Sweet Karma [boyxboy]

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Eighteen (Adam)

I used to think I was invincible.

I grew up on my own, I could take down full grown men, I had three dutiful followers, no one bothered me at school, I was in a band, I had friends. Not even the thought of going into college or getting a job in the city bothered me.

Now, I wasn't so sure. It didn't help that the moment I turned to close the door as I left Julian's room, the look on his face hit me so hard that I almost lost my breath there for a moment. I wanted so badly to turn around and go back to him and lie to him about how I feeling okay, how him being around Hunter didn't bother me, how Zephyra hunting us didn't concern me.

But I couldn't.

Instead, I found myself sitting in Seth's room on his bed, leaning against the window frame, looking outside to watch fat snowflakes land on the window. Seth was silent from the moment I arrived, sitting on the floor with his guitar, practicing a few of our old songs. Finally, he looked up, giving me a droll stare.

"Dude, what happened? Seriously," He added when I gave him a blank stare, "I haven't seen you this depressed in a long time. What's up? Does it have to do with Julian?" Seth could be a really perceptive little shit sometimes. It was why we started hanging out in the first place. He tended to know what was going on inside my head.

I didn't know how to answer him, though.

Obviously Seth knew a big chunk of Julian's life now. He was probably still kind of lost on the whole demonic parasite thing and the fact that Julian's entire family wanted me to go halfblood so I wouldn't make Julian cry. Though it sounded crazy, I kind of wanted the same thing. I didn't want Julian to fall apart if I died.

He looked like he was going to crumble when I left his room to go to Seth's, so what would his reaction be if I were to die? Thinking about it made me sick to my stomach.

I drew my knee up, resting my elbow on it, cheek against my knuckles as I continued to stare out the window in silence. Seth wasn't giving up, but he didn't speak. Instead, he just stared at me until it drove me nuts. I gave him an irritated glance.

"It's really none of your business, Seth. This is between me and Julian." I answered. Seth scowled, setting his guitar aside and getting up. He came over to the bed and sat down at the foot of it, legs crossed as he gave me a long, hard stare.

"Don't give me that crap. You're my friend, man. You and Julian." He added with a frown.

"Really? Because the fact that you give him dirty looks and treat him like absolute shit doesn't sound very friendly to me." I answered. Seth flinched as if I had smacked him. He looked down at the bed for a while, pulling at the seam of his comforter before he finally looked up at me.

"Look, I'm trying to deal with it. This isn't easy for me either. Julian is one of my closest friends. To suddenly find out he's a vampire? You should be grateful I'm not staking him or going crazy like Walter." He retorted, folding his arms over his chest, but he still looked guilty. Seth couldn't hide from me.

Or maybe he could, I thought bitterly, looking away. I used to think I could read Julian like a book. I could easily tell how he felt, what annoyed him, what got him excited. Hell, I knew he had a crush on me because of the way he kept looking at me and followed me around constantly. And I didn't mind.

I liked Julian too... No, now that was more of an understatement. Like just wasn't strong enough to express the way I felt for Julian. Even the word love was beginning to seem inadequate.

But knowing he could easily hide being a vampire from me made me wonder what else he was hiding from me, what the other guys were hiding from me. If Kipp came up to me and told me he could turn into a dragon at midnight, I'd probably believe him... and then punch him for not telling me sooner.