The thing about Liam was that he never made noise when he moved.
Alex had noticed it early on — how Liam would just appear beside him like smoke curling into a room, silent and slow. It wasn't just grace. It was something else. Something unnatural. Something that made the hair on the back of his neck rise… and yet didn't make him afraid.
Not of Liam.
Never of Liam.
Not even now.
Not even after what had happened.
The bite had healed — mostly. Only a faint pressure remained on his neck, like the memory of a bruise. Sometimes he'd catch himself touching the spot absentmindedly, like his body wanted to remember even when his mind didn't want to admit it.
Alex should have been terrified.
He wasn't.
What scared him more was how much he wanted it again.
They met after sunset, at the edge of the woods.
Liam had texted him:
"I need to see you. Come alone."
Alex hadn't hesitated.
The air was cool, the moon half-silvered behind thin clouds. He zipped up his hoodie and ducked under the fence, walking the familiar trail between trees that had begun to feel more like walls than wilderness. He found Liam waiting by the old tree stump where they used to skip rocks in silence. His hands were buried in his pockets, his shoulders tense like he was ready to run.
But when he looked up and saw Alex — just saw him — something in his face changed. Softened. Melted.
Alex's heart stuttered.
"You came," Liam said.
"Of course I did."
Liam gave a tight nod, like he still couldn't believe it. His eyes, that strange stormy gray, were darker tonight. Or maybe it was just the shadows.
"I shouldn't have asked you to come," he said.
"But you did."
Liam hesitated. "You don't understand what I'm fighting."
Alex stepped forward. "Then help me understand."
Liam looked away.
"I'm not scared of you," Alex said.
"You should be."
"No," Alex said, louder this time. "No, I shouldn't. Because whatever you are, whatever you've been through, it's still you. You saved me. You stopped when you could have—"
"I didn't stop," Liam cut in. "I bit you."
"And I forgave you."
Liam closed his eyes like that hurt worse than blame. "You don't know what you're forgiving."
"Then show me."
Silence.
Then — slowly — Liam took a step forward.
Alex didn't move.
Liam raised a hand, hovering just beside Alex's jaw, not touching. His fingertips trembled, but his voice was steady.
"I dream about you," he said.
Alex swallowed.
"Sometimes," Liam whispered, "I wake up with your name in my mouth."
And then he kissed him.
It wasn't violent.
It wasn't desperate.
It was slow.
Liam kissed like someone trying to memorize something. Like it might be taken from him. His lips were cold at first, and then warm. And then burning. Alex leaned in, hands fisting in Liam's jacket. He could feel Liam's heartbeat — or the echo of it — pulsing against him like thunder in the bones.
Their mouths parted, came back together.
Alex forgot the world.
Forgot his name.
There was only this.
Liam's hand slid behind his neck.
Then down.
Then —
Alex froze.
Felt the brush of fangs, soft against his skin.
"Liam…" he breathed.
Liam pulled back an inch, eyes glowing now — unmistakably inhuman.
"I can stop," he said. But his voice was shaking. "Tell me to stop."
Alex didn't.
Instead, he tilted his head, baring his neck.
"Don't."
Liam's breath hitched.
And then—
He bit.
This bite was different.
Deeper.
More deliberate.
Alex gasped — not from pain, but from feeling. His knees nearly gave out. Liam's arms caught him, held him close, strong and sure. It didn't feel like dying. It felt like dissolving. Like sinking into something vast and ancient and electric.
The hunger was real. He could feel it pouring out of Liam like smoke through skin.
But there was something else underneath it.
Emotion.
Need.
Connection.
Liam's fangs drew blood, but it wasn't cruel. It was careful. A communion. Alex felt his body tremble — not from fear, but from release.
And when Liam finally pulled back, his lips red, his pupils blown wide—
He looked devastated.
"I'm sorry," he whispered. "I couldn't help it. I—"
Alex reached up and touched his face.
"I told you not to stop."
Liam blinked.
"I wanted you to."
Liam closed his eyes. "You don't know what this means."
"Then tell me."
Liam hesitated.
"The blood," he said slowly, "is more than just hunger. It's memory. Emotion. It's… connection."
Alex frowned. "What do you mean?"
"I can feel what you feel. Now. I can feel you inside me."
Alex shivered.
"Like a bond?"
"More," Liam whispered. "Stronger than that. Not forever. But long enough to matter."
Alex looked at him, quiet. "Do you feel what I feel now?"
Liam nodded, slow.
"And what is that?" Alex asked.
Liam met his gaze.
"Hope," he said.
They sat on the grass after that, not speaking. Liam's head rested on Alex's shoulder. The night buzzed around them, insects whirring, wind rustling through the trees.
Alex's mind was spinning, but not in a bad way.
He didn't know what this made him. Victim? Lover? Something in between?
But he knew he didn't want to leave.
Not yet.
It wasn't until they parted — when Liam disappeared into the trees and Alex slipped back through the fence — that things shifted.
Because someone had been watching.
Hidden.
Silent.
Eyes glowing faintly in the dark.
Not vampire.
Not human.
Something else.
Alex got home late.
Too late.
Marcus was sitting at the kitchen table, an untouched mug of coffee in front of him. His face was still. Calm. But his knuckles were white around the cup.
"Where were you?"
Alex didn't flinch. "Out."
"With him?"
Alex said nothing.
Marcus stood.
"I told you to stay away from that boy."
"And I told you I'm not a child."
"I'm not doing this again, Alex."
"Then don't."
Marcus's voice sharpened. "What did he do to you?"
Alex flinched.
Marcus stepped forward. "You've been pale. Distant. You think I don't notice things? What did he do?"
Alex clenched his fists.
"Did he bite you?"
Silence.
Marcus's face hardened. "You're under his influence."
"No—"
"You don't see it. But I do. That's what they do — they seduce, they infect—"
"He's not like that!" Alex shouted. "He's not like the ones you talk about!"
"He's a vampire, Alex!"
"I know!"
The words echoed in the kitchen.
Marcus froze.
"You… knew?"
Alex nodded.
"And you still—"
"I trust him."
"You're under his spell."
"No," Alex said, voice trembling, "I'm in love with him."
Marcus's expression cracked. Only for a second.
Then he stepped back.
"Go to your room."
Alex didn't move.
"Now."
Alex turned away.
His heart was hammering.
But not from fear.
From something worse.
He wasn't afraid of Liam.
But he was starting to be afraid of what his father might do next.
That night, Alex dreamed.
Not of Liam.
Of teeth.
Of fire.
Of a face — his mother's — pale and terrified, eyes full of pleading.
Run, she mouthed.
Then the dream shattered.
And Alex woke with the taste of blood in his mouth.
His own?
Or Liam's?
He couldn't tell anymore.