Blue Blood ~ Young Royals

Movie

Simon ends up showing me his CD collection, insulting my music taste and feeding his fish. As time passes, he seems to become more at ease and lets himself laugh and joke with me. There's something so beautiful about his sharp-toothed smile, his joy lighting up his whole face. I find myself joking a little more than necessary the next few days, wanting to see him smile again.

On Friday afternoon, the lessons have ended and I'm sitting in the library beside Simon with our books open. There's a few other students here and I can hear the pitter patter of the rain falling steadily outside. 

Simon's bottle is standing beside his book and he sighs, tapping his pencil against the notebook repeatedly. "I hate history." He says.

"Everyone hates history." I comment.

"Okay, true. But that doesn't make this bullshit homework more bearing." He sighs again and drops his pencil on the floor by accident. "Fuck." He mutters, reaching for his pencil on the floor at the same time as I do. We both reach his pencil at the same time and my fingers accidentally brush his hand. Despite the unusual coldness of his skin, I feel a strange warm sensation shoot through my body, and my stomach flutters weirdly. I think I might be blushing a little and I'm grateful for the fact that my head is under the table, hidden from Simon. He lets his hand linger for a moment before grabbing his pencil and shooting back up to resume the tapping. I rise up slowly to sit up straight again, trying to look neutral. Simon is staring at his paper, his expression unreadable. 

Before I can even think of something to say, Felice walks to our table and smiles widely at me. I'm getting so used to seeing Simon's elongated canines that it feels almost weird to see her perfectly normal teeth. Simon looks up from his book.

"Hi." She says with an awkward little wave. "Uh, I was wondering if you guys would come to the horror movie night after dinner? Stella says it's going to be some slasher with vampires."

At the word vampires, Simon's expression shifts and he looks down, grabbing his pencil tightly. "No thanks." He says. "I have to, uh.." He gestures at his book, "..study."

I attempt a polite smile at Felice. "I think I'll pass too. I'm pretty tired." 

Her smile falters a little. "Oh, okay. That's fine. Just, um.. be careful. You know, for vampires." She chuckles awkwardly at the attempted joke, and Simon seems to get even more uncomfortable. 

"Uh, yeah. Will be. Bye, Felice." I say, hoping Simon will stop acting weird if she's gone. 

"Bye." She smiles awkwardly and leaves, and Simon relaxes, but only slightly. His grip on the pencil is still far tighter than necessary.

I lean forward a little and speak in a hushed voice, not wanting to draw attention to us. "You okay, Simon?"

Simon looks up to meet my eyes and nods. "Uh, yeah. I'm fine." He loosens his grip on the pencil and sighs. "I just, uh.. I don't like horror movies." He looks away again when he says it.

"That's okay." I move back and sit properly in my chair again, biting my lip. I want to say something else, but I can't push the words out of my mouth. I try to work up the courage while I keep my eyes on Simon, who is looking at his book again. He's not even reading, his eyes are just focused on one point of the page. 

I clear my throat and force myself to talk. "Uh, Simon?"

He looks up. "Yeah?"

"If you, uh, if you'd like, we could watch something together instead of going to that other movie. Tonight. If you want." 

A mixture of curiosity and amusement fills his eyes and he smiles a little. "Oh, yeah, actually.. That sounds good. Were you thinking my house or your dorm room, or..?"

I'm far more excited than I should be, it's only a movie with a friend. I push the feeling away and say, "I think my dorm room is better. I don't think we want to stand out in the rain waiting for the bus."

"We don't." He says with a smile. "So your dorm room it is, then. After dinner."

I can't help but smile as well, a warm sort of feeling spreading through me. "Great."

***

Dinner is served shortly afterwards and I eat quickly. Simon doesn't eat at all, he's in the hallway calling his mom to tell her he'll be home late. I offered to bring him something but he refused politely, smiling gently. I leave as soon as my plate is empty, I don't know why I'm so eager to watch a movie with this guy. 

I walk into the hallway and I see Simon standing a few feet away, drinking from his bottle. He has that same manic look in his eyes as he did last time and he doesn't seem to notice me. I'm really curious about this bottle, it seems to be the only thing he ever drinks from, and he hardly eats. 

I clear my throat to announce my presence and he lowers the bottle, the strange look in his eyes gone. He turns to look at me and closes the cap of the bottle. "You ate fast."

"Yeah." 

"Shall we go?" He asks while stuffing his bottle back into his backpack.

I nod and motion for him to follow me. "Yeah, let's go." We walk to my dorm room side by side, and I almost get the urge to grab his hand, which is weird. I always get weird urges to touch him, I don't get it. Maybe it's just curiosity. 

We reach my room and I close the door behind us while Simon looks around. "Your room isn't that bad."

I smile and grab my laptop, searching for something to watch on Netflix. "Uhh, what kind of movies are you into?"

"Oh, I dunno. Whatever you like, I guess." He says simply.

I scroll down to my list and sit on the bed, putting the laptop at the opposite end of the bed and clicking on a movie I've been aching to watch. "I've never seen this but it sounds interesting, so..."

He sits down beside me and the movie starts playing. We watch in silence, and I realize it's actually quite nice, just sitting here with Simon right beside me, the pitter patter of raindrops on my window still audible even with the movie playing. It's relaxing.

We must be about half an hour through the movie when Simon moves slightly closer to me, pressing our thighs together. I don't know why, but it shoots an electric jolt through me, and I find myself moving closer to him as well. His hand moves slowly to rest on my thigh, and my heart begins to race. It's like I've lost control of my body entirely, I don't know why I'm doing any of this. It feels both wrong and right at the same time, and I grab his hand, interlacing my fingers with his. I look from our hands to his face, and he's looking right back. Why is he so close to me, why does he look so nervous? I can see the gentle curve of his cheekbone, the slight parting of his lips, those sharp canines barely visible...

Before I know it, his lips are against mine in a gentle kiss. His lips are soft and oddly cold, the sensation making my head spin. For one short moment, that's all there is. Just his lips on mine, the pounding of my heart, the fluttering in my stomach. I realize then that he's kissing me, and I'm kissing him right back. I push away suddenly, pulling my hand out of his, and I look at him. My head is spinning. What the hell just happened.

"Simon, I... I'm not.. I'm not like that."

He looks mortified and gets off the bed, standing up and muttering, "Oh fuck, oh fuck..." He starts walking away towards the door.

"Simon, wait!" But he ignores me and steps out the door, letting it fall closed behind him.

Shit...