The laugh-track from the secondhand speakers resting on the tv's cabinet served to soothe me like a hot chocolate. Tori was in charge of movie selection this week, which usually ended in disaster, but she'd surprised me this time; a horror comedy about a vampire trying to work as a doctor. I appreciated the irony. While the thick stench of the overly buttered popcorn and the floury marshmallows were distracting at best and sickening at worst, I had no right to complain. With the stress of the new year finally settling down, and our final year of high school about to begin, I knew this month was the calm before the storm - probably the calmest moment we'd get for the rest of the year. So while the threat of our last first day back being mere hours away loomed over her and I, we let ourselves bathe in the comfort of our last night of stability. No textbooks to read, no exams to stress over, no last minute YouTube searches. Just us in the moment.

  "Oh come on, even you don't react like that to a bloody nose," Victoria snorted at the scene playing, her voice muffled from the handful of snacks she was shoving into her mouth, "I know it's fictional, but running away like a lunatic is so not realistic."

  I couldn't help the soft chuckle that escaped my throat, nor the warmth that flooded my cheeks. I shook my head and relaxed further into my spot on her bedding-drowned mattress.

  "One time, in year four, a kid in my class broke his knee real bad from falling off the playground." I crossed my arms, my eyes drifting from the flatscreen to my lover's distracted eyes. "He had like half a bone sticking out. There was blood gushing everywhere. Believe it or not, I did in fact run for the hills."

  "Year four? You were human back then, dick." Tori pouted.

  I laughed and shoved her shoulder. "I was still scared!"

  Her eyes shut in her grin, her lips slightly thinning as they were stretched. I could spend the rest of my who-knows-how-long lifespan right in that moment, right there with her. Her cheeks tinted, her usually pale skin so full of colour - so full of life. Her long ashy hair threatening to spill from her messy ponytail. If my eyes could print what they captured, I'd keep that photo in a locket and take it to war with me. I didn't even notice how much time had passed, my focus still locked on my love.

  "What?" she chuckled nervously, embarrassed at my lingering gaze. She crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes at me, her grin weakening with insecurity. "You're not thinking of eating me, are you?"

  I blinked at the accusation before scoffing in disbelief, my smile returning. I brushed a hand through my hair as I struggled to come up with an excuse that didn't sound straight out of an early 2010's fanfic.

  "I wasn't thinking of eating you," I settled on. "...tonight."

  That earned me a harsh scoff and a pillow to my face, which I quickly threw back. Tori flinched at the difference in strength between her shot and mine, but was too busy giggling to comment on it. While I attacked her with one of her millions of other pillows - much softer this time, Victoria dramatically begged for mercy, shielding the snacks with her arms. The chatter of the tv was drowned out by our theatrical war of bedding, the room filling with laughter and pleas of peace. My ankle knocked the popcorn bowl, sending the burst kernels scattering to the carpet, the movement making me slip and fall onto Tori. We tumbled from one side of the bed to the other before stilling, and I found myself trapped under her.

  The air grew heavy and thick. My face began to burn up. All I could see before me was her furrowed brow, her laboured breaths, her reddening cheeks. Wavy strands of her failed ponytail brushed my temples. We didn't say a word.

  She had this... strange look in her eyes. One I wasn't familiar with. I could hear that her heart was pounding no slower than mine, as if it wasn't obvious enough. The more I focused on the racing beats, the more detail was fed to my brain; the dense swoosh as each chamber contracted and released, the white-noise static of the flow of her blood through each vein and artery. I was more than aware that my eye colour had shifted, with my vision blurring and tinting itself red it wasn't hard to tell. I knew my fangs had slipped out, evident by the ache in my gums. But I couldn't move. Couldn't speak. I barely understood what was happening when her lips met mine.

  It felt like fire. Not that exciting, thrilling fire in your veins that I'd been told by friends that someone would feel in that moment, no. A scorching, destructive, blistering burn that spread throughout every nerve in my body. My eyes screwed tight and I sharply cocked my head to the side, desperate to escape the harm.

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

  Victoria immediately pulled back, her sapphire eyes widened in concern and regret. A hand fell over her mouth as she took in my reaction, before she scurried back on the bed to give me the distance I so craved.

  "Zach, I-I'm so sorry-"

  "...Why did you..?" was all that fell from my lips as I sat up, struggling to calm down as dread took over. The burn wasn't fading. It felt like I'd been thrown naked into the sunlight on a 12 UV day.

  Victoria's eyes narrowed. Her lips parted, but she couldn't find a reply.

  "What did you do?" my voice only grew weaker.

  "I didn't mean to hurt you-"

  "No." I cut her off in a wince. "Don't say that."

  With my every limb screaming from adrenaline, I swung my legs off the bed and paced around the room. I couldn't get rid of the burn.

  "I'm sorry I kissed you, Zach," Tori pleaded, her hands dropping in her lap as her shoulders slumped. "I-I know you hate that stuff, I know you don't feel any of it, but I-I thought I saw a green light. I should've asked. I should've-"

  "Can you shut up for a sec?" I growled, though it was more of a frustrated whine. I held my face in my hands as I continued in circles. I couldn't think. Couldn't focus.

  "Zach." Victoria frowned. "You're doing the - the thing again."

  "The thing? You can speak English, last time I checked. Use your fucking words." I snarled. "'The thing' - like you're a some kind of fucking Sesame Street character."

  Tori crossed her arms and shot me a hurt glare. "Fine! You're slipping. You're overreacting from a simple mistake, pacing around like your feet are on fire, and snapping at me like you hate me. You're upset, sure, but how about we talk about it instead of you just-"

  "I said shut it!" I barked, my claws trembling as they shielded my eyes from having to face her expression.

  She stilled, her jaw setting and her face paling.

  I grunted and fought the urge to claw my hair out. Now I had the immediate guilt and shame of hurting her to pile on top of the things already pushing me off the edge. I stopped my frantic walking and slumped against the doorframe of her closet, facing the drawers as I fought to catch my breath. I couldn't bear to look anywhere in her direction, not when I could feel her gaze piercing right through me. The handle of the closet door warped under my strength as I attempted to grab onto it and ground myself. It wasn't working. Nothing was working. The tv was too loud, the snacks reeked of sugar, and the however fleeting memory of Victoria's lips against mine kept repeating in my mind. My skin was scorching from the inside out. My entire mouth ached. I was overly salivating, which only led to every breath being accompanied by a gulp in an attempt to drown out the hunger. As the initial anger seeped out and guilt took its place, my overstimulation shifted from being directed to the environment, to her. Her racing heart, her shaky breaths, her occasional swallow of dread.

  "I told you," I mumbled, afraid of my voice changing its own volume, "I don't feel that kind of thing."

  I didn't have to look at her to know she'd winced at that.

  "I-I know that." Tori held back an onslaught of tears. "I wasn't thinking. I guess I'm used to people who are, a-and sometimes I slip into old habits-"

  "I-Is this what you feel?" I couldn't help but ask.

  "Uh, what exactly?"

  "I'm burning." I managed to turn and meet her eyes, feeling my sanity holding on by a thread. "I can't breathe. I can't think. Every nerve in my body is raging and screaming and I have so much adrenaline pumping through me that I feel like I could race a motorbike right now but I don't understand why because we've been that close before and I never felt like this then-"

  "Zach! Slow down!"

  "...' I gulped and stood straighter. "All I can think about... is how easy it would've been for me to latch onto your neck."

  The girl's face fell, her heart shattering. I witnessed all the trust she'd built with me over half a decade vanish in a mere moment. All that remained in her head was the primal instinct to flee and survive.

  "Tori," I sighed in guilt and looked away. "I... I wasn't going to, but I'm just... on edge now."

  She didn't reply.

  I felt a spark of anger return at her silent treatment. Before I knew it, my feet had sent me pacing again.

  "You can't be surprised. Anyone with common sense would know the risks before dating a vampire. You know the risks. You cannot be surprised at the thought of me having a vampiric reaction to you kissing me, for fuck's sake."

  She blinked and instinctively shifted away from me ever so slightly, hugging her knees.

  "No, don't give me that shit!" I pointed a clawed finger at her, my fangs gritting. "You're a grown ass woman, you know what you're signing up for with me."

  Her eyes narrowed.

  "We've been through this a thousand - ...huh?" I faltered. "No, it's... nothing like that. Don't - No. Shut up."

  The first tear fell from her eyes as she watched me spiral, helpless to stop it.

  "I said shut up."

  "I-I didn't say anything.." she whispered shakily.

  "I SAID SHUT THE FUCK UP, VICTORIA!"

  The moment the words fell from my lips, the tv turned to static. The lamp's lightbulb shattered. The walls trembled. Tori's face scrunched in utter fear, her arms tightening around her knees. The burning in my veins ceased. My anger dissipated.

  In the silence of the heavy, fractured room, I stood towering over my love's cowering form.

  "... don't give me pity disguised as patience." I mumbled weakly. "And don't fucking kiss me."