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bowl, and then we can put them together."

"Got it." Alaric found a bowl and measuring cups and started to measure out the items. Meredith watched his strong, tanned hands confidently leveling off the flour. Alaric had gorgeous hands, she thought. His shoulders were nice, too, and his face. Al of him, real y.

She realized she was ogling her boyfriend instead of stirring, and felt her cheeks color, even though no one was watching her. "Pass me the measuring cups when you're done with them?"

He handed them to her. "I know something scary's going on, and I want to protect Bonnie, too," he said, smiling a little, "but I think she might be milking the situation a little. She loves that everyone's pampering her."

"Bonnie's being very brave," said Meredith primly, then flashed him a grin, "and, yes, she might be milking it."

Matt came down the stairs and into the kitchen. "I think maybe Bonnie should have some tea when she gets out of her bubble bath," he said. "Mrs. Flowers is busy putting protective spel s on the bedroom Bonnie chose, but she said she has a mix of chamomile and rosemary that would be good, and to put honey in it."

Meredith focused on mixing the cookie ingredients together as Matt boiled water and careful y measured dried herbs and honey to make the tea to Mrs. Flowers's exact specifications. When he final y finished fussing over it, Matt picked up the fragile teacup and saucer careful y.

"Wait, maybe I'd better take the whole pot up," he said. As he searched for a tray to carry it on, he asked,

"Meredith, are you sure you and Bonnie got everything she might need from her house?"

"She was up there for nearly a half hour. She got everything she wanted," said Meredith, "and if we missed anything, I'm sure Mrs. Flowers has some extras."

"Good," said Matt, his handsome face intent as he picked up the tea tray without spil ing anything. "I just want to make sure Bonnie's okay."

He left the kitchen, and Meredith listened to his footsteps heading back upstairs. Once he was out of earshot, she and Alaric both burst out laughing.

"Yes, she's definitely milking it," said Meredith, when she'd stopped giggling.

Alaric pul ed her toward him. His face was serious and intent now, and Meredith caught her breath. When they were this close, she could see the hidden flecks of gold in his hazel eyes, and they felt like a secret only Meredith knew.

"I love how you take care of your friend," Alaric told her, his voice low. "What I love most is that you know she's pushing it as far as she can, seeing what you'l do for her, and you laugh, but you're stil going to give her whatever she needs." He frowned a little. "No, that's not right. I do love how you see the funny side of it, but what I love most is how wel you take care of everyone you can." He pul ed her closer stil . "I guess mostly I love you, Meredith."

Meredith kissed him. How could she have worried that Celia would come between them? It was like there had been a mist fil ing her eyes, making it so that she was unable to see the simple truth: Alaric was crazy about her. After a minute, she broke the kiss and turned back to the cookie dough. "Get a cookie sheet, would you?" she asked. Alaric stood stil for a moment. "Okay..." he said. Closing her eyes, Meredith summoned al her strength. She had to tel him. She had promised herself she would. He handed her a cookie sheet and she busied herself by scooping spoonfuls of dough onto it. "There's something I need to tel you, Alaric," she said.

Alaric froze next to her. "What is it?" he asked, his voice wary.

"It's going to sound unbelievable."

He gave a snort of laughter. "More unbelievable than everything else that's happened since I met you?"

"Sort of," Meredith said. "Or, at least, it's specifical y about me this time. I've been..." It was hard to say. "I come from a family of vampire hunters. Al my life, I've been training to fight. I guess taking care of people is a family trait." She smiled weakly.

Alaric stared at her.

"Say something," Meredith prompted after a moment. He pushed his hair out of his eyes and looked wildly around. "I don't know what to say. I'm surprised you never told me this. I thought" - he paused -