Beauty and the Beast

Almost immediately I rushed back up to my room, not listening to a word Gerard had said, only to realize that this was not home, I had nothing to pack. Nothing to get or gather or carry. Embarrassed, I turned around and nearly jumped out of my skin.

"B-Bob?" I squeaked, fear instantly coarsing through me. He kind of glanced to the ground, not quite frowning, but not looking unkind either..

"Well, I uh, I heard what you saw. I'm guessing you figured this shit out."

I felt so furious and curious and terrified at the same time I didn't know what to say. I just nodded.

"Well, um, before you decide that we're going to stuff you and eat you for Thanksgiving and then go running out into things that will actually eat you, just hear me out for a second. Honestly, really, we don't usually drink blood, or at least most of us don't. I don't. Gerard doesn't. But.. sometimes things get out of hand, and bad things happen when we get carried away, like with Mikey," he explained, and I nearly fumed. Out of hand? Is that what they call killing people? Getting carried away?

Unfuckingbelievable.

"S-so you are telling me that if, one day, one of you get a little overwhelmed and happened to get carried away that I just might die with your fangs in my neck?"

Bob winced a little at my emphasis on the words.

"Well, I'm not saying..." he struggled to find the right words and I rolled my eyes, trying to push past him and leave. Which was really stupid because he sort of has super-human strength and is a boulder.

"Bob, let me go! I'm leaving, and you aren't stopping me! Let go!"

"April, no--!"

"Hey Ape!"

I nearly screamed. Frank Iero.

In a millisecond he scooped me up in his arms and I didn't bother thrashing. No point. I just closed my eyes and frowned angrily.

"Why are you doing this."

"I love you too."

He carried me downstairs and then up more stairs and suddenly he put me down in front of a door and he knocked and I instantly was back on my feet and trying to leave. Unsurprisingly, he stopped me.

"Be nice, Ape. He's here to apologize, not season you. Not that you need seasoning, I mean, your blood smells delicious either way, has anyone told you thaaa-- OW! Fuck you, man, that is such a compliment!"

Mikey stood in front of me after hitting Frankie, worrying his bottom lip under my stare. I could picture the blood on him perfectly, even though it was gone. He looked paler than before -- was he? Either way, genuinely, he looked frightened, almost. Mikey was a meek kind of guy.

"I'm really sorry, April, I am honestly sorry, I didn't know that you didn't know and I swear I haven't fed off of a person in forever, I'm sorry." His eyes were intensely apologetic as he babbled, yet not trying to make me accept it. No hypnotizing from him.

I ran my hands through my hair and figured I had no choice. It's not like I would've survived out there, anyway...

"It's alright," I mumbled and was caught up in a sudden hug by Frank. Mikey bashfully prodded his foot against the floor, smiling a little with relief, and I smiled a little too. and they both babbled on about nonsensical things. Well, actually, it just semed like it because I wasn't paying attention. I was thinking about something much more important.

Had Gerard killed people before? Probably. And did he still get "carried away" sometimes?

"Guys?"

"Yes?" They chorused, amusingly.

"When's the last time Gerard... uhh... got...?" My voice trailed off, and the huddle broke up tersely. Mikey scratched his head some, awkwardly. Frank was rocking on his heels a little, hands deep in his jean pockets.

"...Maybe a year ago," he mumbled. I swallowed the information, literally.

"...Do you think he'd ever... um... Well, saying we were alone or something... you know?"

"No. Never. Gerard couldn't do that, never to you. He'd rather die," Mikey interjected firmly, making my already queasy stomach flip. Was that because he knew me, unlike the poor girl who he... My thoughts trailed off, unwilling to tread into that territory.

It was at that time that both boys there froze, as if on reflex. And in unison, their heads snapped in the same direction. This all happened in less than a second, barely giving me even enough time to register what had just happened, and enough time to let them both take a couple steps back as the shouting started.

"WHERE THE HELL IS APRIL I CAN'T FINDDD... her."

Gerard Way stood there with his hair toussled more than usual, eyes oddly bright as they landed on me. Their hint of green came through very strongly now, making them appear to be olive as he examined me. And very slowly, he untensed, as if he had been worried and my state of being at the moment quelled it.

"Oh," he said, lamely. My head tilted to the side, confused, questioning him with my stare as to what just happened, but it was as if the gesture was too much; Gerard shut down. His eyes immediately dulled and hardened, and his posture stiffened.

"Take a picture, it'll last longer," he sassed. I puffed up, insulted.

"The hell? You come darting in here, screaming, and that's the first thing you tell me? I just found out you're all bloody fucking vampires, and I'm not leaving. Can you give me some sort of explanation, please?" My voice was pretty calm, and I thought I was being reasonable. "If I'm going to stay, I would at least like some answers."

Steadily, Gerard shut his eyes, seeming to stop breathing entirely. I wouldn't be surprised if he had.

"...I don't need to explain anything to you."

That was it?

"You bas--"

He was gone before I could finish the word. Simply disappeared. He... he moved so fast I couldn't even comprehend it. Dazed, I steadily lost balance; thankfully, Mikey and Frankie simultaneously managed to get an arm each around me, and held me up.

"Woahhh, Ape, steady as she goes. You okay?"

"Um..." Was all I managed to get out.

---
Gerard's POV!
---

April was nowhere.

I had just looked everywhere, panicking. She left, didn't she? That stupid, insolent human girl left! She left me.

Me.

The thought was so... debilitating. As I trudged through my own house, my manor, castle, now entirely covered in her scent, I couldn't tell if she was even in here or not. I was so worried I couldn't focus on the stronger areas or even piece them apart. She was the new, intoxicating... gorgeous... luxurious scent in my life, and it was so hard to tell it apart...

I growled hard, shaking my head to clear it. She could be in danger and I was fucking getting off on her smell. Nice.

But where was she? Was she okay? If she was outside - if she had escaped - she'd die. We weren't the only ones out there, didn't she know!? She was a smart girl, surely she realised we weren't the only things out there that could hurt her...

And the wolves. The bears. God damn her! Ugh! Fucking shit!

Finally, I picked up on the prescence of Frank and Mikey. Running a hand through my hair, my mouth started moving as I caught up to them in a split second.

"WHERE THE HELL IS APRIL I CAN'T FINDDD..."

My eyes caught her, standing right beside them. My voice trailed.

"...her."

April showers stood there, staring with a vague surprise on her features, just becoming aware of what was happening. I must've been a fucking sight.

"Oh," I said, dumbly. Mikey and Frankie held back laughter, somehow.

But God, I was so happy to see this sight. She looked as beautiful as ever, even just standing. Her hair fell neatly down her shoulders, ruffled, soft, and her eyes were so encaptivating and holy shit that smell. I almost shut my eyes, about to breathe in and lost all my sense to her blood.

As she registered what was going on, her heart rate spiked. I smelled the shift of adrenaline. I saw, past her hair, into the shadows of it, the way her pulse beat lightly, furiously against the inside of her neck. My mouth watered.

I stopped the thought quickly, and instead, did what I should've been doing. I looked her over.

She had no cuts, no scrapes, no bruises. She was absolutely fine, spare that wrist.

And suddenly, I was more angry than ever. How dare she escape me. How dare she so abruptly leave me! I had no clue where she was!

I knew full well my anger was unreasonable, but I had no power to stop myself. My fear of her being in harm had sent me so off-balance I couldn't quite control myself when I barked out in response to her confusion, "Take a picture, it'll last longer."

She was very taken aback. What can I say, it was adorable, her anger. I could snap this babydoll in half in a second, and here she was, probably contemplating hitting me. I nearly smiled, if it weren't for how pissed I still was with her.

"The hell? You come darting in here, screaming, and that's the first thing you tell me? I just found out you're all bloody fucking vampires, and I'm not leaving. Can you give me some sort of explanation, please? If I'm going to stay, I would at least like some answers," she snapped back, with much less anger than her previous tirades. April made sense.

I was still mad at her. I took a deep breath to growl back at her, and... and...

God, she was beautiful. A seraph, a fucking seraph, surely sent to ruin me. Her scent invaded all of my senses; I could taste it, smell it straight through my veins, feel her skin, see her, hear her blood flowing through her...

(It frightened me to think of how much these things didn't matter to me when she smiled. How when we bickered, I always enjoyed it. Too much. Too much...)

I slowly shut my eyes before I killed her. I stopped my lungs -- a mild discomfort -- and stayed very, very, still.

"I don't need to explain anything to you."

And I left. Now that she knew what we all were, I was free to move as fast I wanted to, back to my playroom, back to where I could sulk and play loud music. Back to think.

(Why am I feeling all these things around this girl?)