A/N: 10.03.20

Thank you to everyone who wrote on my wall/sent me a message. You Homies are honestly the best. I promise to get better soon. I'm glad I have a couple of pre-written chapters in stock for tough moments like this. I don't want you guys to wait forever for an update.

Chapter 13 has just been published on Patreon. If you guys want early updates, you know where to go xx

Btw, I've been working on The Class Prince. Hopefully it'll be out as a hardcover this summer and up on your lovely shelves 💞

Please a vote to support!

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The next morning, Noah and Micka met up at the cafeteria holding their babies, but unlike yesterday, none of them had much of an appetite.

“If it makes you feel any better," said Micka, watching Noah who was picking at his plate. "At least you didn't die."

Noah raised his gaze, narrowing his eyes. "Thank you Micka, that makes me feel so much better."

Micka smiled in return, putting his hand on Noah's shoulder.

"Always here for you buddy."

They saw Astrid enter the cafeteria and Micka let out a miserable groan, sinking in his seat.

“Oh great, it’s my wife," he growled flatly.

She sat down with then with a sunny smile. "Congratulation! Neither of you died!"

"Goodmorning to you too, sweetheart," mumbled Micka with a handful of bitterness. "What in the world were you thinking yesterday?!"

"I have a plan," she reassured them.

“Giving my best friend away to a dangerous vampire is a plan?” scoffed Micka in disbelief.

"I said I had a plan, I never said that I had a good one,” said Astrid with an eye roll before before turning towards Noah. "You have to try and get closer with Aleksei and get whatever information you can for us."

"He hates me."

“He doesn't hate you. He isn't a people kind of person, but that doesn't mean he hates you," implied Astrid, trying to persuade Noah.

“He looks at me as if I killed his grandma."

Astrid took a second to process that.

"Okay, fine, we can't all be sunshine and rainbows," she huffed. "But Geo and Carl are desperate, they need whatever information they can get. The fact that Aleksei and Roman haven't killed you means that there has to be something special about you two. Please Noah, we need your help. The only human who can approach Aleksei right now is you." When Astrid finished her sentence, Aleksei and his group came into the cafeteria and sat at their table.

"Now is your chance," she whispered, booting Noah off his seat and pushing him forward. "Say hi to your husband for us!"

"Wait, you can't just kick him out-" but Astrid shoved a spoonful of scrambled eggs into Micka's mouth. Noah frowned.

Without having his friend's support, he didn't have much of a choice. Noah took in a small breath before awkwardly heading to Aleksei's table. He was so nervous that during those few seconds, he even felt self-conscious about the way he was walking, feeling like he was waddling like a penguin.

Everyone in the cafeteria turned towards him with wide eyes, wondering what in the world the transfer kid was doing.

Nobody sat at Aleksei’s table except his friends. Nobody.

When Noah stopped in front of their table, everyone sitting there turned towards him blankly.

“Hi,” Noah squeaked before quickly clearing his voice. “I was wondering if I could sit with you."

He felt stupid holding a toy baby in his arms, and he could tell that everyone was hardcore judging him.

Noah wanted to disappear.

Issa stood up with a wide, cheerful smile.

“Of course you can! You’re Noah, right?" He chirped. "Sit wherever you'd like."

Noah gave him a grateful smile, heading towards the corner of the table. But Issa pointed at the empty seat. "Over there! You can sit over there beside Alek."

I thought you said to sit wherever I wanted?!

Noah smiled nervously. "Thank... Thank you."

He slowly sat down beside Aleksei whose lids were still closed. Aleksei sat there, arms crossed over his strong, broad chest. Noah could tell right off the bat that Aleksei wasn't a morning person.

The scary, broody aura drifting around the vampire beside him could kill flowers if there were any around him.

"Don't mind him," Issa quickly said. "He's probably dead."

Before Aleksei could flip his tray at Issa, Roman cleared his voice.

"You must be Noah," he smiled. Roman seemed much kinder than Noah had expected. "I'm Roman. We have a couple of classes together."

Noah couldn't help but stare at how beautiful Roman was. There was a strand of his long, blond hair that fell over the side of his forehead, the rest of it tied, which allowed him to study Roman's prominent jawline and facial structure.

"I, um-"

"I know Roman's a hunk, but you're going to have to use words Noah," smirked Issa. Noah snapped out of his trance, reddening.

"Yes, sorry, I just..." he tried to find his words. Issa loved teasing others and couldn't help but laugh, finding Noah's reaction adorable.

"Leave him alone," sighed Roman and Issa pouted. "Anyway, I hope you're not having too hard of a time adapting here. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask us."

Noah nodded gratefully. It was hard to believe that Roman was one of the bad guys, let alone, a killer. Roman shifted his gaze towards Aleksei whose eyes were still closed.

"I guess your husband didn't get much sleep," he chuckled. "Aleksei, you look exhausted."

Aleksei didn't answer, feeling particularly tired this morning. He didn't get a wink of vampire sleep. His mind was too busy obsessing over Noah's scent. Unable to put his mind at peace, he went hunting at 3:00 a.m and spent hours killing and drinking animals.

He managed to neutralize his craving for Noah in exchange for what was most precious to him: sleep.

Noah frowned and felt like he needed to say something.

"Alek-"

Aleksei tilted to the side, his head fallig on Noah's shoulder. Noah's eyes widened, his body stiffening immediately as he heard Aleksei's soft breaths inches away from his ear. He opened his mouth to say something, but Aleksei interrupted him with a gruff voice.

"No one talk," he ordered lazily. "Everyone just... Just shut up."

His midnight black hair fell over his forehead, contrasting with his pale skin.

Aleksei found Noah's shoulder to be strangely comfortable; the warmth of his body strangely oothing. Once his head landed against Noah's shoulder, it seemed impossible to get it back up, so he remained there.

Roman was surprised at what he was seeing. Aleksei normally despised physical contact, especially with humans. The last time Issa tried to hug him, the poor boy almost lost his front teeth.

"Aleksei?" Murmured Noah, still as stiff as stone. "What are you doing?"

"Shut up."

Noah gulped and looked at the others who were too scared to help him. "But-"

"I'm mentally drained because of you. Now take responsibility and hush."

Noah wondered what on Earth he had done to have "mentally drained" Aleksei. He looked towards Roman for help but Aleksei rubbed his head against Noah's shoulder.

"I said to hush, I didn't say to eye-fuck my friend," he growled. "But do feel free to stare this way."

Noah couldn't tell if Aleksei was being serious or joking.

Roman rolled his eyes at Aleksei cockiness, but when he shifted his gaze towards Noah, he noticed that Noah was blushing.

He studied the way Noah looked at Aleksei. It wasn't a gaze full of lust nor one full of fear. It was one that seemed warm and caring. There was something about the way that Aleksei and Noah fit in his vision frame that simply felt right, which both excited and worried him immensely.

Issa smiled and whispered into Noah's ear, "He's a whore for attention."

And Aleksei let out a dangerous growl, but didn't deny the accusation.

Everyone finished their breakfast in silence so that the tired king could get his rest. When it was time to leave, Aleksei woke up as if he had an alarm clock in his mind and picked up his tray, leaving as if nothing had happened.

Noah picked up his bag, but he had a hard time holding both his baby and his tray.

“Need some help?” Roman smiled, taking Noah's tray for him.

“Thanks,” he murmured, his eyes still on Aleksei's back. Roman followed Noah's gaze.

“He's not a bad guy."

“Hm?"

“Aleksei. He just has a hard time getting along with people.”

By 'people' did he mean humans?

“It can be hard to adapt to his cold personality, but don't let it get to you. This a secret between you and me but,” Roman leaned over and whispered into Noah’s ear. "Deep down, he’s a real softie.”

Aleksei, who was meters away, could hear Roman loud and clear, and let out a menacing snarl that only Roman could also hear. Roman laughed at the menacing reaction, stepping away from Noah.

“Can I tell you a secret?” asked Noah, who wasn't aware of Aleksei's eavesdropping. He looked towards Roman and smiled. “I think so too.”

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A/N: Have you guys ever been VERY sad/depressed? What do you guys do to make yourselves feel better?

And have any of you experienced sleep paralysis? Down below is the wikipedia definition for those of you who don't know what it is.

If so, how do you deal with it?

I swear I'm not crazy 😂 it's actually quite common and people develop it from extreme stress 🙃