"You mean you're going to lay back and let me indulge in every filthy oral gratification I ever fantasized about?" Pete said in provocative voice, hooking his fingers into the belt loops of Josh's jeans, pressing his groin to Josh's ass. His eyes glittering dangerously.
"Just remember I'm your treat not your victim," Josh laughed a little nervously.
"Yes, you're my treat," Pete grinned, licking the tip of his ear.
"Don't hurt me," Josh laughed,
I'll try to be gentle," Pete said, winking at Josh.
Peeking out from behind a tree, Christov whispered to Henri, "Damn you. You won out bet."
"I told you they wouldn't break up," Henri said, trying not to sound as smug as he felt. Henri pocketed the ten dollars.
"What can you expect from mince meats?" Christov sighed, pulling out from his pocket two plane tickets to Paris. Looks like we're not going to need these."
"You realize thanks to you and Henri's over protection of him, and my trying to shove Pete into making a commitment he wasn't ready for Pete will probably always have a human side to him more than most night walkers," Michael said, wrapped in a leather trench coat. "We ruined that child."
"We have rather failed in our education of him," Henri said smiling.
"Oh well, better to have loved and lost someone then never to have loved at all," Michael said lighting a cigarette, "I'll always be In Pete's life. Even if it is as only a watcher."
"Keep it that way," Christov snorted, "Nothing like obsession to keep a corpse alive."
"You and I know that relationships for night walkers only last but a human life time. I'll give it time. It won't last forever," Michael said dreamily.
A lone figure walked from between the trees, "Michael," Ovid whispered. His face glowing like angelic damnation, his voice gentle and penetrating to the soul, "You need not be alone"
"Join us Michael," sang a girl's voice. Lena appeared beside Ovid, her arms out stretched. Snow fell gently on her rags.
We can be the companions, your lovers," Emil said, his blood dripping from a small wound on his throat.
"Be fair to us Michael, " Ovid pleased, "Josh and Pete did break up after all."
Drawing the smoke from his cigarette into his dead lungs, Michael flicked the cigarette at Ovid.
Ovid gasped, his body feeling strangely hot and fevered.
Coals seemed to ember in his insides. Falling into Emil, Ovid groaned.
"Kill Ovid, kill us all" Lena cursed.
"Who said anything about killing anyone?' Michael said in a mocking voice of concerned surprise.
Shaking his finger in Lena's face, Michael tantalized her with his mouth so close to the faint pulse in her throat, "Want a little taste of me Lena, Emil? Need a little hit, just a little hit of my power?"
Snatching the plane tickers out of Christov's hands, Michael thrust the tickets at Ovid, "Get another ticket and go to Paris, quickly. And the next time you have dealings with a night walkers processed of first brood and powerful blood take a care to be cautious Do not take the risk of upsetting them. No one can really predict how they'll finally die. Can they?"
Pulling Ovid along with them, Emil and Lena left
"You were a little hard on those youngers." Henri said arching his eye brow.
"Was I?" Michael said pleasantly.
"You so need to get laid. You should have taken Ovid up on his offer," Christov said cheerfully, grinning evilly at him.
"I think not," Michael said huffily, "I'll see you both in New Orleans."
"We can't wait," Christov snorted.
"Let's contact Armand and let him fly us to New Orleans," Christov said as they watched Michael take off into the sky.
Christov headed off into an encroaching mist and blowing snow.
What if I decide not to join you? What if this is the moment I decide we are going to part, Henri thought frustrated, What if I'm tired of your aloofness, your fears, your mockery of me? Henri thought sullenly, Your constant rejection of me.
"Henri," Christov said, spinning around, his hands on his hips, "Are you coming with me or not!"
Sighing, Henri ran up to Christov and linked arms with him, saying "Why do you suppose Michael was so upset with Ovid? What kind of business do you think Michael had with Ovid's coven?"
"Do you think Michael was Ovid's lover? And that ancient. Why did he fly off when I tossed my gris gris at him I mean what was in that gris gris to make it work?'
Falling into a serious gossip session Christov and Henri lost themselves in their world for at least the moment.
From a distance, Marie Glapion watched the two vampires keeping each other spell bound.
Slowly her form dissolved into that of a frail, forlorn, young woman, her hair tied back in a lank pony tail Her child appeared at her side. Gliding above the ground, they followed Christov and Henri.
Months later Josh was with the Real World cast doing a reunion show.
Smiling for the cameras, Joey said to the live audience, "I date, and I'm doing my medical internship."
"I'm with a partner," Marcia said, holding hands with Joey, "After the show Joey and I moved to San Francisco together."
"We helped each other out,'" Joey said, kissing Marcia's cheek.
"I can't tell you all my partner's name. She's in the army over in Saudi Arabia. You now how it is with that stupid don't ask, don't tell rule. I don't want her to get kicked out of the service so all I can say is, honey if your watching, and I hope your watching, I love you. Can't wait till you come back home to me," Marcia said, blowing a kiss to the camera.
"I'm with a steady too," Thomas said, "I'm hosting parties at my place and going for my pilot license."
"And I'm married to a man! " Amy laughed, "And I have a kid on the way!"
"I'm happy with my partner Pete" Josh said, beaming, "We haven't had a commitment ceremony yet but we're planing on it. We bought a house together."
"It's too bad the part on the film where we met Pete ended up missing, " Thomas said.
"The tension in the Chicago house went down once Marcia, Joey, and Josh finally came out of the closet," Paul said, his handsome dark face wearing a smile, holding Joanie's hand. "Joanie and I got together after the show."
"We've lived together for two months," Joanie said making a peace sign for the cameras.
"Then we broke up," Paul said, "We're still managed to stay friends much like we all managed to stay friends."
"I'm going to Harvard to be a lawyer," Tan said breathlessly, her oriental face beaming, "No man in my life. Not yet."
"Josh remember the skinny dipping parry we went to?" Thomas teased, "The night Joey licked champagne out of your tummy button?"
"All in good clean fun," Josh said, grinning like a fool remembering the terse conversation he and Pete got into once he was back in New Orleans, and Pete caught that episode. Actually there was a lot of tense moments between him and Pete when Pete sat down with his mouth wide open, his eyes glaring fixated at the television, watching Josh bopping, flirting, not drinking booze, dancing up a storm at gay bars with his roommates and various hot looking mortal boys. One night Josh even was shimmying down with a trio of night walkers wearing carnival masks which covered the upper parts of their faces. The night walkers suspiciously reminded Pete of Lena, Ovid, and Emil. Josh whispered to the night walker who looked like Ovid, 'Once you had sun you know you've had fun, wanna try sun walker? The vampire who looked like Ovid had a intrigued look on his lips. Later, Pete found out from Josh they actually were the coven of children. They were hanging out in Chicago till they went to Paris the next night. Josh reported that he and the children actually got along after having a conversation. He relayed their good wishes to Pete. Bygones being bygones. The good parts of the show for Pete was watching Josh on television talking on the phone, Pete got to relive their sappy, embarrassingly, teary eyed conversations they had when Josh would go back to the Chicago house after partying and call him up before he went to bed alone.
"Remember the time you entered that naked go-go boy dance contest at the lucky Horseshoe Lounge I can't believe you won second place," Joey snickered.
"You're only bringing that up because you got first place. And it's only because I wouldn't bend over and shake it up like some people I know," Josh groused.
"I adored that contest,' Amy leered.
Who did you vote for?' Tan asked
"I'm not telling," Amy giggled, winking at Josh.
"I voted for Joey," Maricia said sticking her tongue at Josh.
"I can't believe a fun guy like you is going to go through a commitment ceremony. How did you ask him to marry you?" Thomas said wistfully.
"I asked him after a huge fight," Josh said, smiling.
"Do you and your boyfriend Pete still fight?" Joey said in a worried tone.
"All the time. Not. We get along great," Josh assured him, "Pete thinks the house we bought is haunted. He woke up and he thought he saw a woman staring into his face. He almost pinched my arm black and blue swearing that he saw a ghost. I still think it was just a nightmare."
"Dreaming about a woman would seem like a nightmare to you Josh," Amy said cattily.
"Especially about a woman who has trouble with the word no," Thomas said cuttingly to Amy.
"I backed off when Josh finally fussed up!" Amy said.
Once Andre persuaded Mr. Links in exchanged e-mails to stop threatening to sue Josh. Josh came out big time, telling his friends all about Pete, and apologizing for telling them Pete was his cousin.
After the cast fielded questions from the live audience, Josh left the studio.
"Josh," Joey cried, running up to him, "Meet us at the House of Blue's bars tonight so we can catch up on old times some more."
"I'll be there," Josh said. The grip Joey had on his shoulder turned into a caress to his face.
"After we're done at the House of Blue you and I we should hit the bars tonight later. Alone." Joey said.
"Invite Thomas, too," Josh protested,' And everyone else."
"Of course," Joey said a little let down. "Josh, he said in a hesitant voice, "You know even through you ended up not being my first I'll always think of you as my first real love."
He's cute, but not the cutest of the cute, Josh thought, not being able to resist checking out Joey's ass as Joey walked to his car.
Starting to cross the street, Josh quickly jumped back.
A sleek muscle car of a red convertible raced throughout the night.
The top was down, Mr. Links was driving, his foot slammed down the acellator. His mouth full of hot deals. Mr, Links babbled about how happy he was to finally meet Andre, and how he was going to make Andre a star. A big star.
Andre was sitting beside him, looking perfectly sexy in the leather seat. His auburn hair whisking in the breeze.
Waving at Josh, Andre projected into Josh's mind the words: Dead man. Andre blissfully turned his attention to the middle aged man. Both of them had hunger on their faces.
Laughing, Josh crossed the street, his thoughts on the hurricane of a life he led which was full of the tribulations of friends and family.
Dee-.Jaying part time, and going to school full time, hunting mortals, writing novels to pay the bills, videotaping Ace's first game of T-ball so I can watch it with Pete later in the evening, I sometimes fell like my life is a pressure cooker with Pete the peaceful eye of my storm, except for the one terrible night when I discovered Pete had a one night stand with Ray my best best because Pete thought I was having an affair with Brent. It ended my friendship with Ray. My and Pete's relationship managed to survive and thrive. Cripes, Pete losing his virginity to Ray of all people.
I wonder what life would have been like if I had decided to take the easy way out and lived my life as only a hunter? No direction. No plans. No stress. It wouldn't have been half as exiting as my life is now, Josh thought more than ready to leave Chicago and go back to the world he and Pete created for their family in New Orleans.
After a wild night of partying at the House of Blues Bar, and spending a day with the cast, Josh flew home the next night without a plane, having fully matured into his day walker's powers he didn't have when he was first in Chicago. Josh landed in this backyard in New Orleans.
"How was it like being reunited with your Real World friends," Pete said coming up to Josh.
"Nothing I would ever want to do again," Josh said, his heart pounding as it always did when Pete was in the vicinity. Giving Pete a hug, thinking him to be the sexiest undead boi in the world Josh put his arm around him going inside their home.
Despite the attempts at keeping chaos at bay their home had that definite lived in with kids look
TBC