Who Let The Vamps out?

Aleksei parked the car and pulled his keys out of the initiator. He turned towards Noah who had fallen asleep during the ride. His head was leaning against the window, his chin sinking into his chest, but he was still holding Aleksei’s hand. Noah looked so peaceful asleep that it pained Aleksei to wake him.

“Noah,” he murmured, gently planting a kiss on Noah’s cheek. “We’re here.”

Noah’s eyes slowly cracked open, blinking slowly as he reality came back to him. He looked around for a few seconds, confused, then turned towards Aleksei and felt relieved to see that he was there.

′It wasn’t a dream.′

“Hi,” Aleksei chuckled, amused by how lost Noah looked.

“I didn’t sleep,” Noah blurted in a raspy voice.

“Of course not,” Aleksei laughed, brushing away the tousled hair that fell over Noah’s forehead. The coldness of his fingers felt fresh against Noah’s skin, and Noah pressed his cheek against Aleksei’s palm.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to fall asleep,” he murmured, feeling his tired eyes close again.

“It’s okay,” smiled Aleksei. “You look cute when you sleep.”

It took a few minutes to fully awaken Noah, but after a few kisses and cuddles, he finally agreed to get up.

He followed Aleksei up a small hill, taking in a deep breath as he felt fresh air brush against his cheeks. Noah loved the damp smell of grass and wilderness, which was almost inexistent back in the city.

“Hey, Aleksei?” he asked. “Do you ever miss being king?”

“Someone’s curious today,” Aleksei mused. “When will I get the chance to ask you questions?”

Noah thought for a second. “On our next date,” he promised. Aleksei bit his lip, hiding a smile.

“So there’s going to be another date?”

“And many more to come,” Noah beamed cheerfully which made Aleksei smile.

“I do miss it sometimes,” he said. “Living in a grand castle, burning down enemy empires and having vampires work as my slaves was always a thrill.”

Noah furrowed his brows, unsure if Aleksei was joking or not. Aleksei shrugged.

“But nothing is worth going back to the throne,” he shrugged.

“Well,” Noah began. “If you became king again, you wouldn’t have to follow Nyx’s orders and Roman wouldn’t have to either,” he pointed out. “Issa would be safe and so would the rest of the students at Bran Prep.” There was a pause. “Unless you want to create an army of vampires too?”

Aleksei shook his head.

“Nyx has always been more ambitious than I,” he said. “Besides, the procedure of becoming king is too complex. Nyx would have to give a public statement that he’s willing to give me the crown, which is impossible considering that he thrives for power, or I’d have to kill him myself.”

“Oh,” Noah’s face fell.

“I can still give you whatever you wish,” Aleksei said, reading the troubled expression on Noah’s face. “Ask me anything and it’ll be yours.”

“No, I’m okay.”

Aleksei’s brows furrowed.

“I offer you an infinity of options, from vast kingdoms to pots of golds, and you offer me rejection?” he scowled, slightly taken aback.

“Having you by my side is more than enough,” he giggled squeezing Aleksei’s hand.

Noah noticed a twig on the ground and quickly picked it up. He turned towards Aleksei with an excited smile.

“Can you kneel on one leg?”

“I’d rather not.”

“Please?”

“Are you going to hit me with your stick?”

“No, of course not!”

Aleksei hesitated, but kneeled on one knee, glancing at Noah with his bright blue eyes. Noah exhaled slowly before raising the stick and gently tapping Aleksei on the right shoulder before his left.

“I hereby name thee, Aleksei Griffon, king of the New Empire.”

Aleksei raised his brows.

“New Empire?” he repeated.

Noah nodded. “To restore greatness to the world and bring back peace.”

Aleksei frowned. “Noah...”

“Do you accept to be king?”

“I can’t be a king without people,” he reminded him.

“You have one standing in front of you,” Noah smiled. Aleksei raised a brow but decided to go along with the fake coronation.

“Yes, Noah Sorin, I solemnly promise to be your king,” he promised. Noah felt butterflies in his stomach when Aleksei said ′your’.

Noah nodded in satisfaction, pretending to put an imaginary crown on his head.

“Then go conquer the world Aleksei,” he whispered. Aleksei stood on both feet and pulled Noah towards him.

“Though, I’ll need a queen to do that,” he said in a husky voice, making Noah blush. He leaned in and kissed Noah on the lips, and then on the cheek, then his chin, and continued leaving trails of kisses down his neck. “Be mine,” he whispered in a low, husky voice against Noah’s collarbone, his minty breath making Noah shiver.

Aleksei raised his gaze towards him with eager eyes and Noah ran his hands through Aleksei’s hair. Aleksei looked handsome from every angle.

“Always,” he promised. Aleksei’s eyes widened, but before he could attack Noah with more kisses, Noah asked, “What did you want to show me?”

“Oh right, I forgot about that,” Aleksei grumbled hoarsely, forcing himself to pull away from Noah. “It’s not very far from here, it shouldn’t take long.”

They walked further up the hill until stopping in front of a wide lake. The lake was still without a ripple almost as if time itself had been frozen. The tall pines around the lake were silent too, with no movement of the branches, no birds calling. Everything was serene and quiet and Noah felt like they had stepped into a completely different word, one where time and reality didn’t exist.

“It’s nothing special,” Aleksei said, running a hand through his dark hair. “This was my escape place when I was king. The castle was always noisy and busy, vampires were always demanding to see me and asking me to make important decisions.”

Aleksei stared at the lake, feeling strangely nostalgic. “Everything here is calm. There’s no wind or noise, not even animals come up this hill. I’m persuaded this area has a magical force that has a boundary from reality.”

“It’s beautiful,” Noah murmured in amazement.

He crouched over and gently touched the surface of the water, watching the gentle ripples fade away. “Have you ever swam in the lake?”

“Sometimes, in the summer.”

Noah’s face brightened and he quickly took his shoes and socks off, rolling up the ankles of his pants.

“What are you doing?” Aleksei asked, raising a brow.

“I want to dunk my feet and feel the water. Come on, it’ll be fun!” Noah said excitedly, already slipping his feet into the lake. The cool temperature felt nice against his skin, and he continued walking forward. “Come on Aleksei! The water feels great!”

Aleksei hesitated at first, but he took his shoes and socks off and followed Noah.

“The water is so clear, I can-” but before Noah could finish his sentence, he slipped on a rock covered in moss and yelped. Aleksei quickly caught his waist in time, holding him in the form of a dip.

He narrowed his eyes in a scolding way and Noah who let out a sheepish laugh.

“You are such a reckless human being Noah, I can’t even...” Aleksei was about to scold him but Noah was too happy to care.

“Aw Aleksei, don’t frown like that, you’ll grow wrinkles,” he giggled, gently splashing water onto Aleksei’s face.

But the smile on Noah’s face disappeared when Aleksei’s jaw tightened, water dripping down the tip of his nose and chin.

“I, uh, I didn’t-”

Aleksei let go of Noah’s waist and he fell into the water. Noah quickly stood back up, throwing his head back and coughing out water that entered his nostrils.

He was soaked from head to toe and glared at Aleksei who burst into laughter. It was the first time Noah heard Aleksei laugh so freely and as much as he wanted to be mad, he couldn’t help but love the beautiful, melodic tone of his voice.

′Why does he have to be so beautiful? This has to be illegal...′

“Aw, baby, don’t frown like that. Those wrinkles are ruining your pretty face,” Aleksei playfully said.

“Oh, so that’s how you want to play?” Noah said, getting fired up. “Bring it on!”

They both started to splash water at each other, soaking themselves from head to toe.

The once quiet hill was now filled with laughter that echoed through the forest. Noah and Aleksei completely forgot about reality. The past and future didn’t exist, all that matter was the present. They chased each other in the waters and wrestled about, filling the void with more beautiful laughter and life.

***

The sun was going down and they sat under a large oak tree, soaking wet.

“I’m exhausted,” whined Noah, resting his head on Aleksei’s lap.

“Me too.”

Noah looked up at him. “No, you aren’t.”

“I know,” Aleksei shrugged. “I thought I’d try.”

Noah rolled his eyes but smiled. He glanced at the transparent white shirt that stuck to Aleksei’s perfectly sculpted abs and poked them just to make sure they were real.

“How do you get abs like this?” he pouted.

“I work hard for them.”

Noah gasped dramatically.

“You mean you weren’t magically born with a popping six-pack?” he murmured in disbelief. This time, Aleksei was the one who rolled his eyes.

“We get what we earn,” he said. He poked Noah’s stomach. “But I like your flab.”

Noah pulled away, wrapping his arms around his stomach. “This is not flab!”

“It’s squishy,” Aleksei smiled innocently.

“I am not squishy!”

Aleksei pinched Noah’s arm and smiled. “See? Squishy.”

“Aleksei!” Noah whined.

“Say it again.”

Noah blinked. “Say what again?”

“My name.”

“Aleksei?”

He smiled, loving the way his name sounded in Noah’s voice. “Again.”

“Aleksei,” Noah repeated, confused by the demand.

“You called for me, Mr. Squishy?”

Noah’s mouth dropped wide open.

“I am not Mr. Squishy!” He huffed, trying to impose some form of authority.

“Would you prefer Mr. Flabby?” Asked Aleksei, batting his eyes innocently. He enjoying this too much. Noah pounced on top of Aleksei, pinning him to the grass.

“I am not Mr. Flabby!”

“But you’re adorable,” he whispered in a voice as soft as snow. Aleksei reached out and gently brushed a strand of wet hair from Noah’s forehead. “Gosh, Noah, you don’t know how hard I’m falling for you.”

“Don’t hurt yourself on the way down,” he smirked.

“Then save me before I do.”

A blush crawled up Noah’s cheeks but he smiled nonetheless. “Gladly.”

He leaned down to kiss Aleksei, but his phone suddenly started to buzz. Aleksei tilted his back and groaned.

“I swear I’m going to crush that thing one day,” he snarled. Noah pressed his hand against Aleksei’s mouth to hush him. Aleksei licked his palm and Noah yanked away with wide eyes.

′Aleksei!′ Noah mouthed scornfully so that he would behave.

Aleksei shrugged, uninterested in fulfilling Noah’s demand. He reached out and stubbornly held onto Noah’s hand.

Noah sighed, but he let Aleksei have what he wanted.

“Hello?” Noah said, into the phone.

There was no answer.

“Hello? Is anyone there?”

Still no answer.

Noah looked at the screen and the person hung up.

“Who was it?” Aleksei asked.

“An unknown number,” he replied, slicking his hair back.

“You answer calls from strangers?” Aleksei growled, unhappy with the new piece of information.

“Maybe?”

Aleksei groaned.

“No one answers calls from strangers,” he sighed heavily.

“I do.”

“You shouldn’t,” he said. Aleksei pulled Noah towards him and hugged him tightly, the burning desire to protect Noah at all costs made him not want to let him go. Noah felt so delicate and fragile, and Aleksei was scared that he would disappear in thin air if he let him go. “Please, Noah, stop being so innocent, the world is a cruel place.”

“I’m not innocent,” Noah protested.

“You’re a baby,” Aleksei deadpanned.

Noah dug his face against Aleksei’s chest.

“I’m a responsible man.”

Aleksei laughed. “You squishy baby.”

Noah gasped at the double insult and was about to pull away, but Aleksei refused to let go.

“You’re my squishy baby,” whispered Aleksei in a voice so low, Noah almost didn’t hear him. “So please, for my sake, be more careful.”

The desperate, serious tone in Aleksei’s voice sent chills down Noah spine. So he nodded, letting himself seep into Aleksei’s grasp.

“I will,” he promised, smiling as he felt Aleksei’s muscles finally relax. “I will Aleksei, promise.”

Noah didn’t expect their date to end with both of them soaking wet, lying on top of a mysterious, magical hill by themselves, holding each other on a field of fresh grass.

No, the date exceeded his expectations in all shapes and forms, and he couldn’t wait to see what the future had in store for them.