When we made it to school it was still early so we had plenty of time to hang out and do whatever but I wasn't really up to socializing anymore. And this time I didn't need to lie and say I had cramps, I truly did have them and I knew they were going to get worse so Landon walked me to my dorm once we got back on campus.
"So was this date as bad as you thought it was going to be?" Landon teased as we walked up the stairs, his arm around my waist.
"Nah. It was worse."
He bumped me with his hip, "Stop being mean. It wasn't that bad."
I laughed, a hand on my abdomen as I tried to remain upright and not shrivel up into a pathetic ball like I wanted too. "Okay, it was fun if you cut out the parts with Blade."
"So you wouldn't mind if we did it again?"
"I wouldn't mind at all," I replied as we walked down the hall to my dorm. I pulled my key from my purse and unlocked the door, opening it a crack before I peered in, just in case Blade had made good on his promise to be here. I couldn't sense him that close by, but he was quick as hell and it was entirely possible for him to sneak in within two seconds. "Thank God!"
"What?" Landon asked, peering into my room as I opened the light.
"Jill and Brian aren't in there," I said, which was also a relief. The way they kept cropping up at every turn today, I half expected to find them horizontal and naked in here already.
"Hey," he said, wrapping his arms around me and tugging me close to his chest. "If Brian's ever doing anything to you or you're alone with him then run like hell and call me, okay?"
"Okay," I said, cheek against his shoulder. "Thanks for today. I really meant it when I said I had fun."
"Anytime," he said and I pulled back to say goodbye for the night. His fingertips brushed my hair behind my ear and, oh, the way he was looking at me, I felt my stomach spin with nerves and excitement. "Kiana, I don't want to push you...if you don't..."
"Kiss on the first date?" I finished with a smile. "Sorry but I have a strict rule about that one."
After my last failed relationship, taking it slow seemed more prudent than ever. And my cramps were getting worse and I just really didn't want this particular moment to be marred by anything.
"Okay then, I can respect that," he said, kissing my forehead, "Especially since I hope there will be more dates to come."
Hopefully ones that wouldn't be interrupted by an idiot vampire and a uterus hell bent on ruining the mood.
"There will be," I said, pulling out of his arms to step into my room. "Goodnight, Landon."
"'Night, Kiana," he said, flashing me another grin before he headed back out and I closed the door, leaning against it as I let out a sigh.
"Um...wow," I exhaled, almost regretting my decision not to kiss him. But like he said, there would be plenty of other dates and opportunities. No need to rush.
The thought made me smile as I walked into my room, an arm wrapped around my abdomen as my cramps started to get worse. Being a girl was a drag.
I forced myself to take a steamy shower, hoping that might help, then snuggled up in my pajamas in bed. I closed the main lights but left the light on between my bed and Katie's so when Katie and Jill came in they wouldn't have turn on the big light and wake me up. I curled up under the covers into a ball, breathing deeply as I waited for my cramps to subside or to fall asleep. Whichever put me out of my misery first.
"You're a real tease," someone said.
I sat upright abruptly, sending pain through my abdomen. I moaned and flopped back down into a ball again, squeezing my eyes shut.
"Go away," I groaned. Wasn't I suffering enough?
"But I can help," he whispered, his cool breath tickling my ear.
"Do you have a magic wand that makes period cramps disappear?"
"I'm a vampire, not your fairy godmother. But I do have a remedy."
"I'm sure," I yawned as I felt my small, twin bed dip and him pressing against my back. "What the hell are you doing? Get out of my bed!"
"I'm trying to help you so would you please stop shrieking at me," he grumbled as his hand slid across my side and down my stomach, slipping under my shirt to rest his cold hand flat against my stomach, then dip lower to where it was hurting, between my hips. Way too low.
"Your hand is cold," I whined, squirming in attempt to get away from his hand but only ending up pressing more firmly against him behind me. The bed was too small to have anywhere to hide and I was far too cramped up and miserable to even try to get up right now.
"Well, I'm dead so it's kind of a given," he said dryly as I felt him shift behind me.
"What are you doing?" I grumbled as he flipped me onto my back and sat on me.
"Ow," I groaned, clutching my stomach, "That's not helping so get your fat ass off."
"Oh shut the hell up already, unless you want to writhe in pain all night," he said, pressing his cool fingers into my lower abdomen, pressing firmly in some spots while easing the pressure off in others.
I stopped struggling and froze, blinking up at him. He kept his eyes down on my stomach as he massaged my stomach gently, his black hair falling into across his face. I closed my eyes and let myself relax under his touch, enjoying this brief moment where he was being nice since it didn't happen very often.
After a few minutes I felt my cramps ease off slightly before they went away completely. But I didn't say anything; I let him continue working on my lower stomach since it was so soothing. I had no idea what the fuck he was doing, or why it was working, but I wasn't about to complain about it.
After a moment I felt his fingers falter before he rested his hands on my stomach. "Better?" he asked, voice rougher, a hint of his accent warping it.
I opened my eyes sleepily. "Much better. Thanks."
"You're welcome," he said as he started to get off me but I caught his arm. He turned his head and gave me a questioning look and I flushed.
"I was just wondering....you have an accent sometimes...." I said awkwardly.
"Ah."
"It's kind of hard to miss. Plus I have a thing for guys with accents, so I'm curious."
Mmmm, rest in peace Heath Ledger. I loved you lots. He really kickstarted my interest thanks to 10 Things I Hate About You.
"Really?" he smirked, a hand on either side of my head as he leaned down so close I could feel his breath on my lips. That was a dumb thing to admit to a guy who had the ego the size of the sun.
"Yeah, but I like it better when they have the accent all or most of the time," I said pointedly.
"I rather not talk like this all the time," he said in his Australian accent which, as much as I hated to admit it, only made him more attractive than usual.
"Really? I bet you'd pick up more girls if you did."
"Now why would I need to do that? I get more than enough girls without it," he said, burying his face in my neck.
"Well, you're always so horny so I figured you must need more girls to satisfy your needs," I said cheekily.
"Haha. Aren't we smart?"
"No but seriously, how come you only have an accent sometimes?" I asked as he trailed his lips across my neck again. I was far too tired to attempt to get him to stop, especially as he'd helped me feel better and I was all relaxed and melted into my mattress now. It didn't feel that terrible anyway.
"I grew up with it, I was born in Australia, but..." he trailed off, sitting up and ruffling his hair, still straddling me like this was perfectly normal. "I just...got sick of my accent after a while so I practiced talking without it. I guess it just comes out sometimes if I'm not paying attention."
"Hmm, if I had an accent I'd keep it," I mused.
"Try having it for like two fucking hundred years and having girls throw themselves at you with the same lines of 'I love Australian accents'. Trust me, after an eternity of hearing the same thing over and over again you'd want to get rid of it too."
"Oops," I said sheepishly, "I guess me saying the same thing was proving your point."
"Kind of."
"Kind of?" I echoed.
He sat back on his knees, keeping his weight off my thighs and hips so as not to crush me which was frankly more considerate than I expected him to be. "Well, I haven't heard it for a few decades so it doesn't bother me to have you say it."
"How old are you?"
"You don't want to know," he said seriously before he suddenly smirked, "Wait a minute...so if I wanted to hook up with you I could just speak with an accent and that's all it would take?"
"Jeez, I wouldn't date a guy just because he has a dreamy accent." I wasn't that shallow.
"You think my accent's dreamy?" his smirk widened.
"Shut up."
"But you love my accent so I should keep talking."
"Blade," I growled.
"Kiana," he mocked me. I loved the way my name sounded coming from him, but I hated that he could make me think like that at all. I gave him 'the look' and he rolled his eyes, "Fine. Besides having an accent why would you date a guy?"
"I don't know. Various reasons."
"Does he have to be good in bed? 'Cause I assure you I am, and I'd be happy to show you."
There he went again, swinging from normal and nice to extraordinarily annoying.
"No thanks. I'm waiting for someone special."
"Special? You do realize how horrible your first time is going to be right?"
"What do you mean?"
"If you wait for that 'special guy' and he's a virgin as well," he said, making a disgusted face, "Well, that's probably going to be the worst sex you've ever had. You're better off doing it with someone who actually knows what the fuck he's doing; it's more enjoyable and safer."
"It doesn't have to be great the first time. I'm just saying I'm waiting for the guy I want to do it with who I think is actually worth it. And who cares if it's not 'great'? As long as it's sweet and fun and with someone I trust, it doesn't matter."
"You're ridiculous," he said, still looking disgusted, "And the guy you do it with will probably be worse."
"Oh really? What if I had sex with Landon?"
He burst out laughing. "Sweetheart, now that's a whole different story. That guy is possibly worse than me when it comes to sex."
"What do you mean? How would you even know? You don't even know him."
"I hear the girls talking about him in the locker rooms, all the girls he had sex with," he said, "That guy managed to sleep around possibly the entire female student body."
"That was before. He changed."
He scoffed. "Sweetheart, guys like that don't change."
"I guess there's no hope for you then."
"I could change anytime I wanted too," he said, hands slipping under my shirt and therefore disproving his point. "But I enjoy myself too much to want to give it up." His fingers brushed the underside of my bra and I glared up at him. "What are you going to do about it?"
I sat up with him still straddling me and pushed him off me. I was surprised when he actually got off without complaint, then scrambled to sit on his lap.
I put my hands on his chest and slid them upwards, trailing along his neck before plunging my fingers through his thick black hair.
"I'm going to do this," I whispered in his ear before I started to kiss my way down his neck. He stiffened...in more places than one....and I struggled to keep from laughing. Blade was really too easy. His hand rested on my very lower back, under my shirt, and his other hand was tangled in my hair.
"Well what do you know?" he chuckled huskily, "You have the makings of a true vampire."
"I bet that would make it better wouldn't it?" I asked, "The blood lust?"
"It does."
I pulled back, settling in his lap. "So what? You and Mona just bite each other while you're doing it?"
"Well, most of the time yeah we do," he said, unbuttoning his shirt a bit before he moved it off his shoulder and showed me two faded half moons; on the upper half there were two noticeable deeper parts where I assumed her fangs had been.
I ran my finger over it, feeling the bumps of it healing. I really didn't know anything about vampires at all, even after all this time. "Is that why it's an open relationship with Mona? When you feed off humans you have sex because of their blood?"
"More or less," he said quietly, buttoning his shirt back up before he rested his hands on my hips.
"Have you ever been with anyone besides Mona?" I asked, genuinely curious as I started to play with his hair. It was so soft I couldn't help myself. He seemed to be in a much more generous mood tonight than usual, and since I didn't really know anything about him, now seemed like a good time to ask questions.
"No," he said, eyes flicking away. "Human girls have always been enough variation from Mona for me."
I tried to suppress a shudder but I couldn't and Blade let out a soft chuckle. "I know you're not fond of the idea sweetheart, but it's what I am and the way I'll always be," he said, brushing my hair behind my ear.
"I thought you could change whenever you wanted too?" I reminded him.
"I like the way things are now."
"So if I were to become a vampire and we got together, you'd be fine with sleeping around with other women and me with other men anyways?"
"Well, I doubt you'd want to spend an eternity with me sweetheart, but hey, if you ever change your mind..." He smirked as he cupped the back of my neck, stroking the side of my throat with his thumb, eyes following the movement like he was considering the possibility of biting me. It made my stomach curl. "I wouldn't mind making love to you over the course of several centuries."
"Making love? What happened to lust? Unless you've had a change of heart," I raised my eyebrows, genuinely surprised at the way he phrased it.
"I was trying to put it in a nice way, but hey, if you don't like me saying it like that then I wouldn't mind fucking you over the course of several centuries."
I flinched.
"Does that really bother you? It means practically the same thing."
"No, it doesn't," I said, tugging on his hair pointedly, "Fucking sounds like having sex without even caring about the person you're doing it with. Making love is sex...but with someone you love and care about. There's a very big difference between the two."
"Well, in my world they mean the exact same thing," he said, pressing his lips against my throat as he pulled my head back a little with the hand that was tangled in my hair.
"Lust...it's what I live off of. Love doesn't exist," he said, letting out a sigh before he buried his face in my neck, "Love is just something humans created to fool themselves into thinking what they were doing was okay because they were 'in love'. But love doesn't exist. It's lust. And people often get them confused."
"Why do you have such a problem with love?"
"I don't know. I just don't believe in it."
"You don't believe in love? At all?"
He pulled away, going to sit at the edge of my bed instead, distance yawning between us. It was strange. "Like I said before; I don't believe something like that exists."
Blade looked, for a lack of a better word, lonely. Perched on the edge of my bed, spine curving forward, shoulders slumped, gaze far away like he wasn't really present anymore. In profile he looked blank and stony, shut off and lacking any of the usual spirit he normally showed. It was oddly the most human he had ever looked.
I felt myself soften. "But it does."
"No it doesn't, you're living in that fantasy land where everyone wants you to believe that." He shook his head bitterly, jaw tight. "But there is no such thing."
"But I love you," I blurted.
His head whipped around to face me.
"I mean...not like I love you...but like I love you in a...weird way...you know like a love-hate relationship...you know our bond...it's like...we're sort of..." I sputtered, trying to explain myself while my cheeks grew redder and redder and Blade grew smugger and smugger.
"You love me?" he repeated, smirking at me again, whatever somber mood that had taken hold of him was gone.
"Oh don't look so happy," I said, shuffling back to sit against my headboard and tugging my knees up. "I don't love you in that way. I care about you in a 'I don't necessarily want you to die' kind of way. Like 'we're bonded so I don't have a choice' way. It doesn't mean I'm in love with you. Besides, I thought you didn't believe in love."
"Well, show me how much you love me and maybe I'll become a believer," he said, coming up to sit in front of me, hands on my knees to push them open.
"How exactly would you like to show you that? If you mean hormonal humping than that's not love," I said, folding my legs to sit criss cross instead, make it harder for him to get too close.
"I know you'd never do that," he said with a devilish grin, "Except on occasion in your bathroom of course. I was thinking something less...messy," he said, trailing a finger along my cheek to my temple before he turned it around and brushed my hair out of my face with the back of his hand.
"Like what?"
He pressed his forehead against mine and my eyes slipped shut. "A kiss," he whispered, his cool breath brushing across my lips.
I started, too stunned to even reply. But then his words finally sunk in and my brain started operating again.
"You want me to kiss you?" I asked doubtfully.
"For belief purposes only."
"Allow me to re-phrase that then. You want me to kiss you before I even kiss Landon? Sorry, but I've got a strict no-kissing-until-at-least-second-date rule. And also a date-only-one-guy-at-a-time-rule. Just because you're non-monogamous doesn't mean I am."
"There are exceptions to every rule," he said, pulling away from me and I opened my eyes to see him giving me a smug look, "But if you don't want to bend your rules I suppose I could comply."
"Comply?" I asked suspiciously.
"You and I," he said, "On a date or two so that way you aren't breaking your rule and I get my kiss."
"Yeah, that's fine and dandy and all...except for two things. One, I don't want to date you or kiss you. Two, I still have that dating only one guy rule. Sorry but I'm a follow the rules kind of gal."
"Well, I believe rules are meant to be broken. Besides, one date with him hardly constitutes a relationship," he said, dipping his head to nip at my neck, "So when am I picking you up?"
"We're not going out."
"Fine, I guess we'll stay like this all night," he said casually, resting his cheek against my shoulder, his mouth still against the base of my neck.
"Excuse me?" I sputtered.
"Well, I'm not leaving until you accept my offer for a date," he said firmly, "I'll be here all night if I have to."
"Yeah right. You're bluffing."
"Am I? How would you know?"
I opened my mouth but then clamped it shut. He was right; I wouldn't know.
"Ah, for once you're speechless."
"I hope you go out in the sun and die," I spat at him.
He laughed, straightening up once more. "You think the sunlight will actually kill me?"
"Well as soon as we came out of the theater you disappeared. I think it's a fair assumption given the whole vampire thing."
"So? Humans are so ridiculous. The sun will only kill me if I'm out in it for a long time, but until that point the sun is just incredibly uncomfortable. And every minute it keeps getting worse and worse until basically I would start to fry before I burned out completely. I can still walk around in it for a long while before it gets to that point."
"Why is that?"
"Well...I'm dead. Obviously my body doesn't function like yours does. There are chemicals in your skin..." he trailed off as he brushed his fingertips down my bare arm. I shivered and he smirked. "Those chemicals protect you from the sun and such so you don't burn. Pale kids don't have a lot of this chemical, hence they burn easily. Vampires are basically the same thing as a pale kid, except we have almost none of this chemical therefore we could actually die from too much exposure to the sun."
"Wow," I said, awed, "You could die from a sunburn. That's sad."
"And you could die by tripping down the stairs or choking on a peanut. My limited amount of ways to die may seem silly but you humans can die in so many different ways that it's almost laughable."
"Talk about morbid."
"What do I care? Either way, we're straying from the point."
"And what was the point?" I asked innocently, like I hadn't been using this little segue to forget about this dating thing.
"You and I going on a date."
"No," I said firmly, "I'm not doing it."
"Come on sweetheart, my heart is at stake here."
I snorted with laughter. "Sorry, it's just you're a vampire and you're talking about your heart and a stake..."
"Do you enjoy making stupid vampire jokes?" he asked, pulling a face.
"Maybe. But anyways, I'm not dating you. I'm dating Landon. The end. Thanks for stopping by."
"Uh...no," he said, "Not the end. Not by a long shot."
"Come on! I'm tired so let me sleep already."
"No, I'm not letting you sleep until you agree to go on at least three dates with me," he persisted.
"Why three? That wasn't even close to the deal you wanted before."
"Well I figured if the second date I get a kiss I figure I'd get something else on the third date."
"Uh...no. Not in this century," I shook my head furiously.
"That's alright, I can wait for the next one to roll around--" he flashed his fangs "--but I'd have to turn you so you could survive until our dates."
"Blade!" I exclaimed, "Don't you fucking dare--"
"Don't worry, I won't willingly have you around for eternity. I'm letting you stay human so that way when you die I can go back to being free again."
"Excuse me? You'll let me stay human? I didn't know I needed your permission."
"Well, I'm your master remember?" he said, kissing my neck for a moment before he sat upright, a wide grin on his face.
"Whoa, what's with the goofy smile?" That didn't bode well.
"Nothing," he said, his accent creeping into his voice as he grinned lazily at me, "I was just wondering if you'd like to go out with me sometime."
"Stop that," I groaned.
"Why? Does it make you want to say yes?" he purred in that oh so dreamy accent of his.
"No," I said pathetically. Shit, I really was pathetic. Swooning because of an accent. Ridiculous.
"Mmmm," he hummed, "So? What do you say?"
"I say...no..." I said uncertainly. Well, maybe it wouldn't be so bad...and maybe a loophole would be that we would go out as...friends.
I nearly laughed at the thought. Friends; ha! As if. Even going out with him wouldn't get him to drop the subject, he would just find new ways to annoy me or something else to ask for.
"Are you sure?" he asked huskily, lips skimming up my throat as my head tilted back, eyes slipping shut.
"No," I admitted.
"Hmm, why's that?"
"Um..." I stalled, "Because..." I said slowly. My eyes flew open, "Oh my God Landon!" I exclaimed, "Blade stop!"
"Relax sweetheart," he sighed, pulling back.
I leapt off my bed and started to pace, tugging on my hair. "Oh my God! What the hell is wrong with you?"
"Nothing," he said, perfectly calm as he leaned against my headboard in the spot I just vacated and watched me pace like it was an entertaining show.
"Are you sure? Because I'm sure there is something wrong with you! Why the hell are you....your girlfriend...Landon...I can't believe you....ugh!" I struggled to get coherent phrases out as I clutched my stomach, my cramps returning. I pointed to my window with my finger and glared at Blade. "Out."
"What?"
"Get out of my room now," I said firmly, "Go on. Out."
"I'm not a dog," he said crossly, folding his arms over his chest.
"I don't care," I hissed, sneaking a glance at my alarm clock. Ten minutes before curfew! "Blade leave now."
"Why should I?" he asked childishly.
"Because Jill and Katie are coming back and I don't want to have to explain to them why I had a guy in my room after coming back from a date with Landon!" I said, grabbing the sleeve of his shirt as I gave it a hard tug.
He didn't even move an inch. "Don't bother sweetheart, you'll just tire yourself out."
"Blade go!" I snapped before I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, my teeth gritting together. "Please," I spat the word out through my teeth. My pride wasn't worth getting caught with him.
"Ah," he said with a smirk, "That's better."
My fists clenched and I yelped when I flexed my fractured hand in its splint. Blade arched an eyebrow at me and I pointed to the window, fuming.
"What? No 'goodnight Blade?'" he teased, slipping off my bed to approach me, straightening to his full height so I had to tilt up to look at him. He took his time, folding his arms around me as he tugged me into a hug, pressing the entirety of his body against mine.
"Goodnight Blade," I hissed, my teeth still grinding together.
"Goodnight, sweetheart," he said, giving my neck a sharp and playful nibble before he disappeared.
"Damn vampire, no manners," I muttered darkly under my breath as I wandered over to the window he left open when he 'disappeared' and slammed it shut, locking it for added measure. Would it kill him to close the doors and windows when he left?
I curled back into bed, a hand on my neck from where he bit me, fingering the small teeth marks he'd left behind as I waited for my cramps to ease off and my dorm mates to come back. I passed out before they even arrived, my hand still over the sting of his mouth on my skin.