Blood Isn't Always Thicker Than Water

I felt hurt that she would think I could forget her. She was stuck in my head and heart forever, no doubt about it. “With ease,” I breathed out.

She smiled a sad little smile. “Good.”

“Good,” I echoed, smiling in response to hers and leaning back into the cushioned seat. Then, a thought struck me, wiping the smile off my face. “Samantha, could you promise me something?”

“Anythi—sure,” she recovered, blushing. I just plowed right on.

“I need you to promise not to come looking for me.”

She frowned. “Got any other promises you want me to make?”

“No.” Liar. “Just promise me this, Sam. Please?”

She pursed her lips. “Only because you called me Sam.”

Hold a Martian minute, I did not! Oh wow, I did…

“Say it,” I commanded.

Agh! That made me sound like Edward! Again!

“Caspian, I promise that I won’t go looking for you.”

“Thanks,” I sighed, feeling a load I didn’t realize I was bearing slide off my shoulders. “That means the world to me.”

“And, what, I don’t?”

I laughed a bittersweet laugh, then positioned myself so I could look into her eyes. She was blushing and wouldn’t meet my gaze, so I steeled myself and slid a hand under her chin. Then I gently turned her head so I could see her beautiful eyes. “I’ll never forget you. Promise.”

“I can’t forget you,” she said, and moved closer, making me lick my lips with nervousness. “You’re the first person to ever kidnap me.”

“And hopefully the last,” I replied darkly.

She nodded. “But…you can kidnap me any time you want. I wouldn’t mind.” She ran a hand through my hair. I closed my eyes at the contact.

“That feels great.”

I heard her quietly giggle, if you could call it that. “Giggle” was too crude a word to describe Samantha’s laugh.

Then, her fingers moved down to the back of my head, the nape of my neck, right where the skin met hairline. She twirled her fingers around the short strands, and I had never felt anything better, more comforting.

Then, she stopped. I opened my eyes to see her laughing a fit.

“What?” I asked, confused. My hand was still on her neck, so I speedily drew it back.

“Cas…” She started laughing again for a couple seconds, then calmed down. “Cas, do you know what you just did?”

I frowned. Uh-oh. “No…”

“You totally just moaned!” She started laughing hysterically.

My eyes were the size of the moon. My right hand clapped over my mouth. “Crap…” She was never going to let this drop. I mean, she’s going to forget it…

My cheeks were burning so hot I was surprised the seat didn’t melt. I brought my hand down from my mouth and rolled my eyes. Samantha was still laughing.

“Should’ve gotten that on tape,” she managed to get out. “Oh man, Cas. That was hilarious!”

“Yeah, yeah. Okay. I get it. You can stop laughing.”

She bit her lip and took a deep breath. “Alright. I’m okay.” She held herself stock still for a second. "No I'm not." Her head fell onto the table and she shook as another wave of laughter overtook her.

“This is really backfiring,” I noted, blushing again.

“Sorry,” Samantha said, straightening up and smoothing out her hair. “So sorry. I t was just so unexpected, Cas!”

“I can’t believe I didn’t even notice,” I groaned, my elbow on the table and head in my hand.

“It’s fine. Trust me.”

“Ahem.”

Samantha whirled around and I raised my head to see the worker-lady who had glared at me standing by our table.

“Uh, what’s up?” I asked, frowning at her.

“Are you going to buy anything else?” she asked.

Unless they have raw meat. I shook my head.

“I want another McFlurry,” Sam said thoughtfully after a couple seconds. “Be right back,” she said to me, and walked up to the counter.

I looked down at the table, elbows on the surface. I sighed.

“Hey there, handsome.” I turned my head to see the lady smiling. I cringed inwardly at her almost-toothless state. “What are you doing tonight?” She slid into Samantha’s seat.

“Um, I’ve got plans…” I told her uncertainly, scooting away with a frown back on my face.

“Reeeeaally?” she asked, dragging the word to a ridiculous length.

“Um, yes?” I backed away some more as she came closer. A sudden thought struck me. “How old are you?”

Something else struck me, and that just so happened to be her hand. It didn’t really hurt. Thank you, “vampire”-ness.

She smiled sweetly, and I could smell a bit of her moldy breath. One of her eyes didn’t look quite right…

“Come on, Ryan. I promise that I’m sooo much better than that Keltie girl, and that one over there.” She moved even closer. I was horrified to find that my back had met the wall.

“Uh…” I started, but didn’t know what to say. This creepy McDonald’s lady with no teeth and chameleon eyes thought I was my older brother. “Look, you’ve got the wrong guy. I’m not Geo—Ryan Ross.”

“But how did you know which Ryan I was talking about?” she asked like she had me stumped.

“People think I’m Ryan Ross all the time.”

“Because you are,” she pressed, moving closer still.

“Uh, no, he isn’t.”

“Oh, hallelujah,” I murmured, closing my eyes.

Samantha stood there, in all her glory, staring daggers at the lady and holding a McFlurry.

The lady turned around to look at Samantha. After a couple seconds, she said, “Aren’t you a bit…young to be with a twenty-three-year-old?”

Wow. My brother is stalked big-time.

“I’m seventeen,” I said, frustrated.

“And I’m sixteen. How old are you, Miss…Bologna?”

I snorted a laugh while wondering, Huh? Does Samantha know her or something?

“None of your beeswax,” she snapped irritably. “Now…get out of my store!”

“Your store? Since when do store owners mop their floors?”

“Look, I work here! I can call it ‘my store’ if I want to! Now out!”

“Okay,” I said, taking the chance to step onto the table and walk over to Samantha. “I guess we’ll be going now. Bye!”

“No, wait!” she called after me as Samantha and I sprinted out of the store. Once we were a safe distance away, we slowed down and I asked Samantha, “Do you know her?”

“No.”

“Then how did you know her name?”

She let out a short laugh. “The nametag on her shirt, Cas.”

I rolled my eyes. “You make it seem so simple!” I started to walk on, but she grabbed my hand and pulled me back.

“I know,” she said. “Let’s go outside.” She dragged me out onto the top floor of a parking garage that connected to the mall-thing we were just in. We stood at a wall, looking out over all the cars that seemed like bugs, and people and building that looked like tiny toys.

“Cas…”

I turned to look at her. She just kept looking at the cars and people milling around down there.

“What?” I asked when she didn’t continue.

“Another reason for you to stay is…I can help you. You don’t know a lot of things about leading a normal human life, and I can show you—teach you, even. You’ve got a lot to learn, just about everyday life. I’m not trying to insult you, or anything—”

“Not insulted in the least. In fact, I’m touched that you think of me as a human—sort of.”

“It’s hard not to,” she said. “But I’m serious, Cas. There’s so much you don’t know.”

I grabbed her hand. “I know enough.”

“Not if you want to be inconspicuous.”

“Why do you say that?” I came a step closer.

“Well, you’ll stand out among all the humans if you don’t know how to work a coin-operated telephone, or how to ride a bike."

I frowned. “How did you know I didn’t know how to do those things?”

“Lucky guess. But if you don’t want to stand out, someone’s got to show you how it’s done.” She suddenly blushed, and I held my breath for a second as I resisted the urge to bite her.

“What? Why did you go all red?” I asked.

“N-no reason,” she stammered, relief wiping away the color. “But…can you stay?”

I shook my head. “I don’t need—or really want—to know how to live a normal human lifestyle.”

“Why not? Do you want to stand out?”

“I won’t. I’m not going to be around people.”

“Huh?” She looked thoroughly confused.

“I’m planning on going somewhere with no humans, no ‘vampires’, no Guardians. I don’t want to put anyone in danger, even if I don’t know them.”

“Cas, you—”

“Nothing’s going to change my mind.”

She sighed, then nodded, resigned.

“I’ll miss you,” I said after a couple seconds.

“You know I’ll miss you too.”

I turned her so that she was facing me, then took a deep breath, and kissed her.

My internal systems exploded. By heart lost all sense and beat out a weird jagged rhythm. The blood coursing through my veins burned. My eyes were closed, and my stomach was doing excited flips and flops, as if it knew some raw meat was just two inches away.

Then, as suddenly as it had started, the kiss was over. Samantha’s face was showing exactly what I was feeling: longing. Pure longing for more.

“Bye,” I croaked, and climbed over the wall, swinging down to the next level of the garage/parking lot. I almost smashed into the rear window of a silver Escape.

Real smooth, Cas. Real smooth…

And as I took the elevator down the rest of the way, I put a finger to my lips. They were still warm. Very warm.