Jack returned Tara's confused stare. There was a hint of something else there, too. He hunched over under her intense scrutiny and looked away. Apparently, he'd been way off, and now she had reason to think he was even crazier than before. He blew it.

"Vampire? You think I'm—" Tara's eyes darted about, slowly narrowing with realization. "Fuck, that's why you're so weird about Kieran! Antiquing?! Oh, my god!"

She was taking the revelation a lot better than Jack had. Maybe he hadn't been that far off the mark. "Turns out most of my boyfriends have been vampires? And my blood's kinda addictive, so I'd understand if you tried to get a taste."

"I'm not—" She looked around before dropping her voice to a harsh whisper. "I'm not a vampire! I'm a werewolf, moron! See if I ever save your dumb ass from being mugged again."

Of course those were real, too. Great. And when the hell was he about to get mugged? He stopped short as he remembered the black stray. She had mentioned getting a dog and wanting him to take it on walks. His mind tripped over the image of Tara wearing the reflective dog collar. And, with Augie's confession fresh in his mind, there were too many images colliding together that he really didn't want to think about.

"Okay. Can I watch?" he asked, curiosity taking control of his mouth.

A slap upside the head was his answer.

"Sorry," he mumbled as he rubbed the back of his head. "What's it like? Can I ask that?"

Tara regarded Jack for a minute before relenting. "Remember American Werewolf in London? That's kinda what it's like. I mean, not super painful. I've had worse cramps, but it fucking itches like a god damned bitch."

"Literally."

"Fuck you."

They approached a bench that had already been cleared of snow, and Tara dropped down, kicking her feet out. Jack sat beside her, his shoulder bumping hers as he adjusted his bag.

She rested her head on Jack's shoulder and took a long, deep breath. "I'm gonna have to stop shaving my legs, 'cuz it just grows right back after I change, so what's the point?"

"Now you'll have more in common with Candy," he said. His mind was caught in a loop of werewolf transformation scenes.

"Shit. Don't tell her," Tara groaned, rubbing her face into Jack's shoulder. "She'll think she won for all the wrong reasons."

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He looked at the top of her head and resisted the urge to pet her. He should not be okay with his best friend being a werewolf. He shouldn't be okay with dating a vampire, either, but here he was.

He didn't want their dynamic to change. He loved Tara. She was his best friend. Almost every piece of media had vampires and werewolves as enemies. Was he going to have to pick a side? "Since I'm dating a vampire… Are you guys supposed to be mortal enemies?"

"Fuck if I know," Tara said as she sat up straight and crossed her arms. "I ditched that whole pack-thing. The guy that bit me? Fucking Shane? Kicked his ass and walked out."

He was relieved that Tara hadn't been sexually assaulted, but it was overshadowed by the whole werewolf thing. "Shane? There's a werewolf out there named Shane?"

"Yeah. It sucks 'cuz he was hot as hell," she whined. "Shoulda known he was just cruisin' for chicks."

Jack didn't know what to say that could possibly make Tara feel better. "Sorry if attracting hot assholes is contagious."

She laughed softly and met Jack's eyes. "You mighta caught it from me," she said before leaning back and spreading her arms across the back of the bench. "Whatever. He looks plain as a wolf. I'm the better wolf. I'm black."

"I never noticed."

She let out a sharp laugh and faced him with a curious look. "You gonna be a vamp?"

"What?"

"Well?"

"I… I never really thought about it." It was a scary thought. Immortality seemed to come with a lot of baggage that you just kept on collecting over the years. And years and years… "Ask me when I'm forty."

"Forty?"

"I don't wanna look like some loser kid for the rest of my life. Maybe I'll get some grey hairs and look distinguished or something."

"Well, there's one right here," she said as she reached up and plucked a hair from Jack's head.

"Ow!" He rubbed at the side of his head, squinting at the hair Tara held out. Sure enough, it was silver. He had a flash of a memory of his dad teasing his mom about going grey early.

"I can see becoming immortal being a midlife crisis," she said as she shook the hair from her hand. She watched as Jack made a note on his phone. "More commitment than a nice car, though."

A lot of commitment. And now he was in a committed relationship with an immortal. He finished his note and looked back at Tara. "Can I tell Kieran about this?"

She made a face and looked away. "Can it wait? I'm being all lone wolf over here. I got a doggy bed for my back porch."

"It's freezing!" Jack couldn't understand how she could just come out and say things like that as if her life hadn't changed much. It was like she was talking about getting a new table, not becoming a new species.

"It's nice!" Tara shot back. "Did you know snow smells? Like, everything smells. I can't wait until we get some rain!"

She was embracing her new normal, and Jack felt left behind. He needed to catch up. There was no reason to hide away from what he didn't understand. The reason was dead and gone. Headless and crispy.

"You wanna grab lunch? I know a bar you might like now," Jack asked with a tentative smile.