Chapter 21

-Crow's POV-

"Dad?" I asked with a raised eyebrow. This was something I wouldn't have expected in a million years. It made sense why Sawyer would know the secret that I tried so hard to hide, but what would that make him? "That explains so much, but it gives me so many questions at the same time."

"Well, Crow, you're eighteen. I'm sure you know how babies are born. You did GCSE biology, I'm pretty sure that's part of the curriculum." Aldrich was avoiding eye contact with Noah and I, instead he looked at the floor of the library and spun in the chair he was sitting in. He clicked his pen several times, filling the silence. There was some genuine humour in his smile though.

"Trust me, I know how that works well enough." I cleared my throat. "Which makes it even more questionable how you're Sawyer's father." I looked between Sawyer and Aldrich again and again. There were some resemblances between the two, such as their facial structure, particularly their noses, and their grins.

Noah glanced at me, a questioning look in his eyes. I nodded my head in a response to his silent question. I had mentioned Sawyer a few times over the amount of time Noah and I had talked to each other, so I hoped this was him asking for confirmation whether or not they were the same person.

Aldrich smirked widely. "Well, if you know basic biology and reproduction, surely you know how I could be his father. His mother and I-" Aldrich's voice was cut off by Sawyer. I was immensely grateful for this, because it did seem as though he was about to go through an incredibly detailed explanation, one which would bring nothing but embarrassment and awkwardness.

"Dad, nobody wants to hear that," Sawyer muttered nervously. His face was bright red with an embarrassed blush. He hadn't moved since he had seen us, as though we wouldn't notice him if he stayed in the same position. I was unsure, but I felt like I could understand how he was feeling at that moment. Aldrich hadn't been in this school before, as far as I'm aware, and this place was undeniably normal. Having someone like Aldrich in such a building felt wrong and invasive.

"Relax, I'm only teasing you. Come on, I never get to do this." Aldrich rubbed his hands together, looking like a giddy villain. "You never bring friends home, what else am I supposed to do?" I felt like that sentence was one of the main reasons why Sawyer didn't bring friends home. I couldn't blame Sawyer for not wanting people to interact with Aldrich, who was taking this advantage to embarrass him as though it were a golden egg.

"Be normal?" Sawyer suggested with a hopeful voice. He glanced towards Noah and I, finally fully acknowledging us with an apologetic look. He seemed like any other person would be if they just walked in on his parent having a conversation with people from his school, and even more so a person who was embarrassed by their parent's actions, I knew that expression quite well.

"The normal boat that your father may have once been a passenger on has sailed and sank to the bottom of the ocean," Noah said with a small smile. It was a clear attempt at making Sawyer feel somewhat better, which seemed to have worked given the fact that Sawyer burst into laughter.

Aldrich had opened his mouth to say something, along with giving Noah a disapproving stare at his statement. But he turned to face his son as the laughter echoed through the empty library. His eyes were wide, and his expressions softened, I supposed that this was a rare occurrence.

"Sorry, but I like that." Sawyer nodded and moved to one of the chairs in the library, a few feet away from his father. He looked far younger then he actually was, looking almost like a year seven. "Anyway, I just came here to ask if I was getting a ride home tonight?" His cheeks reddened again. "I don't mind staying here until it's time for you to leave." It was such a strange sight, to see the older vampire and Sawyer to have a normal conversation.

"Actually, that's not a bad idea," Aldrich said with a hum. "We could meet here. No, I think that it might be better to meet in their RE class." He gestured towards Noah and me. It was a little frustrating, as I knew Noah and I were included in the 'we' part of that sentence. "There are questions which need to be answered, lunch which needs to be eaten, and decisions which need to be made. Apparently we need a biology revision lesson."

Sawyer groaned. "Please no, just let it go." He put his hands together in a pleading position. "You don't need to go into detail, or anything." He then looked at us again. "I am so sorry about him; he has no social life and hasn't for the past few hundred years."

"I beg your pardon? I do have a social life," Aldrich stated before straightening his tie. "I find a lot of joy in teasing and the results of doing so." He gave an awkward thumbs up, which was probably intended to be a cool gesture, but just caused me to cringe.

"So, S05 after school?" I asked for the sake of confirmation, there would be no way of us getting out of it. So, I might as well eliminate any possibility of being stood up. I reached over and grasped Noah's hand, waiting for the slightest nod, before running towards the exit.

"No need to run!" Aldrich called behind us.

I slowed down and stopped just outside of the library. I moved to the side of the corridor and lifted a finger to my lips, telling Noah to stay quiet.

"I suppose you got the answer you were looking for, kiddo?" Aldrich asked lightly.

"Yeah, but please, keep the teasing until I actually have friends who will actually talk to me and spend time with me? I need some kind of chance to build up friendships before they find out what you're like." Sawyer's voice was light and playful, but also a bit desperate. "I know they're not the kind of friends you want me to have, but you don't need to chase them away."

Aldrich sighed, and his voice lowered. "Sawyer, I have no problem with Noah or Crow becoming your friends. I just want you to remember what you want, okay? I don't want you to get hurt."

I bit my lip and turned to see Noah's expression, who also had an unsure expression. He raised an eyebrow at me, to which I answered with a shrug.

"I promise I'll be careful. I won't get too attached," Sawyer said. That was the last thing I heard before I continued to pull Noah away. I had a pit of dread in my stomach once again, why shouldn't Sawyer get too attached?

-Noah's POV-

I would say that the rest of the day went well. About as well as it could be for a university student doing an A-level course for something which he didn't study at all throughout their academic life. I hadn't even gone to a Sixth Form, I went to college, which was quite different. It was incredibly interesting, watching Crow interact with people who he's probably known for years. His dark and mysterious nature remained, along with a bit of edge which I hadn't seen before. Art class was my favourite, but I could tell that Crow was beginning to lose his patience.

"So, you've experienced all of my classes in a single day," Crow said. We were sitting in the very blue common room, waiting for the bell to ring. I still didn't know how Aldrich managed to ensure the room would be available for us to have a very quiet conversation, but I thought it was best not to question him. "What do you think?"

"It was pretty cool," I answered with a shrug. I had been messing with a bottle cap for the past five minutes, as there was very little to do. "I've not experienced anything like this. I don't like how you're still forced to be here. When we were in college, I just had to show up for classes. I love the little art room though." The art room was extremely small, so small it could be considered a large cupboard room with a large table in the centre and drawers which all the art students claimed. There was one computer, and large windows to let natural light in. We only interacted with two people the entire time we were there.

Crow looked at me, and didn't say anything for a while. "Yeah, I spend most of my time there because it's quiet. I'm not out here very much, unless Haven is with me, or we're forced to come here for some sort of assembly."

I was about to speak, but the bell interrupted me. Everyone else in the room seemed to suddenly come to life as they all rushed towards the door. "I don't miss that part of school," I said with a chuckle and nodded towards the door. I didn't quite understand why they were so eager to leave, considering they were allowed to leave any time after twelve if they didn't have classes.

"I've been told that you miss it more once you've left it," Crow muttered. His eyes had trailed from me to the door as well. "Poor, uneducated, humans." He shook his head and scoffed.

I nudged him playfully. "You don't know that. Sawyer knew all about the other part of the world. Who knows? Maybe they all know about the other side of the world but just think nobody else does? Humans can be surprising." I tried not to be offended, as I wasn't included in the human category anymore. I hadn't gotten used to that thought yet.

"I swear, I didn't mean it in a bad way." He raised his hands to show his innocence. "Ignorance is bliss in this situation. I wish I had that ignorance now, and I wish that you had it as well." He bit his lip. "I couldn't imagine what it would be like to be one of them, especially not one of them in my RE class." His words dripped with truth.

"I know you didn't mean it in a bad way," I tried to reassure him, grabbing his hand and squeezing it gently. "But if I were ignorant, I wouldn't have been able to pet an animal without any worries. We agreed to try and get the best out of this."

"I suppose." Crow sighed. "I won't rest until you're safe and are able to do whatever you used to do. I won't stop until this is all figured out." The emotions in his voice were causing heat to swell in my chest. It was as though my heart was crawling up my throat at how genuine he seemed.

I nodded, smiled, and ran my thumb over the back of Crow's hand. I couldn't trust my voice at that moment, or else it would betray just how much his words had affected me. It was only around five minutes later when Crow tugged on my hand and stood up, waiting for me to gather my things so that we could head to the classroom.

As we approached the classroom, Sawyer left the room. "Hey," Sawyer said with a small wave. He looked very awkward without his regular bag, blazer, and books. "I was just about to come and get you guys." He held the door open for us politely.

"Thank you," I said with a grateful nod, pulling Crow in after me, despite his feet dragging on the floor.

"Hi Alucard-I mean Aldrich," Crow greeted with a smirk.

I didn't understand what he meant, but Sawyer burst out laughing. The sound made my lip twitch, even more when I saw Aldrich's unimpressed expression.

"I don't know who Alucard is, but I can word things backwards. I'm not Dracula," Aldrich stated firmly.

Crow raised an eyebrow. "I didn't imply anything of the sort." He moved to sit on the table at the front of the classroom, and I followed suit. The tables were more comfortable than the old plastic chairs which we had been sitting in for the majority of the day. These rooms must be new as well, because the walls were white, with no displays in sight.

"How are you Sawyer's father?" Crow asked quickly, before raising his free hand. "I thought that vampires could not reproduce?" I resisted the urge to snicker at Aldrich's face, which held a disappointed expression. He was clearly waiting for an opportunity to tease us more.

"Way to ruin the fun." Aldrich pouted and paused in the spinning computer chair. "Vampires can very much have children, just like anybody else. But it's a recessive gene. That means, which you should know since you took biology, that you need two vampire parents to have a vampire child. That's highly frowned upon though, because vampiric children are hard to handle, so we don't. These vampires would mate with humans and have human children. These children could be turned, of course, and that's where you come in."

Aldrich spun in his chair, and faced me as he said this.

"Me?"

Hello Lovelies!

I hope you're all doing good :D

The question of the chapter is, what's the weather like where you are?

Yes, I'm asking about the weather. :')

It's pretty dull and dark here, as opposed to the bright sunshine that we had yesterday. It was a pretty nice day yesterday, very spring-like and warm!