Sweet Surrender

"Come see me plz"

Nathan sighed at the text from Andrea as he got out of his car at school. What did she want? Granted he told her he'd explain, but he didn't feel like it this morning.

Rolling his eyes, he walked to where he knew her home room was. He had half an hour before he had to be to his own, which should be enough time to explain things.

Andrea was sitting on top of her desk when Nathan walked in, and jumped slightly when she saw him. "Oh. I didn't think you'd actually come." she said nervously. Nathan stared back, and she slipped off the desk and sighed.

"Look, Nate, I know you're probably mad at me for everything. And I don't blame you. What I did was shitty and impulsive." she said sincerely. Nathan stood quietly and listened.

She was right. Shitty and impulsive. He had no intention of disproving it. But she also didn't know about him and Varian. Or how mad Varian would get.

That reminded him of the fact that Varian had used that elemental thing of his on her. Shit...

Nathan thought about it for a minute. He could tell Andrea the truth- which meant everything- or he could lie and say she was hallucinating or insane or something and pretend it never happened.

But he was a bad liar.

Sighing, he sat in the desk closest to him, motioning for Andrea to sit in the one beside it. She did while giving him a slightly confused expression, but didn't comment.

"... Andrea... What I'm about to tell you... You probably won't believe. Well, you might, after... Yeah... But you need to promise me something."

She looked worried, but nodded, to Nathan's satisfaction.

"You can not tell anyone."

"... Alright..."

Nodding back, Nathan tried to think of where to start.

It took roughly twenty-five minutes to explain everything. And he meant everything; Mortal vampires, Changed vampires, him and Varian, the elemental control, Grant (which he probably shouldn't have mentioned), his father, and what had happened while Varian was away.

At the end of it she was staring back with wide eyes. Working her jaw, she tried to speak several times, but it wasn't working. Finally she managed a two-word sentence.

"... You're serious?"

Nathan nodded back again, glancing to the clock. He moved to leave, but was stopped by Andrea's hand on his jacket sleeve. He have her a questioning look.

"... I'm sorry, Nate."

He smiled back slightly, patting her hand. "It's fine. I'm not mad at you. A little disturbed, maybe." he said the last part as a joke, which at least got her to smile as she let him go. "I'll see you in first period."

She nodded back, and he left the room, sprinting down the hall to his own.

************************************************************************************************

Varian switched shoulders with his bag and walked into Marine Biology. So far nobody made any more comments about him when he walked in a room. A major improvement to say the least. Glancing around, it wasn't hard to spot Justin with his short lankiness. Still looked gay to him, despite his denial. Whatever, he'd let him live in his delusion.

Justin was sitting on his side of the table and flipping through a notebook, and very obviously trying not to look at him. Fat lot that'd do him. Varian was going to talk to him whether he liked it or not.

Throwing his bag down, Varian slipped into his seat and noticed that the teacher wasn't in yet. Good. More time to talk.

"How many more times are you going to try not looking at me?"

Justin slowly raised his gaze to stare at Varian. "Until I figure out how in the hell you did it."

Varian furrowed his brow in thought. "How I did what?"

"Made my sister go insane."

Varian winced at Justin's reply. "How bad is she?" he asked. He hoped she wasn't contorted and drooling all over herself, babbling some nonsense. That would definitely be his fault, and he wouldn't be able to look Nathan or Justin in the eye again.

Justin seemed to think about it for a minute. "Well, she came home last night looking absolutely terrified and was trying to convince mom that you tried to kill her with dirt. So I'd say pretty bad."

"My intention was to frighten badly. Not kill."

He had in no way tried to kill Andrea. He just wanted to insure that she never laid a hand on Nathan like that again.

"She was convinced otherwise. What the hell did you do?"

"I find it amusing that you're taking my word. I just pulled her away from Nathan forcibly since it didn't look like she'd remove her mouth from his face anytime soon."

Justin's eyes went wide and he stared at Varian. "... She kissed him?" he asked, his voice soft and not carrying far.

"Why else would I bother her? I don't pick on people for no apparent reason," he responded, huffing slightly at the accusation that he was a bully. Quite the opposite actually. "Speaking of which, you still look gay to me," he added, wanting to distract Justin a little bit.

"Hey, don't try to distract me, okay? I have taken my medication," Justin said with a slight glare before it morphed in a confused expression. "Alright, forcibly removed her from Nathan, but.... What the hell did dirt have to do with anything?"

Varian sighed. Distraction failed. Alright, back to plan A, tell Justin everything. "Earth is my element. Since dirt comes from the earth, I can control it."

"... What in the hell are you talking about?"

Varian wondered just how much he was going to have to explain. "I'm different than most people...I can do things that humans don't really get the chance to."

Justin sighed before quietly commenting. "Great. Guess I'll tell Nathan he's dating a nut job."

Varian didn't think it was intended to be heard, but he was tired of run-arounds. "Come on, let's go."

"Where are we going? You're not gonna kidnap me are you?"

Varian rolled his eyes. "Yes, that's exactly what I'm going to do, because I think you're hot and I want to have man-sex with you," Varian said sarcastically. "No! If I wanted to kidnap you I would have a long time ago. Now just trust me and let's go already," he finished, getting up and heading towards the door.

"Aw! I thought you were serious for a second," Justin said, getting up from his seat and following him.

Varian led Justin down the hall and out through a side door that opened up to a little flower garden that some Seniors liked to go to escape class. Stopping he turned to see Justin had indeed folowed him.

"I apologize ahead of time if what I'm going to do freaks you out."

Justin didn't respond, he chose to stay quiet instead, and a frown pulled down his lips.

Varian breathed and concentrated on reaching out to the earth around him. None of the plants were germinating. Good. Glancing around, Varian decided on the flowers. A daffodil would be good. Going over to it, he knelt and scooped up the flower as well as a bit of dirt. Turning back to Justin he held it out to him.

"Hold this."

Justin took it and smelled it several times, holding the flower delicately.

"Watch it closely, dirt and all," Varian instructed. Directing his will towards the dirt.

He watched the flower grow, quickly. Growing taller and bigger than any other daffodil in the area. It became brighter, and it's sweet scent drifted around them. Halting it's growth, Varian made the dirt around it's roots move in Justin's hands, coating the roots and forming a hard shell, which then made the roots wrap around the stem in an intricate spiral, the hard shell of dirt stuck to the roots receding to show parts of the white roots in a lovely lace pattern. The bits of dirt that fell away from the roots to make this pattern traveled up the stem, flowing in brilliant little wispy waves until it reached the leaves, fringing them in brown lace patterns as well.

The finished result, an extremely beautiful decorated daffodil. Capable of standing on its own, not going to live or die anymore, it was as indestructible as rubberized plastic, but as fragile and beautiful looking as stained glass.

"Do you believe me now?"

Justin decided to stay quiet once again, looking between Varian and the flower.

"To put it simply, I'm a vampire, but not the silly cliche vampire. I'm Changed. I drink blood and eat normal food, and I can go out in the sunlight without burning. Well...the burst into flames kind. I can still get a sunburn. And I can control the earth. You are welcome to keep the flower."

"... Holy shit."

Varian frowned. "Is that the best response you have?"

"... Would you like me to start screaming?" Justin asked quietly.

"No, I'm good. So are you okay with that?"

"... Well.... I don't know... it's... weird."

Varian smiled. "Are we good then? Or do you need to see more?"

"Oh no. I'm good. Possibly for the rest of my life," Justin said quickly, shaking his head.

"Good," Varian replied. He didn't really want to explain or show anymore. He'd had enough.

***********************************************************************************************

Lunch came a lot sooner than Nathan expected. Which he didn't exactly appreciate. He didn't know if Varian had said anything to Justin, and on top of that he had a headache, for whatever reason.

Just as he and Andrea sat down, Justin came through the doors, glaring and walking in their general direction. As soon as he was within hearing distance, he spoke to Andrea.

"You whore."

"... Excuse me? What the hell are you talking about?"

"You fucking kissed Nathan!"

Oh yeah. He and Varian had definitely been talking.

"How do you know about that?" Andrea hissed. Justin snorted in response.

"Varian told me."

"Why?"

"Because he doesn't want to kill me with dirt."

Nathan couldn't help himself- he laughed at that last comment. Andrea briefly glared at him before looking back at Justin. "What else did he tell you?"

"That he wants to kidnap me and have sex." Justin said as innocently as possible, which made Nathan laugh so much he actually snorted, and then proceeded to laugh even harder. He didn't know why, but the twins seemed hilarious to him today.

Andrea rolled her eyes, leaning back in her chair. "Fine. Yes, we kissed, but it was a misunderstanding."

"Well I'd hope so. I never knew Nathan to cheat." Justin responded. Nathan managed to calm down enough to glance over to Varian's table, looking him over briefly before he was interrupted by a hiccup.

A very loud and high-pitched hiccup, at that.

"Ha! We gave him hiccups!" Justin laughed. Nathan glared back, hiccuping again and hanging his head.

Figures.

***************************************************************************************************

Varian sat at his table, having scarfed down his lunch. When he'd shown up, there had been a new addition to the table. And this new addition happened to be sitting next to Evan, and happened to be called "Klay". And he happened to have his arm wrapped around Evan's waist, fiddling with metal studs on his belt.

"Uh, hi. How are you Klay?" Varian asked, setting his tray down on the table and stepping over the seat to sit next to Jecklynn who was laughing at something Stan said.

Klay looked up at Varian, his human eyes a watery green. "I'm pretty good, how 'bout you?"

Varian looked him over. Klay was tall. And he had a huskier, muscular build. But he looked kind, his hair short and spiked on the front. "Hungry actually," he said, smiling.

"You must burn a lot of calories doing the stuff you do."

Varian found his smile widening. He liked Klay. He knew his place and was knew exactly what and how to say the right thing. "You work?"

"I fix cars actually. I'm a mechanic at my mom's shop," Klay said, gripping Evan's belt and tugging the extremely contented boy near him, their hips practically glued at the side.

"A mechanic really? Do you mind if I ask you a question about a truck, or are they not your thing?" If Klay was a mechanic, then why not take a shot?

"Trucks are my specialty. What's wrong with yours?" he asked, his interest piqued, leaning forward.

"It has trouble starting once in a while. It's not the battery, that much I know, but I'm not a mechanic."

"I'll take a look at at after school if that's alright?"

"Be my guest, but I have to pick up my sister, so I hope it doesn't take that long."

Klay chuckled and ran a hand through his hair. "Nah! I'll give you a consensus within five minutes."

Varian nodded. He really liked Klay.

After that he went about eating his lunch, and once it was gone, Jecklynn nonchalantly passed hers over to him. Varian felt himself flush slightly when somebody walked past Nathan's table where he was currently laughing and hiccuping. Varian smiled, but it faltered when a slight trace of a scent hit him.

Was that...coconut?

************************************************************************************************

Heading to Latin, Nathan sighed. As much as he felt this class was sort of pointless, it would help in the long run with his particular career choice. And at least the hiccups were gone...

Walking through the door, Nathan was surprised to see Varian already sitting down. Varian was never there before him. How the hell had that happened?

Varian was sitting at his desk, leaned over a notebook while he wrote something down that Nathan couldn't see. Sitting next to him, Nathan glanced at the paper, barely noticing how Varian stiffened slightly. Choosing not to comment on it, he decided to only ask what was being written.

"What are you writing?"

Varian glanced over to Nathan sheepishly. "I'm...configuring expenses." he said with a sigh, putting the pen down and sliding the notebook over for Nathan to see it. It was only normal expenses for things- Bills, Hospital bills, fines, expenditures, things like that. What got Nathan were the numbers. Which, while not completely astronomical, were still pretty high.

After looking it over for a minute, Nathan snorted silently to himself. "... Holy shit."

Varian sighed again. "I currently have enough money saved up to pay a quarter of the expenses listed. There's still money for food and other minor things that Venerra will need to factor in."

Nathan nodded before sliding the notebook back over to Varian. "That's a lot of money..." he mumbled.

"One of the reasons why I'm glad I don't get sick. Not the normal sicknesses anyway." Varian said with a frown.

Not that the other sickness was so great, Nathan thought.

Humming in agreement though, he bit his lower lip slightly before sighing. "What are you going to do about the rest of it?"

"Work. That's about all I can do. Plant a couple of early crops. It'll raise suspicion, but those are the only options I have."

Nathan nodded again, choosing to simply remain silent that time. That was going to be a lot of work to pay for three-fourths of very expensive...expenses.

"I still need the nutrients back in the soil though..." Varian said after a minute of glaring at his own desk. Nathan shrugged slightly.

"You said if I had more practice I'd be able to do that, right? If so, then that's not really too much of a problem..."

Varian laid his forehead down on his desk, staring at it. "I hate asking for help." He murmured before sitting back up and giving Nathan a small smile. "I appreciate it."

Nathan smiled back. "It's fine. Besides, I'd rather you ask for help then end up in debt, or something."

"I've got the farm out of debt once, I'm determined to keep it that way." Varian responded, then paused for a minute. "You smell different."

Nathan blinked. He...smelled different? Why? He hadn't done anything any differently. Confused, he blinked a couple times. "... What does that mean?"

"Not in a bad way," Varian chuckled, leaning in closer, "You smell good. Like coconut."

Oh...right...the shampoo....

Nathan ran a hand through his hair. "Oh, you can smell that? I was sort of hoping it wasn't noticeable."

"Why? Smell's good to me." Varian replied, leaned away again. "Tropical."

"I don't like it..." Nathan confessed. He was hoping that later he'd be able to buy something else. Of course, then again...Varian had said he liked it....

Varian smiled back. "Can't have everything the same, now can we? What fun would that be?"

Nathan thought about it before shaking his head. "... None."

"Exactly."

Nathan paused for a minute before smiling, shaking his head again and leaning back in his seat. Out of the corner of his eye, Nathan would see Varian still looking at him, looking to be torn between something.

Nathan dropped his small smile, replacing it with a frown. "... What?"

"... I have to talk to you later. Something I think you need to know."

"... Is it bad?" Nathan asked. It was a good question. That was usually how bad conversations started, at least.

Varian paused. "Depends. But in my opinion, no. It's not life threatening." He paused again before smiling reassuringly. "Don't worry. Just a piece of my past that I think you should know. Some clarification."

Clarification? What needed clarification? Nathan was pretty sure he got it all. Nonetheless, he nodded. "... Alright."

**********************************************************************************************

As much as Varian liked spending time with Nathan, especially time spent in a more intimate manner, he wanted the school day to just be over with. Thankfully they never did anything in Latin that required skill...or knowledge of it.

As soon as the bell rang, Varian walked away from Nathan and headed in the direction of his history class. Once he turned down that hall, he paused. He hadn't bothered to show up for that class since the first day of school. Why now?

Walking past it, he decided instead to use a side door and exited the school building, heading to a portion of the school that was lit up with the warmth of the sunlight streaming down. Ever since he was younger he'd always liked it. Sitting down on the short cropped grass, Varian set down his bag and opened it, pulling out his Marine Biology textbook. Staring at it in his hands, he cocked his head and studied the bold black letters clearly stating that it was indeed a Marine Biology textbook.

Tilting it to the side slightly, he noted how the sun glared off the glossy black letters and gave them highlights so they looked like they were almost three dimensional. Thinking about, he'd never really realized that his Marine Biology class was what had really started it all. He'd met Justin, who (he was still very convinced was gay), considering that gay men had excellent gaydar, and Justin just screamed the signal; and Justin in turn had repaid the favor and through him Varian had met Nathan.

Varian smiled at the memory of when they'd first met. Nathan had literally hated his guts. But he wasn't about to sit back and let him stay oblivious. He himself had been oblivious, and now he was where he was because of his bliss of ignorance. Sighing, Varian opened his textbook and turned to chapter thirty-three: TAXONOMY AND WHY IT'S IMPORTANT. Skimming through a couple paragraphs, Varian couldn't seem to get his mind to stay on topic.

His thoughts kept going back to Latin, and ultimately Nathan. He'd finally taken action on telling Nathan what he'd been hoping to avoid. How exactly was he supposed to bring it up? 'Hey Nathan, I just wanted to say I'm virtually impotent'? Or 'Monks get more action than me'?

Shaking his head, Varian put his book marker back into his textbook and made a mental note to reread the section. There was no way he'd ever retained what he'd just read.

********************************************

After the hour and the last bell rang, Varian headed out to his truck, slinging his bag over his shoulder. He'd just set it down on the seat next to him when he sensed Klay's presence.

"Hey Klay," he said pulling back and shutting the sticky door to the truck. Sure enough, Klay was there.

"Hi, you still have time for me to look over your truck right?" He asked, setting his bag down with a sigh.

"Heavy workload toady?" Varian asked, curious.

"You wouldn't believe how much work they're dumping on us since the school year's almost over," he said, pulling out an old worn bandana and wrapping it around his head before heading over to the front of Varian's truck.

"Oh, I believe it."

Klay whistled, lifting up the hood of Varian's truck. "Old girl huh? How she runnin'? Like a charm? Looks in good condition."

"She runs good when she's feeling like it. More grizzly bear than cub though," Varian replied, pulling some stray hairs out of his face. He liked his hair a lot shorter, much easier to take care of, but it got in his face a lot easier.

Klay chuckled, patting the side. "I'm sure she's perfect for hauling trailers. She's practically on steroids. Was she remodeled?" he asked, stepping up on the front bumper and peering inside, moving various tubes and containers out of the way.

"My grandfather got her brand new, and my father helped him make her more suitable for farm work," Varian replied, watching Klay's facial reactions.

Klay nodded, clearly geeked by the inards of his truck. His hands worked expertly fast, touching and testing all sorts of things. Then he paused and Varian looked to see what he was looking at.

"I think I've found your problem. See this tube here?" he asked, pointing to a worn out looking tube.

"Yeah."

"It has holes, so some antifreeze is leaking out, but it's getting caught in this basin here," he said, now pointing to a darkly shaded part on the very front of the inside of his truck. "I have a tube with me. It'll be fixed in a jiffy."

"How much will it cost?" Varian asked, internally dreading the dollar amount, despite how little it might be. He just didn't have the cash.

"Nothin', it's free for a friend. Besides, without you, Evan might be whoring himself off to some random guy. So don't worry about it."

Varian stood dumbfounded. Free? Since when were good things in life free? "You don't want anything?"

Klay got down from his truck and smiled, shaking his head. "Nope. Not. One. Thing. Nada."

Varian frowned and sighed, deciding to just let it go.

"Be right back," Klay said, turning and sprinting off for his own truck, returning with a long tube of some kind.

Varian stepped back and watched him get to work. Klay stepped up on the bumper again and wiggled the tube free, setting it down on the parking lot before reaching in his pocket and pulling out an army knife. Gripping that between his teeth, he set to sliding the new tube into the place that the old one had come from. Fitting it, he pulled out a metal clamp and clamped it around the base to where it attached to the antifreeze vessel.

Removing the knife, he carefully sawed off an extra portion and placed it between two jutting portions of the inside of his truck that formed a holding area. "In case you need it for anything else," Klay clarified, reattaching the cut off end of the tube and clamping it as well. "There, all's well. You might want to invest in a new fan belt though, yours is looking a little worn out. you won't need it for a couple more months though. Let me know and I'll come out to where you live and fox it for you."

Varian stared in shock at Klay. Why was he so nice? One boyfriend of Evan's he definitely approved of. If Evan ever did anything to hurt Klay, he'd kick his butt. And if Klay ever hurt Evan...well, to put it nicely, he wouldn't be riding, he'd be ridden...by a semi.

"Thank you. I appreciate your help."

"No problem," Klay said, rubbing the back of his neck and then removing his bandana and shoving it back in his pocket. "I'll see you around."

"Yeah, you too."

Varian watched Klay go and then got in his truck and started it, pleased that she didn't even hitch. Yup, Klay's a keeper.

************************************************************************************************

Nathan slid into the driver seat of his car after school, sighing before jamming the key into the ignition. He had work, which he didn't feel like doing, but... Well... Now that he thought about it, he didn't really need a job...

Shaking his head, he sighed. he had a job, and he was going to it. Besides, the fact that he was fired from his first job wouldn't look good on future resumes.

Driving out of the school's parking lot and over to the shop, he parked his car again, heading in through the front doors. Millie was at the register, talking to a customer who seemed confused, so Nathan used that to slip past her and grab his apron.

"Don't think you're getting by me that easily boy."

Damn. He was seen.

He sighed and walked back out into the shop. "Something you wanted?"

"Yeah- I wanted to talk about that 'idea' of yours."

Damn...

"W-well you know... It wasn't entirely my idea..."

Millie snorted in response. "Close enough. Didn't see Varian trying to claim any of it." she said, nodding to the customer from before as he walked out of the shop. She messed with the register for a second before turning to Nathan, putting her hands on her hips. "I was just going to say that I'm agreeing to it."

"Oh, really? That's awe-"

"However..."

Nathan stopped mid-sentence, blinking several times. "... However?"

"Your mother's going to have to know."

Nathan barely stopped himself from moaning, instead choosing to sigh. "Why?"

"Because she'll want to know why I'm doing it, that's why. And you know I don't hide things from your mother."

"... You won't mention anything about Varian and I, will you?" Nathan asked tentatively. His parent's didn't need to know about it. At all. Ever.

"That's on you." She replied, turning back to the register. Nathan sighed, nodding slightly. "But she'll probably ask you about it."

"No she won't."

"Oh? And what makes you so sure?"

"She won't bring up anything that might cause an argument." Nathan mumbled. Millie stared back for a second before shaking her head and sighing.

Nathan only had to work for another hour when the door to the shop opened, revealing Varian. From his spot at the register, Nathan frowned slightly, barely glancing to Varian before continuing with ringing up a woman's items. Varian walked over to Millie, and Nathan could faintly hear him asking if there were any more orders. For what, Nathan wasn't entirely sure (He thought the birdhouses and figured he was probably right), but Millie nodded and started for the back of the store as Varian stood there. After a second, he looked over to Nathan, smiling openly.

Nathan smiled back slightly until the customer he had been helping cleared her throat, causing him to take his attention off of Varian in order to help her.

"How much will this all cost?" she asked curiously. Nathan looked over to the register.

"... 113.50." he mumbled. The woman had bought quite a bit...

She nodded, taking the money out of her wallet and handing it over before taking her bags and exiting the store. Glancing over again, Nathan noticed Millie walking back to Varian and handing him a piece of paper.

"How many?" Varian asked.

"Three or four I think."

"Alright, I'll take them. Any particular make or model you'd like Millie?" he asked again, turning to meet her gaze.

Millie shook her head. "... No, not really. You just get those done."

He nodded. "... Do you have anything else you'd like Nathan to do?"

"At the moment, no. He's just on register. Might even make him leave early. Tomorrow though while the store's closed I'm going to have him come in to help organize the back room. Get it ready for public viewing." Millie mumbled.

"... Would it be alright if he finished up now? He's supposed to come over." Varian said, then paused. "I'll come in tomorrow if you'd like, to help."

Millie thought it over. "... Yeah, he can go. And if you want to, it's alright I suppose. Just don't be distracting each other." She mumbled, giving Varian a pointed look before walking back to the storage room.

**************************************************************************************************

Varian chuckled at Millie's last response. "She thinks we're up to no good. How amusing."

Shaking his head, Varian glanced over to where Nathan was. He'd just helped a woman with a quick purchase and she didn't seem too happy about his attention being diverted from her. Snotty customers. But on second thought...maybe he was the problem. Should he and Nathan be working in the same building? Was he a distraction?

Ignoring any further thoughts about it, Varian walked over to where Nathan was and waited for him to respond.

Nathan glanced over at Varian and stayed quiet for a moment. "... Yes?"

"Millie says you're done with work," Varian replied, unable to help the sly grin that spread across his face.

"... Really? Why.... Never mind. I'm not going to question it," he mumbled before slipping back into the storage room and hanging up his apron, trading it for his jacket.

Varian waited until he came back before he decided to tell Nathan what he had thought earlier about Millie. "I thinks she thinks we're up to no good."

"... Define no good." Nathan mumbled, yawning quietly and shaking his head slightly.

Varian chuckled. For some reason he was in a pretty good mood. "As in the 'no good' that two people tend to do when they're alone."

"Ah... I hardly see where that's any of her concern."

Varian couldn't help but grin again, and then his grin faltered. No, it wasn't Millie's concern, but it was his and Nathan's. "Yeah."

Nathan noticed and frowned slightly. "What?"

"I'd rather not answer that right now," Varian said, walking over to the hook next to the entrance of the store and pulling his leather jacket down, slipping it on.

"... Right now? Meaning you will later?"

"If you'll listen and not judge me," Varian replied, turning to look at Nathan, searching his face.

Nathan sighed and frowned further. "You should know by now that I don't judge you," he said quietly.

Varian swallowed but held Nathan's gaze. "I'm sorry, it's just not something that I've ever had to talk about besides to doctors. So I'm really nervous, it's very personal."

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to," Nathan responded, shoving his hands into his pockets.

"I want to, because if I don't...I'd be lying to you, and I can't do that. I won't do that. Ever."

"... That's good to know. And I appreciate it."

Varian smiled softly. "But that doesn't mean I won't ever avoid answering a question," he said with a chuckle, getting his keys out and heading outside to his truck.

*************************************************************************************************

Nathan sighed, leaning back in the seat of his car for a second before getting out, walking up the driveway of the farm after he'd parked behind Varian's truck. He was incredibly curious to know what Varian had been talking about earlier, both in Latin and at the shop, but he had a feeling that wasn't the first thing they'd be doing. He also hoped that he'd actually be able to do something with the soil this time instead of getting a headache...

Varian got out of his truck, grabbing his bag and heading for the house. "You can come in and put your things in the living room if you'd like. I'm going to make a call to Helen to see if she'd watch Venerra, and if there's anything I should be worried about running around near the farm." he said, holding the door open as Nathan followed. "I have to change, too. If you don't want your clothes to get wet, I can lend you some again."

Nathan nodded, then paused. Were they washing horses again or something? "... Are we washing something again?" he asked hesitantly.

"No, and pardon me for being so forward again, but since you'll have the opportunity to make it rain, I'm assuming my clothes are going to get thoroughly soaked. Am I correct?"

Oh... Nathan hadn't thought of that...

"... There is certainly a rather large possibility..." he replied. What was the point in lying?

"Alright then. Any color you prefer, or should I just go with white again?" Varian asked with a conniving grin.

Well, if he wanted to be a smartass...

Nathan responded with a blank look. "White."

"White it is." Varian said, going to the kitchen and getting the phone, dialing Helen's number quickly and having a hushed conversation. Soon after he came back out, going to the front door and opening it to reveal a young woman, younger than Nathan was expecting, with dark hair and almost equally dark eyes. It disturbed Nathan, almost more than Jecklynn, and he couldn't figure out why. But something about this woman didn't sit well with him at all.

Helen noticed him as Varian was on his way to get Venerra. "Are you Nathan?" she asked.

He noticed Varian pause out of the corner of his eye, making him slightly more apprehensive.

"... Yes." Nathan mumbled.

"It's a pleasure to meet you." Helen said with a smile, holding out her hand to shake his own. Nathan hesitated, slowly bringing his own hand up until she grasped it and shook it.

Venerra had come out, and Helen let go. "It was very nice to meet you." she said before ushering Venerra out of the house and leaving again. Nathan rubbed the hand she had shaken, feeling his nose scrunch up in the odd way it did whenever he didn't like something.

"I don't remember telling her about you. And if I did, I never told her your name." Varian said, obviously surprised.

"... I don't like her." Nathan mumbled.

"You're the first person I've heard of that doesn't like her. Although... There are times when Venerra refuses to go over without me. But Helen helps me a lot when she needs to be watched. And with the news."

Venerra wouldn't go at times? Even with how nice she was to everyone? Well, at least Nathan knew now that it wasn't just him. He hummed quietly, shaking his head. "It sort of feels the same as Jecklynn. I don't know why, but I just don't like them."

"... Interesting." Varian said, turning and heading for his room after motioning for Nathan to follow. Nathan noticed that the walls and ceiling were made to look like the sky, and possibly space. There were stars on the ceiling, and it went down the walls to look more and more like a sunrise, with a specific gray color used throughout it all. Nathan supposed that was Varian's preferred color.

After glancing around slightly, Nathan smiled. "Wow... Interesting..."

Varian had gone into the closet, and came back out with clothes draped across his arm as he looked around the room. "Oh, yeah. My father painted it for me when I was little. I like to look at the stars out here when it's dark. You can see so much more of them, but I was sad because I thought the stars ran away during the day when I was little. So he decided to let me see them all the time."

"Hm... That's interesting." Nathan murmured, continuing to look around before turning to Varian.

"My parent's weren't always mean to me." Varian said with a small, sad smile before his expression brightened and he handed Nathan a shirt, which, of course, seemed huge.

"Well I'd hope not." He mumbled at Varian before stripping his jacket and shirt off, pulling the new shirt on.

.... That's odd... This one seemed to fit him better... Much better...

"How does it fit?" Varian asked, looking over.

"... Is this a smaller shirt?" Nathan asked back. Varian smiled and shook his head.

"Nope."

Oh how wonderful... He was getting fat...

"Great... I must be gaining weight..." Nathan murmured to himself out loud, looking down and harshly poking his stomach. It didn't feel any different... But the shirt obviously fit better.

"I wouldn't say that." Varian responded, wal;king over to Nathan and lifting his shirt up slightly to show his stomach. He then lightly touched Nathan's side, causing him to turn and face the mirror on the back of the bedroom door. "Try muscle, not fat." he finished, making Nathan bend his arm slightly in order to show Nathan the muscle there.

Humming and blinking several times, Nathan looked at the mirror. Varian had a point- he didn't look quite as... Scrawny as he had in the beginning of the year.

"... I suppose..." He murmured.

"You don't believe me?" Varian asked.

"Well... It's a little hard to..."

"... I'm not trying anything, I swear." Varian said before quickly pulling the shirt off of Nathan and turning him toward the mirror again. Nathan initially frowned, hating to see himself in front of a mirror shirtless. It only served to remind him of how tiny he was.

The frown was quickly replaced by a confused expression however, when he noticed that Varian was right- He wasn't getting fat, he just had more muscle.

"... When the hell did that happen?"

"You've been working harder than you thought you were." Varian said, and looked Nathan over. Nathan remained silent, glancing at Varian through the glass.

It was quiet for a moment before Varian chose to speak again. "You know how I told you I'd never lie to you?" he asked, turning so that his torso brushed against Nathan's bare back. Nathan's eyelids fluttered slightly at the feeling, but managed to stay open. "Mhmm..." he hummed back.

"... I think I just lied to you."

Nathan figured he meant the 'not trying anything' comment he'd made earlier. Not that Nathan really had a problem with it.

"Well... Should you ever lie to me like that again, I think I should tell you I'm completely fine with it..."

Varian smiled softly, tugging on Nathan in order to turn him around, slowly leaning in and kissing him. Varian let his lips linger momentarily before pulling away, only to kiss Nathan again, tilting his head for better access. Nathan sighed into the kiss quietly, hesitating before letting his teeth lightly graze Varian's lower lip.

Hesitating slightly, Varian parted his lips, his hand going up Nathan's back slowly and gently until he reached the nape of his neck, gently wrapping his hand around it. Putting his own hands on Varian's waist, Nathan let his tongue glide into the other's mouth, but instead of being met by Varian's own tongue, he allowed his to roam around, feeling Varian's teeth, as well as his very thin fangs, as Varian slid both his hands over Nathan's chest.

Nathan moaned quietly, pressing himself against Varian lightly and bringing one hand up to get tangled in his hair, enjoying the feeling of it against his fingers. Varian finally allowed his tongue to meet Nathan's, their tongues gliding together as Varian's hand slid down Nathan's stomach and onto his hips, holding him there before breaking the kiss and pressing their foreheads together.

"The fangs don't bother you?" Varian whispered, lightly kissing the bridge of Nathan's nose. Nathan smiled back, shaking his head and consequently moving Varian's as well.

"No... They don't."

"Good." Varian said before taking initiative and pushing Nathan against the wall, closer to the bed before kissing him fully. Nathan could feel Varian bite his lip- not hard enough to go through the skin, but definitely more than the grazing Nathan had done earlier. He moaned into the kiss again, moving his hands back down to Varian's waist and squeezing lightly before pulling Varian against himself.

Varian pulled away, growled lightly in frustration. "You're being too gentle. I can't feel pain, you won't hurt me."

Nathan glared back slightly before slamming their lips back together and biting Varian's lip roughly, squeezing his hips harder than he had earlier. Varian moaned this time, gasping slightly and breaking the kiss in order to move down to Nathan's neck, where he gently kissed and sucked as his hands slid from Nathan's stomach back to his chest, causing Nathan to groan quietly and use his grip on Varian's waist to pull their bodies closer.

Varian nipped along Nathan's neck, continuously biting harder, but never using his fangs. When he got to Nathan's collarbone, he sucked harshly, allowing his tongue to swirl around on the flesh.

"I swear to God, if there's a hickey there... I will be most displeased..." Nathan moaned quietly, digging his thumbs into Varian's hips and moving them in circular motions.

Varian ran his tongue along Nathan's neck, licking his earlobe before biting it gently. "And if there is?" he asked in a husky voice.

Nathan shuddered slightly at the feeling of Varian's tongue on his skin, leaning his head back against the wall. "Then I get to do the same." he murmured. Varian met his gaze.

"Hickey's don't stay on me. My body heals too quickly." he said before leaning back in and nipping at Nathan's neck again. "I wouldn't really feel it anyway. Too gentle."

"Son of a bitch..." Nathan breathed, but more due to the nipping than the fact that while he could get hickeys (somewhat easily due to his pale coloring), Varian couldn't. Which, while it was frustrating, he really didn't care about at the moment.

Varian grinned, nipping Nathan's neck again and biting harder. Biting his lip to keep from swearing again, Nathan was slightly irritated to hear himself moan loudly.

Varian jerked his head away from Nathan's neck, panting heavily. "You have no idea how badly I want to bite you right now." he said, looking slightly flustered before leaning in and mashing their lips together, grabbing the waistband of Nathan's jeans roughly and clenching his hands into fists. Nathan moaned again, digging his fingers into Varian's sides.

Varian moaned at the feeling, grabbing Nathan slightly more roughly than needed and shoving him onto the bed, climbing on top of him and kissing him roughly before moving down to his neck, biting over and over again. Nathan was expecting it to hurt, considering he was being bitten, but he was pleasantly surprised when it actually felt good.

Really good.

Nathan gasped loudly, arching his back and pressing down on Varian's at the same time in order to be as close as possible. Varian parted his legs so he was straddling Nathan and began to kiss him again, but more softly than he had previously. Nathan reached underneath Varian's shirt, lifting it up his back and eventually over his head before throwing it off to the side and running his hands back down to Varian's waist. Varian shivered, kissing Nathan again and biting his bottom lip as he turned them over for Nathan to be on top.

Pressing down on Varian, Nathan continued the kiss, lightly licking Varian's lip. Varian wrapped his arms around Nathan's torso, gripping the skin covering his ribs and letting his tongue slip out to meet Nathan's.

Nathan pushed their tongues together as he sighed quietly, rubbing one hand over Varian's side and back down again, repeating the process.

Varian finally broke the kiss, chuckling softly and nuzzling Nathan's nose with his own affectionately. "I have something to tell you." Varian whispered.

****************************************************************************************************

Nathan's hand kept touching him, running up and down his back and side softly, gently. "And what would that be?"

Varian could feel his heart rate immediately spike. Oh God...was he ready? Could he tell Nathan? "You know how I told you I was young and a Freshman when I met Grant?"

Great. Bring up the past boyfriend after just making out with the current one.

"Mhmm."

Varian was getting nervous. Nathan was still laying on top of him, and as much as he loved the contact, he knew he couldn't lead him on. "Venerra was born on the same day we broke apart."

"Really? That's interesting..."

Varian couldn't help but smile at Nathan. The endorphins must still be having an effect. "She's seven now."

"Yes she is."

"You're not making this easy you know. I bet you'd agree if I asked you to do the chicken dance," Varian said, seriously, wanting Nathan to think a little about what he was saying.

"Hell no. Fuck that. Never," Nathan exclaimed with a frown.

Good. It'd worked. "I'm a Senior."

"I am aware of this. Okay, fine, I'll think..." Nathan sighed, pausing a moment to think. "Okay, Venerra's seven...you're a senior...you met Grant when you were a Freshman..." he paused again, something clicking. "... How the fuck does that work?"

"It doesn't. Because I didn't meet him when I was a Freshman. I'm eighteen now going on nineteen, and Venerra's seven. How old was I when she was born?"

"Fucking math... You would have been eleven or twelve."

Varian swallowed. "Exactly," he whispered.

Nathan remained silent before frowning. "And Venerra was born on the same day he left...after you guys had sex..."

Varian flinched at Nathan's comment. He knew it wasn't intended to hurt, but to hear it put so bluntly was just painful. "Before, and during, technically, because my parents came home right after," he said softly, averting his gaze from Nathan's.

"... That's really young..." Nathan murmured.

Yes. It was. "And I paid a price for it," Varian responded, sliding out from under Nathan and sitting up on his bed.

Nathan sat up as well, joining him upon the bed, knees to knees. "And that would be?"

"After it happened, people came to my house and made me go to the hospital. I tried to explain nothing was wrong with me, but something was."

Nathan nodded, showing Varian he was listening. Varian sighed.

"They insisted that I'd just gone through a traumatic sexual encounter, and watched me very closely. They taught me about what it meant to be a Changed vampire, all the while teaching me how to deal with the tremendous amount of stress and pain I'd felt."

"Hm...how is it traumatic if it was consensual?" Nathan asked curiously.

"It wasn't entirely consensual. Being eleven at the time, I didn't understand what was going on, and instead of explaining to me what he was doing like he usually did, Grant just did whatever he was going to do. I had the choice, fight him and be raped, or relax and go along with it. Being extraordinarily gifted in Soul, he made the choice for me."

"Oh...okay, yeah. Traumatic."

"The doctors at the hospital told me that my body would do one of two things as a defense mechanism. Enhance my sexual drive, or decrease it," Varian said.

"... I'm assuming by this conversation that it did the latter?"

Varian drew in a deep breathe, letting it out slowly. "Not enough to where I'm completely cut off from all stimuli. But I physically can't react to someone, touching me or not, nothing works," Varian replied, his voice shaking. "I can't have sex, not unless I'm the one on the bottom..." Varian could feel a lump forming in his throat. Why did it hurt so much to tell Nathan this? He cared about him so much, he'd even gone as far as to tell him he loved him. But this hurt far more than he'd thought possible. "I'm sorry," he whispered, no longer able to hold back the tears.

Nathan sighed and remained still for a minute before moving over to sit beside Varian, wrapping his arm around his shoulders. "It's not really that big of a deal..." Nathan mumbled, "It could be worse. And it wasn't your fault, so I don't think you should apologize for it."

How many times was he going to cry in front of Nathan? And how many times would Nathan give him the support he needed? Varian wasn't sure, but for the moment, it felt nice.

"It feels like every time we do something nice, I always have to go and spoil it by crying," Varian said, sniffing and wiping at his eyes.

"I don't recall you crying when we went to the zoo... besides, I'd rather you cry than be completely apathetic. Because I can deal with crying." Nathan said, bringing a hand over to lightly brush against Varian's cheek before dropping it again.

Varian leaned into Nathan, letting their bare flesh touch, warm and comfortable. "We went to the zoo on Venerra's birthday. She always gets up and comes to me when I wake up on her birthday, ever since she was able to walk. I'm still in the process of healing so I'm always reminded of what happened, but then I think she's another year older, another year that she's been there for me and been mine," he paused. "But this time I had something else to help me through the very first part of the morning."

"Hm? What?"

Varian turned around to face Nathan. "I had you. I remembered, everything, but this time you were in my memories too. And a part of me felt whole. Being like this, like we are now...I feel whole too. Connected, even though we aren't."

Nathan stared at Varian for a minute before leaning over and kissing his forehead. "Have I ever told you that I loved you?" he asked quietly.

"You have now," Varian whispered, reaching up and gently pulling stray locks of hair out of Nathan's face. "And your eyes. I've never seen a pink so vibrant."

"... What does pink mean again?"

"It means love. And is only ever fully revealed once a Mortal has found their mate. A bond of heart."

"... And that's you?"

"What do you think?" Varian asked, leaning over to his side table and opening a drawer, removing a mirror and handing it over to Nathan.

Nathan took the mirror and poked one of his eyes, blinking and frowning slightly. "Damn that's pink..."

Varian laughed and drew Nathan closer, kissing him gently on the lips. If Nathan was okay with him being less than perfect, than he was okay with it too. But eventually Nathan would want more, and until then, Varian just had to wait and see.