When Thorne gets home that night, he finds something unsettling about the quiet house. He couldn’t hear the sound of his mother’s humming or the banter between his siblings. For once, he wanted it to be anything but silent. He needed something to distract him from his thoughts.

He’s still stuck on Ms. Watanabe’s words about fate. As much as Thorne absolutely hates to admit it, she had a point.

Even if Thorne has no desire whatsoever to let Fate control his life. Submitting to Fate would mean submitting to his blood, and Thorne is definitely not interested in that. It would mean that no matter what, despite his best efforts, Thorne would eventually succumb to his bloodlust and become the full vampire that his family was secretly dying for him to become. Of course, he knows they won’t say that explicitly, but it’s implied.

Virgil is the only one that really shoves it in his face.

Virgil would love, just love, to see Thorne join the rest of them. He’d enjoy seeing Thorne suffer as his life becomes dark and bleak because honestly, Thorne can’t imagine life as a full vampire. He could watch his family live that life, sure, but he can’t see himself living it. If there was one thing he had over the rest of them, it’s control. As long as Thorne didn’t have any desire for blood, if he could just keep himself in check, he’d be fine.

There would never be a reason to consume human blood.

“Good. You’re finally home.”

Thorne rolls his eyes as Virgil approaches him from down the hall. The small smile on his lips makes Thorne want to puke.

“Where were you?” he wonders. “Aunt Mathilda was worried about you.”

“I was out,” Thorne says, walking past him. “Don’t worry about it.”

“Oh. I know what that means. You were out with your precious Jordan, weren’t you?”

Thorne freezes.

“What? You don’t expect me to believe you went out for a nice little snack, do you? Unless...you finally did it.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. You and I both know--”

“Yeah, yeah. I know already,” Virgil says, slinging his arm over Thorne’s shoulder. “But I know that you’re only prolonging the inevitable.”

“I’m not!”

“No, you are. God, I’m impressed at how well you’ve convinced yourself that you’re a step above the rest of us. I wonder what world you’re living in. Why don’t you just accept that you’re just as vulnerable as the rest of us? You can’t fight what you are. You can’t fight what you want.”

“What are you...talking about?”

“...you desperately want Jordan’s blood, don’t you?”

Before Thorne could think about protesting, Virgil tightens his hold on him, resting his head on Thorne’s shoulder. He grips Thorne’s arm viciously, digging his nails into his arm.

“It’s not a secret,” Virgil chuckles. “Jordan might not notice, but I certainly do. Your eyes tend to flicker for a moment in desire. You lose yourself briefly just thinking about how he tastes. You can hear his voice in your head and how much you’d love to hear it aloud. Whether he cries out in pain or pleasure, it doesn’t matter to you, does it?”

“That’s--”

“A lie? Do you expect me to believe that you haven’t thought about it? Come on, Thorne. He’s so clueless. There’s no one better to take advantage--”

Thorne elbows Virgil in the stomach, throwing Virgil over his shoulder with a sharp pull. He hits the ground with a startled cry and Thorne pants, trying to regain his composure. He braces himself against the wall, pressing his hand over his mouth.

He’s gonna be sick.

How is he letting Virgil get to him like this? He was only doing this to get a rise out of him. Nothing more, nothing less.

And yet, Thorne kept falling for it!

“Y-You know I’m right!” Virgil laughs, lying on the floor. “You can’t keep this up forever! You’ll cave one day! It’ll be the best fucking thing I ever see!”

“How do you know?!” Thorne snaps. “You don’t know anything about me!”

“I know enough, my poor cousin. I know enough about that blood in your veins and enough about you.”

“So what?”

“It means…” he begins, starting to sit up. “That you’d never allow me to take your precious pet from you. No, you’d never do that. In fact, you’d rather devour him yourself before I even lay a finger on him!”

Thorne growls, grabbing Virgil by the collar before slamming him back into the floor. Virgil only smiles at him, his eyes swirling with amusement.

“If you even look at him, I swear--”

“You won’t do a thing, Thorne! You and I both know it! You’re too weak. You can’t beat me in a fair fight. Besides, what would your precious Jordan think?”

“You son of a--”

“Jesus Christ, don’t you two ever stop?”

The sound of Raymond’s voice startles both of them, and Thorne can only sigh in annoyance, realizing that his brother had interrupted him.

He looks exhausted, more so than usual.

Their late night fighting obviously wasn’t helping.

“Ray--”

“I don’t want to hear it,” he sighs. “It’s late. If you want to fight, take it outside. Sometimes, we like having a quiet evening.”

“Sorry, Ray,” Thorne mumbles, separating himself from Virgil. “It won't happen again.”

“I know that’s a lie, but thanks for the effort. Now, go to bed or something. Please.”

Feeling Virgil’s gaze on his back, Thorne shakes his head, starting towards his room. He catches Ray glancing back at him while he ventures back to his own room. Thorne keeps waiting for him to say something, but he never does, eventually disappearing back into his own room before long.

He wishes Ray had said something.

The house felt too quiet again.