Chapter Text
Rev hadn’t realized how loud Kincaid Academy could get until he stepped out of Professor Lovecraft's classroom.
Hallways buzzed with footsteps, chatter, and the constant echo of lockers slamming like distant thunder. Even the air felt crowded—too many voices, too many eyes, too many things happening at once. Rev moved his way through the crowd, jaw tight, hands shoved deep into his pockets with his head down.
He just needed out.
Not “out” as in gone forever. Just… air. Silence. Five minutes where nobody was talking at him, pulling at him, asking him things he didn’t have answers for.
And then—
“Rev!”
Of course.
Mark Dracula didn’t walk anywhere. He arrived as he belonged in every space he entered, as the world had already agreed to make room for him. That smile came first, always—bright, effortless, wrong in a place like this where everything felt heavy.
Rev didn’t stop.
He should’ve.
Mark caught up anyway, falling into step beside him like it was the most natural thing in the world. “You’re leaving already? Sera said we were supposed to meet up after class, remember?”
“I didn’t agree to that,” Rev muttered.
“You didn’t disagree either,” Mark said, as that settled it.
Rev rolled his eyes, and his pace quickened.
Mark matched it.
That was the problem. He always matched it.
They turned a corner, and the noise of the hallway dulled slightly, but not enough. Not enough for Rev to think. Not enough for anything to feel clear.
“Seriously, where are you going?” Mark asked again, still smiling, as he got closer. “If this is about yesterday—”
“It’s not,” Rev cut in.
But it was always about yesterday, or the day before that, or something Mark had said like it didn’t matter and somehow still stuck under Rev’s skin anyway.
Mark leaned in slightly, like he was trying to read him. “You’ve been weird all morning.”
“I’m fine.”
Rev scowled through his teeth as his jaw tightened.
“That’s what you always say-”
“Can you stop—just stop following me, Vampire!”
Rev didn’t even realize his voice was rising until it was already too loud for the hallway. His words cut through the corridor like something sharp had been dropped into still water. A few students nearby went quiet. Someone glanced over, then quickly looked away again.
Mark Dracula stopped.
Not slowly. Not hesitantly.
Just… stopped.
He was a few steps behind Rev, still wearing that same easy smile he always had, like nothing in the world was heavy enough to really touch him. But now he didn’t move forward.
Rev turned on his heel, breathing hard. Face red in anger.
“You’re everywhere,” he snapped before he could stop himself. “Every time I try to think, every time I try to leave, you’re just—there.”
Mark blinked once. “I’m just trying to—”
“I didn’t ask you to!” Rev’s voice cracked louder than he meant it to. “I didn’t ask you to follow me, or talk to me, or act like you’re—like you’re attached to me or something!”
That one landed differently.
Mark’s smile twitched.
Just slightly.
Rev noticed anyway, even if he pretended he didn’t.
“I just wanted five minutes of peace,” Rev said, stepping forward now, frustration spilling over. “Five minutes without you in my ear, without you turning everything into a conversation I didn’t want to have!”
“I wasn’t trying to annoy you,” Mark said quietly.
“Well, you are!”
Silence snapped into place after that.
Even the hallway noise felt distant now, like the world had stepped back to watch.
Mark didn’t interrupt this time.
He just stood there, hands loosely at his sides, eyes fixed on Rev like he was trying to understand something that suddenly didn’t make sense anymore.
Rev’s chest rose and fell too fast.
He hated that pause.
Hated how Mark wasn’t fighting back.
Rev exhaled sharply.
“So for once, vampire, I need you to leave me alone,” he said. “I don’t want you here. Not in a million years will I ever consider you to be my friend...”
Silence stretched between them once more.
Mark didn’t laugh.
Didn’t argue.
Didn’t even look offended.
“Oh, I see,” Mark said softly. Just that. Then, after a beat too long:
“Okay."
Something in Mark’s expression shifted at that.
Not anger.
Not hurt, exactly.
Something quieter.
Rev frowned. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
But Mark had already taken a small step back. Then another.
Still calm. Still composed.
Still smiling—barely.
“Okay,” Mark said again, like before. “I’ll give you space.” And for the first time since Rev had met him, Mark Dracula didn’t try to follow. He turned away; he didn’t look back. Rev stayed where he was, suddenly aware that the silence he’d wanted didn’t feel like relief.
It felt wrong.
He waited for the sound of footsteps to come back.
They didn’t.