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The steam pooled out as Anders stepped out of the shower, feet meeting the floor with a subtle tack as he wrapped a towel around his waist and stepped into his bedroom.
He walked over to his bedside table and pulled his phone off the charger as he saw the screen light up. A notification for a missed call from Mitchell ran across the top as an incoming message appeared right under it, a simple here and nothing else.
As soon as he put down his phone, he could hear the rattling of the keys and the door opening and close
"Anders?"
"In the bedroom!" He called out.
He heard a soft voice and shuffling before the bedroom door opened.
Mitchell leaned himself against the entrance, eyes raking up and down his body before he muttered a soft, "hey."
He looked up at him. "Like what you see?" He purposely let the towel fall as he walked over to his dresser.
Mitchell bit his lip from a smile before looking down and throwing a worrying look off to the side."Can you come out here for a second actually?" He threw his thumb over his shoulder, and gave him a once over. "Preferably with some trousers on."
Anders cocked an eyebrow and reached for clean clothes. "Oh? Don't like?" He pulled a pair of underwear on.
He waited for what would be the usual suggestive answer to one of his flirts from Mitchell but only received a pressed smile as he continued to peak over his shoulder and around the corner.
He grabbed a pair of pants. "Something going on?"
"What? Nah, just…" Mitchell spared him a brief second of a glance before he was looking the opposite way. He fiddled with the frayed edge of his glove, his tongue licking over his lips before letting his thumb rest on his lips like his nerves.
"Uh-huh" Anders drawed out, quickly putting the pants on and grabbing a shirt. "You're being weirder than normal." He moved past him out to the walkway, feeling a hand on his shoulder.
"Wait Anders before you—" Mitchell tried to stop him but it was too late.
He came to a stop as he looked on at the unknown child standing in his living room; backpack in his hands and wide eyes frantic till they landed on Mitchell.
He cocked his head. "Hello?"
"This is Bernie," Mitchell said, passing by Anders and going to the boy's side with a firm hand on his shoulder.
"Is he your friend?" Bernie looked up at him and questioned.
Mitchell nodded. "A very good friend. Kinda like George and Annie but… a bit different."
Anders stood still in an attempt to make a semblance of sense of everything going on. He blinked. "Mitchell?" He started as said man jutted his chin up with an innocent expression. "Can I speak to you a moment?"
He quickly walked around the corner, not waiting for an answer, and leaned with his back against the doorway to his room, Mitchell following after as he slid in across from him.
He shook his head, staring blankly for a second. "Unless we've somehow defied the laws of physics, please tell me how you have acquired a child?"
"I know how this looks," Mitchell started.
"Oh, you really don't," he snarked.
Mitchell gave him that look before he continued. "He's like me."
"Please tell me that just means gay and an idiot and not the other thing."
He grimaced.
Anders' eyes widened. "A vampire!" He exclaimed.
"A vampire," Mitchell meekly confessed.
He suppressed a groan. "Of course he's a vampire," he muttered to himself. Because why else would Mitchell have a random kid with him if he wasn't—Wait… "How exactly is he a vampire?"
Mitchell opened his mouth but nothing came out.
"Don't tell me—"
"It's not what you think," he pleaded.
"Oh, I think it is what I think, judging by how you're acting."
Mitchell dropped his face into his hands with a groan. "It's a really long story."
"Well, you need to tell me this long story once we find out what to do." Anders brought his hand up, running it through his hair. "Gosh, what do we do? What do we even do, Mitchell!" He exclaimed, lowering his voice halfway through his sentence. "I—we can't raise a kid!"
Mitchell furrowed his eyebrows. "Who said anything about raising a kid?"
"Oh, let me add it up for you, Mitchell. It is exactly—" he pulled up his sleeve and looked at his watch, "ten past six in the morning, I have to be at work in less than thirty minutes unless I want Dawn on my case, not to mention my idiot brothers scheduled A Thing today, and oh, did I forget to mention that today of all days my vampire boyfriend decided to stroll up on my doorstep with a vampire kid in tow that he apparently turned!"
"Anders—"
"Don't Anders me!"
"I care about him, okay?" He interrupted. "When I'm looking after him it's like that other part of me doesn't even exist anymore."
"A child isn't supposed to be a distraction from your hunger, Mitchell," Anders snapped.
"That's not—" Mitchell stopped himself and let out a heavy sigh. "Look, I just need somewhere safe for him to be, then… we—I will figure things out."
He studied Mitchell down with a look. A part of him felt guilty—responsible even. He looked around the corner at the kid now clutching his backpack to his chest. He sighed, and rubbed a hand over his face. "We…" he said and looked at Mitchell, hands falling to his hips, "we'll figure this out."
Mitchell's worried expression softened. An embrace just as soft closed the distance between them with Mitchell bringing his arms around him and burying his face into his shoulder.
Anders took a breath before returning the gesture.
"I'm sorry for bringing this on you all of a sudden," he softly spoke, "but thank you."
Anders shook his head in disbelief and let out a small scoff. He pulled back from the hug. "I suppose this is the, what comes next, part of our relationship isn't it?"
A small smile formed on Mitchell's face. "Coming along?"
And with that, the confusion mixed with frustration from everything leveled down. And that smile… could he ever really say no to it?