AURORA'S POV

The chorus to Alien Blues by Vundabar woke me up from my deep sleep. I had begun to regret my decision of making one of my favorite songs an alarm.

Na-na-na-na-na-na-na

Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh

My hand slammed against my phone, blindly pushing the screen. Eventually the music stopped, and I pulled my hand back to the pillow, my face still buried in the cushion. I grumbled to myself and wiped the tiredness out of my eyes.

Normally, I would have woken up more gracefully, but I hardly got any sleep last night. Besides the fact that I got home late, I couldn't get that boy from last night out of my head. The whole situation didn't make any sense.

I propped myself up and sat on my elbows. Astro was curled up at my feet and I smiled to myself. She must have been knocked out just like me. She normally woke up when I did, but instead I heard her faint snores in the air.

I gently patted her on the head, causing one of her eyes to peak open. I ruffled her brown and white fur and leaned down to plant a kiss on her forehead. Her tail immediately started to wag and she quickly got up, landing kisses all over my face. Laughing, I pulled her off.

She jumped off the bed and twirled in circles. Who would've known she was just passed out not even a couple minutes ago. If only I could have half that amount of energy right now.

"You wanna go out, Astro?" Her head crooked to the side, listening intently. Her tail wagged even harder as it knocked against the wall.

I jumped out of bed and chased her down the hallway. She stopped at the door to look up at the leash hanging by the door, patiently waiting for me to catch up and let her out.

I helped her into the harness and opened the door. I was still in my pajamas, but I couldn't care less. It was so early that the sun had just begun to wake up, too.

The porch steps were cold against my legs as I sat down on them. Astro darted down and sniffed around all the nearby grass. She eventually found her spot and did her business.

My phone clicked as I unlocked it. I only had a few notable notifications that piqued my interest. One was a text from Nina.

From: my sunflower 🌻

7:06 A.M.

"Hope you're ready for tonight xoxo...BECAUSE YOU'RE COMING :)"

I rolled my eyes, trying to think of a response. I knew I was going to end up caving, but it was fun to pretend. Nina was the only one who was able to persuade me that easily. I was like putty in her hands most of the time.

To: my sunflower 🌻

7:34 A.M.

"you'll owe me dinner then xoxo"

From: my sunflower 🌻

7:35 A.M.

"Done and done"

A smile spread across my face and I continued to scroll. A news update was right underneath the text notification. My eyes grew wide and I hoped it had something to do with last night.

"More about that lady winning money? Seriously?" I mumbled to myself.

Maybe it was too early and no one had a chance to report last night yet. I frowned and slid the phone back into my pocket.

"C'mere Astro baby." I cooed, extending my hand towards her. She excitedly jumped up the stairs and sat down by the door.

She was such a good dog. I had had her for about three years now. Her original name in the shelter was Astro and it was almost too good to be true. I was expecting to bring home a small dog, but when I met her for the first time in her kennel, it was a match made in heaven. She greeted me as if she had been waiting her whole life for me to come see her. So, I brought home a Boxer and that was that.

It was safe to say that we had been inseparable since.

I helped her out of her harness and made my way to the kitchen. Today was going to be a long day, so I needed all the caffeine I could get. I poured the grounds into the coffee machine and flicked the power on.

Fortunately, I didn't have any classes today, but I needed to work at the planetarium later. It was different today because it was my first presentation.

Professor Collins offered this pitch earlier this week. I had to physically hold in my excitement and that same excitement had turned into anxiety this morning. I knew I was prepared, I hadn't stopped going over my notes since the day he told me.

While I may very well fail that American War History class, I had this one in the bag. I was sure of it. Plus, I was just doing the introduction before the professor went more in depth over the main topic. It wasn't going to be anything difficult.

Tonight's topic was originally going to be over black holes, but the new shooting star phenomenon had really sparked a new interest in everyone. So upon multiple requests, he decided to squeeze in a small segment. That was where I came in.

He told me just to use my notes from our last class and the meeting from last night. I just needed to help the audience have a brief understanding on how they happened and why. Then, the professor would pick up and dive back into black holes.

I grabbed my tote bag, slinging it over my shoulder. I didn't have enough time to fight with my hair this morning, so I just threw it up to get it out of my face. I stopped at the door and turned to face Astro. She was sitting peacefully on the couch, wagging her tail as if to say goodbye back.

"You're in charge while I'm gone, Astro. No parties without inviting me first, okay?" She barked in acknowledgment and I chuckled.

I turned back around and walked out the door. I made sure to lock the door twice after last night's encounter with that one odd guy.

It kind of made me nervous. I had never had any weird encounters with anyone until I met him. At least not like that. The more I thought about it, the more I thought he was actually on drugs.

I shook it off because I had other things I needed to do. This included my presentation and to get ready for that party tonight that I really didn’t want to go to. Nina owed me big time. However, I was looking forward to getting dinner with her, though.

On the way to the planetarium, I stopped by my favorite coffee shop and grabbed a cup of coffee to go. It was the same order almost every time, especially when I was on the run. A large iced coffee with oat milk, caramel, and vanilla cold foam. It was so painfully good, and it made me feel like I had my shit together even when I didn't.

As I sipped, the ice sloshed around in a satisfying clinking noise. I continued to focus on the noise mixed with the other outdoor sounds around me as I walked. Sometimes I preferred music, but times like this I liked to be attentive to my surroundings. It was all satisfying: the sounds of cars, murmured voices, birds chirping, sprinkles of laughter, gusts of wind through the leaves. All of it.

One last turn around the corner and I was at the planetarium. I pushed my lazy body against the entrance with a huff as I walked in. People were already lined up at the door ready to see the show we had for them today. I knew people were expecting us to say something or have some sort of answers on the stars that happened a couple of days ago. It filled my body with excitement, and nervousness, at the same time.

I made my way into the back of the building in our conference room where everyone was. This was where we reviewed the show we were putting on that day, how it would happen, and the logistics of it. My professor sat there with his papers in hand, reading over the speech he was giving today.

"Aurora. It's lovely to see you again." He looked at me through his glasses as he sat his papers down. He folded his hands together on the table as he nodded towards the documents. "That's some bullet points to go over as a reminder."

"It's nice to see you too." I said softly with a smile. I put my coffee down on the table, grabbing the papers that had my name on it. I scanned over the words, nodding to myself. Today was going to be a full house and the more I thought about it, the more nervous I got.

"I'd say read that over and if you need any help, it'll be on the podium for you to read as well." He stood to his feet, placing the papers underneath his arm as he started out the door. "I have faith that you will do great." He flashed a smile at me.

A blush came onto my cheeks, nodding my head as a small thanks left my lips. My professor was truly one of the nicest guys I had met since I moved here. He always had believed in me and my abilities since day one. Years of studying could be thanked for that.

We walked into the main room where all the seats were. I watched everyone walk in, and it was a range of small kids all the way to men who were in their late sixties. Being interested in astronomy had no expiration date or discrimation against age. Everyone and anyone came to learn about it.

"Hey! Hey, I know her!" I heard a familiar voice from the entrance. Over by the doors, Harry was walking in with people. He stood on his toes as he waved over at me, a big grin on his lips.

"Oh, you have got to be kidding me." I said under my breath. I waved back at him with a small smile, which I soon regretted because he started pushing past people to get to me.

"Hey! Hey." He ran up to me with a big smile. "Do you remember me? It's me, Harry." He rasped out, eyes wide. He was excited, yet so weird all at the same time.

"Hmm, do I remember..." I trailed off, placing a finger to my chin as I pondered. "I think so. Yeah. I think I do remember you."

"You're funny." He laughed wholeheartedly, his hands by his side as he looked at me. His smile didn't waver for a moment.

"Ha, yeah..." I scanned over the room, practically begging for anyone to come up and save me from this conversation.

"So you like the galaxies? Me too. Actually, I know a lot about the galaxies." Harry brought my attention back to him. "Are you here to watch the show? We could sit together. I'm here alone, too."

His voice was loud as if he had no volume control. I scrunched my face up for a moment before taking a step closer to him. He looked down at me with a smile. "We should be a bit more quiet, the show is about to start and I'm—"

"Aurora!" My professor called after me. I looked back to see him standing in the back as he waved me down. It was time for me to give the lecture.

"Wait, you're Aurora?" Harry's smile surprisingly fell into a deadpanned stare as he looked at me. His expression was full of curiosity as his eyebrows knitted together.

"Yes." I hesitated for a moment, taking a step back. "My name is Aurora— Listen, I gotta go. I'm giving the lecture. Go take a seat, okay?"

Harry continued to stare at me as I backed away from him. Eventually, I turned on my heel and ran to the podium in the back.

The professor gave me a thumbs up and sat in one of the chairs. He began to ruffle through his papers, obviously back in his own little world.

I looked around the room at everyone seated. Almost every chair was filled and an assortment of chatter filled the space. I cleared my throat, leveling into my seat. I tapped on to the mic, the sudden noise immediately hushing the voices.

"Hello everyone. Thank you for joining us tonight for Yellowstone Planetarium's showing. We do ask to keep all phones off as light pollution harms not only the night skies, but the presentation as well." A few chuckles echoed against the walls which helped calm my nerves slightly.

"If anyone needs to leave, please make your way to the marked exits." I paused to circle the lit-up exit signs on each side with a laser pointer. Some heads turned in acknowledgment while some stayed focused on the screen above with eagerness. My eyes grazed over the tops of the seats and I caught a glimpse of Harry. He sat on one of the last chairs on the side. A wide grin was planted on his face, excitedly bobbing his knees in place. I lightly laughed under my breath and shifted my attention back to the presentation.

Once the lights cut out, my nerves stabilized. This was my comfort and I knew I was good at it. I had been taught about the stars for as long as I could remember. It was nice to have an outlet to talk about this that didn't include talking the ear off of my friends.

My section of the presentation only lasted about ten or fifteen minutes. Everyone ooed and awed when the clips of shooting stars flashed above their heads. At one point I heard Harry boldly laugh when I expressed the oddities of the past night. It took me off guard, and I briefly stumbled on my words. I quickly shook it off and got right back to work.

"And without further adieu, Professor Collins will take you through the history and journey of black holes." I emphasized the words, causing a child in the front to slightly gasp in excitement.

I made my way down the podium, satisfied with how it went. I had the option to stay at the podium for the rest of the show, but the podium's view just couldn't beat the view from the seats.

I scanned my eyes around, looking for an empty spot anywhere. We usually had a good turn-around, but this was much busier than usual. I turned on my heel, almost giving up on finding a seat. I didn't want to cause any distractions for the others anyway.

But before I could turn all the way around, Harry's body was facing me and frantically waving. He had begun gesturing for me to come over and patted the empty seat beside him. For a moment I considered pretending I didn't notice, but I felt bad. I took one more glance over the audience and confirmed that truly was the one last seat left.

It was a really good spot, so hopefully it would be worth it. It wasn't like I was going to have to talk to him. All I had to do was sit beside him and watch the show. It couldn't be that bad.

Begrudgingly, I quietly walked over and sat myself down. I could feel Harry's eyes on me through my peripherals and glanced over.

"Hi." He said, not fully in a whisper. A couple people turned to him, hinting at their annoyance.

"Hi, Harry. Let's talk after the show, okay? Not right now." I felt bad talking to him like a child, but I was desperate to get him to settle down. I didn't want my professor to see us and think I was being disruptive.

He nodded his head and shot his head back up to the dome-shaped screen above. I breathed out a small sigh of relief and sank myself into the chair to pull my attention back. Luckily I hadn't missed much from the presentation.

"One might not think shooting stars and black holes are related, but they very much are. Black holes are created when a massive star explodes. This can happen when instability ensues after using up all of its internal thermonuclear fuels, and it becomes too much for the star. So, black holes are essentially formed from the remnants of the explosion." The professor continued.

The video clip that played above us made it look like such a beautiful transformation. The idea that once something was destroyed, it could create something new, was beautiful to me. Even if the idea of a black hole terrified me at the same time. Everything was a cycle, even in space.

Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Harry again. His mouth was slightly agape, his eyes darting back and forth on the screen. I smiled lightly to myself. Even if he was a little odd in his demeanor, it was nice to see someone enjoy astronomy like this. He wanted to soak it all in just like me.

"Hey, I know that one!" Harry whisper-shouted, pointing at it with a large grin. I took his arm and softly pat it as I put it down, nodding at him with a soft smile. "That's Stell—"

"And that's the show everyone. Thank you all for joining us today. Get home safe." The voice rang over the intercom. Harry squinted his eyes as the projection faded away, his smile slowly disappearing along with it.

My phone immediately started to ring, which caused Harry to jump. He looked down at my phone as I pulled it out of my pocket. Nina's contact picture was plastered on my screen, and I smiled to myself before swiping to answer. I glanced to the side to see Harry's face morphed into curiosity. I slightly turned my head away for some semblance of privacy.

"Hello?" I said softly. My eyes watched everyone get out of their seats as they left. It was always satisfying to watch everyone pile in and out of this place. The voice sounding in my ear pulled my attention away from the wandering people and back to Nina on the other line.

"Bitch." She spoke over the phone. "Meet me at our usual place. I wanna have that dinner before we head to the party."

"Oh, dinner? Can do. When's the party again?" I panned over to Harry to see him still staring intensely my way. His nosiness made a twinge of annoyance run through me.

"What is that?" He questioned when we locked eyes. I put my finger up for a moment as I tried to listen to Nina over the phone.

"Party's at eight—Who is that? Are you with someone?" Nina questioned. I glanced over at Harry who waved at me with a smile before I sighed, looking away.

"Yes. It's Harry. I just met him." Harry shot me a look after hearing his name, and he leaned in towards me.

"Hey!" He said into the phone, a chuckle leaving his lips.

"Cool, you can bring him too. The more the merrier. I'll see you soon. Mwah." Nina hung up the phone, only allowing me to squeeze in a, "wait, wait, Nina—" before a deadline. I sighed as I pulled the phone away from my ear, clicking it off.

"What is that?" He repeated himself, taking it as he examined it carefully. "This is really cool looking. Where can I get one?"

"An iPhone?" I took my phone back from him, arching my brow. "I've always preferred it over Androids, but to each to their own—um... Do you, like, wanna go eat or something?" I stood to my feet, putting my phone into my tote bag as I started to walk.

Harry followed a little too close behind me as he nodded, "Where? Are there gonna be other people, too? Like a lot of people? How far away is it? Are we walk—"

"Harry." I snapped, turning on my heel as I looked at him in his eyes. His smile faltered into a frown as he took a step back. I felt bad, but fucking hell. He wouldn't let up on the rapid fire questions.

"Oops." He chuckled awkwardly. If Nina hadn't of heard him, I wouldn't have had to deal with this, but unfortunately for me—here we were.

I guess I didn't really have to, but I still kind of felt bad. Harry looked like the kind of person that didn't really have friends, and the least I could do was buy him some dinner or something. It seemed like the good Samaritan thing to do, right?

We made our way out the door without another word, pushing by the crowd of people that were walking the sidewalks. The sun was going down, creating splashes of blues, purples, and pinks throughout the sky. The wind was pushing my hair back, which was annoying. I knew I should have just kept my hair up after all, but I wanted to look neat for the presentation. It was only slightly more annoying than Harry walking barely a foot's distance beside me.

"So how old are you?" Harry finally broke the silence, his green eyes glancing over at me. This was the first time he had a relaxed look on his face, so I could see his soft features.

"I'm twenty-one." I replied back, adjusting my tote bag. Harry hummed, one of his thumbs was fiddling with his nails as we walked.

This was the first time I had noticed that he had painted them a dark blue and purple color. It was kind of galaxy-like. I wondered if that was his intention, but I liked it regardless.

"Yeah, me too." He said back immediately.

"Do you drink? We're gonna have a few drinks while we're eating." I pushed the door of the restaurant open, looking back at him with a soft look.

"Oh, I drink all the time. It's my favorite thing to do." Harry said cheekily, his dimples poking out as he walked in.

His eyes widened at the people around us, all shapes, sizes, colors. People with frizzy hair, straight hair, curly hair. It was like he had never seen diversity before. He must have been from a small town or something. Not to mention the awes he gave at the decorations. How sheltered could this boy be? So sheltered he had never seen something like this, let alone an iPhone?

"That's— a very unhealthy habit. Staring." I said under my breath, rubbing my face slowly as we approached our table.

"Nina—Harry. Harry, Nina." I slid into the booth, gesturing towards him. Harry sat beside me, nodding at Nina with a wide smile.

"Your hair is so big. I love it." Was the first thing that Harry said to her. "Do you grow flowers in your hair, Nina?" He was talking about the fake flowers that rested delicately in her afro. He had hardly stopped staring since he sat down.

"I wish." She laughed out, giving him a once over. "It's lovely to meet you, Harry. What do you do?"

"Oh." Harry perched up with a grin on his lips, looking between the both of us. "I'm a student and also volunteer at the planetarium."

I almost choked on my water. It dripped down my chin as I inhaled too sharply. My hand quickly raised up to catch the water that was threatening to drip onto my clothes. I shot a look over at him. "What?"

"Wow, that's really neat." Nina placed her hand under her chin as she batted her eyelashes. I squinted and rolled my eyes at her.

Great, I thought to myself. I was inevitably stuck with Harry for the rest of the semester. Which wasn't a terrible thing, but our first meeting still left a weird taste in my mouth.

"I think I'll enjoy it." He said thickly. His fingers tapped against the table as he looked around to the other people sitting in their seats. Oddly enough, he seemed more calm in this setting. Maybe he wasn't always such an awkward ball of energy.

"Anybody up for drinks?" Nina held up the drink menu, waving it around for a moment with a wide smile on her face. Nina always loved to drink and cutback—Not that it was a problem, because it wasn't. She just loved it when it did happen.

"Me, please." I huffed out, grabbing one of the menus as I looked down at it, hovering my eyes over all the options. Harry looked a bit nervous as he watched us look over the menus. A feeling sank in the pit of my stomach as I looked over at him. "Are you wanting anything?"

"I don't think I brought money." He confessed, his fingers fiddling with each other again. He was nervous. It was kind of cute though—in an endearing way.

"Don't worry, I'll get you something. You want a drink?" I nudged his elbow softly with a smile. A blush spread across his cheeks as he smiled down at me, then looked down at the menu.

"Thanks." He said under his breath, then pointed at the blue drink on the menu. "I want this one. I like the color of it. Looks good."

"Oh, a margarita? Alright. I'll get the same thing." I shrugged, putting my menu down. Nina scoffed, setting hers with ours as she spoke. "Losers. I'm getting a whisky."

We placed our order as soon as the waiter came to the table. Me and Nina ordered food, but Harry said he wasn't hungry and didn't get anything. I insisted on buying him something, but he said it was fine and he had eaten earlier.

We sat there for a while talking about our classes; about how Nina and I were thinking about going to a concert soon that the college was holding. It was some rock band from America. The tickets were incredibly cheap, like, ten dollars a piece. It was too hard to pass up.

"You ever been to a concert, Harry?" Nina looked over at him with a smile. Harry looked a bit confused, his eyebrow perked as his lips parted.

"Tons." He shook his head, a shaky smile on his lips as he leaned back. "Loads of them. All the time, actually. It's my favorite thing to do."

"Oh yeah?" I smiled over at him. "What bands have you seen live? I've only ever been to one."

Harry parted his lips to talk, but the waiter came by with our drinks. Harry stared down at the sweating glass full of blue tequila slush. I took mine and started sipping on it gradually while Nina took one of the shots she ordered.

Harry watched me, as if mimicking the way I drank it. He took a long sip from the drink, his face scrunching up as he leaned back. He swallowed thickly, making a disgusted face. "You people drink this?" He muttered under his breath.

"What'd you say?" I looked over at him, perking my brow. He shook his head, waving his hand as his face heated up.

"It's good." He corrected and took another long sip.

He just kept drinking it—maybe a bit quicker than I did. I was only about halfway done with my drink when I heard him slurping the last bit of his. Nina was gobsmacked, staring at him with her mouth open. I looked over at him with a smirk.

"You weren't kidding when you said you drank a lot." I finally said it out loud this time. Nina and I looked at one another, eyes both wide and laughed.

"Yeah. I told you." He hiccuped, pausing for a moment as he took in what had happened. He cleared his throat, shaking his head as he pushed the drink away. "Although, I've never had one of these before. What's in this?"

"About three ounces of tequila and ice." Nina snickered as she started to eat her food. I had begun to periodically take bites out of mine as well. My eyes kept going over to Harry who was sitting there silent. He was busy watching the people around us again.

"I've had tequila before." He said, shrugging. Something in his tone didn't make me believe him all that much, but it didn't phase me enough to press about it.

Instead, a quiet chuckle left my lips. We finally finished our food and I was quite buzzed from the margarita I had drank myself. Tequila usually fucked me up in the best way, and that was why I started this night out with it. Especially considering I had to go to a party full of people I had no interest in.

I clapped my hands together. I was a little more optimistic now after being slightly intoxicated with a newly full stomach. I was going to make the best of it, even if it was just for Nina.

"You guys ready?" I asked, digging my wallet out of my purse. Nina beat me to it, slamming her money on the table with a cheeky smile.

"Hell yeah. Time to fuck shit up." Nina joked and I shot her a look.

I pointed my finger at her, biting back a laugh. "You better not fuck any shit up. Not unless it's some asshole frat douchebag."

"Well I thought that one was a given." We both laugh.

"Fuck shit up? That sounds gross." I turned to Harry who had a scowl on his face. Nina and I both broke into another fit of laughter and I patted Harry on the back. He was also laughing now. All three of us sat there for a second, clutching our stomachs and ignoring the weird glares we were getting from the other customers around.

At that point we had forgotten what we were even laughing at. I didn't care, it felt good. We all felt good. Maybe Harry wasn't so bad afterall. He knew how to make us laugh, even if it was just the slight alcohol talking.

Nina was the first to get up from the booth, pulling me out with her. "C'mon! Let's go!"

"Okay, okay." I said between laughs. I spun towards Harry, extending an arm out. "Let's go starboy."

CH 4 RELEASE DATE: 02/18/22

The curly boy wasn't that jealous….. it´s just because they were such a tigh-knit group for so long that knowing someone got in while he was away made Harry want to punch a wall – this whole situation left him a bit more fussy than the vampire would like to admit. Especially when that someone was a fucking newborn. A fucking newborn vampire stole his place and Mitch´s, Sarah´s and Niall´s unbeating heart.

Harry sounds like a prick even though he didn´t intend to. This is a new territory for him and he wasn´t that prone to changes. And the fact that it´s a newborn just makes it harder to understand it all. Newborns gonna be newborns.  Harry is okay with that, he just doesn't remember how to interact with them. He just doesn't have the patience to deal with them anymore, they are too reckless to be around.

Even though he hates the ideia, Harry didn´t say a word to Mitch and Sarah when they first broke the news. How could he? Harry could be a lot of things but he wasn´t a hyprocrite. His old friends know what they are doing, after all, they done the same to the green eyed boy, welcoming with open arms when he was too scared to understand what was happening.

It was one week after his 26th birthday when he got dragged to a corner and had his life sucked off his body quite literally. He doesn't remember the details of how it happened, it was 1974, Harry had too many drugs in his system to describe the face of his assailant.  The next thing Harry knows is that he woke up sweating buckets with his throat on fire in the back of Mitch´s 1973 Chevy Van Camper with his head in Sarah´s lap.

“Don´t speak or your throat is going to burn even more.” Sarah shifts, grabbing a bottle of wine and handing it to Harry before he can reject it. He thinks he was dizzy enough, on the brink of an alcoholic coma. “Drink it, just know we are getting you somewhere safe. You can trust us. Now, drink.”

Her assertive tone makes Harry swallow a copius amount. When he tastes the first dropllet, he knows it isn´t wine. Whatever this was, it had a much richer flavour to it, thicker too. It wasn´t wine but it was even sweeter. His foggy mind couldn´t decided if he should trust this nice lady or maybe just try to escape through the back door. After drinking a bit more Harry knows that he wouldn´t get too far on his own feet and would trust her if she kept feeding him whatever this was.

He feels guilty for a moment. His mum raised him better than that, Anne would pull his ear if she was still here. Harry just had so much to lose if things went haywire. He hates sounding like the 70 year old man he actually is, but he longs for when things were easier. When his mum was still around and his only concern was to sneak back into the house after the curfew. He misses her a lot.

And that´s the actual reason for his visit to London: to reminisce his mother from the best living sort Harry still had, his bigger sister Gemma.

Mitch, Sarah and Niall are Harry´s best mates but the true reason of his travel back home was to see his big sister, seeing his friends was a plus. She was the reason that he didn´t gave up, watching Gemma built her family with Michael was Harry´s only source of true happiness. Visiting her was getting harder, she was getting more old and there is no denying that her death is becoming more unavoidable. His heart  breaks into a million pieces everytime he looks into her eyes, a bit more droopy from her age, that still had the same sparkle he remembers from decades ago. With each passing day Gemma looked more like Anne, which for her was a big compliment but for Harry it was just a reminder of something he can´t get  — getting old with his lover, seeing their kids grow and discover the world, a peaceful ending after a lifetime of accomplishments.

Harry was doomed to walk this earth alone.

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

After many failed attempts, Y/N did it. She perfected the recipe for her special Blueberry smoothie to the T — every other time she tried it, it would be too runny or filled with unwanted chunks of fruit that completely ruined the texture..

The blender did put up quite the fight but the real problem was Y/N´s nonexistent culinary skills. If someone told her one year ago that she would soon be keen on learning how to cook, Y/N would have laughed in their face. It wasn't like she had another choice though, the chinese takeout didn´t taste the same now. Y/N could still eat human food, it just wasn't as filling or tasty as before, everything would always miss the little kick that made all her worries wash away.

She's getting the hang of it and she's proud of herself – the cooking sites never included which type and how much blood needed to be added. Outrageous. Of course she could have called Niall and he would happily bring her some leftovers from his fridge but Y/N wants to do things on her own too.

However, it was safe to say that dying on that terrible trip was the best thing that happened in Y/N´s existence.

That statement was quite embarrassing to say out loud and it wasn't like she could say that to every stranger she came across, but it was the truth. Being dead has been an overall good experience for Y/N minus a few bumps – such as the disappointment she felt when she finally gained conscious that she couldn't just drink out of someone's neck just because their smell was spectacular.  Her life before wasn't terrible, maybe just ordinary: she had a small group of friends, went out on Fridays to get drinks, pulled an all-nighter or two to finish her college essays. Even though a small piece of her misses Zuri and the gang, Y/N would never want her life back especially now that she found a new group of friends to hang out with.

Mitch, Niall and Sarah acted like mentors and new friends at the same time and for that, Y/N would be forever grateful to them. Without the trio, she would have never known how to properly bite into someone without killing them or making a huge mess nor would know that if the wound was small enough and she lick it afterwards, the healing process would be quicker. She would have survived if she never met them  — for a newborn who had any help, Y/N was doing rather well alone  — but the process of adapting and getting the hang of it would have taken longer.

Y/N was glad she was borned when the internet and television shows already existed because one would be in despair if they found themselves craving for human blood one summer night after waking up in at the back of a dingy bar in a foreign country if they were born years and years before that. But Y/N? She had the bests sources of information about vampirism at her fingertips.

Twilight, Buffy The Vampire Slayer, The Vampire Diaries are just a few memorable mentions but any other supernatural show ever produced in the late 90´s and early 2000´s that at  some point had some character turned into a vampire helped Y/N in some type of way.

Living it was far more difficult than those cliché shows made it seems, more gruesome and messy but Y/N at least had a concept of what she could expect or a few concepts that were confirmed to go badly. She knew screaming at the television when characters were doing something incredibly dumb wasn´t a waste of time.

Sure, she didn´t burn in the sun – Y/N would have dreaded if that happened, the feeling of the Spring sun touching her skin after a busy day at the beach couldn't be replaced even if she was a bit more sensitive about it now – and garlic still tasted good. Strangely, Y/N could still take some valid points from them, especially the ´let's rob a hospital blood bank and not go around killing people!` idea she tried after a couple of weeks of being a vampire.

As expected, it didn't go too well, she got overwhelmed when she saw all those bags filled with different blood types – glady, she compelled the night nurses to take a nap so she had some time to indulge herself. What she didn't expect though, was someone breaking in that tiny cubicle she was in.

“You need to be more careful.” Y/N freezes and turns around to face Sarah, her mouth instantly disconnected itself from the plastic. Y/N was far too engaged sucking the last few drops of  B+ from the plastic bag to noticed the door opening. Saying the iconic ´it isn´t what it seems´ did rapidly pass through newborn´s mind but it was definitely what it seemed. The older woman looked around, staying quiet for a moment before seeing Y/N´s huge Victoria´s Secret polka-dotted bag tossed in the corner of the freezer. “ Great choice to stay inconspicuous.”

Needless to say that Y/N might actually need more help than any tv show could provide.

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

“ You sure she will like it?” Mitch asks nervously, scratching the back of his head. “It´s a great idea, Y/N but it is like the 50th present I get for her.”

“And if she doesn't like it, you have a thousand more years to make it up for her.” Y/N thinks for a moment, staring to Mitch´s face. “That sounded a lot nicer inside my head.”

It was terribly cute how worried Mitch was about getting Sarah a present. Y/N never saw someone genuinely worried about the receiver not liking the present. And it wasn't like it was for some big anniversary or something, Mitch wanted to give his girlfriend a gift because, in his own words, ´good surprises are always needed when you are talking about forever being with someone´.

She got excited to help him and Mitch didn't say no when Y/N said she had a great idea. He desperately needed new ones since his had been wasted throughout the decades. However, Mitch didn't imagine truly thinking about gifting his girlfriend a pair of UGGS Scuffette Slippers.

“That´s why they are called UGGS? Because they are ugly?”

“That would be a terrible advertisement, Mitch. They are very comfortable. And....” Y/N stretches her hand to get a bigger pair of the purple slippers. “ You two can match.” She says with a big smile on her face.

Mitch loved having matching clothing with Sarah and Y/N knew it so the second that card was thrown at the table, the older vampire was a goner.

Y/N wasn't feeling the best right now even though she was thrilled to see how pleasant Mitch was with the present, skipping lunch wasn´t the best idea when all she had to drink was the stupid smoothie that didnt even have 10 ml of AB+. She shouldn't have left the house without feeding properly. It´s not urgent, Y/N had learned how to control her impulses very well but it wasn't very comfortable especially when they were waiting inside a busy store to pay for the slippers.

“Strange.” Mitch mumbles under his breath, eyebrows furrowed looking down at his phone and typing something. Y/N must have had dissociated for a bit because now one happy customer is going away and they are one step closer to the cashier. Thank Godness.

“What is it?” Y/N is noisy by nature but listening to whatever her friend had to say was a good distraction too. Even if there was one less person in the line, the guy directly in front of them had a big purchase.

“Harry is back in town, just texted.Remember Harry?” Her brain doesn´t associate any particular face with that name but it could be that she was just hungry and the only thing in her mind was the big snack she was going to get when she got home. Maybe she could get the cashier´s number and they could be her snack. “Remember is not quite right, you don´t know know him.”

“Oh, yes, yes. Your friend, hmmh.” Words, Y/N, words.

“Maybe he is just checking on his sister, seeing how things are with her… but it´s not his usual timing...maybe is something else but that´s not good news.” Now, that is quite the distraction, Y/N is always intrigued by the mention of someone´s family. Even for humans that is a sore topic but for vampires it was much more complicated. Everybody else in the group had told her, in very different conversations and ocasiations, that their direct family had died and only had more distant relatives they never met alive by now so she´s not sure if its good or bad that Harry´s sister was alive.

Y/N wants to speak up, ask Mitch few more facts about Harry but the pretty cashier calls for the next client which happens to be them.. She even double checks, eyeing the employee who was staring her back.