~Xander~
I plucked the car keys out of Achilles' pocket on the way to the parking lot. "I'm driving." I said.
Achilles shrugged, yawning. "Sure."
He seemed like one of those people who got sleepy after a big meal and a long day. He'd probably fall asleep in the car. Achilles' hair was still a bit wet from the water park and it had been exhilarating to see his bare chest exposed. Whether or not I would admit it to him, Achilles was rather appetizing eye candy. I watched him while he pretended not to watch me.
After our first water slide, Achilles' shorts had slipped a bit in the back exposing not only just a bit of the swell of his ass but back dimples. But then he'd hiked up his shorts and tied the draw string tighter, not saying anything about it. His face was more expressive than I gave it credit for, the changes in expressions more subdued and subtle. He'd almost seemed embarrassed but pleased that I noticed him.
Once we settled in the car I turned on some quiet Tchaikovsky and by the time Achilles strapped himself in he was already nodding off.
I took Achilles' impromptu nap as an opportunity to snack on some blood. I got out of the car to take a packet out of my blood cooler. I tore open the cap and started drinking before getting into my seat.
Once I strapped in I checked our route realizing that we should probably stay somewhere overnight. I booked a two bedroom suite just before the Connecticut border and put the car in drive to start going. The purr of the engine was quieter than the deep breathing of Achilles' sleep. I steered with one hand while finishing a packet, noticing the car beside me had two men in the front seat and three kids in the back.
I didn't even have to watch for too long to know they were a couple and those were their kids. I wished Achilles was awake to see that it wasn't so far fetched. But he was already lightly snoring lost to the realm of sleep.
#
Achilles woke up a few hours later, looking confused. He knuckled his eyes before talking in a thick voice. "Are we there yet?"
"No, sweet cheeks. We're not there yet. Are you hungry?" I'd heard shifters ate a lot but I wasn't sure how much. But then Achilles' stomach growled noisily and he blinked. He yawned, his jaw opening to reveal canines pushing out from the gums along with perfectly straight rows of teeth.
"I'm starving." He said, slipping his hand under his shirt and scratching his stomach. I looked at the trail of hair leading down into his waistband and then put my eyes back on the road. "Uh. Where are we, Xander?"
"We're on the highway. Two hours out from our next stop. We'll drive over to this town just before the Connecticut border then we'll stop for the night."
He looked panicked for a moment. "I need to go."
"Go?"
"To the bathroom?"
I looked over at him for one long second. "There's probably an empty water bottle around here somewhere..."
"Can't we just stop? And eat, too? I feel fucking cramped in here." And then he was fidgeting. It was small and restrained, but fidgeting none the less. Tapping the dash and squirming in his seat.
There was a rest stop in the next five minutes, so I merged into the exit lane and told Achilles as much. He got quiet then, staring at me but acting as if he wasn't.
When we finally stopped, Achilles leapt out of the car saying he'd meet me inside. I took my fanny pack and locked the car before pocketing my keys.
The rest stop area was filled mostly with trucks, RVs and a few cars. The building consisted of a few fast food areas, large bathrooms, charging stations for devices and nice places to sit down. I waited outside the bathroom for Achilles and then followed him around as he ordered more food than a normal should be able to eat. He piled on two sandwiches with too much of everything on them and then took a couple of fruits. So, he did know how to eat healthy. But then that was eclipsed by the extra large sweet potato fries he purchased and a tall milkshake.
Really, what I wanted was blood. Thick, viscous, gushing blood. I had been more hungry than usual lately, fantasizing about hunting. I'd hunted when I was younger, stalking humans and feeding off of them on dark street corners. There was that wonderful feeling about being a predator, knowing that you had the strength and power to overpower someone. The slight struggle after the initial shock. Blood that was fresh and hot, straight from the source and tunnelling down my throat. The feel of my lips against their skin and knowing that for that brief moment all that they were was in my grasp. It was such a high.
I watched Achilles eat, watching his neck. His blood would probably be flavourful. All blood tasted a little different, straight from the source there was a certain essence to every individual. I wanted to know what Achilles' essence was.
"What are you thinking about?" Achilles asked me around a mouthful of sandwich. There were crumbs decorating the outside of his mouth, and a fine dusting of crumbs on his shirt.
I rubbed the side of my face. "Please, don't talk with your mouth full."
He made a production out of swallowing, his Adam's apple endlessly bobbing, before he spoke again. "So, what's on your mind?"
"I'm hungry." I said, settling on the truth.
"There's a bunch of different options here..." he paused, understanding dawning on him. "Oh. That kind of hungry?"
I nodded, chewing on my bottom lip. I shouldn't be this hungry this soon. I'd have to ask Aya about this because it was concerning. "Yes, I ate earlier, but...I'm hungrier than usual." I leaned my elbow against the table, letting my head fall into my hands. I closed my eyes, licking my lips and thinking we'd have to stop at a blood bank, since I wouldn't have enough packets to last the trip. When I opened my eyes again Achilles was staring at me, like he wanted to devour me.
I blinked slowly, leaning towards him. "I want you, too." I said softly, quietly enough that he could hear me.
Achilles flushed as though I'd caught him doing something bad. And I knew that he was close to breaking, close to trusting me and being honest. I'd seen it at the water park and in the car. He wanted this, too. But, he was just so afraid, and I watched his face as that fear won out.
#
"There was a bit of a mixup with your room and we only have one room with a queen sized bed available , along with a pull out couch."
"What do you mean there was a mixup?" I snapped. We'd only just arrived at the hotel that was smaller than the online pictures claimed. The building was a couple storeys high with workers that seemed a little young to be manning the facilities.
The man at the counter flinched and I got a perverse pleasure out of that. He was thinning on top, but had wide set slumping shoulders and a bit of a softness to his belly. His name tag read Lucas. "Well, it's the long weekend and it seems like someone entered your information into the system wrong."
"Someone?" I said slowly. "Someone as in you, Lucas?"
I just wanted to lie down in a nice bed after a long day on the road. Achilles touched my shoulder, talking to the receptionist. "Sorry, my friend is tired, and we've been driving all day. It's alright, as long as there's two beds it isn't a big deal."
I frowned. "It is a big deal."
The receptionist spoke up. "I can offer a discount on your room and a complementary breakfast." At the mention of food Achilles' eyes lit up.
I let out an exaggerated sigh while the two of them shook hands and proclaimed it a deal.
#
As soon as we got into the room, Achilles was manipulating the pull out couch and staring hard at it like that would increase its size. Then he looked at the queen sized bed longingly. The room was spacious with the queen sized bed in the middle, a wash room on the side, the pullout couch and a desk with two chairs. The bed had a needlessly romantic hue of red as the duvet cover, and the carpeted floor was a pale brown matching the beige walls. The room was...adequate I supposed.
I turned towards the only source of comfort in the room. "I'm taking the bed." We both said at the same time. And then "I'm not sharing it with you!" Wow. We really were in sync.
Achilles spoke first, shoving off his shoes and arranging his things in a corner. "Aren't you a vampire? Do you even need sleep?"
I frowned. "Yes. I need sleep. I own pajamas and everything. "
Achilles walked over to me, raising his hand and touching my chest. "Do you even have a heartbeat?" He hiked up my shirt, splaying his warm fingers up my stomach and palming a pec.
Heat radiated from his hand and I heard Achilles' laboured breathing. He was caressing my skin, hands so hot.
I wasn't sure how we had gotten here but I enjoyed the feel of him against me. "Of course I have a heartbeat." I murmured, liking the slight roughness of his hands, and the fact he was really touching me.
"And you are warm." Achilles said, slipping his other hand under my shirt, stroking my skin. He leaned into me, nosing along my collarbone. He inhaled. "You still smell like chlorine."
Achilles took his hands off of me and then hugged me around my waist, positioning his head in the curve between my neck and my shoulder. I strained to hear his voice, but I could feel his heart beat thundering in his chest.
We just stood there. Achilles had his arms around me, breathing slowly and heavily. Breathing me in. "This terrifies me." He whispered against my neck. "You terrify me, and I don't want to like being afraid, but with you I want things I don't want to want. I can't want this."
I pulled away from him. "Why? We're adults, Achilles. You're old enough to be out. I don't understand this."
Achilles sounded frantic, talking slowly enough that his voice sounded like he was struggling to speak. "I tried to come out once." He covered his mouth like he was shocked the words even came out. His hand was shaking and he sat down on the bed. "It was awful. My brother used to be my best friend. I looked up to him so much. He was everything I wanted to be. I was seventeen and I wanted to tell him. There was this guy in my class I liked. He was on the track team like I was." Achilles shook his head. "I can't even remember his name anymore. And I tried to tell my brother. I was so nervous, I'm not even sure what I said. I was hoping nothing would change between us. He was my best friend. And—" His voice broke, Achilles covering it with a wet laugh. "God. He was so disgusted. He looked at me like I was a freak. And I can't forget it. I can't accept it. I'll never forget what he said to me." He shook his head, not willing to repeat it. "Everything changed after that. He stopped going on runs with me, we never played video games again and the distance was the worst thing. So, I ca-can't have you be the person I'm meant to be with. How am I supposed to bring you home? Who am I supposed to show you off to. Because between them and you. I have to choose them." He wiped his eyes quickly with harsh, aborted movements and went to his duffel bag, pulling out a small pack and pushing in a water bottle and an energy bar.
"I'm—going for a run." He said quietly. Just picking his things up and leaving.
"Wait a moment, Achilles—" But he was out the door in a flash. "Damn." I said after he had left, wishing I'd comforted him properly. Guilt swarmed up into my chest, and I thought about all of our interactions. I'd made it more than obvious how I felt about Achilles' self-denial. I hadn't made things easier on him. I felt like such an idiot standing there, wishing I had made him feel safe instead of judged.
#
Overall thoughts
Oof, Achilles is struggling, I hope Xander goes after him.