After Midnight

Chapter 37

"Dalton gets out of the hospital today", I said, sitting on the counter next to Ellie. She smiled up at me."I was thinking that maybe we could have him and Barry over for diner?"

She nodded."Yeah, I'd love to have them over", She smiled."Ask your dad first though"

I nodded and hopped off the counter. Tonight was the night I was planing on telling everyone about my heart, because I made Dr. Lawrence promise to let me tell them.

"Hi dad", I smiled."I was wondering if I could have Dalton and my friend Barry over for diner? It's Dalton's first night out of the hospital and I don't want him to be alone"

"It's okay with me. Did you ask Ellie?", I nodded and he shrugged."Yeah. It's alright with me"

"Thank you, daddy", I kissed his cheek and ran up to my room to call Barry and Dalton. They both agreed to come over, which made me more nervous than I should have been. I also haven't heard anything from the murderers-that I've decided to call the anti vampires-which scared me even more.
*
I was sat in my regular spot, in the middle of the right side of the table, between Dalton and Barry, while Dane sat across from me, between Ellie and Bailey, and my dad at the head of the table.

I waited until everyone was loud, laughing and in a good mood.

"I have this thing called a baby inside of me, David. I eat for two", Ellie laughed, along with the rest of us.

"I have an enlarged heart, which means that I'm dying", I said. Everyone went quiet."Dane, could you pass the peas?", I asked. He stared blankly at me, along with everyone else. Ellie stood up.

"If you'll excuse me, I need some air", She said. My dad stood up and followed her, without a word.

"Dane..", I snapped my fingers at him."Please...it's getting really awkward in here"

He passed me the bowl of peas and I thanked him before putting some on my plate. I looked over at Dalton, then Barry who were still looking at me like their puppies had just died.

"What?", I asked. Dalton grabbed my arm and pulled me out of the room. He dragged me into the hallway and pushed my back against the wall.

"I was going to tell you, I just didn't want to tell everyone one at a time, so I just thought that today was-"

Instead of arguing with me, like I had expected, he kissed me. He kissed me like he never has before. I wrapped my arms around his neck, pulling him closer to me.

It felt wrong kissing him in my hallway, especially when I just told my friends, and my family that I was dying. But it felt so right being here with him. Just me and him.

He dropped his hands and wrapped his arms around my waist. It almost felt like I could fly. He moved one of his hands up to my ribs and pulled me closer. I could feel both of our hearts pounding when his lips brushed against my neck and I moved my hands to his hair. He pressed his lips back to mine for a few seconds and pulled away.

I looked back towards the end of the hallway and saw Barry turn the corner. Dalton stepped away from me and ran his fingers through his hair.

"Barry-"

"Don't", He cut me off."It's fine. Just wanted to check on you", He turned around and walked away. I looked at Dalton, who was pacing and rubbing his neck. The burn on his arm was healing, but I had just noticed the cut that was hidden in the burns. He dropped his hand and shook his head.

"I'm sorry?", He said in the form of a question.

I turned and walked to where I thought Barry would be, which was outside.

"Barry!", I called after him and picked up my pace till I was jogging up next to him."Barry, I'm sorry"

"Why?", He asked."We broke up..", He looked down and back up at me."You can be with whoever you want"

"Barry-"

"Stop trying to make yourself feel bad. I can't force you to feel about me the way I feel about you. It's okay, Arin"

"But-", I cut myself off and felt tears in my eyes.

"You should probably cover that up before your parents see", He said, touching one finger to my neck. He smiled slightly at me before he turned and walked back to his car. I saw him sit there with his hands on the wheel for a while before he drove away. I sniffed and blinked away my tears.

"I'm sorry", I heard Dalton say next to me."I was just..", He shrugged."I don't know what I was thinking"

"You were thinking the same thing I was", I looked up at him."And you're probably right. This isn't a good time"

He took a deep breath and put his hands in his pockets.

"But I don't care", I shook my head."I just want to be with you, but it sucks, because I messed everything up"

"You didn't do anything", He shook his head."It's not your fault, you just-", He sighed."You..", He closed his eyes."If you don't want to do this, Arin-"

"Did you just call me Arin?", I laughed a little.

He opened his eyes and smiled back at me.

"Are you okay?", He asked.

"I will be", I put my hand on the back of his neck and the other on his shoulder before I leaned in and pressed my lips against his.

"I wish I could put into words how I feel about you", He said."I also wish I could tell you how badly I wish I didn't feel this way about you"

"Me too", I said softly."I just want everyone to be happy"