Chapter 16

-Noah's POV-

Crow must be the most awkward person on the planet. He tried his best not to look anywhere he felt that he shouldn't, which meant that he stared at my face the entire time. I didn't mind, watching his reactions gave me something to do. I was also certain that my eyes made him even more nervous. He missed the washing bag, which he was placing my bloodied clothes into, several times.

"Not used?" I asked in a teasing manner. I hoped it did sound like I was teasing him as opposed to just asking with a pained voice. The pain had subsided a bit, so I could now raise my head. I couldn't lift my arms, but I had nearly gained control of my wrists. The only part about the timing was that it meant Crow getting my shirt off had been a long and tedious process. If I could've vocalised it, I would've told him to cut it, because there was no way I'd be able to wear the shirt again.

"Oh, shush," Crow said with red cheeks. I let out a pained chuckle at the dismissal. "Just help me with this. It should fit you." He held up a green shirt which was about twice as wide as he was. I could imagine him drowning in the fabric, cuddled up in his hotel room reading a book by the fire.

I hummed in confirmation and nodded. I had been busy trying to decipher the meanings behind the flashes of memories that I had compiled over the past day or so. Some of my memories felt like a dream, so I couldn't tell if I could trust them or not. Whilst others seemed too vivid to be real. I remembered faces and strings of sentences, but none of them brought me closer to figuring out what happened.

I helped the best I could, by lifting my head and making sure that he didn't need to hold my arms awkwardly whilst he put them through the sleeves. It was baggy enough so that I didn't hurt my neck too much whilst doing so.

Crow stepped back and examined the condition I was in, looking proud of himself until his eyes lay on my bottom half. "Uh..." His mouth dropped open as his eyes snapped to mine, clueless innocence filling them. My trousers were nearly completely ruined as well, being in a worse state than my shirt had been. It was strange to see someone as confident and sassy as Crow become speechless.

"You don't do PE?" I asked, trying again to tease him. He cracked a smile and shut his eyes. My voice sounded a lot clearer, which I was grateful for. Though Crow's expression suggested he knew exactly what I meant. I was asking if he was used to seeing people in their underwear, as was normal in high school changing rooms.

"Oh, I did go to PE. I went to tell them that I forgot my kit, then I'd be let off the hook and allowed to go to the library for the hour. That's not..." Crow's voice got higher and higher and he began to squeak like a dog's toy. "But I'm not usually the one taking their trousers off." He then stomped his feet like a child, his face now as read as a tomato.

I couldn't help but let a large smile crawl onto my face. After the hell that I had been through the past day, it was refreshing to see Crow behave like a silly child.

Crow then took a deep breath and closed his eyes. He inched towards the bed, his hands on the side of the bed close to my waist. He used a single finger to find my waistband before swiftly tugging. Once they were off, he threw them on the floor behind him, landing conveniently on the laundry bag he had put my shirt in.

He then reached down and grabbed the pair of sweatpants that he had declared suitable for me. He asked me if they were the right way, which I confirmed, before rolling the legs up and putting them on me, one leg at a time. He still didn't open his eyes when he had to lift my back up, he just asked whether or not he was overstepping his boundaries every two minutes.

It was strange to me that someone as attractive as Crow was so shy and uncomfortable in situations such as these, but I supposed that vampirism had something to do with that. He had told me that he was previously a very unpopular nerd, perhaps his popularity hadn't changed since he had transitioned. That thought struck me as unlikely, as I found Crow's company to be very enjoyable.

"Well done," I told him softly. I knew that he probably didn't want to linger on it, but he looked extremely relieved with relaxed shoulders and miniscule smile.

Thirty minutes of silence went by. They were awkward and tense, as though we were both waiting for a time bomb to go off. I was trying to figure out what was wrong with me, but that was something I had been trying to do for a while now. When the world became too loud, it suddenly quietened. When I felt like I was on the verge of panicking, the panic lessened. It was like I had a control panel in my mind that had someone to manage it now. I could still feel aspects of vampirism, but they weren't as strong. I wondered if I should let Crow know, but if it were important, he'd find out anyway.

"How did you find me?" I had to take a big breath in the middle of my sentence and swallow, as my throat felt dry, and my chest felt heavy. I tried to move further up the bed, but only managed to hit my head on the headboard.

"Well, I went to your work and Sadie said you hadn't turned up for your shift." He moved so that he was sitting on his bed and looked around the room like he hadn't seen it before in his life. "So I went to your house." He then began speaking at a quicker pace. "Then I talked to your neighbour and followed your sent to the hospital." He then slapped his knees, as though that was the end of the conversation.

My eyes widened. "My house?" I repeated, trying to stop my head from spinning. How did he know where I lived? I opened my mouth to ask another question, to try to ease the worries I was suddenly consumed by, but I was interrupted.

"Crow, are you home?" a feminine voice called from downstairs.

Crow's eyes widened and he leaped off his bed, his eyes looking from the bag of blood stained clothes to me. Panic was clear in his expression, which made it build up in my own chest.

Crow's POV

I didn't know what to do. I could probably wait a few moments and pretend like I didn't exist, then my parents would just stay downstairs and brush it off, waiting for me to get home. But that would be a bit of a struggle with Noah in this condition.

I could go downstairs and pretend that nothing happened. That the red and black which covered me was some sort of ink which smelled faintly metallic. I could also tell them part of the truth, that the boy that I fancied was upstairs in my clothes, which would cause more suspicion than anything else. I wasn't ready to introduce Noah to my family, even before this ordeal happened. I was far too scared for that.

"One moment," I told Noah after taking a deep breath. I rushed out of my room, before pausing, taking my shirt off, and throwing it back inside my room. It would be easier to explain why I was shirtless rather than why I had big red stains on my clothes.

"Yeah?" I asked as I headed down the stairs. I tried to act as normal as I could. Luckily, I was a rather good actor.

Both of my mothers had laptops on their knees and were cuddling on the settee.

"Rough day?" I asked as I sat on the other settee in the room. Raven quickly came to greet me, as though I hadn't been in the house for a good hour by now.

"You can say that again," mother said with a groan. She leant her head backwards and closed her eyes. "People." That was all the explanation I needed to know what kind of situation she had to deal with that day. My parents were both wonderfully friendly people, who got on well with others. However, that didn't stop the occasional problematic person, or homophobic person, who came to argue with them and do nothing else. There was also the issue that people tended to think my mam wasn't serious enough to co-run a business, or even be an assistant.

"Ah, yes, I much agree that people should be taken care of," I joked in a light tone. It was nice to have this moment of joking with my mothers, after going through so much stress. It was like stepping into another universe. "Speaking of people being taken care of," I started to say nervously, feeling like a chill went down my spine.

Both of my mothers looked at me with piercing curiosity. My mam shut her laptop and leant forward to look at me, practically standing. My mother followed suit, by setting her laptop onto the coffee table.

"There's a boy," I admitted.

As soon as the words left my mouth my mam squealed. She stood up and clapped her hands, spinning in a circle. I was going to curse under my breath, at the very thought that Noah would hear her squealing. Yet, I was painfully reminded that he could hear everything which was being said.

"He's upstairs."

I wished that I hadn't said it. My mam's eyes widened, and she leant forward. "Is that why you're shirtless? Please tell me that's why you're shirtless." Her grin turned into one of wicked teasing. My mother slapped her arm and cleared her throat. "What? Sorry, no. Please tell me that's not why you're shirtless. Why are you shirtless?"

I licked my lips which had suddenly become dry. "Yes, technically." My mam was swelling with another squeal. "We were painting, and I made quite a mess." I began to fiddle with my fingers. "Why is it unusual that I'm shirtless? It's my house."

My mother chuckled. "The last time you were shirtless in this house willingly was because you were sunburnt and nearly screamed the house down if anything touched you."

I winced at the memory.

"However, you said 'take care of'. Is your friend not well? Why is he in your room if he's not well?" Her motherly instincts began to show.

"Yes, kind of. That's exactly correct." Bugs began to crawl all over me. I became a stuttering mess of words and sounds. I hadn't put much thought into what excuses I could use, and I was mentally kicking myself for it. "He's got allergies, and something happened when we were outside. He's not well at all. I didn't want him to be alone in case anything happened. He lives alone, you see, so I thought that it was better if he came back here instead. I'm not sure how I would be able to help if anything happened but..."

My mother narrowed her eyes at me, but she sighed. "He can stay. It's about time that you started being with people your own age." There was a hint of something in her voice which I couldn't understand.

"Can we meet him? Is he alright? Is there anything we can do to help? Painkillers? Anti-allergy stuff I don't know the name of? Does he need food?" My mam listed. My chest warmed, it seemed as though my mothers would be supportive, even if they didn't know the complete truth.

"I'll shout if we need anything, or just get it. I'm sure we'll be okay." I tried to give a confident smile as I attempted to stand up, much to the annoyance of Raven. It got to the point where I just had to pick him up and bring him upstairs.

"Crow," my mother called, causing me to walk backwards and peer into the room. "Keep your door open." There was no room for arguments.

"Of course," I said with a grin and warm cheeks. It would cause a bit of an issue for us, but I knew exactly what she meant. "I'm doing the washing next," I called back to them. That was something which I dreaded. I would probably have to wait until the weekend, so that my parents weren't in the house, and I would be able to spend all day in the kitchen, doing fifteen loads.

Hello lovelies!

Question of the chapter issssss would you wear a cloak in everyday setting?

As a lover of fantasy, and an owner of cloaks, I think that we should try to normalise wearing these blankets with hoods which you can tie around yourself and honestly, it's extremely rude that they went out of fashion.