A/N: 23.03.20

Quick update today :)

This chapter is probably the most satisfying yet unsatisfying chapter of this book so far. You'll understand once you read it...

Chapter 17 will be out on Patreon in a couple of hours! I might post chapter 18 too, if I manage to finish editing it ;)

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Aleksei couldn't get Noah off his mind. He spent the entire day thinking about his scent, his smile, his safety, his warmth. It was almost as if he had discovered a new form of drug that he was addicted to.

He couldn't forget the feeling that sparked inside him this morning when he had thought that Noah was gone, as if his unbeating heart had sunk into his stomach.

Why did I react like that? It was almost as if I was scared. Worried. But why would I care about his wellbeing? Dead or alive, what difference does it make?

Aleksei sat on his bed and picked up a book, mindlessly flipping through the pages.

"Screw this," he muttered under his breath, putting the book aside and grabbing his phone.

He scrolled through his contacts and sent a message to one of his friends who was in charge of keeping the boy's dormitory in check, asking which room the new transfer student was in. Once he got the room number, he grabbed his jacket and headed out.

It was dark outside, but despite being nocturnal, Aleksei didn't feel relaxed at all. He went up the spiraling stairs and stopped in front of Noah's room. He could sense Noah's scent from inside and closed his eyes, exhaling slowly before knocking.

The door opened as did his lids. Standing in front of him was Noah, who looked surprised. He had just taken a shower and his chestnut hair almost looked black. The earthy aroma of sandalwood and rosewood filled the air, the shampoo overpowering Noah's natural scent which made it safer for Aleksei.

Noah blinked, his eyes a soft green with a touch of fresh autumn crisp.

"Hi," he said, breaking the silence. Noah scrunched a tumble of hair in his hand before pushing it back. "Um, do you need something?"

"I was worried."

Noah's eyes widened.

"About our baby," finished Aleksei. "Is she here?"

"Oh, yeah," murmured Noah, sounding slightly disappointed. "Do you want to come in and check up on her?"

Aleksei nodded and Noah opened the door, letting him in. Their baby was sleeping on Noah's bed, carefully tucked under the blankets that went up to her chest. Aleksei stared at it but couldn't care less about the baby.

"Sorry, my room is a mess. I didn't know you'd be coming," Noah apologized, quickly stacking his homework on his table.

"It's fine," he answered, keeping a distance from the bed since the sheets had caught Noah's scent. He carefully listened to Noah's heartbeat. "You're not nervous."

"Hm? No, just a bit surprised," he answered busily, before turning towards Aleksei who didn't look very happy.

"Why aren't you nervous?" Aleksei demanded, slightly puzzled.

"Why would I be?"

Aleksei could think of plenty of reasons. Did Noah forget about what happened in the infirmary? Or does he simply not care about the short, intimate we shared? Perhaps it meant nothing to him?

"We're enemies," he answered, pushing away his inner thoughts. "You're trying to catch the bad guys and I so happen to be one of them. You should be nervous."

"If you're implying that I should be scared of you, I'm not. We've already promised each other that we'd be friends and established the three friendship rule: trust, honesty, and not eating each other."

"So you're going to trust the bad guy that easily?"

"No, I'm not going to trust the bad guy," he said. "I'm going to trust you."

Aleksei studied the serious look in Noah's eyes. He thought about what Roman said about Nyx sending his servants to kidnap Noah.

"What makes you so confident that other vampires don't try to hurt you?"

"The FBI gave me a couple of weapons," Noah said. He pulled out a drawer and grabbed a rusty key, opening the lock of the wooden chest at the foot of his bed. It creaked open and he reached in, pulling out some of the gadgets Geo and Carl gave him. Aleksei raised his brows.

"You're just going to reveal that to me?" He deadpanned. Noah rolled his eyes, ignoring him.

"This one might come in handy," he said, showing him the syringe filled with black liquid. "Apparently it's supposed to numb a vampire's power for a while. I don't know how effective it is though, I've never used it yet."

'Yet.'

"And you won't have to if you stop sticking your nose in our business."

"Are you worried about me?"

"I'm saying you're being reckless."

"What else am I supposed to be?"

"A normal, ignorant human being who goes to school, does his homework and stays alive," he answered shortly. Noah narrowed his eyes, wondering if he should be happy that Aleksei might be concerned for him, or offended that he was indirectly insulted.

"And let vampires continue kidnapping innocent students?" Noah scoffed.

"Yes."

"People are dying because of Nyx."

"And you're going to end up being one of them if you don't stop this nonsense. What do you think he'll do? Answer all of your questions if you say 'please and thank you?'"

"No, but-"

"Do you even know how dangerous he is?"

Noah frowned. "Not really, but-"

"This isn't some kind of game where you can act like some hero and everything ends merrily."

Noah was about the say something, but then he paused. He carefully studied the lines on Aleksei's stern face. "I can take care of myself. You don't need to worry about me."

His words surprised Aleksei, and he ran a quick hand through his hair. "I'm simply trying to put your stupidity into perspective."

Noah frowned, crossing his arms over his chest. "That's not fair."

"Life's not fair, sweetheart."

Noah tried not to panic over the fact that Aleksei called him 'sweetheart.'

"I don't despise or glorify you because you're a vampire, so why do you look down on me because I'm a human?" Noah huffed. "Why can't we be on an equal footing?"

"Because we aren't."

"That's discrimination."

Trust me, I wouldn't give two shits if this was about any other human, Aleksei thought to himself.

He took a step forward and stretched his arms side to side. "Fine then. Attack me."

Noah blinked.

"What?"

"Stab me with that pathetic man-made weapon you're holding."

"I don't want to hurt you."

Aleksei chuckled darkly and Noah's stomach fluttered. "Trust me, love, you won't."

Noah hesitated at first, but as soon as he took a step forward, Aleksei grabbed his arm and twisted it behind his back so quickly that Noah didn't have time to process what was going on. The next thing he knew, his face and chest were pressed against the bed. Aleksei was sitting on his back.

"Too slow."

"Ow, ow, ow, you're going to pop my shoulder," whined Noah in pain, and Aleksei let go of him. He got off and Noah rolled onto his back, trying to catch his breath.

"That's cheating," he huffed. "You never told me that vampires had super-speed powers."

"You never asked."

Noah laughed, running a hand through his hair as he tried to collect himself. Aleksei glanced at Noah's crumpled shirt that revealed his collarbone. It had slightly risen, showing Noah's lower torso and his right hip bone. Noah didn't have a bulky body, but his slim and slender body didn't make him look weak. His muscles and figure made him look gracious than fragile.

"Are you debating on whether or not you want to eat me?" Noah joked.

"It's not a debate when I already know what I want," Aleksei affirmed, fighting back the urge to slip his hand under Noah's shirt.

"Oh."

"Sit up and I'll teach you something."

Noah did as he was told.

"There are five vital organs that vampires are most sensitive to," he explained. "Your first option is the brain."

Aleksei reached out and placed two fingers near his chest. "Then you have the lungs." His fingers slid down to Noah's ribcage which made Noah bite his lower lip. "The kidneys." Then his fingers went to the upper right portion of his abdomen, earning a small giggle from Noah who was ticklish. "The liver." And then he placed his hand against the left side of Noah's chest. "And finally, the heart."

He looked towards Noah's green eyes. "Aim for those if you want your attacks to be effective. That is, if you manage to hit a vampire."

Noah leaned towards Aleksei and followed the steps. "The brain." He then put his hand against Aleksei's strong torso. He realized just how strong and muscular Aleksei was but tried to keep a straight face.

"The lungs, the kidneys, the liver and," Noah's hand stopped against Aleksei's chest. "The heart."

His palm pressed against it.

"It's not beating," Noah murmured in amazement.

Noah looked towards Aleksei who glared at him and realized that he was invading his personal space. Noah was about to pull away but Aleksei pressed his hand over Noah's, and his eyes widened in surprise.

"Does that bother you?" Aleksei asked in his husky voice.

Noah gulped, unable to stop the butterflies inside his chest. He looked into Aleksei's deep, blue eyes, feeling himself get lost in the swirls of indigo.

"It doesn't bother me," he whispered. "Does it bother you that mine does?"

His chest tightened, anxiously waiting for Aleksei to answer.

"Yes," he finally answered. Noah frowned. "But I really wish it didn't."

Aleksei placed his right hand against Noah's jaw and slowly leaned forward, pressing his lips against Noah's. The soft, warm flesh made Aleksei's mind go wild, it made his unbeating heart feel alive again. He tried his best to hold back, but to his surprise, Noah reached out and wrapped his arms around his neck, pulling him closer and deepening the kiss.

Their tongues intertwined and Aleksei found himself wanting for more. He wanted to feel Noah's warmth, the fire of his skin, the blaze of his touch; he wanted to feel Noah's heart race against his chest, and he wanted to known that it raced because of him.

The reckless, fearless boy who was naïve enough to think that he could change the world and tilt the universe on its own axis, altered him.

Noah pulled away for breath. His arms were still wrapped around Aleksei and their foreheads pressed against one another. Noah looked into Aleksei's rainy eyes, his heart thumping as if it wanted to break free.

"I like you," Noah blurted without thought.

Aleksei's eyes widened. His lips parted to speak, but his phone rang. It wasn't until Noah indicated that it was ringing that he realized that he was still on top of him.

"Y-You should answer it," Noah quickly urged, his face bright red.

"Right," he muttered, getting off the bed and answering the phone. He ran an irritated hand through his unruly, dark hair, listening to one of Nyx's servants inform him about the meeting. "I know," he snapped angrily. "Is that all?"

"Yes, but don't forget to-"

Aleksei hung up midsentence. He turned towards Noah who quickly looked away.

"I have to go," he said hoarsely.

"Are you going back to your dorms?"

Aleksei didn't answer right away. "Get some rest."

He picked up his jacket and headed for the door, but he stopped at the threshold, glancing towards Noah who sat there, looking like he was waiting for him to say something.

He remembered Noah's words: "I like you."

"Goodnight, Noah," he murmured, shifting his gaze from the disappointed look that fell on Noah's face. He left the room, closing the door behind him.

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A/N: Please don't forget to leave a vote if you enjoyed the chapter!

Okay but can we appreciate the fact that Aleksei went from calling the baby "it" to "our baby" + "she". If this ain't character development 😭🙏

Do you guys have any funny/embarrassing stories about yourselves?

I remember this one time a friend of mine was walking down a store and thought no one was around (she doesn't mind farting around me) and so she let out a fart and when we turned around, we noticed that there was an old lady sitting in a wheelchair right behind her.