Acquainted ⇒ Brett Talbot

X. Ethics

"Where were you last night?" June demands. Her eyes go to the boy behind me and she pauses. "Who is he?"

"I was at Noah's house," I say, gesturing behind me. "We're friends."

She pinches the bridge of her nose with her thumb and forefinger. "You can't just run off like that and not answer my calls. We are going to have a talk about this, Lenore." She turns to Noah. "You can leave."

I open my mouth to speak but Noah talks instead. "We're going up to Lenore's room," he says, his eyes boring into hers.

Her expression goes blank before she answers. "Of course. Come in."

He shoulders past me and into the hall. I trail after him and mutter, "What the hell was that?"

"Compulsion," he simply states.

He gently drops the bag onto my bed. After all, it was full of flimsy plastic blood bags and could make my room look like I had the worst period in history if the bags break. "Isn't that a bit unethical? Controlling people's minds?" I ask, gently unpacking the bags of blood.

"I'm a vampire," Noah says, throwing his hands in the air. "I don't give a shit about ethics."

He holds out his hand for a blood bag and I pass it to him timidly. "It doesn't have to be like that," I say, tilting my head and scooping out another bag. I hold it out for him but all he does is cross his arms over his chest.

"Caring makes you weak and weak gets you killed," he declares. He takes the bag out of my hands. I don't say anything else after that.

After we've transferred the blood bags to the mini fridge, I plop down onto my bed beside Noah. "Are you doing anything tonight?" he asks. "We could practice compulsion some more."

I sigh. "I can't. I'm doing this weird double date thing with Wesley and Brett."

"Wesley and Brett are a thing?" he asks mockingly.

"No, you idiot," I say. "Brett and I are going together."

"Oh, is that so?" he asks, resting his chin on his fist. "Does Wesley need a date? I'm sure he'd be a nicer date than you."

I shoot him a glare. "Watch it, dick. And yes, Wesley does have a date. He was the one who planned this whole thing."

"I'm sure a fifth wheel wouldn't go amiss," he says. "Where are you going?"

"Bowling alley."

"Ugh, boring. I change my mind. I'm not coming." It's at this precise moment that the door opens suddenly. I jump slightly as Brett's figure becomes apparent in the doorway.

He raises his eyebrows. "What is that asshole doing here?"

Noah folds his arms over his chest. "What's that dog doing here?"

I stand up from my seat. "Calm-"

"No," Brett interjects. "He tried to force you to feed."

"She was going to die," Noah says through clenched teeth.

"Stop," I say, raising my voice. "Just stop. I don't know what sort of alpha male complex you two have, but can you just drop it for one second? I was going to die, yes, but it's also understandable that Brett didn't want me to feed. Hell, I didn't want to."

"Whatever," Noah says. "I'm going to leave."

He swiftly pushes past Brett, knocking him in the shoulder with his own and disappears from sight. "What are you doing here?" I ask Brett. I try to make it sound as least confronting as I can.