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Scott didn't know how to feel right now.
Actually, that was the problem. He shouldn't be 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 at all.
What happened to make him like this? Waking up after so long, all the new fledglings, or, God forbid, Avid himself?
Scott's been confused since Avid kissed him at the lake.
He didn't hate it, didn't want to rip Avid's throat out, but he had no clue how it made him feel. It's been so long that Scott doesn't think he could remember how a lot of emotions feel.
Maybe he should talk to Shelby? She seemed like she'd know what to do here.
Scott walked to the ballroom, graceful as ever, to where Shelby was. “Shelby, may I have a word with you? In the crypt, I don't want 𝖺𝗇𝗒𝗈𝗇𝖾 else hearing this.”
After a moment's hesitation, Shelby closed her book and put her quill in her pocket. “Sure!”
So she and Scott walked to the crypt, idly chattering about Shelby's book on the way. Once they were in deep enough that nobody above could hear a thing, Scott leaned against the wall. “I need help.”
Shelby tilted her head slightly, looking interested. “With what?”
Scott made the effort to not change his face, and tried to get it together silently. “I don't know how I feel about Avid. He kissed me at the lake earlier when we were converting it.”
Shelby's eyes 𝘴𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘭𝘦𝘥. She looked so excited that Scott was tempted to cover his ears due to how loud it looked like she would squeal.
“That's so exciting! But since it was you I'm surprised he didn't die right then and there. I'd have thought you staked him if I hadn't seen him since then.”
“That's where I'm having a problem. I didn't 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 to kill him. That's not like me. I don't really know how I feel about it.”
Shelby's look of amusement didn't fade in the slightest. “Well, to start, how to you feel about Avid?”
“Well, he's still annoying, and talks too much sometimes, but he can be funny and he is good enough company. The attention is enjoyable, he tends to give about, what, three compliments per sentence? They’re all obviously things I know, but it never hurts to hear them again. He still forgets to feed sometimes, which is annoying, I don't want him to starve or something. I don't get why he can't grasp that, we need to be our strongest.”
Secretly, Scott knows that isn't all of it. Every time Avid forgot to feed, or just showed his lack of survival skills, Scott got a tight feeling in his chest. Every time Avid did something stupid, Scott felt something that could be described as 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘺. It was ridiculous, why would he worry. It shouldn't matter.
Scott could see Shelby bite down on her lip as if trying to contain a laugh. “Okay, well what did you think about the kiss?”
Scott thought for a moment, twirling a section of his white hair with his clawed fingers. “It wasn't horrible. I don't know if I'd say 𝘯𝘪𝘤𝘦, I cant really put my finger on it, it's been such a long time since I felt much of anything. Sleeping for 600 years does a number on you.”
Shelby stifled a giggle with her hand. “Scott,” she laughed, “if you want to know what I think, I think you have a crush on him.”
If Scott could still blush, he would be. He could feel a phantom warmth spread to his face. He made sure he kept his composure, though. “I think I need to think that over on my own for a bit.”
“Take all the time you need.”
_____
Now it was nighttime. As far as Scott knew, everyone was out hunting, terrorizing the humans, or just doing whatever that felt like now that they weren't being weakened by the wretched sun.
He was on top of the roof, leaning back on his hands, and staring at the lack of stars in the red sky. He had some things to think about.
There was no way he 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 had a crush on Avid. His lovers throughout the years have been few and far in between. He had different feelings about Avid than he did about them, anyway. Shelby must be mistaken. She might be too caught up in a story. There was no way that he, Scott Goldsmith, had a crush on Avid. The annoying man from town who he never wanted turned into a vampire.
As Scott tried to convince himself that there was absolutely no way in hell having a crush was causing these weird feelings, his train of thought was interrupted by a thud behind him.
Scott turned and saw that it was Avid, who looked slightly disgruntled and had blood on his chin that presumably forgot to wipe off. “Hello, Avid. What are you doing here?”
“Well, that's what I was gonna ask yo-” Avid tripped over his own foot, falling over and landing next to Scott.
Scott chuckled. “I was looking at the stars, am I not allowed to take a break every once in a while?”
Avid peeled himself off of the roof and sat criss crossed, looking embarrassed as ever. “That's not what I meant!” He covered his face with his hands, trying to gather the right words. “I just thought you'd be busy, doing vampire stuff or hunting or something.”
Scott looked at the sky, still wearing the soft smile he always does. “Not tonight, or at least not right now. I got a lot done during the day.”
“That makes sense, I guess.” Avid played with the hem of his blood red cape.
“And also, darling,” Scott leaned over to face Avid and cupped his cheek, “You should clean up your face after feeding, you look a little messy.” Scott wiped the blood away with his thumb. “We can't have that.”
Avid, once again, looked thoroughly embarrassed and turned his face up to the sky, spluttering out something about not realizing there was blood on his chin.
After about a minute of silence, Avid said, “The stars are really pretty, I get why you were looking at them.”
Scott hummed in response, and it was quiet after that.
A few more minutes later, Scott felt a weight on his shoulder. Avid was leaning on him, and seemed more peaceful then Scott's ever seen him.
Scott didn't quite know how he felt about Avid, but he was sure this felt nice.