Showers, Flowers, and Fangs

by Aidan Wayne

  Darren groaned. “Sorry. I should’ve known the first thing they’d want to do was call you up also. You’re their friend too.”

  “I didn’t mind,” Vlad said. “It was sweet how much they care about you. And most of it was congratulations.”

  “Most?”

  “Bethany also said that if I hurt you, I would greatly regret it, and Trisha asked me very nicely to please be very careful with you, because I am your first real boyfriend.” Vlad sounded way too amused about all this. Though Darren supposed it was better than him being freaked out.

  “Like I’m not your first real boyfriend either,” Darren muttered. “And I’m not some wilting flower here.”

  “Of course not,” Vlad said easily.

  “There’s something else,” Darren said, suspicious. “I know those two. What else did they say?”

  Vlad chuckled. “I now have several lists of all your likes and dislikes, as well as your favorite foods, types of movies, places to eat out, and things to do.”

  “Wha—but you already know all that stuff.”

  “As I said, it is very sweet how much they care about you.”

  “Yeah, well,” said Darren, “I know the same things about you. So there.”

  Vlad chuckled again. “So there?”

  “Right. We’re even. Or… we would be, but I haven’t gotten the shovel talk from anyone yet.”

  “I do not think Tabitha would give you one,” Vlad said. “She was just very happy for us. And she likes you.”

  “Oh! So telling her went well. Great! Good.”

  “And I assured her that I would not have started this relationship if I didn’t know I could be careful.”

  “Oh. Uh, did she… was she worried about that?”

  “No.” Vlad sounded puzzled. “But that’s important. For your parents to know too. I thought they would have called Tabitha by now.”

  “Oh! Sorry, that’s my fault. Beth called me just when I was going to their office, so I figured I’d just tell her first. And then I had to call Trish immediately, before Beth got to her. I was going to grab my parents now.”

  “Okay,” said Vlad. “I won’t keep you, then. Let me know how it goes?” he added hesitantly.

  “I’ll call you again as soon as I tell them,” Darren promised. “And don’t worry, they really like you.”

  “Yes, but now I’m dating their son. And I’m… still a vampire.”

  “Hey, hey, stop it. Don’t wind yourself up. I’mma go talk to them now. You can go… do something really distracting so you’re not worrying until I call you back. Promise.”

  “I suppose I can see if Tabitha has any chores for me. She’s been letting me help with some of her preparations lately.”

  “Great! Go do that. I’ll call you soon, okay?”

  “Okay,” Vlad said, before hanging up.

  Not wanting to waste any more time, Darren stowed his phone and headed to his parents’ office. One of the reasons he and Vlad had picked today was because both Darren’s parents and Tabitha were working at home.

  Darren opened the door. “Mom? Dad? You guys busy?”

  “What do you need, Darren?” Darren’s father asked, glancing up from his computer. Darren stepped fully inside the room.

  “Can I talk to you guys for a sec?” His parents exchanged looks, and Darren was quick to hold up his hands. “It’s not bad! I didn’t do anything! Not even accidentally!”

  “Okay,” Darren’s mother said, turning fully to face him. “What did you want to talk about?” With both his parents looking at him expectantly, Darren felt suddenly nervous. It was pretty big news, after all. But—but it’s not like they’d be mad, right? And they liked Vlad. Especially with how much he’d worked with Darren to study for finals. Darren was pretty sure the B he’d managed in physics could be credited entirely to Vlad. Vlad was pretty awesome. Also, waiting for Darren’s phone call, so Darren should probably get on with it.

  “Uh, I just wanted to tell you guys that I’m seeing someone now? I mean, dating. I don’t think there’s a difference. And it’s Vlad. I’m dating Vlad. I just wanted to tell you.” He fought the urge to say I hope that’s okay because even if it wasn’t it was so. He wasn’t going to say that.

  His mom smiled at him. “Okay,” she said after Darren stopped talking. “Thank you for telling us.” His father nodded. Darren looked between them.

  “What, that’s it? No questions? No uncomfortable talk?”

  “I thought your father gave you that talk when you went to camp last year, but if you want it again—”

  “No!” Darren said quickly. “That’s fine. I’m good. A-OK, once was enough.” His mother nodded and then raised her eyebrows at her husband. Darren watched them have their weird silent parental conversation for a minute before saying, “Well. Okay. I’ll… let you guys get back to work, then?”

  “Darren,” his father said suddenly, having apparently lost—won?—whatever had been going on.

  “Yeah?”

  “Be careful, okay?”

  Darren bristled. “Dad, Vlad’s not dangerous, he wouldn’t—”

  His father shook his head. “No, you be careful. Vlad’s only just getting comfortable here. You’ve got a great head on your shoulders, but… remember to take it easy on him, all right?”

  “Of course! I—I wouldn’t, like, pressure him into anything. Dad! What even!”

  His father held up his hands in surrender. “Hey, it had to be said. Parental duty.”

  “You totally like my boyfriend more than me,” Darren accused.

  His father looked thoughtful. “You know, I wonder if he’s gotten the talk yet. Maybe I should offer—”

  “Dad!” Darren said, aghast.

  His father chuckled. “Congratulations on the boyfriend, son.”

  “We’re very happy for you,” his mother added, smiling. “Tell Vlad to come over for dinner, if he’s free.”

  “Yeah, okay. I was just gonna call him now, so.”

  She made a shooing motion with her hand. “Then by all means, don’t keep the poor boy in suspense. He’s probably dying to know how we took the news.” Darren grinned and raced out of the room.

  “Darren!” his father yelled. “Door!”

  “Sorry, sorry,” Darren said, coming back to shut the door carefully before heading to his bedroom and grabbing up his phone. Vlad answered on the second ring.

  “Hello? What did they say?”

  “Vlad,” Darren said, “you promised you were going to do something distracting!”

  “I was,” Vlad insisted. “I’m in the woods, practicing my shifting. It’s still very frustrating. What did they say?”

  “Totally cool with it,” Darren said easily. “Also, you’re invited to dinner.”

  “So they can… threaten me in person?” Vlad asked. He was probably kidding.

  Darren snorted. “No, dummy, ’cause they want to see you. I’m pretty sure my parents like you best. Do you even know how much blood soup we have in the freezer right now? Do you?”

  “Oh,” Vlad said. “I’m glad they took it well.”

  “Told you there’d be nothing to worry about,” Darren said happily. “So hey, you said you were in the woods?”

  “Yes.”

  “I could meet you at the clearing, if you want?”

  “I’d like that a lot. Please come.”

  “Cool! I’m there.”

  VLAD WAS up in a tree, settled among the branches when Darren showed up at the clearing. Upon hearing Darren’s greeting, he dissipated into a mist and rematerialized a moment later standing next to him on the ground.

  “You’re getting really good at that,” Darren said with a smile before leaning in and kissing Vlad just because he could. Vlad seemed happy enough with the compliment and the treatment, smiling against his mouth before Darren pulled back and they both sat down on the moss.

  “So!” he said, nudging Vlad with his foot. “We’re officially boyfriends in the eyes of everyone who
knows us. How do you feel?”

  Vlad huffed a laugh. “Happy, I guess.”

  “You guess? Vlad, come on, that’s just unfair. At the very least, this rates a ‘very.’”

  Vlad quirked his lips. “I guess I’m very happy,” he allowed.

  “Nerd,” Darren muttered affectionately. “Hey, so, I was thinking, maybe we could celebrate? You know, do something that counts as an official real first date?”

  Vlad grinned. “Yes. Let’s do that.”

  “Cool! What would you like to do? Watch a movie, maybe ride our bikes around?” Vlad open his mouth and then frowned, and Darren backtracked. “Or something else. Whatever you want.”

  “No, I—” Vlad shifted. “Bethany said that she was going to an opening night at the movies with you this weekend.”

  “Oh.” Darren frowned. “Sorry? I didn’t invite you ’cause I just figured… movie theater, you know? In town. I didn’t know if you were up for that yet?”

  “She suggested I take you,” Vlad said, fidgeting with the hem of his shirt. “Instead of her.”

  Darren leaned forward. “You want to?” he asked eagerly.

  Vlad sighed. “I do. But I… I don’t know if being around that many people… I still can’t control my shift and—”

  Darren shook his head. “Then let’s not. It’s fine. You know I’m good with anything. I like just being with you. That’s, you know, sort of the point of dating someone.”

  “But I want to,” Vlad said. “I want to take you out on a date. I just can’t. Because I can’t—”

  “Hey,” Darren said, grabbing on to Vlad’s shoulders. “Listen. If you want to try, I am absolutely down with that. But if you’re uncomfortable, we won’t. That’s fine too. Look at it this way: the minute you go out in public, I’ll have a ton of competition from all the people swarming to date you.”

  Vlad rolled his eyes, but his lips were quirked up again.

  “You doubt me?” Darren said. “The one time you actually went out, a girl gave you her number, and all you did was order ice cream. According to statistics, that means I’m 100 percent right.”

  Vlad let out a snort. “That’s not how statistics work,” he said before pausing thoughtfully. “Darren?”

  “Yeah?”

  “Would you like to go get ice cream with me?”

  Darren beamed. “Uh, yeah! Let’s go.”

  They took their time biking over and, after locking the bikes up, walked into the ice cream store hand in hand. Romina took one look at their joined hands and heaved a heavy sigh, muttering under her breath, but served them quickly. Vlad, who insisted on paying this time, left her a tip.

  Ice cream procured, they went back outside and picked a spot on the curb to sit side by side, hands still linked.

  “Why’d you get a cone this time?” Darren asked, in between long licks of chocolate chip cookie dough. “I thought you couldn’t eat them?”

  “I can’t,” Vlad replied, his own licks methodical and precise. “But this way I can still hold your hand. A spoon would have been more difficult.”

  “You are the most adorable nerd I have ever met,” Darren told him seriously. “Also, am I allowed to kiss you if I’ve been eating ice cream?”

  “As long as it’s not mint,” Vlad said, lips quirked.

  Darren matched his smile and happily leaned in.

  Chapter Ten

  DARREN WASN’T a light sleeper. For the most part, once he was asleep, he was dead to the world. It had taken a lot of very intense practice to train his body to wake up to his phone alarm and even that still wasn’t a totally sure thing; he sometimes turned it off in his sleep and went back to bed.

  So his phone ringing was jarring, but more than that, it was enough to actually startle him awake. Against his will. He tried to ignore it at first, but it kept going and if someone was calling him this early, it probably had to be important?

  He groped for his phone and swiped to answer, squeezing his eyes shut against the morning sun.

  “H’lo?” he asked muzzily.

  “Darren, I—it’s Vlad? I’m sorry, did I wake you? I did not mean—”

  Darren scrubbed a hand over his face and sank back down into his pillow. “No, it’s okay,” he said, voice still thick with sleep. “Are you okay? What—what time’s it?”

  “I’m fine,” Vlad said. “It’s morning. I—thought you would be up by now.”

  Darren squinted at his cell phone. Just after seven thirty. “What are you even doing up? What kind of teenager are you? It’s summer.”

  “I thought the fae liked the morning hours.” Darren could hear Vlad’s amusement through the phone.

  “And I thought vampires hated them,” Darren shot back.

  “Yes, yes, you get a point. I am sorry for waking you. I just, I was talking to Tabitha—”

  “What is she doing up?”

  “Darren,” Vlad said impatiently.

  “Sorry, sorry. What is it?”

  “I’ve decided to do it.”

  “Do what?” Darren asked through a yawn.

  “Practice shifting without my wards.”

  That got Darren sitting up and awake. “What? Really?”

  “Yes. I just. I don’t want to be afraid anymore. I want to be able to go out and do things like go shopping at a real store or go see a movie in a theater.” And oh, they’d been over at Trish’s house and she’d been talking about going with Marco to a new restaurant that’d just opened up, had invited them both along to make it a double date before even thinking about it—“So this is the next step. I, I was wondering….”

  “Yeah, yes,” Darren said immediately. “Sure, I’ll be there. When?”

  “Charlie is going to pick me up this afternoon. Because Tabitha’s house is warded too, we need to train off-property.”

  “Okay,” Darren said. “Sounds good.” He got out of bed and shivered through the feeling of electricity spiraling up his arms. “Oh, and hey, after we’re done, we can celebrate your next big step!”

  “How?”

  Darren grinned and looked out his window. “Storm’s coming.”

  “THIS PLACE is really uh… deserted,” Darren said, rubbing at his arms as they got out of the car.

  Charlie nodded. “I figured it would be more comfortable the farther away from people we were,” he explained. “This will be the first time Vlad has ever tried shifting without his wards. The fewer bystanders, the fewer the chances of possible backlash.”

  Vlad eyed Darren warily. “Darren, perhaps you should wait in the car.”

  Darren frowned. “What’s the point of being moral support if I’m not with you to do any supporting?” But then Charlie was turning to him too.

  “Vlad’s right,” he said gently. “It might not be safe. We don’t know what will happen.”

  “Easy,” Darren said, crossing his arms. “Vlad’ll be awesome, because there’s nothing to worry about.” At Vlad’s expression he sighed. “Look, first sign of any trouble, I’m gone, okay?”

  “Darren,” Vlad said. “You can’t outrun me.”

  “Oh my god,” Darren groaned. “I’ll make a faerie circle. You go crazy or something, which you won’t, and I’ll be out of here. Will that work?”

  Vlad pursed his lips but nodded. “All right.”

  “Well,” said Charlie, “all settled?” They both nodded. “All right, then, why don’t we get started. Darren, if you could make your—” And then Charlie let out a wet gasp and collapsed.

  “Oh my god! Charlie?” Darren crouched to check him out. Did he faint? Could vampires get the vapors? “Vlad—call Tabitha, we need to—”

  Vlad took one step toward them before he leaped backward, eyes flashing from green to gold and looking absolutely terrified. “I can smell her!” he said, voice high and thin, looking around frantically. “I can smell her!”

  Darren had to choose between an unconscious vampire and a slightly hysterical one. But at least Charlie was breathing, and he wasn’t going
anywhere. “Okay,” he said trying for calm, holding up his hands to Vlad. “Smell who?”

  “She—Moth—” Vlad was slurring again, his fangs elongated. “Charlie smells like her blood!” He looked like he was two seconds away from grabbing Darren up and bolting.

  “Vlad, calm down, okay? It’s okay. We just need to call Tabitha. She’ll pick us up. She knows we’re out here. She’ll know what to do about Charlie, okay?” He stood up and took out his cell phone, showing it to Vlad. “See? I’m calling her right—” A jolt of something slammed through him, knocking him off his feet. He hit the ground hard, blinking dots out of his eyes.

  “Ow,” Darren mumbled faintly. “What—?” He gingerly sat up. There was a woman standing a few feet away, watching him, eyes calculating. Vlad ran over to him, glaring up the stranger.

  “Keep away from us!” His eyes were full-on gold, and he’d cut his lip on his fangs, the blood dripping down his chin.

  “She’s still conscious,” the woman said, sounding… pleased? What? Who was she talking about? “How wonderful. She might be able to keep up with you, Gregori. You may keep her as a pet. I wouldn’t mind some grandchildren, after all this time.”

  “Wait a minute,” Darren said muzzily. “Who the what now?” He leveled himself up, leaning against Vlad, shaking his head to clear it. The buzzing under his skin was an itch, like he was winding up for a thunderstorm, and he used it to bring himself back to reality. “Vlad, what’s going on, and who the heck is she?”

  Vlad hadn’t taken his eyes off the woman, not even to check Darren over. He was breathing hard, chest heaving in rapid pants, and Darren got it.

  “This is her,” he said quietly. “She’s the big bad who turned you.”

  Vlad swallowed and nodded, still not looking at Darren. Okay, hugely powerful, incredibly old vampire who cared about Vlad enough to hunt him down across half the world.

  They were totally going to die.

  But Darren was not a kid of the modern media age for nothing. If there was one thing he knew about villains it was keep them busy, keep them talking. “What’d you do to Charlie?” he asked, trying to move so he was shielding Vlad at least a little bit.