This Must be Fiction

Ville approached me in his boxers. "I'm not sure how warm you want the water to be, just keep in mind that my core temperature is a lot lower than yours."

I walked into the bathroom and began stripping. The water was the perfect temperature, but it was surprisingly hot. I expected that Ville would want water that was a bit colder.

"Are you sure you won't burn in this? It's pretty hot."

"I'll deal." He said. I wasn't sure how the heat would effect his icy skin, but if he said he would be ok, I believed him. We both got in and I spent the first few minutes just letting the hot water pour over me. My muscles almost automatically relaxed and I felt better about our current situation.

Soon enough, Ville's hands were sliding down my shoulders. I pressed my back onto his front. His fingers started combing through my hair.

"Are you sure the water isn't too hot for you?" I asked. His skin was almost my temperature. I turned to face him.

"It's fine." He said. I knew he wasn't completely comfortable. I turned down the heat. It was still warm, but it was more suitable for his body temperature. He went back to gliding his fingers lightly down my sides.

"Ville, seriously, we have to get ready. We can't take too long." I took in the sight of his beautiful tattoos and how the ink glistened in the water. My mind was filled with thoughts of the love I had for Ville, and just how lucky I was to be with such a wonderful man. It almost scared me to think that at one point we were not together. I shook the thoughts from my mind and focused on what Ville was saying.

He kissed my collar bone repeatedly. "We won't." He said in between light kisses.

"Ugh, you know me too well." I said, returning the kisses with intensity.

We emerged from the shower nearly forty five minutes later, clean and ready to go.

"Shit! We have to be there in fifteen minutes. The drive alone will probably take twenty." I rolled my eyes at myself in the mirror. He wrapped me in a towel and laughed as his lips kissed my neck.

"Your family has waited long enough to see you again, I'm sure a few extra minutes won't kill them."

"You don't understand! If I'm going to be a vampire soon, and I won't be able to see them, I need as much time with them as I can get!" I hurriedly attacked my hair with a brush and rubbed lotion all over my body.

Ville, without speaking, walked from the bathroom. Obviously speaking about becoming a vampire was not something he was alright with. At the time, I didn't care. It was the reality of the situation.

I wore a black summer dress with a pair of matching black flip flops. I let my hair dry curly, the way my mother liked it. I also decided against heavy make-up, which I hated, but it was better for my parents to see me with a clean face. If they saw the massive amounts of make-up I usually wore they would most likely blame Ville for it.

When I emerged from the bedroom Ville was sipping a beer on the couch. He was wearing dark jeans with a black button up. He had on a black beanie and a bit of eyeliner. I noticed that his face was not as pristine as usual.

"Are you wearing make-up?" I asked. He set down his beer on the counter and scratched his scalp.

"I am indeed. I figured it couldn't hurt."

"And... where did you get beer?"

"I ran out and got some while you were getting ready. You seemed like you would take a long time. You look lovely, though." He walked over to me and kissed the top of my head as I fixed my earrings.

"Thanks, love. Let's go. Did you call a cab?"

He nodded. "Should be here any second."

"You're so responsible." I looked down at my hand and felt the emptiness that hit me when I realized the ring was not in it's proper spot. I sighed and tugged on it from my neck. "Do you think my Mom will notice the ring here?" I asked him. He looked me up and down, taking a careful notice of the necklace.

"I don't know. Maybe it's better to wear it on... this finger." He slipped it onto my ring finger on my right hand.

"I don't like it there."

"It's either that or leave it here."

I sighed, realizing he was right, and left my engagement ring on the wrong hand. Although, I had to admit that it did feel nice to wear it on a hand instead of around my neck.

We sat quietly in the cab. Ville could feel my anxiousness and tried to send some calm feelings my way, but I told him to stop. I didn't want him influencing me too much when we got there.
I rolled the sleeves of his button up, to show his tattoos.

"I figured you'd want them hidden." He said as I fiddled with the buttons on the shirt. I stopped and looked at him, feeling guilty that he would think I would want to hide any part of him from my family.

"No, no. It would be hiding you from my parents. These tattoos are a part of you, they need to see that." I explained. He smiled at me.

"You really just want them to like me for me?"

"Well... yeah.. why wouldn't I? They can't like you if they don't know who you are."

"I don't know... I thought maybe you'd want them to think I was a... normal guy." Ville's shoulders rose and slumped as he exhaled.

I reached over and cupped his cheek so he would look at me. He blinked a few times before relaxing his face. "I love you. It's as simple as that. I'm not going to hide you from them. And plus, my parents are ridiculously easy going people, so it's better just to be open with them."
He leaned in and planted a lingering kiss on me. The cab rolled to a stop before he got the chance to speak again. I peered out the window at my childhood home and almost screamed in anticipation.

I threw some bills at the driver and made a mad dash towards the house. My parents were waiting in the living room. I threw myself into my mothers arms. She started crying, and almost brought me to tears as well.

"Hi Mommy." I said with a cracked voice. I moved onto my father who picked me up and spun me. Jason emerged from his apartment above the garage and gave me a similar greeting as my father.

"Hey sis." He ruffled my hair. "Think you're too good to come see your family more often?" He joked. I hadn't visited since last Christmas, and even though I sent presents and called frequently, it was never the same.

"Sorry, sorry." I apologized. Jason smiled and kissed my forehead.
I backed up and took Ville's hand in mine. "This is Ville. Ville, my mom, dad, and Jason."

He extended his arm and shook my fathers hand, and then was warmly hugged by my mother.

"Ville Valo eh? I had no idea." Jason said. I raised an eyebrow at him.

"You know HIM?" I asked. He laughed.

"Of course I do. You clearly don't know me anymore." Ugh, the guilt had set in.

"I guess.. well I don't know. I had no idea you were even into that kind of music." I said with a pang of sadness.

"Don't worry about it. I can't expect you to read my music selection." He ruffled my hair again.

"So Ville, where are you from?" My mom said as we all sat in the living room.

"Finland. Helsinki, actually." He answered. I could tell that my parents were surprised by the octave of his voice.

"Wow, how interesting. You're in a band? HIM, is it?" My Dad asked. I began to get embarrassed. I knew Ville would mock me over my embarrassment later on. He rubbed small circles on the small of my back to soothe me.

"Yes, that's right. It's not as fun as it sounds. We're on a break right now and aren't scheduled to work for a few months. I suppose I'm spending the majority of that time here." He was so smooth. My parents were starting to like him, I could see it in their eyes.

"Do you plan on whisking my daughter off to foreign lands while you tour?"

"No, not unless she wants to. I realize that her life is in California." He looked over at me and then back to my Dad.

"You sound like a good man, Ville." He said as he rose and headed towards the dining
room. "Come on, I'm hungry." He said with laughter.

We all headed into the dining room and sat down for dinner. Ville was so comfortable around my family.

"I have to admit, you're exactly the type of person I always expected Molly to be with." My mother said. I looked at her with wide eyes. It was not the kind of dinner starting conversation that I was planning on.

"Is that right, Mom?" I said. I wasn't sure why I asked, but her statement had thrown me off.

"I mean, clearly he cares a lot about you. Maybe I wasn't expecting him to be a rock-star or be covered in tattoos, but now that I see you together, it's obvious that you're in love." She finished her sentence with a fork full of salad.

Ville squeezed my leg from under the table. "Yeah, we are." I said back.

"You don't mind the tattoos then?" Ville joked. My family laughed.

"Not at all." My father rolled his sleeve to reveal his Navy tattoo. I started eating more quickly, realizing that my family really did like Ville, a lot. I guess I didn't have to worry about a thing.