Black Lotus [Vintaker]

Chapter Eight

"So how was your date?" Grell grinned, kicking her legs back and forth in the air as she lay on her stomach. She was on the couch, waiting for this very moment to arrive. 

"Miserable..." Adrian sighed, leaning up against the wall and plopping to the ground. He hugged his knees. 

"What? Why?" Grell frowned. "I thought you were going to confess to him today." 

"His Heart Radius didn't go off..." Adrian sighed. "And Aleister showed up." 

"Excuse me? Who?" Grell clutched the edge of the couch, digging her long nails into it. "Do I need to murder a bitch? I told him not to set foot near you!" 

"I set off his app but not Vincent's," Adrian started sobbing into his knees. "What's wrong with me?" 

"Oh, honey, nothing is wrong with you," Grell rushed over to him and gave him a hug, patting his head. "I'm sure this is just a misunderstanding. Plus these things aren't always accurate." 

"Yeah, uh huh, something with a 99.9% accuracy is just inaccurate for me?" Adrian sobbed more. 

"His phone could've been turned off or maybe he paused his account?" Grell tried to offer up suggestions but they went in one ear and out the other. Adrian couldn't hear any of it. He was still terribly shocked that Aleister's app chimed. 

"You don't think that Vincent was the one to set it off, do you?" Adrian muttered, not even wanting to entertain the idea." 

"Sweetie, I'm pretty sure Vincent has a refined list of taste in individuals and bastard-man is not on that list," Grell frowned.

"So it really was me?" 

"I don't know, I wasn't there, but I don't think you need to be thinking so hard about it." 

"Should I not have broken up with Aleister?" Adrian asked. He realized after he said it how stupid it was but Grell didn't scold him for that. She just sat there for a moment. No words passed between them. 

"Honey," she finally started talking. "If your man can't treat you like you're the most important person in his life, then he ain't your man." 

"But-" 

"Adrian," she grabbed his shoulders and looked him in the eyes. "You can't let that app tell you what to do forever. What do you want for your love life?" 

"I want to be with Vincent," he admitted. 

"Then it's time to start doing things the old fashioned way," she grinned. 

...

"Who the fuck was that?" Vincent gritted his teeth, remembering Aleister. 

"Who the fuck was who? Or who the fuck was fucking who? Because I've told you millions of times I've never seen Game of Thrones so don't ask me about the twisted relationships or why people like it so much. To be honest, I'm more of a Witcher fan myself so I can tell you all about that instead if you want," Lau frowned, eating some ice cream. 

"Someone set off my most loyal costomer's Heart Radius today," Vincent leaned his chin on his hand and frowned. 

"Yeah, and? He looks like Undertaker. I'm sure it happens a lot," Lau shrugged. Vincent glared. Lau smirked. "Oooh, but that's not what this is about, is it? You like him, don't you?" 

"Did I say anything about liking him? I don't have time for that romance bullshit," Vincent's frown remained. 

"Vincent," Lau shook his head and stretched out both hands to poke both of Vincent's cheeks. "If you're mad about someone else trying to get into a relationship with a guy you know, that's kind of the definition of jealousy." 

"I. Don't. Do. Romance." Vincent swatted away Lau's fingers. "I have brothers to take care of and bills to pay." 

"So, if you had the money, would you do romance?" 

"If I had a well-paying job, wouldn't that take up most of my time?" 

"That's not the question," Lau frowned. "If you had all of the money in the world and all of the free time, then would you do romance?" He paused for a moment. "You wouldn't, would you? So what is it about romance that really bugs you then?" 

Vincent had never thought about it before. He'd kept putting off the idea of falling in love. He put it off and distracted himself with other things over and over because he didn't want to associate with it. After seeing how trivial relationships were to his mother, maybe that turned him off of romance? If she could sleep with anyone and everyone just for a better time slot for her sons, what was the point of getting invested in one particular person? She would just cheat on them anyway when the time arrived. He went around in circles, trying to find the root of his problem, but the more he thought the more confused he got. 

"Maybe you should go to a therapist or something," Lau suggested, taking another bite of his ice cream. 

"I don't have-" 

"The time or money, yeah I know." 

Vincent's phone buzzed. "This is Vincent. What the fuck do you want?" he growled. 

"We really need to work on your personality," William's voice spoke from the other end of the line. 

"Oh, you're that uh..." Vincent's mind trailed off into a spiral again, he forgot all about the phone call. 

"Are you even serious about joining our band?" William sighed. 

"Yes," Vincent snapped out of his daze. 

"Great, then come over and show us how well you can fake not being you." 

"What the fuck does that mean?" 

"Dapper yourself, bitch," William snapped, hanging up.