Heron was busy guzzling down soda and watching some cheesy old 90s show in his cozy little shelter in the woods, he had built it by hand with his father awhile ago! And it was super cozy while raining, which it was, quite hard in fact. His father also helped him build it as he was getting tired of the constant smell of weed, and Heron was too much of a pothead to compromise in any other way.
Rain pelted the roof of the place aggressively, practically drowning out the noise of the old analog TV he had set up on the floor. Heron liked older technology more than new, he liked how unique it was! The effectiveness of it made it less worth it, however. Depending on how lazy he's feeling, he'll just watch what he wants on his phone.
Heron flopped down on the small bed he had set up in front of the Television, finishing the can of soda before his ear twitched. “Hm?” Over the rain that sounded like gunshots coming down from the sky, he heard… a knock, on the door, his door? There weren't any other doors, but who'd know about this place? Jessica, probably.
Heron creaked the door open to take a peak at whoever knocked, swinging it open when spotting Lauren. He was surprised, of course, mostly because he never told Lauren about this place. “Heyyy, Little Red, what's up? Decide to stalk me, huh?” Lauren muttered something out, though it was drowned out by the overwhelmingly loud rain. Heron also noticed the fact that Lauren was absolutely drenched, shivering and looking like a short ice cube. “I'll ask questions later! You look freezing,”
Heron stepped aside, letting Lauren in before shutting the door. He walked over to a small heater on the floor, plugging it in and setting the heat to max. “That'll warm up in a second, I'll grab you a blanket.” Lauren sat down next to the heater as Heron went and grabbed a large blanket from the bed, tossing it over to Lauren.
“So, now that you're not at risk of hypothermia, what's up? Why were you out in a storm?? And also, how'd you find this place?” Heron asked, sitting down across from the sopping wet friend of his. “Oh, uhm, I asked Jessica… And she said that on a Friday, you'd be guaranteed to be here,” He muttered, wiping the water off his face. “And I just wanted to hang out with someone, I don't wanna be alone right now…”
Heron nodded, leaning back. “Heh, she knows me so well!” He laughed, before attempting to be a little more serious. “Is something wrong, buddy? I'm not exactly the FIRST person you'd go to, let alone during a night like this! Did… something happen with your parents?” Lauren looked down at the wooden floor, wrapping the surrounding blanket a little tighter. “… I confessed to Vincent,” He sighed, giving Heron enough for it to click in his head. “I'm… guessing he responded in a very Vincent way, huh?”
Lauren didn't respond to that, but that was even more confirmation than a yes. “I can't say professing your love to someone out of the blue is a GREAT idea, BUT if he responded the way I know he did, i… yeah, I'm sorry, sometimes life is gonna suck… No pun intended.” Heron awkwardly smiled, dropping it after just a moment. “Well, if hanging out with little old me is what makes you feel better, then I have no problem letting you hang around! Besides, I'd feel like a dick if I sent you back out there,”
Heron stood up, stretching a little. “This place is practically like a mini apartment, it doesn't even have any other rooms besides this single one! It's real authentic.” He snickered, quickly disregarding the sad state of apartment living in our current day and age, as that is sad. “Do you want some hot cocoa? I don't have a stove, but I do have a microwave!! So, you can have anything that's microwaved,”
Lauren stood up, keeping the blanket around his shoulders. He looked around the small yet cozy interior, a little jealous. “No, that's fine! I don't want to be a bother…” Heron shook his head, putting his hands on his hips. “Pfft, I have an asshat brother and a nosey sister. You could set me on fire and that'd still be less of a bother than anything they'd do.” Lauren hesitantly nodded, walking over to the small TV as Heron tended to the hot coca.
“What's playing?” Lauren curiously asked, glancing back over at Heron as he walked over with a hot cup of hot flavored cocoa. “It's a TV show called Friends, everybody kept yapping about it, so I decided to watch a few seasons! Pretty overrated, if I had to say,” He shrugged, handing Lauren the small mug. “Thank you,” He said, looking back down at the TV. “I haven't actually watched much television in my life, my parents said that watching most popular TV shows was like reading the book of Satan itself!” Lauren grimaced, taking a sip of the hot cocoa.
“Honestly, all that did was make me more scared because I didn't think Satan had a book before,” He said, groaning a little. “That, and everybody at the mall thought I was weird for running away from the TV stands.” Heron chuckled at that, as much as he tried not to. “Yeah, that seems to be the norm for your parents, unfortunately!” Lauren turned to Heron, looking up at him. “I've been at the library for most of the day, by the way,” He said, starting to explain what he's been up to.
“If there's one thing Vincent helped me realize… it's that I'm tired of being an idiot!” He said, feeling quite frustrated. “Hey! You aren't an idiot, just… uh, incredibly misguided?” Heron said, putting a hand on Lauren's shoulder before getting cut off. “A misguided idiot… I spent like 6 hours on the library computers, just… questioning everything my parents taught me and realizing half my life was pure and utter fearmongering crap!!” He huffed out, tightening his grip on the mug.
“I didn't want to be that way forever, I guess Vincent just helped me speed things up,” Lauren said, taking a large gulp of the hot chocolate. “I still believe and stuff, but, I don't wanna worship the way they've been doing!” He said, making Heron giggle a little. “At least they didn't have you like sacrificing animals and stuff, right?” Lauren shrugged at that, giggling a little, too. “No, but we did also spend an entire day pouring a salt circle around our house, so demons didn't get in,”
Lauren groaned. “I'm still really confused about a few things, but, I don't think I'm nearly as misinformed as before! Hopefully!!” Heron nodded, grinning happily. “Oh, it'll take time! But, sooner is better than later, too, yeah? Maybe Vincent rejecting ya was like… what's it called, a divine intervention? I dunno, I'm a vampire,”
Heron sat down on the foot of his bed, patting the spot next to him. “Like I said before, you can hang out here with me for as long as you need! Jessica's been too busy to hang, anyway. And I always thought we could be closer!!” He snickered, smiling as Lauren sat down next to him. Lauren sat down the mug after drinking the last bit of hot cocoa, not hesitating to lean against Heron for comfort. “You've always been super fun to be around, but, yeah, you also always kinda scared me,” Lauren awkwardly admitted, chuckling.
“Yeah, i kinda always assumed that with the way you acted around me!” He said, wrapping an arm around Lauren, pulling him closer. “And I'm assuming finding out I was a vampire didn't help either, hm?” Lauren nodded, smiling awkwardly. “Wasn't the most comforting, yeah! I was more afraid of your brother, to be honest, though!” Heron nodded, laughing a little. “If you thought Bittern was bad, you would HATE to meet my cousin!! His name's Leo, and acts like Satan incarnate.”
Heron paused. “Bad choice of words, eh?” Lauren laughed a little, shaking his head. “I think I'm over the demon paranoia! Enough to where it won't give me a panic attack, at least,” Heron smiled warmly, deciding to NOT mention how Vincent listed off demons as one of the creatures that roam around. They are having a bonding moment, after all. Lauren pulled away from Heron's arm, looking him deep in the eyes. “I really appreciate you doing all this, by the way, you really didn't have to,”
Heron rolled his eyes at that, looking back at Lauren. “Yeah, but then I'd be an asshole and an even worse friend!! I care about you guys, yeah? You can always come to me for any reason,” The two stayed silent for a few moments, almost getting lost in each other's eyes before Lauren blurted something out. “is your bakery offer still available?” Heron nodded, before Lauren grabbed a hold of him; as they started to aggressively making out on the bed! Wait, sorry, what? That's not right.
Except it is. The pair rolled around on the bed as their bodies pressed together, Heron proving he's a great vampire by his expertise in sucking face. And Lauren proving he'd be great at getting killed by a vampire, oh, and he was also pretty decent at sucking face, I guess. They went at it for a good few minutes, until Heron was on top of Lauren. “Hold on, one second! Before this gets a little out of hand,” He said, clearing his throat. “I just want to make sure that… that you aren't gonna regret doing this afterward. With me. Right now. After getting rejected, your hormones are probably… I dunno, fucking freaking out?”
Lauren paused for a few seconds, sitting up as a little as he contemplated his actions. “… Uhm, yeah, yeah, I want this.” He nodded, looking up at Heron. “Are you sure?” He asked one last time, for good measure. “… Uhh, yeah!” Heron went quiet for a few seconds, before nodding. “Cool, okay!” Heron said casually, and that is all I will say. I am not describing what plays out next. Aside from the fact that they will be very sore in the morning.
chapter 8 - i kissed a girl, coming soon