My Vampire Bromance

Chapter 8: I Can Sleep With You, Right?

"You and I are having a discussion, now!" I turned to the little black cat that sat on the top ledge of my red sofa, licking its paws. One look at Victor's dark magenta eyes had me starting to fume.

"I honestly don't see what the problem is," he retorted.

I stared at the little black cat that was now floating in the air, turning into a red mist. The vapor hung still for a moment, and then Victor appeared, wearing the same green sweater and grey sweatpants that I had given him yesterday. He unwrinkled the bottom hem, straightening it over his left leg. Before sitting down on the couch.

"Honestly, Phillip, there's nothing wrong with what I did. I was disguised as a cat after all." He smiled up at me, white fangs glowing brightly in the dim light of the living room.

I huffed, crossing my arms as I looked at the deadly handsome vampire in front of me. "You planted your face straight into my best friend's chest! Of course, there is something wrong with that! I don't care what form you take. That's not okay!"

"Sounds like someone has a crush." Victor twirled his finger in the air.

"I do not," I said. I scratched the back of my head, "Jenna is my best friend. I've known her forever. I just can't let some guy touch her just because he thinks that if he's in the body of a cat, that makes it alright. Anyway, it's not like that with us."

Victor continued to smile at me from his position on the couch. His feet were now hanging over one of the edges of it. "No?" Victor questioned.

"No," I said curtly. "There's never really been anything between us."

"But I thought you said that you wanted to learn how to get a girl? I thought you meant that one," Victor cocked his head toward the entrance.

I leaned against the front door, my back against the wood. "No, not Jenna."

"Then what girl is it that you want?" Victor seemed genuinely curious as he asked this.

I sighed, finally breaking my stance against the door. "I don't know. I just want to know how to ask someone out."

"Is it men you like?"

"What?" I felt like I practically yelled. "No! God! Why would you ask me that?"

Victor sat up slightly from where he was leaning back against the couch. "There's nothing wrong with liking men. I myself..."

I cut him off, "I don't want to hear it. Just," I looked at Victor, who sat staring as if he were a child being scolded. "Look, Victor. I'm all kinds of wigged out right now. I mean, you're a vampire! A supernatural creature that has invaded my home! Who can turn into mist at the drop of a hat!"

He stared unblinkingly at me.

"I mean, c'mon! How the hell do you expect me to be okay with this? I can't have a normal conversation with you right now!" I shoved myself away from the doorway, ready to head past him. I wanted to go upstairs to my room. I wanted to be anywhere but near him!

"I mean, you could," he said patiently. "I am listening to you."

"Gah!" I shouted. I moved past him, and he jumped up from the couch, stopping me right before I got a toe on the staircase. "What is it that you want from me?" I asked. I was exasperated.

"For you to be my friend."

The words came out of his mouth so clearly that they stopped me in my tracks. I looked up at the vampire blocking my way and let my shoulders relax. "Is that really all you want?"

"And a place to stay," he motioned with his hand in front of me referring to my house. "You will hardly even know I am here." He placed his hands on my shoulders, and I tried to shrug him off. Victor's grip hardened.

I sighed, "Alright, alright."

"Oh yay!" Victor said, releasing me. I wavered slightly. "Oh, we are going to have so much fun! Why we'll read together. I'll teach you how to get a date! Fix up your hair. Teach you how to dress. I mean, what you gave me is not bad, but what you are currently wearing," he pointed at my flannel shirt. "Well, it won't help you get a girl."

"I thought you said I wouldn't even notice that you're here. Now you're telling me you want to fix me? Forget that I even asked you about how you get women every night. I think I get it now. You're a vampire. It's easy for you. I'm not even interested anyway." I waved Victor off, taking a step on the stair landing. He blocked me again. "What is it now?"

"But I am," Victor said.

"You are what?" I questioned. I swear I was about to be at my wit's end.

"Interested in you," he smiled at me. It was gentle, genuine, and there was a look in his eyes that was starting to freak me out.

I grimaced. How the hell was I going to respond to that?

"Don't say anything," Victor said. "Don't question it. Just go with it. This is your once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to turn your life around! Let's not let it go to waste!" He started to push me up the stairs, and I had no choice but to let him.

"Exactly what do you think you're doing?" I asked, turning around briefly to notice his impish expression.

"You wanted to go to bed, right?" he smiled widely.

"By myself," I snarled at him.

"Oh, but what if I turn back into a cat? Would that be alright with you? It'll be just like being by yourself. You won't even notice me. You can read or work on that paper I saw on your desk last night. I'll be quiet." I realized that Victor was serious. My heart began to pound.

"Look, man, don't you have to go out and drink somebody's blood?" I hoped that he would agree.

"I already have," Victor said. And then he pushed me up the rest of the stairs to my room where promptly flopped on my bed, staring at me with his bright, crimson-colored eyes.

"You're a pain. You know that?" I said, walking to the other side of my bed. I gathered my nightclothes in my arms clumsily. There was no way that I was going to change in front of him. Victor merely smiled at me and rolled onto his back.

"It feels so good to be in a home again," he remarked. "You are alright with me sleeping with you, correct?"

My eyes trailed his form. He was incredibly handsome. The kind of guy that girls in teenage movies would fall head over heels over. "Men don't usually sleep together unless," what was I going to say. Unless they were gay? I swallowed hard.

"Unless they are friends, correct?" Victor eyed me. His gaze held a question to it.

I couldn't let him down, "I guess so, yeah."

"Alright then," he said. Victor slipped under the covers. I furrowed my brows at him. Exactly what was his intention?

"What are you doing?" I asked him.

"Planning to lay in bed with you and then sleep when the morning comes. I'll turn into a cat, so it's not weird," Victor said, winking at me. I bit my lip, not knowing what to say. I observed his face as he gazed up at me and then at the ceiling. "Hand me a book, would you, Phillip? I so desire to read."

"Sure," I said, handing him a copy of Pride and Prejudice. He remarked that he quite liked this book and set to reading. I grabbed the last of my clothes off my bed and left. When I came back half an hour later after showering, I found that Victor had once again taken the form of a tiny black cat. He was lying on the book, using it as a pillow.

"Here," I said, taking the book out from under him, "use this instead." I pulled my second pillow down, which he set his furry head on and snuggled down under the covers. "Since I can't get you to sleep in my parents' old room."

Victor blinked at me, magenta eyes shining like Christmas ornaments as he did so.

"You are going to be the death of me," I said, staring at his cat form. Victor blinked again, shutting his eyes this time, and began to purr.

I crawled under the covers next to him and stared into his globe-like eyes. It's not weird to sleep with Victor when he looks like this, I thought to myself.

God Phillip, get ahold of yourself.