Chapter Text
rhydian sits at the kitchen table, vlad follows across from him. rhydian doesnt know where to start so vlad does for him.
"i lost a best friend as well once, two actually. one, robin, who was my entire childhood and simply had to move away because his parents got new jobs and the other, johnno, well we haven't talked since i had to do something...unforgivable." vlad looks down, rhydian just keeps his eyes on vlads until he can muster enough energy to start his story.
"stoneybridge, thats where it started"
"northumbria?"
"yeah. i was new and on maddys territory. i had never met her before then. her family had been passing as humans there for decades. it took a while but they welcomed me into their pack, taught me everything i know now. Maddy showed me i could belong here- there i mean" he hadn't realised how much he missed that small village, nor taken in how much time had truly passed since that horrid day until now.
"not used to travelling much?" vlad senses, rhydian sighs
"id been moved town to town through foster care for years but theyd never been more than a couple hours drive apart from each other, but maddy and i are under the same roof now. thats what matters"
"you went through a lot together i take it"
"Liam was the one who started becoming suspicous of maddy when a school field trip went wrong. His ancestors were wherewolfhunters so he was always aware of them. we were somewhere where one of them wrote about the grounds in his diary that led to tunels underground that also led to maddys familys den in their home, though they had no idea about the tunels until liam fell through them. maddy was stupid enough to transform to get through to were liam was to help him back out. he didnt see her, but knew there was no other way for her to get there from where she was safely. He went back later through the tunels breaking into maddys and found an old dog food that they had partially eaten while in wolf form, then handed it to women. Dr white wood. We tried to cover it up by making people think that they had a liscence to keep pet wolves but by the time whitewood was in the mix it was already too late. whitewood found maddys dads dna. i stole it so all she had was a graph and a piece of paper. But she knew where they lived. she would just keep coming after them and never leave them alone.
"so she had to leave"
rhydian can only nod
"why couldn't you go with them?"
rhydian choked up now just manages to explain:
"because if i went then, with them, i was still in foster care i had no reason to leave the country the police would be called and theyd think maddys family abducted me, i had to stay. Had to wait a year, to finish my time in school, just for a reason to leave. to find her, because who knows where they'd be by the time a got out of school. thats what i said to her that day. that when, im older and no on cared what i did anymore id find her. But a few months go by maddy and her family are shipped off here by a company that works with wolfbloods and humans we made friends with. it took a long time before i could get to her here."
they sat in silence after a while neither of them knowing what to say next
"i had to whipe my best friends mothers memory, just so my species could remain in existance when all i wanted was for humans and vampires to live in peace. we were fighting a war against the humans who didnt agree with me. i didnt have another choice but i still wish i couldve done sonething different, just as i imagine you wish you could have done something to make maddy stay. convince liam that all he thought about you was false, give dr whitewood a piece of your mind-"
vlad hears ryhdian think
"but your togeher now, you have to accept that there is nothing else you could have done, that you are in a better place now. that you loved her enough to wait as long as you did, to follow her as far to find her again otherwise you wont be able to move on. you have to accept what happened then to be able to forget you have a stable home, fields you can run wild in together, just as me and talitha have endless years and nightless sky to explore."
"how many decades have you had to ponder on that advice" rhydian says glumly but then they both chuckle quietly because really he is in a better place now and why did it take a whole nother species, a vampire no less to get it into his brain, he loves maddy, they're together and while he will never forgive the things that happened he can at least try to be happy with what he has now even though he admits he really would have loved to give whitewood a few hits, liam as well, maybe.
"so how did you and, what was her name the bat girl-"
"talitha"
"get together then? can you do the bat thing as well or just her"
"its a long story-"
"i've got time"
and so vlad tells their story, how his first love Erin came to be, how they ended how she perished how talitha was his travel companion who turned out to be his bodyguard which had to bexplained why he even needed one, and they talked into the night, sharing stories of their lives until dawn was beginning to break where vlad finally stated he needed to get back to tal before the sun broke in
"are you staying in canada much longer? i know you said you and talitha were travelling but wouldnt you want to hang around? would be nice to have more company" rhydian asks while the smiths are lovely he hasnt many friends other than them in canada.
"best not, tal and i are going to a different country in a couple of days and need to rest before the flight" he says shrugging on his cloak hed hung on the back of his chair.
"but, i will be back to meet your girl. she sounds great and i think her and tal would get along"
"yeah probably. see you soon then"
vlad flashes a teethy grin and transforms into a bat flapping away into the nearby woods narrowly missing the incoming streams of light. the sound of footsteps coming down the steps makes rhydian turn
"who were you talking to? you woke me"
"oh you know, vlad"
"vlad" maddy questions blankly, accent strong as the day they met
"whos vlad, and what are you doing this early?"
rhydian locks the door vlad just left out of before saying
"just traumabonding i guess"
"right. well the sooner you explain who it was what they were doing here the sooner i can get back to bed" she exclaims gesturing dramatically back up the stairs. this makes rhydian shake his head with a big grin. they both chuckle and walk hand in hand back up the stairs