Chapter Text
Shelby’s head was spinning a little with it all. The entire world as she knew it had come completely crashing down.
Well, actually, that was a lie. Of course Shelby suspected hoped knew that vampires existed, she just hadn’t expected her two lovely new roommates to be vampires.
If she was honest, she wasn’t entirely sure how she had ended up in this place to begin with. How had she ended up with two really nice roommates who cared about her and were kind to her? They had literally built a new wing of their house for her. They were the closest thing to family she had had in…
A while.
She was pointedly not thinking about how when Scott put a hand on her shoulder in the kitchen, it had thrown her headfirst into a moment so many years ago with her father.
About how Abolish’s silent guard when the three of them went out together felt like a promise.
About how the two of them looked at her in a way that she hadn’t seen felt since her father kissed her forehead one last time.
She definitely wasn’t thinking about how sitting on this picnic rug with them in their tiny cottage garden felt a treasured childhood memory, still stained around the edges with sticky fingerprints and the golden tinge of untainted youth.
Scott was still looking at her expectantly, head tilted slightly in a way that felt oddly inhuman. She nodded, and his smile was bright.
High laughter, tiny hands tracing calloused fingers, a face permanently fixed in the wondrous joy of small children.
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Scott was glad he had invited Shelby to live with them. Even Abolish hadn’t immediately found reasons not to. It went without saying, that something about the girl triggered the whispers in the back of both of their minds of fledglingminesmallprotectsafelove.
Abolish had once jokingly remarked in the kitchen, while Shelby was out, that they really weren’t in the position to be adopting strays. Scott had just tossed him a grin,
“Love, I think it’s much too late for that discussion.” He laughed, and then pressed a kiss to his temple.
“The stray has been well and truly adopted. Oh and, you’re never getting out of the fact that you said we adopted her.” He gave him one more evil grin and then stepped out into the garden.
As much as he hated sunlight, he thinks that the garden is one of his favourite places. The grass rolls smoothly from the door to the low bed where the lemon tree is, and rose bushes, poppies, and ferns all line the low stone wall.
(The wall is, really, decorative. Still, it was just high enough that unless you are a 6 foot Elder Vampire in heels - or his husband, it would be annoying to hop over.)
It felt natural, then, after a few weeks of living together to want to offer her vampirism. Abolish had once again struggled to make any argument not to.
(Personally Scott thought Abolish had also gotten attached. He had seen the way his considering frown didn’t linger long.)
So they decided to tell her what they were and offer her a life with them.
Laughter, fanged smiles, tiny bats stretching their wings.
The town had other plans.