im wampy !

Ethan’s hands are on her waist to stabilize her. He watches her intently to make sure it’s perfectly centered on top of the tree. “A little to the left. No, right. Actually, here, let me do it.” he taps her shoulder to signal her to get down and out of the way.

She grumbles and steps down from the ladder, planting the star on his chest pointedly. “This would be a lot more fun if you weren’t so particular.” she says in mock-scolding.

“Sar, it’s our first Christmas party as boyfriend-girlfriend, and our first Christmas party in this apartment.” He reminds her. “Can you blame me for wanting the place to look nice for our guests?”

He has a point, she thinks, but at the same time, this is supposed to be a chance for them to spend time alone together, cooking, and decorating, and making something beautiful.

She moves to the living room now, setting up their Elf on the Shelf and various other knicknacks on their TV stand. “No, but you’re acting like we’re having dinner with your parents when we’re just throwing a party for some friends from high school.” She sees him still nervously fiddling with the star out of the corner of her eye and she sighs. “Honey, seriously, I highly doubt they’ll notice.” she urges.

“Maybe you’re right that Benny and Rory won’t notice, but Erica will definitely notice. She’s a design major!”

“Yeah, a fashion design major, not an interior design major.” Sarah corrects with a slight laugh. She’s in the kitchen now, placing magnets on the fridge and examining the list for their Christmas feast. “I need you to stop overthinking and help me cook.” She beckons him over with her arm.

“You haven’t started cooking yet? Do we have the time for the ham?” Benny and Rory are supposed to be here in the afternoon, after they get done with their finals.

“It’ll be fine. I’ve been decorating all day. You could’ve been cooking earlier, y’know.” Sarah chides playfully.

“I had my computer science final today.” he mutters sheepishly, finally stepping into the kitchen, to Sarah’s relief. This has nothing to do with his finals, but if it gives him an excuse, he’s gonna use it. When he got home, Sarah had already started, and he wants to do this with her, but he keeps feeling like he’s doing it wrong.

Sarah rolls her eyes, smiling slightly. “Just help me, nerd.” She begins reading off the list of dishes to prepare. “Okay, can you preheat the oven to 325? I need to roast the ham. I know I probably should’ve put it in earlier.” She gets the ham out of the fridge, then grabs her cutting board and a knife out of the cupboard. Then, she places the ham on a cutting board on the table and begins scoring the ham.

Ethan starts to preheat the oven, then looks at Sarah’s notes on the fridge. “Hey Sar, how do you make the glaze again?”

“Empty a can of cranberry sauce into a pot, then add ½ cup maple syrup, ¼ cup apple cider vinegar, and a teaspoon of mustard powder. Heat it up on the stovetop and stir.” She explains.

As Sarah is talking, Ethan is grabbing the necessary ingredients and adding them to the pot, then grabbing a wooden spoon to stir with. Sarah is finishing up scoring the ham and then putting the scraps of meat in the garbage. When the oven is done reheating, she taps Ethan on the shoulder and tells him to move away from the stove for a second so she can put the ham in.

She puts the ham in the oven, shuts the door, then gestures to Ethan that it’s okay to go back to stirring the glaze now. “Okay, that should be done in about 2 hours, I’m gonna make the mac and cheese.”

The next few hours it seems like Sarah and Ethan are finally able to coexist in their kitchen as they both prepare parts of the Christmas feast. Sarah finishes roasting the ham, then she bakes the mac and cheese. Ethan finishes making the glaze, then puts it on the ham and puts it back in the oven with the mac and cheese on the top rack. There’s jazzy music playing and the room smells sweet and tangy, like Christmas. It seems like everything is going swimmingly. Until Sarah starts talking about desert, that is.

“Okay, I’m gonna make some hot chocolate bombs. Benny and Rory just texted me that they’ll be here in 30 minutes. Erica said she might be late because she has to make up a presentation.” Sarah grabs a cupcake tin from the cupboard, then reaches up to get a bag of chocolate chips from the cabinet.

30 minutes? That’s not enough time for all that! Besides, he has a better idea, one that will be quick, and make him feel at home.

“You should make the hot chocolate on the stovetop.” Ethan tells her.

“Okay, but this recipe I found on insta looks so good and it’s so cute!” She beams as she shows him a picture of some adorable balls of chocolate decorated to look like little snowmen that can sit in your mug of hot water until they dissolve and create hot chocolate.

He looks over at her phone and smiles fondly. “Okay yeah, it is cute,” he admits.

“See? Come on, it won’t be that hard. All we need is some instant cocoa packets, baking chocolate–”

The truth is, he would love to be able to spend all the time in the world doing cute things like that, but he doesn’t have the time. He never has the time. Ever since he started college, things haven’t been the same. He loves studying computer science, but he feels like it’s eating up all his time and energy and turning him back into the neurotic burned out gifted kid he was in his senior year of high school already and this is just his first semester.

“Instant cocoa?” Ethan questions with a raised eyebrow. He shakes his head. “No way. Take the baking chocolate and make it on the stove!” He insists. “It might not look all cute like the one on instagram, but it will be faster and taste better, trust me. Benny’s grandma used to make it for us on the stovetop all the time. At this point, I don’t think he’ll have hot chocolate any other way.”

Even after moving out, he still hears his family in his head. He just wants everything to be like it was back home when it was only him, his family, and Benny. That’s why he wants this. Grandma’s hot chocolate was special. It was creamy, sweet, and rich, and it tasted like home.

Sarah smiles softly. She realizes in that moment that he wasn’t just being his usual pedantic self, he was being particular because he missed how it used to be at home with his family. “That’s sweet. Why don’t you make it with me? Show me how Grandma Weir used to do it.”

“To do that, we’d need a Hershey’s chocolate bar we could break up over the pot.” Ethan laughs solemnly.

“Well I know it won’t be the same, but we can still make something delicious.” She reassures him as she grabs a small pot from the cupboard and places it on the stovetop. She starts carefully pouring the chocolate chips in the pot before Ethan cautiously puts a hand on top of hers.

“Not yet, cocoa powder first.” he says softly.

Luckily, she hadn’t turned on the stove yet, so she was able to transfer them to a bowl and save them for later in the process, when they were supposed to be added. “What else?”

“Milk and sugar.” he says, reaching up to grab the sugar from the cupboard, then heading to the fridge for the milk. He looks at the clock. Ten minutes left.

When Ethan begins stirring the ingredients, he keeps eyeing the clock and fiddling with the knob for the heat on the stove. He’s stirring slowly, carefully, but Sarah can tell by the look in his eyes that he feels like he’s on a time crunch. She keeps almost reaching out to help him, but then pulling away out of fear.

When he tries to open the bag of chocolate chips, the bag tears open, spilling into the pot and overwhelming the mixture. “Shit, shit, shit–” he mutters. There’s no time to redo this!

It’s then that Sarah finally helps him. She comes up behind him, puts a hand on his, and slowly turns down the heat. Her other hand rests on his elbow, guiding him to gently stir the pot. “You’re okay. Everything’s gonna be okay.”

As if on cue, the door creaks open and Benny and Rory step into the apartment, setting the food they brought on the counter. Rory was the first to notice the two, giddily tapping Benny on the shoulder and pointing at them. Benny smiles fondly and he and Rory sit at the counter to watch the other two.

“What’re you two lovebirds makin’?” Rory asks, resting his elbows on the counter and his chin on his hands.

Ethan practically jumps when he hears the other’s voice, letting out a little startled squeak. Sarah pulls away from him, but one hand remains on his arm, stroking him soothingly. Part of him wants to let her take over, but he doesn’t let her. He waves her off, telling her to go talk with the others.

She turns to face Rory. “We’re making hot chocolate, you’ll have to try it when it’s done. We have food ready, but Erica said not to start eating without her.”

When it’s finally ready, Rory grabs two mugs from the cabinet for himself and Benny. They’re forest green with little white painted reindeer on them. His mug is warm in his hands, and the hot chocolate is smooth, but also rich. The flavor coats his tongue and he hums happily.

“This is delicious, guys. Definitely worth the wait.”

When Benny tastes it, he can taste the depth of the chocolate flavor that developed over the slow simmer Sarah had put it on. The chocolate feels smooth and creamy, and as he drinks it, suddenly a flood of memories wash over him.

Benny looks at him with a sudden rush of excitement. “Wait, Ethan, did you two make it on the stove, like how we used to when we’d have Christmas with my grandma?”

Ethan finally turns around. He smiles sadly. “Yeah, I was getting a little nostalgic. I know it’s not the same–”

Benny scoffs. “Are you kidding? It’s just as good, E. You went through all this trouble because you remembered. That’s what makes it good.” He gets up from his chair, steps toward him, and pulls him into a tight hug.

Just then, Erica comes into the apartment, also placing a tupperware that she brought on the counter. She looks around and chuckles, shaking her head.

“Did you guys start eating without me?”

“No, we started drinking without you.” Rory corrects with a teasing smile. “Here,” he hands her his mug. “Ethan and Sarah made hot chocolate.”

Her eyes widen when she takes a sip. “Wow, that’s amazing. Ethan, you made this?”

“We both did.” Ethan says, smiling at her and lacing their fingers together. “We just barely finished everything before you got here. Really, she did most of the work.” He says with a nervous laugh.

Erica pretends to gag. “Okay, I’m gonna eat now, before you two make me lose my appetite.” She teases. “Seriously though, great work. The food looks delicious, the decorations look beautiful…”

The conversation fades out of Ethan’s consciousness as he looks around at the feast the two of them prepared. He takes in the sweet and tangy smell of glazed ham. It was cooked in perfect time. They had plenty of time. He looks at the crispy baked mac and cheese. The top rack had broiled it nicely. He eyes the array of sides and desserts everyone else brought. He feels entirely spoiled for choice, so he doesn’t choose, he grabs everything.

And yes, he does try that meticulously brewed hot chocolate they made, and it's just as good as everyone says it is. And he looks at the twinkling lights on the tree, and the grand golden star on top, and it’s still crooked but he doesn’t even fucking care because Benny was right. His friends are here. His girlfriend is here. They’re making memories together. That’s what makes it good.

When they’re both done eating and talking, he takes Sarah’s hand and pulls her away from the kitchen, away from everyone else, into the corner of the living room.

He cups her cheek. “Hey, I’m sorry I’ve been so anxious and nitpicky about today. I think I just got caught up in the memories of how my family and I used to do it. I wanted it to be the same, but it’s not. It’s good that it’s not the same though, because it’s us. You, Benny, Rory, Erica, you guys are my family too, and now we get to make new memories. I’m sorry I didn’t see that before.” The words tumble out of him as tears begin to form in his eyes. Now it’s Sarah’s turn to cup his face, wiping his tears away with her thumbs. Rory’s all giddy again, nudging Benny and Erica to look over. She rolls her eyes at them, but they ignore her.

“You know you guys are under mistletoe, right?” Rory asks with a smirk.

Ethan stares up at the mistletoe dangling just above his head. “Shit, right.”

Everyone is watching.

“You don’t have to.” Sarah says gently.

He meets her eyes again and there’s a kind of softness to them. The kind that melts his heart.

The kind that makes him want to kiss her.

“I want to. Can I?”

She laughs a little in disbelief, but nods, confirming that he has permission. And then they’re kissing, and they can both feel the weight finally leave their shoulders. Everything that’s left unsaid that day—all the stress, tension, and even slight frustration—comes out in that kiss as love, pouring over him like hot chocolate. It doesn’t even bother him that people are watching anymore, not when Sarah’s holding him so tenderly and whispering over and over, “it’s okay, you’re okay, we’re okay,” against his lips.

For Tibea,

Benny and Ethan had been hanging out in Ethan’s room and reflecting on their adventures, recounting them to each other and being surprised at just how much they had faced in their two high school years.

“I mean come on, vampires, werewolves, ghosts, demons, zombies, sirens.” Ethan listed them out, throwing his hands up. “And that’s not even to mention the weirder things that have happened in this town.”

“Mutant tree crossed with WiFi, mutant crocodiles, that mummy guy that almost stole Sarah away to the underworld.” Ethan continued

“That locker search was so unfair!” Benny grumbled, remembering that potion he had to pour down the toilet. “But wait, when you said zombies, which time do you mean?” Benny asked,

“Uh, the one where Tiberius came back from the dead. You know, the one you caused by trying to get with Bella.” Ethan said, frowning at mentioning his turtle but it turned into a teasing tone as he brought up the crush his boyfriend had.

“Hey now, she’s pretty, and I was dealing with shit man.” Benny defended himself, although he knew that Ethan was just playing around.

“I know, I know. It was just another case of you creating a problem by accident instead of you know, using your words instead.”

“Hey it worked in the end you know.” Benny said, gesturing between them.

“Yeah well, you’re lucky I had already realized my own shit out.” Ethan smiled at Benny and got a fond eye roll in return.

“I feel like there’s still a lot we haven't talked about, like that goddess, and wait there was like, three ghost incidents. Right? Not to mention it wasn’t really that much of a werewolf to begin with.”

“Uhm, I still remember the coach ghost who made me win a trophy, but which other ones were there again?”

Ethan purposefully didn’t reply to the bit about the werewolf. David was still friendly to him whenever they saw each other, even offering to get him a spot on the football team after his win of the wrestling competition. It was still awkward, even though he apparently had become a lot calmer since he no longer was a beast every full moon, just, a dog.

“The theater mirror girl was a ghost, right? And was the vampire for your car also a ghost technically?”

“Oh, right yeah, those were ghost encounters we experienced. We really should be writing these things down when they happen.”

And the way that Benny’s eyes kind of lit up in a “yeah duh!” moment made Ethan realize what he had said.

“Oh, yeah we should actually do that!” Ethan said, now actually considering the idea more than it just being said.

“Dude, absolutely!”

And that was how it began, an off handed comment turned into the group of them all getting together to create a journal for all of the supernatural things that they’ve experienced.

But well, then there was some fighting over what should go where, and how the layout for the journal would go. And then trying to remember all of the things that they’ve experienced. And how much detail they should go into. And who would be in charge of writing it all down.

Well Rory and Benny’s hand writings weren’t to be trusted, and even though Erica’s hand writing was still the best of all of theirs she said she “didn’t have time” to work on it.

Thankfully though Sarah had managed to convince her, offering to prewrite the drafts so Erica just had to copy it down. And then she whispered something into Erica’s ear when that wasn’t enough to convince her. And Erica had been convinced by whatever was said to her, probably something to do with them dating, Ethan knew he used that to his advantage with Benny occasionally.

But then even after Erica agreed to be the one to write it down there was still the problem of how the layout of it should be.

Sarah didn’t want this to be a thing that fell upon her and Erica solely. Not wanting to do all of the work in the group project after all.

That was fine and understandable, Ethan hated when he was left to do all the work too.

So then there was a whole discussion about the format and then it was decided to be split up properly like how group projects should be.

Erica would write the descriptions into the journal, after Sarah and Rory worked together on writing the entries.

Rory had offered to help with that part, and Ethan was pretty sure his friend wanted to come up with the names and try and put some jokes or humor into the entries. Or maybe he just wanted to make sure he was involved.

But before even the entries were going to be put in it fell to Ethan to draw an approximation of whatever supernatural thing it was and put it in the journal. After a vote on whatever drawing he made was the best and deserved to be put in.

He was a decent artist, something that in his mind he was really sure had something to do with his seer powers.

Benny actually had the jobs to do with the journal itself. And that was multiple things that he was in charge of. The first was getting a proper journal that wouldn’t get into the wrong hands. Something that couldn’t be read by the uninformed. Meaning he had to ask his grandma about it.

Benny’s grandma had actually been very supportive of it, giving suggestions on the spells he should use to make the journal exactly what he wanted.

Even giving the suggestion, which really they should have also thought about, to make the journal spelled to be not easily destroy-able. In case they got into a fight with a bad guy or something.

While Benny experimented on making sure the journal was prepared for them to start writing in, the others had gotten to work.

Well Erica hadn’t really, she had made suggestions occasionally but mostly she spent the time they had gathered to work together laying around on her phone. Her part was to come later anyways.

Ethan had spent many hours drawing the many things they had faced.

It brought up the need to figure out another problem.

Specifically the one about multiple instances of encounters. Like, is the ghost entry going to have all three examples on one page or would there be multiple ghost entries?

It had come down to a coin flip after two gatherings to work together had devolved into the heated discussion of what to choose.

Eventually Ethan had yelled for everyone to shut up and held out a coin.

“Heads is for a single entry, tails is for multiple entries!”

There was a tense silence as he flipped the coin but there were only minimal complaints at the result, nothing that resulted in more arguments.

Multiple entries it was.

It did make a little more work for him, and it felt a bit less coherent at times, but the coin had spoken. And maybe no one wanted to argue anymore when no one else seemed to really want to argue more.

And the work continued on the journal until finally it was finished!

Benny had finished spelling it to fit the needs of the group, and he only magically exploded one journal before that happened. Rory and Sarah worked together on the different entries, and the entries were coherent and also a little funny. Ethan had finalized the different drawings to go with each entry, his hand hurt from all his drawing. And Erica did her part when it finally came for her to do it, and her hand writing was very pretty and she worked quickly.

In the end they were left with a journal, already mostly full but with room to expand Benny said. Each of them having contributed in their ways to the project.

It had been a lot of fun, even if they hadn’t taken that long to work together to do it, Ethan was glad that they had taken the time. It was nice to just hang out with everyone without it being for fighting something. Although, it was still connected to the supernatural things going on around town.

But well, this was Whitechapel, and they were all supernatural as well.

Ethan hoped that the next time they encountered another supernatural creature they'd remember to work on a new entry for it together.

Maybe they’d eventually put in entries for the five of them, maybe Benny could make those appear at the end of the journal?

Ethan looked to his friends, and his boyfriend, who were all at his house getting ready to watch a movie to celebrate. He considered waiting to bring it up, considering just letting the moment be a celebration.

It was Ethan, showing up at the exact worst time he could’ve possibly shown up at. Benny had embarrassed himself in the school hallways last week when he worked up the courage to finally talk to him after they had worked on a class project together, telling Ethan he could “swing by whenever” to Lotta Latte since he worked there. He had pretty much given up hope of ever seeing him show up after the weekend had passed, yet here he was, walking right towards him, with the coolest sunglasses and the coolest patterned t-shirts. Benny still felt like he could totally relate to him and his casually nerdy demeanor, with the ways he would defend his favorite Star Wars movie moments while still fitting in with the cool crowd. He liked to think he could also converse with his peers just as well if he was ever given the chance. It felt like he was always on the outside looking in to a degree. Ethan practically swayed towards the counter in slow motion as Benny stared longingly, quickly adjusting his horrible green apron in an attempt to look less atrocious. His coy grin could stop people in their tracks as he moved towards him and took off his sunglasses, putting them into the front pocket of his denim jacket.

“Hey, it’s Benjamin!” Ethan said, pointing and smiling at him and his stupid green apron. Benny almost didn’t hear him since he was too busy staring into his deep, brown colored eyes. He tried to play it off and casually scratched the back of his neck, stretching his right arm down his back to seem nonchalant.

“It’s actually just Benny,” he said (in what he thought was) a cool tone, reaching his arm back around to the front of his apron to point at his nametag, which had just “Benny” written on it.

“Right, Benny,” Ethan chuckled, then looking up at the menu above him.

He stood there behind the counter, feeling awkward and unsure of what to do with his hands, placing them on the nearest flat surface and deciding it was best to look down at his shoes. He was so good at conversations, being witty and well liked came so easily to him, he thought. Yet now, when he needed his impeccable social skills the most, they had all but disappeared into thin air. As Ethan ordered a medium hot vanilla latte with extra milk (a classic and frankly iconic choice), Benny tried to devise a plan on how he would make himself seem cool and aloof to this guy who was outwitting him without even trying.

“Name?” He asked while holding the coffee cup and a marker in hand.

“Uh… Ethan,” He responded, shifting his eyes away from the counter as Benny wrote down his name and tried to contain a smile from creeping up on his face.

“Did we work on a project together or something?” Benny continued as he turned around to start making his order. Luckily it was slow this afternoon, so he could execute his perfect plan to make Ethan like him.

“Yeah, in science class. We proved gravity was real together,” Ethan squeaked out, clearly put off guard from Benny’s pretend chillness, although his meekness was short lived.

“You wouldn’t stop gushing about the new Star Trek movies…” He came back with, noticing that Benny was trying to play with him. “Something about JJ Abrams being a genius?”

Benny’s face turned a bright scarlet. “Oh! You, uh, remembered that?”

“How could I not? The entire class could hear your enthusiasm!”

He turned around to work the espresso machine. After a pause, he whimpered out a quick “Well, your order will be ready soon,” while turning around to give a smile, trying not to look like he had just been horribly embarrassed.

“I thought it was pretty cool… but okay, I’ll be sitting over there,” Ethan responded, pointing to a table in the corner of the stop that was next to a large window overlooking a shopping district.

As Benny created the espresso puck and steamed the milk, he tried to shake that lump in his throat that felt like he had swallowed a softball, and interpret not only what Ethan’s intentions were, but also if he had ruined any chance of getting closer to him by attempting to be cool instead of just being honest. His grandmother was constantly – and harshly – telling him to quit “the tough guy act” (whatever that meant) and just be himself; sincerity was supposed to be the best way to build connections apparently. His hands shook as the poured the milk and foam; he was glad it was in a cup with a lid so he wouldn’t have to butcher another attempt at latte art, an aspect of his job that he would work on getting better at later, when the eternally cool Ethan wasn’t possibly looking at him attempt it from across the room. As he put the lid on he looked up to see Ethan reading from a magazine that was left on the table in front of him. It was National Geographic, both smart and entertaining, just like him, Benny thought. He didn’t bother trying to primp his apron to look good anymore, he knew he would never look cool in it as long as it was still lime green and down to his knees.

“Here’s your coffee Ethan,” Benny said as he walked over to his table, placing the cup down in front of him. Ethan looked up from the magazine and quickly flipped it closed.

“Thanks!” Ethan said enthusiastically. Benny tried to rush away to avoid lingering on the freckles on his cheeks and his beautiful brown eyes yet again.

“Hey wait! Would you happen to have any time off… to talk?”

“Well, I’m just about to go on my break actually…” He wasn’t. But no new person had showed up in the past 30 minutes other than Ethan, and he would be willing to get fired over slacking off on his job if that meant he could talk with thee Ethan Morgan even just for a few minutes.

Sarah took notes with ease as her Math teacher wrote equations on the board in front of her. Erica sat right behind her, staring at the back of Sarah's head like it was the only thing to focus on. She pushed up her glasses to get a better look at the clock mounted above the board and the teacher, seeing that class was about to end soon. She quickly started to pack up her stuff, running through her pre planned conversation starter in her head to make sure it would go smoothly. Once the bell rang and class was over, Sarah started packing up her stuff as the teacher explained that night's homework, and half the soccer team descended on her like wolves before she could even stand up. She started laughing and chatting with her teammates while Erica stared at the pack float out the front door before she could even approach her.

“Ready for History Club?” A blonde haired short boy said from behind her as she watched Sarah walk out the door.

“I guess so Rory,” Erica sighed, turning around to look at her fellow glasses wearing blonde.

“No yearning while we work,” Rory said, brushing past her while leading the way out the room to their after school activities.

Erica wasn’t paying attention to what was happening in their club, even though she was the president and secretary so she should’ve been taking notes and engaging with the material. Instead, she stared longingly out the classroom window which had a perfect view of the soccer field, where she could see Sarah practicing hitting goals. She kicked the ball into the net with an intense fervor, evading the practice goalie every time with each swift kick. She didn’t know how to get her attention, and didn’t know why she wanted Sarah’s attention so much in the first place. It was like she had a pain building in her chest whenever she was close to her, and it wouldn’t go away when she was far away, since she was all Erica could think about. Rory, who was standing at the front of the classroom giving his impassioned speech about the content of their next meeting, stopped when he noticed Erica’s dissociation and threw a paper airplane at her. As it poked her in the face and Rory laughed at how she didn’t even notice him stopping his speech to make the airplane in the first place, it got Erica thinking about what she should do next to ensure that she could have a conversation with Sarah for the first time.

That next day during study hall, where Rory sat in front of Erica and in the same row as Sarah, when their teacher left to collect printouts from the library like they always did for most of the class, Erica got to work on her paper airplane. People started quietly chatting with each other while Sarah did her reading for her English class. Erica thought she was so poised and perfect. She assumed they would have a lot in common together because they both threw themselves into their studies so much, yet she also had that sporty edge and a bond with her teammates that made her seem so much more interesting than Erica ever felt like she could be. The girls who would whisper mean things about her in the hallways only perpetuated her feelings more, and made her think, if she could only become friends with someone cool, it would make those thoughts of her – and the things those people said – somehow irrelevant.

She had only one shot to make this paper airplane scheme work. If it missed she would ruin her chances of ever doing it again. She squinted and tried hard to aim with her bad eyesight the best she could do, and eventually while holding her breath for impact, she launched the airplane out of her hands and let it soar across the classroom. It hit the back of Sarah’s head, and Erica felt a huge wave of relief as she moved to her next step of the plan.

Sarah felt the airplane hit her and flutter down to the floor next to her. She picked it up and unfolded it to read what was inside. It said, “Rory, can we meet after class?” Sarah stared at it, confused.

“I’m so sorry! That meant to go two chairs over!” Erica said, hoping she would hear. Sarah whipped her head around to look at Erica and tilted her head and gave a smile.

“Oh that’s funny! I’ll hand it to him!” She said, leaning over to give the paper to Rory. He took it, then winking and giving a thumbs up to Erica as Sarah then went back to looking at what Erica was holding.

“Are you reading the new Dusk novel?” She asked. Erica tried to reserve a huge grin from cracking onto her face as her plan was set into motion.

“Yes! I’m already halfway through it,” She responded.

“That’s so cool! I’ve barely read the first chapter because I’ve been so busy with practice. Okay, no spoilers, but how is it so far?”

“It is amazing! Well, that is if you like Rochelle as a character,” Erica said.

“I love her! I feel like I can relate to her so much,” Sarah cheesed.

Sarah and Erica were pawing around old jewellery boxes and chests of clothes, Roxy had found a box with a dead rat in it to entertain himself, Benny who was supposed to be moving boxes was fascinated by an old purple ds he had found, Ethan remembered when him and Benny had gotten matching ones, blue and purple.

"Will you stop messing around with that thing and help me? I doubt it even works!" Ethan complained waving his arms around as he usually does when he's annoyed. Benny completely ignored him in favour of digging dirt out the game slot to figure out which game was stuck in it, which gained a huff from Ethan.

"Come onnn" Ethan groaned grabbing a hold of Benny's shoulder. "It might not be working right now, but…" Benny smiled, stretching his fingers. He pointed at the ds whispering something in Latin, or maybe backwards? Ethan was sure he heard him mumble "get fixed". All five teenagers stopped to watch as the handheld console lay on the floor…

"Nothing happened, genius" Erica remarked, using an unsuspecting Rory as support she pulled herself off the ground and turned to leave, a neck full of pearls and silver. Rory stumbled back, grabbing Ethan for support as he toppled into Sarah.

"Wha! Watch it!" Sarah warned as she struggled to get out from under Rory and Ethan. Benny, still laughing from the sight of it all, offered a hand to Ethan and with a sigh Erica walked forward to offer the same to Sarah.

Right as her hand closed around Sarah's a crunch under her foot sounded and before she knew it a purple glowing light shot up her leg and through her arm. Benny watched as within a second the light spread across all there limbs, connecting them, before it got to bright and he had to close his eyes. When he opened his eyes he was still gripping Ethan's hand, however they were stood in a bedroom that didn't belong to him, or Ethan, or anyone they knew.

"Benny?… Benny?!? What… what!" Ethan looked around the room, chest heaving slightly. "Hey, hey! It's fine, this is fine… my spell must have… gone wrong? And now we, well we're… somewhere" Benny gave a reassuring smile and if it weren't for the worry in his eyes Ethan might have felt better.

"We have to find the others! Or.. okay we have to figure out where we are, then find the others" Ethan was talking to Benny but his friend had already wandered off to more interesting things. "Look at this! I use to have one of these!" Benny smiled holding up a toy pokeball. He tossed it from hand to hand smiling.

"Benny please, focus!" Benny's head snapped up to look at his friend as he shouted, however as a mixture of poor coordination and lack of concentration, the toy fell out of his hand clattering against the floor. 'Oh' he mouthed as he flinched away from the ball breaking open, however unlike the plastic toys they had as kids, this one didn't crack when he dropped it. Instead it popped open with a small white light bursting from it, and then…

"Pika! Pika!" A small yellow animal sat in front of them. Staring at Benny with adoration."Benny that's…" "Ethan? Ethan that's!" The two boys stuttered and stumbled over their words before finally both realised with had happened "WE'RE IN POKÉMON!" The two exclaimed in unison.

After celebrating how cool this was Ethan reminded himself and Benny that they had to focus on finding their friends. "Okay so, this is your ds… that means this is your Pokemon game!" Ethan rushed to the nightstand that a backpack sat in, he pulled out a map of town, a finished Pokédex that 12 year old Benny had spent months trying to complete, Benny's trainer id with all but one gym badge completed, and a bunch of pokeballs and potions.

"Okay we have to… well first we have to find the others, then figure out how to leave" the two rushed outside hoping to find someone to help however a lot of the npcs didn't have anything useful to say "have you tried talking to the professor?" "A fun challenge is completing your Pokédex!" "Woah, you're certainly in a rush".

"This is pointless! Wheres our guide?!" Benny sighed and almost like magic a dark haired girl came running across the road, Benny had hoped for a best friend character that helps along the adventure but…

"There you are! What have you dorks done?!? An old man just gave me a dog and told me I should 'find my friend and provide help'? What's going on!" Sarah stood with her hand on her hip and her 'dog' eevee sat next to her.

"Listen don't freak out. Okay?" Ethan asked his hands raised, Sarah glared at them both for a minute before sighing. Ethan took that as a sign they were in the clear "we're inside Bennys old pokemon game, I believe the only way out is to finish the game but first, we've gotta find the others".

So the three of them set off into the woods heading to the next town, they encountered a hoard of wild pokemon, a bunch of npcs freaking out about team rocket and a handful of annoying trainers but considering how highly levelled bennys team was it really wasn't taking them long to win. They made I through four more towns searching every road for their friends.

Ethan and Sarah were going door to door looking for the pair of blonde vampires whilst Benny stopped at nurse joy to heal his team. As he walked out however he walked right into an npc, triggering their response "watch out for team rocket, they're around here" the man said before hurrying away, it was weird Benny didn't remember the npcs seeming sooo… life like. He thought more on it as he made his way to Ethan and Sarah.

"Hey E, have you noticed the npcs are talking a lot about team rocket yet… we haven't had any run ins?" Ethan frowned at his friends words, confusion written across his face as he tried to come up with an answer, an answer that Benny might have gotten out of him if it weren't for the explosion that sounded off in the distance.

"What was that?!?" Sarah asked looking at the two boys who looked just as confused.

"Something that wasn't supposed to happen" Ethan answered as he took of running towards the route, the sprinted to the next town, ignoring trainers that called on them for a fight and wild Pokemon that jumped out in front of them.

As they reached the next town ash covered the paths, fire covered the rooftops and npcs screamed "its team rockets charizard!" "My house! My house!"

"This isn't how the game goes! Team rocket shouldn't do this and the npcs aren't saying their coded lines!" Ethan panicked. "We're inside a magical ds who cares?!?" Sarah responded but the twos arguement was cut short when…

"OH MY… OH MY GOD TEAM ROCKET ATE MY FRIEND!?!?" An old man npc collapsed to the floor. All three heads shot round at this, in the middle of the flames stood to blonde, fanged, team rocket members. Erica's face was covered in blood whilst Rory's wore a wicked smile as he sent forth his Pokemon to terrorise the town.

Sarah, using her supernatural speed, dragged the two out of the flames, pushing them in front of Benny and Ethan. "What were you's thinking?!?" Ethan asked and the two shrugged.

"Burn the game down so we can get out!" Rory smiled. "Get breakfast?" Erica answered. This led the a full blown fight between the group with Sarah telling erica its inhumane, erica arguing that these things aren't human, Benny telling Rory how stupid he is and how he could have killed them, Rory arguing that the game card is plastic so his fire would melt it and free them.

Ethan however was more worried about the fact the characters weren't following their coding, it wasn't right, how could they break code? He looked around watching as npcs put out fires, screamed, catered to wounds, and… and stared right back at him. A man in a black hood watched him from behind a burning bush. He went to approach the man when Sarah called on him.

"Ethan? Ethan?!" She shouted, grabbing his shoulder and suddenly the hooded man was gone. Ethan looked around frantically but all he saw was the concerned faces of his friends. "You alright man?" Benny asked patting his back.

Ethan wasn't sure who that man was or what he wanted, all he knew is that he didn't want to stay to find out. "We need to finish the game and get out of here" the others stared at him blankly, waiting for more.

"Now!" He demanded dragging them towards the routes whilst still looking over his shoulder.

"You three can fly us to the end!" He said to his undead friends who all gave a quiet nod before grabbing him and Benny and taking off.

They stood in the final town, right in front of the one gym Benny couldn't complete. He smiled cockily to his friends and walked in… then five minutes later he walked out of the poke centre next to it and walked in again, and again, and again. Each time looking less enthusiastic and more annoyed.

"Ethan? What's wrong with you?" Sarah asked as the boy scanned around them. "We have to leave"he said and right as he did Benny done the walk of shame from the poke centre once more.

Ethan groaned "maybe someone else should try!" Benny huffed at this "be my guest! It's impossible!" Ethan snatched Bennys bag off his shoulder and the pokeball out his hand and as he did his eyes went white and he collapsed.

“You don’t belong here. You must leave. You don’t belong here, they know you don’t belong here. Everything’s wrong because you’re here, seer!”

When Ethan came through he was leaning against Benny whilst Sarah tried to give him water. “What did you see?” Sarah asked but she didn’t get an answer instead Ethan jumped to his feet grabbing Erica’s arm and marched into the gym. He blew through trainer after trainer, not caring how injured or exhausted his pokemon were instead filling them with revived and potions and putting them back to work. He reached the top floor of the gym and knew exactly who was there.

“You don’t want us here, just give me the badge and we can leave” he stated, a laugh sounded from underneath the black hood. “That’s not how gyms work, seer” Erica looked a little taken back by the character knowing what he was, Ethan didn’t seemed phased at all which confused her more. “I’m going to fight you, I’m going to win, and if I don’t win, my friend from team rocket here is going to really ruin your day” Ethan stated as he walked forward.

The battle begun.

Everytime Ethan would beat one of his pokemon, he’d beat one of his in return. They went back and forth healing, fighting, losing, winning until eventually they were both down to one pokemon.

The trainers level 80 Lapras against Ethan’s level 70 charizard.

The trainer was stronger, had a Pokemon type that combated Ethan’s, more powerful so, Ethan had to do whatever he could.

“Erica, bite it” his face unchanging. she looked at him, then the sea monster, then its trainer, then she sunk her teeth into it. Blood ran down its neck, it swayed side to side, injured then Ethan took his turn and incinerated the creature. By the time charizard stoped the gym leaders Lapras was coal black covered in ash, lying unconscious.

The gym leader wore a look that Ethan couldn’t figure out as he called back his Lapras, feeding it a number of potions and antidotes before tossing a gym badge towards him.

“Go.” He stated and the two were more than happy to listen as they went to join their friends. As they came out and placed the gym badge with the others the route door at the end of the path began to glow.

“Our way home” Benny laughed nudging Ethan who smiled, uneasy, “let’s go fast” he said as he hurried off towards the door right before they went in the black hooded trainer walked out in front of them. “Your adventure doesn’t end here, Ethan Morgan. The worlds got more in store for you” he smirked before walking out the glowing door into the real world. Sarah was the first to move, charging after the man, grabbing his cloak as they both vanished through the door, the rest of them rushed in behind her.

When they came out they were stood alone in Benny’s grandmothers basement, surrounded by cobwebs and boxes. “There’s no one else here… he must have just… been part of the game, right?” Benny asked, looking at Ethan whose face was chalk white. Sarah opened her mouth, but when her eyes met Ethan’s, full of confusion and fear, she smiled. “It was just a stupid game, that Benny messed up with his stupid magic”.

He finally walked into an area that wasn’t the same trees over and over again but a clearing. He then did a double take at who was standing in the middle of the clearing. A vampire he thought had left after taking credit for thwarting the Lucifractor.

“What are you doing here?” Ethan asked as he walked closer.

“Whoa! I would not come any closer.”

“Are you going to attack me?” Ethan asked suspiciously as he grabbed the sharpened number 2 pencil in his pocket. Jesse just looked exasperated.

“No. I can’t move anyway. I suggest you just turn around and leave.”

“Since when should I listen to you?”

“Fine. Do whatever you want,” Jesse said then crossed his arms and just stood there.

Ethan eyed Jesse suspiciously and started walking around the clearing, making sure not to take his eyes off the vampire in the middle. All the paths looked exactly the same to him. He was wondering if he should ask for directions when he tripped and stumbled into the center of the clearing. His head whipped around when he heard the delicate tinkling of bells and then looked at the other man when he groaned.

“Now you’ve done it.”

“Done what? Don’t be cryptic, Jesse.”

“Try moving first.” Ethan glared at him and took a step away, then tried to move his other foot.

“What the?” Ethan said as he tried yanking his foot but succeeded in almost falling over. Jesse grabbed his arm before he actually fell.

“You’re stuck. Just like me,” Jesse said pleasantly.

“Then how do we get unstuck?” Ethan asked. He then looked at Jesse horrified. “Is this a Saw trap?”

“No,” Jesse said with an eyeroll. “Although it could have been depending on the fairy or elf who did this.”

“Fairies? Aren’t they dangerous?” Ethan asked slowly.

“Very. Anyway, not a Saw trap but there is a way out.”

“How?” Ethan asked eagerly. Jesse just smiled charmingly then pointed up. Ethan squinted at the plant? “Is that a floating plant? How did I not see that?”

“Part of the trap? Not just any plant though. A popular and often misrepresented plant around the holiday season. Mistletoe.”

“Mistletoe,” Ethan said flatly. “It’s got white berries?”

“Yeah, if it has red berries, that’s holly. But what do you do when you’re under the mistletoe?”

“No.”

“Mmhmm.”

“No!”

“Saying it louder won’t change the situation.”

“I- we have to- Are you sure?” Ethan sputtered.

“Well, unlike Jigsaw, there were no instructions or death traps. So I’m going with the assumption we have to kiss to get out of here.”

“That won’t happen,” Ethan said stubbornly. Jesse just shrugged.

“I have all the time in the world.”

…………………….. 20 minutes later ……………………..

Ethan was sitting on the ground with his head resting on his knees since one foot had to remain flat on the ground. Jesse was still standing but had his eyes closed. Ethan had looked all around the clearing, played with his phone, then groaned in annoyance.

“You’re a vampire! Why can’t you just move?”

“What does being a vampire have to do with it?” Jesse asked exasperated.

“Supernatural? Doesn’t magic work on you differently?”

“Yeah, human magic. Fae magic is way older and way more complicated. I typically steer clear. Yet here we are,” Jesse said as he opened his arms with a sarcastic head tilt. “So let’s kiss and get out of here.”

“I’d rather eat dirt,” Ethan said with a sour look. Jesse rolled his eyes.

“If you drink matcha; same thing. Also, do you have a problem with two dudes kissing?”

“No! Just- I have a problem with you!”

“Just because I tried to kill you a few times shouldn’t put a damper on our relationship. I mean, I did come when called. I could have ignored you.”

“You forgot the stealing of innocent souls. And taking credit for things we did.”

“Okay, I can see how that second thing could be annoying.”

Ethan just gave him an incredulous look. Jesse just looked bored. Ethan once again looked around the area as if this time answers will appear.

“Kissing gets us out of here faster,” Jesse said once again.

“If you’re in such a hurry then why don’t you just kiss me?” Ethan asked annoyed. Jesse finally looked irritated.

“First, knowing elf magic, if there’s anything forced or inauthentic then there will be consequences. Second, I’d never force a kiss on anyone. I am, unfortunately, a romantic.”

“What? So kissing means something to you? Didn’t you kiss Erica in front of Sarah?”

“Erica kissed me in front of Sarah of her own accord. I just went with it to make Sarah jealous. How was I to know they had it bad for each other?”

“Can’t you read minds or something?”

“I like that you think I’m so powerful but no. I can control people to an extent but I actually don’t do it often.”

“I don’t trust you,” Ethan stated bluntly. Jesse just shrugged. “Also, why don’t you seem bothered kissing me?”

“I wouldn’t mind kissing you. You’re cute,” Jesse stated with a shrug. “Annoying but cute.”

“You’re just annoying,” Ethan immediately responded trying not to blush at being called cute.

“Just annoying? I’m not cute to you?” Jesse asked with a small grin.

“Shut up you know you’re… not bad looking,” Ethan said lamely but Jesse still chuckled.

“Would it really be so bad kissing me? If it’s because of past actions, I’ve changed. Look for yourself,” Jesse said and held his hand out.

Ethan looked at it, up at Jesse, then back at the hand. He then placed his hand in Jesse’s and tensed up as he got hit with a vision.

Jesse jumped in front of him taking some form of attack. Then Ethan was sitting on the ground holding Jesse as the vampire grew weaker. Ethan was desperately clinging to Jesse as the vampire gave him a weak grin and closed his eyes. The vision ended and he came back to Jesse holding his hand and looking at him questioningly.

“Did you see how good I’ve been?” Jesse asked. Ethan didn’t know why but he stood up with the help of Jesse and placed his other hand on the vampire’s chest.

“You protect me,” Ethan said with a frown as he stared at where his hand was.

“Hey,” Jesse said quietly getting Ethan to look up at him.

His breath sped up as Jesse’s other hand tucked a strand of hair behind his ear and cupped his cheek. Jesse brought their clasped hands up and placed Ethan’s hand on his shoulder and then placed his other hand on Ethan’s hip. Ethan tilted his head up as Jesse leaned forward. His eyes slid closed when he felt lips on his. He pressed his lips against Jesse’s and felt all tingly like that sensation when your leg falls asleep, but this felt more pleasant.

The mistletoe above them moved in an invisible wind and it seemed to grow. A soft tinkling of bells came as it glowed slightly. A fine sheen of powder rained down on the two. When they pulled away from each other, the moment they opened their eyes and saw each other a pink sheen glazed their eyes.

Ethan’s arms wrapped around Jesse’s neck as the vampire cradled his head and kissed him again. Only instead of a press of lips this was deep and passionate. Ethan made a small sound as Jesse licked at his lips. The second his mouth opened he quivered as Jesse absolutely devoured him. Ethan gasped for breath as Jesse let his lips go. Ethan panted for a few seconds as Jesse gave him a shy grin.

Ethan didn’t know what came over him but he suddenly hopped up and wrapped his legs around Jesse. The vampire caught him under his thighs and easily held him up. Ethan moaned as Jesse kissed him once again. The only thing he could remember was laying on the surprisingly soft forest floor and seeing the mistletoe dancing before everything became about Jesse and pleasure he’d never felt before.

“Ethan! Dude! There you are!” Benny yelled as Ethan stumbled out of the forest and into the picnic area of the park. “I’ve been trying to call you.”

Ethan patted himself down and found his phone. He woke it up but saw no messages and then all of a sudden a ton of new messages and missed phone calls came in.

“Of course you find an area with no service,” Benny said. “Come on. The girls took care of whatever the thing was. You okay E?”

“Yeah. I just need a shower,” Ethan said with a grimace. Benny nodded and draped an arm over Ethan’s shoulders.

“Yeah. I get it. It’s too naturey out here,” Benny said as they walked back to the parking lot. Benny looked around suddenly feeling like he was in extreme danger. He let go of Ethan to hold his hands in a defensive position but the feeling disappeared.

“B?” Ethan asked.

“Nothing. Just a weird feeling,” Benny said as they finally got to the car. “Hey did I mention that grandma said there’s elf magic in the forest?”

“You don’t say,” Ethan said flatly.

“Benjamin, you were supposed to give Ethan this talisman and stay with him!” Evelyn scolded her grandson.

“I wasn’t expecting to get separated!” Benny protested.

Apparently walking into the Weir household set off an alarm. Evelyn didn’t trust fae at all and had a ward on the house to let her know when elves or fae magic were around. So she immediately appeared in her nightgown even though she had been deep asleep. When she saw Ethan she frowned and made him sit at the kitchen table.

“It doesn’t seem to be malicious. It even seems to be a blessing. But you can’t trust an elf’s blessing,” Evelyn said.

“Uhm can you see what kind of blessing it is?” Ethan asked sounding embarrassed.

“Well I’d say it has to do with love with how pink it is,” Evelyn said as she adjusted her magic seeing glasses.

“Sweet! So he can bag the honey he wants. See? Nothing wrong.”

“That’s not how that works Benjamin,” Evelyn said sounding very unimpressed with her grandson.

“Plus you sound like Rory, dude.”

“Go to your room Benjamin. I’ll send Ethan home for now,” Evelyn said. Benny frowned but grandma just crossed her arms.

“Talk to you later E,” Benny said sounding dejected. Evelyn shook her head as Benny tromped upstairs.

“I didn’t want to say it in front of my grandson but I can see this love blessing being connected to someone else. And it’s a very strong bond. So you did more than just kiss in that forest.”

Ethan cringed and tried to hide his face. It was true and he could feel the evidence clinging to his thighs. He was going to die from embarrassment.

“You’ll have to tell my grandson about your new girlfriend,” Evelyn said but then lifted an eyebrow at the weird twitch Ethan gave. “Your boyfriend. This bond will make it very obvious.”

“Wait, how?” Ethan asked.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if you’re in basically the honeymoon phase,” Evelyn ignored the embarrassed squeak. “It‘ll calm down as the magic settles. But I’m sure your other half is waiting for you.”

“Is this bad?” Ethan finally asked.

“You tell me.”

“Can I go home now?” Ethan asked instead. Evelyn stepped aside.

“If you do need help, I’m right here. But now I’m going to sleep. Goodnight Ethan,” Evelyn said as she started to leave. “Oh and turn the lights off on the way out.”

Ethan had just sat on his bed in his pjs after taking a thorough shower. It was almost midnight. He perked up and immediately went to his window.

“Come in.”

“Finally.”

Jesse fluidly stepped into his bedroom and Ethan was immediately pressed up against him. He hummed happily as Jesse once again cradled his head and kissed him. He had no idea how long they stood there making out but Ethan felt content.

“Ethan,” Jesse murmured as he stopped kissing him. Ethan frowned and kissed him. “Ethan,” Jesse said again sounding amused.

“What?” Ethan asked annoyed.

“I figured you’d be more inquisitive than this,” Jesse said.

“Too tired. This is nice,” Ethan said and tried to kiss Jesse again. The vampire turned so he kissed Jesse’s cheek.

“You should get some sleep,” Jesse said but couldn’t help himself and kissed Ethan’s cheek but lingered. He then kissed down to Ethan’s jaw and he felt his fangs ache as the boy tilted his head back. “Ethan.” Jesse said lowly.

“Jesse,” Ethan sighed. When all he felt was Jesse breathing on his jaw he brought his head back up and nuzzled under the vampire’s jaw. He then kissed Jesse’s neck. And then did it again and again.

“Unless you want to do an encore of what we did in the forest, we should stop,” Jesse said.

“The forest,” Ethan mumbled and then what Jesse said finally got through the haze of tiredness and pleasantness. He took a step back from Jesse and it literally felt like ungluing himself.

“That felt weird,” Jesse said patted his chest.

“Something about the magic settling,” Ethan said then swayed towards Jesse. He took a step back but Jesse took a step forward with a frown.

“I don’t like when outside forces dictate my moves,” Jesse said as he glared off to the side.

“Are you blaming magic for this?” Ethan asked, taking another step back. Jesse managed to hold his ground.

“The feelings are real. I guess I just have this thing about control.”

“Well you better not think about controlling me,” Ethan said with a frown.

“I never want to control you,” Jesse said honestly. “Besides, I think you’re the one in control here.”

“Yeah?” Ethan asked as he stepped towards Jesse.

“You’re powerful, Ethan Morgan,” Jesse said and held his hand out. Ethan grabbed the hand and felt his heart flutter as Jesse kissed the back of it while staring at him. “You’ve bewitched me.”

“Jesse,” Ethan said as he once more pressed himself against the vampire and kissed him. Instead of staying languid the kissing started to get passionate. They both startled when a door closed.

“I should go,” Jesse said as he ran a finger along Ethan’s jaw.

“Yeah,” Ethan said and then licked his lips then grimaced making Jesse chuckle.

“You’ll want to invest in lipbalm or chapstick. Kissing dries out the lips,” Jesse explained. Ethan frowned and ran his finger over his lips then over Jesse’s.

“Why don’t yours feel chapped?” Ethan asked then gasped when Jesse licked his finger with a suggestive look.

“Vampire. Now, unless you want this to go further, I should go,” Jesse said. “We’ll continue this at The Bloodsucker.”

“That new club?” Ethan asked confused. He frowned as Jesse pulled away. The vampire pulled out his phone and held it out to Ethan on the New Contact page.

“My club,” Jesse said smugly. “My place is right above it.”Ethan gave him back the phone. He kissed Ethan and took a picture. He then texted the photo to Ethan. He looked at Ethan then cleared his throat.

“I’ll see you later,” Ethan said shyly.

“Absolutely,” Jesse said. He swayed towards Ethan, shook his head, and then quickly disappeared.

Ethan frowned but went over and shut his window. He then got in bed and looked at the text. He added Jesse to his contacts using the photo. He then turned off the light and fell asleep.

Ethan woke up feeling like he’d been hit by a truck mainly in his hip and thigh area. He poked his phone to see what time it was and groaned. He was so happy it was the weekend. He got out of bed but wrapped the comforter around himself as he walked out of his room. He wasn’t cold he just felt like being in a cocoon.

“Good… morning?” His mom started then asked as he trundled into the kitchen.

“You look like that teen who just woke up meme,” Jane said as she walked by him.

“It’s a universal constant. Not a meme, Jane,” their mom said amused. “Now, why are you bundled up?”

“Don’t feel good,” Ethan grunted as he sat down then groaned in pain. His mom came over with a frown and felt his forehead.

“Well you don’t feel warm or clammy. Is it your tummy?” His mom asked worried.

“No mom. I’m just sore and achey,” Ethan said trying not to blush.

“Hey I got the car loaded up. What’s wrong buddy?” His dad walked in and asked.

“Ethan doesn’t feel good. Says he’s achey,” his mom explained as she petted Ethan’s hair.

“Too much hiking. Plus you did get home a little late,” his dad said. “You should get some rest Ethan.”

“So he’s not coming to my recital?” Jane asked. Ethan frowned and looked at his sister miserably.

“I’m sorry Jane.”

“It’s fine. I guess,” Jane said with a fond eyeroll. “Sarah’s still invited.”

“Considering she helped with the choreography, I doubt she’d miss it,” Ethan said with a small grin.

“Well we’re going to head out now,” his mom said putting a bowl of steaming oatmeal on the table near him.

“Now? At eleven in the morning?” He asked confused.

“They needed help with set up,” his dad said. “Mom volunteered us.”

“We’ll check in when we can,” his mom said and kissed his head.

“You text us if you feel worse, okay?” His dad asked after ruffling his hair.

“I’ll let Evelyn know,” his mom said more to his dad than him. Jane hugged him before he could tell his mom he’d tell Benny himself.

“This better not be supernatural related,” Jane said quietly. Ethan shrugged.

“Combo? Anyway, you’ll obviously win but break a leg,” Ethan said. Jane just grinned happily and walked towards the door.

“Bye sweetie,” his mom said.

“Bye guys,” Ethan said.

He sighed after the door closed. Guess he had the house to himself. He grabbed the oatmeal and brought a spoonful up but waited for the steam to dissipate so he picked up his phone and unlocked it then stared. It was open to his contacts, specifically Jesse with the new photo.

“So that wasn’t a dream?” He asked no one and took a bite then immediately spit it out as it burned his tongue. “Why do you stay hot for so long?!”

He got up to grab a glass of water but turned down the hallway to go to the front door instead. He was very confused when he opened the front door. Jesse was standing there with his hand up about to knock. They stared at each other.

“Come in,” Ethan said but didn’t move. Jesse stepped into the house and pressed against him making Ethan melt.

“Fae magic is terrible,” Jesse stated as he wrapped his arms around Ethan, lifted him up, and shut the door behind him using his foot.

“Wait, is that why I felt awful this morning?” Ethan asked as he looked down at Jesse only now realizing that he had wrapped his legs around Jesse’s waist like he had yesterday.

“We weren’t close enough,” Jesse said quietly as he looked up at Ethan. “You need to stop blushing.”

“What? Why? How can I not?!” Ethan asked. Jesse groaned more in annoyance but Ethan’s body heard that a different way.

“I can hear your blood,” Jesse said.

“Are you going to bite me?” Ethan asked trying to pull away but Jesse continued to hold him.

“I can bite you but not turn you,” Jesse said thoughtfully. “Let me bite you.”

“The last time you did wasn’t great,” Ethan said while glaring. He squeaked when Jesse’s hand moved and squeezed his butt.

“Trust me, this time will be so much better,” Jesse said. He kissed Ethan’s neck, which made Ethan duck his head down so Jesse whispered in his ear. “It’ll be even better than the forest.”

“Wait! We shouldn’t- Jesse this is weird,” Ethan said pushing away from Jesse. He was surprised the vampire actually put him down and took a step back.

“It is weird. And still annoying that it’s a forcing compulsion. But I’m fine with it.”

“Yeah but you’re over 200 years old I’m just a… I’m a teenager! Isn’t there laws?”

“Human laws. Are you saying you don’t consent?”

“I mean- I- Stop confusing me!”

“I’m just standing here, Ethan,” Jesse said holding his hands up for emphasis. “I’m just a boy standing in front of another boy.”

“Don’t quote Love, Actually at me.”

“Wait, you watched it?”

“No my mom watches it every Christmas,” Ethan said. “Ugh this is complicated.”

“Is it?” Jesse asked. “I mean, we could just hang out. No touching. No kissing. No nothing.”

“No biting?” Ethan asked. Jesse sighed.

“I’d have to go out and grab a bite because I’m actually really hungry,” Jesse admitted.

“Okay, go grab a bite. Then we’ll just hang out,” Ethan said. Jesse pouted at him. “Stop that. I’m gonna go eat breakfast and then we’ll just go from there.”

“Fine. But the day is still young,” Jesse said then disappeared.