad had only gotten worse. As soon as things started to relax, Vlad had taken off, and Maddie hadn't fully recovered from it. She'd gotten a lot better at hiding it though. She hadn't seen the vampire since Zach's birthday, where he'd apologize for missing her's but left shortly afterwards.
Maddie rubbed her face roughly to push the thoughts away. She'd been working hard against her feelings and she wasn't about to let them over-power her know.
"Why is your phone constantly ringing?" Maddie asked, looking at her brother then. "Ignoring someone?" she asked curiously, a small smirk on her face.
"Wanna go for a run?" Maddie asked, which usually meant the two would take off at full speed into the forest. "I could use some exercise. Maybe head over to the fort?" She offered, since they had decked it out over the years so it was more of a hang out then an old kids playhouse.

Serena grinned, hugging her brother tightly and marveling at how annoying it was now that he was slightly taller then her.
"Just the regular gang and some of the football guys I think" Serena said, going off to petition one of their parents for a ride. Neither Alexi or Maria seemed to mind driving them places, but Serena couldn't wait to get her own liscence.
"Invite Maddie to then, she's probably with Zach anyway" The blonde teen called from down the hall.

"Mom?" She said, sliding into the living room where Maria and Alexi were talking. She smoothed her skirt down absentmindedly, ignoring her father's groan at what she was wearing. It was totally approrpiate, Alexi just liked teasing.
"Can you give Nick and me a ride to the mall? Please?" She asked, smiling at her parents hopefully.
"One of us can, sure" Alexi said with a nod, looking at Maria to see if she wanted to drive.

----

"Yea, Jessica from school" Zach pulled a face, checking his phone as Nick's ringtone went off.
"Nick and Serena are going to the mall, they invited us, you wanna come with?" Zach asked, looking at his sister.
"It'd be fun, plus aren't we all going over to Uncle Alexi's later tonight for something?" He asked, that's what they're Dad had been talking about earlier at least. A family get together or something.

Demitri groaned, "No way in hell is she getting her liscence early. She nearly crashed my car again the other day" Demitri said as he had been giving Maddie driving lessons in an older vehicle he had bought for the purpose. No way were any of his kids driving the nice vehicles, not until they had had their liscences for at least a few hundred years.

"Dad?" Zach's voice sang out, "Can you drive me and Maddie to the mall to hang with Serena and Nick? We'll go back to Uncle Alexi's with them, then you can meet us there later?" The dark haired teen asked.
Demitri looked thoughtful before glancing at Kristen.
"Sure I don't see why not" He murmured.

"Mmhm." Nick mused as Serena hugged him and then ran off to ask their parents for a ride. He was already texting Zach for him and Maddie to meet them at the mall. It was a Saturday afternoon anyway.

Wandering into his room, Nick tossed his leather jacket over his plain shirt and jeans and slipped on his sneakers before finding Serena with their parents.

"I took them last time." Maria teased, looking from her daughter to Alexi. She couldn't help but chuckle lightly, thinking that the day Serena brought home a boy Alexi would loose it.
"Keep in mind the family's coming over tonight. One of us will be picking you up around seven." Maria added to which Nick nodded agreement.

---------

Kristen laughed at Demitri response to that. "She said you were making her nervous and that was the only reason she crashed. She does alright when I'm in the car with her." Kristen reasoned, cleaning some dishes that were left over from the night before.

Maddie shrugged. "Yea, sure." she said. The mall wouldn't be so bad.
"Make sure you both have your phone." Kristen called back, nodding for Demitri to take the two since she was busy at the moment.
"Duh." Maddie added sarcastically before going upstairs to grab a few other things. It was a habit Maddie had that whenever she was going out, she had to have her phone, her wallet and the pocket knife that Nicki had given her a while back ago. Apparently it used to be Kristen's, but Maddie didn't have the guts to show it to her yet.

"Alright, I'm ready." Maddie said as she clamered down the stairs, looking for her brother and father.

"Fine, fine" Alexi said as Serena grabbed her bag, shoving her phone inside it.
"See you in a bit" He added as Serena waved to her mother and headed out towards the garage, pausing to toss her horse, Chase, an apple over the fence before she slid into the passanger seat. Nick had ridden shot gun the other day.

----

"Here we are" Alexi said, pulling up to the massive shopping complex, "Your mom or I will call you around seven when we get here and tell you where to meet us, alright?" He said, grinning lightly at the two kids.
"Sure thing Dad" Serena said, slipping out of the car and smoothing her skirt, barely waiting for her twin before heading inside.
"We're meeting the others by the theater" She said, it was an easy meeting place for everyone, since it was impossible not to know where it was.

----

Zach nodded, "Okay" He said, stuffing the iPhone in his pocket and waiting impatiently for his sister. He'd never understand girls, that was for sure.

Demitri shrugged, "Doesn't matter, she has to learn to drive under slightly stressful conditions, those testers don't ease up on you, if anything they make you more nervous" He said, heading out towards his car, following after Zach who was already in the backseat.

Demitri shrugged, "You guys have money?" He asked, both kids had an allowance and bank cards, he and Kristen had been toying with the idea of credit cards for them for a little while, but he wasn't sure yet.
"Yea dad" Zach said, smiling from behind his sunglasses, Zach's eyes were a bit light sensitive, it was a side-effect of the vampire-shifter thing, sort of like Kristen's issue with shifting at first.
"Alright" Demitri murmured, pulling out of the garage, "Call us if you decide you want to come home early, otherwise we'll see you tonight"
"Is everyone gonna be there?" Zach asked curiously.
"Erm, I don't know. Adam won't be, he's in Peru according to Sami and Uncle Chris" Demitri murmured, knowing the question was more about Vlad. Demitri didn't know if his brother would show, he was still having issues with the whole Maddie thing. After all he was a three thousand year old vampire whom had been bonded inadvertantly with his niece. The bigger problem was Maddie was sixteen and Vlad looked about thirty, so, it was awkward.
"Here we go" Demitri pulled into the parking lot, passing Alexi's car as he did so.
"Guess the twins are here" He murmured, waving to his brother as his children exited the car.
"Have fun" He called, grinning.
"See you Dad" Zach waved, checking his phone to see where the group was meeting up.

Nick sighed and shook his head as his sister bolted out of the car ahead of him. "See ya later Dad." He said, patting his father's shoulder before getting out of the car and following after his sister. He unwound the headphone from his iPod, putting one bud in and hitting play as he wandered after her.

"It's always the theater." Nick said with a smirk, looking around casually, keeping an eye open for Maddie and Zach who should be here any minute. He sent Zach a quick text just to let him know where they would be.

-----------

"Yea I have my card." Maddie said, remaining quiet as Zach and Demitri talked about tonight. She knew Zach was asking a question for her and she sighed softly at the answer Demitri gave. She was stupid to hope things would get better once she was older...if anything it was getting worse.
"Thanks Dad. See you later." Maddie said, pushing her sunglass off her head as she wandered into the mall.

"Adam's in Peru. I wonder what that's like..." Maddie mused thoughtfully as she walked with her brother.
"Where are we meeting them exactly?" she asked, running her fingers through her hair in a mirror of Demitri.

"Hey." Maddie heard her cousin before she saw him and smirked as her question was answered.
"Hey Nick." Maddie said, nodding and giving her cousin a hug.
"Thanks for coming." Nick said, taking his ear buds out and draping them around his neck. Maddie tilted her head curiously, silently wondering why Nick was so down. It had something to do with Katie, she reasoned, her emotional intuition having grown over the years, but she said nothing.

Zach was about to respond when Maddie lead them straight to their cousins and some of Serena's friends (as well as his) from school.
He glanced around, wondering what they were going to do for the rest of the day.
"So, whats the plan?" He asked, the mall wasn't just for shopping after all, it had all sorts of stuff to do.

You okay? Serena silently asked her twin, while still chatting with some of her friends about what a mutual aquaintance wore to school the day before. She was worried about her twin, especially since she had a feeling Katie wasn't going to let this go easily. As much as she was annoyed at Nick for the text break up, she also saw his point. Katie would seek any oppertunity to make a big deal out of things, and she just had a bad feeling that regardless of his attempts to prevent the 'big blow up' it was going to happen whether they wanted it to or not.

"I dunno, they opened this cool new music store" Serena said with a shrug, that was mainly for Nick's benefit, she was awful with music.
"I heard most of the stores have their fall collections in now" Michelle, one of Serenea's good friends and a fellow cheerleader said with a grin.
"We could go shopping" She added, unnecessarily.
"Well duh, but the guys don't really like shopping" She nodded at the group of about six guys, including Zach and Nick.
"We could split up, meet back here in an hour to go to a movie all together. They could hit the arcade or something and we could go shopping" Michelle suggested.
Serena shrugged, looking at her brother curiously.

I'll be fine. Nick said, quickly reassuring his sister. He didn't want her worrying about him the whole time he was here. He gave her a light smile as well and nodded.
"Yea you girls go do whatever. I'm hitting the arcade." Nick reasoned with a smirk.
Maddie chewed her lip thoughtfully. She kind of wanted to play a game or two as well. "Yea I'll catch up with you Serena." She said, wanting to blow off some steam as well.

Nick shrugged, since it wasn't unsusal for Maddie to hang around the guys. She had been somewhat of a tom-boy when they were going through middle school, and it had never really left her. Though when she had gotten into high school she'd grown more into a girl so to say, she worried about what she was wearing and how she looked. But every now and then, the real Maddie showed up and played basketball, or a game of soccer or wrestled.

"To the arcade. I bet I'll kick your ass in the race again Zach." Nick said with an easy grin on his face.

--------

Carlos sighed heavily as he got out of the car which he'd pulled into the small garage of the apartment. Taking the stairs he was soon at the door for and unlocking it. He was greeted by the smell of cooking and couldn't help but wrinkling his nose. It was something he still couldn't get used to.
"What's cookin hun?" Carlos chuckled, chuckling as he tossed his keys to the small table by the door and stripped off his jacket as he wandered into the kitchen to find Sami.
" 'Ello darling." he murmured, kissing her cheek gently.

Serena sighed, but nodded lightly as she watched Nick wander off with Zach and Maddie.
"Jealous?" Michelle asked, nudging her ribs.
"No" Serena rolled her eyes, "Just worried" She admitted, before letting herself be dragged off towards one of the girls' favorite stores.
"Worried about what? Katie?" Alisha asked once they were in the store, admiring the new fall clothes.
"Yea, I know she's going to create some big scene or something, just to piss Nick off" The blonde girl murmured, picking up a pair of skinny jeans and admiring them before draping them over her arm to be tried on.
"She does like to cause drama" Alisha murmured, none of the girls had liked Nick's ex, they had all seen what it had done to Serena, being alienated from her twin.
Serena nodded empathetically, glancing around and noticing a black and white t-shirt with a guitar on the front for guys. Checking the size, she grinned, it was perfect for Nick. Serena tended to shop for her brother quite a lot, he didn't have the best taste, in her opinion.

---

Zach smirked, "Yea right man, I'll kick your ass" He said, glancing up in surprise as his sisted decided to join him and the other guys.
"Don't want to go blow your budget?" He teased, last time Maddie had gone shopping with her friends, she had gone a little overboard, if Kristen shouting and Demitri's griping were anything to go by.

----

Sami laughed as Carlos came in, "Just some pasta, its only for me and Chris after all. They're coming here before we all head over to Alexi and Maria's later" She said with a small sigh, brushing a stray piece of hair from her face.
"How was work? Anything exciting happen?" She asked, opening the window to let fresh air in, it would be easier for Carlos to ignore the smell of food that way.

Maddie shook her head. "Not after how much Mom and Dad bitched at me last time." Maddie muttered, following the boys towards the arcade. "Beside, I bought enough then that I don't really need anything now." Maddie said, stopping at the ATM to get some cash for tokens.

Nick rolled his eyes at the siblings. "Maddie you always get them to bitch at you for something." he teased, to which Maddie sighed.
"Yea I know. Guess it's one of those things I do best." she said with a shrug, shoving her wallet back into her pocket and wadding up her cash for the tokens.

"So are we making this a bet or what?" Maddie asked, grinning like the dog she was. The trio were notorious for betting, always had been.
Nick poundered the idea for a moment. "Yea what the hell. Ten bucks says I kick your ass in the first race." Nick said, as they got closer to the arcade. Maddie held her hand open and Nick fished a bill out of his wallet for Maddie who was always the token who held and dished out money for bets.
"Anyone else want in?" Maddie asked.

--------

Carlos nodded gently. "Yes I remember." he murmured.
"And no, today was a complete bore." He said, leaning against the counter to watch Sami cook.
"I'm looking forward to tonight. Hopefully it'll be exciting." Carlos said, an easy grin on his face. As Sami opened the window Carlos smirked.
"When is the Good Doc and your Brother getting here?" Carlos asked curiously, glancing over at the clock.

Zach laughed, "The more they bitch at her, the less they bitch at me" He said with a grin, letting his sister and cousin lead the way. Zach could be fairly competitive at times, but more in team sports, it was Maddie who was always competitive.
"I'm in" Zach muttered, fishing his wallet from his pocket and handing his sister the money.
"I say I beat you in the first race" He muttered to Nick, unwilling to bet against himself.

Sitting down in the arcade chair, he snagged a token from Maddie before waiting for Nick to get ready.
"So, how's stuff at home?" He asked Nick, despite going to school together, the cousins hadn't actually hung out in awhile. Zach tended to see Serena more at school because of mutual friends and after school sports activities that co-ensided with cheer practice.

----

Sami glanced at the clock, "Forty-five minutes about" She murmured, wiping her hands on her jeans.
"Nothing exciting? That sucks" She murmured, taking a sip of water from a glass she had poured earlier.
"Any idea whos all coming tonight? I know Adam's not, but I haven't heard anything about Vlad. I know he's all confused about things" She murmured, "Sven says he's avoiding Demitri's house like the plauge and working tons of overseas jobs"

Maddie rolled her eyes and tucked the money into her pocket while she got tokens. As Zach snatched a token, Maddie watched and waited as Nick got himself settled into the chair and put is tokens in as well.

"Home's fine. It's school that sucks." Nick said as he choose what car he wanted to race and the bonus feature of nitros.
"So it's Katie again huh?" Maddie murmured, chewing her lip softly as Nick sat back a bit, still gripping the steering wheel and waiting for Zach.
"Yea." Nick muttered, sighing roughly. "Serena gave me an earful already today since I broke it over with her last night. I'm just getting sick and tired of her shit." Nick murmured, pressing the gas a few times as the race counted down and the the cars took off.

----------

Carlos nodded to himself. "Can the pasta take care of itself for ten minutes while you accopany me to the shower?" he asked, smirking at his mate. Hearing about tonight, Carlos slipped from the counter to stand fully.
"Yea...Maria was telling me about it." Carlos said with a shrug. "The man's three-thousand years old and he hasn't loved anyone since from what I know. I'll agree that it's a bit daunting at first, and I can sympathize with the fact that Maddie was so young at the time...but honestly that's how it all happened for us." Carlos said with another shrug.
"Alexi and Demitri were the only two who's bond actually took time. Demitri knew Kristen for four years before the bond kicked in, and Alexi knew Maria for nearly a hundred...but everyone else happened in an instant just like you and me. I guess he just can't look past the fact that Maddie's so young. I suppose if he'd met her once she was older it may have turned out differently." Carlos murmured, his voice quiet and his face thoughtful. It happened on occasion, Maria called them his "philosopher moments" and they usually didn't last long.
"So, shower my dear? Or am I going alone?" Carlos asked, smirking at Sami since the moment passed.

"I bet she's glad you're finally threw with Katie though" Zach commented, pulling his car ahead of Nick's and smirking at his cousin.
"I mean, I've never seen you and Serena so distant since you and Katie hooked up" He wasn't used to see the twins not together, but Katie hated Serena, everyone knew that, and it had caused some issues for the twins. Maria and Alexi had even been concerned, since Nick and Serena's connection was so strong, they were worried about the reprecussions it would have.

He groaned as Nick pulled ahead of him.
"Damnit" The dark-haired teen grumbled, slamming on the gas in an attempt to pass his cousin.
"Nooo" He groaned as Nick beat him over the finish line by like half a second.
"Damn" He muttered, though he was smiling.

----

"I think the big problem is that Maddie's his niece. Not biologically, but that's how Vlad sees her, as family. Its not exactly easy to fall in love with a family member in a non-platonic way" Sami said, glancing at the pasta.
"I mean, it'd be like you falling for Shaye or something, or Kristen, you're not biologically related, but it'd feel weird" She said, shuddering for emphasis.
"Yes, I'm joining you" She said with a grin, turning the stove top to simmer so the sauce didn't get to hot.

Nick pressed on the gas as Zach zoomed ahead of him.
"Yea she's happy." He murmured.
"You sound thrilled." Maddie mused and Nick took the turn sharply to get ahead of Zach again.
"I'm just tired of the drama. Hense me breaking up with her. And this time it's for good." Nick said. "Which was part of the reason I sent her the text. If I'd done it in person she would have made this big seen and..." Nick shook his head with a sigh.
"Right." Maddie said, everything making sense to her and Nick smirked as he won the race.

"Nick got this round." Maddie said, fishing out the thirty bucks, since Maddie had put ten on her brother as well.
"Thank you." Nick said with a smirk, tucking the money away. "Serena's worried about the whole text thing coming around to bite me in the ass...honestly, I could care less." Nick murmured as he stood up to walk around the arcade.

Maddie nodded and wandered off to play her own game after handing Zach some of her tokens.
"She seems off..." Nick murmured to Zach once Maddie was out of ear shot. "Everything alright with you two back home?" he asked curiously.

-------------

Carlos merely shrugged again. "Honestly darling, this whole 'Not loving your extended family' is relatively knew." he said. "Actually, I think in certain places in the States your legally allowed to marry your cousins." he mused.
His mind quickly changed though as Sami said she would join him in the shower. He smirked and nodded, running up ahead of her with a small laugh, starting the water to warm up while he stripped, waiting for Sami.

Zach shrugged, "Who knows" He muttered when Nick mentioned the whole thing coming back to bite him in the ass.
"Maddie? I dunno man she's been off lately. I think it has to do with Uncle Vlad" He murmured, "She saw him at my birthday, but..." He shrugged, "I dunno, the whole situation's weird. Dad's totally freaked out by it, I know that" The twins knew about Maddie and Vlad bonding now, so he could talk to them about it.
"She's been fighting with mom and dad a lot more, its weird. They were getting along really well for awhile, but..." He sighed, Zach detested when his sister and parents fought, it just sucked in general.

"Hows stuff between you and Serena now? Better?" He asked curiously, he knew Serena was worried about Nick, but he wasn't sure how their relationship was. He glanced down, checking the time.
"We better go meet up with them soon, Its almost four" He said, looking around for Maddie curiously.

----

Sami shrugged, "True, but Vlad knows Maddie as his niece, still sees her as the little girl she was, its probably hard on him. Doesn't help that Demitri's all up in arms about the matter along with Kristen. Neither one of them want their daughter in a relationship with her Uncle as well as man who's three thousand years old. Its an awkward situation" She said, smirking as she stripped her own clothes off and joined Carlos in the shower.

Nick sucked in a breath as Zach breeched the topic of Maddie and Vlad. "Ohh boy..." he muttered, knowing that was a whole other can of worms. "Why does it seem that's she's always fighting with them?" Nick murmured thoughtfully as he shook his head, listening to his cousin with a nod here and there.

Glancing at his phone, Nick nodded. "Right. More shopping. Yay." he muttered sarcastically.
"Yea me and Serena are fine." Nick said with a shrug. "Hopefully it'll just get better now that Katie's out of the way." Nick said before looking around for Maddie.
He was tempted to whistle, since Maddie had answered to that on a few occassions, bust that usually ended with Nick being tackled to the ground. He didn't really want that now, so he just kept looking.
"She's over there." Nick murmured when he finally spotted the girl. "Maddie." Nick called, hardly needing to raise his voice. She held up a hand to say she'd be there in a minute, and Nick guessed he was in a game.
"You guys heading back with us or ya going home first?" Nick asked, looking at Zach curiously since all the family seemed to be gathering tonight for some fun.

------------

"Yes well, it's what nature intended." Carlos reasoned. "I think they need to let it go. Bonding isn't something we vampires have control over, and Demitri should know that most of all." Carlos said, stepping under the water with a content sigh.
"Enough of the stress though. How was your day?" Carlos asked, wrapping his arms around Sami and pulling her close.

Zach shrugged, "It started with her wanting to get her liscence early. Dad won't let her, says she's not ready, but she's pretty annoyed with him over that. Then the whole spending money that she wasn't supposed to, plus she and mom keep sniping at eachother. Its just stressful, she even back-talked Alayna the other day, which I never thought was even possible. Mom says she's just being a teenager, whatever that means" Zach chuckled, though he didn't look overly happy.
He grinned, "I hope things get better for you guys" He murmured, "Its weird when you're not getting along, like the balance of the universe is off" He teased, nodding as he saw his sister.
"Going with you guys, Dad said we'd meet them at your place later tonight for this get together thingy" He waved at Maddie.
"Ready to go meet Serena and them?" He asked her curiously.

Leading the way, Zach threaded his way through the crowd, meeting up with the girls by the theater. Only Serena was standing there, as the others had had to go home.
"Hey" She grinned, handing her brother the bag containing the t-shirt.
"What do you guys wanna do now?" The blonde asked, brushing her long side bangs out of her warm brown eyes.

----

Sami shrugged, "Like I said, its an awkward situation, but I think it'll work out in the end. Maddie's nothing if not stubborn" She grinned, letting the water sooth her.
"My day? It was long" She murmured, she worked at Alexi and Maria's club as a bartender, it was something to do. She didn't work that night, do to the family thing, but she had gone by to help stock the coolers.
"Stupid company screwed up the orders again today. Mitch and Luke were pissed, it was pretty irritating. They brought us way to much beer and not enough liquor. Thats three times now that that's happened"

Nick grimanced as he listened to Zach. "Ich. Why is it that most mortal girls seem to get like that?" he suddenly asked. "One day they're totally fine and the next day they're ready to rip someone's head off?" he wondered.

Maddie smirked, hearing the end of the conversation. "Trust me Nick, you don't want to know." she said, shaking her head gently and following after Zach and Nick out of the arcade.
Nick raised an eyebrow curiously as his sister handed him a bag. "What'd you get me?" he asked curiously, fishing around in the bag. His sister was nortious for this stuff.

Maddie checked her phone. "We still got a few hours. Movie?" Maddie asked curiously, glancing over at Nick when he pulled out a shirt.
"Wow." He said, nodding in approval. "I like it. Thanks." he said before putting it back in the bag.
"Movie? What's out that's good?" he wondered.
"No idea." Maddie admitted with a chuckle.

------------

"Mm, stubbornness seems to run deep in the shifter genes." Carlos mused as he held Sami comfortably.
"Huh, that's odd. They usually never mess up the order than badly." he said, frowning a bit.
"Maybe Alexi ought to invest in a new supplier." Carlos mused with a shrug before kissing Sami gently.
"Tonight will be relaxing." he said, letting her wash up as he slipped from the shower to dry off.
By his reasoning, Sven and Chris would be here soon for dinner.

Zach shrugged, "I honestly think its a girl thing, regardless of whether their mortal or not" He said, laughing lightly at his sister's antics.
"Movie sounds good" He looked up at the 'now playing' section of the large board.
"Erm..." He trailed off trying to find one they'd all like.

Serena smiled, "Glad you like it" She said, picking up the other few bags of clothes. While she liked to shop, Serena did try and stay within the budget her parents set. She didn't like getting into trouble, especially not with Alexi. She joined Zach in looking at the board, "Sherlock Homes Two is out" She said, pointing upwards at the name.
"And it starts in ten minutes, how about that?" She suggested, fishing her wallet out of her bag.
"Sounds good to me" Zach agreed, glancing at the other two curiously.

----

Sami laughed, "I think he intends to" She said, stepping out of the shower and drying off. She dressed quickly, going back into the kitchen to finish the meal.
"Should be here soon" She commented, straining the water from the noodles and setting a bowl of salad on the table.
"Can you put plates out?" She asked, grabbing a bottle of already open red wine for her and Chris to share.

Maddie glanced up at the board, scanning the names quickly.
"Da...that sound's good." Maddie said with a nod of agreement, walking up to the line with Serena.

"Hopefully it'll get out in enough time." Nick murmured as he wandered after the girls. "Dad said him or Mom will come by round seven to pick us up." Nick explained when Maddie looked at him curiously.
"Good thing too, my throat's starting to burn." Nick sighed, trying not to think about it too much.

"You'll be alright?" Maddie asked, looking a bit worried.
"Yea I think so." Nick said with a nod. Alexi and Maria had finally bridged the whole, vampires-hunt-humans thing, but had asked that the twins not hunt on their own. And frankly, Nick was too nervous to even think about trying to do that. He'd suffer and wait till they were home where he could snag a bottle from the fridge.

Getting the tickets, Nick followed after the trio, and while Maddie got popcorn he nudge Zach, saying they should go find seats for the four of them.

-----------

Dress in jeans and a gray dress shirt, which was the casual norm for Carlos, he wandered downstairs as he rolled the sleeves up on his arms.
"Yes darling." he said, rolling his eyes gently and getting plates for her and Chris as well as glasses since she'd set down the wine on the table.
"Well you're not driving tonight." Carlos teased, kissing Sami's forehead gently as he set the table.

Zach nodded, trailing after Nick inside the theater and looking for seats.
"What do you think this get-together will be like?" Zach asked his cousin, spreading his jacket out on the seat beside his so Maddie had a saved seat. He was looking forward to seeing everyone again, but he also knew that tonight could lead to some big arguments between Maddie and his parents, not to mention it made him mor aware of the family members who weren't going to be there. He liked Adam, and was a bit sad he wouldn't get to see the other shifter for awhile. And well, Uncle Vlad was a big one, the family didn't feel whole without him.

Serena helped Maddie carry some of the snacks she'd bought for her and Zach. She frowned, hearing Nick was thirsty, they had eaten that morning and she was fine. Digging in her purse, she was pleased to find a half a bottle of blood, her mother had suggested carrying some around in case of emergency.
"Nick" She murmured, sitting down next to him and handing some candy across him to Zach.
"Here" She shoved the bottle in his hands. "Emergency supply Mom makes me carry" She explained softly, settling down to watch the start of the movie.

---

Sami rolled her eyes, "Nope, I suppose not, Chris won't be driving either though" She said with a chuckle, setting out the now finished pasta. She grinned, she had never been much of a cook, let alone a good cook, so she was rather happy with her abilities.

"I have no idea." Nick admitted. "Mom tends to do stuff like this though. She gets an idea and just acts on it." Nick said with a shrug. "The other day she realized that your family hadn't been over in a while, and neither had Tio Carlos, or Uncle Sven and so this family renunin thing came out of it." Nick explained with a shrug. It sort of made sense though, since there had been a time where the family were almost inseperable, so Nick kind of understood what Maria was getting at.
"It' just supposed to be for fun though." Nick added as Maddie and Serena showed up.

"God your a life saver." Nick said, chuckling at his own pun though Nick doubted he would actually kill anyone right now. Sipping from the bottle, he pulled a face though.
"How long has this been in your bag?" he asked, coughing a bit.

"Got some popcorn and a slushie." Maddie said, picking up Zach's jacket so she didn't sit on it. She wasn't sure if Zach was in a snacking mood, but she had enough to share if he was. Her brother was picking at time, and Maddie could never predicte when the boy wanted human food or blood.

-----

Carlos chuckled. "Apparently not." he said. Hearing footstep outside the door, Carlos headed out of the kitchen and down the stairs to answer the door just as there was a knock.
"'Ello, 'ello, 'ello." Carlos said as he opened the door, smiling at the couple. "Come on in. Sami just finished cooking and for once she didn't burn it." Carlos teased, stepping aside for the two to walk in.

--------

When the movie was over, Nick chuckled to himself. "They would end it like that." he said, shaking his head and checking his phone. It was nearly seven thirty and Maria had texted him twenty minute ago saying she was outside.
"Ah shit. Mom's been waiting for us." Nick muttered, and since his phone was on silent, he hadn't known.
"How long?" Maddie asked.
"Bout twenty minutes now." Nick said.
"Yikes, let's go." Maddie said, knowing Maria could be just as impatient as any other vampire.