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“Kaveh, this is awful.”
“Worse than the books?”
“Well, movies are always worse than the books they’re based on, but in this case, the source material was already horrible. I suppose there isn’t much the director could have done to improve it.”
“Come on! Don’t ruin this for me!”
It had taken months- mostly due to Alhaitham’s protests- but Alhaitham and Kaveh were finally watching Twilight together. Kaveh insisted on making it a marathon since he didn’t know when Alhaitham would agree to watch it again, and Alhaitham was sorely regretting indulging him.
“It ruins itself,” Alhaitham replied. “Where did the author get the idea that vampires have superpowers? That makes no sense.”
“Probably because people don’t like the idea of being overpowered by something ordinary,” Kaveh answered, only half of his focus on Alhaitham. “If vampires hunt and kill humans, they have to be portrayed as unbelievably strong, otherwise humans are inadvertently portrayed as weak. You can’t sell nearly as many movie tickets if you do that.”
“It’s shocking to me that these movies sold as well as they did,” Alhaitham murmured.
“Evidently, horny teenagers love vampires.”
“It seems that horny grad students do, too.”
Kaveh lifted his head from Alhaitham’s chest, giving him a very unimpressed look. Alhaitham just smirked at him, and Kaveh couldn’t decide if he wanted to kiss him or smack him across the face. In the end, he just pressed his face against Alhaitham once more, his cheeks rosy.
“These relationship dynamics are awful,” Alhaitham remarked, gently running his hand up and down Kaveh’s back. “Edward and Jacob are both awful choices; why do the fans fight so much over who Bella should end up with? Clearly, she shouldn’t be with either of them.”
“Yeah, yeah, whatever,” Kaveh replied, snacking on popcorn. “It’s a teenage romance; if the love interests aren’t brooding and drowning in their own depression and anger, how could they possibly appeal to the teenage fans?” Alhaitham rolled his eyes, and though Kaveh couldn’t see it, he could sense it.
“I think you were a fan of Jacob,” Alhaitham said. Kaveh glanced up at him, confused.
“What makes you say that?” He asked.
“Where’s your hand, Kav?” Alhaitham asked in reply. Kaveh followed Alhaitham’s gaze down to his hand, which was resting over Alhaitham’s abs. He’d been absent-mindedly tracing his fingers along the muscle. Instead of being embarrassed, Kaveh just laughed cheekily.
“You already know that you’re my favorite muscle man,” Kaveh cooed, chuckling as Alhaitham’s face showed a playful annoyance. “And actually, I’ve never liked Edward or Jacob. I’ve always been team Carlisle.” Alhaitham’s expression suddenly turned shocked and mildly confused.
“Carlisle… for Bella?” He asked cautiously. Kaveh stared at him for a moment before bursting out into laughter.
“No, no, Hayi,” Kaveh explained through his giggles. “Carlisle for me.”
“I’m not sure that’s much better,” Alhaitham replied.
“It should be reassuring for you,” Kaveh responded. “Now you know I’ve always liked older men- specifically, older vampire men.” This time, Kaveh did see his boyfriend’s dramatic eye roll.
“You’re lucky I love you,” he murmured, trying to sound annoyed. Kaveh saw right through it, though, and the small smile on Alhaitham’s face wasn’t helping his case.
“No, you’re lucky I love you,” Kaveh teased in reply.
“You’re right,” Alhaitham replied, leaning down and kissing the top of Kaveh’s head. Kaveh happily nuzzled into Alhaitham’s chest, sighing softly.
Suddenly, Kaveh’s phone buzzed in his pocket. He took it out and glanced at his screen, seeing a message from Tighnari about something school-related. He clicked on the notification, answering his friend’s question. As he exited the message to check his other texts, he heard Alhaitham hum softly.
“You still have me in your phone as Hayi?” He asked.
“Yeah, I didn’t think there was a need to change it,” Kaveh answered. “But notice the heart emoji; that was the only thing I changed.”
“Cute,” Alhaitham replied simply.
“Yeah, yeah, whatever,” Kaveh mumbled, his face flushing pink. “You probably have me in your phone as something stupid, like just ‘Kaveh’ or ‘Blondie’ or ‘Alcoholic.’” Alhaitham chortled.
“Those are good suggestions; I’ll make sure to remember them,” he teased. “But none of those are right.”
Kaveh’s interest was piqued.
“Well, what is it?” He asked, turning his head to look up at Alhaitham.
“I’ll never tell,” Alhaitham replied with a smirk. Kaveh pouted, his gaze wandering over to the armrest of the couch, where Alhaitham’s phone was sitting.
“Fine, then I’ll look,” he said, reaching for the phone. But just as he was about to grab it, Alhaitham swiped it up.
“Maybe I’ll just change it,” he teased. “I think ‘Alcoholic’ is fitting, but there’s something about ‘Blondie’ that I like- maybe I’ll incorporate both of them.”
“No! Hey!” Kaveh exclaimed, taking the phone out of Alhaitham’s hands. Alhaitham didn’t resist, and Kaveh quickly found their texts. As he saw the name Alhaitham had chosen for him, Kaveh froze.
He hadn’t seen it wrong; the string of back and forth teasing and flirting was undeniably between himself and Alhaitham. Kaveh had always had perfect vision, too, and he knew his eyes weren’t failing him now. Logically, he knew that he was seeing everything right; it was only his heart that just couldn’t seem to believe it.
In Alhaitham’s phone, Kaveh was “Sunshine ❤️.”
Kaveh’s lower lip quivered as he shut the phone off and set it back on the arm of the couch. He buried his face in Alhaitham’s chest, willing himself not to cry.
“Are you alright?” Alhaitham asked, gently running his hand up and down Kaveh’s back.
“Mm,” Kaveh hummed, squeezing Alhaitham’s waist. “Am I really your sunshine?”
“Yes, I’ve been telling you that since our first date.”
Kaveh pressed further into Alhaitham, his heart exploding in his chest. He sighed softly as Alhaitham kissed the top of his head.
“I didn’t know you were in these movies, Kaveh.”
“Huh?”
Kaveh looked at the TV to see the volturi sitting on their thrones. He saw Alhaitham pointing at the screen, and he followed the direction of it. Once he saw who Alhaitham was pointing to, his face screwed up in disgust.
“What?!” Kaveh asked incredulously. “I am not Caius!”
“No, that’s definitely you,” Alhaitham teased. “He looks just like you: same blonde hair, same red eyes.” Kaveh scoffed.
“He does not look like me,” he grumbled.
“Yes, he does.”
“He does not!”
“You’re the prettier version.”
Kaveh huffed, glad that Alhaitham couldn’t see his blush. He couldn’t stay annoyed, though, considering Alhaitham was scratching his back so nicely; not to mention he’d already sat through almost two of the Twilight movies.
Even if he compared Kaveh to Caius, Kaveh loved him.
As Kaveh watched Bella realize how the volturi sourced their blood, a question drifted into his mind. He’d wanted to ask Alhaitham about it ever since they met, but he was worried about what the answer might be. If it was something he didn’t want to hear, he wasn’t sure how he’d feel or react.
But now, especially since their relationship was established and serious, Kaveh had to know.
“Hey, Alhaitham?”
“Yes?”
“How- um- how do you- you know- get your blood?”
“Blood drives and hospitals.”
Kaveh was stunned into silence for a moment. He’d prepared himself to hear some awful answer, a truth that painted his lovely man as a cold-blooded murderer.
But Alhaitham had given him a different answer.
“Blood drives? Hospitals?” Kaveh echoed, still shocked. “Isn’t that blood supposed to be for patients?”
“Most of it is,” Alhaitham explained. “But there’s always plenty of extra set aside for vampires. It’s a mutually beneficial system that’s been in place since long before I was turned; it’s one of the main reasons vampires aren’t as widely feared as we used to be. Most vampires don’t hunt humans anymore, and younger vampires like me have never done so. Though, there are always exceptions.”
“Like Hatim?”
“Yes.”
A shiver ran down Kaveh’s spine, and he snuggled closer into Alhaitham. Alhaitham squeezed him reassuringly.
“Kaveh.”
“Hm?”
“Were you worried that I’d killed people?”
“Well… yeah,” Kaveh admitted, looking up at Alhaitham. “But considering there was a chance that you could’ve, I don’t think it’s weird for me to worry about it. I mean, if you knew your boyfriend might have killed people before, wouldn’t you be worried?”
“I’d trust that you had good reason to,” Alhaitham replied. Kaveh just blinked at him.
“What?!”
“I know you; you wouldn’t kill anyone without an entirely justifiable reason,” Alhaitham explained. “Even then, I have doubts that you’d actually take someone’s life.”
“In this hypothetical, your boyfriend isn’t me,” Kaveh replied. “He’s just a man that you’re dating.”
“If he’s not you, he’s not my boyfriend,” Alhaitham responded. Kaveh huffed in frustration, but he couldn’t ignore the burst of affection that exploded in his heart. “I understand what you’re saying, Kav. I think it’s reasonable that you were worried; if I hadn’t had blood donations to rely on, I’m not sure what I would have done.
“Perhaps I could have justified taking lives in order to avoid starvation, but it would still have been difficult to justify the specific people I chose. I could have targeted criminals, like Edward, but unlike him, I’m unable to read minds- how could I have known who was truly guilty?”
Though it was clear that Alhaitham had spent a fair amount of time thinking about his possible killing strategies, his words actually assured Kaveh more than they worried him. Alhaitham obviously didn’t want to kill anyone, and he wouldn’t even think of it so long as he had an alternative.
“Could you drink animal blood?” Kaveh asked. “You know, be a ‘vegetarian’ like the Cullens?”
“I’ve tried some animal blood, but it isn’t very satisfactory,” Alhaitham answered. “If you were to fast for a week, and you could choose to break it with either a full meal or a snack, which would you choose?”
“So animal blood is about the same as- I don’t know- a few crackers?”
“Something like that,” Alhaitham replied. “It does have its benefits, and it helps with my thirst, but it isn’t what I was designed to survive off of.”
“That makes sense,” Kaveh murmured, his attention slowly being stolen away by the movie.
Their conversation faded away as they finished New Moon, and they spent a good portion of Eclipse making out. Kaveh was surprised that it took until the third movie to reach that point; he supposed that Alhaitham must just be that invested in the plot.
By the time they’d calmed down to innocently spooning on the couch, and after Alhaitham had stopped peppering Kaveh’s face with kisses, they were watching Edward and Bella’s honeymoon.
“If we get married, I am not spending our honeymoon playing chess,” Kaveh commented off-handedly. He barely realized he’d said anything, but Alhaitham seemed to take him completely seriously.
“Do you want to get married?” He asked softly.
“Yeah, I think so,” Kaveh answered, lazily intertwining his fingers with Alhaitham’s. “Not anytime soon, though.”
“Of course not; we’ve only been together for a few months.”
“When we get married, are you going to turn me?”
A heavy silence followed Kaveh’s question, and he quickly regretted asking it at all. Just as he was about to take it back, though, Alhaitham answered.
“I don’t know,” he said softly. “Becoming a vampire forces many restrictions on you; I don’t want to take away your freedom.”
“But…?”
Alhaitham sighed.
“You knew that was coming, didn’t you?” Alhaitham asked.
“I did,” Kaveh admitted, squeezing Alhaitham’s hand. “What were you going to say?”
“I’m a selfish man,” Alhaitham answered. “I don’t want to curse you with immortality, but I also don’t want you to die.”
“Would immortality be such a curse if it meant I could spend forever with you?”
“It certainly stopped feeling like a curse once I met you.”
Kaveh turned his head to look at Alhaitham, his eyes wide. Alhaitham’s gaze was soft as he looked down at Kaveh.
“Really?” Kaveh asked quietly. Alhaitham nodded, giving Kaveh a moment to absorb everything before leaning in and kissing him softly.
“We don’t have to decide anything now,” Alhaitham murmured. “But Kaveh…”
“Yes?”
“If you’re seriously thinking you want me to turn you, then I want you to do a few things first.”
“Like what?”
“I want you to finish school, I want you to work for a few years, and I want you to marry me. If you become a vampire, you won’t be able to work for much longer than five years before people start to realize that you aren’t aging; ten, if you’re lucky. I want you to experience human life before you decide to give it up.
“Additionally, I’d like you to marry me because marriage is one of the few ways that humans can come to grasp how long eternity truly is. If you can wholly and happily commit to marriage, you’ll be better prepared for living alongside me forever.”
A soft silence settled between them as Kaveh absorbed everything that Alhaitham had said. He looked deep in thought for a few moments, but it was clear that this wasn’t the first time Kaveh had thought about any of this.
“I think that sounds perfect,” Kaveh replied, giving Alhaitham a small smile. “To be honest, your plan is very similar to the one I’d been thinking about. I think the only difference is that I hadn’t thought about getting married first, but your reasoning makes sense.”
“I love you.”
“I love you, too.”
Kaveh sighed contentedly as Alhaitham nuzzled against his neck. They both sank into the couch as they redirected their attention back to the movie. They continued to point out and laugh at all of the ridiculous vampire misrepresentations, content to spend the rest of the night wrapped up in each other’s arms.