Chapter 9 #2
I was a vampire. I was basically dead, yet I could still itch so fucking much.
At least I couldn’t sweat. Because if I could, I’d have melted into a puddle by now.
For one, the temperature in here was always high.
Apparently, most of the customers enjoyed the cozy, warm atmosphere, and having a shit-ton of Persian rugs and vintage armchairs and couches wasn’t enough to achieve that.
Not even the brocade throw pillows and crocheted afghans helped.
No, the temperature was only right if one felt like a lizard in a terrarium bathing under an infrared light.
And then there were the layers of clothes—I was certain the two UV protective layers and heavy hoodie I was wearing would give a human heatstroke.
But they’d saved my vampire ass. Because, of course, today had been a sunny day.
If there’d been clouds, going out at five thirty wouldn’t have been a problem, but no.
When I’d opened the blackout curtains and raised the blinds, I’d been attacked by a concentrated ray of sunshine directly focused on my face.
Now I was meeting Finn while my face was streaked red, if it didn’t heal in time.
I shifted in my armchair again, trying to move the seams of the UV shirt to somewhere they weren’t bothering me as much, but they kept digging into my skin.
Fortunately, I’d been able to snag one of those cozy armchairs tucked away in a corner, far, far away from the windows.
I loved this particular set of armchairs, even though they were the most hideous mix of vomit green and diarrhea yellow.
The coziness and placement made up for the ugliness.
No natural light reached this corner; the single light source was a vintage lamp with a horrible rosé lampshade tucked in the corner.
As soon as Finn got here, I’d be able to go to the bathroom and change out of the UV clothes. Then I’d feel less itchy for sure.
I straightened a bit in the chair and peeked around the backrest to check whether Finn had arrived yet.
He still had three minutes until he’d be late, but I couldn’t wait for him to get here.
My stomach was doing the whole tying itself into knots thing again, and I didn’t like it.
If it hadn’t been such a sunny day, I’d have waited for Finn at his apartment and secretly followed him here, just to make sure nothing bad happened to him on the way.
Car crashes were a thing, and rush hour was a prime time to get hit by a car.
But alas, the sun had been way too bright to risk it, so I needed to rely on the fact that Finn had managed to get through life for twenty-three years without getting himself killed—his noteworthy effort at killing himself by gastritis excluded.
Still, I felt a wave of relief crash into me as I saw him rounding a corner, his eyes flickering to the bar on the left and then deeper into the sizeable café. I raised my hand, and he immediately noticed, his face lighting up.
“Hi,” he said. His cheeks were a little rosy, his skin looking less pale and sickly already. The wonders of modern medicine. “I’ve got to admit, for a moment I thought you were pulling a prank on me. This place… it doesn’t look like something someone our age would enjoy.”
I laughed, pointing at the armchair opposite me. “Yeah, the décor is a lot. But everything here is amazing.”
The coffee was to die for, but mentioning that would be quite rude, seeing as he surely wasn’t allowed to have coffee right now. And I definitely wouldn’t be the one tempting him into eating or drinking something that might hurt him.
Finn sat down, wiggling his ass until he found a comfortable position. “It smells amazing, for sure. How did you discover this place?”
Damn. As innocuous as the question might sound, it had me scrambling for an answer that wasn’t a lie.
“I found it one day after I had to get away from my… roommate for a while.”
I’d been a freshly turned vampire, and the way Bennie had babied me and watched every single one of my steps had ground my nerves into dust. So, after weeks of enduring it, I’d run away, gone searching for Finn, and had come here afterward to stew in my thoughts for a bit.
“Oh yeah, I get that. I had a roommate my first year of college, and it was literal hell.”
I perked up, my eyes narrowing as my mind went back, trying to remember the guy Finn had roomed with.
“How come?”
Finn scrunched up his nose. “He was a homophobic douchebag. After he found out I was gay, he was insufferable. He constantly thought I was trying to flirt with him.” He rolled his eyes.
“As if I’d ever stoop so low and pine for a homophobic prick like that.
I’d rather date my fucking stalker than that douche canoe. ”
I jolted.
He would date his stalker?
A.k.a. me?
Okay, he’d said a whole lot of things before that, but I couldn’t be bothered to actually commit anything to memory aside from the fact that he’d consider dating me—well, the other me.
Still, I needed to get us away from this topic without sounding dismissive.
“You have a stalker?” I asked.
There, I sounded worried. And I was. I was fucking anxious he might say something that forced me to tell him any part of the truth.
“Apparently,” Finn sighed. “But I really don’t want to talk about that right now, if it’s okay with you. The doc at the ER told me I should reduce my stress, and talking about my possible stalker kinda has the opposite effect.”
I nodded emphatically. “I get that. Uhm… hey, we should check out the menu. I’ll even order a tea instead of coffee too.”
Not that I technically needed to eat or drink anything. But inviting him out for tea and then not having anything would be weird.
Finn laughed. “Thanks, but feel free to order coffee if you want to… maybe let me sniff it a couple of times.”
I snorted. “Spoken like a true junkie.”
Finn shrugged, but his cheeks blazed bright red again. I reached for the menu lying on the coffee table between us and handed it to him before getting up.
“I just need to go to the bathroom. I’ll be back in a minute.”
Grabbing my backpack, I hurried to the display cases and turned to the right, veering off into a narrow hallway, the walls adorned with mirrors in corny golden frames.
Holy fuck, I thought as I pushed open the bathroom door. I am talking to Finn. I’m having a real conversation with him.
Best day of my existence. Ever.