The taxi took them to the edge of the city, and pulled up outside a terraced row of houses, painted pastel blue, with small wrought-iron balconies jutting out from every floor.

"That's the one," the driver said, pointing to one of the houses in the middle. A small sign hung from the front door, featuring the words THE WHITE GULL with a small picture of a grinning seagull underneath.

"Thank you," Gideon said.

He paid the driver, and then helped Gilly and Liam out of the car.

"I think it's closed," Gilly said doubtfully, looking up at the B&B.

The curtains were drawn and the windows were dark, but Gideon hadn't come this far to give up now. He pounded on the front door, until voices sounded inside, coupled with angry-sounding footsteps. There was the faint rattle of a chain, the slide of a bolt being drawn back, then the door swung open. A middle-aged man stood there, his hair ruffled from sleep, a grey dressing-gown hastily thrown on over striped pyjamas. His eyes were hard and his mouth an angry line.

"What?" he snapped.

"We need a room for the night," Gideon said, gesturing to Gilly and Liam, hovering timidly behind him.

The man gaped at him. "Do you have any idea what time it is?"

"Actually, no," Gideon said honestly.

"It's nearly one in the morning. You can't show up at this time and demand a room, and –" He stopped, looking at Gilly properly for the first time.

Her head was raised now, her hair pushed behind her ears, and her black eye seemed darker than ever under the bright glare of the streetlamps. Her hands shook as she clutched the suitcase with one, Liam's hand with the other.

The man looked at her, then looked at Gideon, eyes narrowed, sizing him up. His stare lingered on Gideon's hands for a long moment, then he opened the door wider.

"Come in," he said.

Gideon ushered Gilly and Liam in first, then closed the door behind them, moving out of the way so the man in the dressing gown could lock it again.

"Follow me," he said.

He led them down a narrow, darkened hallway, past a staircase on the left, and some closed doors on the right, until they reached a small kitchen at the back of the property.

"Paul? What's going?" said a voice, and Gideon turned to see another man standing in the kitchen doorway.

"We've got some late guests," Paul replied, filling the kettle with water from the sink.

"At this time?" the other man protested.

"They need help, Simon," Paul replied.

"But –"

"Dear, this really isn't the time or the place. Trust me," Paul said.

Simon fell silent, but his expression was mulish.

"Don't mind her," Paul whispered to Gideon as he rummaged in a cabinet for some mugs. "She gets very cranky if her beauty sleep is disturbed."

He turned to Gilly. "Take a seat, love," he encouraged, pulling out a chair for her.

Tentatively she sat down, pulling Liam onto her lap, and Paul handed her a mug of steaming tea.

"Thank you," she murmured.

Paul gave a mug to Gideon, too, and he accepted it, even though he couldn't drink it.

Simon took a seat opposite Gilly, wrapping his hands around his own mug. Paul leaned against Simon's chair, his hip pressed against the other man.

"How long do you need to stay?" he asked.

Gideon looked at Gilly. Her eyes were bloodshot and exhausted; he wasn't sure she'd even heard the question.

"How much do you charge per night?" he asked Paul, his heart sinking.

The taxi hadn't cost much, but he had no idea how much the train fare would be, and he hadn't come out tonight with the intention of spending a lot of money.

He didn't even have much money, just what little he could scrape together doing odd cash-in-hand jobs here and there, enough to keep a roof over his head.

At the question, Gilly tensed, her hands tightening around her mug.

Simon waved a hand. "Don't you worry about that."

"We're not taking a penny from you," Paul added, squeezing Simon's shoulder.

"That's very kind, but –"

"We insist," Simon said.

Gideon wasn't in a position to argue.

"We only need one night. I'm catching a train out of Brighton tomorrow," said Gilly, her voice raw.

"Well, then, finish up your tea and I'll show you and your boy to an empty room," said Paul.

Gilly shot a slightly panicky look at Gideon.

"I'm not going anywhere. I'll stay here until the morning and then I'll get you to the station," he said.

She didn't ask him to come to the room with her, and he hadn't expected her to. She trusted him now, but that didn't mean she wanted him in the same room with her as she slept. Besides, Gideon couldn't have slept even if he wanted to. Vampires did need sleep, but the predator inside him was fully awake, prowling like a wolf behind his ribcage, watchful in case Gilly's ex-partner somehow managed to find them. It seemed impossible that he could, but Gideon himself was an impossible thing, and he wasn't taking any chances – if that bastard did track them down, then Gideon would be waiting for him.

After Paul had shown Gilly and Liam to a room, he returned to the kitchen. Simon was still sitting at the kitchen table, sitting his tea, while Gideon leaned against a row of wooden cabinets, waiting for the round of questioning that he was sure was about to follow.

Paul closed the kitchen door as quietly as he could, and went to the kettle to make himself another cup of tea.

"So," he said, adding a teaspoon of sugar to his mug. "Who are you?"

"I'm no one," Gideon said.

"Very dramatic, I'm sure, but you have a name, don't you?"

"Gideon. The woman is Gilly, and Liam is the boy."

"The boy's not yours, is he? He looks nothing like you," Paul observed, adding another teaspoon of sugar.

Simon tutted behind him. "Stop with the sugar. We talked about this – you're going to need another filling at this rate."

Paul affectionately rolled his eyes. "Yes, dear."

"No, Liam's not mine. I don't even know them," Gideon admitted.

Paul looked surprised. "You're not a friend? A relative? Anything like that?"

"I'm a complete stranger. I found her and Liam on the streets, and I knew I had to help them." Gideon shifted his weight, studying the two men who'd given them shelter. "Why did you let me in?"

Paul clucked sympathetically. "We'd never let a battered woman and her kid stay out on the streets."

"No, why did you let me in? How did you know I wasn't the one who gave her that black eye?" Gideon said.

"You don't look like the kind of shit who knocks about women and kids," Paul said, winking.

"Ignore him, he's a terrible flirt," said Simon.

"I flirted my way into your life, didn't I?"

Simon smiled and saluted Paul with his mug of tea.

"Seriously, though, when I opened the door, Gilly and Liam were obviously terrified, but not of you. And that black eye looks fresh and nasty as hell." He nodded at Gideon's hands. "There's not a mark on your knuckles, though."

"There would have been if I'd run into the bastard chasing them," Gideon muttered darkly.

Paul patted him on the shoulder. "You did the right thing bringing them here. We'll make sure they get a good breakfast in the morning, and then one of us will drive them to the station."

"You don't have to do that," Gideon said.

"I know, but I want to."

"Why?" Gideon couldn't help asking.

"Why are we helping them? Why are you helping them?"

"Because they need it."

"Exactly."

"I was fifteen when my dad found out that I was gay," Simon spoke up, his voice harder than Gideon had yet heard it. "He threw me out onto the streets that very day, and I never saw him again. I lived rough for two years before an older gay couple offered me a sofa to sleep on. They didn't know me, I didn't know them, and I sure as hell had nothing to offer, but they helped me anyway. They got me a job, put a roof over my head, and helped me become the man I am today. I owe them everything." He took a long sip of his tea, his eyes pensive. "I know how it feels to be scared and alone in the world, and if I can help anyone in that situation then I will."

Paul moved to the table and kissed the top of Simon's head. "Your good heart is why I fell in love with you," he said.

They were so open with their affection, so defiant in the face of a world that still didn't really want them to exist.

Seven years had passed since Gideon had met Esther and Sarah, the lesbian vampire couple celebrating the implementation of the Sexual Offences Act, and Gideon had truly thought that things would get better during that time.

But in many ways they had got worse.

Discrimination against gay people in housing and employment was still legal, gay fathers and lesbian mothers lost custody of their children, and the remaining laws against gay activity were policed even more aggressively than they had been before.

Same-sex activities were still only legal between two consenting adults in the privacy of their home, as long as no one else was in the building, so police issued stake-outs in public parks and toilets, and planted attractive officers as bait which they used to lure gay men into committing so-called sex crimes.

Convictions of gay men had soared in the years following the decriminalisation of homosexuality – men were still being convicted just for smiling at other men on the streets.

All the hope that Gideon had felt that night seven years ago, all that bright, shining possibility, had been crushed, because for so many men, things had actually got worse.

And yet here were Paul and Simon, two men deeply in love, deeply kind and generous and caring, defying a society that insisted there was something wrong with them, pushing back against the dark edges of the world.

Tentatively, Gideon approached the table and sat down. "Aren't you worried about any of your guests reporting you to the police?" he asked.

As long as they had guests here, the two men weren't legally allowed to sleep with each other, but Gideon bet they ignored that.

"Most of our guests are gay, too," Simon said. "We like to think we offer a safe haven for people like us." He smiled knowingly at Gideon. "People like you."

Gideon looked down at the table.

A long, long time ago, he had told Patrick Abbott to make peace with his sexuality, but sometimes he still struggled to take his own advice. It wasn't that he hated himself or feared himself anymore, but sometimes he felt frustrated with the way he was because it seemed as though he would never truly belong to this world. It didn't want him.

"I thought things would be different once we took that first step towards being accepted," he said.

Paul's expression softened. "Oh, honey, real change takes time. It must seem like forever for a youngster like you, but things will get better."

Gideon hid a smile at the 'youngster' comment – he was older than both of them combined.

"A few years ago in America, the Gay Activists Alliance campaigned for marriage rights for same-sex couples. They didn't win, but they did get people talking about the issue, and that means that the fight isn't over. We're a long way from equality yet, but I do believe that we will achieve it one day. I do believe that one day men will have the right to marry other men."

"The legal right," Simon muttered. "No one should be allowed to deny us the same rights as everyone else."

Gideon had heard another gay couple say something like that, years ago. "You really think something like that is possible?"

"Haven't you ever thought about it?"

Paul laughed and swatted Simon. "Don't embarrass the boy; he's too young for any of that yet."

But Simon just scrutinised Gideon, as if he could see the oldness in Gideon's eyes.

"But in answer to your question, yes, I do think it's possible," Simon said. "Sadly it's unlikely to be in our lifetime, but I have hope for all the gay men and women of the future." He looked fondly at Paul, who rested his palm on Simon's cheek.

Gideon wished he had that hope too, but considering how things had gone the last few years, it was hard to believe there would ever be a better future.

"We should get back to bed. Like you said, I need my beauty sleep," Simon said, stifling a yawn.

"We don't have any empty rooms for you, I'm afraid, but we have a communal sitting room with a very comfy sofa," Paul said.

"Thank you, but I won't be sleeping tonight. I feel like I need to keep watch," Gideon said.

"All night?" Paul asked.

"All night."

"My, my, how dedicated. You're going to make some lucky young man very happy one day," Paul said.

Gideon looked away.

"Come on, dear," Paul said, taking Simon's hand. "We'll see you in the morning, Gideon. If you want that sofa, the living room is the first door on the right by the front door."

Gideon watched them go. His mug of tea still sat on the table, long having gone cold, and he took it to the sink, along with Paul and Simon's. He still didn't understand why Paul referred to Simon as she, but did it matter? They were happy, that was the important part, and anything else was no one's business but their own.

He made his way to the living room. The curtains were drawn but he could hear the cars outside, and the occasional click of footsteps passing by. He'd only been out tonight because he was looking for someone to drink from, and hunger was a dull ache in his stomach but he ignored it. Hunting in daylight was far too risky, so he wouldn't be able to feed until tomorrow night, but that was a small price to pay for making sure that Gilly and Liam.

Settling onto the sofa – which was as comfortable as promised – Gideon waited.

2/3

Happy New Year, my loves. See you all next year for the final part of the story :)