Work Text:
Nova was happy. The happiest, actually.
The target practice had many fewer burns than usual. And she should be mad about missing so many simple shots. But she couldn't care less; she was excited.
Victor (yes, her boyfriend — she loved saying this all the time) was coming back.
In the last semester Victor had been traveling. It was a great program, really, she had been so excited for him to fulfill his dreams. These last months he had so many great opportunities and met so many great people. But… she missed him. Badly. While they spoke pretty much every day, it was not the same as seeing him in person, touching him, or hearing the true timber of his voice.
So yes, she couldn't wait. There were so many good feelings bubbling inside of her; nothing could turn them down. After so long feeling empty, it was like a tap was opened, and nothing she did would close it. Not that she particularly wanted it close. She loved how she could feel everything with Victor. His presence was a blanket on a cold night, it warmed every corner of her soul.
After practice was over (she decided her own schedule, if she said it was over then that was it), she went back to her room in Rayburn Academy, the place where all daywalkers and vampires (and even some other monsters) had been studying ever since their peace agreement. It was a boarding school, which meant sometimes it felt like camp all over again, with the improved difference that she only had to share her space with one other person.
Thank the sun, the rooms were divided by boys and girls so she didn’t have to share it with Ray. Last year, when they first started studying there, she got a feeling that her father would have wanted that if the chance presented itself, thinking that his presence meant extra safety. Good thing it never did, so now for her senior year she had been sharing her space with Dawn. Both daywalkers were clean and kept all to themselves, making the cohabitation really simple and seamless.
That was, with the exception of today. The room was a mess, so much that Nova was embarrassed to look her roommate in the eye. But it was worth it; she was planning a welcome back party to her adorable boyfriend and she needed to store everything somewhere, right?
She opened her wardrobe with the intent to grab a new pair of clothes, but as she did so, another pile of things fell off, scattering all over the floor. It ranged from cups to tablecloths to wreaths. Maybe, just maybe she was being a little over the top. But she was just so happy and excited… She wanted everything to be perfect.
“I’m so sorry,” she frantically apologized to her roommate as she crouched down to pick up at least what had fallen to the other side of the room.
“It's okay… but are you sure you need all of that? I don’t think I've ever seen you more overwhelmed.”
“I know, I know.” Nova kept picking things up and throwing over her bed. The other girl joined, and she made sure to offer a thankful smile. “It’s just… with Victor coming back… it’s complicated.”
It was because for her it was so much easier to show things with acts of service, and considering how for a while now all she had was talking to him, she needed him to see how much she loved and missed him. So yeah, maybe it was a little overwhelming, but Nova was often overwhelmed by her own feelings too.
“I think you’re doing a little too much. He would be happy either way.” Dawn twisted her nose a bit when a big piece of confetti got stuck in her hand.
“I know. That's the problem. We haven’t seen each other in so long…” I just want everything to be perfect, for him to feel welcome… was the part she didn’t add, but she didn’t need to, her friend understood. She looked at herself carrying boxes fuller than they should be. “It’s a lot, isn’t it?”
“Yes. You’re working hard for something that's fated to go wrong anyway…” she trailed off, staring at a decoration on Nova's wall that gave both of them chills just from remembering that. It was a picture of the homecoming prom at the beginning of the year. Nova had worked hard on the organization committee only for a group of daywalkers to accidentally set fire to half of the room. What Nova was planning certainly was going to have something going wrong as expected from a school full of monsters. Dawn was simply pointing out that maybe she should just go with the flow more. She wasn’t wrong; Nova had a small tendency of wanting to control everything, even things out of her reach.
“If Leo pulls one of his macho moves again, there will be even more things breaking up.” She said, referring to the start of the mess last party related to how he had been trying to show a new trick for a zombie he had been interested in.
“Oh, I'm sure he'll behave, that is if he doesn’t get turned down.” She smiles secretively. It had been so fun to follow along his awful attempts at romance. Nova hadn’t even talked about it to Victor before because it was so amusing she wanted him to see firsthand.
“I don’t think he has to worry about it.” She pondered picking the last balloon off the floor. As bad as he was at flirting, Nova had a feeling he somehow was somehow actually captivating Luiza.
Both girls sighed, finally being able to see the carpet in full again.
“Have you talked to Victor about it?” Dawn asked, gesturing toward the crazy amount of things on her bed.
“I dodged it; I would rather for him to see for himself.” She smiled; she was expecting for her vampire to see the surprise she planned. When he asked what their plans were for his first day back, she said she had a test coming up, but the day after they could do whatever he wanted. She didn’t, of course, but she didn’t want him to plan anything when she was planning to dance the night away and eat a bunch of junk food with his hand on hers all the time.
She threw her body at her chair, not being able to sit in her full bed any longer. “And we are done,” she sighed. “Finally.”
“Just a few more hours, actually.” Dawn pointed out, both already dreaming about returning to the usual order in the room.
“Thank god for that.” Nova laughed, picking her phone to see if there were any messages.
“Honestly Nova, I’m-“
A loud bump interrupted her sentence.
“What was that?”
“Probably a bird who flew inside the wrong window again.” Surprisingly, it did happen quite a lot, so none of the girls bothered to check knowing it would find its way out eventually.
“Probably. What were you going to say?” Nova asked, seeing the other girl picking up her bag to leave. It was the weekend, which meant they didn’t have any classes, but Dawn was part of so many clubs it would be surprising if she had any free time.
“Just that you two are really cute, I wish I had someone who would go through all of that for me.” She sighed, looking a little longingly at the pictures Nova had on her table. Many of them featured her and Victor; Nova’s personal favorite, though, was the one they took on their first day of school together. Victor had his arms around her; they were looking at each other's eyes and in their faces there were the biggest smiles ever. It had been such a happy day, finally being able to be together, knowing that the changes they made would last.
“Trust me, you’ll find someone. Until then, you’re lucky you have a friend obsessed with party planning and surprises. Just you wait.” She used the opportunity to joke; it was true, she loved making her friends feel special.
“Oh now I'm scared.” Dawn said theatrically as she opened the door to leave.
“You should be.” She threatened.
Both laughed, Nova was so excited for what the rest of the day would bring her.
…
Well, maybe she had been a little too excited. Because she had been checking her phone every five minutes to know when Victor was coming and he had yet to give any sign of life.
Vamp boy❤️
You:
heyy let me know when yr here! 16:01
weren’t u supposed to arrive at four? 16:05
let me know whos occupying you and ill get rid of them ;) 16:05
nothing yet?? 16:13
is something wrong? let me know if theres any change of plans! 16:20
waiting for you are the main entrance 16:21
Vic? 16:25
okay im getting worried, i checked our other texts and you said four! if your phone died again and you didn’t bring an extra charger again ill kill you later 16:40
I’ve asked the front desk and she said youre here already! did you get here a bit early and didnt tell me? i dont mind if your hair is a mess (you need to worry less about it i swear) and if you smell like wet dog i just wanted to talk to you :( 16:50
let me know when youre done okay? 16:51
Nova was going to scold her boyfriend so much — after she kissed him, of course. She was sure he had gone to take a shower or something and forgot to let her know. And why did he always let his phone die? She just missed him so much; she wanted to see him in any way, shape or form.
At least, she assumed it was it since he had made some jokes in the past about how he always looked a mess after traveling for longer in the wind.
Ugh, she couldn’t go to his room now; she had some last-minute things to do. Her plan had been to greet him and then find some way to get him away from the second ballroom. (Yes, ballroom. The school was in a very old building in the mountain, so it had quite the medieval castle vibes. They joked all the time about the dungeons that surely existed in the basement.)
“Hey, all done?” She greeted Vargas when he appeared in the hallway. He had been helping her a lot with the planning.
“Yeah, I think so. Where's our boy?” He greeted her, appearing to be in a good mood too. Made sense, he was his best friend.
“Haven’t found him yet.” She rolled her eyes. “Someone forgot to text for once.”
“I’ve been telling him for the past year to buy a power bank." Vargas shook his head; Victor was predictable and stubborn. But after making her wait an hour today and also depriving her of seeing him as soon as possible, she was taking him to the town tomorrow to buy one; she would drag him if needed.
“Oh trust me, he'll be getting one tomorrow.”
“Can you get him his own comb too? He steals my way too much.” Victor and Vargas were roommates for the whole year they studied there before Victor left. The good life of no roommates would be over very soon now.
“Consider it done.” Promised him, smiling.
Vargas joined his hands as if praying before saying dramatically,
“You’re my idol.”
She laughed at his antics.
“Thank you, I work hard for that.” She said at last, winking as she kept walking again, needing to check on the other tasks that had to be done.
The sun filtered in a thousand colors through the stained glass on the hallway. Nova just wanted to see Victor soon, so where was he?
She wondered if he changed in the last few months. Not only physically, of course, but she wondered if seeing the world was everything he hoped for. She wished it were; Nova wanted only good things for him. As long as he didn’t forget her, of course. Still, she had a feeling he wouldn’t. Not only because she had confessed this to him once and he promised her she was the only girl he ever wanted, but also because she had a feeling they were meant to be together.
How many people had visions of their boyfriend for months before even knowing they existed? Sounded a lot like fate to her.
The kitchens had been her next stop and everything there was in tracks as well. Honestly, she had been surprised the staff agreed to be a part of it, but well, he was the vampire heir; it had some advantages. That not forgetting that she was the heir too, they really were quite the pair.
A text popped up on her screen, and her heart beat louder thinking it was finally Victor. Of course it wasn’t…
Venia (history)
Venia:
hey just to let you know i just picked the decorations from your room 17:10
girl what a mess you need to clean that space asap 17:10
but yeah, everything in order 17:11
Nova sighed, disappointed for not being who she wanted to be but at least content that Venia, one of her colleagues in the organization committee, had been doing all along the plan.
She thanked the girl as she wandered aimlessly around in the hallway a little. Everything was progressing as it should, except for the fact she hadn’t seen Victor yet. She had planned to be spending time with him now, or at least just enough so she could convince him to hang out in his room for a few hours. Time seemed to move even more slowly now that every second was more than she expected to spend without seeing him.
Deciding to go ahead and help the others (since it was her idea really), she went to the room where everything would be happening.
Decorations were already being placed on the wall, in shades of silver, black and blue. Victor insisted to her many times that blue was actually one of his favorite colors, so of course it would be included somehow. Even incomplete, it already looked so good; she was proud of how people had united to do it. Especially, she loved how it reflected how much people cared for Victor; he seemed to have a hard time comprehending that, and she was obsessed with showing him over and over how wrong he was.
Usually she would go for these demonstrations on his birthday. His 16th birthday, the first one since they met, was not long after the summer, and still she made a book full of pictures and memories she had gathered around. She wanted to do something sweet at the time, but when he cried seeing it and hugged her so tight, she had promised herself to do things like that every year. So the next one, his 17th, she made a collection of poems his loved ones said reminded them of him (and she even dared to try to write one herself — she thought it was bad, but he had loved it). She knew for his next one she would have to step up even more, but right now she thought this party was more than enough to show how everyone missed him.
“Nova,” Ray approached her, breaking her line of thought. “Why are you making me do this again?”
She sighed, knowing it was more just complaining than an actual problem. “I didn't make you do anything, and you agreed because you're a good friend.”
“Yeah, but I didn't think I would be scrubbing the floor for three hours because of your boyfriend.” He kept complaining with more theatrics that Nova thought was necessary.
Except…did he just…?
“What? Why?”
“I was carrying the paint we used to make the poster, and he walked past me making it fall all over the floor. Then I had to spend three hours cleaning it before it stained the floor.” Good to know he actually was around; she hoped he didn’t think too much as for why Ray was carrying paint.
Nova still pointed out Ray's drama. “You are exaggerating, he didn't get here long ago.”
“No, I'm pretty sure it was at least three hours of scrubbing. My arms don't forget. It was just after lunch.” After lunch? Was he here for so long now?
“Are you sure?” She asked again. Ray wouldn’t lie to her, but sometimes he lost a bit of connection with reality.
“When I'm not? And he didn't even stop to help me, ridiculous vampire.”
“Hey, be nice.” She said immediately. They were friends with the vampires now; they couldn’t say things like that anymore, and especially not about Victor.
Her thoughts drifted back to what was important. He had been there since the beginning of the afternoon and he didn't go looking for her? Her heart dropped. Was he mad at her for some reason? She had been so excited to see him, maybe it was a one-sided feeling…
“Well… thanks for cleaning the floor, I guess, I gotta go.” She excused herself, not wanting for Ray to notice her sudden sadness.
She needed to find him. It would all be clear if she could just talk to him.
Vamp boy❤️
You:
hi… no news? wru? 18:07
vic, ray said he saw you earlier. are you avoiding me or something? 18:08
DID YOU JUST LEAVE ME ON READ? 18:08
Holding her breath, Nova forced herself to stop texting. When she noticed that all her previous messages had been seen, her face burned. He knew she was looking for him; he knew she was worried, and still he didn’t answer.
Maybe he found out about the party and didn’t want her to know that he hated the idea? It was silly, but what else could it be?
She must have done something. Of course she would do something to screw it up.
What was she supposed to do now? Cancel everything? Everyone had been working so hard on it… if he didn’t like it then he would have to pretend to.
Or worse, did he come back realizing he wanted to leave for good? That's why he had been avoiding her? Was he… going to break up with her?
No, no. It was ridiculous. He would never do that, right?
Stepping forward with too much strength, she made way to his room; silent treatment was not her deal; if he had something to say, he better be looking straight at her eyes.
“Nova, hey! Do you have a second?” A voice called behind her and for one moment she thought about pretending she didn’t hear and just keep going.
Her conscience won; she was still the leader, it was her job to act like a city councilman and hear everyone.
“Sure…” she turned back, sighing, “Leo. What's up?”
The boy shook his head in an attempt to remove the golden locks from his eyes. “I just wanted to apologize once more for what happened at the beginning of the year and to assure you that I will behave today.”
Oh, it was… nice of him to go to her to say that. Truth be told, ever since the whole incident she always had a nagging suspicion with him. He was the son of an important counselor in town, and for some reason he had always been a little smug about it. Overall, Leo was just the classical narcissist that didn’t understand when he was not the center of things. But that didn’t make him a bad person; he had never treated Nova badly and he had even been surprisingly comprehensible that one time her father had invited him and his family for dinner.
A shiver went up her spine just from remembering that. It took a while for her father to accept that Victor was her boyfriend and that she had every plan to stay with him forever. These days things were a lot better; he sometimes even made jokes around the vampire, starting to finally see him as the son-in-law that he was.
“Well, thank you for your consideration.” She smiled politely.
“Of course, if there’s anything you need, let me know.”
“Thank you! Right now I think everything is on track.” With the exception of her boyfriend, who seemed to be avoiding her. “Actually, I have some stuff in my bag I should've taken to the sound room. It's just some notes on what the school doesn’t allow to play. Is it on your way?“
“Sure, I can take it for you.”
“Really? Thank you!”
“No problem.” He answered as she offered her whole bag that was on her shoulder; it didn’t have anything else on it.
“See you later.” He smiled at her once before turning back and going in the direction she was going earlier.
Nova used the distraction to think for one second. Should she really go knocking on Victor’s door? Or was it just her being dramatic for no particular reason.
She picked up her phone again.
Vavargass
You:
quick question 18:30
Hit me 18:30
victor arrived early and he didnt come to see me 18:30
and then he read my texts but did not reply 18:30
should i b worried? 18:31
that is odd 18:31
anyone would’ve thought he was going to u 1st thing 18:31
I KNOW RIGHT 18:31
but he didnt :’( 18:31
and i have no idea w it is 18:31
u think i did smt wrong? 18:31
hmmm ive no idea, sorry 18:32
but i did see him not long after i passed u earlier 18:32
WHY DIDNT U START W THAT? 18:32
sorry, carry on 18:32
i just greeted him and all but he did seem a little… sad? 18:32
i had to leave so i didnt hv much time to ask 18:32
but now that you mentioned, it was odd 18:32
he said he was going to meet you 18:32
or maybe i said he was meeting you and he didnt deny? not sure 18:33
why was he sad? 18:33
i told u, idk 18:33
u suck at getting information
HES YR BEST FRIEND VARGAS 18:33
in retrospect… i shouldve asked something 18:33
YOU THINK 18:33
where is he now? 18:34
no idea
i left because i need to help ray with the paint 18:34
u need to work on your priorities 18:34
YOU asked me to help with everything for the party :|
how could i know u 2 were fighting 18:34
were not fighting 18:34
…
i think 18:34
well, talk to him and let me know how he is, alright? 18:34
Ugh, thank you for nothing 18:35
always a pleasure golden girl 18:35
Well, that was useless. Why was Victor sad? Was he sad to be back at school and no longer traveling?
Nova wanted to rip her own hair. She paced around in the hallway for at least ten minutes, probably looking a little crazy to any passers until eventually she decided. The worst thing than fighting with Victor was not knowing why it was happening — if it was happening. It was her job to come up with stupid reasons to fight over; if he was going to do the same, at least he could give her the benefit of telling her.
So she started walking again, one left, one right, until she was standing in front of one large and old wood door. Without waiting another second, she started knocking, loudly.
“Victor, are you there? Come out.” She kept hitting her fist, but no one came to answer.
“He’s not here.” Vera's voice sounded behind her after she called for him the second time. Well, at least he was not purposefully ignoring her.
“Where's he, then?” She turned to the other girl with arms crossed. Nova just wanted to see her boyfriend. Why was it so hard?
“I- well it's hard to explain.” Vera messed up with the words. It was odd, she was always confident. Something was wrong.
“Why? What happened?” Nova tried to keep her tone even, but she knew concern had slipped through; how could it not?
“I’m not one hundred percent sure, but he was in a fight of some sorts.”
A fight?
“What?”
Victor did not fight, ever. He talked, and he defended himself, but he didn’t fight. He was a peacemaker, not an instigator.
“I don’t know, girl, I was sent here to grab a new shirt for him.” Grab a shirt? Why would he need a new shirt?
“Why? Was he bleeding? Vera, is he okay?”
Nova hated not knowing things. Was he hurt? Who was he fighting? What the hell was happening?
“Calm down, Sparkles, he's fine. Just probably was his idiotic self.” Which meant she didn’t know either. If she didn’t know, why was he saying to Nova that he was fine? She had no idea! Her boyfriend could be hurt, alone, and god knows what else. Did anyone take him to the doctor?
“Where is he?” She asked completely seriously. Nova wasn’t sure she was breathing; her throat felt completely closed, how she pushed the words out, she had no idea.
Vera looked her up and down. “Just wait a moment and I'll take you.”
“Just tell me where he is.” She changed to aggressive. Why didn't she want her to know?”
“The more you argue, the longer it takes,” she said, picking a key from her pocket to open the door.
“Vera! I swear to god, just tell me. I need to see him.” She almost screamed, but the vampire simply ignored her.
Since she was the only one who seemed to know anything, Nova had to wait, anxiously changing her weight from one foot to another watching like a hawk as Vera opened Victor's closet, rummaging through the clothes he had left behind.
Was she doing it slowly on purpose?
Nova was going to scream.
Vers picked a shirt from a hanger and turned back, leaving the wardrobe open.
“He doesn’t like that shirt.” Nova ruffled.
“See if I care.” The vampire shook her shoulders.
Nova growled as she stepped forward, picking a different shirt and also a hoodie, in case he was cold.
“Can we go now?”
“As you wish.” She sighed, dropping the first shirt on the ground.
Usually Nova might find it amusing the way Vera acted with Victor. Right now that she was about to rip someone's head out, she only picked the shirt from the floor and made sure to close the door. She wanted Victor's stuff to be well cared for too.
“Now.” Nova rushed the girl, exiting her arm so she could lead the way.
“Has anyone ever told you you’re way too bossy when you’re mad?”
Nova ignored, taking large steps, hoping Vera would match her pace. Good thing she did; if not, Nova might have done something she would regret.
They went up to the last floor and Vera opened the second door on the right, which led to an open space where they could see the sun setting.
And there, sitting on the low wall of the terrace with his back to the view, was Victor.
He looked even better than she could imagine. His hair slightly shorter from the haircut he had gotten in the south, his skin more tan from the days he spent working under the sun… all things she knew because he had told her, but seeing in person was a completely new experience. She wanted to touch him so badly. She wanted to run her hands through his hair to see if the different water really made such a difference, she wanted to kiss him.
Any thoughts left her mind, though, when she noticed the splash of blood in the front of his shirt.
“Look who the cat dragged in.” Vera said when he didn’t notice them right away. He lifted his head, eyes meeting hers for the first time in so many months… everything else blacked out to inexistence.
“I’ll leave you two to it.” Vera might have said, but honestly Nova was not paying any attention. She stepped forward, once. He was still staring at her speechless.
A second step. She noticed his phone thrown on the ground a couple meters to his side.
Third step. She couldn’t do this anymore; she threw the clothes she was holding to the side as she sprinted in his direction, throwing her arms around him.
For one second he stood there, not doing anything. But then he took a deep breath and melted against her. Oh how perfect it was having him in her arms again after so long. She gripped the back of his shirt tightly, scared of letting go, but she needed to see if he was okay; that was more important. So she settled with pulling the slightest bit back and holding his face with both hands.
It had been his nose who had been bleeding, she could see. But it appeared to have stopped. She moved her thumbs slowly on his cheeks to see if something else was wrong, nothing seemed off, physically at least. He was looking at her with pained eyes and she wanted to kiss the sadness out of him.
“Hi.” She whispered, smiling so brightly just from him being there.
“Hello…” he said even more quietly, eyes searching every inch of her face. He was sitting down and she was kind of bent over him at a weird angle. Taking care of the future of her back, she moved, placing each knee on one side of his legs on the rail he was sitting on, effectively sitting on his lap. She didn’t worry about the height they were in; she knew Victor could keep them safe with his wind.
His hands rested on her waist, and she could feel his fingers digging in her skin. He felt like home.
“Wanna say anything?” She asked lightly, feeling completely calm next to him.
“No.” He didn’t blink.
“No?” She inched a bit closer rubbing their noses together in a sweet affectionate manner. “How about explaining what you've been doing this whole day?”
“Uhh,” he looked at loss of words because of her. Good, she liked that she still had this effect on him. “I got punched in the face by Leo Stirling?”
She lifted her eyebrows in surprise that he actually said that.
“Why?”
“Because I pushed him.”
“And why did you push him?”
Victor had been so unnaturally quiet she felt like she was talking to a kindergarten student who did something wrong and didn’t want to tell their parents.
“Because he deserved it.”
“Did he?” She was trying to piece together what happened, but Victor was not being the best in giving complete information.
“Yes.”
“Are we playing 20 questions?”
“No.”
“So just go straight to the point, Victor.”
She missed scolding him so much. She missed him.
“I- I-“ he muttered but didn’t form any sentence.
“Maybe I'll start then. I've missed you like crazy, I was dying to see you and kiss you senseless and spend the whole time not letting go of your hand. But none of this happened and I would like to know why my boyfriend, my soulmate, spent the whole day avoiding me. Your turn.” She said it all as she saw many emotions going on through his eyes.
Sadness, confusion, fear, hope, happiness, and last, embarrassment. At least these were the ones she picked up, but she knew him well enough to guess she was right. But why? She kept staring at him with expectation until he finally opened his mouth to form the words. “Well, that’s embarrassing.”
“What is?” Nova considered herself a patient person, but he was testing her today. She moved one of her hands to pull his hair away from his forehead. She held in a sigh from the amazing sensation that passed through her feeling those curls again.
“Do you really wanna know?” He asked, digging his fingers even harder on her. It didn’t hurt; no, it just made her knees feel weaker. Good thing she was not using them very much right now.
“Of course, you idiot. Why have you avoided me the whole day and was picking fights with fucking Leo?”
“I told you, it’s embarrassing.” He said, moving his head down to hide it on her neck.
“Well, it's going to get even more embarrassing if we don’t go down soon, so talk.” The party was supposed to be starting soon. If he didn’t show up, she would be the one to be embarrassed.
“Right. You heard how I got back a little earlier, yes?” He started explaining, each word reverberating inside of her in the best way.
“I did, although I don't understand why you didn’t come to me.” Nova replied, resting her head on his hair.
“But the thing is, I did! I was going to surprise you in your room, but then I accidentally heard you speaking with dawn and… I don't know, I guess I was a little too excited because I understood some things wrong.” He went to talk to her! She had been wondering about it the whole day. Why didn't he want to see her?
“Like?” she prompted, even more curious to hear the rest of it. Especially since it was something that made him not talk to her. The conversations she had that day replayed in her mind, although she couldn’t imagine anything that might be different or strange enough for him to feel sad.
“Like…” his voice got quieter as he moved his mouth against her skin. “Like you were going to break up with me and how Leo was hitting on you and you weren’t planning to turn him down and you were just waiting for me to get back to see for myself?” He rushed through the words.
“I'm sorry, WHAT?” She was baffled. No, she had absolutely no reaction to that; her mind just kept trying to make sense of his words. She pulled his head up, once more holding his jaw with both hands.
“Please don’t make me repeat it.” He lamented.
“Victor, I- I'm sorry- I just… what the fuck?” What else could she say?
He… thought she was going to break up with him (insane), to be with Leo (completely insane), and she didn’t even bother to let him know she was going to break up with him (seriously, no words for that)?
“I told you it was embarrassing.”
“Well, it is. I'm still trying to figure out how you got to that conclusion. It's just… what? Sorry, that's literally the only word I can think of right now.”
Nova prided herself for many things, but she never thought that any words her boyfriend said could turn her whole brain off like that.
“Yeah, I somehow got to that conclusion and I accidentally dropped my bag, so I had to leave quickly before you realized I was listening.” She remembered that; they thought it was a bird… it was in fact her ridiculous boyfriend lurking.
“Because you thought I was going to break up with you?”
“Yes.”
As if she ever would.
“Because you thought I wanted to date Leo?”
“Yes.”
She swallowed, preparing for the next question.
“And you thought I was cheating on you?”
Her eyebrows scrunched up. Did she ever ever give that impression?
“No!” He shook his head frantically. “Maybe? I don’t know. I didn’t think it through at all, I just wanted to hide in a corner and cry, okay? I wasn't thinking rationally.” He closed his eyes, and she could feel he was trying to look down again but she steadied her hold on his jaw, needing to look at him. Only him.
How had his brain come up with any of that?
“It was noticeable." was the answer she came up with. Maybe she would have to tackle that point later, when neither of them was so shaken up. “And then you just… went to confront Leo because you thought he was hitting on your girlfriend?” It was absurd.
“No. I was planning on avoiding you in hopes you forgot to break up with me. I just ended up passing through him in the hallway.”
He finally let go of her left side and moved one hand up, pushing her hair behind her ear. Every small touch coming from him was like heaven.
“And that's when you decided to punch him?”
Later she could laugh about that part, once it didn’t feel so foreign to her mouth and brain.
“I did not punch him, okay? I just shoved him against a wall. But in my defense, I was just going to stare at him and sulk, trying to see how much better than me he was. But then he started flirting with that zombie…”
“Luiza, she's been a transfer student for a few months now.” Nova interrupted, hoping to give him some more context.
“Well, it didn’t change the fact that I thought that you liked him and he was flirting with someone else. He was even carrying stuff that smelled like you.”
“So you thought he was cheating on me?” She said, disbelieving. Could this get any more ridiculous?
“Sort of.”
“And that's when you decided to hit him?”
“I didn’t hit him! And… yes.”
Noticing the goosebumps in his arms, she moved her hands up and down while she rationalized.
“Just to be clear, you thought I had broken up with you to be with another guy, and he was hitting on more than one person at once, so you went to… get revenge on me? Defend my honor?”
Now that she wasn’t holding his face any longer, he dipped his head once more, resting the top of it right in the front of her neck.
It was winter, so she was wearing a deep red sweater that was really soft and unfortunately it got in the way of her feeling his breath across her skin. Good thing the material reverberated the sound well enough so she could hear him mumbling.
“Something on these lines.”
Nova breathed out loudly.
“You are unbelievable.”
“I told you it was embarrassing.” Victor complained as he moved his arms to circle her back and pull her even closer.
“Oh trust me, your punishment for avoiding me the whole day is going to be that everyone hears this tale.” She said mockingly in his ear.
“Come on, can we just let this go?” He insisted, moving just the slightest bit so he could snuggle his nose on her neck. As if she would let this go.
“Every text from me you ignored is going to be someone else hearing about this.” He should be glad she was still here close to him. For everything he did today, she should be avoiding him just so he could get a taste of his own medicine. But well… she missed him too much for this. It would be a punishment for her too, and she didn’t deserve one.
“Fine. I deserve it.” He accepted begrudgingly.
She opened her eyes that she hadn’t even realized she closed, and looked up to see the sky mostly black. That reminded her…
“Victor… I was planning a party for you.”
“What?” He answered slowly, almost like he was just so content being there with her his brain was slowing down too.
“That was what I didn't want you to know. There's a welcome back party all ready downstairs only waiting for us.” She decided to reciprocate a little and moved her nails to slightly graze his neck on both sides. She felt his shudder as he gasped,
“Oh.”
She couldn’t help but to let out a small laugh. “Yes, oh.”
“I guess I was being very silly.”
“You were, because I love you, only you. I would never in a million years want anyone else. These past months have been killing me from staying away from you. Not just me though, everybody misses you, that's why everyone helped execute it.” Nova thought about all the people who offered to help, how there was always someone to do the playlist, to bake, to decorate, to invite people, to blow balloons… it had been a group effort, and she couldn’t be prouder.
“And what Leo had to do with it? I heard you guys mentioning him.” He pulled back, blinking many times, trying to focus on her face. His pupils were a little larger than usual, whether from the darkness, their closeness, or because of what happened, she didn’t know.
“Remember at the beginning of the year the homecoming had been a mess?”
He inched his head to the side a bit.
“Sort of.”
“Well, it was because of him. He had wanted to show off to Luiza and ended up getting half of the place on fire. We were just talking about how we didn’t want him to mess up this time and since Luiza seemed to be liking him back, he wouldn’t have to do anything stupid.”
“Oh.”
“Double oh, indeed.”
How could he make her smile even when he was being the biggest idiot in the world?
“I'm sorry I ignored your texts. I was just scared of what you would say to me.” He said, pressing his forehead on hers. It was just intoxicating how they couldn’t stop touching each other.
“You’re really silly, you know that? All my texts were about not being able to wait any longer to see you again. How did that give any breakup vibes?”
“Actually you only said you needed to talk to me. It didn’t help my intrusive thoughts.”
She thought for a moment; she had the impression that she had been ridiculously obvious, but maybe to his overthinking brain it wasn’t, so she used the opportunity to make a joke.
“Sorry if I didn't properly express how I couldn't wait to get locked in a room with you and take off your clothes.”
“Nova!” He pulled back, eyes wide.
“Well, was that what you wanted me to say? Because it's true.” And it truly was. The best part was how that made him blush.
“You’re doing this on purpose?” He furrowed his eyebrows, trying to act cool, but she could feel his pulse on his neck.
“Just trying to make you see how stupid it sounds.” She smiled as she rolled her eyes. “Especially because you didn’t appreciate the poetry of my subtlety.”
“I know, I gathered that by now.” He answered defensively.
“You better have. I don’t want anything like this to ever happen again. We could be catching up for the last hours, but noo, now you’re bleeding, I'm mad, and we're late to the stupid party.” And by catching up she meant exactly what she proposed not long ago. Besides, she had truly been excited by the party.
“It's not stupid. I love you for doing this.” For the first time, he consoled her. And Nova's heart warmed knowing that what he was saying was true.
“I love you too. But Victor, I need you to talk to me, alright? Even if in some alternative universe what you thought was true, we still would need to talk. I know that growing up you didn’t have all the open communication thing going on with your aunt, but I need you to know you can always tell me anything. No matter if it’s hard, no matter if it's uncomfortable. I'm here for you.”
She would always be there for him.
“I'll try.” He promised, gripping the back of her sweater as he tried to make sure he wouldn’t cry. “I love you more.”
It was unlikely. Nova loved him so much it was unmeasurable, but they were not getting into this argument now, especially because they still had places to be that night.
“Perfect, now that we got this out of the way, can I scold you?” She asked, getting her back straighter, more serious.
“Go ahead.” He said, mimicking her position, although the fact that his hands were on her tights severed the seriousness a bit. But she didn’t mind.
“Victor whatever-your-last-name-is, this was absurd, irresponsible, ridiculous, and completely out of line.” She finally scolded him, one finger tapping him directly on his chest.
“I know, I'm sorry. Even if it was what I thought it was, I should have talked to you, you could have fixed this.” He apologized.
“Hell yes, I could. But…” she trailed off.
“But?” He prompted back.
“Can I tell you a secret?”
“Always.”
She opened the hand that was tapping him and spread it out on his chest while she got close enough to say next to his ear.
“It was also incredibly hot.”
Just like intended, a shiver ran through his body. Oh how much she missed him.
“Sunshine…” he warned her, unsure of what path this was leading to.
She wasn’t sure either, but it was always fun messing with him.
“I’m serious, you should find some reasons to defend my honor more, because that was ridiculously attractive.”
She hadn’t seen it, of course. But knowing he confronted some because of her? She could picture the situation well, especially the other boy's smug smile and Victor’s eyes shining red. Nova did not need anyone to protect her, but it felt incredibly good knowing that he would do anything for her.
“Are you planning to kill me?” He asked for tightening the hold on her thighs.
“When I'm not?” She mocked him, finally doing what she had been waiting for the whole day.
Been waiting the whole semester.
She kissed him. Thoroughly.
If another moonstone fell from the sky and created a new kind of monster, Nova wouldn’t give a damn. All that mattered in that moment was the fact that she finally was feeling her boyfriend’s soft lips on hers. She was feeling his hands all over her body and his hot breathing on her face. She was feeling his heartbeat reverberating through both of their bodies, she was feeling how it matched hers perfectly. She was feeling the fire inside her burning hotter and brighter than it was for months.
Most importantly, she was feeling alive.
It was like she had been asleep waiting for him, for his presence to keep her breathing. She didn’t need him, no. But oh how better it was when he was next to her.
She bit his lip slightly, playfully, having missed so badly the way he fell undone under her touch.
Oh, trust her; he didn’t let her go unpunished either. He moved his head to the side, trailing kisses from her jaw to her shoulder, making her shiver with the combination of his heated touch and the cold air.
If they could spend hours there, they certainly would. Unfortunately, they had a party to attend, so Nova had to use every single cell in her body to gather the strength to pull back. She breathed heavily as she placed both hands on his shoulder to make sure he stayed back. If Victor kissed her again, she wouldn’t be able to stop in time for their appointment again. Instead, she tried to calm down the mood by talking.
“If you thought for more than two seconds, we would have seven hours to do this.”
He looked up. “Can I kick my own ass?”
“Don't worry, you’ll suffer enough soon.” She remarked, smiling again even if she still made sure to not stare at him with too much intent so as to not be tempted to stay there.
“Ugh, don’t remember me.” He complained, putting a hand on his face before staring back into her eyes. “I missed you.”
Her heart skipped a beat. She knew that. But he said with so much intensity that it hurt just from remembering how bad it had been. Before all of this, Nova had no idea she was the kind of person that could throw up from missing someone so much. She literally felt sick a couple times from it.
“No more than I did.” Even though she knew he put up quite the fight for the title.
“Nova, I loved traveling, I loved meeting new people, trying new things… but it all felt incomplete without you.”
By now, it was dark out, which made it quite difficult for her to see him clearly. Still, she blinked, trying her best to get a hold of his features as she said her next words:
“So maybe I should tag along next time.”
Daywalkers were trained all their lives to survive the most difficult environments. Nova knew how to survive in a freaking desert if needed. However, being away from her vampire was a challenge she never wanted to face again. It was done once, more than enough to prove to herself she could do it; why would she ever make herself go through that again was an inconceivable thought.
“Would you?” That wasn’t his true question; in reality, it was more along the lines of: can you? Can you, despite being the future leader, leave your training for longer periods of time? If she was allowed or not, she had no idea. Until now, every breath she took belonged to the heir, the future commander in training. Maybe it was time for her to allow herself to breathe as Nova, a girl who has yet to see anything but the world she grew up in.
“It would be my honor to meet the world next to you.”
His smile was so broad it must’ve hurt.
“It’s a date.”
Without holding herself anymore, she leaned in one more time, giving him a single kiss on the lips, a promise.
“Now please, can we get back to the party I planned for you?”