Only the Night? (Niam)

Chapter 6

I'm realizing as I'm writing this, that its a little sad... I'll apologize in advance, I'm listening to Let It Be and Hallelujah and thinking about a friend of mine who was recently killed... Too many people have died lately- too many people overall- and my heart goes out to anyone who has lost someone. Recent or not, it still matters. I hate crying and writing at the same time, but whatever. I'll spell check later.

Thank you guys for reading, it means more than 'a lot' to me. A massive amount.

So... Chapter six.

I would say ignore the teardrops on the page, but you're reading this off of a computer, so I won't. Again, I'm sorry this might be sad. Not too bad, but I was listening to Kiss Me by Ed Sheeran also, so maybe it's just me...

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~Nikki. xx.

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Curse words even I didn't recognize poured from his mouth, seemingly endless.

And I'm Irish.

"Liam it's fine, I'm okay," I assured him, upset that he had shrunk away from me. He now sat on the other end of the couch, his head in his hands as he pulled at his hair. I missed the contact already. His lips, his hair, his hands... "See?"

I grinned as widely as I could at him, desperate to show him I was a-okay and that we could get back to snogging. He looked up at me, his soft brown eyes almost comically wide (it would have been comical if he didn't look like a cornered puppy).

In a woosh of air he was next to me, but I was disappointed to see he wasn't going to kiss me. He gently took my chin in his hand, inspecting it before meeting my eyes again.

"Did I hurt you? You're not bleeding. You're not. Wait, are you? Are you bleeding?!" He became frantic and he was soon yelling, his voice an octave higher in his panic.

"No, shh, I'm fine Liam. I'm not bleeding." I poked my tongue around my bottom lip, and, sure enough, no coppery taste met my tastebuds.

"R-right, I'd be able to smell it. Yeah, yeah, it's okay. You're okay. Alright." he took a deep breath, exhaling shakily and running another hand through his quiff again.

I looked at him for a moment, quizzically, resisting the urge to kiss him again. What had just happened..?

"I'm so sorry," his low voice was almost impossible to hear. "I can't believe... I'm so sorry."

"For what?" I asked impatiently, waiting for his amber eyes to lock once again with my cerulean ones. Why did he suddenly want to resist biting me? It's not like he cared about me, right?

He swallowed thickly, his eyebrows furrowed with indecisiveness. I decided to help him out, pulling his hand away from his hair and holding it in my own. It felt so right- sitting next to him on the couch, holding his hand... But I had to remind myself- I barely knew him.

"Niall," he said slowly, his fingers tightening into a fist in my hand, "Remember when I said... That its more complicated... To become like me?" He asked.

"Yeah..?" I didn't understand where he was going with this.

"You have to..." His eyes shone. Was he... Crying? He looked like he was about to throw up, his milky skin even whiter than before.

"You have to drink your own blood.. Mixed with the vampire venom. That's why-" he choked, a tear trickling down his face- "When we kissed, and- and I bit you, I was so scared," he whispered, turning his head away from me and biting his own lip, hard, trying to keep the sobs from shaking his entire body. The wetness on his cheekbones glistened, appearing orange in the candlelight.

I was frozen, staring at the god-like boy in front of me silently cry. This angel, this unreal being in front of me, with face torn and tears leaving tracks down his cheeks, would forever burn behind my closed eyelids. Forever remind me of what true pain was- what it was to be truly sad, truly broken. Helpless, frightened, shattered. The epitome of agonizing beauty and pain. Impossible as it seemed- impossible as it was- he still appeared as a delicate Greek statue; unrealistic features, perfectionist looks. The pain etched into his marble skin looking to be carved there.

The power to move forward, to hug his shaking frame, didn't reveal itself in me. His hand left mine and made its way to his mouth, covering it as he slowly closed his amber eyes. Tears continued to flow freely past his thin fingers, tracing around his cheekbones and jaw as they trickled down his pale face. His body convulsed with each heart-wrenching sob, but no sound met my ears.

After another moment he said something.

"What?" I asked, my voice (thankfully) stronger than I felt. Seeing him like this made me feel almost as broken. But how could I feel so deeply, so soon? It'd been only a few hours.

But why wasn't I able to hug him, or touch him yet? What was this weird force keeping me away? Was it him, or.. Fear.

I reminded myself to keep breathing. So what? It was only natural to fear vampires. Ha. Natural and vampires in the same sentence. I snapped my head back up when he repeated what he must have said before.

"I said, look," I looked up at his face again, but he wasn't looking at me. He seemed to have been hoping that I wouldn't hear him the second time, and decide not to ask again. He finally turned his head towards mine, and began to ease his mouth open.

I looked past his sharp fangs as he stuck his tongue out a little, angling his face upwards- into the light.

Two clearly defined, perfectly circular, black punctures pierced right through his tongue. As a look of obvious horror came over my face, he tilted his head back farther, and I could see the two holes went right through, front to back. Like he had gotten two tongue piercings with a hole puncher. They were ringed in black, prominent against his red tongue.

"Fuck, Liam," I finally managed, finding it in myself to lightly press my fingers against his cold chin. He closed his mouth again, bringing up a hand to remove all traces of his tears. His eyes weren't bloodshot or puffy- the perks of being a vampire?

Could that have happened to me? Just a passionate, loving kiss with my vampire boyfriend Liam, and then BOOM tongue gages?

"While I was acting like an idiot and crying, I thought I should show you that. I need to remind myself what I am and not let my... Emotions, confuse me." The way he said that last part gave me a flicker of hope. More than a flicker, a full-out flame. He had feelings for me.

"And now you're scared of me- which is what you should've been when I told you what I was. Hell, you should have been when I bit you. That's the way it's supposed to be." I could've sworn he muttered 'right?' under his breath, but I was too shocked to ask him.

"Liam- don't say that," I mumbled, taking my hand from his chin and firmly locking it around his. "Don't you think that you can at least try to be different? ...Don't you think it's a little late to be saying all of this?" My voice turned a little hard, hurt- this was practically the definition of leading someone on.

"I'm saying this for your own good, okay? Even if I... Don't want to."

"But it's my choice. Whether or not I want to take that risk, it's my choice." I replied, gaining confidence.

His only response was a frown and an almost imperceptible nod of his head.