Vampire Friend

by V. B. Andrian

  “So, tell us, sweetheart. How do you like California so far?” Ben asked, his eyes sparkling with mischief behind his wire-rimmed glasses.

  I offered him a genuine smile, one I hadn’t managed to conjure before Nate had arrived. I’d been too nervous. “Oh, I love it. I think maybe I’m more my father’s daughter than I’d realized. He was from Florida, and he’d never managed to get used to ‘the cold front’ as he would call it. And now that I’m getting used to the climate, maybe I won’t be able to go back either.” I didn’t mention that I had plenty of other reasons not to go back as well. It wasn’t the time to darken the mood with stories about Mother.

  “Evy said he’s a doctor?” Colin asked. His eyes were as startling blue as Evy’s, and even though he was nothing but kind, I felt the need to fidget in my seat.

  “Um, no. He owned the majority of Dover Co., and was CEO of the London offices. But he and I always had this dream that I would become a brain surgeon.” I felt the usual pang of sadness in my chest at the memory of my Dad, but covered it with a small smile.

  Nate’s fingers grazed the middle of my spine lightly, as if he was reassuring me he was there with me, for me. I resisted the urge to lean back in response.

  “I’m sorry. I hadn’t realized he’s no longer with us,” Colin said, solemnly. Then his tone lightened, giving me a small, comforting smile. “Is it just you and your mother then? No siblings?”

  I shook my head. “I was adopted. Mother never really wanted children, so they never had any of their own or adopted again.” I was getting a little nervous, which was never a good sign. I’d already slipped and mentioned Mother’s distaste for children.

  “Oh, she must have been devastated that you left then,” Martha commented, seemingly oblivious to my previous comment.

  And just because I was probably cursed, I hurried to reassure her of the opposite. “No, not really. More like disgruntled that she no longer has me there to show me off. She and I aren’t really close. Ever since my Dad died she and I have grown further and further apart, so it wasn’t very hard for me to make the decision and leave. The only problem appears to be that she can no longer control me as much as she’d like…” I snapped my mouth shut, and maybe just this once my embarrassment was visible on my cheeks.

  Everyone stared at me in silence. My friends were hiding a healthy dose of mirth behind their eyes, while the four people that didn’t know me seemed startled by my revelation. I could have used a hole in the ground to hide into.

  “Well, at least that gives us something to be thankful for,” Evy chimed in. All eyes turned to her in question. She shrugged and explained. “What? That bitch is partly the reason we got to meet Ali.”

  A beat of silence passed, filled with incredulous looks by three of the older people in the room – Ben wasn’t one of them – and then the rest of us burst into laughter – including Ben. Thankfully, the stunned ones quickly followed suit, and I breathed in relief, sending Evy grateful glances.

  “Evy, I swear we’ve taught you to be nicer than that,” Carla said, shaking her head albeit still smiling.

  Colin snorted. “Nicer? It’s a miracle she turned out as nice as she is with all the spoiling we’ve given her.” Then he turned to me. “Well, if there’s anything we can help you with, don’t hesitate to ask. Carla and I are both doctors, though not surgeons. If you’d like, I have plenty of friends in the state that would love to have an intern as bright as you.”

  I smiled and nodded. “Thank you. It’s still rather early to be discussing internships, but maybe I’ll take you up on that offer in the future. Hopefully,” I added as an afterthought. Oli’s words of Mother coming to take me back to England loomed over my head like a guillotine. I was getting anxious of what she would do to get me to go back with her. And would I be able to stand my ground, or would I succumb and do as I was told? I was fairly resistant to her threats over the phone, but I didn’t know if I could do it with her right in front of me.

  Nate’s hand pressed against my back, and I felt my body leaning slightly into his touch, automatically seeking his comfort. I hadn’t told him or anyone about the possible ‘threat’, so he couldn’t know what I was worried about. But maybe he’d sensed my anxiety and wanted to comfort me. Or maybe he just wanted to touch me, and the timing of his gesture was simply coincidental. I couldn’t decide which explanation I would have preferred.

  Carla clapped her hands once. “Well, now that everyone is here, I should start on tonight’s dinner. Evy, why don’t you show everyone to their rooms?” She stood and Martha followed her to the kitchen. Colin started a conversation with Ben about something they’d heard over the news, as Evy jumped off her seat and extended her hand to me.

  “Come on. You’re getting the nicest room.”

  I took her hand and grinned, following her up the stairs. I glanced over my shoulder to see Nate and Luke following, while Kay joined Ben and Colin. Luke whispered something to Nate that made Nate scowl, but it quickly went away when he looked up and saw me looking at him. I gave him a big smile, and saw something in his face relax as his lips tipped up in one corner.

  The Williams’ house was big. It had two bedrooms on the ground floor, one with an en-suite, and four more bedrooms on the second floor with two bathrooms. I’d been given the tour earlier by Carla, and knew there was also a big basement that had been shaped into a sort-of playroom, with a billiards table, a big flat-screen television, a separate room with exercise equipment and a separate bathroom. Mother’s house in London was equally big in terms of bedrooms and space, but it lacked the basement and had fewer bathrooms.

  I imagined – with a hint of amusement – Mother’s face if she knew someone had a house with more bathrooms than hers. She would most likely have someone build an entire extra floor, with just bathrooms to make up for it.

  The second floor was separated by a spacious hallway with three doors on each side. I knew the first door on the left and the last on the right were the bathrooms. Evy led me to the last door to the left and guided me in.

  “This is you,” she said, opening her arms to her sides in a ‘voila’ gesture. “Nate is right next door, Luke opposite him and the first door to the right as we came up the stairs is my and Kay’s room. Parents and grandparents are all downstairs, so feel free to do as much moonlight walking as you want.”

  I laughed mockingly. “Hilarious, Evy.” I turned my back to her and walked to my suitcase that had been placed at the foot of the queen-sized bed.

  “What?” Evy asked in mock innocence. “My twin will definitely need some help sleeping. He hasn’t slept in two weeks.”

  “Thanks for that, sis,” Nate’s sarcastic voice came from the door.

  I span around to see him leaning against the doorframe to my room. He was shooting Evy a scolding look, which was simply – if not magnanimously – ignored by her.

  “Since you’re full of bullshit these days, I thought I’d make it easier for you,” she told him, and with a beaming smile at me, she slipped past him and left the room.

  Nate shook his head at her retreating form, before turning back to look at me. “Can I come in?”

  I gave him a dry look, even though my heart was slamming against my ribcage. “Of course.”

  He walked in and made to push the door closed, but then reconsidered and left it open. He came beside me, and his hand came up to push a strand of my hair behind my ear. Even through his small smile, I could tell he was nervous by the bobbing of his Adam’s apple as he swallowed. “So… Luke said you went out on Monday?”

  I blinked in surprise. I hadn’t expected that. “Um, yes. He and Evy came by my dormitory in the afternoon, and Luke suggested he took me out, because I hadn’t seen any of you for quite a while.” I saw him wincing slightly at my comment and hurried to brush it off. “I’d been really busy with the research, and since I couldn’t take the samples to the lab, I’d holed up in my room with it. We went bowling, actually. It was the first time I played. Not very
good at it though. Luke and Sean kicked my bottom really.”

  Nate smiled at my rambling, and continued toying with the edges of my hair. “I’m glad you had fun. And Luke says Sean is a decent guy.” He appeared to want to say more, but he just slightly shook his head, and looked at what his fingers were doing.

  Sean is a decent guy? Yes, I knew that. I was about to tell him more about him, about how he was a police-officer and he knew about my research, and about the note, when something in my mind snapped into place.

  “Nate, it wasn’t a date,” I hurried to reassure him, searching for his gaze. When he continued to play with my hair, I put my hand over his to get his attention. His eyes lifted, and I took the first good glimpse of them. The dark smudges under his eyes had enhanced, and his irises were red-rimmed, a sign of his insomnia. But on top of that, he seemed anxious. “We just played some bowling and ate hamburgers. That was all.”

  He held my gaze for a few long moments, then shut his eyes tightly as he sat at the foot of the bed. “I’m sorry, Ali. I didn’t mean to say that. You can go out with anyone you want, you know that. I was just… Luke mentioned it and I was curious… but it’s not my business.”

  I sat down beside him. My heart had gone crazy once more. He was jealous. Could it mean that he was starting to acknowledge some feelings for me? I wanted him to know my feelings hadn’t changed, as risky as it might be to send him running again. “Nate, I’m not interested in Sean that way. Or anyone else for that matter. I’m… My feelings haven’t changed.”

  He squeezed his eyes again and dropped his head in his hands. “Fuck,” he grumbled.

  I could see his distress and I wanted to hug him. But having just reminded him of my feelings was what had caused it in the first place, and I didn’t want to push him any further. But I couldn’t resist touching him either. My hand moved of its own accord and slipped into his hair, caressing it softly.

  “I didn’t mean for you to fall in love with me, Ali. I screwed up. And I wish I could somehow fix it.” I almost flinched at his words, but he went on before I could protest. “Do you know why the expression is ‘fall in love’?” His voice was low, not hiding the pain he was feeling. “Because there’s no going back. Because if you start falling you’ll eventually crash. And if you crash you’re ruined, destroyed. Well, I crashed. She died. Now, I’m ruined. I’m destroyed.”

  I stared at him for a long moment, utterly dumbfounded by what he’d said. “What in the bloody hell are you talking about?” My voice had gone up in volume, which was at least unlikely for me. Nate lifted his head from his hands, looking at me in startled bemusement. “You fall in love because it’s a natural need of the human body. You cannot live without love like you cannot live without oxygen. And the expression is that way because…” I thought of how I felt about him and lowered my voice, “because it actually feels like falling. It’s fast and sudden. But when it happens, you never reach the bottom. You keep falling, every day further and further, because there’s no ending in love.”

  I realized then what I’d said and I bit my bottom lip hard. His eyes softened on me, but he didn’t say anything. So I went on to keep him from freaking out.

  “Nate, I don’t mean anything by it. It’s simply the way it is. My point is, you did nothing wrong. And I don’t mind that you don’t feel the same about me. I know you’re hurt and you miss her.” I swallowed hard when his eyes dimmed. “But that doesn’t mean I want you to help me fix it. There’s nothing to fix. And maybe I’ll simply get over it. That is to say, if you don’t… ever return my feelings. My heart… I think people’s hearts may have a self-preservation system. An inner defense of sorts that lets them move on when…” I huffed. “I’m rambling, and now I really lost my train of thought… but don’t feel guilty for my own feelings. They are what they are, and you don’t need to think about them twice.”

  It hurt to even think the words, let alone say them out loud. But I wanted to release him from the guilt, and I was willing to say anything to do it. If what he needed was reassurance that I would get over him, then that was what I would do.

  Nate’s hand came up and he cupped my jaw. His emerald eyes scanned my face, and a hint of a smile started showing at his lips, that slowly grew as he said, “I like it when you ramble.”

  I let out a crazed laughter and shook my head. “Well, at least that makes one of us. I hate it. It makes me sound mental.”

  He chuckled as his thumb traced small circles on my cheek. I felt my skin melting under his touch. “Mental or not, I like it. Actually, maybe I like it because it makes you sound mental.”

  Nate

  Very few things in life are worth getting your ass kicked for. Sneaking into Ali’s room in the middle of the night is definitely one of them. I didn’t knock, to avoid making much noise. All lights in the room were off, and I only had a soft gleam coming from the window to guide me.

  I stood by the door as I entered to let my eyes adjust.

  “Nate? Is that you?” she asked in whisper. I could only see a vague outline. She was under the covers and propped up on her elbow to look at me.

  “Yeah, it’s me,” I whispered back. “Mind if I lie down with you?”

  She shook her head, and I could hear a smile in her soft voice. “No, come in.”

  I hadn’t moved faster in my life. I was jumping on the bed and getting under the covers in seconds. A giggle escaped her lips, and I couldn’t help but chuckle back.

  “Please, don’t break the bed,” she teased.

  “Shush. Lie down.”

  She obeyed and I lay behind her, tucking her against my chest and burying my face in her hair. A strong whiff of her perfect scent was enough to make me feel relaxed for the first time in two weeks.

  “Mmm, I missed this,” I murmured against her neck.

  She fidgeted slightly, probably because of my breath fanning her sensitive skin. “Are you sure we won’t be in any trouble with Evy’s parents?”

  “Nah. Kay and Evy are doing worse things as we speak. We’re just sleeping. Finally.”

  She took a deep breath and pressed her head on my arm underneath her. “You haven’t slept at all?”

  I shook my head, breathing her in a little more. “Maybe an hour every now and then. I can’t be sure. But with you… with you I always sleep through the night, and I need that.”

  “I know,” she breathed, brushing her lips on the inside of my elbow. The small gesture made my blood boil with need. “Sleep, Nate. I’m here now.”

  And I did. God, I did. I’d never appreciated a good night’s sleep as much as that night. And when I woke in the morning with Ali still in my arms, I almost cried with relief. I didn’t even think when I squeezed her tightly, until she squeaked like a dog’s chewing toy.

  “Nate,” she whizzed out. “I could use a breath.”

  I loosened my hold, but didn’t let go. “Hush, now. Breathing is overrated.”

  She chuckled softly. “Well, that may be, but I still prefer doing it.”

  I laughed in her hair. “Good morning.”

  She nuzzled my arm. “Good morning.”

  “Thank you,” I whispered before lifting up on one elbow to press a soft kiss on the side of her neck. She let out a small sigh and I smiled widely. “Thank you, Ali.”

  “Mmm,” she answered, keeping her eyes closed.

  I wanted her to look at me. I wanted to see the golden hue of her eyes. “Ali,” I whispered, bringing one hand up to cup her jaw and tilt her head sideways.

  She let me guide her and opened her eyes. When our gazes locked I felt breathless all of a sudden. The urge to bend down, cover the small distance between us and bring my lips on hers was too strong. Almost impossible to resist.

  Thankfully, I managed to divert and my lips landed on the tip of her nose, where I placed a feather-light kiss. “Thank you,” I whispered again, wanting her to see how much I meant it.

  She untangled one hand from underneath me and brought it up to cup my face. �
��I’ve told you before, Nate. Any time.”

  I didn’t know what to say. I wanted to let her know that I would give her everything as well – well, everything I could. But how could I utter the words without sounding like an asshole? I didn’t want to lead her on and I didn’t want to make her sad.

  I was saved by a soft knock on the door. Well, saved is an exaggeration, because next thing I knew, the door opened and in walked Evy. I groaned and dropped back behind Ali, who also let out a slightly annoyed sound.

  “Oh, morning!” Evy sang, plopping on the edge of the bed. “Well, what do you know? Old habits die hard, Nate?”

  I refrained from answering and instead buried my face deeper in Ali’s hair.

  Another knock came from the door before Kay’s voice was heard. “Is she decent?”

  Before Ali or I had time to answer, Evy called out “Yeah, come in.” And in walked Kay, with Luke following right behind.

  I groaned again. “Seriously?”

  Ali stirred, and I guessed she was trying to sit up, but I didn’t let her move. “Nate,” she scolded.

  “No,” I grumbled. “Tell them to go first.”

  “How rude of you, Nate,” Evy said in mock offense. “Is this how you greet your friends on Thanksgiving morning? Shame on you.”

  I sighed, but didn’t leave my nuzzling spot to look up. “If they barge in my room without asking then yes, it is.”

  A deep chuckle came from Luke. “It’s Ali’s room we barged in and I don’t see her complaining. No one told you to sleep in her bed, asshole.”

  “Whatever,” I mumbled, earning another chuckle from both Luke and Kay.

  “Ali, get up,” Evy whined. “We’re taking you to the spot where Kaylan and I first met.”

  “We’re going to the zoo?” Ali asked in surprise. “Um, alright. Do you guys mind if I get changed first? Or should I come in my sleeping clothes?”

  “Sure,” Evy answered, and I felt the bed shift as she stood. “Ten minutes then. Martha made pancakes, so hurry it up if you want to have any.”