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I am so tired Nick thinks to himself as he pushes his trolley around Tesco. First day back at school after half term and the little horrors of class 3N have worn me out already. It is like they completely forget everything about school in their week off. Speech, manners, and how to use the bathroom.
Nick stifles a yawn and continues his progress along the counters containing the fruit and veg. He has promised to make spag bol for his husband’s dinner. Charlie has a busy week ahead.
Red pepper, mushrooms, and onions all find their way into the trolley. Nick’s hand hovers over a bulb of garlic. I’d do anything for a good night’s sleep… but not that. He moves swiftly away, grabbing a bag of spinach and a couple of heads of broccoli, he has a tendency towards anaemia, inevitable really.
He passes the end display of pumpkins but decides against buying one. He has had enough of Halloween already and the actual day isn’t until tomorrow. The school hall is decorated with artificial spider webs, and various witches, bats, and spectres. The kids love it, but Nick gets enough of that sort of thing at home.
Which reminds me Nick heads down the confectionary aisle, no doubt there will be small people demanding sweets with menaces tomorrow evening while I’m home alone with my marking and Charlie is out on the toot. Better get some provisions in.
Nick grabs a box of Celebrations and Haribo and throws them into the trolley before adding, almost as an afterthought, a bar of Oreo Dairy Milk, I’ll deserve a treat if tomorrow is anything like today… everyone in school in fancy dress, hyped up to the nines with ghostly stories and too much sugar… and as for Wednesday… Nick supresses a shudder… perhaps he could phone in sick, or at least persuade Charlie to actually sleep tonight for a change. He is just so tired.
He heads off to the fresh meat section and selects the best mince beef, he needs protein as well as iron. Charlie doesn’t have the same problem but wraith thin, he could always do with building up. They have plenty of pasta at home, but Nick adds a tin of passata and a jar of pasta sauce, checking them carefully for any signs of the G word. Nick shudders for real this time. A couple of times they had only just avoided a very nasty accident, it doesn’t bear thinking about.
Nick adds a bottle of red and makes his way to the till. He passes two girls from his school, both dressed as black cats, a day early, but then like Christmas, Halloween seems to get earlier every year, or perhaps he is just getting old. They chorus “Good evening, Mr Nelson” and he says hello back, before giving their mum a little wave. Left hand, wedding ring on show.
******
There’s no sign of Charlie, when Nick gets home, he isn’t surprised, the clocks may have changed at the weekend, but it is still light enough at five o’clock for Charlie to want to stay in the shadows.
There’s a lot that there is no one to tell you about falling in love with a vampire… that you’ll constantly be vague about what your partner does for a living, where he was born or when his birthday is. That you’ll largely attend weddings, christenings, and funerals on your own. That you’ll often be teased about your ‘imaginary boyfriend’, that you’ll be permanently tired.
That his husband works long shifts for the Blood Transfusion Service seems to satisfy most people’s questions. Describing his allergies seems to work as well, nothing is quite as tedious as other people’s medical issues. Nick’s mum is good at respecting Charlie’s dietary needs, although Nick misses her chilli, and while he’d love one night to go for a real blow out with the rugby lads, a session and a Balti to round it off, it just isn’t worth the risk.
There’s no one to tell you how draining it is either, to have your lover suck your blood as a sign of affection, when you have to get up the next morning and teach key stage two Maths to thirty hyperactive seven and eight year olds. Nick’s tried restricting Charlie to the weekends, but it’s not easy when his husband is just so irresistible. A man has needs… you know…well both of them do. It’s only that they don’t always want the same thing…
******
Charlie finds Nick in the kitchen chopping vegetables in preparation for their evening meal, it wouldn’t hurt Charlie to cook for once. Nick thinks grumpily, although he can’t imagine what Charlie would make, not steak. Charlie yawns widely as if he has just woken up, which Nick realise is probably the case, as the days get shorter, Charlie has to maximise the time available for sleep. He comes up behind his husband, standing on tippy toes to reach the crook of his neck and nuzzle into it.
“Oi!” Nick bats him away with his paring knife.
“Spoilsport.” Charlie says with a pout of dismay but leaves Nick alone while he continues making their dinner.
After they have eaten, Charlie washes up while Nick fossicks around their study, gathering things in readiness for his Halloween themed day at school tomorrow.
When Nick makes moves towards an early night, Charlie hears it as an early bite and enthusiastically agrees. Nick realises his mistake too late, by which time he is already halfway up the stairs. He protests but there is no heat in it. His husband has had the best part of a millennium to perfect his seduction technique. Charlie only has to lick his luscious lips and bare his teeth, revealing his fangs, and more importantly his dimples, and Nick is lost.
That’s another thing you discover the hard way when you fall in love with a vampire… they are impossible to say no to.