Chapter Text
Victor and Nova have been friends for over a year now and their friendship was perfect. They cared about each other deeply and they enjoyed each other's company more than anyone else's.
And despite all the time they have spent together, there was one thing that made both of them feel like they didn't really know each other well - Nova had never seen Victor as a real Vampire he is.
She saw his friends transforming into red-eyed, fangs-possessing versions of themselves often, but Victor never did such a thing.
She accidentally overheard him talk to his friends about using his fangs while he eats. So, he did use them, just not in front of her. He did talk about them, just not in front of her.
She never knew why, and, recently, she started overthinking it. To make things worse, the Vampires were in isolation in the camp Rayburn tonight and Daywalkers didn't know why.
Nova was staying with her Daywalker friends in their room, and everyone of them was just as confused as she was.
"Maybe they all caught the flu and they don't want us to get infected." One Daywalker girl wondered.
"I don't think that's what's going on." A Daywalker boy replied. "If they did, the Eldress would have sent a doctor to take care of them."
Ray huffed. "I don't care if they don't show up. More blood fruit for us."
He chuckled and glanced at Nova, hoping to make her smile, but she wasn't looking at him. She was looking out the window, determined to see if any Vampire would come out of their room.
After a while, she got tired of waiting and walked towards the door. "This is stupid. I'm going to see what's going on."
"Nova." Ray tried to stop her. "Don't go there. Maybe it's dangerous.."
"I'm going to knock on the door, and if they don't answer, I'll come back here." She insisted.
She went outside and walked to the room where Vampires were staying. She heard them talking, but she couldn't make out what it was about.
She took a deep breath and knocked twice and everything went quiet.
Then she heard a quiet murmur, and finally, Vargas' voice coming from the other side of the door. "Who is it?"
"It's me. It's Nova." She replied.
"It's Nova." He whispered to others, but she could hear him.
"Vargas, what's going on? Why are you guys hiding from us?"
"You promise you won't laugh or freak out?"
"I'm a little bit worried now, but I promise I won't overreact. Just, please, open the door."
The door in front of her opened and, at first, Vargas looked normal to her, but then she noticed that his eyes were red.
"See? We all turned last night and we can't switch back." His fangs were visible while he talked.
Things were more clear now, but she still had a lot of questions. "So, your powers were activated out of your control? Why?"
Vera peeked behind Vargas. Her Vampire features were all visible too. "Hi, Nova. It's the stupid Darkstone. Every full moon, it drains the power from the moon and it triggers our powers. They won't retract until the Darkstone runs out of all the extra power it's getting and we'll stay like this for about two days."
Nova took a second to think about it. "But, aren't Werewolves the only ones who get triggered by the full moon?"
"I can guarantee you that it happens to us too." Vargas replied.
"I like being like this." Vera smiled. "I love my powers, but democracy is stronger and majority of Vampires wanted us to stay away from you guys, just in case. We won't drink your blood, but we thought that you guys might freak out."
Nova took a look at the others in the room and they all watched her with red eyes. They didn't look dangerous, but rather sad that they couldn't get out.
She glanced at the two Vampires closest to her. "Do you know where Victor is?"
Vera and Vargas exchanged glances and Vargas cleared his throat. "He went outside to take a walk. He didn't want to stay here."
Vera looked away. "He told us that he wants to be alone for a while. I wouldn't follow him if I were you."
"Do you know where he went?"
Vera remained quiet, but Vargas felt bad for his best friend. He knew how much Victor cared about Nova, but he didn't want to betray him.
Vargas scratched the back of his head. "Nova..."
"Please."
"He went that way." He pointed at a path that lead to the forest. "I think you can catch up with him, just stick to the path and you'll find him. And don't tell him that I sent you."
"Thank you." She happily ran to find Victor.
What was supposed to be a short walk, turned into a long one. Nova couldn't find Victor.
Where was their special connection now when she needed it the most?
Unbeknownst to her, Victor knew that she was here and she couldn't find him because he was avoiding her on purpose.
Victor hated to admit it, but he wasn't sure if Nova would still like him after she saw his fangs. He knew the kind of stories daywalker parents told their kids about his kind. He didn't want to grow even more attached to her and for her to eventually decide that he is too much for her. He knew that she liked him a lot, but that could all change once she got to know the real him.
Even so, he couldn't hide it from her forever.
He watched her from behind the trees, feeling like the biggest coward in the world. What kind of a leader is he going to be one day, if he is so scared of such a silly thing?
When Nova realized that she was about to get lost here, her instincts told her to go back and she took one last glance at her surroundings before she turned around.
Victor watched her leave and, he took a deep breath before whispering. "Nova." She didn't hear him, so he spoke louder. "Nova, don't go."
She turned around. "Victor? Is that you?"
"I'm here." He said, not showing his face.
"Where are you? What is going on?"
"I'm fine. I... I don't want you to see me like this." He sat on the ground, pulled his knees tightly against his chest and wrapped his arms around them. "I can't switch back and I don't want you to get scared of me."
"Victor... I've seen your friends like that a million times. Actually, I've seen all of them like that this morning. I won't get scared of you. I-" Her blue eyes widened at the realization. "Is that why you never let me see you like that? Because you think that I would get scared?"
"Well, yes. I don't want this to get in the way of our friendship. I know you trust me and I trust you. And you've been a great friend to me."
"I know what you are and I... I like you just the way you are." Her voice was getting closer, but he didn't notice.
"Really?"
"Really."
He almost jumped when she appeared from behind the trees where he was hiding. It was a good hiding spot, with long grass and bushes, but she found him by following his voice.
She smiled immediately when she saw him, and he was happy to see her, but he couldn't show it. "Look at me."
He didn't look that different, but his eyes were so...maroon. Nova has seen it in other Vampires, but there was something different when she was looking at Victor. "Your eyes... They suit you."
"Really? What about these?" He showed his teeth more while pronouncing the word 'these' so that his canines would be visible.
It awakened something strange in Nova. He was so beautiful like this.
She's been dying to see him like this for so long and she was happy that he finally showed himself to her.
"You really look great." She assured him. "It's nothing weird, it really looks good on you."
"You think so?"
"Yes, you have nothing to be ashamed of. It actually completes you and your style. It goes with your hair and your clothes."
She was so cute while she rambled on. He couldn't feel down even if he wanted to. It was a good thing that she was comfortable enough to talk so much.
He finally smiled. He wanted to thank her, but then he heard a strange sound echoing around him, like something was falling from the sky and hitting the leaves.
Nova heard it too and she looked up. "It's starting to rain."
He stood up and brushed the dry dirt from his pants.
The rain started coming down more and more, and Victor and Nova knew that they would be soaking wet by the time they got to the camp.
"I know a place." Victor offered Nova his hand and she accepted it.
He held her hand tight and led her somewhere. Turns out that the forest wasn't as big as Nova thought because there was a clear area just a few steps away from where they had been standing.
Victor had always been more adventurous than her. He loved exploring and so did she, but she didn't feel safe enough to explore random unknown places alone and her father always taught her to be more cautious. Despite that, she wasn't afraid when she was with Victor.
She was getting wet from the rain, but she felt warmth in her stomach while Victor held her hand.
She ignored the feeling when she spotted a little cave in front of them.
"You can step in, it's safe." He said. "Come on, we're gonna catch a cold if we don't find a shelter."
He wanted her to get in first so that she would stay safe and dry in the deeper part of the cave.
It was a very small cave, but hidden just right. Only Victor knew about this little place. It was just enough for them to fit in there and wait until the rain was over.
While they watched the rain pouring, he noticed that she was shivering.
He wore his leather jacket, so he didn't get too wet and his body temperature didn't come down, while her zip sweatshirt was now wet. She had short sleeves under it and she couldn't take her sweatshirt off because she would be even more cold.
"You should take that off, it's wet." He took off his jacket. "Put this on."
"No." She refused. "Then you'll be cold."
"It's leather. Nothing goes through this. I'm all dry under it. Take it. You came here to find me, I don't want you to catch a cold because of me."
She knew that she could never win an argument against him, so she did what he said. His jacket was too large for her, but it really was warm.
"Better?" He asked.
"Yes." She nodded.
The sound of thunder gave them a fright and they both jumped and looked outside.
They exchanged glances and began laughing immediately. It was loud and scary, but it wasn't that serious.
Victor watched Nova laugh, and she was so stunning with the drops of rain in her hair and her lips shining from the lip gloss she always wore.
She stopped laughing when their eyes met, when his grin caught her attention.
His laugh, his wet hair, his fangs, his marron eyes... She could get used to this.
He ran his fingers through his hair and his grin disappeared. "It's okay, you don't have to pretend. I know it's a lot to take in."
"It is."
She couldn't comprehend this feeling. He was already attractive to her, but somehow he was even better looking now. She never thought of herself as someone who would be attracted to these features. She thought that Vampires looked cool, but she never found their nature attractive - until now. Maybe her mind was fooling her, but it looked like Victor's fangs were more pointy than other Vampires'.
She realized that she was staring for too long and her face turned pink. She looked away, pretending to watch the rain. "It's not as bad as it used to be. I bet it's gonna stop soon and we'll be able to come back."
He bit his lip. "Ummm... I wanted to ask you something." She was all ears, and that was the cue for him to say what was on his mind. "I know it might not be the right time, but I don't know when we'll get to be alone with each other again."
'Oh please let it be the thing I'm hoping for.' She thought.
"I know it's early, but if, by some miracle, Ray hasn't already asked you, would you go with me to the Late Spring Ball?"
There it was - that strange feeling in her belly again. Now she understood exactly what 'having butterflies in your stomach' meant.
Her head was nodding before her mouth could even answer. "Yes, I will go with you."
His fangs peeked behind his upper lip again when his lips formed into a smile. "Oh, that's great. Ray really didn't ask you yet?"
"We have a whole month before the ball. I don't think anyone has a date yet."
He avoided eye contact. "Yeah, well, I really wanted to go with you."
Even though she was happy, nothing that happened so far answered her second biggest question. "Victor, did you really think that I wouldn't like you like this? That I would chicken out and run away if I saw you as you are? Do you think I'm that shallow?"
He shook his head. "No, you're not. But I know that, despite everything we've been through and despite how well you and I get along, our friends aren't that friendly with each other and same goes for others. They're trying, but it's not what I had in mind. Our differences do matter because they make us who we are, but they're tearing us apart whenever we make progress."
"They're trying, that's all that matters. You guys spent hours in the camp hiding so that your appearance wouldn't disturb the Daywalkers and most of us were worried about you. We do care about each other and that's apparent."
"It is. I mean, you came all the way here just to find me."
"Of course I did. You're the best friend I ever had."
"You're the best friend I ever had too. Thank you for being so supportive."
Without a warning he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close. He held her so gently, and her head rested on his chest. She hugged him back and they closed their eyes and enjoyed the moment in silence. They were quiet enough to hear the sound of their hearts beating.
But very soon, they heard a something in the distance.
"Victor!"
"Nova!"
They awkwardly pulled away when they heard their friends calling their names.
"We should go back." She said, disappointed.
"Yeah, we should." He was just as disappointed as she was.
"Oh, right." She realized that she was still wearing his jacket, so she took it off and gave it back to him. "Thank you."
"You're welcome." As he put it on again, he could've sworn that it had her scent.
His enhanced powers were making him sense things he couldn't sense before. They were stronger and more precise. This used to happen every time his nocturnal nature would take over, but it never happened around her. He noticed some things about her that he never noticed before. Her breathing, her heartbeat, her blood rushing through her veins... It was giving away that she was feeling an intense emotion, and he worried that it might be fear, but her smile said otherwise.
They could already hear the footsteps of their friends approaching, and they exchanged glances, giving each other confirmation that it was time for them to leave the cave.
Just before they left, Nova took a step closer to Victor. "I'm really glad that this thing with the Darkstone happened. I feel like I know you better now."
It made his heart melt. "Yes. I feel like I know you better as well."
She took another step closer and gave him a quick peck on his cheek, after which she awkwardly lowered her head. "Um, bye."
She walked quickly in front of him, hoping that he couldn't see just how flushed she was. She put her sweatshirt back on in a hurry without stopping.
For a second Victor just stood there, blinking, a stupid smile creeping onto his face as the tingling sensation spread through his stomach.