Exception [discontinued]

18. A Night of the Unexpected

(Will)
I returned home to find Nico sound asleep on the couch. I sighed, picking him up bridal style. He sure does sleep a lot.. I suppose he is still a child at only fourteen. Children sleep a lot. He didn't stir, even when I practically dropped him on the bed. He just curled into a little ball and kept snoring softly. I smiled lightly, scratching behind his left ear. I had to bite back a laugh when he started purring softly.

I pulled my hand away to just examine him. His head had turn to such an angle that would would make it so easy for me to... I sighed, thinking about what Cecil had said about Marking him. It would be the best way to protect him from the other vampires if they tried to go after him, but the humans would only see a vampire bite; Nico would be executed. Not to mention the various other consequences of Marking...

I turned abruptly and walked around to the other side of the bed. I glanced at the clock before lying down. 5:48 am. Sunrise was coming soon. I snuggled up close to the little cat boy and let myself drift to sleep.

I woke up first the next morning and opted to just wait until Nico woke up. He had turned toward me at some point in the day, so his head was tucked under my chin, his breath warming the area between my collarbones. I loosened my grip around him to pull back and stared at his sleeping face. He mumbled in his sleep, something about being warm. I chuckled and took the opportunity to kiss his cool forehead. He was always cold, it seemed...

He stirred, and I tried to scoot away from him, only to realize with a start that his arms were wrapped around me. Feeling the light blush heat up my cheeks, I was almost relieved when he brought his hand up to rub his eyes, opening mouth in wide cat yawn.

Nico opened his eyes and looked at me for a moment, closed them. I expected him to realize what was going on and jump away, but this apparently wasn't a night for the expected. He instead snuggled closer to me.

"So warm.." he murmured. Taking the hint, I let my arms snake around him and pull him even closer. He sighed contently and fell back to sleep. I followed suit soon after.

When I woke up again, Nico wasn't there. I sat up, not too worried about it. He's probably just in the bathroom or the kitchen.

I went to the bathroom.

(Nico)
I quietly reentered the house, using my left hand to open the door so I wouldn't worsen the ache in my shoulder.

I heard a thumping sound. My reenforced ears told me it came from the bathroom, so that's where I went. "Will?" I called. No answer.

~WARNING: OBVIOUS VAMPIRE KNIGHT INSPIRED SCENE AHEAD!~

I rushed to the bathroom. The door was unlocked, but what I saw inside made no sense. Will was slumped next to the bathtub, a little black box clutched in his hand. His head was down so I couldn't see his face. His body convulsed and he threw up into the bathtub.

I decided it best to keep a distance, positioning myself halfway between him and the door before I called out to him. "Will."

His head snapped up. His eyes, wide with what could have been anger, fear, or just hunger, had turned crimson, and his fangs protruded past his lips. I saw his hand tighten on the rim of the tub, like he was trying to hold himself there. I was tempted to step back, but held my ground.

Will had dropped that box, and little white pills littered the floor. The blood tablets... I stared at him. "You can't take them?" I tried to keep the panic out of my voice.

Before I could react, Will was in in front of me, his hands clinging to my upper arms, his head rested on my good shoulder. "I've tried.." He sounded uncharacteristically weak, his voice scratchy and deranged by thirst. "I've tried so many times, so many ways.." My shoulders tensed when he shifted his head. I could feel his breath on my neck. His fang brushed my skin, and I closed my eyes, excepting my fate.

Before my brain could register what was happening, I was on the ground, my back colliding painfully against the cabinet under the sink, and Will was on the other side of the room, sitting against the wall with a hand over his face. His breathing was labored.

I started to approach him, but stopped myself, getting an idea. "I'll be back," I said softly.

I ran into the kitchen and grabbed a small knife from the counter and a little disposable cup from the cabinet. I had to work quickly..

A few minutes later, I rushed back to the bathroom with a bandage on one hand and the cup, now full of the red liquid, in the other. Will hadn't moved. I pried his hand away from his face and set the cup to his lips, tilting it slightly. He gulped it down. A little bit dribbled from the corner of his mouth so I wiped it away with my thumb after setting the empty cup down. He grabbed my wrist to lick it off–quite thoroughly, I might add. He squeezed my hand before letting it go. I let it fall into my lap.

We sat still for minutes or hours. I couldn't stand the silence anymore. "Are you okay?"

Will laughed bitterly. "Am I okay?" He rubbed his face. "Are you?"

"I'm fine." Actually, I felt like I might have had to fall over dead just to not feel like shit, but Will didn't need to know that.

He chuckled again, finally looking at me. "Liar." He sighed warily. "Can I see that?" I raised my eyebrows in question so he specified by pointing at my bandaged hand.

"Oh, yeah, sure," I gave him my hand.

"Nasty cut," he said as he undid the cloth. His touch was so gentle now, so different from only a few minutes before; it was almost hard to believe this was the same boy. "Still bleeding..." He shook his head and set his thumb over the gash. That odd, warm feeling spread through me, restoring some of my energy.

"Thanks," I said when he let go.

"Why did you do that?" Will asked, his confusion clear on his face.

I thought about it. He'd never given me any reason to want to help him. I discarded ideas as soon as I thought of them. "I don't know," I admitted, "It just seemed like the right thing to do."

He stared at his lap for a moment before speaking again. "Want to go for a walk?" He asked quietly.

"Sure."

Word count: 1163

Long chapter, holy shit...

Yeah, this was supposed to go up yesterday, but I kinda..fell asleep................ Sorry.

SO WHAT DO YOU THINK??!!!?!!?? DID YOU SEE IT COMING? WERE YOU TOTALLY THROWN OFF GUARD? GIVE ME YOUR THOUGHTS!!!

Do you think Nico's instinct to help Will will turn out good or bad for him in the long run? How do you think they should proceed to avoid this happening again?

THAT'S ALL FOLKS!! UNTIL TOMORROW!!!!!