Why Vampires Sleep With The Lights On

The Best And Worst Christmas

We met up with Victoria, Harry Jekyll, Dylan, Michael and my mum in Victoria's living room.

As soon as we walked in my mum grabbed me and pulled me into a tight hug. No words were needed. Dylan had soon joined in as well before my mum then broke our hug to pull a shocked Kian into her arms. At that point, Harry Jekyll had provided an escape by offering us a glass of eggnog, which we both gladly accepted.

One corner of the room had been taken over by a large Christmas tree that was garishly decorated with red and gold tinsel, a large ugly looking angel with bent wings and only half a halo sat at the top, Michael hadn't stopped staring at it the entire time.

"Well, um, I guess that somebody should say a few words," Harry Jekyll said, pushing his glasses up his nose nervously "We've lost people we loved dearly, and nothing I can say is ever going to make that change or make any difference. I didn't know Peter Colby, and I'm sure as hell not going to stand here and pretend otherwise, but the fight still stands. Lucifer has been freed and The Apocalypse is imminent. We will fight on to make sure that he did not die in vain."

"Here, here," Victoria said raising her glass, prompting everyone else to do the same.

"To Peter," Victoria said as she took a sip of her eggnog.

"To Peter..." everyone started to chime in, apart from myself and Dylan.

To Dad...

I took a sip from my own glass before putting an arm around Dylan.

"You know you can talk to me, about anything," I said quietly to him as everyone else began to chat amongst each other "What Will made you do..."

"I don't want to think about it," Dylan replied "When we catch up with him... I'm going to make sure that he pays for what he did."

"No," I said sharply "I won't let you do that. He will pay, but you are not going to be the one to take him down."

"Why?" Dylan asked, "I'm a vampire now, I can learn to handle myself."

"Because you are still a kid," I replied "And I don't want you to lose that. Don't let what happened, what you've become take away your humanity. You still have me, and mum, and she's going to need us both to help her get through this."

I looked over at mum, who was having an animated conversation with Michael about the angel on the tree.

"She's strong," Dylan said as we watched her.

"Yeah, she is," I agreed "And we need to keep her that way. Will is not your problem, okay? He's mine."

"And mine," Kian said as he joined us "I couldn't help but overhear... that's the problem with hearing people's thoughts."

"It's fine,' I said taking his hand.

"Right now, we shouldn't be worried about Lucifer, Will or the Apocalypse," Kian said "We should make the most of Christmas together as a family."

"I agree," Dylan smiled at him "Why don't we open a present each early like we used to?"

Yeah... that might not be a bad idea...

"I'm game for that," Victoria piped up.

"You can go first," Kian said to me with a massive smile "I actually have your present under the tree."

Huh, it's almost like he was prepared for this...

Kian quickly ducked under the tree and pulled out a small present, no bigger than his hand, it was wrapped in gold paper with a tag on it:

To Alec,

You complete me, Merry Christmas

Love Kian xxx

I smiled and carefully ripped off the paper to reveal a small box that was completely covered in red felt. My hands shook as I lifted open the lid of the box revealing a smooth gold ring.

What the actual fuck?

Glancing over at Kian I saw that he had gotten down onto one knee.

Oh, shit... this was really happening.

"Alec," he said "I saved your life and we've been through so much in our short time together since that party. We've lost people..." his voice broke slightly and I could feel tears start to run down my face "But, I chose you because I saw something in you that I don't think you see in yourself. You are the glue that brought us all together. You gave me a reason to want to live again after centuries of just existing and you deserve to be loved, and I would be honoured if you would allow me to be the one who loves you, so, will you marry me?"

I was stunned.

For a moment, what felt like forever, I stood in silence. This had been the big surprise present that Kian had been keeping secret from me.

Shit, and I had left the bloody teeth whitening paste back in my bedroom at home... but at least I had the Jersey Boys tickets saved on my phone. I might not be able to keep him off the scent anymore, not that it mattered. The proposal was more than I could ever have imagined.

"Of course I will, yes," I replied, taking his hands and pulling him up into a kiss.

I could hear everyone clap as we continued to kiss.

This was by far the best and worst Christmas that I had ever had. The deep sadness that was never going to heal, mixed with pure elation and joy.

As me and Kian held each other and accepted congratulations from Victoria, Harry Jekyll and Michael my eyes met my mum's and I could see the same sadness in her expression, but also the joy.

I knew then, as I slipped the ring on, that this was right. Me and Kian. Together, we had overcome so much, and sure there was still so much to come, but we had our little mismatched family, and with family behind us we could beat the Devil and stop the Apocalypse from happening.

Or at least, that was the plan. Even the best-laid plans don't always go to plan, I know that, but I couldn't bring myself to worry about what might happen, not when right now I felt a strange sense of bliss.

As long as I had Kian, my mum, Dylan and our gang we had the best chance of winning the war against Lucifer, and that chance is really all we need.