1. She Was Loud. And I Was Doomed.
The first time Amelia walked into Nightshade Academy, she was half-dead and still managed to sass the Reaper.
Who does that?
She glared at me when I told her she wasn't special. And instead of crying like most mortals, she called me a bloodsucking aristocratic mosquito.
I think that's when I knew.
I was doomed.
2. I Tried Not to Care. (Failed.)
She tripped over her cloak in Combat Curses class and blamed me.
She nearly set the Library of Whispering Souls on fire and then gaslit the librarian into thinking he did it.
She called me "Dracula Lite" for a week straight.
And every time… I wanted to smile.
Wanted to kiss her.
Wanted to tear down every wall I'd built over the last two centuries and just… let her in.
Scariest thing I've ever felt.
And I once fought a shadow demon with nothing but a soup spoon.
3. The Night It Happened
It was a Saturday. No classes. Just the echoing halls and the smell of storm clouds.
She found me sulking in the East Tower — my favorite moody brooding spot.
"I brought snacks," she said, holding up a bag of blood popsicles and ghost pepper chips.
I laughed. Actually laughed.
And she looked at me like I was human.
Like I deserved to be.
She sat beside me, shoulder brushing mine.
"You know," she said casually, "if you weren't such a self-loathing immortal cryptid, you might actually be hot."
My brain: error 404.
Heart: absolute meltdown.
I stared at her like she was the moon I hadn't seen in years.
"I think I love you," I said before my dignity could catch up.
She blinked. "You think?"
"…I definitely love you."
"Good," she said, cheeks flushed, "because I've been in love with you since you threatened to stab that siren for insulting my hoodie."
4. And That Was It
No fanfare. No thunder.
Just a vampire who'd forgotten what it meant to feel…
and a girl who reminded him how to breathe again.
She kissed me that night.
And everything else — battles, curses, weddings, monster prom — came after.
But that was the moment I knew.
She wasn't just my downfall.
She was my rescue.