Vampires (AU)

Part 4 (just a little one)

Warmth.

That was the first thing that came to mind as I slowly started to wake up. I was encased in warmth; a caterpillar in a cocoon, ready to emerge as a butterfly. As I shifted onto my side, though, I felt nothing like a butterfly - I was stiff and sore, my whole body aching.

For a moment I was confused, wondering what on earth I had done to cause my body this much strain. Then the warmth I was wrapped in moved and sighed a little.

Cautiously, I opened one eye. I was in a bedroom - my bedroom, thank god. And the warmth was a person. More specifically, Liam. He was laid on his back with an arm round me, and I was curled into his body, which was providing the warmth.

Then I remembered rushing Liam back here with bloodlust, and him drinking from me. No wonder my body hurt.

"You're awake." Liam stated quietly, his voice momentarily shocking me.

"Yeah." I agreed after a pause. "What'd I miss?"

Liam's arm disappeared and he rolled onto his side so we were facing one another. "You passed out, Zayn pulled me off you, Louis told Zayn to get the fuck off me, Zayn went to start on Louis, Harry grabbed hold of Zayn and then he made Zayn leave." Liam explained briefly, exaggerating certain names to get the point across of who'd done what.

"And Zayn..?" I asked quietly.

"He hasn't come back."

I nodded. I hadn't expected him to.

"You're worried about him." Liam said. It wasn't a question; he knew.

"Of course I am. He's like a brother to me." I answered. "At least...he was."

"He still is." I looked at Liam as he spoke. "A few arguments, even a massive disagreement or two, can't get rid of that family bond you two have. You still care a lot for him, and he still cares a lot for you."

I was glad Liam had summed it up, because I certainly couldn't have. "That's right. We're family."

"Exactly. You have every right to be worried about him. I would be, too, if I were in your situation. If it was Louis."

"Is Louis your only family?" I found myself asking.

"Yeah, pretty much."

"What happened to your other family?" as I spoke, Liam's breath hitched. "Sorry, sorry, I-"

"No, it's fine. You're bound to be curious. My parents are dead, and my sisters...I don't know where they are. I've got two, Nicola and Ruth."

"How old are they?"

"They're a few years older than me. When I was nineteen, Nicola was twenty two and Ruth was twenty...so they should be about seventy five and seventy three?"

Well. That was a bit of a shock. "Liam...how old actually are you?" I asked him slowly.

Liam looked at me, saw my expression, and laughed. "I'm about seventy two, give or take a few years."

"Oh my god, I'm in bed with an old man." I said in mock-horror.

"I'm not old!"

"Seventy two is old. Seventy two is past OAP! You're fucking ancient Liam!"

Liam gave me a mock-hurt look, and shoved me so I fell off the bed. As I lay on the floor, too winded to laugh like I wanted to, he leaned over the side of the bed and looked down at me with a worried look on his face. "Shit, Niall, I'm sorry! Did I hurt you?"

"You're such a shit vampire." I told him breathlessly as I sat up. He looked confused, so I explained. "You push me off the bed, and you start panicking over it! What the hell do you do when you kill someone, ring an ambulance for them?!"