affectionate - Chapter 22: Chapter 22

FALLON
The sun was dying. It was surrendering to the night, its killer, and withering away behind the trees of the woods. Behind it, burnt orange and deep pinks followed it, also severely wounded and looking to seek refuge beneath the line of the horizon. The remaining blue left behind was not strong enough to fight back against dusk as it spilled across the sky and manipulated it to be darker than it really wanted to.
But it was fine, because the sun would be resurrected by the morning birds' song, along with a blue so rich and bright that the rest of the world would be woken up and brought back to life too. The sun would, inevitably, be back.
I would not. Melrose would not see me come morning.
I parked my car on the street at the edge of the woods. Stepping out of the car, I pulled my puffer on over my arms. It was a little less than chilly but the shirt Lucius lent me was thin and did nothing to stave off the cold. The town I grew up with sat quietly behind me, watching me as I walked further into the woods. The weight of its stare was heavy on my shoulders and a weird feeling of guilt eased its way into my stomach.
I was going to leave, that I was sure of. I didn't want to stay here anymore, I haven't wanted to for a while. It was suffocating and even though my conversation with my parents hurt, it made it easier to pack my things and go. I wasn't welcomed there anymore and I was fine with that. But my school and job had nothing to do with my personal life and I'd be leaving them without an explanation. I hated Melrose, but not because of its inhabitants. I hated it for what it did to my parents and hated how fucking suffocating it was. Yet, I still loved it. It was the only thing I knew and I was leaving it, probably for good. I couldn't see myself coming back here. Ever.
My feet did the hard part of walking to Lucius's cottage while my mind occupied itself with different thoughts and ideas as to where I—well we, assuming that Lucius was coming, were going to go. I didn't have any friends outside of Melrose and the family that I did know, a couple of aunts and uncles and my grandparents on my mother's side, I wasn't close enough to them to just randomly show up on their doorsteps with all my bags and asking for a place to stay. I sighed and chewed on the corner of my bottom lip.
Despite his obvious attempt at sneaking up on me, I heard Lucius, as always, before I saw him. My shoulders sagged in relief and I looked up from the ground into his periwinkle eyes. A subtle hunger rested in his eyes and want rang in my head like a faraway bell. My breath hitched at the realization.
"They make you leave or what?" I wasn't sure if Lucius asked questions he already knew the answer to because he wanted his assumptions to be proved correct, or if it was because he just wanted to hear me talk.
"You already know the answer to that. It's cold, can we go inside?" He cocked his head at me, fake confusion painting his features and his eyes flicking from my face to the place on my chest where my heart should be. I hated how easily accessible I was to him, how one inconsistent beat of my heart told him everything he needed to know about me.
"What's wrong, Fallon?" A lump, that I didn't even know formed, lodged itself in my throat and suddenly it was hard to breathe and the world was blurry and before I knew it I was full on sobbing. Everything that had happened to me in the past almost four months that I'd been bottling up inside of me, was pouring out of my eyes non stop. It was embarrassing and definitely disgusting. But I felt Lucius crush me in his arms anyways. His hand rubbed the center of my back while his lips pressed kisses into my the crown of my head.
We must've stood like that, me bawling my eyes enveloped in Lucius's arms and Lucius himself leaving awkward kisses all over my head, for five minutes while the cold ate us up. Eventually I calmed down, enough to start breathing normally again but I stayed snuggled in Lucius for a little longer while stray tears joined the majority that soaked my neck and dampened the shirt Lucius was wearing.
"I'm sorry," I whispered. I felt Lucius peck my forehead before letting go of me just enough to bring a little space between us so he could see my face.
"What could you possibly be apologizing for, baby?" The sweet endearment made me tear up again and I had to take deep breaths to compose myself.
"For crying like this. So much has been happening and it's all just too much, too fast." He sighed before bringing our faces together and pressing his forehead into mine. His hands, strong and strangely warm, cupped my cheeks; his thumbs rubbed the skin under my eyes, trying to wipe away any lone tears that didn't want to join the others down below.
"It's okay to cry, Fallon. I'd be more concerned if you weren't crying right now." He kissed my nose, and under my eyes, and in the middle of my cheeks, before finally pecking my lips and pulling away.
"Let's go inside, it's cold and you've been crying. I'll feed you and we can discuss whatever plan it is that you've come up with to leave." I laughed at his bluntness and followed him inside, impatiently awaiting the warmth that I knew I'd be smothered with as soon as I walked in the door.
—
Later on, when my stomach was filled with another grilled cheese sandwich because I didn't get to properly enjoy it the last time he made it,
Lucius and I found ourselves huddled together on the couch, watching the TV that he indeed, never used.
Lucius laid on his back, long legs bent over the arm of the couch and head resting on a cushion. I was on top of him with my arms snaked around his neck and legs tucked in between his. His hands were doing a new thing that was more comforting than it was sensual. One gripped my waist while the other rubbed my butt. I giggled at the feeling at first but soon it became soothing and I was dozing off on top of him while the TV played a random movie in the background. I could've fallen asleep in my position if it wasn't for the faraway bell still ringing want in my head growing louder and louder with each breath I took.
I was elated that I could finally feel Lucius's emotions the same way that he could feel mine. Especially now, because he was hungry and I knew he wouldn't ask for what he needed until he was absolutely starved and there was no other option.
I sat up on his chest, my elbows on either side of his head and my hands grabbing onto the couch arm in front of me.
"Lucius," He was already looking at me, his eyes back to being a deep, twilight instead of the baby blue that I loved so much.
"No," I furrowed my eyebrows at his response. His hair was slightly wavy so it twisted gracefully into his eyes, I pushed it back with my fingers and ran through it, it was soft and silky and for a moment I felt jealous.
"You don't even know what I was going to say." He sighed deeply before sitting up, I moved back automatically and his hands situated me to where I was straddling him. His fingers grazed my thigh before reacquainting themselves with my waist and staying there.
"Yes, but, I do know that you can feel my emotions now. The answer is no, you've done enough today, I can wait." I rolled my eyes and poked him in the ribs.
"I'm fine, Lucius. If you need to...feed, you can." Lucius closed his eyes, clearly battling with himself in his head. I put my hand on his face, thumb brushing the apple of his cheek just like he did to mine so many times. His eyes didn't open but he turned his head enough so his mouth fit in the palm of my hand. He kissed it a few times before finally opening his eyes and looking at me. His pupils were dilated almost completely and with the color of his eyes being so dark, his eyes were almost black.
"Why starve yourself when I'm right here?" I gripped his face a little harder hoping he wouldn't pull away. I needed him to know that I was completely okay with this. I wanted him to drink from me, the satisfaction I felt from it was almost intoxicating and I liked that I could take care of him just as much as he took care of me. Relationships weren't transactional, I knew that, but doing things for Lucius warmed my heart.
"You're not fair, Fallon. Shoving your hand in my face like you don't know how insane the smell of your blood makes me." I pushed my hand harder against his mouth and felt him suck in a breath.
"Drink, please." I said, my voice barely above a whisper. His fingers encircled my wrist, clutching it tightly so I couldn't move. He licked my palm a few times before I felt the sharpness of his fangs ghost over my skin. I shivered at the feeling and gulped. We held each other's stare, faces only centimeters away and breaths tangling in the tiny space between us.
"You'll tell me if it hurts or if I'm drinking too much." He commanded, not a hint of questioning lingered in his voice. I nodded my head, seemingly caught in the trace that was Lucius's beautiful eyes.
"Words, Fallon." Desire pooled in my stomach.
"Yes, I'll tell you." He bit into me, fangs slicing through my skin like a knife through butter. I tensed slightly at the pain and my face scrunched up. I was glad my wrist was in his hand because the urge to pull it away was strong. Lucius's eyes had closed and so had mine but the feeling of his hand on my thigh, rubbing and squeezing and pinching it kept me awake. The feeling of it making me think inappropriate thoughts.
He drank for what felt like hours but I knew it had only been a minute or so, before finally pulling from me. He lapped at the little drops of blood that managed to escape the confines of my skin and evade his greedy mouth. My wound closed up, something I would definitely have to get used to. He kissed me some more before letting go of my wrist and joining his other hand in the assault of my thighs.
I opened my eyes to look at him and a wiry smirk played on his lips. I was honestly feeling a tad woozy so I couldn't tell if he was smirking or if I was imagining it. I slumped forward and let my head rest on his shoulder. One of his hands left my thigh to rub comforting circles on my back.
"Are you feeling better?" I slurred. He laughed quietly and turned his rubbing into light scratching.
"Much. How are you feeling?" I wrapped my arms around his middle and made myself comfortable on his shoulder.
"Woozy, but I'll be fine. Seriously." I only added the last part because I felt him stop scratching for a second and I didn't feel like being inspected. I just wanted to sleep, specifically on him. He smelled wonderful and I wanted to be bathed in it.
"You need to eat more." I shrugged my shoulders and hugged him tighter. The day had been horrible, terrible even. Recently, most of my days were. But ending them with Lucius almost made all of the shit that happened during them worth it. Almost.