Liam shook my shoulder gently. I opened my eyes and looked at the new house behind him. "Come on."
I rubbed my eyes and got out of the car, immediately helping Liam carry in our boxes of stuff. "How long was I asleep?"
"About eight hours," Liam answered.
I didn't know why I had to sleep. Liam didn't. No one else that was a vampire slept. At school I actually ate. I didn't tell Liam that and Liam and I agreed not to tell the council, including Niall, about my sleeping patterns. I didn't sleep everyday either, which made it even weirder in my opinion.
The house was small, only two bed rooms, and it wasn't secluded. I wanted to ask how this was going to work, but Liam beat me to it. "The back yard connects to the forest. Lots of rumors about animals that will attack anyone who enters it."
"Seems a little too perfect."
Liam shrugged before he grabbed another box. "For now, it's in our favor."
I couldn't argue with him there. We didn't unpack super quickly like we normally did. Once everything was in the house and I started to unpack, Liam stopped me. "Go look around. We don't have to rush."
"I don't want a part two happening. I'll go to school and stay home. I don't need to go look around." I tried to grab the box again, but Liam grabbed my wrist. I never tried to fight back against Liam. He was way stronger than I ever would be, and unlike most people who change, I understood that small fact.
"You're a kid still, Louis. One of the reasons we're doing this is so you don't have to feel isolated."
"We're going to move every four years and I won't even try to keep up with everyone we've left behind. I prefer to be alone." I stepped backwards, making Liam let go of my wrist. "Seriously, don't worry about me."
"It's literally my job to worry about you," Liam said as he followed me to my room. "And you have a better grip on this than you give yourself credit for."
The comment made me pause. I always thought I didn't have a good grip. There were so many times when I almost gave in and did something that would I would regret, so I stopped myself. Every time I managed to stop myself, I felt worse instead of better because I shouldn't have been thinking it at all. I knew Liam was years and years older than me, it made sense he could deal with it all, but I still couldn't help comparing myself to him.
"I'm scared I'll hurt someone if I get close to them. I'm not doing it." I set the box down and kept focused on the task of putting things away to avoid looking at Liam.
"You won't, Louis. That's what I'm trying to say." I turned to face Liam. "You went to school within a year of getting changed. Almost everyone else has to wait more than three before being able to interact properly with humans. Before the rouge vampires got so bad, there used to be small towns specifically for vampires to live in, that way they didn't have to hide. Now... now we just have to go through it, but you have broke records with the amount of time it had taken you to adjust."
I sighed, letting go of my stubbornness. "I'll be back."
Liam grinned. "I was hoping you would say that. I'll just put your stuff in here and let you get set up the way you want."
I looked around the park that was just a few blocks away, chewing on my lip. The neighborhood was quiet, not very many people out. Kids were playing at the playground with their parents watching over them. A few people walked down the street with their animals, but it was a contrast to the huge city we were living in before. Bigger cities seemed easier to hide in, to make mistakes in.
Someone bumped into me from behind, but before they could trip, I had them in my grip. The boy let out a relieved breath as he steadied himself, brushing his hair out of his face. "Sorry about that."
"No, you're good," I told him with a small chuckle.
"You're new," he said after a second of looking at me. "I'm Harry." He held out his hand for me to shake.
"I'm Louis," I told him as we shook. "Just moved in."
Harry smiled, his eyes crinkling in the corners. "We don't get a lot of new people. That's really cool. Like did you move in today or have you been unpacking?'
"Today. My dad told me to come be social, so here I am."
Harry laughed at that. "I don't get what's so great about being social. I'm perfectly content in my room with video games."
"Isn't that the truth," I mumbled. We both ended up laughing again.
There was something about Harry that I instantly took to. It was scary, but I had to adjust. It's not like I had to totally keep to myself. As long as I kept some distance between myself and him, it would be fine.
