The Vampire's Moon

When I woke up again it was really early and still dark out. When I descended the stairs I found Benjamin asleep on the couch. I knew from experience that vampires are heavy sleepers when they do sleep. I had banged pots and pans above my mother's head when she was asleep and she still didn't wake. Watching him lay there, I had a sudden urge to do something.
I had discovered last night that the feelings I got around him weren't just the feelings you have for a friend. They were much more. I liked him, I REALLY liked him. A lot more than I should. No matter how hard I'd tried, I couldn't make myself hate him. These new feelings were too strong. I couldn't help it though, and this sudden urge was overpowering. I walked around the couch. I checked to make sure he was deeply asleep before leaning down and kissing his cool lips. As though he could sense what I was doing, his lips parted the tiniest bit. The smell of his minty breath was enough to make my head swim. I pulled away, almost reluctantly, and his mouth closed. I sat in the black leather chair, knowing he would wake up soon, and knowing in my heart that I would be being much more open with him and Ricky when he did. I wasn't going to hide anymore.
When he did wake, he was surprised to see me watching him.
"You're interesting when you sleep," I said, by way of explanation. "You remind me of how my mother was when she slept." I grinned. "You know, I used to bang pots and pans above her head with my father when she was asleep. It was like a father-daughter weekly event. She didn't know about it, of course."
Benjamin laughed. "I hope you weren't doing that to me!"
I smiled. "No, I wasn't doing that while you were asleep. I would have woken up Ricky."
"What did you do then?"
"Nothing after I sat down, I just watched." I tried not to emphasize after, since I was trying to be truthful. I really had only watched him when I was sitting in the chair.
He didn't seem to notice. "Oh, well you want some breakfast?"
I grinned. "You mean late night snack? It's only three-thirty in the morning."
He shrugged. "Whatever you want to call it."
"Sure." I made it to the kitchen before he was even out of his seat. I searched through the cabinets and found beef jerky. That would do, all they had was blood, meat, and water, anyways, and I didn't want to cook any of the pounds of hamburger in the fridge.
I heard the fridge open behind me and knew Benjamin was getting his snack. I sat at the table, and started to rip off pieces of beef jerky from the chunk I had. Benjamin sat across from me, and sipped his bottle of blood. He watched me as I chewed, making me feel kind of self-conscious. When I was done, I allowed my fangs to come out half way. It always felt good to let them out.
I looked at Benjamin before closing my eyes and leaning back. "Don't you ever just let your fangs out for the heck of it?" I asked.
"Not much. I've never had much need to," he said.
"I do. It feels good to let them out partially." I opened my eyes. "You know what? You've seen my fangs, but I've never seen yours."
He shrugged. "So?"
"So, that's not fair. Let me see your fangs."
He seemed reluctant, but eventually he let them out. I looked at them. They were three-fourths of an inch long. I smiled, so he's a powerful vampire. Not as powerful as me, though. I allowed my fangs to come out the whole way, poking my chin once more. Yeah, I was bragging a bit again.
"Nice, they're pretty long." I smiled.
"Not as long as yours." He looked at my fangs, a look of what could almost be called awe on his face.
A sudden curiosity coursed through me. "Can I touch them?"
He was shocked. "What?"
"Can I touch your fangs?" I repeated, purposely speaking slowly and enunciating every syllable as though I were speaking to a three year old.
He gave me a curious look that still managed to be a grimace at my sarcasm. "Why?”
I shrugged. "I've never seen anyone else's fangs, excepting my mother's. I'm curious. You've probably seen several vampire's fangs; you're used to them. I haven't though."
He thought for a minute. "Okay, you can touch them, but I want to feel yours in return."
"Why?" I asked, brows raised.
"Call it a burning curiosity." He cocked his head teasingly at me.
I shrugged, then smiled. "Deal."
I stood up and moved to sit in the chair next to him. He turned to me, and I reached out and touched his fangs with my finger tips. I felt the points, marveling at the sharpness of them. I looked up to meet his gaze, and the look there shocked me. It was tender, very tender. And kind. A shiver went down my spine as a hunger the beef jerky couldn't take care of burned in my veins. It made me prick a finger and I pulled back, looking at the single bead of blood on it's tip.
Suddenly, Benjamin reached out to grab my hand, and pulled the finger to his lips. His tongue snaked out to lick the bead off, and I caught a glimpse of the silver tongue stud I'd always suspected he had. My finger felt like it was about to catch flame.
His eyes held mine as he released my hand, and he smiled slightly. "You okay?"
I nodded, gulping with a all too dry throat. "I'm fine." Looking at my finger, I could see that the prick was healed.
"My turn, then."
I sat still as he felt my fangs carefully. I felt butterflies in my stomach when his fingers brushed across my lower lip, and they were having a party. After two minutes of sitting still under the constant onslaught of butterflies and lip-brushing, I began to wonder it this was some sort of new torture method. The moment he pulled his hand back, I retracted the fangs. I stood, fighting the urge to do something irrational. Like wrestle him to the ground and smother him in kisses.
"Let's go watch TV," I suggested, and walked out of the kitchen into the living room. I sat on the couch and waited for Benjamin.
He sat next to me, setting his blood on the floor next to the couch. I looked at the blood, and grimaced.
"Is that very good?" I asked.
He turned to me. "It's not human blood, but it's sweet enough." He cocked his head to one side again. "Which reminds me. You said you drank that vampire who killed your mother's blood. I thought you didn't need to drink blood?"
I chuckled. "I don't, but that doesn't mean I don't like it. Actually, I really like it. I don't drink it much, though. I need more than blood to live, so I usually go without. It's been years since I last had blood. However, I do remember that animal blood can sometimes be quite sour."
"You're right about that. This is blood from the local butcher's. He doesn't notice when a gallon or two goes missing every few days from the back room where he keeps blood to be dumped. It's surprisingly sweet, so the animals it came from were very healthy and well fed." He picked up the blood. "Would you like some?" He offered the bottle to me.
"Sure." I took the bottle and sipped the sweet liquid. "To you blood just tastes sweet, but since I'm also half werewolf, it has a metallic taste to it, too." When I handed it back to him, our hands brushed each other. I felt my stomach do a somersault, and I felt the urge come back. You know, the one where I wrestle him to the ground? That one.
I turned away from him to the television. I managed to control the urge by thinking about what it had felt like to kiss him while he was sleeping. He turned on the TV, and we watched 'I Love Lucy' reruns for a few hours. I was so relaxed I fell asleep, and when I woke up it was sunrise. I opened my eyes and discovered I was leaning against Benjamin. My head was on his shoulder, and he was watching television, one arm snaked around the back of the couch across my shoulders. I should have felt embarrassed, or blushed, but I didn't. It felt right. He hadn't noticed I was awake and didn't seem to mind, so I didn't move. I closed my eyes again and let my mind wander. Only when I heard and sensed Ricky walking down the stairs an hour later did I sit up.
"I was wondering when you'd wake up," said Benjamin, turning to look at me.
"I woke up at sunrise," I said.
"Really?" He raised an eyebrow. "Why didn't you sit up?"
I shrugged. "I was comfortable, and you didn't seem to mind."
"You're right, I didn't." We stared at each other until Ricky broke the silence.
"What did I miss?" he asked, plopping down onto the couch next to Benjamin. Benjamin moved over to give Ricky room on the couch.
"Nothing, just 'I Love Lucy' reruns," Benjamin replied.
"Anything else?"
"Nope, nothing of interest to you," I said. "I'm gonna go change."
I left and walked to Benjamin's room. Let the boys have their morning talk.
I opened my bag and took out some undergarments, jeans, and a midnight blue turtle neck. I took the clothes to the bathroom and wasn't surprised to discover it was full of guy things. Ugh. No razors or shaving cream, since they're immortal their appearances don't change; which means they never have to shave. I realized that I'd forgotten my shampoo and conditioner. I would have to go buy some things at the super market later. I went back to the room and looked in the small zip up pocket in front. I usually kept some spare things like a toothbrush, toothpaste, and travel shampoo and conditioner in there. I grabbed the items and went back to the bathroom. I brushed my teeth, then stepped into the shower. I gave in to the warm water, instantly relaxed