Archive of Our Own ^beta

Alex’s bag is full .

Full of sorrows, desperation, failure and the weight of sleepless nights. Only actually, it’s full of books.  He has at least four different professors this semester that appreciate the beauty of traditional paper made bibliography instead of the great simplicity of PDF’s and online books. Just thinking about it makes Alex whine, missing the days of red dry eyes in front of the laptop screen instead of the spine fracture in his back.

He walks home, because he forgot his transport pass, and almost falls on his ass twice trying to walk down the street. It’s been raining all afternoon and he didn’t bring the right shoes.

If he lived with someone else, he would come through the door and sigh loud enough it couldn’t be ignored, accompany it with a you wouldn’t believe the day I had and start ranting about his awful afternoon to someone who would listen. Only thing is, he doesn’t live with anyone anymore.

Getting rid of Hunter had actually been a blessing, after a whole year living together he could barely stand the guy. Hunter had teared up when he gave Alex the news, how he’d found a job in sunny California where he was gonna get paid a shit ton of money and where he was finally gonna make a name for himself but; oh he had to leave Alex.

Nothing seemed off about the prospect of Hunter finally moving out, but as the weeks pass and the horrible smell of Hunter’s weird air freshener fades, he realizes everything comes at a price. If he doesn’t find a new roommate by the end of the month he’ll have to start paying full rent, which as a law student in Oxford University that enjoys luxurious activities such as eating , he can’t afford.

Thinking about this topic has been giving him migraines, and his day seems to get worse by the second. He’s asked around campus and promoted the flat in every serious website he knows, but no one’s come along. He doesn’t get it, because the location is great and the building is kind of new and the price is high but not that high. There is literally nothing about the building where he lives that could be throwing people off.

As he turns the corner to his street, he’s hit with something . The hair of his entire body rises up, and he stares just like everybody else is doing. There are police officers talking to neighbors and he doesn’t know if the lights that blind him are from the police cars or from the ambulance. Those lights reflect on the puddles on the floor, and the water splashes slightly when the paramedics walk over them right next to Alex, carrying a stretcher; a dark big body bag on top of it.

He rushes far from the ambulance and far from the dead body covered in black fabric. He tries to look for a familiar face, and he finds his elderly next door neighbor in her pajamas and visibly affected.  She has a dog in her arms, but he doesn’t remember her having any pets.

“What the fuck happened?” He almost shouts, Velma turns towards him.

“Oh, dear. Horrible. Tragedy.” Her glasses slip from her nose, she uses the tone of voice she reserves from when things are horribly wrong. Like that time the neighbor two floors upstairs wanted to close his balcony to expand his living room but it messed with the aesthetic of the building’s facade, tragedy .

“Do you remember our neighbor? The one that lives right over you?”

Alex is about to say yes, what about him? on autopilot when he realizes he actually… doesn’t. His neighbor upstairs must be old or sick or allergic to sun or something, because Alex has never seen him in this entire year. Not even once. 

“I actually don’t.” He admits.

Velma nods. “Yes, me neither. Never seen him, but apparently he was a handsome young man that had the apartment on rent.”

Alex is about to nod when, “Was?”

That distraught look is back on Velma’s face. “Oh, honey. Apparently the landlord let himself in today to fix something that was wrong with the washing machine and he found… him, laying there on the couch on top of so much blood.”

“What?”

“That’s what I’ve heard, anyway.” She looks around and comes a little closer to Alex. “I’ve been eavesdropping, you know?”

Alex almost wants to laugh. “I’m sure you have.”

Velma steps back again. “No one knows what could have happened, but apparently it was far beyond saving because the paramedics were in and out with… that .” Velma points to the dark bag that greeted Alex mere minutes ago when he turned the corner. 

“This is so fucking crazy.” Alex whispers, and Velma nods. “What’s with the dog?” 

“Oh!” Velma seems to get happy again. “It was our neighbor’s. Poor thing, apparently he didn’t care much because he was peacefully sleeping next to his owner's body, can you imagine? Now he seems more distraught, though.” Velma caresses the dog’s head and hugs him closer to herself.

As Velma leaves to inform some other neighbors of the tragedy, Alex turns his body towards the building. There are reporters interviewing the man who must be the landlord of the deceased guy, Alex sighs. 

“ Now is gonna be hard finding a roommate.”

“Okay, yeah. So we agree? Perfect, perfect. I’ll update it now. Okay, thanks! Have a good day.”

Alex hangs up and puts the phone down to look for his laptop. He’s been trying to convince his landlord to lower the rent price of the spare room even if the slightest bit, you know, dead neighbor and all. Alex wouldn’t mind being haunted by a ghost if that means the rent is a little cheaper. So finally his landlord had caved in, considering that if Alex isn’t able to pay full rent he’ll have to leave and looking for two tenants who can afford this is harder than finding just one who pays half.

Alex updates the room price on all the websites and prays that someone is interested. 

Turns out someone is interested almost immediately. 

The new email that’s hit his inbox reads:

Hello, Alex.

I saw your ad earlier today and I’m well up for being your new roommate if you’ll have me. I’m a dead sound and a responsible 24 year old bloke who enjoys cleaning and laying down staring at my ceiling. If that seems like someone you’d be interested in, I would be amenable to meeting up with you and going over the details.

Thanks and have a good day. 

Henry.

Alex winces at the I'm a dead sound part, considering the circumstances, but he laughs at the rest and replies with enthusiasm. His landlord had advised him to not mention the recent accident upstairs, but he is still unsure about what to do.

When he meets Henry a few days later, he smiles and shakes his hand. Henry seems a bit taken aback by something, like there is a thing that shouldn’t be there on Alex’s face. He tilts his head, and that seems to wake Henry up from his trance, because he smiles and says it’s such a pleasure to meet you with a savory British accent.

The guy is really good looking and when Alex lets him inside he stares at his back. Such broad shoulders. He turns around and Alex’s eyes meet his face just when his gaze had started wandering somewhere else. He’s just taking him in, not staring , and definitely not checking him out .

Alex shows Henry around the apartment, even if Henry weirdly seems like he doesn’t care about the apartment at all. It makes Alex think he is gonna say he changed his mind and only came to take a look, but to his surprise, Henry says he loves it.

“I really like it, the sooner I can move in the better. If you are okay with that, of course.” 

Alex almost doesn’t know what to say, but he laughs. “Yes, I’m super okay with that. I’m glad you like it, but uh… Well.”

Henry frowns. “Is there something wrong?”

Alex’s palms sweat a little bit, and maybe it would be better to follow his landlord’s advice, but if Henry finds out about what happened through someone else, he doesn’t want him to feel lied to or like he can’t trust Alex.

“Everything’s fine. Is just that… Well, you should know that the reason why the rent is cheaper is because my upstairs neighbor recently passed away.” That doesn’t sound so bad. “They found him dead lying on top of his own blood and he was young and from what I’ve heard the scene wasn’t pretty and we still don’t know what the fuck actually happened.” Now, that sounds bad. 

He should have stopped talking after the first sentence left his mouth, but Henry looks at him with no reaction at all.

“That’s completely fine, no worries. When did you say I could move in?”

Alex blinks, and stares, then clears his throat. “Whenever you want.”

Henry moves in. Like literally only Henry moves in. He doesn’t bring clothing nor a suitcase nor a small bag. Nothing.

“Did you bring your stuff in the middle of the night or something?” Alex asks when he sees Henry strolling around the apartment for the third day in a row still not carrying around any boxes.

“Oh, uh…” Henry looks down at his feet, then straightens up. “No, er, it's just that my old apartment is kind of a no go zone right now. Uhm…” He is silent for a few seconds. “It’s being fumigated.”

Oh , “Fumigated?” Alex asks.

“Yes, that’s exactly it. The bug problem there was outrageous, one of the reasons why I left, actually. How funny is it that my old landlord just took matters into his own hands now that I’ve already left, uh?”

Henry is nervous, Alex doesn’t know why. If he had to guess, Alex would bet his ass he is lying.

“Really funny.” Alex responds, face completely serious. 

Henry laughs awkwardly and goes to his room. Alex sips his coffee. 

Curiouser and curiouser.

A couple of days later, boxes finally start appearing around the flat and Alex feels weirdly relieved. He almost believes Henry’s story about the fumigation. 

Almost. 

Alex thought he was going crazy, still thinks so, but he is just extremely confused. Or maybe he’s sleep deprived.

The other day Alex rolled over on his bed, woken up by a chilly sensation. He stood up to grab an extra blanket from his closet, then he heard it.

Someone was upstairs. 

He froze at first, hearing the rumbling of things being moved around inside his deceased neighbor’s apartment. He went back to bed and fell asleep believing that he might have imagined it.

The next day, he came out of his room to see Henry taking books out of a box and placing them on a shelf.  He looked cute, his hair ruffled and sporting simple pijamas.

“Do you mind if I put these books here? I don’t have a shelf in my room.” Henry asks when he sees him, timid.

Alex has to bite the inside of his cheek to prevent from smiling. “That’s okay, sweetheart. You live here too.”

Henry smiles at him and Alex goes off to prepare his coffee.

The thing is, the more rumbling he hears from the apartment above, the more of Henry’s boxes appear. 

Alex is definitely going crazy.

So far, they have been getting along. Henry is definitely an introvert who doesn’t speak much unless he’s asked to, but Alex talks for the both of them, so it balances out.

He leaves the house, goes on morning walks at the crack of dawn and comes back before the sun is properly out. He tells Alex when he is off to hang out with friends and Alex notices it always happens on the grayest days. There could be a dark sky with ninety percent probability of rain and that’s the day Henry will tell him I’m having lunch outside, or I’m meeting up with a friend or isn’t this a great day for a picnic and not the fuck it isn’t. Alex always warns him to bring an umbrella.

It’s one of these rainy days when Henry tags along with him to go grocery shopping. 

Alex pushes the cart and Henry smiles at every shelf in the sweets aisle, he grabs a box of something with chocolate in it, then shows it to Alex without saying a word.

Alex laughs, “Yes, I’m sure we need those.” Henry puts it in the cart, like he needed Alex’s permission.

He is cute . Alex doesn’t wanna dwell on it or stare at him too much because having a crush on your roommate can only end up badly. He realizes then, as he buys eggs, vegetables and meat, that Henry is not grabbing anything.

“You don’t need any of these? I’ve seen your shelf of the fridge man, you need… like, everything.”

After the weird lack of boxes came the weird lack of food . Henry’s part of the fridge is almost empty if it wasn't for a few yogurts and a brick of milk. His cabinets are a bit fuller, but it’s all sweets.

“Oh, well.” Henry looks around. He’s visibly tensed up. “I have food at home.”

Alex snorts. “You have snacks . Seriously, I don’t believe you have the body that you do by only eating that junk.”

Henry tilts his head, and Alex realizes what he’s said. God , he always stops talking one sentence after he was supposed to actually shut his mouth.

He tries to find an excuse, “Listen, I just mean that I know a few things about how to build a fit body and—”

“Clearly.” Henry interrupts, looking at him up and down. 

Is he flirting right now? Alex swallows.

“You need protein and, well, food. So.” He clears his throat. “Don’t you wanna buy anything?”

Henry looks around again. He must have realized he’s got the upper hand now that his sneaky glance down Alex’s body made Alex nervous, so he says, “No, I’m fine.” And Alex doesn’t argue nor ask.

He really needs to test a theory though, so when they get to the register he hands Henry the bags and turns to the cashier. 

“Hey, that guy over there.” He points to Henry, who’s already heading for the exit. “You can see him, right?”

The cashier laughs. “Yes, I can see him.” 

Alex sighs. At least that means he is not seeing ghosts.

“He’s hot.” The cashier says next, a weird look in her eye.

Don’t ask him why, but that annoys Alex.

He huffs, “Not what I asked. Hold back, lady.” then leaves after Henry.

The smartest thing to believe —once confirmed that Henry is not a ghost— would be to conclude that Henry is a normal human being. Alex, however, thinks he might be a vampire.

It started off subtle , like that one morning he woke up and saw Henry wearing a white shirt that read Caution: may bite in red bold letters. He thought it was funny and the sexual innuendo made him feel a little giddy. Not that he was picturing Henry’s teeth on his skin though.

“I made you coffee.” Henry had said, standing next to the coffee machine with his chin out.

“You seem proud of your work.” Alex laughed as he approached the counter.

Henry nodded. “I’m sure it’s at least decent.”

Alex reached out to grab one of the mugs when Henry yanked his arm abruptly. “No! Don’t drink that.” Alex blinked and so did Henry, who was still holding his arm firmly. “Sorry, um… that’s mine. Yours is this one.” He pushed the other mug in Alex's direction and took his own like it was a wild animal he wanted to hide. Still, Alex got to see that whatever Henry was drinking was a dark red color.

Alex's hands shook a little when he brought his mug to his lips, but he had to admit the coffee turned out really nice, so he tried to focus on that.

“This tastes amazing. Thank you, sweetheart.” He said, trying to sound completely calm.

Henry visibly relaxed. “Great, I’m glad.” 

Alex knew that whatever Henry was, at least he was also a good roommate.

Henry was a fucking vampire, or a really good looking zombie or something.

Alex wakes up startled by the sound of the fire alarm from his building, rolls over and falls off the bed with the sheet still tugged under his arm.

“Well, good fucking morning.” He groans, rubbing his side.

Still shirtless and hugging his blanket like a child, he goes looking for Henry. If the building is actually on fire it would be wise for them to get the fuck out.

He knocks aggressively on the door and lets himself in when he hears a groan.

“Come on, sleeping beauty.” He says, approaching Henry’s bed. Henry mumbles something, his face is mushed against the pillow and he doesn’t seem really eager to wake up. He groans again at Alex’s voice and rolls over on the bed, the pillow has left marks on his cheek. Cute .

Alex tries to think about the matter at hand. “Come on, you big baby. The building is on fire or something.”

Henry hums, still not opening his eyes, “The building’s not on fire.”

“Oh, isn’t it?” Alex asks, impatient to get them both out of there. “Then what’s this melodical sound, uh? Birds chirping?” Alex asks, pointing at the ceiling even if the alarm is actually in the building hall.

“Those birds are loud.” Henry groans, turning on his side again and covering himself with the blanket.

Alex takes a deep breath, maybe it would work better to be gentle. He hovers over Henry and puts a hand on his shoulder.

“Sweetheart, that’s the fire alarm. We need to get out, can you please get up?”

“I like that.”

“What? The fire alarm?”

“Sweetheart.” He mumbles, “I like when you call me that.”

Alex takes his hand off Henry like it’s burnt him, he is scared that if he keeps this proximity while Henry says things like that he’ll end up doing something stupid, like finally give into this crush and start pinning. He clears his throat, then runs a hand down his face.

“Henry, let’s go.”

“No.”

“Henry.”

“I’m comfy.”

“Well, I guess you’ll die comfy.”

Henry laughs, but not because what Alex said was funny, he laughs like there is something going on right now that apparently Alex is missing.

“Are you not gonna move?” Alex asks, exasperated but a little curious. “Don’t you care about dying of smoke inhalation?” He asks that with a purpose behind it, waiting to see Henry’s reaction.

At the word dying, Henry laughs again.

“Oh, well.” Alex says, trying to come up with a way to finally find out what the fuck is going on. “I’m gonna leave. If it’s a false alarm then you and your lazy ass can keep on sleeping, but if the building is actually on fire, I’ll come back and drag you out of here myself. Do you get that?”

Henry just smiles and curls himself more against his pillow. The bastard.

Not only is the building not on fire but Alex is freezing. It must be around three a.m. and the blanket over his shoulders is not enough to bring him warmth on a dark night in London. All the neighbors from his building are outside waiting to be let in again, which seems stupid considering they’ve already been told it was a false alarm. 

Well, everyone is outside but Henry.

“Alex, honey. You’ll catch a cold.” Velma’s voice comes from behind him.

Alex turns around. “Oh, don’t I know it.” Velma is standing there in her robe and her hair rollers, the dog from the other day in her grasp. The dog from the neighbor upstairs , Alex remembers. “I thought it wouldn’t be this cold, considering a fire was supposed to be going on right now.”

Velma laughs, “Yes, well. That alarm might be older than me, it scares us like this sometimes.” Velma looks to his side, then at him again. “Didn’t you have a new roommate?” Alex nods. “Where is he?” 

“He stayed sleeping, said he was comfy.” 

Velma snorts, “Not even a fire alarm could get him out of bed?”

Alex thinks about it for a second, then hums. “I have the suspicion he’s really not scared of dying.” And he means it, more than he would like to.

Velma just smiles, not catching on the double meaning because who would . “You youngsters never are, uh?”

Alex fake laughs, then nods, “Yeah…”

They say their goodbyes when they are finally given a green light to go home, but the dog she is carrying in her arms looks back at Alex slightly, and he doesn’t really think about it when he says:

“Velma, wait!” Velma turns around, a little startled. “Are you keeping that dog, then?”

“Oh,” Velma looks down at the animal. “I would love to, actually. He’s such a good boy, even if he’s been sad lately, of course.”

Alex gulps, knowing the dog is not the only one that’s been sad. He’s caught Henry staring out the window a couple of times, his shoulders slumped and a look on his face that makes Alex himself want to cry. He’d approached him one of these times, wondering if he was just melancholic or if there was something on the street that he was actually staring at.

Turns out, he was staring at Velma walking the dog, almost without blinking.

“Are you okay?” He’d asked, and Henry almost jumped out of his skin.

“Oh, yeah, sorry.” Henry shook his head. “Just thinking.”

Alex didn’t push, partly because deep down he knew what Henry was sad about.

“But I can’t keep it.” Velma continues, and that piques Alex's interest. “My husband’s allergic and not a fan of dogs in general. I’m just keeping him with me until I can find him a new home.”

Alex hums, then nods. The dog is looking at Alex like he can smell Henry on him, and Alex takes a tiny step forward. 

“I… could have him, if that’s okay with you.” Velma looks up, eyes shiny. “You know, I’ve always wanted a dog and… I think my roommate would like that.” 

He thinks his roommate would love that, actually. Alex really doesn’t like seeing Henry sad, even if he’s dead and all.

“Really?” Velma asks. “I would love for you to have it! You know, it’s been hard to think about letting him go with a stranger, I’ve grown quite fond of him. I trust you and it would make me much more calm to know he’s with you.”

Alex nods through it all, thinking about how he’s never had a dog in his life, but he bets Henry knows all about how to take care of him. “We agree, then?”

Velma nods enthusiastically, “Come with me and I’ll give you all the papers his owner had.” The dead neighbor . “I also bought him some food and a squeaky toy, you will definitely need that.”

And that’s how Alex is back in his flat, still shirtless and still with his blanket wrapped around himself. Same way he left plus a small beagle, dog food and toys (plural, because Velma has no chill).

He throws all the inanimate objects on the couch and keeps the dog close to his chest, entering Henry’s room without knocking.  The bastard is still sleeping, the sheet up to his chin. Alex almost feels bad for waking him up, but the dog is going crazy in his arms at the sight of Henry, and he has a suspicion Henry will go crazy as well at the sight of the new flatmate.

He places the dog on the bed, and Alex smiles when he starts licking Henry’s face and jumping on top of him. He chooses to forget about what that entails for now.

Henry wakes up, groaning and a little disoriented, then he opens his eyes and they almost bulge out of his skull.

“Oh my god!” He cries out, hugging the dog like a lifeline. The dog seems to share every bit of the enthusiasm, still licking Henry’s face and whining in his arms. Alex’s eyes do not water, he has to remind himself this only adds to the list of weird shit that is going on with Henry.

He clears his throat, and only then Henry seems to realize Alex is also there. “Velma told me she was looking for a home for this dog. I thought it would be nice to volunteer, right?”

Henry makes a noise, and he moves so fast Alex almost can’t process that he’s jumping on Alex’s arms.

Alex hugs him back, a little surprised but definitely not complaining.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you.” Henry mumbles against his neck. There is something wet against his skin, and he realizes Henry is crying . It only makes Alex hold him tighter, caressing a hand up and down Henry’s back until he is okay to let go.

When he does, he wipes away his tears as fast as he can, then coughs, “I mean, I’ve always wanted a dog, so…” He sniffs, and Alex knows he is lying but he doesn’t really care.

“Of course, sweetheart.” Alex smiles, caressing his cheek. “I’m happy you like him.”

Henry looks like he is about to cry again, “I love him. Thank you.”

Alex smiles again, deciding his work is done here for tonight.

“I’ll leave you two to…” He looks at the dog, who has already settled in Henry’s lap, content. Familiar . “…get to know each other, I guess.” He emphasizes, and Henry laughs.

“Sure, thank you again. Truly.”

Alex nods, getting out and closing the door behind him. He tries really hard not to slump back against it and wait to have a meltdown in the privacy of his own room.

Because Henry is, undeniably, his dead neighbor.

He should have done things differently. He should have been a great neighbor and bake cookies when he first moved to this apartment more than a year ago and introduce himself to all the tenants in the fucking building. That way, he would have met his upstairs neighbor, and he would know if the guy was Henry or not.

He likes Henry. Henry is great. He loves Henry, as a roommate of course. But he needs to be put out of his misery.

He hears rumbling again, the one that stopped happening the moment Henry brought in his last box, and when the next morning he comes out of his bedroom to see Henry carrying a heavy bag with dog toys, a small fluffy bed and little dog sweaters, he can’t take it anymore.

“Where the fuck did you get that?” He asks, spitting out the words.

Henry looks around, with the dog at his feet. “Uh, I bought it.”

“No, you didn’t. You brought it from the flat upstairs, I know that.”

Henry looks like he’s been caught doing something he shouldn’t. He is also wearing that Caution: may bite. pajama shirt again and it makes Alex snap.

“Are you a vampire? Cause that shirt is really fitting and you drink red stuff and I highly suspect you are not alive at all.”

The beagle seems to get bored of the conversation, because he goes away to Henry’s room, probably to sleep on Henry’s mattress since his own small bed is still inside the bag Henry was carrying.

Henry looks down at his shirt. “My friend Pez gifted it to me. He thought it was hilarious, and I can see the irony.” 

“So you are?” Alex asks, trying to breathe properly. “A vampire?”

Henry breathes as well, looking a little uncomfortable. “Is that a deal breaker for you? Because I really like living here and—”

“Oh my fucking god.” Alex interrupts, almost screaming. “You are a vampire!”

Henry looks alarmed, “Can you keep your voice down, please? I understand that you are shocked but this topic is still a bit taboo.”

“Taboo?” Alex asks, not believing his life right now. “What are you talking about?”

“Will you sit with me?” Henry asks, voice soft. “I understand if you are scared of me and I’m really sorry.”

Alex sighs a long exhale. Truth be told, he is feeling a lot of things right now, but he is not scared of Henry. He tells him as such, “I’m not scared, at least I don’t think so.”

That makes Henry smile a bit. “So will you let me explain?”

Alex nods.

Long story short, Henry is a vampire but he is also a dumbass, which makes Alex feel a little bit better because being a vampire is apparently not as cool as it is in the movies.

“I’ve been living in this building for a few years.” Henry starts. “I guess it’s kind of weird for a vampire to pay rent instead of having his own house by now, but I like moving around and visiting new landmarks, so it works for me to not be stuck in one place.” Alex nods, “I’ve grown quite fond of this building and this part of London, though, so when I got kicked out of my apartment and saw your ad, I just jumped because I wanted to be back.”

“You didn’t get kicked out.” Alex interrupts. “You died in there, remember?”

Henry makes a face. “Well, not exactly.”

Alex raises his eyebrows, prompting him to keep talking.

“Vampires don’t usually sleep? We only sleep when we haven’t eaten in a while and we start to get weak, so—”

“You eat human blood?” Alex asks, not wanting to cut in but desperately needing to know.

Henry goes serious, then stares at Alex with something deep in his eyes. He speaks low when he murmurs. “This is the skin of a killer, Bella.”

“Oh, fuck all the way off.” Alex shoves his arm and Henry laughs loudly in his face. “Don’t you mock me, I’m new to this.” He chuckles as his laughter dies down. “For real, though?”

Henry shrugs. “More like the skin of a guy whose sister works in the morgue and packs lunches for him like he’s still a child and not a hundred of years old.” Alex can’t help but laugh at that. It seems like a bad joke even though it, apparently, isn’t. “I do drink human blood, but it’s not like they need it anymore. I’m aware it’s still unethical, though.”

“I still prefer that over you killing people.” Alex says. “It would look bad for me, law student and all.”

Henry hums. “I guess we’d make for a good sitcom.”

Alex can’t argue with that. “But what happened at your old flat, then?”

“Oh, right.” Henry says. “So I hadn’t eaten in a while because I was lazy and hadn’t visited my sister’s morgue in quite a minute. Just as I was going to have a drink while watching TV, I must have dozed off because next thing I knew I was in a body bag inside the ambulance. I guess the blood from my bottle spilled all over me while I slept, and when my landlord came in and saw that… well.”

“He thought you were dead.” Alex finishes.

Henry nods. “I mean, it’s not like the paramedics could have found a pulse…. I am dead, after all.”

That’s going to get some getting used to, Alex has never met someone that’s dead before, but he likes Henry enough to try and have an open mind. So for the entire afternoon, he keeps Henry next to him on the couch and asks him questions.

Henry is 124 years old —pretty young— and he keeps that 1 out of the conversation every time a normal human asks his age, so unofficially he is 24. His sister is also a vampire and so is his older brother, but the latter is a lot more traditional: owner of a castle in some dark forest and face serious as a heart attack. Henry’s best friend Pez was initially not a vampire, but he contracted some weird lethal illness a few years back and ended up asking a good looking countess (friend of Henry’s family) to turn him and live forever.  Henry has not lost any time in these 124 years, he’s studied English literature, art history, philosophy, media studies, physics (he dropped out), anthropology and archeology amongst others. He’s professionally worked in art restoration, then as a journalist, also in a few libraries across the world and now he’s finally tiptoeing with becoming a serious writer.

Alex can sense Henry relax as he talks and talks about his life, he thinks it must be unusual for him to be able to just be honest about everything that he’s done. Alex discovers he really likes to hear him speak, open and happy.

“So you don’t eat? What about the sweets in the cabinet?”

Henry hums. “It’s not that I don’t eat, it’s just that it has no effect on me. Normal food doesn’t nourish me at all, but I can still taste it and eating it doesn’t hurt me.”

Alex understands a lot of things now. “So that’s why you only eat sweets?”

Henry goes a little shy. “Well, I like sweets.”

Alex laughs, warm and giddy. God he is cute . “And sleeping? You were sleeping the night the fire alarm went off.”

Henry nods. “Yeah, I refrained from drinking blood the first few weeks after I moved here. I didn’t want you to find out and get scared, so I was kind of weak and tired because of that.”

Alex almost feels guilty for making Henry hungry somehow, but then he remembers something. “But you were drinking blood. I saw your cup that morning when you made my coffee.”

Henry frowns, like he doesn’t know what he is talking about, then his face lights up. “Oh! Yes! That wasn’t blood, love.” He gets up from the couch and goes to the kitchen, Alex is still processing the nickname that just dropped from Henry’s lips when he comes back with a small white box. “It’s a substitute. Like when diabetics use saccharine instead of sugar? I often drink this when I don’t feel like drinking actual blood. It’s not as strong but it does the trick for a bit.”

Alex looks at the box that he’d definitely seen before and labeled as tea bags, then stares . A million questions should be going through his head right now, but there is only one that he desperately needs the answer to. “Where do you buy that?”

Henry looks at the box, then back at Alex. “The government prescribes it. You need an authorization from your doctor and a hell of a lot of paperwork to verify your identity but—”

“The government knows about vampires?” Alex almost shouts.

Henry blinks at him. “Well, yes. It’s a lot easier to live forever when no one is chasing you down, you know? Vampires came to that agreement with the world authorities like… thousands of years ago. They teach you all about it in Vampire History.”

“Vampire His-” He almost chokes with his own spit. “Where the hell do they teach that?”

“Transilvania.” Henry says, fast. “It’s promoted from mouth to mouth, of course, but if you are a vampire you end up taking that course sooner or later. Me? I took it as soon as I turned, I was pretty lost and needed guidance. It’s really informative and the professors make you feel really comfortable. My brother imparts some classes there, but I wouldn’t recommend him to anybody.” He winces.

Alex blinks, feeling something like laughter building inside his chest. “Henry, baby…Are you mocking me?”

He hears how Henry gasps at the pet name. Two can play this game, uh.

“No.” Henry says, trying to recompose. “I told you it’s taboo, but it’s a lot more normal than you’d think. I bet you will hear about it sooner or later if you keep studying law.”

And isn’t that good to know. “Wow.” He says, for lack of a better word, “Wow.”

Living with Henry was never hard per se, but it becomes a lot easier now that the whole truth is out there. Alex has to admit living with him and David might be the best thing that’s ever happened to him.

“This dog is fucking inmortal yet you named him David. Call him Scraps for god’s sake.”

“Mm, I do like that movie.” Henry says, tasting the food Alex had made for him even if he doesn’t need to . Alex also tries not to think about why Henry might like a movie about a dead girl that wants to marry an alive boy. He doesn’t want to hope . “But he is named after Bowie.”

“Then call him Bowie.” Alex says, taking a bite from his dinner.

“Bowie himself told me that it was too on the nose. So just David it is.” 

Alex stops chewing. “You’ve met David Bowie?”

Henry laughs, “I’ve lived such a long life.”

“You did not meet David fucking Bowie!” Alex shouts. “Who else have you met? Hell, this dog has met David Bowie and not me.”

David barks at their feet, either because they are repeating his name so much or because he wants a piece of their food, Alex doesn’t know.

He bends down to scratch between the dog’s ears, “Were you gonna leave him with Velma?” 

“I was actually planning on stealing him.” He says, and Alex snorts. “But I didn’t know how and it was starting to stress me out.” After he says that he goes silent for a second, and Alex is a little distracted looking at David to notice how he moves his hand closer to Alex’s over the table. He starts drawing circles over Alex’s knuckles, making him almost choke with the food in his mouth. “You knew he was mine, right?”

Alex swallows, looking at Henry’s hand over his. “I… suspected.”

Henry smiles. “Thank you.”

Alex smiles back.

Alex is sick but it’s Henry who feels like shit. Alex tries to reassure him that it’s not his fault, but Henry just nods with sad eyes every time, so it’s obvious he’s not believing it.

“We always go out on cloudy cold days because of me.”

“Baby, this is London. That’s like ninety percent of days.”

Henry still feels guilty, Alex knows it, and It’s even worse that he so desperately wants to help, but doesn’t really know how. 

“I have no idea how to cook, I mean, I’ve never had to do it.” Henry sounds like he is about to rip his hair out trying to figure out how to make a simple chicken soup. Alex laughs from where he is laying down on the couch.

“Not even when you were alive?” Alex asks, considering Henry must have died around his twenties.

He huffs, “Don’t be mean.” Alex laughs again.

Henry approaches him and sits down on the couch as well, covering Alex with the blanket even more.

“It’s just a cold.” Alex whispers.

“I know, but I want to help.” He mumbles, “I’m sorry I’m not used to this, none of my loved ones get sick anymore… Only you.”

Alex feels warm despite the ice that has been traveling through his bones ever since he caught this cold a few days ago, because Henry basically said that he loves him. He places a hand on Alex’s forehead trying to determine his temperature, then caresses his hair.

“I’m gonna ask Velma if she has leftover soup by any chance, I hate seeing you like this… and I don’t want to poison you on top of everything.”

Alex snorts, “Okay.”

“You are sure she’s never seen me before?” Henry asks, putting on his shoes. “You know, back when I lived upstairs and I hadn’t yet been found laying on top of blood?”

“Positive.” Alex smiles.

“I’ll be right back.”

Alex knows he won’t be back for a while, knowing Velma. When he does, he is carrying soup and an exasperated look.

“She is so nice but my god she might enjoy talking more than you.”

Alex laughs. “Give her a break, she’s never met you before. You are fresh meat.”

Henry doesn’t look like he’s listening, already placing the soup inside the microwave and humming to himself. He grabs a spoon and smiles slightly at Alex when he sits down next to him again.

“Here comes the plane...” He chants, driving the spoon towards Alex’s mouth.

Alex frowns, “I will find a way to murder you in your sleep.” 

“Garlic is a myth, just so you know.” He says, amused. “Okay, no planes. Just open up, love.”

Alex does, and Henry feeds him the soup gently. They don’t really talk, Henry only seems concentrated on making him finish the entire bowl and Alex… Alex likes looking at him.

When there is nothing left Henry puts the bowl down on the living room table and tucks Alex in again.

“Baby, I’m not cold right now.” Alex says softly.

“No? That’s good, right?” He asks, hopeful. “Are you feeling better?”

Right now Alex only feels nervous about what he is about to do. “I do, but… you know what I think would completely heal me?

Henry seems curious. “What?”

He manages to sneak a hand out of the mess of blankets Henry has buried him into, and grabs his face, pulling him in for a kiss.

His lips are soft, pillowy. Alex kisses them and hums, feeling like he’s immortal as well. Henry makes a sound against his mouth, before he gives in and kisses Alex back.  There you are, Alex thinks, pushing down the fear of rejection and sucking Henry’s bottom lip into his mouth. They kiss gently, tentatively, then Henry pulls back for a second and dives back in with tongue. Alex meets him eagerly, licking into his mouth with thirst. And then he remembers they shouldn’t be doing this because—

“Wait, wait.” Alex breathes out, pulling back. “I’m still sick, I don’t want you to-” Henry raises an eyebrow, amused. “Oh, right.” Alex whispers, “Sorry, I forgot.” Then kisses him again.

A few years pass before Alex can ultimately stop worrying about getting sick ever again, a bite mark on his neck and a wedding ring that matches Henry’s on his finger.