While Elliot felt like he was slowly sinking into the posh couch, Leo’s parents eyed him intently, one with curiosity the other with clear disgust. Not to mention, he was embarrassed by his attire. He was still wearing a dirty apron and his work clothes. Leo sat on the other end of the couch eyeing them back. His elbow was resting on the arm of the couch, propping his head up. He seemed just as tired as Elliot was starting to feel. His mother was sitting with one leg crossed over the other. She spoke first.

“My name is Agnus and this is my husband Edward,” She waved towards the man next to her.

“You may only call us Mr and Mrs. Sallow,” Edward interjected harshly.

Elliot gulped in some air before speaking, “I’m Elliot, it’s nice to meet you both.” 

Edward immediately scoffed, “Oh please.”

Agnus gently kicked his ankle, “Be nice sweetheart, he is our guest.”

The man rolled his eyes dramatically, making Elliot sink deeper into the couch with each word he spoke. “The only reason that this boy is still breathing and not being taste tested is because our son is foolishly infatuated with humans-”

“Hush now dear, let’s get some drinks before discussing anything further.” Agnus stood and walked over to a bar that was placed on the far left of the room. 

That’s when Elliot noticed a glass case sitting on a shelf behind it. Inside was a large urn looking vase that was glass trimmed with gold and looked to be filled with something dark and red. Was that what   Leo was talking about earlier? Agnus reached down and grabbed two wine glasses, placing them promptly on the counter top. She then grabbed a wine bottle and popped it open, pouring what looked to be dark red wine into the glasses. 

“Well Elliot, I apologise for the lack of hospitality,” Agnus was fidgeting with something behind the counter.

“We seem to have limited options for you to drink,” She paused and a loud grinding sound could be heard while she smiled at the two.

When the grinding finally came to a halt she asked, “Would you like coffee or water, dear?”

That was when Elliot realized that the red liquid in the wine bottles was in fact not wine. Elliot held back the gag that was threatening to erupt from his mouth.

He spoke, his dry throat making his voice hoarse. “Coffee is fine, thanks.”

“We tend to keep this stuff on hand for Leonard, it’s always been his favorite human beverage.” Her smile beamed in his direction.

“Leonard?” Elliot questioned impulsively. He looked at Leo who was currently giving his mother a please stop talking look. It was sort of a pout and Elliot found it quite cute.

“Although he prefers to go by his nick-name,” She stated proudly, “Yes, Leonard is his birth name.” 

This time Leo grunted with frustration. Clearly he didn’t like being called that.

Agnus ignored him and loaded two mugs with hot black coffee. Although it wasn’t Elliot’s prefered way of drinking the beverage, he was too nervous to state otherwise and happily accepted the mug she handed his way. Edward eyed his glass, clearly impatient but stayed silent anyway. 

Agnus finally sat down next to Edward again, her glass in one hand.

“So tell me Leo, why do you feel as if you need to be out all day and night for this boy?” Agnus swished the wine glass softly before taking a sip.

Leo cleared his throat and began speaking softly, “Cash tried harming him out in public,” Leo paused clearly trying to find the correct words for the situation, “His followers are threatening to kill Elliot when he’s more vulnerable and the last thing we need is more unnecessary conflict with the human’s, we’re trying to integrate into their society remember?”

Agnus nodded, clearly agreeing with her son. She had a proud smile on her face. Edward on the other hand was grumbling some profanity just loud enough for everyone to hear.

Elliot looked shamefully at his lap, desperately wanting to cry. He was being threatened by a gang of murderous vampires. He hadn’t even realized how much danger he was really in. Not to mention all of the trouble he was putting Leo through.

“I see, and you wish to keep him safe for the betterment of our societal integration?” Agnus asked. Leo nodded in response. She seemed somewhat amused with the conversation, more so than her husband who now had a lit cigar in one hand.

Something about this entire situation felt off. But the most odd thing about this to Elliot, was how Leo’s mother was speaking to them. As if they were both children. But they were grown men- socially speaking. But then again, maybe not to vampires. Infact, Elliot had no clue how old Leo even was. Maybe he was decades old? There was no way he could be any younger than Elliot.

Suddenly, the front door could be heard swinging open. A cold draft drifted from the front room into the lounge they were currently in. Leo instantly shot up from his seat. Angry crossed his face as he watched a woman walk through the archway, posing with one hand on her hip. She was dressed much more modern, much like Leo, compared to Agnus and Edward. Her black crop top lifted as she stretched, almost revealing too much of her chest. Elliot instinctively looked away.

“I’m home!” She sang in a musical-like tone.

Leo stood in front of Elliot as if he were guarding him from another attack. The woman, who’s long black hair sat in a high pony-tail, looked directly at Leo and grinned widely.

In a mocking tone she said, “Awe, is my wittle brother not happy to see me?” She puckered her lip for a clearly over exaggerated sad look.

Without taking his eyes off of her he spoke to his parents. “You told me she wouldn’t be home tonight,” he gritted his teeth and bared his fangs, “that’s the only reason I agreed to bring him here.”

“She was supposed to be at a party for the entire evening,” Agnus replied, clearly not amused by her arrival either. Edward still seemed uninterested in the events unfolding before him. He continuously stared off into the room, anywhere else but where the conversation was taking place. Elliot was nervously trying to do the same thing but failing.

Leo’s dark tone and stature was making the human overly nervous all over again. Clearly she was some sort of threat or else Leo wouldn’t look so aggressive. He wasn’t even initially this aggressive towards Cash, and that man almost killed Elliot and threatened to beat up Leo.

“Oh,” She peeked over Leo’s shoulder from where she was standing. “And who is this?” She licked her lips, thinning the red lipstick she had on.

Edward sighed and stood up. “I’m finished with this nonsense.” He walked out of the room and disappeared up the stairs.

Agnus on the other hand stood by Leo, gripping his shoulder.

“Leo, maybe you should take your friend to one of the guest rooms, or better yet he can stay in your room instead.”

His room? Eliot’s face flushed. His heart was pounding with anticipation. Staying in a cute guys room only twenty-four hours after they’ve met? Logically speaking, this was very dumb of Elliot to do but emotionally it was sending him over the moon.

“Fine,” Leo growled in frustration, finally lowering his guard. He grabbed Elliot’s hand and roughly tugged him to his side, shielding him from the woman as he led them up the stairs.

“I can’t meet him?!” She called from the bottom of the stairs for Leo, who simply ignored her.

When they finally arrived at a dark red door. Leo swung it open and dragged Elliot in behind him, slamming it afterwards. He let go of Elliot’s hand and his breath quickened as he paced, clearly trying to calm himself. 

Elliot took a moment to observe the room. It was very dark and had a goth aesthetic to it. The bed was a large queen size with a black chess patterned comforter. It had half a dozen grey pillows on it and looked quite comfortable. The walls of his room were painted black and littered with rock band posters. In one corner sat a grey desk with a laptop on it.

He finally took one long breath and spoke softly, “I’m so sorry about my ignorant family.”

Elliot wasn’t sure how to respond, only that he could relate to ignorance from relatives. “I get it, my family can be a little weird around new people too.”

Leo glanced at Elliot and smiled. “Thanks for understanding.”

“Yeah,” Elliot struggled to ask the question that’s been nagging him. “Why exactly can’t I go home tonight?”

“It’s too dangerous for us to be out right now,” Leo sighed, “I won’t be much help if we get caught out in the open again.”

“You did pretty good kicking their ass last time.” Elliot responded, his face immediately heating up afterwards .Leo seemed pleased with Elliots response. Leo gave a slight grin that faltered as he busied himself throwing excess pillows on the ground from his bed.

“Yes, but only because they weren’t prepared for me to be there, next time they will be.” 

Elliot had one more question, “Why am I sleeping in here?” His face was already flushed so he thought he might as well ask all the embarrassing questions he needed answers to.

Leo’s smile immediately dropped. “Because of Veronica,” He held on to a pillow and squeezed it while looking down at the bed.

“I just don’t want to take any chances.”

Elliot wasn’t sure exactly what that meant but nodded anyway.

“Okay when you wake up feel free to leave in the morning, everyone should be asleep by then and you should be safe, vampires can be awake in the daylight but it leaves them extremely vulnerable and weak, it’s also detrimental to their health so you shouldn’t have to worry.”

You’ve been awake during the day for me…

Elliot’s heart felt heavy. Was Leo killing himself trying to protect the human? Either way Elliot was too tired to want to think about this whole situation more than he had to. He climbed on the massive bed and flopped, landing face first into a pillow. He let out a sigh, it had to be at least three AM at this point, so late that even the coffee he recently sipped on was doing nothing to give him energy. He sighed, turning his head to the side. 

His eyes were closed as he spoke one last time, “Thanks Leo.” And that's when Elliot finally drifted off.

Leo stared at Elliot studying his features more closely. His breathing was soft and he looked relaxed. He noticed how long the human’s eyelashes were up close and the fact that he had very light freckles that dusted his cheeks. His wild brown hair complemented each of his features so nicely. God, he is beautiful. Leo deep down thought that all humans were beautiful but none compared to Elliot. He knew, ever since he saw he caught a glimpse of him at sundown, through the cafe window, a few weeks back. 

Yes, although it was embarrassing to admit Leo had been getting up early ever since just to watch Elliot from the otherside of the street. He always wanted to make sure the human left work early enough to be safe. He never followed the man home. He wasn’t that creepy. That was until one night he watched the man walk in the opposite direction of which he usually took. Leo followed the human to a local bookstore and watched as he and the old woman that worked there walked inside. When the sun had gone down that’s when Leo knew he had to stay. The pair walked out and clearly looked nervous because of the dark night that shadowed over the town. Leo watched from the shadows as Elliot, being the kind man that he was, escorted the old lady to her scrappy looking apartment building. And when he saw Elliot round a certain alley way, that’s when he knew he had to be ready. He was slow at getting to Cash in time but only because he had to strategize taking out so many vamps. He used the shadows as leverage. Nothing made Leo happier than knowing that Elliot had been saved in time, he would’ve been crushed if the human hadn’t made it.

Leo sighed and brushed a piece of Elliots wild hair from his face. Just gently feeling the soft skin with his fingertips. Okay Leo, stop being creepy. He thought to himself. He eventually decided it was time to leave the room and go get himself a drink. He was starving and hadn’t eaten the whole night. He wasn’t sure why but the thought of drinking blood in front of Elliot made the vampire nervous. It’s not like he was evil or anything. The man had never hurt a human in his life. He received blood from blood banks and local underground vampire shops here in town. Never once has he himself ever laid a hand on a human in a harmful way.

He was sipping on his own glass of blood wine in the lounge when he felt an eerie presence behind him. He quickly turned and to his displeasure there sat Veronica staring coldly at him.

“Hello little brother.” Her eyes were a lighter color than his hazel ones, almost a yellow, but they were somehow colder in every other sense.

“What do you want?” Leo didn’t feel up for her manipulative mind games tonight. 

She grinned and waltzed over, now standing directly in front of the man. Her height, only slightly taller because of her black pumps. She glowered at him.

“You think you protect him? Do you honestly think you can protect anyone, Leo?” She leaned in, her lips next to Leo’s ear, making the man shiver with disgust, “You’ll only make things worse for him and yourself, it’s better to give up now. Mommy won’t always be around for you, little brother.”

She pulled away, that evil grin still covering her face. Leo only stared coldly at her as she walked away. He knew better than to respond to her, but he couldn’t help feeling as if she might be right.

Everyone hated Leo. From the vampirian court, local vampires and even his own father and sister. The only one he could rely on was his mother and not even she could protect him from the whole world, and he knew it. But then he thought of Elliot’s face and the cafe workers and everyone in town who was just trying to live their lives to the fullest. That’s what he loved about humans so much. They knew their lives had an expiration date that could be any day, and that’s why they do the crazy things they do. To them, life was a beautiful mess because it was so short. And when Leo thought of Elliot’s face he remembered that. This is the moment Leo realized, he wasn’t going to let his bratty sister, or anyone for that matter, change his mind. Human’s were important and he would protect them until he breathed his last breath on this world.