The morning after was always the quietest. Not just in the air, but in Alex's bones. A silence that clung to his skin and wrapped around his shoulders like a second shirt. He'd woken up late, his head buzzing with a dull ache, his neck tingling—an echo of what had happened last night.
The bite.
The kiss.
Liam.
His fingers brushed against the tender skin at his neck, and though there was no wound visible in the mirror, no puncture marks or blood, he knew. He remembered the heat of Liam's breath, the press of his body, the sharp flash of pain followed by the sinking coldness… and something else.
Pleasure?
Alex shook his head and turned on the tap, splashing cold water on his face as if it could drown the confusion flooding his chest.
It didn't help.
All morning, Liam hadn't texted. No call. No messages. As if the boy who had bitten into his skin like a whispered secret had vanished into mist. It made Alex's heart twist in his chest—equal parts fear, anger, and something harder to define.
He wasn't even sure what they were now.
Were they something?
Or was he just a mistake?
By the time he arrived at school, the sun had already climbed high, but it did little to warm the nervous chill in his chest. The building stood tall and ordinary, but everything inside Alex felt like it had changed.
The moment he stepped through the doors, the noise of the day hit him—conversations, footsteps, lockers slamming. Normalcy. But it felt wrong. All of it.
"Alex!"
He turned just in time to see Harper jogging toward him, her brown hair bouncing in a loose braid, eyes wide with barely concealed panic.
"Oh my god," she hissed once they were close enough. "What the hell happened last night?"
Alex blinked. "What do you mean?"
"Liam told me to keep an eye on you, and when I called him this morning, he was—" she paused, looking around. "We can't talk here. Come on."
She grabbed his wrist and dragged him through the hallway, dodging students with practiced ease, until they ducked into the art supply closet near the west wing. The door clicked shut behind them.
"I'm going to ask you something really weird, and you have to be honest with me," she said, eyes sharp. "Did Liam… bite you?"
Alex stared at her, throat dry. "How did you—?"
"I'm his best friend," she said. "I'm the only one who knows what he is. And I told him not to bite you."
Alex's breath caught. "So it was real…"
Harper exhaled like someone had just punched her lungs. "Shit."
"What do you mean you told him not to?"
"Because once a vampire bites someone like that, it leaves a link. Not just blood—it's deeper than that. It's like… connection, instinct, craving, all tied into one. That's why I told him to stay away. You're not like the others. You're not just a stranger. He feels something for you."
Alex's heart was thudding now, a thunderous beat in his ears. "So what does that make me?"
"Marked," Harper whispered. "You're marked by him now. You might not see it, but any other vampire will smell it on you. You're his."
The words struck like a hammer to glass.
"I didn't ask for that," Alex muttered.
Harper looked at him, softer now. "No. You didn't. But Liam's not the kind of vampire who plays with people. He doesn't bite just anyone. He's been careful. For years. If he bit you… he's serious."
Alex looked away, heart pounding with confusion. Was that what the kiss had meant? Was that why Liam had looked at him like he was the only thing that mattered?
"I don't even know what he is, Harper. I don't know what any of this means."
Harper nodded. "Then let me help you understand. Just—" her words were cut short by a loud crash outside the door.
They both stiffened.
Voices.
Harper mouthed Stay quiet and pressed her ear against the door.
It was Mr. Carson, the biology teacher, arguing with someone. Alex recognized the second voice after a few seconds—it was Principal Hartley. Something about "unauthorized entries" and "missing reports."
Harper slowly opened the door just enough to peek through, then shut it again.
"They're talking about the lab," she whispered. "Something happened."
Alex felt the hairs on his neck rise. "You don't think…?"
"I don't know," Harper said, "but we should leave. Now."
They slipped out of the closet, weaving through the hallways back into the flow of students. But Alex couldn't shake the feeling crawling under his skin. Ever since the bite, it was like he could feel the world more vividly. The sounds sharper, colors deeper, emotions louder. Every time someone passed too close, he caught a flash of something—fear, excitement, envy. Not his. Theirs.
It was like the bite had cracked something open inside him.
He found Liam sitting alone on the edge of the bleachers after school, head bowed, eyes distant. Like a statue forgotten by time. Alex's footsteps crunched over the gravel, and Liam looked up slowly.
His eyes flickered red for just a second.
Then they softened.
"I wasn't going to come," Alex said, voice quiet. "But I need answers."
Liam looked away. "You shouldn't be near me."
"Then why did you kiss me?"
Silence.
Liam's jaw clenched. "I lost control."
Alex walked closer. "That's not an answer."
"I told you I'm not safe."
"Then why did it feel like I was?"
Liam stood up suddenly. "Because I wanted you to be. Because when I'm with you, I forget what I am. I forget the hunger. The blood. The centuries. Everything. I just… feel human again."
Alex's breath caught.
Liam took a shaky step forward. "But I bit you. That's not something I can undo. It's not something I should have done."
"But you did." Alex looked into his eyes. "And now I feel… different."
Liam's lips parted. "You're not turning, if that's what you're scared of. I didn't turn you. That would've taken more."
Alex swallowed. "Then what did you do?"
"I marked you," Liam said. "It's… a vampire's way of saying someone is theirs. We don't do it lightly."
Alex's head spun.
"But I'm not yours."
"I know," Liam said, pained. "That's why I've been avoiding you."
Alex stepped closer. "Maybe I don't want you to."
Liam's gaze met his again, the hunger buried just beneath the surface. "You don't know what you're asking."
"I'm not asking. I'm choosing."
And then Liam was kissing him again.
It wasn't like the last time—hurried, desperate, edged with hunger. This was slower. Deeper. More certain. Like something sacred. Liam's cold fingers cupped Alex's jaw, and for a moment, the world narrowed to just that touch.
Alex's heart thundered in his chest, and he tasted something sweet on Liam's lips… then bitter… then sharp.
The kiss deepened—and then the pain came.
A quick, sharp pierce to his lip.
Liam pulled back instantly, eyes wide.
Blood.
Alex touched his mouth. A drop of crimson painted his fingertip.
"I—I didn't mean—" Liam stammered, backing away.
But Alex caught his hand.
"I'm not scared," he said.
Liam looked at him with something like reverence. "You should be."
But Alex just stared back, steady. "Then why do you look more scared than me?"
Liam's breath hitched, and for a second, the air around them seemed to still.
Behind them, in the shadow of the bleachers, something shifted.
Unseen.
Watching.
Waiting.