CRIMSON

the presentation to prepare

- chapter eight -

Rafe walked into his room, dressed with a towel around his waist, his hair was wet and the water was running down his body. His eyes were on the necklace he had on. It was the only thing that brought him closer to his family. Every member wore one, it was a tradition. He did not feel close to his ancestors or to his family, his necklace was a very precious one and he would never take it off in his life.

He looked at himself in the mirror before sighing, he didn't feel like going to school, even though it was very pleasant without having Mark, Lucas and Damian around. Besides, the young vampire had a fondness for Victor and his soft and kind aura. The 17 year old sighed once more and decided to get dressed up before he went to school. Most of the time he would come at the last moment, he loved his ability to run really fast, but just like today, there were moments when he would come early just to see Victor and to talk to him, a thing he wanted more and more.

When he arrived at the school, he saw Victor with Brielle, talking and laughing together. Of course, it was Victor who was the first to notice him, with a big smile and a wave. Rafe couldn't help but blush. He hid a small smile as he walked over to his friends. Brielle remained silent after that. She still hated Rafe, but she had promised Victor that she would be nice to him and since she didn't have anything nice to say, she kept her mouth shut.

After a few minutes, Brielle left to go to her class, while Victor and Rafe left to go to History. As usual, when the teacher arrived he was slow, unmotivated to teach, perhaps because it was 8 a.m. Throughout the class he had a monotonous voice that demotivated the students to pay attention. At the end of the class he explained that there will be presentations in pairs on a person who had made the history of England, whether they are a legend or real. He had a list and the two should see him to choose. As expected, Victor and Rafe got together and made their way up to the professor. 

     — Who do you want to do? Rafe asked his partner.

     — Um... I don't know, he began, looking at all the names. What about Robin Hood?

The vampire nodded and the professor crossed out the name of a freedom fighter. Then the two students went to their next class and talked about a date when they could work on their presentation.

***

It was Wednesday afternoon and Victor had arranged to meet Rafe at the Media Library to work on Robin Hood. Although it wasn't the first time he'd been alone with Rafe, he was a little nervous. Besides, they'd spent time together outside of class before, so why should he be afraid? 

It was five minutes to two, but Rafe hadn't arrived yet. Their meeting was at two, and Victor was ten minutes early, too scared to be late. Normally, he didn't care too much about being late, but he wanted Rafe to believe that he was serious about what he wanted to get done, at least for a while. He lifted his head to see that Rafe was walking up to him. A second ago he hadn't been in sight and now he was just over a yard away.

   — Ready to study good old Robin Hood?

   — Of course I am, Victor replied with a gentle smile on his face.

The pair entered the building and headed for the books section in search of books on Robin Hood. There weren't many of them, most of them were just stories. Once they had a good book in mind, they headed for the tables with the computers. Rafe did the research on the books and Victor did the research on the computer. While searching, both kept looking at each other when the other wasn't looking.

Victor still did not understand how someone who could be popular could have spoken with him, an ordinary person. He had no doubt in his mind that he was a good guy, but to most people he was a bore. 

They began to prepare their slide show, spending hours studying the hooded vigilante. By the time they were out of the library, Victor's father was waiting. He had planned on spending a night out with him, something he did with his other two sons. He felt that there were times when it would be beneficial to have a good time with these boys, who had a fairly large age gap between them. Spending time together showed that each person was important and that each person's preferences mattered.

   — Was this the boy who accompanied you when you took Klaus to the park? He asked, his eyebrows knitted together.

Victor nodded and took a seat in the passenger seat as Cody started the car on the way to the bookshop where he worked. Ever since he had been able to open his own bookshop, Victor had always volunteered to help with tidying up or just giving advice on which books might appeal to customers. As they were ringing up the books, annoyed at the lack of understanding from the customers who were having a good time in the reading corner but had left without putting the books in the right order, Cody turned on the music, shrugged his shoulders and looked at his eldest son with a mischievous expression.

   — Dad, what are you doing? 

The teenager let out a soft laugh before joining his father in the dance. There was no one in the shop at that time of day, so there was no one to witness the scene. However, the two men didn't mind being discovered. They were having an extraordinary father-son moment. At the end of the day, Cody had Mexican food delivered, and the two of them had a nice meal in the reading corner. 

   — So...about the boy, Cody began, biting into his burrito.

The teen frowned, not understanding what the adult meant. What? Rafe? 

   — Yes. The boy is pale. He needs more sun. But apart from that, he is a charming boy. Is he kind?

  — Yes, he is.

Victor couldn't help but smile a little as he thought of the young black-haired boy. He had no idea why he had such an effect on him, he was attracted to the young man, he was aware of it, but it wasn't just that. He seemed to have a kind of charm that Victor had never seen in anyone before, not even Dylan O'Brien, and God only knew how attractive, charming, beautiful and kind he found Dylan O'Brien.

Cody smiled as well when he saw the smile on his son's face. He knew what it was like to have a crush in high school, he had one with a woman who had sadly passed away when they were both twenty years old. He had met Andrya in a bar when he was mourning his girlfriend. She worked there, and even though he was never much of a drinker, he had to get his mind off things that night. Andrya was always patient with Cody, understanding his situation and that it was not easy to date again after the death of the supposed love of your life. Andrya has never tried to force Cody to forget about that woman, Nia. She understood that she had been his first love and that he would never be able to forget her.

At the end of their meal, the two men threw their things away and returned happily to the Dennehy household.