"Kitten, please," Nex pleaded. "Can't we just work this out? I said I was sorry."

It was Thursday and every single day since Monday, Kat brought in at least one new religious leader from a different religion. Nex had narrowly dodged holy water more than once and although they all said the wrong things to get rid of him, their presence still made him uneasy. They still carried a strange aura around them that made him uncomfortable.

"This one is basically the enemy of your religion. You realize your denomination name 'protestant' comes from the fact that your denomination protested against the Catholic church, right?" Nex tried.

Kat shrugged when the priest wasn't looking and stayed leaning against the wall with her arms crossed. Nex sighed as the priest roamed around with his rosary and little vial of holy water.

"Ah," the priest said, closing his eyes. "I feel it."

"You do?" Kat asked, pushing off the wall.

"Don't act so excited," Nex snapped.

The priest turned to the side, away from Nex. "It's here," the priest said, waving to the air far to the left of Nex. "I can feel it and it is angry."

"Really?" Nex said, throwing his arms up. "He's not even looking the right way and you still trust him?"

Kat sighed and muttered a quiet 'he's right about the angry part'.

"That's their go-to," Nex scowled. "They always say we're angry. It doesn't mean shit, kitten. What can I do? Just tell me what to do to make it better."

Kat ignored him, focusing on the priest who lit some incense and started chanting. He started waving it around, gestured a cross across his chest and started sprinkling holy water. "The power of Christ compels you!" He shouted, sprinkling the water away from Nex.

"Sure it does," Nex scoffed. "How long is this going to go on? He's not even speaking the right language!"

"There's a right language?" Kat asked, tilting her head to the side. "Of course," she realized, her eyes widening. "Latin."

"What?" The priest asked.

"Nothing," Kat smiled. "Just thinking out loud."

She pulled out her phone and started typing furiously. Nex groaned in frustration before taking a deep breath and walking over to Kat. He set his hands over her screen to stop her movement and instead of letting her jerk away like he'd done all week he kept hold of her hands, not letting her leave this time.

"Katherine, from the deepest part of myself, I am sorry for what I said to you," he said, rubbing his thumb over her knuckles. "I was angry and frustrated but that's no excuse. I'm sorry," he said, lifting his hand to her cheek. "Are you really going to hate me forever? Having you this cross with me is worse than not being able to go home."

Kat's expression softened for the first time in days but she tore her eyes away, shaking her head. She watched the priest carefully before answering quietly so he wouldn't hear.

"Why do you want it to stop?" She whispered. "If we find the right person you could go home, couldn't you?"

"Not the way I want to," Nex answered. "You don't understand, kitten. If I'm killed or exorcised by a priest, I'm sent back to the underworld shamed. I'm stripped of all my titles and everything I've worked for. I'm back to cleaning up blood and torturing instead of having a real job. I don't want that. I want to go back to what I had, my house with my hounds. All that goes away if I'm sent back like this. Status is everything there and if I'm shown to be weak by being sent back by a fucking priest, that's the lowest blow I can get. I'll be lucky if they even let me through without giving me a proper lashing first."

"Lashing?" Kat asked, her eyebrows knitting in concern before it faded, irritation taking its place. "Is that true or are you just lying to me because I'm so pathetically naïve you know I'll believe you?"

"I don't think that, Katherine. I don't. It was a moment of anger and I'm very sorry," Nex said, stroking her cheek. "I'm not lying to you. You know I want to go home more than anything, if I wasn't concerned about the conditions in which I'd return, why would I fight you on this? Why wouldn't I help you find the right person?"

Kat frowned and bit her lip, her eyes darting back to the priest who was still chanting and sprinkling holy water. She watched him for a moment before sighing and shaking her head.

"Fine. But you have to respect my space from now on," she said in irritation. "No messing with me, no sneaking up on me and scaring me, no breaking my stuff and absolutely no being cruel just because you're in a bad mood. And if you sleep in the bed you have to stay on your side," she said, crossing her arms.

"You'll let me sleep in the bed still?" Nex asked, his lips twitching into a smile.

"It doesn't mean anything," Kat said quickly. "I just am incapable of not feeling guilty that you're in this situation and that couch is like a million years old."

"I'll take it, kitten," Nex said, placing a kiss on her forehead. "Thank you."

"Whatever," Kat grumbled. "How's it going?" She said louder, catching the priest's attention.

"The spirit is gone," the priest said triumphantly and walking over to her.

Nex gave her a look and she ignored it, offering the priest a smile. "Thank you so much."

"You come to me if you ever have any more problems," the priest said, taking one of her hands with both of his and gesturing a cross in between them. "I'll pray for your safety."

"Thank you," Kat said politely, opening the door and letting him out.

Once he was gone, she leaned back against the door and sighed. Nex watched through the window until the priest was a ways down the street.

"Right, so, let's talk about the new people I came up with to kill that you can't possibly have an argument against," he said, rubbing his hands together.

"No," Kat said, holding her hand up and shaking her head. "I don't have time for your murder plans. I have to go to the mall," she said, slipping on her jacket.

"What for?" Nex frowned.

"An..." she paused, looking at him hesitantly. "An outfit."

"Oh, for the date?" Nex said, wrinkling his nose.

"You're not allowed to be mean," Kat reminded him.

"I'm not being mean," Nex sighed. "I just think he's a tool."

"You saw him once for like ten seconds," Kat pointed out, grabbing her purse.

"He's such an incredible tool that it took less than that to identify him as such," Nex said, narrowing his eyes.

"Whatever," Kat said, rolling her eyes and leaving the house.

Nex appeared next to Kat on the street, making her jump. She glared at him and he smiled sheepishly.

"Sorry, force of habit," he said innocently. "What do you even see in him?"

"How is this any of your business?" Kat said, heading towards the bus.

"Because I want to go home and instead of dedicating your time to helping me do that, you're getting distracted by some random fool who isn't good enough for you," Nex said.

"You're being ridiculous. Are you protective over me now?" Kat asked, a smile playing on her lips.

"You're my ticket home so yes, kitten, I'm a little protective over you," Nex grumbled.

"That's strangely sweet and unlike you," Kat said, getting on the bus.

"It's not sweet," Nex scowled. "It's out of obligation."

"You don't like to be complimented, do you?" Kat asked, tilting her head to the side, holding the handle bar in the bus as it started moving.

"I love to be complimented," Nex scoffed. "Preferably regarding sex and death."

Kat rolled her eyes and looked away, staring out the window. Nex ignored her request to not bring up more people to kill, earning some strange looks from people on the bus, leaving Kat with no choice but to hide her face in embarrassment.

Kat couldn't get off the bus fast enough when they finally reached the stop for the mall. She practically sprinted out, sending Nex dirty looks.

"What is wrong with you? You can't just casually discuss killing people," she huffed.

"Why not? It makes everyone uncomfortable," he shrugged. "It's very entertaining. Why do you take the bus? Is the car in your garage not functioning?"

Kat bit her lip and shrugged. "It functions fine," she muttered.

"Then why don't you just drive yourself?" Nex frowned.

"I don't like driving, okay? Drop it," Kat snapped, walking into the mall.

Nex paused, surprised at her tone. He briefly considered pressing but decided against it since she'd just started speaking to him again. Instead, he followed her inside and stayed silent as long as he could while she went through the clothes. He watched her pick some out and sighed, shaking his head.

"I can't take it anymore," he said, snatching the outfits from her arms and putting them back.

"Hey," she pouted.

"I can't with this," he said, gesturing to the clothes and grabbing her hand. "Come on. We are not shopping in the old lady section. You're still young, aren't you? How old are you?" He asked, tugging her behind him.

"I'm nineteen and I doubt I'll like anything you pick. I like to be modest," Kat said, trying to break free of his grip. She couldn't remember the last time someone held her hand and the effect it had on her was confusing, just like all the other feelings she had around him.

"Nineteen? Shit, you're basically a baby still," he muttered.

"I'm not a baby," Kat scowled. "How old are you?"

Nex snapped his mouth shut and shook his head. "Doesn't matter."

"How old are you?" Kat repeated.

Nex ignored her and stopped in front of a rack, releasing her hand and flipping through the hangars of clothes.

"Nex," Kat said, tugging on his sleeve. "How old are you?"

"Drop it, kitten," Nex snapped, pulling out a dress and handing it over. "Put that on."

"I'm not putting anything on until you answer my question," Kat said, crossing her arms.

"Does it matter?" Nex sighed.

"Not really but you're being so weird about it now I want to know," Kat admitted.

"Curiosity killed the cat, kitten," Nex smirked.

"That was original," Kat said, rolling her eyes.

"Come on, put it on, I'm doing you a favor," Nex said, grabbing her hand again and dragging her to the dressing rooms.

"Tell me how old you are," Kat persisted.

They reached the dressing rooms and Nex nudged her in one, tossing the dress on the bench inside. He braced on the doorway with a look that had Kat silencing and taking a step back.

"Put it on yourself or I'll help you put it on," he warned, stepping back and closing the door, leaving her alone.

"Where's your sense of compromise?" Kat whined, snatching the dress.

"Two hundred and twenty seven," Nex said through the door.

Kat's eyes widened. She tried to think of something to say but couldn't.

"That's why I didn't want to tell you," Nex snapped.

"It's just a number," Kat frowned. "I don't care, I'm just surprised."

"Sure, kitten. How long does it take to put on a dress?"

Kat rolled her eyes and changed into the dress. She stared in the mirror, surprised she actually liked it. It was a dark red sweater dress and it wasn't too short, it went down to her knees. And the neckline was modest. She opened the door and Nex's eyes darted up and down her body, making her blush.

"Well?" Nex asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I like it," Kat admitted.

"See? You can trust me," Nex said, leaning back against the wall. "You can still wear the leggings you're so attached to and you should definitely wear those tall boots."

"How do you know I have tall boots?" Kat frowned.

"I had to move them to make space for my clothes," Nex shrugged.

"Whatever," Kat sighed. She played with the sleeves of the dress, blushing again. "Do you... Do you like it?"

"Yes," Nex answered, his eyes sweeping over her again. "Very much. You look lovely."

"Thanks," Kat said, biting her lip and hurrying inside the dressing room.

She leaned back against the door and released a breath she didn't know she was holding. Her heart was racing a little too fast, her hands a little too fidgety. She covered her face with her hands, trying to remind herself who exactly she was going on a date with tomorrow and who she wasn't.