Cries of a Love Bat

I sat on the opposite side of the couch as Pete. I was almost scared of him. It was like what ever happened at the fight changed everyone, and I was the only one out of the loop.

“I thought I lost you there for a while. With no feeling, nothing at all to show me that you were okay. I would have even put up with pain just to know you were alive. And walking into you…you biting Patrick; I thought you went insane,” I told Pete. “What happened?”

“We got there late. The Dandies and Heroes were already at it. Humans were there too, running around and screaming.”

“Heroes?” I interrupted.

“A sub clan in the Hoods. Travie McCoy is the leader,” Pete explained.

“I met him earlier with Ryan. I thought he was you, he got put in jail for burning down the warehouse.”

“That explains why he wasn’t there,” Pete mused. “Did Travie touch you?”

“No, Ryan pretended I was his dinner and I acted like I didn’t know vampires existed.”

Pete nodded and looked at me, his eyes searching for something that he couldn’t find. “I was surprised Ryan wasn’t there. He usually eats that shit up.”

“I thought he didn’t agree with Will…”

“Sort of…he’s sketchy. Brendon I would trust more than Ryan, because Ryan only thinks that because of Bren. Brendon was there when I changed, he didn’t agree with that. That’s why he tells us what William does, you know?”

“So Ryan is only a spy because Brendon is? That doesn’t make sense.”

“Really?” Pete asked, raising his eyebrow. “I thought you were good at picking up stuff like that.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I stated.

Pete smiled and said, “Ryan’s in love with Brendon. He got himself turned so he could be with him.”

“He’s so adorable,” I laughed.

“He’s crazy in the head that’s what he is.”

“Don’t be mean,” I warned. “He saved me out there.”

Pete rolled his eyes, “Like I haven’t saved you before.”

“When? Name one time you’ve saved me.”

I was curled in a ball next to the arm of the couch, and Pete’s legs were sprawled out on sofa. I put my legs on top of his, getting comfortable.

“Keeping my toes warm?” he smirked.

I stuck my tongue in response. “I’m still waiting for an answer.”

“How about the day we met?”

“Don’t make this romantic, Pete.”

“I’m not kidding! I met you at the coffee shop. Your shift was just ending when you walked out and a vampire started following you home. Remember?”

I was pretending to think about it for a while.

“Don’t be a bitch,” he said, poking my thigh with his toe.

“Yes I do remember. You decapitated the guy’s head right in front of me. Couldn’t you have at least waited up I left the alleyway to kill him?”

“Your fault for watching,” he shrugged.

“And I guess that it’s my fault that you asked if I was okay too, huh?”

“No, it’s your fault for answering.”

“So then what happened, at the fight?” I asked after a couple of silent seconds.

“Well we all went off in different directions. Joe was kicking ass, and Andy was doing his karate crap. They were fine. Patrick was using one of the guns, protecting a group of girls. Fuck, those hoes ended up being vampires too. They bit him, and that’s why I was drinking from him earlier. They didn’t drink enough to kill him, so he was going to change.”

“What about you?” I asked.

He was rubbing his feet against my leg; the fabric of his sock tickling my skin.

“I was trying to get to William, hoping to kill him. When I finally got to him he disappeared, and these vampire cops got me. They pushed me into their car after they knocked me out. I woke up when we were driving away.”

He paused, seeing if I had any questions before he continued.

“How come Patrick didn’t change? He should have been one of you by now.”

“It takes five days. I had to take out those girls’ spit or else he would have started the change.”

“Spit?” I laughed.

“Yeah. It contains the genes that makes you humans change.”

“So French kissing you is out of the question now?”

“What? No!” he cried. “No, I’ve Frenched you before. When you drink someone’s blood you have to take out the right amount of blood out so it mixes with the saliva and they balance each other out.” He blushed and I could feel his embarrassment.

“I remember,” I sighed.

“What are you wearing?” he asked, his toe sliding under the hem of his boxers.

“I do the wash, so I can wear what ever I want. Your shirt and boxers just happened to be the first thing I grabbed out of the clean pile of clothes.”

“You sure this wasn’t planned?” he smirked.

“No, now get your foot out of there!” I slapped it away lightly, lying.

“Anyways, the cops took me to this place, I don’t even know where. When they pulled me out of the car I ran for it, but it was almost sunrise by then, that's why they let me go, so I snuck into someone’s shed. When it got dark again I found Andy and Joe, trying to help Patrick get home before he passed out. We got home before you, and here we are,” he smiled.

“I picked up Hemingway pet food!” I remembered.

“Thank you,” he laughed. “A bit random, but thanks.”

A silence washed over us and I looked at the floor, my stomach felt queasy as I realized how we were acting. He was being nice, and only rarely had he made a sarcastic comment. Plus my legs were laying on his, like it was no big deal. We were being nice to each other, and it was not what I had expected. Yeah Pete had the sex dream but I had expected something perverted like that from him. This whole acting-like-we-were-an-official-couple was startling, and I didn’t know what to do.

“What’s wrong?” Pete asked, sitting up slightly.

“I…I was wondering…how did you change?” I lied.

“Will got me, I was walking at night and he pulled me into an alleyway. He said he was hungry and he needed to eat. There’s not much to it,” he whispered.

I nodded, accepting his vague answer. “Do you regret it?”

“No, I don’t. Being this doesn’t bother me, it’s just that William did it without a thought is what pisses me off.” He began looking distant, as his eyes glazed over.

“Pete,” I nudged his leg, bringing him back. “Don’t do it again.”

“What?” he asked, confused.

“Do I need to babysit you guys where ever you go? I can’t trust you alone anymore! You’ll all kill yourselves.”

Pete looked at the floor. “Sorry about your shoes.”

“Remind me to throw them out later. As much as I love Patrick I don’t really need his blood on them.”

He looked up at me and made a disgusted looking face. “He didn’t taste that good.”

I looked down and laughed. “Stop changing the subject!”

“Fine then! I think yes, we do need a permanent babysitter. You have to be with us twenty-four seven now. You aren’t even allowed to have one second to yourself.”

I cringed, thinking about it now it didn’t sound much fun. “No time alone?”

“None,” he stated. “Do you take it back now? Take back ever wanting to stay with us?”

I thought about it, staring into his eyes while doing so. I wouldn’t really give all of this up; whether I liked it or not they were my family. I couldn’t give it up: not Joe, not Andy, not Patrick, and especially not Pete.

“No.”

“No?” he asked and sat up. He began crawling towards me, so eventually he was straddling my waist.

“Nope,” I smiled.

He leaned closer to my face. His hot breath tickled my skin. “Are you sure?” he whispered in my ear, his hands traveling to my waist.

“Positive.”

His lips brushed mine, so softly it didn’t even feel like they did it at all. I pushed up into him so our lips met again, and he kissed me fully. Taking one hand off my waist he put it on the nape of my neck, grabbing my hair in his hand. Pete deepened the kiss, his mouth opening mine so his tongue could slide in.

We’ve kissed before; the first time officially being when he rescued me at the club. But this defiantly felt like our first real one. It was filled with emotion and lust, and I knew I wasn’t just imagining it. I felt that tug in my stomach again, but it was a good tug.

“I love you,” he breathed against my lips.

And I knew he felt the tug as well.

“I love you too.”