Over the Tracks (MxM)

15-

Caleb was awake when he heard the door open, pretending to have fallen asleep on the couch when he heard Chris's footsteps and breathing that told him that he must have been running. Chris sighed after the door closed, likely seeing Caleb. Something was set down on the counter, then his footsteps neared. Caleb felt a hand cup his cheek. Chris's other hand scooped up Caleb's left arm, holding it up for a minute before laying it back down again, although Caleb had no guesses why. His head was then lifted just enough for him to notice his neck being ever so slightly exposed. A finger traced along his throat, and Caleb fought himself to keep still until the finger was retracted and the hand removed from his face.

Chris lingered, then his footsteps faded into the bathroom until the door shut and the shower turned on, just like every other day. Only then did Caleb allow himself to move, getting up off the couch and walking over to where he had heard Chris set down whatever he brought home. He hesitated as soon as he saw it, slowly approaching to examine it without touching it. It was another strange gun like Chris's light rifle, but shaped like a pistol. But why would he bring a light gun home..? He started to get a sinking feeling in his stomach the longer he stared at it.

"It's in case we have any unwelcome visitors," Chris explained from behind him, making him jump. Caleb hadn't even realized that he was out of the shower. "Sorry, didn't mean to startle you. Are you ok?"

Caleb looked up at him questioningly. "I'm n-not sure," he whispered. He noticed Chris seeming to watch him a little differently than usual, a little more intently. "I-is something wrong..?"

Chris sighed, then walked over to the couch, motioning for Caleb to follow. Increasingly nervous, Caleb sat where Chris directed him to, right next to him. "I just wish I would've heard it from you, Caleb."

"H-heard what..?" Caleb's anxiety felt like it was getting worse by the second.

"You know what," Chris said. "Your secret." Caleb fidgeted. Did he know..? "Those two marks on your neck will never heal, will they?" So that's what he was looking at earlier... crap, he knows. Caleb didn't need to answer, and both of them knew it. "They won't. Because it's a vampire bite. You're a halfblood." Caleb shifted under Chris's gaze, keeping his own on his hands. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I-I, uh," Caleb stammered, unable to meet Chris's stare, or even think. "I-I was s-scared... you would b-be m-mad, l-like others... or... o-or..." He couldn't finish the sentence with the other possibilities.

"I'm not mad. I just wish you would've told me yourself." Chris slowly offered him a hug. Caleb shrank away at first, but when he looked up through his blurred vision and saw the tenderness, he couldn't keep himself away. He crawled into his lap and his embrace, face against his chest as he fought back sobs. Chris's tight but gentle hold, along with a slight rubbing on his back, helped him calm down in a matter of minutes. "Are you ok now?" Chris asked quietly as Caleb's sniffles became less frequent.

"B-better," Caleb managed to say. He dared to chance glancing up at Chris, letting his question slip his lips before he could even consider asking it. "D-don't you h-hate me..? For being a... h-halfblood..?"

"I could never hate anything or anyone I've already fallen in love with," Chris muttered, kissing him softly on the forehead. He carefully slid a thumb under each of Caleb's eyes, wiping away any stray tears that remained. Caleb could feel himself blushing, overwhelmed. Chris didn't say anything else, and Caleb was content to keep the silence, just cuddling against him now.

Around an hour passed before the silence was broken by Caleb's stomach. "What did you eat today?" Chris asked.

"The toast, then I made a sandwich for l-lunch... but that's it..."

"Then how about I make us some dinner?" Caleb nodded against him, and when Chris got up, he expected to be set down on the couch. He was surprised, however, when Chris just shifted so his left arm could hold Caleb up like a little kid hanging onto him, carrying him into the kitchen. He didn't complain, though, melting into him as he started making something simple. It ended up just being a very large microwavable mac 'n' cheese dinner that they split standing up, Chris holding him the entire time with one arm while he ate with the other.

After the mac 'n' cheese was gone and the container tossed in the trash, Caleb was carried all the way back to the bedroom, snuggling into Chris while he laid them both down. Chris gave Caleb a light good-night kiss, then settled the two of them under the sheets. Caleb fell asleep faster than he expected to, completely out in minutes.

When Caleb woke up again, it was to the screaming of the alarm. It scared him out of his skin every time, and he doubted he would ever get used to it. He naturally moved closer to Chris, feeling his arms tighten around him briefly before gently sliding him off of him. Before Chris left to start his morning routine, though, he leaned in for a loving, slightly elongated kiss, bringing a warm flush to Caleb's face and cheeks. As he pulled away, Caleb could catch Chris whispering three words to him that he hadn't heard in a long time. "I love you."

Caleb echoed him quietly, unable to keep a smile from curving his lips upward. He watched as Chris walked through the door, then stayed awake this time until he walked back in carrying a plate of sausage patties. He managed to snag another kiss, this one a quick one, before Chris had to leave for work. Caleb gobbled up the sausage, getting up when he was done to wash the plate in the kitchen sink.

While he was out there, his gaze caught the light pistol sitting on the counter. He forgot to show me how to use that... oh well, he can show me tonight. Caleb shrugged it off, not sparing it another glance.

He plopped down on the couch, turning the tv on. He had learned by now how to work it well enough to where he knew all of the most important functions. As the news he didn't pay attention to rambled on, he let himself slip into his thoughts.

He had been so afraid about what had happened the previous night, about revealing he was a halfblood. He'd been scared that Chris would be upset, hate him, hurt him, try to kill him, so he had never felt brave enough to actually tell him. It hadn't helped his nerves that Chris was a vampire hunter, and likely had killed some of the creatures he half was. His response was anything but what he had expected, though; rather, it was the one he had hoped for. Acceptance. Love. It hadn't changed his view of him - or their connection, for that matter - at all. Caleb had doubted it would do such a thing, but it almost seemed as if it had deepened their relationship.

He didn't realize he fell asleep on the couch until his keen hearing picked up on a faint sound just within his earshot. He turned off the tv, which had been nearly silent anyway. He was unknowingly forming a habit of turning it to almost mute when he just sat there thinking.

Caleb focused his senses on the sounds he heard coming from where he assumed was the floor below, judging from how muffled they were. It sounded like multiple sets of footsteps, with the heavy, slow distinction of being human. He was relieved it wasn't vampires, but it still disconcerted him. Why would there be footsteps, and so many..?

His ears followed the noise as it travelled up the stairwell, then down the hall of Chris's floor. His heart stopped in his chest when he realized they stopped, and just outside the door to their apartment. Chris would've told me if he was expecting anybody to come... He found himself wishing that he had learned to use that light pistol the previous night.

A knock came from outside the door, then a cold, apathetic voice. "We know you're in there. Open the door. You don't want us to use force."

Immediately, Caleb's anxiety and fear hit all at once. He bit his bottom lip to keep from whimpering, although he winced a bit as he retracted the slight fangs that had begun to extend from his canines in self-defense. Bite marks on his lip wouldn't look good. He then retreated to the closet of the guest room that he had slept in when he first got there. The apartment door opened just as he closed the door to the closet, hoping he wouldn't be found by the humans who had invaded.

Footsteps wandered throughout the apartment, along with other noises that told him that they were looking, likely for him. Finally, the closet door opened, although he had been praying that it would stay shut.

"There you are. Not the most original hiding place, but not bad," said the voice that had spoken earlier. Caleb noticed some type of a handgun pointed at him. He heard two clicks, likely to reload and change the gun's setting, telling him it was a light gun. Then, a blinding flash and pain, followed by pure darkness.