My Vampire Bromance

Chapter 7: Ground Rules

The rest of the night with Victor was awkward. He went from rummaging through the cabinets to asking me how to use the coffee pot. "I thought vampires didn't drink anything other than blood?" I said.

"We don't," Victor replied.

"Then why do you want to know how to use the coffee pot?" I crossed my arms over myself, trying to block my emotions.

"General interest," he replied. His eyes steadily bored into me as if he were reading my mind. "Are you a fan of coffee?"

I furrowed my brows, "What do you think?" He raised his eyebrows at me and smiled with his mouth closed. He seemed to be gritting his teeth. My attempt at humor with him seemed to be lost on him. "Of course, I am," I said finally.

"Do you eat in the mornings?" he asked.

"Sometimes," I replied.

"Hmm," he nodded his head and made his way to the dining room table and sat down. "I am not imposing, am I?"

After being in my house for hours now, I didn't see how this question was relevant. If Victor was going to ask such a thing, he should have done so when he entered my car. When he was begging to stay with me.

"No," I replied. "No one lives here but me. And as long as my friends don't find out about you, it should be fine."

Victor eyed me, his hand lazily holding his chin up on the dining room table. "You're not worried about becoming my food?"

I ran my hand through my wet hair, stopping when my hand got caught in the tangles of it. I awkwardly pulled it down, frowning at him. "I think if you wanted to, I would have been a meal already. But, instead, you seem preoccupied with being in my company."

Victor nodded, his mouth turning down into a beautifully unreadable expression, "True. You know, if you lived hundreds of years on the streets, turning into vapor or a cat when you felt most tired, you'd understand. I haven't been able to find someone with a literary mind for over three hundred years. My best friend was the last one I knew, and that was in the year 1639 before he died. Before I got turned into what I am now. Forgive me for wanting a little human company. You are intelligent, your energy is stable. I believe you will find me a good companion if you give me a chance."

I bit my lip, looking at the dark-haired, magenta-eyed vampire sitting in front of me. "Alright then, I guess you can stay. Just don't come out when my friends are here. They'll freak, and don't bring anyone home that you feed on, okay?"

"Alright," Victor said. His gaze was intense as he stared at me.

The rest of the night, Victor remained quiet, watching me steadily as I put the sheets on my parents' old bed for him. After I was done, I headed back into the kitchen. Now at four in the morning, I noted that the sun was beginning to rise. My stomach burning, I made to quickly drink down water before bidding Victor goodnight. Half wondering if I would die in the middle of my sleep, I decided not to think too hard about it. Either I would wake up, or I wouldn't. There really wasn't anything else that I could do about it. And so, I headed to bed, at last, the sun coming up, and fell fast asleep.

When I woke, it was well into the late afternoon. The sun blasted through the curtains. For a moment, I thought that Monday had come and panicked, thinking that I was late for Anthropology 101, but looking over at the old 1990s alarm clock by my bed, I realized that today was Saturday.

Rubbing my eyes, I recalled the weird dream about a vampire. I had spotted him in an alley drinking someone's blood. Then, he had begged to come home with me. Last I knew, he was wearing one of my sweaters and sweatpants. Thank god it was just a dream, I thought to myself.