Danny looked intensely at James, he was overcome with a sudden urge. He sees James' neck, glistening with drops of the heated water. The moonlight hit, causing the water to shine brightly. Danny could feel his hunger growing, welling up in the pit of his stomach and forcing itself to the back of his throat. Looking at James, everything seemed to intensify. Danny could see every one of James' veins as though they stuck out an inch above his skin.

Danny opened his mouth and his lips slid, showing his slightly extending fangs. He lifted his head and sank his fangs into James' neck. The blood poured smoothly into Danny's throat; it felt so good, so warm, and so thick. Surprisingly, to Danny, it tasted even better than it felt. Yes, that was what he had wanted, that quenched this thirst, this strange new hunger that he had developed. When Danny stopped feeding, they sat in silence for a few moments until James spoke up.

“Danny, when I had Darren over, I had erased his memories; he lost all memories of the night before and all memories, or in this case all feelings, connected to it.” Danny turned to face James.

“What are you saying?” He questioned with a pained expression on his face.

“Darren's feelings for you have left and they will not come back.” James lied. He knew Danny couldn’t return to a normal life now, he had so much ahead of him with this new life and if anything would stop Danny from moving forward, it would be his love for Darren.

“Why? Why couldn't I just make a move?”

“If you make a move, then you might jeopardize your friendship. He can't have feelings for you anymore. If he had only lost his memory from that night, things would have been suspicious.” James made his lie bigger.

Danny's eyes began to swell with tears. Darren and Danny had just started to get close and now it could never happen. He was more upset than he ever thought he could be, it was as if his heart was made of iron and it was sinking into his stomach; he could feel the weight inside getting heavier at the thought of not being more than friends with Darren again.

† † †

Danny awoke early the next morning, lying next to James, in James' bed.

“Good morning Danny, how did you sleep?”

“I feel like I have a hangover from hell, what the fuck happened?”

“Well, after the hot spring we came here for some drinks and you pretty much emptied my stash.”

“And that's about where I lost my memory.”

“After you drank some more, you eventually passed out.”

“Damn.” he got out of the bed and went to the bathroom. After he turned on the water faucet and washed his face, he looked at himself in the mirror.

He almost fainted when he saw his face. What did I fucking drink last night? It's like I'm still tripping on acid! His eyes were now a deep crimson red; his hair had changed too. It was longer on the top and shorter on the sides and back, fading into the top. His hair was a deep black now, much darker than before but it wasn’t dyed; he ran his fingers through his hair, it was smooth and silky as usual.