Chapter 28
Peter didn’t like the way in which Theodore was glaring at the papers he still had to sign. The nice bank clerk—a financial adviser with her own office on a higher floor of the bank really, but Peter didn’t care about details—had stepped out to get them more coffee.
“Theodore.”
“Back pay, you’re saying?”
“Yes.”
“For my blood.”
Peter had compelled the bank clerk to forget about that part of the proceedings. He’d almost compelled her to get some nicer art for her office too, but that would have been overreaching, and the post-modernist prints weren’t too bad if he didn’t look at them directly.
“You always give it freely, but that doesn’t mean it’s worthless.”
“And we need a joint account?”
“We live together. Of course we need a joint account.”
“To pay rent on the house I’m pretty sure you own?”
Peter shrugged. “For whatever may arise.”
Theodore let out a long breath, his eyes not wavering from the dotted line.
“I…” He rolled the pen in his fingers. “I don’t know what to do with this, Peter.”
Peter, still riding high from their morning together, put a hand on Theodore’s back.
“First of all, you sign it. And then it’ll just be there.”
“Like all the money you put in the account you tricked me into opening?”
Peter couldn’t stop himself from looking just a little smug, not even when Theodore gave him a grievous amount of side-eye.
“Like I said, it was for your blood. One must be compensated for the things one does.”
“This wasn’t how I thought this was going to go.”
Peter smiled. “Look on the bright side. This way, you’ll be able to fill out every part of the employment forms Celeste will no doubt have waiting for you once you get there.”
“You know what the worst part is? Everything you say almost makes sense.”
“Theodore, I love you. All of it makes sense.”
Theodore looked away from him, and all of a sudden, Peter wished for that side-eye back. After another heavy breath, Theodore signed his name, then went to the other pages and did the same.
“Done.”
Peter kissed his temple. “Wonderful.”
“Makes me want to run. Just so you know,” he whispered.
It was said like something so offhand that Peter could have easily ignored it, but he didn’t.
He understood what Theodore meant because it spoke to everything Peter had feared since the moment Theodore had come into his life: That he would just vanish.
That he would be too afraid to stay. That Peter would accidentally move too fast and scare him off.
He was still very much afraid of that last part.
“Promise to come back or at least tell me where you go.”
“No point in running if I do that.”
Peter stroked Theodore’s back. “I know. But even so, do you think you can promise it?”
Theodore turned to him. “Yeah. Maybe. I’ll tell someone, okay?”
“Okay. Theodore?”
“Hmm?”
“Thank you.”
The clerk came back with a bright smile and their coffees then, and they went back to the business at hand. Theodore left Peter to do most of the talking but let him take his hand. It wasn’t as good as the handfasting Peter wanted and would want as long as he didn’t have it, but it was something.
The bank was not too far away from Centennial Park, and they ended up deciding to take a leisurely stroll through the greenery. Theo seemed to be lost in his own thoughts, but even so, he matched his steps to Peter’s, staying within touching distance.
“I wonder what I’ll do tonight,” Peter mused out loud.
“Hmm.”
“I could schedule a late-night performance review with one of our third-years.”
“Uh-huh.”
“Invite one of our neighbors for tea. Not that we talk too much, but it doesn’t hurt to catch up.”
“Yeah, right.”
“Or parade outside of Celeste’s stark naked to drive foot traffic inside.”
“Yeah.”
Peter stopped. “Theodore.”
It took him two more steps. “Yeah?”
Theodore’s green eyes were wide, and he looked startled. He was beautiful. Perfect in all the ways he wasn’t.
“A penny for your thoughts.”
Immediately, Theodore’s expression sharpened. “You just gave me a lot of pennies. I’m not taking any more.”
“Fine. Then tell me your thoughts for the price of a kiss.”
Theodore licked his lips. Sometimes, when he was asleep or in glimpses when he wasn’t, Peter could grasp the way he’d look when there was nothing but happiness on his mind; no burden, no itch or ache. It was a gift he wanted to give Theodore more each day, but not entirely his to give.
“I just…” Theodore licked his lips again, turning to look to their right. “Oh. It’s this place.” He turned to the other side.
“I hadn’t noticed, but you’re right. Someone lost a head in those trees.”
Theodore snorted. “Losing something makes it sound like an accident, and that was no accident.”
“What was it, then?”
Theodore hesitated before he said, “It was you. I didn’t have to hope for an accident. I had you. I’ve been thinking about something.”
Peter took two steps forward so that they were close, and put his hand on Theodore’s elbow.
“What about?”
“The things I don’t remember. Because of the compulsion. What would happen if… I mean, if I…” He breathed in and out a few times, composing himself. “If I became a vampire, would I remember?”
“I’m not sure.”
Theodore looked up at him. “What do you mean, you’re not sure? How can you not know that?”
“When a vampire makes another, they don’t tend to compel them not to remember long stretches before then. Not in that way.”
Theodore nodded. “Right. So if you turned me into a vampire, I might remember, or I might not remember, and there’s no way of knowing beforehand.”
Is he asking? No. But he is thinking about asking! It took all of Peter’s self-control not to show how exciting the prospect was, how hopeful it made him. It would be a lie to say he hadn’t thought about it; he simply hadn’t dared think about it too much, not until now.
“That’s right.”
“Huh. I’m just asking because we’d be equal then. And maybe it would be easier? I don’t know. You wouldn’t tell me to stay at Celeste’s and simply hang up on me because I get hurt too easily. If I were a vampire, I mean.”
“Dearest, you do not get hurt too easily. There is no such thing. It’s about you being precious and me wanting to keep you out of harm’s way.”
“Right. Whatever. I was just wondering, okay? You’re not going to make a big deal out of this, are you? In fact, forget I even asked.”
Peter smiled at him. “Asked what, beloved?”
Theodore snorted. “Oh, you’re full of shit sometimes. Faerie shit, which probably sparkles.”
“It’s fair to assume that, yes. Now then, should we continue our walk, or did you want to jump in the lake for old times’ sake?”
“Hard pass on the lake. Uh, Peter?”
“Yes?”
Theodore’s cheeks heated, almost like they did in pleasure, but it was a more tender color, a softer hue.
“I really, really like you, and I…I don’t want you to get hurt. Or to hurt you.” He looked down. “I’m sorry. It’s the best I can do.”
Peter’s heart beat loudly in his chest. “Beloved, may I touch you?” Theodore nodded, and Peter reached over to push his chin up.
“It’s precious like you are precious. It’s cherished.
I never wanted anything more than you were willing to give me, Theodore.
I never will. I would like to kiss you now, if I may? ”
Theodore huffed. “Sparkles. Yeah, go ahead.”
With the park around them bathed in golden light, Peter closed Theodore in his arms and kissed him deeply. It lasted for a while. Other people stared. Ducks stopped, wondering whether the kiss was a prelude to dropped food. Eventually the ducks passed. The other people shrugged and moved on.
Peter and Theodore had each other, not handfast or forever, but for now, and the moment after.