bite.

bite.- chapter 9: one kiss

Did one kiss make a relationship official? Michael had kissed me and I guess we were already married by vampire standards but I was still functioning on a human level. So was it safe to treat him like my boyfriend even though we have only known each other for a few days.  The romantic mood of the night had been blown away by Duncan’s life or death ultimatum. Michael sat across the room from me as I explained the compromise I had to make in order to save his life. This meant touching on the delicate subject of my ex-boyfriend Micah. The news of me being in a relationship with another man rolled made Michael revert into himself and become that cold callous person that was so difficult to reach. Every time I mentioned Micah’s name or even referred to him in third person, Michael’s eyes glazed over and became hard and cold. His reaction to Micah was so hostile that I found myself staring at the floor unable to look at Michael when talking about Micah. When I had finished speaking Michael only asked one question,

“Did you love him?”

If I had any sense I could have lied but I didn’t, as painful as it was for him to hear me say it, I admitted the truth,

“Yes, I loved him with all my heart.”

Those words were so unbearable for Michael to hear, he stood up running his fingers through his hair while taking deep breathes. Inside I could feel his cool controlled self cracking up. I wanted to reach out to him and soothe all the stress away but I also knew Michael would have to come to terms with my past. Hugging my knees I closed my eyes and remembered how Micah and I had started dating. I remembered the first time I had met him and how I had been so in awe of his beautiful physique. Micah had been the arrogant football jock that terrorized the cheerleading squad while I was just the geeky girl that sat in the back of the class trying not to get noticed. Our lives would have never collided if he hadn’t of got drunk and missed a trigonometry exam. The maths teacher made him sit through summer school and his parents forced him to get a tutor. My mom knew his mom and so I got roped into giving him a few lessons. I remember sitting on his bedroom floor going through the mathematics eating popcorn and drinking soda. It’s strange but when you think someone is so gorgeous you kinda start to believe that they would never like you in a million years so it takes the pressure off kind of like finding out a really cute guy is gay, suddenly all you are faced with is friendship. So I never worried about making myself look pretty or trying to impress Micah. I was able to be myself and I think that’s what made him fall in love with me. The first time Micah kissed me it had been completely by surprise. He asked me to pass him a textbook and as Ieant forward to give it to him he kissed me. I had been so shocked and surprised I had dropped the heavy text book over Micah’s Mom glass coffee table. Micah took the blame for it and apoligized to me afterwards. Intially I thought he had a temopary blip of insanity but then a week later he pulled the same stunt again. This when he kissed me he didn’t say sorry and I guess that was the start of our relationship that lasted two years. The first year was magical but the second year was hell. Micah dropped out, got addicted to alcohol and went completely off the rails. His parents wouldn’t have him in the house so he used to come round mine. Micah, my poor Micah, such a lost soul.

I opened my eyes and looked up at Michael who was now standing across the room looking like a broken hearted man. I didn’t love Micah but I still deeply cared for him, we had been through so much together and that is something you can never erase.

“I need to find Micah.” I said.

Michael nodded solemnly never saying a word. I could feel my heart breaking with his. Inside I wanted to scream at him, I love you more, nothing could ever compare to you but I couldn’t. There was something awkard and embarrassing about admitting to a complete stranger your undying love.

“Go to sleep, I’ll be back in a little while.” He said softly.

“Where are you going?” I asked.